The Lineup Show - NFL Star Austin Ekeler Gives His 2026 Fantasy My Guys
STACKED extracted the fantasy-relevant player signal from this podcast and kept the full transcript here for context.
32 min
Duration
Estimated from transcript
Aug 12, 2026
Published
Wed, August 12, 2026
8
Player insights
6
Players mentioned
Topics
Christian McCaffreyKyler MurrayBrock PurdyDavid MontgomeryMike EvansParker Washington
Player analysis
Player insights
Brock Purdy
PositiveValue37:35
Brock Purdy is significantly undervalued as the QB14, given he finished as the QB2 in points per game last season and was PFF's seventh-highest graded passer. Despite injury concerns surrounding the 49ers' core, Purdy has consistently finished as a top-10 fantasy quarterback in points per game during his starts and offers massive upside at his current draft price.
Insight pageChristian McCaffrey
NegativeProjection2:15
Austin Ekeler identifies Christian McCaffrey as his number one overall pick in all drafts, citing his unique usage in the 49ers offense which mirrors a WR1's target volume. Despite recent reports of tightness, Ekeler dismisses the injury concern as noise and emphasizes that McCaffrey's ability to stay on the field and command goal-line work provides the highest weekly ceiling (20-40 points) in fantasy football.
Insight pageNegativeUsage42:12
Austin Ekeler highlights Christian McCaffrey's massive usage potential, noting that he is a player who can be targeted 200 times in the passing game, making him a high-impact asset for the 49ers' offense.
Insight pageDavid Montgomery
PositiveSleeper23:21
Austin Ekeler identifies David Montgomery as a sleeper for 2026, noting that his move to the Texans provides him with a clear path to 15-20 touches per game as the primary back. Ekeler likes the 'new team, new contract' energy and believes Montgomery has top-10 upside at his current ADP (RB19-20), comparing his situation to Joe Mixon's successful stint with the Texans.
Insight pageKyler Murray
PositiveValue27:04
Justin Mello labels Kyler Murray the best value at the quarterback position. Mello suggests ignoring Murray's poor 2025 performance due to team dysfunction and injury, arguing that in the current Vikings offense—which has historically supported high-end QB finishes for Kirk Cousins and Sam Darnold—Murray is positioned for a massive rebound given his elite supporting cast.
Insight pagePositiveValue29:15
Kyler Murray is a slam-dunk target in one-quarterback leagues, currently going as the QB17 despite having the best supporting cast of his career, including Justin Jefferson, Jordan Addison, and Juwan Jennings. He has a proven track record of top-10 finishes when playing at least 14 games and consistently provides rushing upside with at least 400 rushing yards in every season he has played 11+ games.
Insight pageMike Evans
NegativeUsage42:20
Austin Ekeler notes that the fantasy community is waiting to see how Mike Evans' role and usage play out within the 49ers' offense, acknowledging his potential impact alongside other key playmakers.
Insight pageParker Washington
PositiveBreakout14:06
Mitch Anderson champions Parker Washington as his number one fantasy player at cost, projecting him to emerge as the Jaguars' WR1. Anderson points to Washington's late-season breakout in 2025—where he was the WR6 through the fantasy playoffs—and his high efficiency metrics (first in targets, receptions, and YAC per route run) as evidence that he is a budding star similar to Amon-Ra St. Brown.
Insight pageFull transcript
Episode Transcript
0:00This message is brought to you by Apple Card, Shave Ice by the Beach, A Trip to the State Fair, and A Throwback Flick at the local drive-in.
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0:44If you watch one fantasy football video this summer, make it this one because we are joined by NFL superstar and 2022's
0:50RB1 overall in fantasy football, Austin Eckler. Welcome into the lineup fantasy football show.
0:53I'm Mitch Anderson. I'm Justin Mello. And as I said, Mello, we are joined by a very, you're going to be the
0:59first person to get a fifth very, very special guest today.
1:02We've got Austin Eckler here. How you doing, Austin?
1:04I'll take it. I'll take it. What's up, boys?
1:07I'm doing great, man. Looking forward to fantasy coming up here.
1:09Always a good time of the year when football's back on TV, even though it's preseason when we're filming this, it's still
1:15good to get a little taste of it, you know?
1:18Dude, Carson Beck and Haynes King just kicked things off perfectly.
1:21That's what I'm talking about, man. We're back. Football's back.
1:23And yeah, I kicked it off with a good Hall of Fame game.
1:27So you can't ask for much more than that to get it started.
