The Lineup Show - 5 Dynasty Buys to MAKE NOW Before Training Camp Prices EXPLODE
STACKED extracted the fantasy-relevant player signal from this podcast and kept the full transcript here for context.
19 min
Duration
Estimated from transcript
No date
Published
17
Player insights
10
Players mentioned
Topics
Kyler MurrayRico DowdleMalachi FieldsZachariah BranchDrake LondonJaylen WarrenJordan AddisonJustin JeffersonMalik NabersT.J. Hockenson
Player analysis
Player insights
Drake London
PositiveRole0:05
The WR1 in Atlanta's offense with Zachariah Branch positioned as the WR2 behind him.
Insight pageJaylen Warren
NegativeValue0:04
Overpriced in current redraft rankings with limited upside compared to more talented players around him in the Steelers offense.
Insight pageJordan Addison
PositiveRole0:15
One of the best weapons of Kyler Murray's career in the Kevin O'Connell offense, positioned to benefit from Murray's mobility and accuracy.
Insight pageJustin Jefferson
PositiveRole0:15
One of the best weapons of Kyler Murray's career in the Kevin O'Connell offense, positioned to benefit from Murray's mobility and accuracy.
Insight pageKyler Murray
PositiveValue0:14
Currently undervalued at QB24 in Dynasty and QB17 in redraft despite being a QB1 in points per game every year of his career until last year, with his value set to skyrocket once officially named starter.
Insight pagePositiveRole0:15
Playing for his life in the NFL under Kevin O'Connell, a king of quarterback reclamation projects, with the best weapons of his career in Justin Jefferson, Jordan Addison, and T.J. Hockenson.
Insight pagePositiveProjection0:16
Has never finished worse than QB1 in any season where he played 12 or more games, with a rare rushing floor expected to increase as he continues recovery from torn ACL.
Insight pagePositiveMatchup0:16
His mobility and rushing ability will be essential in the Kevin O'Connell offense, and he's expected to have a healthy season with a QB1 finish given the offensive weapons and coaching situation.
Insight pageMalachi Fields
PositiveBreakout0:07
A 6'4" athletic specimen and high third-round pick positioned to break out during training camp with limited competition in the Giants WR room, likely to generate hype before playing an NFL snap.
Insight pagePositiveValue0:08
Buy now before training camp hype inflates his value; his price will increase before he even plays an NFL snap due to media attention and lack of competition in New York.
Insight pageMalik Nabers
PositiveInjury0:08
May not be ready for Week 1 and will likely have limited involvement in training camp as the Giants prioritize getting him healthy.
Insight pageRico Dowdle
PositiveValue0:01
Currently undervalued at RB32 in Dynasty and RB35 on Keep Trade Cut, behind Jalen Warren despite being paid more by the Steelers and having comparable receiving production.
Insight pagePositiveRole0:02
Mike McCarthy specifically sought out Dowdle after coaching him in Dallas where he was a thousand-yard rusher, and the Steelers let Kenneth Gainwell walk to give Dowdle a bag, signaling he's the preferred back.
Insight pagePositiveUsage0:02
In 2024 with Dallas under McCarthy, Dowdle had more receptions than Jalen Warren, and last year in Carolina he was targeted more heavily in the passing game despite having only one fewer reception than Warren.
Insight pageT.J. Hockenson
PositiveRole0:15
One of the best weapons of Kyler Murray's career in the Kevin O'Connell offense, positioned to benefit from Murray's mobility and accuracy.
Insight pageZachariah Branch
PositiveSleeper0:04
A 22-year-old WR69 in Dynasty and WR73 in redraft with elite after-the-catch ability (fourth most in college football) who is well-positioned as the WR2 in Atlanta behind Drake London, with Tua Tagovailoa's checkdown tendencies perfectly suiting his skill set.
Insight pagePositiveProjection0:07
Expected to generate significant PPR value through gimmick plays and checkdown targets from Tua, with explosive playmaking ability that will turn short receptions into yards.
Insight pageFull transcript
Episode Transcript
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0:46Welcome to the line of fantasy football show. I'm Jakob Sanderson.
0:49I'm Justin Mello. And Mello, it is almost July.
0:52Fantasy football is so back. We have a very, very special episode to kick off the true fantasy football season on July
0:591st that you will not want to miss. But right now, I want to talk some Dynasty guys that you need to
1:05get some shares of before their prices skyrocket during training camp, including one must-buy player at the end that you got to stick around for.
1:13First guy that you need to go grab before training camp.
1:16I'm bringing some new blood to this show. This is a guy I don't think we've really talked about.
1:22Maybe at all. Maybe a little bit. I don't know.
1:25But it is Rico Dowdle of the Steelers. Like I mentioned, haven't heard a lot of chatter about him in general beyond this show as well.
1:32He is currently the running back 32 on the Fantasy Pros Consensus Dynasty rankings, running back 35 on Keep Trade Cut, behind
1:39Jalen Warren on both of those platforms as well, who is just about the same age.
