15 Huge Rankings Updates To Make Before Your Rivals Do
STACKED extracted the fantasy-relevant player signal from this podcast and kept the full transcript here for context.
1 hr 27 min
Duration
Estimated from transcript
Aug 24, 2026
Published
Mon, August 24, 2026
33
Player insights
30
Players mentioned
Topics
Jadarian PriceNico CollinsTank DellBrock BowersCam AkersChristian McCaffreyChuba HubbardD'Andre SwiftDavid MontgomeryDeshaun WatsonDevin SingletaryDK MetcalfFernando MendozaGeorge Kittle
Player analysis
Player insights
Brock Bowers
PositiveValue16:48
The injury to Ashton Gentile does not negatively impact the outlook for Brock Bowers. The source maintains a high ranking for Bowers, placing him as the 18th overall player and preferring him over Gentile in all draft formats.
Insight pageCam Akers
PositiveValue43:50
Despite the addition of Najee Harris, the source remains optimistic about Cam Akers as the Giants' RB1. He is valued for his goal-line role and pass-catching ability, with the source noting he has RB10 upside if he stays healthy and the offensive line performs.
Insight pageChristian McCaffrey
NegativeBust40:24
The source expresses concern over Christian McCaffrey's injury management and heavy workload from last season, suggesting he is a fade at his current top-6 ADP. The team's history of being 'cagey' with injuries adds risk, and the source advises against drafting him again after his high-touch, low-efficiency 2023 campaign.
Insight pageChuba Hubbard
NegativeRole50:10
Chuba Hubbard is expected to lead the Panthers' backfield in touches early in the season while Jonathan Brooks recovers. The source notes that Hubbard is a capable pass-protector and receiver, making him a viable fantasy option despite the committee approach.
Insight pageD'Andre Swift
PositiveValue45:25
D'Andre Swift is a high-priority target for the source, who prefers him over Cam Akers. With Khalil Herbert potentially out for up to six weeks, Swift is expected to handle a significant workload early in the season, making him a solid pick in the second or third round.
Insight pageDavid Montgomery
NegativeBust40:04
David Montgomery is viewed as a 'dead zone' running back profile at RB21. His reliance on volume is risky, and reports indicate his backfield split with Woody Marks will be much closer than expected. The source notes he is not in his peak prime and prefers other options in the fifth round.
Insight pageDeshaun Watson
NegativeProjection49:08
Deshaun Watson has been named the starter, but the source expresses significant doubt about his long-term viability, citing his poor performance and lack of awareness. There is speculation he may not play the full season, with Shador Sanders potentially taking over by Week 3.
Insight pageDevin Singletary
NegativeRole43:50
Devin Singletary remains the primary back for the Giants, playing ahead of Tyrone Tracy in the preseason. While Najee Harris was added to the roster, Singletary is viewed as a 'steady Eddie' RB3, though his role could be impacted by Harris in goal-line situations.
Insight pageDK Metcalf
NegativeValue73:45
DK Metcalf is a player to avoid at his current ADP in the seventh round. The source expresses significant uncertainty regarding his situation and availability, preferring to wait until the 10th round or later to consider drafting him.
Insight pageFernando Mendoza
PositiveRole11:56
Mendoza is showing unexpected poise and comfort in the offense, including under-center footwork and full-field progressions. While the team initially planned to sit him, the source believes he is pushing to start sooner than expected, potentially by October, as he has exceeded expectations regarding his transition to the pro-style offense.
Insight pageGeorge Kittle
NegativeValue39:01
George Kittle has been removed from the PUP list. The source ranks him as the TE7, ahead of Kyle Pitts and Dalton Kincaid, and expects his ADP to climb a full round as he nears Week 1, though acknowledges the risk of his late-season Achilles injury.
Insight pageJadarian Price
NegativeUsage55:54
The Seahawks are protecting Jadarian Price by shutting him down for the remainder of the preseason. While some view this as a sign of his value, the source notes that he was not drafted to be a high-volume starter and will likely share time with Zach Charbonnet.
Insight pagePositiveRole57:12
Jadarian Price is in an awesome role to have until Zach Charbonnet returns, making him a viable RB2/flex option. Despite uncertainty regarding his usage and injury status, he is a high-upside pick who is being drafted in a soft spot in drafts, often ahead of other non-starters like Trayvon Henderson. The source ranks him at RB22, ahead of the consensus RB25, betting that he will win out and outperform his current ADP.
Insight pageJaylen Warren
PositiveRole47:24
Jalen Warren is viewed as the superior player to Rico Dowdle in the Steelers' backfield. Despite reports suggesting Dowdle might lead the committee, the source prefers Warren for his pass-protection, wiggle, and effectiveness in the passing game.
Insight pageJonah Coleman
NegativeDepth Chart60:47
Jonah Coleman is splitting time with RJ Harvey in the Broncos' backfield. He looked capable during his drives with Bo Nix, showing a clear athletic difference compared to Harvey, but the team is currently cycling both backs, making the exact distribution of value difficult to project.
Insight pageJonathon Brooks
PositiveProjection50:10
The source ranks Jonathan Brooks ahead of Chuba Hubbard, though he is not aggressively drafting him due to the committee uncertainty. Brooks is viewed as the higher-upside player, but he must prove himself to steal the lead role as the season progresses.
Insight pageKeaton Mitchell
PositiveBreakout61:21
Keaton Mitchell is an awesome fantasy pick due to his usage in creative pass-catching roles, including yo-yo motions that create natural space. The coaching staff is clearly experimenting with him as a receiver, which was not a part of his previous profile. Despite concerns about the interior offensive line, his explosive potential makes him a high-ceiling asset.
Insight pageLadd McConkey
NegativeProjection62:55
There is skepticism regarding the Chargers' offense reaching a top-six scoring level due to significant concerns about the interior offensive line. While the team may still be a good offense, the offensive line's poor performance in camp limits the high-end outcome for players like Lad McConkey.
Insight pageMalik Nabers
PositiveUsage46:41
Malik Nabers is expected to shed his red non-contact jersey soon. The Giants are utilizing him in the slot and movement Z roles, which the source views as an ideal usage pattern for his fantasy production.
Insight pageMatthew Golden
PositiveSleeper70:10
Matthew Golden is highlighted as potentially the most mispriced player in fantasy football. He has shown impressive speed and route-running ability in camp, notably outperforming Christian Watson on similar routes. Despite being a first-round pick, he is consistently going late in drafts (WR50 consensus), making him an easy target for value-seeking drafters.
Insight pageMike Washington Jr.
PositiveBreakout6:41
Washington has impressed in the preseason with explosive playmaking and receiving ability. With Ashton Gentile potentially missing time, Washington is positioned to see a significant workload increase. The source ranks him around RB39, though he is worth targeting closer to pick 120, viewing him as a high-upside asset who could command a starting role early in the season.
Insight pageNico Collins
PositiveUsage18:16
The addition of Kayshawn Booty as a deep threat is viewed as a positive for Nico Collins. The source expects Collins to see more high-value targets, including crossing routes and slants, as the offense shifts away from relying on less effective options.
Insight pagePositiveProjection33:20
The source is highly optimistic about Nico Collins, viewing him as a 'layup' pick in the early third round. Despite 16 red-zone targets last year, he only had four touchdowns, suggesting significant positive regression is coming. He is expected to be the go-to player in the red zone.
Insight pageRJ Harvey
PositiveUsage59:28
RJ Harvey is expected to have a significant role in the Broncos' offense, particularly as a pass-catcher. Sean Payton shows a clear preference for using Harvey on designed touches and wheel routes, especially near the red zone. While he may be too inconsistent as a pure rusher to handle high volume, his explosive playmaking ability makes him a valuable fantasy asset at his current price.
Insight pageStefon Diggs
NegativeUsage75:04
Stefan Diggs' usage in the Patriots' offense is a concern. In a small preseason sample, he played exclusively in the slot during 11-personnel sets. Given that he played only 55% of snaps last year and was often behind other receivers, there is hesitation that he will not see the 70%+ snap share that fantasy managers were hoping for.
Insight pageTank Dell
NegativeInjury18:59
Beat reporters are now being realistic about Tank Dell's recovery timeline, indicating he is a long way from returning to play. The source suggests he will not be available for a significant period.
Insight pageNegativeInjury31:39
The source indicates that Tank Dell is a long way from returning to play. Beat reporters are being realistic about the severity of his injury, suggesting he will not play for a long time.
Insight pageTony Pollard
NegativeUsage66:03
Tony Pollard and Tajay Spears are expected to operate in a drive-by-drive rotation for the Titans. Both backs have similar skill sets, and the team appears to be using them interchangeably, which may cap the individual upside for both players in the regular season.
Insight pageTre Tucker
PositiveDepth Chart16:06
Reports consistently indicate that Trey Tucker is slated to be the team's wide receiver one. The source prefers drafting him over Jalen Naylor in the final rounds of redraft leagues, noting his usage with the starters in preseason sets.
Insight pageTyrone Tracy
NegativeRole43:50
Tyrone Tracy is struggling with mistakes, including a fumble in the preseason, and is currently behind Devin Singletary. The source suggests he is on the roster bubble and could potentially be traded.
Insight pageWoody Marks
PositiveUsage36:57
Woody Marks is emerging as a legitimate threat to David Montgomery's workload. Beat reports suggest the carry distribution could be close to even. Marks has impressed with elite pass protection skills and played 100% of snaps on a 10-play drive with CJ Stroud. He is now ranked near players like Jordan Mason and Rashad White.
Insight pageXavier Legette
NegativeInjury55:15
Xavier Legette is currently in a walking boot due to a foot/ankle injury, which may limit his availability and slot alignment opportunities early in the season.
Insight pageZach Charbonnet
NegativeInjury58:06
Zach Charbonnet's status remains uncertain due to a lack of recent updates regarding his surgery timeline. His absence creates a clear path for Jadarian Price to command the backfield, though the team's long-term plan for the backfield split remains unclear.
Insight pageFull transcript
Episode Transcript
0:00You know what time it is. We watched all 16 preseason games from week two and are delivering you the goods.
0:06Yes, you didn't have to sit through some excruciating performances to know what the meaningful information is for your fantasy drafts.
0:12Hayden and I have you covered. We talked about every single team basically here.
0:16It's not just what happened on the field, also behind the scenes and practice reports and we read it all to get you prepared.
0:23I mean, we talked through a ton of names here, including the Texans, backfield, obviously Ashton Gentile.
0:27Mike Washington, Jr. and what Deshaun Watson being the starter for the Browns means and so much more.
0:33Stay tuned for this episode of Yahoo Fantasy Football with Josh & Hayden.
0:36Another important show for you today. We have at least a dozen rankings changes for you after week two of the preseason.
0:42We watched, yes, all 16 games like absolute sickos.
0:45But Hayden, I think just as importantly this week, a lot has happened off the NFL field and more so behind closed
0:51doors at practices and just away from facilities. Let's put it that way.
0:55Yep. All the way even to training, trailer parks in weird parts of Ohio and everything.
0:59So yeah, we've watched a bunch of tape and, you know, depth chart changes and then, you know, all the injury stuff.
1:06One of the craziest stories ever last night with the Gentile stuff, of course.
1:10Well, let's dive into that first because Las Vegas Raiders and second year running back Ashton Gentile was going at the one-two
1:16turn for many of you out there. And it was just about the craziest five hours in fantasy football Twitter that we've ever seen.
1:23So they practiced yesterday, the Raiders did, at their indoor facility.
1:26The Raiders beats all in unison. Made it sound like Ashton Gentry dove for a Kirk Cousins pass.
1:31Really struggled to get up by himself. Couldn't put any weight on his leg.
1:35And trainers helped him off the field. And then a prayer circle formed by other players.
1:39We've all been waiting for, again, hours and hours and hours speculating that this could be a possible season ender.
1:45Then we get an Adam Schefter tweet saying that it's just a sprained ankle.
1:49So Hayden, right now, we have no timeline of when Ashton Gentry is going to return to the field.
1:54But also, the term high ankle has not been used at this time.
1:58So let's use our fantasy football brains. How are you interpreting this Ashton Gentile news in your drafts right now?
2:04I would not take him until the very end of the third round.
2:07I'm in the tier with Travis H. and Javante Williams, Kyron Williams, Josh Jacobs.
2:11I think Josh Jacobs and Ashton Gentile, I think pretty similar situations because you're probably projecting them to miss maybe, or at
2:17least there's a threat of them missing time and maybe extensive time.