1:30All right. Well, let's get into this, guys. We have got six of our biggest players of the fantasy football season.
1:35Our, my guys. Number one, I'm still going Christian.
1:38I know there's a lot of, there's a lot of people.
1:41And I saw there's like a rapport. He's got some tightness, but I'm like, look, the way they utilize this man in
1:46this offense is not unlike any other running back.
1:49I get the Jameer Gibbs. I get the Bijan.
1:51Like 100%, those guys are going to be studs.
1:53But there's an outlier that Christian is getting just as many passes, if not more than the receiver one on that team.
1:59And I play PPR. So for me, I'm going after a guy like Christian every single time, even though there's the risk factor.
2:05Yeah, I don't care. I'm trying to win. It's either win or bust.
2:08And he's the guy that's going to put you over the edge.
2:12So that's who I'm taking number one in pretty much all my drafts.
2:15I absolutely love it. Yeah, we saw the report come out today that he missed practice because of some tightness.
2:20But offensive coordinator came out about an hour later and was like, guys, it's nothing.
2:24I think it's this narrative. Everyone wants to freak out about the 49ers and the substation or whatever.
2:29But that's a great illusion because I'm going to talk some 49ers as well later.
2:33Nice. Yeah, we we've kind of joked on this show like it's it's funny.
2:36We all admit if McCaffrey's healthy, he should be the first pick.
2:39But everyone's too much of a coward to actually pull the trigger and take him first overall.
2:44So I'm glad you're brave enough. Let me ask you this.
2:47You play fantasy to win. You win the whole thing, right?
2:49I'm not just trying to make playoff runs, you know, and things like that.
2:53I'm trying to win the dang thing. So for me, I want the highest upside guys that I can get.
2:58Christian's one of those guys. Yes, those other guys are going to be safe.
3:02If you get there, you're not going to be disappointed, I'm sure.
3:05But who's going to be the guy that's going to get me 20 for 25 points per game can pop off into
3:11the 30s into the 40s sometimes because he's getting so many passes.
3:14He getting all the goal line where he's the man doesn't come off the field.
3:18So I'm going for the home run hitters. That's what my team is full of.
3:22So usually it's all or just bust for my team.
3:24I mean, you're getting the same result if you're in fourth place or 11th place.
3:28That's what I'm saying. As long as you're not last.
3:31As long as you're not last, you don't want to be an IHOP.
3:34Yeah, no doubt. But like we've mentioned this. I mean, I know we're all excited because Gibbs shed David Montgomery this year.
3:40And of course, Robinson shed Tyler Algier and they're going to get that whole backfield to themselves.
3:44But look at Christian McCaffrey just last year. Those guys were out there 17 games and McCaffrey still dominated the running back position.
3:50So I love this pick. I think people are concerned about the age or the history.
3:54I think you swing for the fences. That's my philosophy.
3:57It doesn't have to be your philosophy, but that's how I play.
4:00No, it is how you should play too though.
4:03Because you look at McCaffrey and just how good he's been when healthy since 2018, which is surprisingly quite some time ago now.
4:09The only two running backs to outscore Christian McCaffrey in a season and full point PPR in his season where he was actually healthy.
4:15Saquon Barkley and some guy named Austin Eckler. Very elite company.
4:18It doesn't happen very often. Christian. So as long as he stays healthy at worst, he's going to be the RB two
4:23and more often than not, he's the RB one overall.
4:26It's just the way they utilize him in that offense.
4:29He's just bound to be, you know, like they don't care though.
4:32If they're not running the ball that day, the throwing four yard passes to Christian, right?
4:36They're going to get him the ball no matter what.
4:38So I'd have to double check the stat, but I think he might've literally been a wide receiver one last year if
4:44he took away all of the rushing work, which is outrageous.
4:47Yeah. He had over a hundred catches, all that.
4:49So, and a lot of the right wide receiver runs aren't even hitting a hundred yet that I'm seeing out here.
4:55So I don't think, look, there's an argument to be against it.
4:58Sure. But that's my number one so far. I love that.
5:01What a way to kick it off. Yeah. Do not blame you at all.
5:04And since we talked McCaffrey and since we have Eckler on the show, I think I need to talk about one of
5:10the other most dominant running backs of the 2020 so far.
5:13And that is Derek Henry. I'm officially crowning the king as one of my, my guys this season.
5:18He's going in the late second round. So I'm not going too, too deep in my bag here yet, but I just
5:23had to make him a, my guy. Cause when you look at last year, the nightmare situation that the Ravens had, Lamar Jackson had a litany of injuries.
5:31That forced him to miss time. He wasn't nearly his normal self.
5:34Even when he was playing because of those injuries, I think Cooper rushed at the game of football back 25 years with
5:39the way he played when he was forced into action.
5:42The defense was super disappointing compared to the preseason expectations.
5:45Henry himself had some fumbling issues early on in the year that were pretty fluky.
5:49He hadn't done that before. John Harbaugh gets fired at the end of the year, which seemed impossible going into the season.
5:54And despite all of this, I mean, this just sounds like a disaster movie.
5:58Despite all of it, Derek Henry was still the eighth running back in points per game among all running backs.
6:03Like I said, eighth, eighth in points per game.
6:05That's the worst scenario. The nightmare scenario is he's still the RB eight points per game.
6:10And he looked the part while playing while doing it too.
6:13He was second and yards per carry across the entire NFL among running backs with at least 75 carries.
6:17He was third and 15 plus yard runs. He was second and breakaway yardage.
6:21He was third and first down runs. So everything was there for Derek Henry last year when you actually look at the stat sheet.
6:27And now you get Lamar back fully healthy. Now you bring in Jesse mentor as head coach.
6:32She's one of the best defensive minds in the game.
6:34He's going to keep these game scripts positive. He's going to keep these game scripts positive.
6:39You bring in Declan Doyle as offensive coordinator who comes from this Ben Johnson coaching tree that makes running the ball look so damn sexy.
6:45And all of a sudden you're having flashbacks to just two years ago when Derek Henry averaged 19.8 fantasy points per game was the RB four overall.
6:52I think we're going to be back there to be honest here in 2026.
6:56I don't buy the narrative that he's hit this cliff.
6:58The numbers simply do not support it at all.
7:01He continues to be the exception to the rule around drafting older running backs.
7:04And now you can get him at the end of the second round as the RB 12 off the board.
7:09We're essentially saying that we think he'll be significantly worse in 2026 than he was last season, which that makes no sense whatsoever.
7:15There's no evidence to support that that will be the case.
7:18I personally have him as my RB eight overall.
7:21And to be honest, I fear I'm too low.
7:23I think I am not even taking my own advice here enough.
7:26That's the type of upside. I think Derek Henry has here going into 2026.
7:30And the one last thing I'll note too, if you're worried about the usage slipping at all, the Ravens did absolutely nothing
7:35this off season to suggest that Derek Henry won't be the true workhorse of this offense.
7:40They let key men to walk and they didn't really do anything else.
7:43So all indications are we're still going to see elite usage and we're still going to see the elite same King Henry here.
7:49I mean, well said. I don't think there's anything else to say on that point.
7:53That's everything. No doubt. I agree. I 100% agree.
7:55I think he's, he's someone who has stood against time so far, right?
7:59The man, I think he's going to be 33 years old here going into the season, which is crazy to me as a 31 year old.
8:05Oh my dang two more years. Woo. So good for him.
8:08He's definitely anomaly. Yeah. He reminds me of Brady where it's just like every matchup against father time.
8:13Like I want Derek Henry cause he's going to truck right through him.
8:16Like Mel, you mentioned it last year, 5.3 yards of carry.
8:19I'm so excited about Declan Doyle in this offense.
8:21And I don't know if it's like the, how much dynasty everybody plays now.
8:25And I think people are sooner to get out almost the Belichick way of trying to get out two years early on
8:31guys rather than just looking at them for what they are.
8:34And what he is, is a guy who was incredibly efficient last year going into a better system here in 2026.
8:39So I'm all in on King Henry too. Tell you how it's fried boys.
8:43All right, let's go a little bit deeper in the bag here.
8:46We're going to talk about a guy. This should come as a massive, massive shock to our audience.
8:51I'm talking about Parker Washington here, the man on my wall, that Jersey hanging up as my number one player in fantasy football at cost this year.
8:58If you are new, I have been driving the Parker Washington bandwagon since our very first episode after the regular season ended back in January.
9:04At the beginning of the season, we were drafting Brian Thomas in the second round and we were drafting the next Shohei
9:10Otani, Travis Hunter in what, seventh round? And then all of a sudden we trade for Jacoby Myers.
9:14And now Jacoby Myers is mixing into the Jaguars offense.
9:17None of those guys led the team in receiving yards.
9:20Parker Washington did. I think Parker Washington is in a fantastic spot, but look, there's a lot of buzz right now and I'll get into that.
9:26But I want to first go back in time and look at the numbers from last year and tell you why he
9:32is actually one of the best possible values at cost.