2:21So I think those guys would be pretty similar to me.
2:24Then you kind of get to that tier break where now you're talking about some of the wide receivers that we do
2:30really like, but they're just not providing the same amount of value in half PPR.
2:34So I do want to remind people there are different degrees of ankle sprains.
2:38You do have the Amarion and Hampton. Oh, there's actually a small fracture.
2:42I'm going to miss 10 weeks. We've seen that with a couple different guys before.
2:46High ankle sprains that need tightrope surgery. Those can linger on for multiple months.
2:50I'm guessing this would have to be on this more severe side of ankle sprains, given the reports.
2:55They stopped the music practice over this. They stopped the music.
2:58Yeah. I think we should be reading into that.
3:01He couldn't put weight on it. I busted my ankle plenty of times.
3:05It sucks and it takes a long time. And, uh, um, I think if I was the Raiders, like, could he be
3:11on IRs who we got with Mike Washington and slow, slow play this.
3:15We're talking about the Raiders in 2026. We're not, we don't have a Superbowl aspiration.
3:19So, um, my baseline assumption is he's going to miss three to four games.
3:23Wow. Okay. This is like strategy corner baked into what we already thought of Ashton Gentry on the Las Vegas Raiders, uh,
3:29baked into, hopefully we get more information as the week and the days go on.
3:33But if you're drafting today, I guess utilize this news.
3:36I don't know. This is really a like fancy football, perfect storm of unknowns here.
3:40Like to me, this just means I'm not going to end up with Ashton Gentry this year because already I was well
3:47below market on where Ashton Gentry was going at that one, two turn.
3:50I was simply not selecting him over the likes of Saquon Barkley, Chase Brown, Kim Mark III.
3:55I can keep going on and on through that list.
3:58Um, conversely, and we'll talk about him in a moment.
4:01You and I have been well above the public on Mike Washington Jr.
4:04Who's had an excellent preseason at this time. We'll put a pin in that.
4:08I'm just looking at expert consensus rankings, Hayden, and I filtered it through just updates over the last 24 hours.
4:14And that's at Ashton Gentry 25th overall. So that's like the 301 at this point.
4:18That's even kind of rich to me because the names after him include Malik Neighbors and Devante Smith and those types.
4:24So I'd probably put him right after that group, but in that kind of same bracket as, you know, Rashi Rice of where they have him.
4:32Um, I guess the conversation, if we're just looking at running backs, cause people love to do, you know, the wire receiver,
4:38running back, running back starter, whatever combo you want.
4:40Brees Hall versus Ashton Gentry. Who are you selecting?
4:43Brees Hall. He's, he's running around right now in practice.
4:46It seems like he's not going to be missing time.
4:49Like he's not fully participating in practice, but he's on the practice field running.
4:52Like I I'm guessing Ashton Gentry is weeks away from running based off of, uh, ankle sprain.
4:57So to me, it'd be Brees Hall, Jeremiah loves dealing with an ankle sprain.
5:01We know that Jeremiah, Jeremiah Love ankle sprain is not like the most severe version of it.
5:06Like otherwise we would have heard that. I think there's still a pretty, uh, like there's a chance at Gentry.
5:12Like this is a, still a pretty serious injury.
5:14Um, even it's like not a season ender. Um, so I would rather have Jeremiah love, especially, you know, that happened last week, not this week.
5:22Um, yeah, so I'm not going to get them either.
5:24I would draft him at the three, four turn.
5:27Okay. So Javante Williams was just Ashton Gentry. Right now my ranking is Javante Williams.
5:31If we get it, if we get to know it, you know, in 10 minutes from now that he's going to be
5:37available in week one, obviously, you know, TBD. So let's tie this into Mike Washington Jr.
5:42Right? Because again, this is a player that you and I have been excited about since let's say draft season.
5:48I mean, he is big and fast and despite being big, he's not necessarily a pure tackle breaker.
5:53And that showed up in his underlying metrics. However, if you give him a, give him a crease or a lane, he can create explosives.
6:00He's done that in each of these preseason games.
6:02And I would even say that some of his receiving work is a bit underrated out there too.
6:07Um, let's say like maybe a middle outcome here is that either Ashton Gentry is banged up, limited, or even out for
6:14the first two games of the season. Those two games are the Miami Dolphins and the LA Chargers.
6:19If that's the case, then Mike Washington Jr. is probably going to see the majority of the reps in those.
6:24And again, this is the median outcome here for Ashton Gentry.
6:28All he needs to do is reel off a couple of explosives or look consistent or do something well for him to
6:34earn more work for the remaining 15 games than maybe he was expected to from the fantasy football bubble in the last three weeks or the last month.
6:42Like you and I were already of the belief that Ashton Gentry was not going to repeat the 86% workload that he got last year.
6:49That was probably going to be closer to 70, 30, if not maybe even a little tighter than that.
6:54And so if a healthy Mike Washington again has moments or has very positive play in the first two weeks, then to
7:00me that significantly reduces the upside of Ashton Gentry.
7:03That's just one version of it. What would your take on that be?
7:07Yeah, I can see a version of that happening.
7:09I think the more promising thing for Mike Washington, like let's say like this is just, you know, two, three, four games
7:15in a row where he's just in your starting lineup.
7:18Like that's very valuable. I would be ranking him probably around RB 20, RB 25 going into those weeks because there's nobody behind him.
7:25It's like Dylan Lobby. They're not going to play the backups in Washington's been lighting it up.
7:30What I liked about Washington as a prospect is he did catch passes that final season.
7:34Lots of like swing passes, get him up to speed.
7:37Uh, and then he's also massive so you can handle a big workload.
7:41So like if he gets the opportunity, I think he can get lots of opportunities in a game.
7:46So that's why I kind of liked him. I went back consensus rankings, had him as like the 74th overall player goes in, uh, round four.
7:53He was a very real prospect. Like I know he doesn't check like the spreadsheets, uh, but the film guys, the NFL
7:59combine, the NFL, they were all interested in him to varying degrees.
8:03And I think that the opportunity here is, is pretty straightforward.
8:06And like players like, you know, if it's Devin Singletary, James Connor, like a week before the season stuff, not that threatening to me.
8:13Like, you know, it's, I think he's in a pretty good spot.
8:16This has been a really promising Mike Washington jr.
8:19It's exactly what, you know, fans of his like ours could, could have hoped for.
8:23Um, so where do you draft him? Like, is it fair to place him in the Jordan Mason, Kalmanunga, Rashad White, Mike Washington range?
8:30Like I've missed running back 39 right now. That might be really aggressive to people out there because, you know, anecdotally, some
8:36drafts might have him as like the 150th overall player at this point.
8:40I would take him closer to 120, if not a little bit higher than that.
8:44Yeah. And I'm 115 in my rankings right next to Rashad White, Jordan Mason.
8:48And let's just be honest, like we liked Mike Washington a long time ago.
8:52And we have some bias attached to this. Let's, let's put it on the table.
8:56I don't like using the word bias. We have an evaluation of him.
9:00That's different. I'm not related to Mike Washington. There's no bias here.
9:03I just think that he's better. Like my evaluation is different than other people's.
9:07And I think that's what I'm looking at. There is value of knowing one of your handcuffs is going to be in
9:13your starting lineup for a couple weeks. Like, and if we actually get that confirmed over the next couple of days, then that's intriguing to me.
9:21And like, who's now more likely to like miss a huge chunk of the season due to a setback or guess what?
9:27Like that actual report that we just got is not like, there's some other details that are missing.
9:32Of course he has a higher chance of being like him versus tank Bigsby.
9:36Like right now, Saquon Barkley is infinitely more likely to play more games than Ashton Jenty.
9:40So I have to be viewing Mike Washington in a full different tier.
9:44And then some of the other guys that I just don't see them like really like mattering all that much.
9:50Like Kenny Gainwell types. I just don't see the like long-term answer of like why that guy's going to matter in fantasy.
9:56If Mike Washington, like if Jenty was out for the entire season, I think Mike Washington would have been right in that
10:02Ramondre Stevenson, Jalen Warren six round range. Yes. There's no way Kenny Gainwell and those types are going that high.
10:08Yeah. Again, for the five hours of mayhem that we had on Sunday night, uh, when based on the prayer circle, which
10:14I guess worked, uh, leading us to believe that Mike Washington jr.
10:17Would be out for an extended period of time.
10:20Excuse me. Ashton Jenty would be out for an extended period of time.
10:24I had Mike Washington jr. Ahead of Trevor and Henderson Ramond Ray Stevenson.
10:27It's like my running back 26. So this isn't to the point where I was at yesterday.
10:32It's almost like middle grounding that. And look, I truly hope that it comes out that Ashton Jenty, uh, this is a,
10:38the lowest of ankle sprains of all time. And he's going to be out there in week one.
10:44At the same time, I'm kind of thinking about the middle outcome here that he's going to be limited and at least
10:50seed more snaps early on to Mike Washington jr.
10:52I trusted Mike Washington jr's talent, especially again, the easiest game that they have all season is in week one against the Miami Dolphins.
10:59The next 10 weeks are doom. It's, it's really bad from there.
11:02And so if he looks the best in week one, then he will earn more and more.
11:07Plus the Jenty thing maybe lingers a bit longer.
11:10So, uh, yeah, yeah. This is something we'll probably update next week when we do our running back rankings for, you know, the entire season.
11:17We could have more information this tonight, but as of now, and based on Schefter's reporting, uh, the Raiders are declining all
11:23comments on how significant the Ashton Jenty injury is.
11:26Yeah. They're just waiting for, for more information. So, so who knows?
11:29I will say even without this injury, I was going to talk about Mike Washington at the top of the show because
11:35he immediately just reeled off another explosive and it wasn't a blocked up explosive.
11:39He hit the hole, the hole collapsed, and then he bounced it outside, stiffed on somebody and then hit the gas in a hurry.
11:46Like it was, you know, both of his explosives were not because the run blocking was so good.
11:51It's he's creating these, uh, big plays by himself.
11:54Let's talk about the other rookie on the team.
11:56I, you know, the number one overall pick and Fernando Mendoza, uh, because it seems like he is legitimately pushing to start.
12:02Now that might not be in week one, but it might be week two, week three, week four.
12:08We've been doing this show obviously for years, but definitely through, you know, last February and March when Clint Kubiak got to
12:14Mike or spy tech or even Tom Brady. They all pointed to wanting to sit the quarterback, a rookie number one overall
12:20pick for a year, if not the vast majority of the season.
12:23Those are the early comments. And really what we've gotten from national insiders since that point is that the goal has been
12:30for Fernando Mendoza to sit in this office. However, Hayden, coach speak index is pointing this out.
12:34If you look at some of the press conference clips over the last weeks or even months, it seems like a slight change of tune has happened here.
12:42Do you think that's just simply because Fernando Mendoza has shown more poise and patience and comfort than they were expecting?
12:48And so they're more open-minded to not have Kirk Cousins start even six games.
12:52Might be less than that. When they drafted him, they were drafting his traits.
12:56They weren't drafting him because they were going to be running the Fernando Mendoza offense, which I think when they drafted him,
13:02there was probably some uncertainty early on. It's like, what is he going to look like when we're doing a bunch of
13:09play action under center, uh, type of plays? He had about six under center snaps during his final year at Indiana.
13:15So it would be at the time, it would be normal to be like, we have no dang clue what he's going
13:21to look like in a pretty much a complete opposite styled offense.
13:24And then maybe as they've seen him work, they're getting more and more comfortable with that.
13:29Is it going to be perfect? It's obviously not going to be perfect.
13:32I think Kirk Cousins can play the guitar for, for a little bit here.
13:36But I think that Fernando Mendoza like physically looks the part.
13:39Like I've seen them like move a little bit.
13:42He, that throw over the middle that he had was really nice.
13:45We had that big out route, uh, the previous game as well.
13:49Um, and then obviously you have the pick six, him and Mike Washington.
13:52I think both of them were, were kind of like Washington moved as soon as Mendoza was dropping, like really cocking his arm to throw it.
14:00And so Mendoza thought he was sitting. It was just a miscommunication.
14:03It's that simple. It happens. Mendoza gets a little bit antsy to me, but at the same time, they've been doing a
14:09lot of the under center stuff, turn your back.
14:12And then I think he's had moments doing that.
14:15And then, uh, even the quick game under center, right, right away.
14:18Like that's like footwork that like he, that he never had to show at Indiana that he's starting to show here.
14:24So, uh, there was a quote, I forget exactly who said it, but, um, that it's not just about Fernando Mendoza.
14:30They're waiting for like the rest of the Raiders offensive line set with the gent.
14:34Like let's say gent he misses a month or so.
14:37Like I can see, you know, them saying that we're not going to put them out there when it's like Mike Washington.
14:43We don't know who's going to be our wide receiver too.
14:46And that type of stuff. So I'd still guess this is an October type of thing.
14:51Like I'm hoping by Halloween we get that. Uh, but, um, Tom Brady initially was like, he's not going to play as a rookie.
14:58I would be flabbergasted if that happened. Yeah. I mean, I was on the podcast with Marshall Newhouse and Ted Nguyen who closely follow this team.
15:05And that was only a month ago, less than that three weeks ago.
15:09And they were certain that Mendoza would sit the vast majority of the year.
15:13And to me, that is flipped. Like that, that is not going to be the case.
15:17But like you said, they don't want to set him up for a Bryce Young, uh, Caleb Williams type situation where he
15:23just gets sacked constantly over and over and over again.
15:26So I think the offensive line is, is a huge part of it.
15:30That's for sure. Yeah. I mean, what we really liked about Fernando Mendoza among other things was him throwing outside the numbers and down the field.
15:37That was like the layups for him. That was easy work.
15:40But now we've seen him go like full field progressions.
15:43We saw it last week. This time we saw him throwing over underneath defenders kind of in between the numbers.
15:49So you just see things and it's all from under center too.
15:52A lot of it's from under center. So he's already showing kind of the, uh, understanding and, and, uh, belief in areas
15:58that is like stretching his comfort zone. And that's exactly what you want to see from rookie quarterback.
16:03My last note is on the receivers. Trey Tucker rested with the starters.
16:07He was also the wide receiver in the previous preseason game.
16:10That was in the one wide receiver set look.
16:13And this is teams going to use a bunch of different personnel groupings.
16:16So like that type of stuff does matter. So Jalen Naylor versus Trey Tucker, if I had to take somebody in the
16:23last round and redraft, it would be Trey Tucker over Naylor.
16:26Yeah. I mean, Naylor got paid this off season.
16:28Jack Bash, we know was a semi high draft pick last year.
16:32Uh, but every single report says that Trey Tucker is going to be the wide receiver one for this team.
16:37But again, varying degrees on how much that's going to matter in this offense.
16:41Final question for you as a, as you take a sip of your coffee, does the Ashen Jinty injury do anything to your Brock Bowers ranking?
16:49No, no, no. Yeah. I don't. Yeah. Same with me.
16:52I mean, I, I would easily and continue to draft Brock Bowers ahead of Ashen Jinty.
16:56That only makes it easier at this point. And I still have what Brock Bowers as the 18th overall player.
17:02I get it. Okay. Every single team is not going to be this long.
17:06Again, that was a heck of a moment we had in Facebook about Twitter last night.
17:10Uh, again, if you enjoy the show, hit subscribe.
17:13We have plenty, plenty more to give you, including with the Houston Texans.
17:16Uh, Jaden Higgins, unfortunately, tore his ACL last week, the second year wide receiver who was on tap to be out there
17:23in two wide receiver sets and have a big second season.
17:26Well, just before we start recording, they make a trade for Kayshawn Booty.
17:29Yes. The Patriots downfield wide receiver for very little.
17:32I mean, they gave away a six round second year player in safety, Jalen Reed and a future seventh round pick.
17:38So where would you draft Kayshawn Booty now? And what does he bring and how does he fit into this Texans offense?
17:44You know, this is Don Tavian Wicks. This is Adonai Mitchell.
17:47You know, like we're just throwing darts here. Um, it's going to be him versus Xavier Washington or Xavier Hutchinson for, for
17:53two wide receiver sets, uh, snaps next to Nico Collins.
17:56Uh, Kayshawn just a much better fit for this offense and the other options.
18:00Everything that they've talked about when, in terms of Jalen Knoll has come from the perspective as like a slot only.
18:06And like even their beat reporters reference Jalen as a slot only type, uh, there's a chance he can be more than that.
18:13But just if that's the case, they just don't, they just don't have that vertical threat on the offense.
18:18Um, like obviously that's what Nico Collins could do, but they want somebody else.
18:22So I don't think Hutchinson's very good. I think that Kayshawn is better than, than he is.
18:27Uh, and I think that this will allow, there's probably a good thing for Nico Collins versus Jaden Higgins.
18:32That if Kayshawn is going to be a low volume, deep threat, all of like the crossing routes underneath stuff, slants, like
18:38in motion type of plays, uh, those are going to Nico Collins now.
18:42And like, to me, like this is like the perfect outcome.
18:45Xavier Hutchinson might've been so bad that the teams would be just be punting the ball too much.
18:50I think that Kayshawn gives you a little bit more, uh, than that as, as a talent.
18:55And I do think I would for sure take him over Hutchinson and Jalen Noel.
18:59And then the last note before I kick to you, the tank Dell stuff seems like we're a long ways away.
19:05The B reporters are being very realistic now after seeing him, he's not going to play for a long time.
19:11It's the most serious injury in sports pretty much, um, that he's coming back from.
19:15Yeah. The Texans wide receiver two room was just fragile behind Jane Higgins because Noel is a slot only player.
19:21And like you said, tank Dell, it's, it's going to be still a long road to recovery despite, you know, missing all of last year.
19:28Flatly. I now have Kayshawn Booty right next to like Romeo Dobbs and Denzel Boston and Tucker that might, that might be a little aggressive.
19:35That's at like wide receiver 56 ish. This is a downfield passing game with like extra protection help around it.
19:41Yes. And Kayshawn Booty last year, while his targets per route run are always going to be extremely low.
19:46Uh, he is someone that when the play hits, it's a big game.
19:50It's, it's a big explosive. Uh, we have seen CJ Stroud have excellent moments with those downfield passing skills.
19:55Think back to his rookie season with Nico, with tank Dell, with Noah Brown, with, with all those players.
20:00Um, however, I'm with you that this makes me feel even better about the Nico Collins ranking.
20:05And especially when we get down to condensed fields in the red zone, like he already had a massive share of this
20:11team throwing when they got inside the red zone, especially into the end zone.
20:15And despite like 16 targets in the end zone last year, only had four touchdowns.
20:20It was one of the worst efficient and least efficient, uh, you know, touchdown scoring opportunities that a player had last year
20:26in terms of actually succeeding in those. That was already going to, again, naturally regress into a positive direction.
20:31And this just makes me even more optimistic and certain that he's going to be the go-to player in that area of the field.
20:38I love Nico Collins. Um, if he's available, like somehow like early parts of round three, I mean, like sprints to the
20:44podium, I think that's going to be a layup line.
20:47Do you think I then should move? Well, I already have him behind.
20:51Yeah. I guess my thought was it's like Rashid Shaheed and Keishon Booty.
20:54And then I didn't want to move him ahead of Rashid Shaheed and I kind of put him behind that area.
21:00Yeah. I'm definitely not. So, but it sounds like I'm higher than you, but then the next year of this to me
21:07is Trey Tucker, Caleb Douglas and Adonai Mitchell. And I kind of feel like Keishon Booty is going to be ahead of those guys too.
21:14So like, this is this awkward area that don't just strictly go by the rankings necessarily, but I'm giving you like the
21:20tier of the player that I have. Yeah. I mean, just to me, the type of role Adonai Mitchell and Keishon Booty
21:26are in, it's the exact same thing. Like I would have no disagreement if you picked one versus the other.
21:32It wasn't a huge investment that the Texans are making here, but the Patriots made it very known that Keishon Booty was
21:38not going to be on the Patriots this year, that he was going to get traded.
21:43And there's at least like some familiarity, you know, that Houston Texans is kind of like Patriots South at this point.
21:49So I think that of all the landing spots, like this was the perfect case for Keishon.
21:53Yeah. I just think his ball winning is a really great match for CJ Stroud.
21:58Like it was with Drake May. You know, Drake May was one of the best, if not the best 10 plus yard
22:04passer, 15 plus yard passer in the league. And obviously the Texans are hoping CJ Stroud can be that way.
22:09We need to talk about this backfield because quietly, I think it's one of the bigger conversations that needs to be had this training camp.
22:17So, I mean, question is Woody Marks a thorn in Dave Montgomery's side?
22:20The answer comes from Jonathan Alexander, who covers the Texans.
22:23And I can go on and on about this, but he just simply said that Dave Montgomery and Woody Marks will split carries somewhat evenly.
22:30That the distribution of carries between Dave Montgomery and Woody Marks might not be 50-50, but it will be close.
22:36The Texans have utilized both nearly evenly throughout camp.
22:38And Hayden, this is also on the heels of maybe the best on-field action that we've ever seen from Woody Marks in this preseason week too.
22:46Yeah. USC legend Woody Marks. He really stood out in terms of pass protection.
22:50There was a third and four rep. The Raiders had both of their linebackers up in the A-gaps.
22:55Woody Marks was kind of aligned in the A-gap, like purely for pass protection.
22:59Both the linebackers drop back out into coverage. They bring a cat blitz, a corner blitz.
23:03Woody Marks then scans over to the right. Not only sees it, also picks it up.
23:08They end up converting for a first down on that play because Woody Marks' pass protection.
23:12There were other reps that were similar to that as well.
23:15He had the best run, I would say, of his career that I remember as well.
23:20And then he played 100% of the snaps on that CJ Stroud 10-play drive.
23:24Obviously, David Montgomery wasn't playing. But the fact that if, let's say David Montgomery gets injured, it's Woody Marks.
23:29There's nobody else. It's just Woody Marks, which makes him encouraging versus some of the other RB2 picks.
23:34But I do think that David Montgomery and Woody Marks, I do think that of all the backfields, if someone just said
23:41you have to pick one RB2 is just straight up better than the RB1 in their own backfield, this would be one
23:47of the backfields where I can totally see that happening.
23:50It's not going to happen in week one. But I do think that this is a much closer committee than a lot of people are expecting.
23:57And this is not Joe Mixon coming off of his absolute prime with the Texans.
24:01This is a totally different situation with David Montgomery.
24:04To me, David Montgomery has been more fragile to draft than people have led on.
24:08Yes. On Yahoo right now, he's running back 21, the second pick of the fifth round.
24:12That's ahead of Quinchon Judkins, Bucky Irving, Bachel Tootin, Trevion Henderson, some other names we'll talk about a bit later on.
24:18He is the prototypical dead zone running back profile.
24:21Because while, yes, David Montgomery's underlying metrics have been great ever since he left the Chicago Bears and has been a part
24:27of the Detroit Lions, we do know that his opportunities decreased last year, I would say for a reason.
24:33And at the same time, again, and this is just my view, the crux of the positive in drafting David Montgomery was purely opportunity-based.
24:39Like it was purely volume-based. And that profile has come back to bite us in the past.
24:44It certainly wasn't, hey, this is a great offensive line and rushing scheme, so we want to get the lead ball carrier in that.
24:51That has not been the case for the last couple of years, right?
24:55And it's not age where David Montgomery is at.
24:57I would not say he's in his peak prime, like you just said, either.
25:01So it truly was, hey, this guy's going to verge on 250-plus carries.
25:05And everything that has happened from beat writers and Woody Marks performing in preseason outbait, we have not seen David Montgomery, is
25:11pointing to this being much closer than a true 1A, excuse me, number one versus number two.
25:16Like I think David Montgomery's been drafted all year long.
25:19Hey, now I'm closer to running back 24. I see the same way.
25:22We have also really loved David Montgomery and we're buying him low for years and years.
25:27This isn't like us being doubling down anti-David Montgomery.
25:29So it's actually quite the opposite. So yeah, I'm guessing Woody Marks has taken another step, like many second-year running backs do,
25:36and they trust him a whole lot more. I think the pass protection is going to lean his way.
25:41There's also the risk. The Texans' offense could just be really bad.
25:44Jaden Higgins was very important for this offense. And I think Kayshawn's better than what they had.
25:49But that is a pretty big difference to me, Higgins versus Kayshawn.
25:53Like this offense could finish 24th in scoring this year.
25:55Like that wouldn't be that crazy to me. Well, the other part of that is they're still trying to figure out their offensive line.
26:02Like even going to this game that was on ESPN, Troy Eichmann kept talking about Keelan Rutledge being the center of the future for this team.
26:10And then on the very first snap, he's playing left guard.
26:13And that's because Braden Smith and Wyatt Teller were not in the starting lineup for this game.
26:18That's a two-year $20 million contract and two-year $16 million contract of the veteran free agents that they brought in.