9:35The concern I hear so much is that it's a little bit rich to be drafting Parker Washington as soon to be
9:40the Jaguars number one receiver as he flips Brian Thomas in ADP.
9:44And that we're projecting him to take that job just based off of a breakout at the end of last year.
9:49And part of that is right. He did break out in the back half of last year from week nine on.
9:55He was the wide receiver 16 and he was the wide receiver six through the fancy playoffs.
9:59But truthfully, the entire season was a breakout. When you look at the Jaguars offense, this new explosive Liam Cullen led offense with Trevor Lawrence unlocked.
10:06Parker Washington ranks first in targets, receptions, yards after the catch, yards per outrun and targets per outrun.
10:10He finishes in the entire NFL in 11 for PFFs receiving grade, fourth in player profilers, explosive rating.
10:15And also he's 24 years old. This is the exact age you want to target for a guy who is going to
10:21have a full on breakout contract here to absolutely.
10:23And I think we as a community tend to have this issue where we refuse to accept how talented a player is
10:29because of low draft capital, which is also going to apply to my next guy later.
10:33But I don't want to be a year late on Parker Washington, who to me feels eerily similar to Amon Ross St.
10:39Brown a few years ago, where we just didn't want to believe it because of the draft capital, when his production and
10:44everything that the team and everything that the coach is saying supports the fact that he is going to be one of
10:50the most valuable assets in the league this year.
10:52Yeah, I think something that I like to look into when I'm looking at guys is just from a football player standpoint,
10:58my perspective, when guys are on the rise, kind of coming through their years, they're still young on the first contract, going
11:04to the contract year, or just got on a new team with a new contract.
11:08I love those types of combinations with my players.
11:10So I think that's same thing what's going on here with Parker Washington.
11:14So I like that take for sure. Yeah. And credit to you, Mitch.
11:17I know you've been on the bandwagon since day one.
11:20I think like 10% of it has been a bit, but the other 90% has been so wholehearted and genuine how much you love him.
11:26And people are catching on now. Like the whole world is catching up to how good Parker Washington is.
11:31It seems like he will, if there is going to be a true number one receiver in Jacksonville, seems like it's going to be him.
11:37You hear these stories like in camp. I know it's cliche, but it's like, he's the first guy in the last guy out.
11:43Nobody's outworking him. Like nobody wants it more than him.
11:46And the talent is there. We saw at the end of last year.
11:49Nah, you can't play into that, man. You can't play into that.
11:53That's all media hype, media hype. You got to be careful in the media hype because especially, I don't know which media
11:58you're listening to, but it's all good fluffy things coming out.
12:01So, I mean, I take no credit in that stuff when it comes to, you can be a dirt bag, but go out there and ball out.
12:08You're going to help the fantasy team. So I just, I just, I'd be careful with the media claims.
12:13You know, we got, we got nothing out there right now to really talk about.
12:17So sure. Let's talk about some character and stuff like that.
12:20I'm just saying, be careful. I'm not saying it doesn't mean anything, but I'm just saying, eh, eh, eh, eh.
12:25What do we really evaluate? Do I, do I care about how he, you know, trees people in the locker room or
12:31do I care about his fantasy right now? Maybe both.
12:33Maybe you, maybe you're one of those people that, oh, I only want people that I know are good people.
12:39And just in general, I don't know. Um, anyway, I'll just throw my two cents in there.
12:43I do plan a time arrived at the facility points per game league.
12:46So it's going to be coming up huge for me this season.
12:49Yeah. How much, how much interaction they're having with the media team?
12:53Yep. There we go. I like that guy. Let me draft him.
12:56No, you're absolutely right though. I do want the fantasy points.
12:59And as, as much as I would love my guys to be just the best guys in the world, as I'm sure
13:04Mitch pictures Parker Washington to be, I still have very high hopes for the production as well.
13:09Hopefully everything he's doing in camp translates on game day.
13:11Once we hit the regular season, I'm, I'm drinking the Kool-Aid though.
13:14And maybe that makes me a sucker for the media hype.
13:17Like, like you said, Austin, you gotta be careful with how you navigate the media.
13:21Yeah. As a general fan, you got nothing else to go off of.
13:25So I don't blame you. Yeah. What's going on guys.
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13:59But guys, let's get back to the video. Yeah.
14:01Someone I'm high on who's kind of going lower.
14:04I like the, I like the David Montgomery opportunity.
14:06Yeah. Hell yeah. I like the David Montgomery opportunity.