26:23And then the coaching staff goes out there and says, well, it's because we're still figuring out our starting five offense, like our best unit.
26:30And that might mean just back at left guard here.
26:33Like they are still figuring that out. So this has just been a reshuffling offensive line over the last few years.
26:39It plays better than other times, you know, and who knows if it's going to gel and be a great unit.
26:45But here we are about two weeks ahead of the season.
26:48And they don't know what their starting offensive line is.
26:51Yeah. I fear it's like Titanic deck chairs, you know, just switching things.
26:55Does it really matter? I'm not sure if they have like real answers across the line yet.
26:59Just some more words because the Jonathan Alexander piece does add more here.
27:03Montgomery and Marks have two different styles, which will allow for the Texans to mix and match them.
27:08What's more likely to happen is the Texans feed the hot hand based on whichever running back is producing at that time.
27:14Ryan's philosophy has always been to play the best player.
27:17So I'm not saying that that's talking out of both sides of the mouth, but it is leaving the door open to
27:23Woody Marks, potentially being the hot hand and not just a given that it's going to be Dave Montgomery.
27:29Yeah. Is there a nine round difference in terms of confidence that Montgomery is that much better than Marks?
27:34I'm not sure I would say that. Then let me ask you, were you taking Woody Marks?
27:39Woody Marks in my rankings. He's, I moved him a lot higher.
27:42I have him close to Jordan Mason, Chris Rodriguez, Rashad White.
27:45I have him, you know, like pretty close to RJ Harvey, Kyle Manunga, like that tier player.
27:50He was previously, you know, by TyJ Spears and Algier and like those type of guys.
27:55I think that he's in a different class at this point.
27:58Yeah. Like Woody Marks in consensus rankings is going as running back 44.
28:02And I am slightly ahead of that as like running back 43.
28:05So it's just one spot. But again, the Dave Montgomery drafting at the top of that tier, it's more about that.
28:11I guess we can call it the top of the tier, right?
28:14Like in the fifth round. Yeah. Like to me, DeAndre Swift and Travis Achan should be in a different conversation than Dave Montgomery.
28:21And then Dave Montgomery going ahead of Quinshon and then Bucky Irving and Bachel Tootin is the real conversation here.
28:26And I don't feel entirely confident having DeMont at the top of that list.
28:30But again, if things go well for him, he could easily pay off of that value.
28:35It's just one that in the fifth round, especially where we like a bunch of those round four or five players at other positions other than running back.
28:43That's the thing. It's not necessarily the conversation with the other running backs around him.
28:47It's the other wide receivers and tight ends and even quarterbacks that you're drafting him around.
28:52Yeah, I'd rather have Janarian Price. Oh, hello. We're back, baby.
28:55We'll talk about Price a bit later on. I've got some exciting news for you, Bills fans, or if you just live
29:01in the Buffalo area and watch our show. Yes, Yahoo Fantasy Draft Weekend presented by Versed is coming to Dick's House of Sports in the Buffalo area.
29:09That is this Saturday, August 29th, 3 to 7 p.m.
29:11I will be there. Justin Boone will be there.
29:14And the wide receiver guru, Matt Harmon, will be there as well for a special live edition of the Yahoo Fantasy Forecast.
29:20We're going to break down everything that you need to know for your fantasy draft.
29:24We're going to answer your questions. And again, it's going to be a live show for you all to sit in and
29:31watch and listen to and contribute to. Plus, we'll give away some free things along the way.
29:36So if you're getting ready for your draft, this is the place to be.
29:39Bring your league mates. Bring your friends, your fiance, your dog, whatever.
29:43Come hang out with us. We'll see you in Amherst, New York, this Saturday, August 29th at 3 p.m.
29:48Let's talk about the Cleveland Browns now. So Deshaun Watson has been named the starter for Week 1.
29:53This has, I guess, been the sense for months at this point.
29:57Another layer, though, was added on Saturday night. After the preseason game, Deshaun Watson got on the microphone at the press conference
30:03and said, quote, booing had nothing to do about the performance.
30:06Albeit, he was booed by, you know, the home fans of the Cleveland Browns.
30:10He said, the last time that I played on this field, the same fan base cheered when I tore my Achilles.
30:16And then he was asked if it makes him regret coming to the Cleveland Browns.
30:20He said, I don't regret anything in my life.
30:23Then asked if he can overcome the negativity. He said, I don't know.
30:26It's a mental battle every day. Again, he was named the starter.
30:30And then today, had another press conference and apologized for what he said on Saturday.
30:34And there's a lot to unpack here. If you just want to keep it to football and say, what does Deshaun Watson
30:40mean to, you know, Casey Concepcion and Denzel Boston, a hero fan, and you can do however you want.
30:46Or if you want to unpack it even more about his comments, go for it.
30:50Just a total lack of awareness from Deshaun, which we've known for, you know, five years at this point.
30:55And then at the same time, if you're Todd Monken, you're trying to put the best quarterback on the football field.
31:01And while, you know, it's a close call between Deshaun and Shador Sanders, it seems like they've been leading towards Deshaun Watson for a very long time.
31:09I don't think Todd Monken gives two craps about any fan in Cleveland or elsewhere.
31:13He cares about his locker room and he's trying to win football games because this is his only chance of being a head coach in the NFL.
31:21He's an older guy. He's been in the league forever.
31:24So he's just trying to get the best player on the football field.
31:27I can guarantee Todd Monken thinks Deshaun Watson is the best quarterback on the team.
31:31And that's the only thing that he cares about.
31:34We'll learn if that was actually, uh, if his evaluation between the two is correct.
31:38I think Deshaun Watson and Shador Sanders have both been really bad.
31:42So, uh, he doesn't have a clear answer. Um, and the other thing they've talked about, um, is two road games to start.
31:48And then week three is the first home game.
31:51So you could say road road and then maybe by that point, Deshaun's dude played so bad where he doesn't have to
31:57go face these fans that are upset. Um, so we'll see.
32:00Yeah. I mean, if your home fans are booing the quarterback for good reason, uh, then it might be 17 road games that you're playing here.
32:07I also don't think Deshaun Watson is going to play 17 games this season.
32:11We were already seeing Cam Wolf and other national people say, Hey, week three, like you said, the home debut might be
32:18the right time to play Shador Sanders. And this might be the type of conversation that's, that's going around here right now.
32:24I do feel bad for Browns fans. Again, this is the product that you've been dealt for many years, like decades at this point.
32:31And it's just like one decision after another. And so I feel they're not surprised in the least by this, but at
32:37some point, like you just have to be numb to this is the product that you have to support.
32:42Even if Browns fans are extremely loyal, uh, I would say though, look towards some of the skill talent that you have because those guys are very exciting.
32:50And actually, I really hope that this season isn't a one and done for Todd Munkin because, uh, how he is handling
32:56just being honest in front of a microphone is refreshing.
32:59And, uh, I would like to see what he can build for at least another season beyond this.
33:04Yeah. And real quick on Shador, cause he played a lot here.
33:08It was the best he's played individually. And still like, there was some like pretty bad throws in terms of accuracy.
33:14He had all day to throw the ball. The actual pockets were amazing.
33:17He was not abandoning the pocket, but at the same time, there was like absolutely nobody in his face.
33:23He was still late on some throws. I thought it was just like, it looked a little bit more like NFL quarterback than it was previously.
33:30His mobility is just fine. It's not great. Um, so there's the longterm answer is not on the roster.
33:35Um, I will say, uh, you're talking about skill players.
33:38Casey Concepcion was kept out of the game. Denzel Boston played for a little bit, not the entire Sanders half, but there's
33:44a pretty clear line between Casey Concepcion and Denzel Boston at this, at this point.
33:49And Casey Concepcion should be on all your fancy teams.
33:51If you subscribe to the show. All right, let's talk about the San Francisco 49ers.
33:56Um, first on the field, we'll start with the strip club.
33:59Sean's dribbling. I mean, another highlight night. Uh, he had a tough hands grab on a tight window throw that was behind him.
34:05Second and 15, a gain of 11. Emi neck snap, a speed out from the slot, strong hands again to convert on third down.
34:12Another third down. I so when third and five hung on to it.
34:16I mean, there was one play at the end.
34:18He would have shot up another two rounds on other people's draft boards if he hung on to the stutter and go down the field.
34:25So, I mean, you and I for weeks and weeks and weeks at, by this point have been ahead of the market on just Sean stribbling Hayden.
34:33He's still my wide receiver 35 and I do not feel inclined to move them up at all.
34:38I feel like that's still completely high enough out there.
34:41And I think we'll get to a point where other people are going to start agreeing with us on this.
34:47He's my wide receiver 39 as a, as a very strong performance by him.
34:51Uh, I feel better and better that he's going to be a two wide receiver set starter over time.
34:56Now he was still behind Debo and Demarcus Robinson, but every time he's out there, he gets the ball right away and
35:02his athleticism and his hands, uh, in traffic, I just willingness to compete over the middle stands out.
35:07So I think at worst, they have the better athlete version of Jawan Jennings and the best case scenario, they can ask
35:14him to do like some Brandon that you type of stuff.
35:17We're a long ways to go, but I do like, uh, the upside swing here.
35:21Um, so yeah, it's, it's a good time to be at the strip club.
35:25Again, I filtered out only rankings that were updated in the last 24 hours.
35:29Where do you think consensus experts have Deshaun's driving right now?
35:32Like 53. Yep. Wide receiver 55. That's still way too damn low.
35:35I agree. Way too damn low. I agree. Yeah.
35:38Especially in redrafts. Like you're just, he's the first wide receiver off the bench.
35:42Like that's, that's exciting. I mean, Hey, and you have to go and see it in seven more times to get people to do that.
35:49I'm trying my best. I put a damn turtleneck on to get more attention.
35:53Uh, which by the way I did a turtleneck at the end of August, along with a sports coat on top of
35:59it is a choice, but you, you pulled it off.
36:02It was electric. Uh, my call time wasn't until 10 PM, uh, in studios are cold as hell.
36:07If you've ever been in a studio. So I knew what I was doing.
36:11This wasn't like LA heat. Uh, I showed up there, uh, and I got compliments immediately on it.
36:16I love it. I love it. Yeah. I mean, look, if you're going to be on national television, you have to make a statement.
36:23Don't just stand out and look like everyone else with, you know, a blue button down shirt and a Navy, you know, suit on top.
36:30You got to look different. You got to stand out.
36:33I mean, you've been growing the mustache for seven years at this point that you had to show it off along with a turtleneck.
36:40They, they do have to put, I did hair and makeup for this.
36:43They had to darken up my mustache and whatever we're calling this thing, because it's, it's doesn't come in quite as, as high as like Ron Burgundy.
36:51My favorite thing about that appearance for you is that you gave the most vanilla analysis that you could have possibly done.
36:57I understand the position you're in, but you're like, Oh yeah, these guys are all going from worse offenses to good offenses.
37:03And you know, like you could have cited, you know, can walk in the third, high success rate?
37:08Like, Oh, they were last in 10 plus yard runs.
37:11You're like, Oh no, he's just going to Kansas city chiefs with Patrick Holmes.
37:15He's going to be great. The, the entire time they're like, we have to make the case of why we should be talking about this.
37:22Like this has to be like a culturally relevant phenomenon.
37:25We do not care about your analysis. And I said, that's very fair.
37:29One day. It was really awesome. Okay. Let's continue on.
37:32Actually another prospect that we were higher on the most, Kalen Black, and he's the clear running back to here for the San Francisco 49ers.
37:39And what immediately popped, just like it did at Indiana.
37:41We thought he was the best pass protecting running back in his class.
37:45And that should have been this game. I mean, I think it was the second snap of the game.
37:51It was a Dion Henley blitz straight up the middle and he perfectly, perfectly executes it and push them off to the side.
37:57That is being from the cold to the sideline to on the field and executing a responsibility to a T.
38:03Yeah. Two key pass protection reps against blitzers that Henley one was like the, the, the one that really stood out.
38:09Um, I thought that he also picked the right hole, the right pacing on all of his rush attempts.
38:14The offensive line. So it was like that. He plays with great pacing and it's not because he's the fastest player.
38:20It's more like Blake Corum Kyron Williams to me, where they just play faster than their athleticism because they just have a good feel.
38:27Um, that's pretty hard to find. That's promising. Jordan James is going to come back from injury, make this a real competition.
38:33But right now they drafted him in the third round to be the RB to everything I've read about and everything I've
38:39seen with my own eyes, uh, leads me to believe that he would be the RB to ahead of Jordan James.
38:45He goes undrafted in like all formats. You don't have to draft him in the redraft, but he better be at the
38:51very top of your waiver wire, um, list and have that little star mark there.
38:56And if you do want to draft him and hold onto him, I don't think that's the worst case either.
39:01Two injury updates here for the 49ers. Uh, George Kittle has been removed from the PUP list.
39:06I have said this whole time that as soon as he's ready for week one, he's going to climb a full round.
39:12He's still tied in nine in consensus rankings out there.
39:15And for me, I haven't missed tied in seven ahead of the likes of Harold Faden and Cal Pitts.
39:20Anything else you want to add? We've talked about that before.
39:24Yeah. I'm curious to see what they're going to do in week one.
39:27And if they're actually going to like slow play his return or if they're just going to be desperate and let this thing rip, uh, all the time.
39:35He's an older guy. The Achilles terror was late in the season.
39:39And so he's, he has to be the outlier, but George Kittle has been literally the outlier for his entire career.
39:44So up to you guys on the risk. And then the final one, Chris McCaffrey returned to practice.
39:50He did reveal and said that this was all part of the plan that he was going to practice for 10 days,
39:56then sit for 10 days and then start up all over again.
39:59Uh, Hayden, one, do you believe him? And two, do you want to do that for this show where we go for
40:0510 days and then take 10 days off and then we come back?
40:09That was, that would be refreshing. Um, I don't know if what to believe.
40:13Um, I'm going to take CMC's word for this and then just turn it right back to Shanahan and be like, why not just say this?
40:20Like, why do we have to do this tightness thing?
40:23Like, were they like not on the same page?
40:26And maybe like CMC was like, this is what I'm doing.
40:29And the four niners didn't want them to do that.
40:32I don't know. Something's, something's up here. I don't really care.
40:35Uh, fifth or sixth overall, depending on if you like JT or JSN or CMC better.
40:39I think we all know what we're signing up for.
40:42He's going to win your league or he's going to be, there's going to be a setback because he's dealing with tightness and coming off a million touches.
40:50Yeah. I was on Greg Rosenthal's show NFL daily on Friday.
40:53And he basically said that as a former fancy guy, last year was the time to draft CMC, which all of you
40:59did because we suggested you do it. Uh, and it turned out great.
41:03And this is the year not to do it.
41:06So like, don't just make that mistake two times in a row based on all the touches that he got last year.
41:12And again, he wasn't efficient at all on those touches.
41:15He just got them all because he was the only offensive player, uh, still on the field.
41:20And so, uh, yeah, later on this week, I think we both have episodes of our least favorite pick in every round.
41:26Uh, I wonder if CMC is going to pop up there for, for either of us.
41:30Uh, he will not on mine, but for you.
41:33Well then he will not for mine either. Yeah.
41:35I mean, this team has just been so cagey with injuries over the last few years.
41:40I mean, we still don't know. I'm sure Nick Bosa is actually sitting out because he wants, you know, some new guaranteed money.
41:46Uh, but then there's an injury label on that.
41:49We know all about like the Trent Williams stuff previously with this team.
41:53And then obviously Christian Caffrey a couple of years ago, like Ricky Pearsall, they just do not handle injuries exactly how you want them to.
42:00And so it, I think it's easy to poke holes in, Hey, this was the plan all along, but who knows?
42:06It might be real and it might help them out.
42:08Other plan was the plan that the owner should be, you know, in trailer parks, you know?
42:13Uh, so I'll, I'll read this news. This is from, cause you will not see from NFL insiders other than the, uh,
42:20you know, announcement that the 49ers posted, uh, quote, Jeg York, who is the CEO or owner of the 49ers, uh, pleaded
42:26no contest to criminal charges after being arrested on suspicion of engaging in prostitution in Ohio over the weekend, according to court documents.
42:32And you say, well, we're in Ohio. That's a large state.
42:35Could it be, you know, Columbus? Could it be Cleveland?
42:38Well, he was actually arrested at what? 9 30 AM in a section called quote Wheat Hill mobile home community.
42:44Hey, and I hear that Wheat Hill is the place you really want to visit, uh, at the end of August, it's peak season.
42:51Everything is green and it smells wonderful there. I will say I, I, I went on Google maps looking to see like, okay, how bad was this?
42:58It was pretty nice for, for a mobile home park, but I will say if you are a billionaire or if you
43:04know, your team is about to travel all the way to Australia, I would probably, you know, uh, rather be, um, in
43:11San Francisco and be preparing for that type of stuff.
43:14But, uh, yeah, he also could just go to the strip club instead of, uh, doing whatever he was doing in this mobile home park.
43:21So not a good luck. We'll see if the NFL is like actually gonna, uh, come down with stuff.
43:26I think that with, um, Robert Kraft, like the charges were dropped.
43:29He played no contest and maybe like there's some admission of guilt.
43:33There's also body cam footage. Like you just never know what's going to come up in this, but obviously it's just a terrible, terrible look.
43:40It's not going to matter for anything that we, we care about, but just terrible.
43:44Let's do some split backfields. Okay. We touched on this on Thursday, the New York giants, uh, added Najee Harris.
43:50Now in their preseason game, Cam Scadaboo did not play.
43:53Devin Singletary did play and he played ahead of Tyrone Tracy who then later fumbled.
43:57Uh, I think Devin Singletary was back there for either kick returns or pump returns.
44:01And then Tyrone Tracy was on like kick coverage on top of this as well.
44:05Yeah. Um, now the other layer added on is Jordan Ronan had this quote that Najee Harris was brought in under the
44:12premise that he's going to be a significant contributor to this backfield.
44:15So I know you've been actively drafting Cam Scadaboo this off season.
44:18How are you interpreting Najee Harris being involved here?
44:21I think he's going to be the RB too.
44:23Um, and I think that Tyrone Tracy, they, they have kept four running backs before.
44:28I think that's their tentative plan. If somebody wanted to trade for Tyrone Tracy, um, I can see that Devin Singletary, he's
44:34kind of just been like steady Eddie RB three, but yeah, Tyrone's been making too many mistakes.
44:39It's a new regime. So you never know. I think that, you know, on the margins, this matters for Cam Scadaboo, like
44:45Najee Harris in theory can get some goal line snaps.
44:48Like if Scadaboo is not fully himself and like maybe Najee Harris mixes in a little bit more than otherwise.
44:53Uh, but I still feel good that Cam Scadaboo is going to be the RB one.
44:58I moved him down behind some, like the wide receivers over there.
45:01I would rather have Deandre Swift than Cam Scadaboo straight up.
45:04But then once you kind of get down to a tier, I just don't see the upside cases that present themselves as
45:11cleanly as Cam's does like this, the offensive line has a chance to be decent and he catches passes and he's the
45:17goal line back and he was good just last year.
45:20Like if you check all four of those boxes, could he be, uh, you know, the RB 10 this year?
45:25I think it's like possible. Um, and I think once you go down too many running backs in a row, I think
45:32it's a little bit harder to find that profile.
45:34I feel like Deandre Swift has escaped this tier now, and he might be in like a tier of his own behind the Travis HN.
45:41And then you have Deandre Swift. Then you have the glut of all those other running backs that we've kind of already discussed.
45:48He seems like such a solid pick right now where for five seasons, you would never call Deandre Swift a safe or solid pick.
45:54He's had an impeccable preseason. We have talked at length about how this team really focused in on types of runs and successful areas that he has.
46:02And they are kind of building the rushing attack around that.
46:05Plus the Monung guy injury that he's coming back from still.
46:08Um, yeah. I mean, I'm happy to draft Deandre Swift.
46:11If I end up at like the third or fourth spot and I'm privileged to take Jamar Chase or Puka Nakua, and
46:17I'm going to miss again, that round two and three area of running backs.
46:21Cause that's not great. There. Deandre Swift might be my first running back off the board with that.
46:26Yes. And like, you're like praying that he falls to that spot.
46:30I did read a report that the Kyle Monung guy injury, it like could be like a six week injury.
46:35And like the, the, the bears are bracing that the opening couple of weeks of the season will just be Deandre Swift.
46:42It will not be with Kyle Monung guy. So MCLs is a huge range.
46:46Um, I saw at least one, uh, bears beat reporter thinking that this might be a like closer to, you know, the
46:52six week side of things rather than back in two weeks.
46:55Wow. Wow. Wow. Yeah. Draft Deandre Swift, uh, final point here on the giants, Malachi Fields sat after the first series in
47:01this game, Darius Slayton and Calvin Austin continue to play.
47:04Yep. Um, so again, this is Malachi Fields maybe moving up and up and up as, you know, the X wide receiver.
47:10And then you get Malik neighbors and like the movement Z and that's exactly what we want here.
47:15Um, and Malik neighbors, apparently according to Jordan might be shedding his red contact Jersey this week.
47:20It might not. We'll see. Okay. Another split backfield Pittsburgh Steelers here.
47:24So Mike Vecchiano, we've seen Mike DeFabo, multiple Steelers writers or insiders have gone through Steelers camp say they expect Rico Dattel
47:30to be the leader in this running back committee.
47:32Uh, it has not been drafted this way. I know you haven't been drafting it in that way.
47:37So I just would kind of like your input on if you expect Rico Dattel to lead this team in touches.
47:43Uh, no, I think it's gonna be dealing Warren.
47:46Um, I, in this game, it was Jalen Warren with who started, he played the entire first drive, which is just three plays.
47:52And then Rico Dattel played the second drive, which is four plays.
47:56And then they each played six snaps in the final drive.
47:59Just for my money. I think Jalen Warren looks a lot better.
48:02He had a great pass protection rep. Uh, I think that he runs like a little bit of like pep in his
48:09step, but in terms of like like short area burst, then also he's got a little side to side wiggle.
48:14I think Rico Dattel is a find back. Uh, I didn't love that.
48:18He was wearing number 13. That threw me kind of, uh, for a loop there.
48:22Don't, don't love that. But yeah, I think that the incumbent, I think that he's got, you know, the, the past game
48:28role and, uh, Jalen Warren has been like fairly effective in some goal line situations over the years.
48:33He plays way tougher than his size would indicate just watching them back and forth.
48:38I just think that Jalen Warren's a better player than Rico Dattel is.
48:41I gotta be honest. I don't end up with either of these guys very often because if we talk about Jalen Warren
48:48on Yahoo, he's going at the beginning of the seventh round, still Parker Washington is going after him.
48:53George Kittle is going after him. Uh, and then, you know, Rico Dattel is going at the top of the eighth round
48:59and I can take quarterbacks like Brock Purdy in that area, you know, if I've waited.
49:03So for some reason, I'm just not ending up with this running back room very often.
49:08Ben Gretsch did have a great staff though. That's six running backs got 85 targets last year.
49:13Five of those six are going in the top two rounds.
49:16The sixth one was obviously Kenny Gainwell, who is no longer on this team, but we have seen a consistent part of
49:22Aaron Rodgers, you know, passing attacks over the last years has been, Hey, the running backs going to get a whole bunch of targets.
49:29So one of these guys will probably get close to that 70 target range.
49:33And that's a lot like that'll be top seven for running backs out there.
49:37Yeah. I do draft Jalen Warren actually a lot for my RB three in the flex.
49:41Um, I think he's a better one to bring it up.
49:44Yeah. I think he's a better fit within the offense.
49:47Like if you just look at the history of McCarthy, a little bit more, uh, pass first, then run first.
49:53And then with Rogers, we saw it last year.
49:55And I still think between the tackles and just as a pure ball carrier, I still think that Jalen Warren's better than Rico Donald.
50:02So. All right. Hayden versus the beats. That's right.
50:05Who wins? We'll find out. Carolina Panthers. Uh, let's start with the running back since that's the theme here.
50:10So Chuba Hubbard says he is healthy at this point and that the training staff is just playing it safe, keeping him out of practice here.
50:18Uh, Chuba had a calf issue like halfway through last season.
50:21That's when, you know, Rico down on how it is explosion, uh, and then tried to come back too quickly.
50:26And then still the injury kind of carried itself throughout.
50:29So it seems like the coaching staff and the training staff is trying to prevent that from happening here.
50:35Once again, however, Dave Canales got in the mic and said, yeah, we expect this to be a split backfield.
50:40And Hayden, I know you even pointed out that, uh, he said a lot of first and second down roles and then third down and passing situations.
50:48I'm not going to go against the head coach.
50:50Who's going to make a lot of these calls.