14:08He's, he's broken up with Jameer Gibbs, obviously over in the lions, um, going into a team that, you know, had early playoff exit last year.
14:15They're looking to bounce back, uh, with the Texans.
14:17I think he's going to have the opportunity to have the volume to get the 15 to 20 touches a game over there with the Texans.
14:24Again, I just told you a little bit ago.
14:26I like guys on new teams with new contracts.
14:29Energy's going to be high. I got to prove everything again.
14:32I'm the man I'm getting that spot. I like the energy coming into that.
14:35He's a little bit lower. I think he's on like, like 19 or 20 range right now, running back off the board.
14:41Um, so if you're looking for a running back and maybe, Hey, you're getting down to that, that area and you're like, Hmm, what, what do I like?
14:48I like David Montgomery and that spot. Um, and I, another guy that I was going to talk about is, uh, Kenneth
14:54Walker, but he'll probably be gone by the time you get down to that, that point.
14:58But, um, uh, Dave Montgomery is my kind of sleeper this year going into, a situation where he, he it's his to lose.
15:04This is your room until you prove us, prove us wrong.
15:07And we got to get you some help. But I think he's finally getting that time to shine in his own spot without Jameer Gibbs.
15:13I think it's going to be great. So I love to hear what you guys think about it.
15:18I, I love this one. We've, we've talked about him a ton.
15:21One of the things that I think is keeping and suppressing down David Montgomery's price is the last thing we saw of
15:27him is sharing a backfield with Jameer Gibbs. And obviously everyone wants Gibbs.
15:30He's the hot name right now in fancy. And the other thing we saw was a Houston Texans team that struggled mightily
15:36against the Patriots and in somewhat of a tough to watch game.
15:39And so I think people don't want to draft Texans.
15:42Meanwhile, they're a team with a nine and a half game win total.
15:45They go out and invest in the offensive line.
15:48They spend a first round pick on Caelan Rutledge.
15:50They pay Braden Smith and Wyatt Teller and free agency.
15:52And then they go and pay David Montgomery. And besides, like you said, Woody Marks, I don't know if there's a ton of competition for carries for him.
16:00And I think you're going to see a guy be a genuine bell cow who has shown that he can be unbelievably
16:05efficient when he's getting enough carries to sustain that workload.
16:08No doubt. No doubt. Yeah. And I love how you talk about too, like a little bit later in the career, but new contract, new team.
16:15It's deja vu. We saw this two years ago with Joe Mixon and Joe Mixon was phenomenal in his one year with the Texans before he got hurt.
16:22I think we could see a very similar season out of David Montgomery here.
16:26So yeah, you're speaking our language with this one.
16:28Awesome. We're big David Montgomery. We're looking at this year, right?
16:31The snapshot of this year. Like I know, Hey, I think it's like 29 right now or somewhere in there.
16:36Like still got some juice on there, but 29 this year.
16:39I'm not, maybe not next year. Maybe we're 30, maybe plus.
16:42I don't know who knows, but what he's doing right now in the situation he's in right now, I think there's a
16:48lot more upside than what he's going to get.
16:50I think he could be one of those guys that can maybe sniff into the top 10 this year.
16:55Totally. I think that's a hundred percent in this range of outcomes.
16:58Well, I'm going to pivot now to our first quarterback of the day, and I'm going pretty deep in my bag when
17:04you look at ADP and that is Kyler Murray.
17:06I've been saying all off season and I'm going to say it again.
17:09Kyler Murray is the best value in fantasy at cost at the quarterback position.
17:13Mitch, I think you might have someone after this that you might disagree a little personally, but I'm rolling with Kyler here.
17:19I want to throw out last year for both Kyler Murray and the Vikings.
17:22Murray played poorly. There's no question. No doubt about it last year, but the organization was in ruins.
17:27Kyler was playing hurt. And then as for the Vikings, I will give you nine reasons why everyone from Justin Jefferson to
17:33Kevin O'Connell deserves a pass on last season. So let's just throw it all out.
17:37Let's throw out the tape. And now let's look at the present.
17:40Let's look at this glorious situation we have at hand in 2022, Kurt cousins.
17:43That was his final season with the Vikings where he was healthy.
17:47He was the quarterback six overall, despite only rushing 97 yards and 2024.
17:50Now Superbowl champion, Sam Darnold was the quarterback nine overall, despite only rushing for 212 rushing yards with these Vikings.
17:55Now enter Kyler Murray, who has the same head coach, the same elite wide receiver one as those two other guys.