50:53That sounds like a very rigid approach for guys who I actually think have somewhat overlapping skill sets in these areas.
50:59So I think it's going to be kind of difficult to delineate who was who in this.
51:04Yes, I agree. I will say the question said, is this going to be a committee?
51:08And what is he going to say? No, the other guy's not going to play.
51:12So this is like one where it's like, it's a headline.
51:16If you like leading question. Yes. He's like, what is it?
51:19No, Brooks stinks, man. Like it's obviously just going to be Chuba or he's not there or the inverts.
51:24Like he's going to say, yeah, both these guys are going to play.
51:28And guess what? Was anyone drafting either one of these guys not expecting the other one to mix in?
51:33Like we knew this was going to be a committee.
51:36Like to me, this just comes down to do.
51:38Who is better at football? Chuba Hubbard or Jonathan Brooks?
51:41We have to get that right. And I think there's room for debate.
51:45I think it's been encouraging that Jonathan Brooks has been out there.
51:48Can I say I've been wowed by Jonathan Brooks?
51:51I can't. In fact, I think he looks maybe a little bit sluggish in his lateral ability, at least in pass protection,
51:57was a big concern this last game. I also think that using last year's splits is difficult to trust because one, Chuba was coming back from injury.
52:05And also Rico Dowdle is like very one dimensional in a way where Chuba, you can kind of like he can kind
52:11of fit into whatever Rico's weaknesses are. And I think that, like you said, Chuba and Jonathan Brooks are pretty similar.
52:17And it's just who's better at football. And I think that the Panthers are trying to figure that out as they try to evaluate Jonathan Brooks.
52:24I think there's enough time where in week one, I think Chuba Hubbard leaves with more touches than Jonathan Brooks.
52:30And then as the season progresses, Brooks is going to have to steal that job away from Chuba Hubbard.
52:35I just find it interesting that the ADPs, they haven't just like flipped.
52:39They're like, we're back to where it was, where it's, there's a pretty big gap between them.
52:44And I have not chased Jonathan Brooks up the board personally, but I understand if you're saying that he's a much better
52:50player than Chuba Hubbard, I'm just waiting for more concrete evidence that's actually coming into fruition.
52:55Yeah, if we just look at consensus rankings, Jonathan Brooks is 82nd overall.
52:58And then Chuba Hubbard is 92nd overall. I do have Jonathan Brooks ranked ahead of Chuba Hubbard.
53:03Again, I am not drafting a whole bunch of this section of running backs.
53:07I want my guys earlier and then I want to take my shots and some of the names a bit later on in this.
53:14This is kind of the section I'm just avoiding overall.
53:17I think it's also under the radar that the Panthers are going through some offensive line changes, you know?
53:22Hopefully Damian Lewis and Robert Hunt play at left guard and right guard, but they have a new center in town.
53:28They have a new left tackle and they have a new right tackle.
53:32Albeit the right side of Robert Hunt and Monroe feeling can move some people like that is, that is cool stuff.
53:38So yeah, I'm ranking Jonathan Brooks ahead. I just simply wouldn't say, Hey, Jonathan Brooks is the best pass, better pass catcher.
53:44So he's going to play on third downs because last year when tied to Rico Dattel, Dave Canelo said that Chuba Hubbard
53:50was their passing down back because he was better in pass protection and also had some receiving skills on top of it.
53:56Jonathan Brooks had a whiff early on in this preseason matchup, but then came back and had a nice pickup a bit later on too.
54:03So it's, uh, yeah, this one's still up in the air.
54:06I would say it's going to be up in the air for the whole season.
54:11It's going to watch the games and then we're going to learn in three weeks.
54:15We're going to be like, Oh, it's very obvious that one's better than the other until one picks up an injury and
54:21then the other guys that the one to draft, I think that's a fair point.
54:25You can say I'm not drafting Panthers running backs this year.
54:28I think that's a totally reasonable take. I will say Chuba Hubbard quietly does have a top 15 fantasy running back season
54:35under spelled that happened two years ago because people are kind of forgetting that part.
54:39Right. And this Panthers team runs the ball when they're good at it and they run the ball when they're bad.
54:45Yeah. It doesn't matter. But yes, I think after the first game of the season, we're going to have so much more
54:51information than we will have after three games in the preseason.
54:54Yes. I think the news was Chuba is ready to go for week one.
54:58The news was not that we learned anything about what the splits actually going to be.
55:03It's just let the best man win. And we're going to see what happens in week one because both will be, will be available.
55:09Uh, other thing, quick note, Harmon pointed out that both Ted Roman Mellon and Jalen Coker have been the slot 40% of the time.
55:16Now, unfortunately, Xavier Leggett is back in a walking boot with a, uh, foot slash ankle injury.
55:21So, uh, that might restrict some of the slot alignments for both, but it's very clear that they know that, Hey, slot
55:27work for these big wide receivers is an easy button and we're going to get both of them to do it.
55:33And not just one of them. If they need me to be the sacrificial X and I'll just run in a straight
55:39line to make these guys be the slot receivers.
55:42That's all we need. It'll be, it doesn't, I don't care who it's going to be, but somebody's going to run fast on the sideline.
55:49And then these two guys are going to work over the middle and that's how it should work.
55:54More backfield stuff. Let's talk about Seattle Seahawks. Uh, Jadarian price has been shut down for the rest of the preseason.
56:00Here's a quote from beat writer, Greg Bell. Mike McDonald, general manager, John Schneider have seen enough of prices, speed, decisiveness in
56:06cutting into outside zone run gaps and his past catching to no price is too valuable.
56:11And the running back room too thin by injuries already this preseason to risk the rookie lead back in these games that don't count.
56:18So Hayden, I don't think we're going to see Jadarian price touch the ball a single time in a preseason game.
56:24The other part of this is he's also been in and out of practice.
56:28Um, right. I think you can interpret this two ways based on your evaluation of the situation.
56:32Mine is, Hey, last season, this team split the backfield so much to keep someone healthy that they are just treating Jadarian
56:39price with like a white glove with kid gloves in a way to like keep them in bubble wrap until the season starts and unleash them there.
56:46But then other people can say, well, they're shutting them down for us to practice the rest of training camp because they
56:52don't want him to get hurt anymore. So yeah, I would hear your argument on either side.
56:57Like this would fall into like just August BS behind the scenes.
57:01They don't have to announce anything. We just don't know that the hard part with Jadarian is like ESPN's reporter.
57:06This was like just before training camp said that they did not draft price with the thought that he'd become a high volume starter.
57:13He's going to share time, wait for Zach Charbonne return.
57:16Then there's other reporters. He's been great as a receiver, but pass protection has been bad.
57:20Now it's like, is he not playing because he's so good or is he not playing because he's injured?
57:26We don't know. I think that's the reality of it.
57:29I think it's a good situation to be in the fact that there's like relative no namers behind them and they drafted him where they did.
57:36It would make sense to me that until Zach Charbonne returns, he is in a pretty awesome role to have and that
57:42he would be an RB to flex. And a lot of those running backs that he's being drafted around, we're learning.
57:48They're not the starter. Like Trayvon Henderson is not the Patriots starter.
57:52He has been going ahead of Jadarian price. Like we're starting to chop off a bunch of guys around him to the
57:58point where, uh, there's kind of a soft spot in drafts.
58:01And if I don't want it, a quarterback, I am kind of looking at like Jadarian prices.
58:06Like let's, let's see what happens here. And then with Zach Charbonne, I haven't really seen his name pop up in the last week or so.
58:13Uh, maybe they're starting to get more realistic about when his surgery was, but that's like the other thing where it's just
58:19everything about this is uncertain, but he does not have that much fantasy hype for being a first round running back on
58:25a team that just won the Superbowl. So I think he's a fine pick.
58:29Yeah. I said everything I need to say in the episode where I outlined the 14 players I'm betting the fancy season
58:36on Jadarian price was one of those. Um, I mean, Sam Darnold even said, quote, he's a special player.
58:41He's really special, whether it's catching passes out of the backfield, catching screens, running between the tackles outside the tackles, he can really do it all.
58:48And as you know, in the broadcast last night, they interviewed him on the side, but he again brings up Jadarian price.
58:55So again, consistent rankings have him as running back 25 and I'm well ahead at running back 22.
59:00Uh, maybe it stings me, but I just think that second be as rigid as it was last year in the games that Zach Sharmini does miss.
59:07We have Jadarian price unleashed. And then from there is actually going to come back to exactly what he was last season.
59:14I'm just going to bet against that and think that Jaren price is going to win out and earn more and, uh,
59:20has a chance of really outperforming where he's going right now.
59:23Yep. Yep. All fair. Denver Broncos backfield. So JK Dobbins again, did not play in this one.
59:28RJ Harvey played over Jonah Coleman still. And that first drive caught a touchdown just outside the red zone, but it was
59:34very similar to like the red zone touchdowns that he caught those package plays that Sean Payton dialed up for him last year.
59:40Now I bring that up because Graham Barfield is pointing this out that Broncos running backs ranked seventh, fourth, and first in
59:47running back receptions over the last three seasons. RJ Harvey even had the eighth most receptions among running backs last year.
59:53So while you and I had this long conversation last week about if JK Dobbins goes down, it'll most likely be Jonah
59:59Coleman versus RJ Harvey inheriting that at the same time, should we completely lose track that RJ Harvey is going to have a role in this offense?
60:06Yeah, he's definitely going to have a role. I think just trying to figure out exactly how valuable that role is.
60:12There is absolutely an obsession between Sean Payton and RJ Harvey from the 22 yard line.
60:17I mean, this was, this happened the entire season, uh, even when he was struggling and then we immediately see it, a
60:23big wheel route against a linebacker is a good catch by RJ Harvey.
60:27It's how you should be using RJ Harvey. I think that he's still too inconsistent as a rusher to give him like a high volume of carries.
60:34Um, but he's very explosive. So designing and touches like this, I do think takes, uh, his strengths and it applies them in a, in a good spot.
60:42So, um, after that, Jonah Coleman plays in, uh, and I thought Jonah Coleman looked totally fine.
60:47There's clearly a difference between Jonah Coleman's athleticism and RJ Harvey takes about one play each to learn about that.
60:53Um, but yeah, I think RJ Harvey is going to have some value.
60:57Maybe we overstate that value, but I think that, you know, he, I think where he gets drafted is a fine enough price tag for him.
61:04The second drive that they played, Jonah Coleman also played a full drive with Bo Nix too.
61:09So it wasn't like, Hey, he's only with the second team.
61:12They just cycled the two running backs in that way.
61:15I did want to bring it to the chargers because we did get to see Keaton Mitchell coached by Mike McDaniel.
61:21He played a number of snaps. And what I liked the most Hayden is that you saw all of like the Devon
61:27H and CMC yo-yo motions with him as a pass catcher.
61:30Like he wouldn't start lined up next to the quarterback.
61:33He would start kind of in the void, in the gap between the tight ends and the wide receivers and motion.
61:39And obviously that would be like a, you know, man's own tell, but at the same time it would create some natural space for him too.
61:46So you can tell, Hey, Michael McDaniel is not doing that for a Martin Hampton.
61:50He's not doing that for Kamani Vidal. So he has this in mind just for Keaton Mitchell.
61:55I have the exact same notes. Like he's doing this on purpose.
61:58Like we should be reading it. Like the man that put the wanted poster up is also using him in fun ways.
62:05And it worked like they were trying to get him to be a pass catcher, which we did not know that Keaton Mitchell was going to do that.
62:13Cause he's never done that in the pros and they're experimenting with it.
62:16If you've been watching the training camp and then you watch it in the preseason, there he goes catching a wheel route down the sideline.
62:23Um, I think he is an awesome pick in fantasy.
62:26I will say this, the interior offensive line has me extremely nervous.
62:30Cole strange maps. The left guard was like, he couldn't, he just couldn't move.
62:34And then now we have a center, um, who they did not want to start.
62:38So the three office alignment, it could be with one of these, these teams where McDaniel is a great coordinator.
62:43He's going to have to scheme around this. Um, but maybe that means even more key Mitchell to the perimeter.
62:49Yeah. So this is a team that back in June, you know, we were having conversations, Hey, can lad McConkie be this
62:55versions of this year's version of Jason where, you know, they run more heavier sets and the offense shocks people when it becomes top five in scoring.
63:03I am nervous of the jump of going from like 16th and scoring up to top six because of the offensive line at this point.
63:10Like you said, the right guard steps from Cole strange were horrible.
63:13The center stuff was not good. The left guard stuff was not good.