18:01In fact, you could argue he has an even better supporting cast when you account for Jordan Addison.
18:05And now Juwan Jennings, who's in Minnesota. And the big difference between him and those other guys is he's had at least
18:11400 rushing yards in each and every single one of his five seasons where he's played at least 11 games.
18:16And of course that translates so well to fantasy.
18:19He's been a top 10 quarterback in all five seasons that he's played at least 14 games.
18:23And now all of a sudden he's going as the quarterback 17 with the best situation of his entire career.
18:28And I was getting excited about Kyler early, early off season, but I assume by the time we hit August, his ADP
18:34would creep up to like the quarterback, 12 quarterback, 13, and it just still hasn't happened.
18:38It hasn't happened yet. Despite every report out of Minnesota being that he's looked great.
18:42He's established himself as a leader of this team.
18:44He is going to be the starter, even if he hasn't officially been named it yet.
18:48I think everyone, including JJ McCarthy himself knows that Kyler will be under center week one, or maybe in the shotgun, because
18:54he doesn't like under center very much, but that's neither here nor there.
18:58The point is he is going to be the quarterback of this offense.
19:01He's basically free at the end of drafts in one quarterback format.
19:04It's just a slam dunk to me. Somebody I'm targeting Lee in every single draft, if I'm waiting on quarterback to load
19:10up at running back and receiver earlier. This message is brought to you by Apple Card, shave ice by the beach, a
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19:57Love the take. Austin, I'd love to hear your opinion, not just on Kyler, but the quarterbacks in general this year.
20:02I think we've thought it, and I think a lot of other fantasy analysts are saying that it feels like a very deep year at quarterback.
20:09Well, I think there's a few quarterbacks that are just outliers to everyone else.
20:13Right. Hurts, right? With the push push at the goal line, you're going to steal some touchdowns there.
20:17You have obviously Josh Allen, who's going to be running all over the place.
20:21He's diving and stuff like that, reckless with his body.
20:24Same thing with Lamar. He's getting a little bit better.
20:26Even Jaden Daniel is a guy like that. Like there's the guys that are more dynamic.
20:30You got, you know, Patrick Mahomes, who's running around.
20:33You got a lot of guys that can use their legs.
20:36That's upside in fantasy. We'll actually be able to scramble, get some touchdowns down in there.
20:40And then you have some great pocket pass at the same time.
20:43Kyler Murray, you just brought that one up. But yeah, some of these pocket passers that we have, Justin Herbert, you know,
20:49Trevor Lawrence, like some of these guys that are Drake May, like some of these, man.
20:53Yeah. I think the NFL quarterback situation right now is pretty solid across the board.
20:57Obviously you have some situations that are kind of still getting played out.
21:00Like even what's going on in Miami right now with Willis.
21:03Like that guy, he lets a run out there.
21:05So like, that's another opportunity. Who knows? It's a little more of a wild card than the other ones.
21:10But yeah, I would agree that the quarterback position, take your pick.
21:13What kind of quarterback do you like? You know, you want some touchdown upside?
21:17You want some just maybe passing? You know, like where do you, where do you want to have a preference?
21:22You kind of get your pick of the draw here.
21:25So I agree as well said. Yeah, that's actually such a great point.
21:28I think there's never been a better time to pick a quarterback in fantasy who's just archetype you like for how they score points.
21:34There are guys that can do it on the ground.
21:37There are guys who are hybrid, who are more pocket passers.
21:40And it feels like there's a good option for all of them.
21:43100%. And yeah, it makes it interesting. You know, I'll admit as a huge Kyler Murray guy to the point both of
21:49you have been making, there are so many interesting, good quarterbacks right now that even if you're not a Kyler Murray guy,
21:54there's so many guys you can grapple whether it's a dual threat or a pocket passer.
21:58There's so many good options. I feel like this year compared to most.
22:02So it is kind of the year of getting your guy later in drafts here.
22:06For sure. That was where I was about to go.
22:08I was like, because of that, I'm like, I'm not even thinking about quarterback.
22:12Like we'll get someone that can put up some points.
22:15But I do like your take that you took on Kyler Murray.
22:18I think this is, yeah, probably one of the best situations he's had in a minute.
22:22Are you a Vikings fan or what? No, just a big Justin Jefferson fan.
22:26Justin Jefferson fantasy manager. For him, for his sake, I hope he's getting someone who can get him the ball a little bit more.
22:32Definitely. That's the real goal of all of this.
22:34How does Justin Jefferson get the ball more again?
22:36For sure. All right. Awesome. Let's jump into our final my guy of this episode, but we're going to be doing some
22:42more my guys in a future episode. So make sure to hit that subscribe button if you haven't.
22:47And also make sure to check out Fantasy Royale Sports in the description right now.
22:51Austin's website, which we'll be breaking down a little bit more after our next guy.
22:55But let's talk about another 49er and who I think is the best value at quarterback this year.
22:59And that's Brock Purdy. And I feel like I'm in that Always Sunny episode with Charlie in front of the corkboard where
23:05I'm just a madman trying to figure out why everyone wants to discount Brock Purdy so much.
23:09But now we have this extra dip going on with all of the injuries and the substation memes like we were talking about.
23:15And even today, we got that report about Christian McCaffrey.
23:18That doesn't seem like a big deal, but because of the injury history, you get worried.
23:22I just think Brock Purdy has been continually disrespected in fantasy conversations as well as NFL conversations for the same thing I said about Parker Washington.
23:29I think because of the late draft capital being, of course, as late as it possibly could be as the last pick of the seventh round.
23:36But last season, after the injuries and everything, he was last year's quarterback two in points per game.
23:40He had 32 points per game in the fantasy playoffs where he definitely won a ton of people their championships.
23:46He was graded as Pro Football Focus's seventh highest graded passer last season, and I already thought he was going to be
23:51such an incredible steal, and now he's dropping even further, all the way down to the quarterback 14, which, Melo, like you
23:57said, if you're in a one-quarterback league, that's basically free.
24:00And I get that there's been a ton of injuries and the situation out of San Francisco feels weird, but Brock Purdy
24:05in the seasons he's started for the 49ers has finished in points per game as the quarterback 8, 9, and 2.
24:11All of those a floor well above the quarterback 14.
24:13So if you look at this pass-catching situation for what it is and not for what the narrative's telling you, I understand
24:19it's a fragile depth chart and that the three main guys here have had injury history in Christian McCaffrey, Kittle, and Mike
24:25Evans, but I'm not going to pass up on a quarterback this talented with pass-catchers this talented and dynamic because of a narrative that they could get hurt.
24:32Just to bring this all back to what Austin said earlier, I'm swinging for the fences and I'm playing to win, and
24:38Brock Purdy has the most insane upside here in probably right at the end of your drafts.
24:42Yeah, I'll say this about the kind of the underdog's stories because it was the same with me too.
24:47You know, when you come into the league in a situation where a lot of people don't know your name, like Purdy was Mr.
24:53Irrelevant, it's every year you have to prove that you can be the guy because people are like, ah, who is this guy?
24:59He don't deserve the moment, all that stuff. Like you were just non-stop walking up the stairs.
25:04You know, if you get drafted the first, second, third round, you kind of get the elevator, right?
25:09Everything below that, you got to take the stairs, right?
25:11You got to take the long way. And so I think Purdy hasn't necessarily got the respect that he's been granted.
25:17Man was playing in the Super Bowl, right? Like, what else do you need to be doing to actually gain some respect?
25:22I think at this point, I would say he has from a player standpoint and how we see him in the league,
25:28100%, but from a media and maybe the fantasy world hasn't necessarily got there yet.
25:32But I think that's a great take. And when you got someone like Christian that you can throw 200 times and he's
25:38going to make stuff happen, that's great. Obviously, we'll see what happens with Mike Evans too.
25:42So I'm excited for that quarterback as well. But going back to the quarterback conversation, a lot of great quarterbacks.
25:47So again, it's good. It's a good situation, I feel like, in fantasy because now we can really dial in on some
25:53of these skill positions knowing that you can get a good quarterback late.
25:56And so I think this is two great takes with Kyler and Purdy.
25:59Good stuff. Especially with how quickly, I mean, we're seeing running backs go off the board so fast this year.
26:05It's like ludicrous. We haven't seen this in years.
26:07Well, you got to think of where the biggest fall off is.
26:10You know, I think you can see this in the pay.
26:13Go look at the pay schedule and you'll be able to see, okay, if I look at the running backs, this thing is like exponentially down, right?
26:20There's about 10 guys at the top that are getting paid big money because they are big impact players on the team.
26:26You go to the receivers, a lot longer list of guys making over, you know, 15 million.
26:30You know, same with the quarterbacks. A lot of guys in that 40, 30 plus million dollar range.
26:35So the contracts will tell you who's, where the real impact is and where it falls off really fast.