63:17And so you have like the two tackles and then the left one has been injured for the vast majority of camp too.
63:24And that can just limit what you're stealing is going to be, you know?
63:28And so that does make me nervous of just this team completely shattering expectations.
63:32That's not to say it like takes me away from necessarily drafting, uh, some of these players I'm consistently doing, but it
63:38does leave me wondering if like the high end outcome is a real possibility.
63:42Yeah. I think I ranked him like 10th or so in like offenses, like projected scoring this year, which is like a good offense.
63:48It's not like the top one. It's also a work in progress just in terms of the first year in the scheme and whatnot.
63:55Got some answers elsewhere. Charlie Kohler is a starting tight end.
63:58It was David Njoku ahead of a Rondi Gadsden as well.
64:01Um, Charlie Kohler, they got him, uh, a catch early on as well.
64:05Brennan Thompson, who I really liked as a prospect.
64:08Uh, he was out there starting in two wide receiver sets next to Lad McConkie with QJ and Trey Harris not being
64:14out there, but, um, I could see this being like a four wide receiver rotation where he's actually getting some snaps.
64:20I think he's like kind of looked the part.
64:22And then, you know, I always just get nervous about Martin Hampton's ADP.
64:26Like the more I watch Keaton Mitchell and the offensive line and stuff, you're like, you can see how he's not going
64:32to be a stone cold bus, but could he be the RB 13 this year?
64:37And he drafted in 13th overall. Like that's, that's, I can see that, uh, happening this year.
64:41Um, so yeah, I don't drop him too much.
64:44Okay. Flash ranking, rank these running backs, Chris Rodriguez, Keaton Mitchell, Woody Marks, Tajay Spears.
64:48Oh man. Um, I have Keaton Mitchell, the highest I got Chris Rodriguez there, Woody Marks, and then Tajay Spears.
64:54Um, I think Keaton Mitchell is easily the most fun of that group.
64:58Um, and I think that his ceiling is, is the highest, just like if you have one of these bonkers seasons where
65:04he averages seven yards per carry and he gets 10 touches a game, like that's enough.
65:08Yeah. Again, the season that Raheem Moser was the running back three and Devon HN was a running back four in points
65:14per game was, you know, the Dolphins scoring like the second most points in the league.
65:19Uh, but that was also, you know, Devon HN having huge explosives from outside the red zone.
65:24And then once they got inside the red zone, it was Raheem Moser scoring a ludicrous amount of touchdowns, the most above
65:3030 plus year old since like John Riggins. Yeah.
65:33And so again, I think perfectly that would be like the Martin Hampton, Keaton Mitchell, both are good picks at their value.
65:39I have my doubts to that. I think, I think defenses are perfect.
65:42Yeah. I think defenses have adjusted to this. It's still an awesome scheme, but there's been some adjustments being made.
65:48That was also to a quarterback and not Justin Herbert.
65:51Yeah. That was also like Devon HN, averaging like nine yards per touch.
65:55Yes. And Devon HN is a superstar. Yeah. Um, I guess quickly let's talk about that Titans group because once again, they, uh, played starters in the preseason.
66:03We don't need to talk about their defense that got torched by the Seattle Seahawks second team for two long touchdowns with their starting defense on the field.
66:10Um, the running back room, again, we kind of saw a 50 50 split here where Tony Pollard got the first long ish drive.
66:17I think it was about eight plays with the starters played all of them.
66:21And then Tajay Spears popped in there for the next four plays, including a fourth and one that he was stuffed on.
66:27Then again, the starters came out for the third drive and he was in there again.
66:32So it kind of felt like they have planned to go series by series here in the preseason.
66:37Uh, I guess the question is, do you think they go series to series once the regular season starts?
66:42I actually can see this being a drive by drive rotation where Tony Pollard starts out of each halftime and then Tajay Spears gets out there.
66:50I think it's, you know, two similar styled backs, um, where they can play on, on any situation to varying degrees of success.
66:56Um, and I think that third drive, I'm guessing they didn't want to have a third drive with the first team offense,
67:03but they had played so poorly early on that they wanted more snaps out there and they weren't going to have Tony
67:09Pollard play, you know, uh, the third drive, uh, as a veteran.
67:12So I'm going to guess week one is drive by drive rotation.
67:16Is that, is that what you want to see?
67:18Uh, it's not, I have some, I, I once again have some question marks about this, this offense after what, well, yeah,
67:24I watched the past game again, how through two preseason games, can you not force a catch to the number four overall pick in the NFL draft?
67:32That is disheartening and it's discouraging looking ahead to the start of the NFL season and our fantasy drafts.
67:37Yeah. Cam Ward put a ball out of bounds, uh, on a, like just like a normal fade route, like, you know, 20 yards down the sideline.
67:45And then I will say with, uh, Cardinal Tate, there was a crossing route where he initially had some separation and then
67:51the corner like immediately caught up to him. And then that ball was also sailed by the time it arrived.
67:57So, uh, accuracy problems have, have been there for Cam Ward.
68:00Cam Ward escaped the pocket and then got another fumble.
68:03I mean, it's, it's every single game with, with Cam Ward and these same fumbles.
68:07Um, and it's like the timing, like everything is so RPO play action, try to get it out.
68:12But Cam's just like, you know, slinging it. Like he's in the backyard.
68:16There's no rhythm to this offense. And like, I think they also have a day ball problem and an offensive line problem.
68:22Yes. Um, at least I'll say this, there was no wide receiver rotation.
68:26Like that was, that happened in preseason week one.
68:28It was back to just Ridley and Tate on the outside, Wandale in the slot.
68:32There's going to be a lot of Wandale receptions.
68:35They might go for three yards, but I mean, that's, that's like the best thing they've got going is he's like Wandale
68:41Robinson hitch routes for, for three yards. Yeah. That's what they can complete at this point.
68:46Now it's funny after the Cam Ward fumble, which again, he just can't let a play die.
68:51I was like, he has to learn how to do this.
68:54And then the next nap runs around and then finds Gunnar Helm for like a 30 yard gain and then Helm can get a second foot in bounds.
69:02But, uh, again, that's like this tightrope. He has to learn.
69:05And it's been two very negative place that we've seen over the last few weeks and at least one per game.
69:11It felt like last year. And he hasn't mastered that style yet.
69:14I kind of want him, I want him to be the Jordan love bounce in the pocket and throw the ball down
69:20field, not like scramble around doing the Holmes impression type of stuff.
69:24Like, I just don't think he has like the athletic traits to pull that off longterm.
69:28And I'm not sure if day ball has all the answers with this offensive line.
69:32So I'm hashtag nervous about, uh, Cardinal Tate's ADP.
69:35Like if you want to draft Casey Concepcion over Cardinal Tate, I'm especially in full PPR.
69:40I totally get it. Packers. Marshawn Lloyd is locked in running back too.
69:43I will say, Hey, I don't think I've been impressed by him as an individual runner, but he did have a nice angle route touchdown in this one.
69:51Yep. See the same way. He's, uh, he's an excited runner.
69:54And I think that, you know, that's complimentary and derogatory.
69:57Um, so I think we see it the same way.
70:00Yeah. Awesome. Uh, that they got him a touch like that in the red area that that's promising for him.
70:06Um, the guy that continues to stand out on tape to me is Matthew golden.
70:10He had that and one reception. And, uh, even early on, I like this sometimes like only a couple of plays per
70:16game, there'll be off coverage in the two wide receivers.
70:19We'll run the exact same route. And you can kind of see like, who's like, who's fast, who's not in Christian Watson
70:25and Matthew golden were running the same exact route.
70:28And Matthew golden was notably faster in the straight line and coming out of his break on that rep.
70:33Uh, so just hashtag noticing that Matthew golden looks extremely fast out there and the reports have been pretty positive.
70:39You can still get them in the hundreds on Yahoo.
70:41I just, I just truly do not get it.
70:44Yeah. Again, this, you know, name kind of changes on a weekly basis.
70:48Matthew golden might be the most mispriced pick and fancy football at, at this point.
70:52I mean, I've had him up at wide receiver 44.
70:55It feels like weeks at this point. And then if you look just over on his consensus rankings, Matthew golden is wide receiver 50.
71:02And even in home league drafts, especially on Yahoo is going later than that.
71:06Yeah. It's a first round pick on a team.
71:08That's good. Like, yeah. And I don't even love going back and watching his, you know, rookie season stuff.
71:13And yet I am still well ahead of market on where he should be going right now.
71:18It's a pretty easy pick to make. That's for sure.
71:21I also love the force plays with priest that motion for Christian Watson.
71:25Like we're going to get some easy releases. Like it's, it's going to go well.
71:29I still like that pick quite a bit. Uh, should we do a quick hitters?
71:33I mean, we're an hour and 10 minutes into this Jaguars, something that we haven't talked about enough.
71:38I feel like is that they are totally reworking their offensive line.
71:42And as Brett Cohen put it, there's a chance that 80% of them might be playing in different spots this year.
71:48So Anton Harrison is moving from right tackle to left tackle.
71:51They have Colvin Lannan who just returned to practice after injury is now moving over to the right side.
71:56He has played there before, but you know, starting now one of the right guard or left guard spots is up for grabs after Patrick McCurry's injury.
72:04It might be, you know, a third round rookie and Emmanuel pregnant.
72:07Um, and then they have other injuries to their swing offensive linemen.
72:11So this was kind of the case with them last year.
72:14They were bringing in some new names too, but, uh, we always talk about successful rushing attacks and maybe Liam Cohen already
72:20did some self-scouting and said, Hey, rather than the explosives, we just want the four, six, eight rushing yard per carry stuff.
72:26And, uh, maybe that's what they're going to get this year.
72:29He probably knows he's not getting 10 yard carries behind this office.
72:33I will say this Jacksonville's offensive line was not good last year.
72:36Um, but I think they will also not be good this year.
72:39So, um, I would put Liam Cohen inside my top five, uh, in terms of, you know, run game play designers and
72:46just a feel for the running back position in general.
72:48Um, so we'll see about this. Uh, this is like the type of things that like works against teams on the margins.
72:55And like when we could like perhaps overrate an offense, it's like these types of things kind of can come back to, to bite them.
73:02And they had an easy schedule at certain points in the season last year and beat up on some bad teams that
73:08got really hot at the end, their defense was cruising.
73:11And then like, all of a sudden, like you're like really sitting there and like ranking teams, like one to 32, like
73:17Jackson, like sometimes like is like ranked 16th and you're like, Oh, that's kind of surprising.
73:22But like, it's like for reasons, like you said, here is like why they might be like a tier below than what you might think.
73:29At the same time, if you want to take a negative angle here, the reason why some teams don't live up to
73:35their projected team totals is because they're offensive line and you can kind of poke holes and how necessarily they're bad talents,
73:41but the changing talents of this, uh, might lead to some stretches of some poor play.
73:46Yeah. So yep. Jacoby Myers also has a brace in his right hand right now.
73:50I think we're still gathering information on that. Hopefully he plays in week one, uh, Washington commanders.
73:55Bill is currently limited with an undisclosed injury. Uh, he'll be rested for the rest of this week.
74:00Hey, and hopefully we'll get more information before, you know, practices go dark because Bill Krosky merit has been one of my
74:06favorite running back picks later on the board. Yeah.
74:09Full, full agree. Uh, I've been taking shots at both of the commanders running backs.
74:13Um, but yeah, I don't, don't love to see it.
74:16And we're not going to give that much information at this point moving forward.
74:20Um, another player that's on practice, I'm glad you brought up Jacoby Myers, like DK Metcalf, which I don't know.
74:25He's not there. We just, we just don't know.
74:28I don't think I've drafted DK Metcalf like one time.
74:31Yeah. One time. There is a seventh round. I've been on the clock.
74:34Sometimes I'm like, could I just like skip to round eight?
74:37I guess I'm just going to waive my rights to this pick.
74:41Um, and so sometimes I do click, click Metcalf round seven.
74:44No, I would, I would, I would, I'd rather do that.
74:47I just know I can draft him to the 10th.
74:50When you get to round seven, that's when you just click roll to Sean Stripling's name.
74:54Yeah. That's it for real, for real. Uh, but yeah, there's some mystery injury players and I think Bill's one Jacoby's one DK Metcalf is one.
75:02I just don't know what the hell's going on.
75:04Small sample alert here for the Washington commanders. It's only three plays on the starting offense, but, uh, there were two plays
75:10of 11 personnel, one play of 12 personnel, Terry McLaurin and Traylon Burks played all three of those.
75:16Stefan Diggs only played the slot in 11. So two of the three snaps, this is notable because, you know, Stefan Diggs,
75:22despite being arguably the Patriots most talented wide receiver last year, only played 55% of the snaps.
75:27It was mainly as a slot player. He was playing behind Matt Collins in every single game.
75:31Um, I was hoping that Stefan Diggs would then transform to a 70 plus percent snap player in this, uh, again, tiny
75:38little sample here, but it gives me maybe a slight hesitation that might not happen.
75:42Yeah. I think it's most likely that's, this is what they're going to do.
75:46I was the one snap, but it was, it was probably the most important single snap of anything I learned from this preseason was, was that fact.
75:53Um, I moved him behind Jaden reads and, and Jaden, uh, Josh Downs like comfortably because like those guys are younger players
76:00and like in theory, those guys can escape from this role.
76:03Um, so we'll see. It did matter to me.
76:05I like that. Uh, Chig played a lot though.
76:08He played a lot of 11 personnel, eight of 10 snaps in 11.
76:12And obviously he was out there in 12 personnel, the other four snaps in 12.
76:16So if we're taking Stefan Diggs and David Blount, his work, then is Chig Okwankwo now not the tight end one for
76:22the Washington commanders and out there almost all the time?
76:25He is. But I will also note he was also playing with the backup offense after everyone else left.
76:30And like, that was also on my radar. I'm not sure.
76:33I don't know. Like I've been studying, you know, commanders, tight end threes and tight end four, dealing with injuries and stuff,
76:40but as everyone else left, Chig was still out there.
76:42So, uh, Stefan Diggs, I have like back to back right now with, with Josh Downs.
76:47So I think we're just going to move Josh Downs directly ahead of him.
76:51And that works as my wide receiver 41 and wide receiver 42, uh, behind Matthew Golden and wide receiver 40 Detroit lions.
76:57Maybe I should have brought this up earlier. We said, we're going to bring it up on Thursday's episode.
77:02Sam LaPorta has an injury from Dan Campbell quote, got hit in the hip and it flared up, but we feel good long term about him.
77:10We'll rest him for a little bit here and letting it all calm down.
77:14So I've seen some worry that this is connected to the back injury that he obviously had surgery on.
77:19I've seen other FF physios say, Hey, this just sounds like since he got hit, it's just a contusion.
77:25Uh, I don't know what to believe. And Hayden, because of that, I'm still going to be covering my eyes and drafting
77:31Sam LaPorta because the upside for me is quite high here.
77:34Yeah. This sounds like more contusion than anything. And I would put this into, we don't get fantasy points on August 24th,
77:40which I think we, we need, we need to start reminding, like maybe this is something we need to bring up.
77:46Like as we get into training camp is players are going to get injured in training camp and we're not getting any
77:52fantasy points for the training camp injuries. And like at some point these guys come back and they're totally fine.
77:58So I would be buying the dip on Sam LaPorta.
78:01So let's just wait until it goes dark, uh, for the week ahead and we get no updates.
78:06Then you get nervous at all. Zero updates. Speaking of tight ends, uh, we haven't talked enough about Terrence Ferguson.
78:11So Nate Atkins from the athletic said, and I think I guess interviewed and talked to Terrence Ferguson who told him that
78:18he spent the off season slimming down and being able to play the F Z Y and X they're playing to expand
78:24his role to quicker patterns versus, you know, half of his targets being 20 plus yards on the field.
78:29Like they were last year. You might disagree. This might be, you know, a phrase to not use in fantasy football, but
78:36I truly do believe that Terrence Ferguson is the Rams wide receiver three.
78:39And if we had a 15th round of the show that we did last week, Terrence Ferguson would have been the 15th
78:45player that I'm better than my fantasy season on.
78:48I'm not going to fight anyone on Terrence Ferguson.
78:51This is the team that every couple of years just make something up.
78:54And all of a sudden they're in a role that we had no idea about Puka Naku is all of a sudden
79:00he's our most valuable player on the team. We've seen that Cooper cup at one point did the same thing.
79:06Kyron Williams has done that Blake Corum came back from the next off season and he was a huge focal point.
79:12Um, so, you know, there are signs that Terrence Ferguson could, could be that.
79:16And, you know, Devante Adams, the trade rumors, like those are the type of things where like, you can think of a
79:22narrative of like, okay, which is the tight end that finishes at the tight end eight this year that nobody saw coming?
79:28Like Terrence Ferguson's like very clearly at the top of that list.
79:32So great last round pick and redraft. And if he plays eight snaps in week one, you can kick him to the side.
79:38If he plays 72% of the snaps and he's actually new to two out.
79:42Well, then guess what? We're, we're ready to go.
79:45And it's not hyperbole to say that he was two to our for them last year.
79:49Again, half of his targets were 20 plus yards down the field last year.
79:53So it is on my radar. That's saying quote, by getting the ball to Ferguson more quickly, the Rams can exploit a
80:00mismatch with a six, five, two 52 pound frame against linebackers rather than safeties.
80:04So if now we get the gimmies along with the downfield stuff and offense that pass the ball at a high rate, uh, pretty cool.
80:11I'll take it. Yeah, it really is cool. And Max Clare like played deep into the preseason.
80:15And so despite him being what a second round pick this last year, and then Terrence Ferguson being a second round pick
80:22previously, uh, is quite clear that Ferguson is much higher up in the depth chart.
80:26And then it's like, you know, the Parkinson, Davis Allen, whoever else you're going to throw in there.
80:31And then it's Max Clare. Yeah. I still do draft plenty of Colby Parkinson deep leagues.
80:35Um, I would say for Terrence Ferguson. Um, I think you have to draft like Jawan Johnson.
80:40I think Dalton Schultz as like maybe the Texans number two, Jake Ferguson, like those types.
80:45And then you get to, you know, AJ Barner, Chica Quanko, uh, Hunter Henry.
80:49If you want to put Terrence Ferguson at the top of that and just like roll the dice, like by all means, like go for it.
80:56If you draft tight in premium, exit your league with Terrence Ferguson towards the end.
81:00Cause that could be like the true difference maker.
81:03All upside. Great take. Uh, Falcons quick note, Zachariah branch only played in 11 personnel with the second team offense, not even 12 personnel.
81:10So he is, I think learning that solely. And let's remember that at Georgia, he was just a manufacturer touch player and that's it.
81:16Yes. He also effed up a play. Um, I will say this, he did run a outside routes, um, against off coverage and hit the brakes.
81:24And on that play, he looked like tank Dell to me.
81:27Like it was just like a reminder that this is a rockstar athlete.
81:31Like this is not like, you know, Malachi Corley, like if he was going to hit, and I think it's unlikely that
81:37he is, he actually does have the traits to be like a really, really fun player.
81:41Um, so I'm leaving the light on, but he, he did miss, mess some things up and he's going to be in the slot for most of it.
81:49Yeah. It might be more of a 20, 27 guy.
81:52He moves differently this year and learning a more, you know, composed route tree, especially from the slot.
81:57And then they can kind of grow up from there while we're recording.
82:01Uh, Michael Penix is in team drills, I think for the first time.
82:05And it sounds like he's getting more snaps than maybe B writers were expecting.
82:09Um, based on how Tua has looked, Michael Penix week one, uh, I don't think that's going to happen, but it's possible.
82:15I did like, uh, the doctors told him that he has an amazing ACL.
82:19Wow. Okay. Hopefully same, hopefully same. Um, just a couple more quick things here.
82:23Rashad Bateman, the NFL is investigating allegations. He broke the window of his ex's car with a three month old child inside.
82:29Not cool. Uh, and also Jacoby Lane looks like the wide receiver three on this team.
82:33And maybe that even turns into the wide receiver two, depending on Rashad Bateman.
82:37Um, meanwhile, Elijah Surratt, who was taking a couple spots after Jacoby Lane, uh, Nathan Yonke had a tweet and I'll pull it up here right now.
82:45I'm sure Weaves is putting it on the screen.
82:48Top four round rookies to play in the fourth quarter of preseason week two.
82:52That includes your guy, Jacob Harris, uh, Des Fitzpatrick, Amari Rogers, Tylan Wallace, as Eric, as you comma, uh, Danny Gray and
82:58keep going on and on through the list. And Elijah Surratt is in this group.
83:02It's not a great group to be a part of.
83:05I can't believe that you remember. I liked Jacob Harris.
83:08They tried to turn him into Terrence Ferguson. Yeah.
83:10And this is like Eli Stowers. There's a bunch of these guys.
83:14So the whole Eli Stowers, by the way, got, I mean, absolutely annihilated on one of this blocking place.
83:19Um, he's not even close to seeing the field.
83:22He's not going to play this year. Deep, deep into that game.
83:25Yeah. I mean, he wasn't even a full-time player with the second team offense, Eli Stowers.
83:29Uh, the last note I had was here with the Patriots and it was quote, what's the deal with Kyle Williams makes
83:36plays when on the field, but seems to be buried behind AJB Dobbs, Demario, Kayshaun Booty and Matt Collins.
83:41And that was obviously written before Kayshaun Booty was traded.
83:44So now they get to key to Kyle Williams.
83:46Is he just like a, you know, Jerry Bernard when he gets opportunities in games, he makes plays because it's amazing.
83:52He isn't up further on this depth chart this year and last year.
83:56He, his releases at the line of scrimmage. And then that initial burst is we got to see what that's all about
84:02because that's a pretty intriguing profile to me. Um, he's probably going to be the wider receiver five though.
84:08Like they have like a section of the play look from, for Mac pop Douglas is their slot.
84:13I would be curious to see AJ Brown in the slot and Kyle Williams on the perimeter.
84:18That's the thing that I would be trying to hit on, you know, like Kyle Williams upside versus pop Douglas is upside.
84:24I feel like that's a pretty big difference. Um, he makes some mistakes and I think that there was like, he didn't
84:30understand the playbook, those types of things, you know, come from Washington state, kind of a really funky offense.
84:35Like we could slow play this, his athletic traits and releases at the line of scrimmage, like stand out to me all the time.
84:42So last one jets, uh, Omar Cooper now is playing over Isaiah Williams as the wider seed of three.
84:47Uh, he played an 11 personnel with the starters like Geno Smith and Garrett Wilson and I met you and all those guys played.
84:54And then he stayed on the field with the second team offense as an outside wide receiver.
84:59So I think his role is very clear here that he is the third wide receiver when they're going through wide receiver sets in the slot.
85:06Um, because you have got two outside guys that are very, very good at what they do.
85:11God, he even said, and I Mitchell's very good at what he does.
85:15I mean, he didn't have two ISO coverage, breaking route wins that were pretty sweet in this game.
85:20I draft infinite Adonai Mitchell this year. I love it.
85:23Um, and then maybe if one of those guys goes down, that's how he gets into two wide receivers.
85:28That's here. Yeah. This might be the latest. We've drafted a first round wide receiver in a half decade with Omar Cooper in fantasy where he goes.
85:36I wonder where Traylon Burks went. I don't know.
85:38There was, you know, there are some serious Traylon Burks, you know, truthers out there.
85:43Um, yeah, I take shots on Omar Cooper where he's going.
85:46Um, no issues with it. He's free. He's free.
85:48Yep. All right. I think that does it. Did I miss anything that you wanted to cover?
85:53Um, if we did, I wrote things on Yahoo sports.
85:56You can go, you know, it's probably actually better for you guys to go read things rather than just listen to us.
86:02Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa. I mean, just watch Hayden on live television.
86:06I'm seeing it. Uh, you can do that too.
86:08Our rankings are attached to this. Um, half PPR, full PPR, all that type of stuff.
86:13Uh, we've got some fun shows this week, I think, including tomorrow.
86:16Hey, I need to update my ratings for this.
86:19The players you and I disagree on the most.
86:21So, uh, let us know in the comments down below who you think we're going to disagree on the most.
86:27And as always, thanks to people leaving reviews at this time.
86:30It is growing the show. It is growing the brand.
86:33So if you're listening to this on your phone at this moment, take five seconds afterwards and just leave a review either
86:39on Apple podcasts or Spotify, wherever I apologize for being sick.
86:42I swear every other week right now, I am, uh, getting something battling.
86:46It's crazy. Eight month old, uh, brings it home.
86:48You play a little bit and then wake up with a little cold the next day, but I'm good.
86:54All right, everyone. Thanks for watching. Shout out to Mosho and Weaves behind the scenes and all of you for tuning in.
87:00See you next time.
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