26:40So when you see that talent really falling off in the running back spot, that's why you're going to see these guys
26:45go off the board quick because the tops, the top guys are really that much more efficient than the guys that might
26:51be in a committee, you know, and might be down in some other situation.
26:55And if you're not a top guy, you are, you're going to have a committee.
26:59You're not going to get all the touches because there's a lot of different skills that you're going to try to supplement
27:04with other backs if you can't do it all.
27:07And so that's kind of how I see it and why I think the running backs go off the board quicker than any other position.
27:13Great call. That's actually a really interesting point. It makes me think of something that I think most fantasy managers know, but
27:19they lose sight of, which is just follow the money.
27:22Like we get caught so caught up in these crazy advanced metrics.
27:25Sometimes it is just as easy. And this also is related to Austin, to what you were saying around new guys, new
27:30teams, new contracts, go to where the money is.
27:33And that's probably going to be the guy who's going to get high usage and high production.
27:37100%. Again, guys going into a contract year, guys just got in a new contract year.
27:41I love that. I love that window because it's like as a player, I feel that.
27:46I feel that I got, this is my year.
27:48Like this is going to set me up generation or if I just got paid, now I got to go show why they paid me.
27:54Right? That window, there's like there's two years right there.
27:57Then you can kind of get into the contract.
27:59You can still have good years, but I love the energy as a player from a player side that you get from those two years.
28:06Well, thank you guys so much for tuning in.
28:08Those are our official my guys for the 2026 NFL season.
28:11Of course, be sure to check out Fantasy Royale Sports and Austin, just break it down for us.
28:16What are you guys doing this season? Because it is awesome.
28:19So the way we play fantasy is all in our little groups.
28:22And so I decided, hey, let's break down the groups a little bit and let's have a tournament with everybody.
28:27So I started a league that every single person can join and we're going to find out who the best fantasy sports players are in the world.
28:34It's not traditional fantasy. How we do it with our league is you play in a few different types of contest, some
28:40survivors, some pick'ems, and you get points every single week for playing in those and then you get put onto the leaderboard.
28:45So we're going to find out who the best in the nation are.
28:49Also, we have a few different leaderboards. We're going to find out if you're a fan of a team, you join that
28:54fan base, we're going to see who's the best in that fan base.
28:58And we have prizes from signed players from those teams.
29:00And then whoever's the number one overall player gets two of my signed game jerseys.
29:04So Fantasy Royale Sports, I'm starting a big fantasy league is what it is basically.
29:08So you can check it out. It's all free to play.
29:11We're really just trying to have fun and just have the most competitive environment that we can possibly have across the nation.
29:17I'm so pumped. I'll be playing. Mel will be playing.
29:19Of course, I'll be winning. Mel will be winning.
29:22Let me also throw this in here. So I thought of that.
29:25You know, a lot of people like to compete.
29:27Well, how can I compete with my boys? So I started a squad event.
29:31So you can join as an individual or you can join our squads where you pair up with four people and then
29:37your combined score goes towards your weekly score. So it's your score versus other squad scores.
29:41So play as an individual. Obviously, you want to be the best in the nation or you can have the best squad in the nation, too.
29:47We have a ton of prizes, fantasy rings, stuff like that.
29:50But if you check it out, Fantasy Royale Sports, all the details are there and you'll be able to kind of digest everything that we got going on.
29:58Dude, it's going to be awesome. Make sure to check out in the description or in the card above.
30:03But Mel, before we get out of here, do we miss anything?
30:06Just one last super special thank you to Austin for being here.
30:09This is super cool. Awesome. Having a player and somebody who's been so pro-fantasy football throughout your career, it's really cool to have you here, man.
30:16It's awesome. Yeah, man. I know how the content grind is.
30:18I'm glad I could do it for you boys.
30:21Best of luck in the content. Also, best of luck on Fantasy Royale.
30:24I expect to see you guys at the top with those takes.
30:27Of course. I like the takes, so I'm expecting a lot from you guys.
30:31I'm going to be in there at 5 a.m.
30:33every morning just like Parker Washington. Austin. Well, so one of my favorite competitions that we have is called the Touchdown Survivor.
30:39So each week you get to pick three players.
30:41One of them has to score a touchdown for you to go to the next week.
30:45So I'm curious to see how you guys would do on these takes because it's a different mindset with some of these types of Survivor type of contests.
30:53So I'm excited to see you guys in there and looking forward to having you.
30:57I'm fired up. Let us know down below if you join and we'll make sure to try to figure out something to do with you guys.
31:03But thank you so much, Austin, and we will catch you guys next episode.
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