1:44I think they're just a few months apart. So for all intents and purposes, the same age.
1:49So based on that, I think people view Warren as the guy to have in this offense.
1:54But by the time camp rolls around, I would not be surprised at all to see things flip.
1:59Because Mike McCarthy in this new regime went out and made sure to go get Rico Dowdle for a reason.
2:05McCarthy coached Dowdle in Dallas where he was a thousand-yard rusher.
2:09He clearly wanted him back considering they let Kenneth Gainwell walk in free agency just to give Dowdle a bag.
2:15And we always say follow the money. And the Steelers actually gave Dowdle more money in terms of average annual value than
2:21they did to Jalen Warren just a year ago.
2:24So Dowdle is the higher paid back in this backfield.
2:27I think a lot of the pro-Warren narrative comes from the fact that Mike McCarthy is going to run a pretty pass-heavy offense.
2:34And Warren profiles as more of a pass catcher.
2:36But I wouldn't be so sure that Warren is actually going to get all that work.
2:41When you look at the last couple of years, Warren only had one more reception than Dowdle did last year.
2:47And Dowdle actually had five more targets on the air.
2:50So he was targeted more heavily in the passing game in Carolina last year.
2:54And in 2024, when Dowdle was a Cowboy and he was playing for Mike McCarthy, he actually had more receptions in 2024 than Warren had that year.
3:02So it is something Dowdle can do as well.
3:05I think he has a three-down skill set. I'm not saying Jalen Warren isn't a good player or he doesn't.
3:11But I wouldn't be surprised to see this coaching staff lean more heavily in favor of Dowdle.
3:16They sought him out. I think that's going to become more clear in training camp once we see who's running with the starters more consistently.
3:24So now is the time to get him before that happens.
3:27This is one of the perfect archetypes of what this type of episode should be about.
3:32And something we've talked about all spring is identifying ambiguous running back rooms.
3:36And this one's about as good as it gets.
3:38And I think you actually just provided a lot of stuff that people aren't talking about.
3:43One of them being that he's getting paid more than Jalen Warren.
3:47The other one being that he actually isn't that much worse.
3:50In fact, maybe even better of a receiving threat than Jalen Warren.
3:53And as much as I haven't thought too much about Rico Dowdle this offseason, I've actually thought a lot about Jalen Warren being overpriced.
4:01I think if you look like right now our best redraft rankings are looking into best ball for now before we see
4:07things actually start shaking out in August. And every time I look at Jalen Warren, there's not a shot in the world
4:14I would click the button because there's so many more talented players around him.
4:18And so I really do think there's great odds that this is going to flip.
4:22And if you've got conviction about Rico Dowdle, this is probably the cheapest price you're going to get between now and at
4:29the very least the end of the year. I think it probably is.
4:33And I like what you said about ambiguous backfields.
4:36Even if you don't believe in Rico Dowdle, you have to believe that it's an ambiguous backfield.
4:41For a pure value. And Dowdle is the cheaper one.
4:44Exactly. For pure value, Dowdle is the one to go after.
4:471,000%. Melo, let us transition into my first guy.
4:50I know you were bringing in some new blood, but I'm actually going to bring in a guy that we talked about
4:56slash you talked about in our rookie sleepers episode.
4:59And that is Zachariah Branch, the wide receiver 69 in Dynasty and wide receiver 73 in redraft, 22 years old, playing with check down merchant Tuatunga Vailoa.
5:07That might have been the best fit since Cinderella's Slipper if Cinderella had been bottom five in ADOT among starting quarterbacks in the past two seasons.
5:15She was top five in ADOT. Give her some respect.
5:18Give her some respect. Put some respect to our name.
5:21It was the ugly stepsisters that were bottom five, along with Jake Browning.
5:25But Melo, you clearly have had an impression on me because I feel like the last few episodes have been bringing up
5:31a lot of guys that you talked about as being values early on in the offseason.
5:36Branch was one of your favorite values. You were hoping he was going to land in a great situation.
5:42I'm not sure if he could have ended up in a better situation right now than Atlanta.
5:47Because, yes, you're competing with Bijan and Pitts outside of your wide receiver room for targets.
5:52But you look at that receiver room and he's like pretty lock solid to me, the wide receiver too.
5:57His biggest competition right now is Jahan Dotson and Olmede Zaccheaus, the tax collector.
6:01And as much as I love Drake London, who better to play with Tua than the guy who had the fourth most
6:08yards after the catch in all of college football last year?
6:11He honestly is sized pretty close to Jalen Waddell.
6:14And like it kind of reminds me of the type of system that they ran in Miami if like Tua just gets
6:21really comfortable dropping it off to Branch. Like he's such an electric playmaker.
6:24I think that he could have an unbelievable season.
6:27So, yes, he's slightly undersized, but he's a guy with juice that I think is worth taking a swing on at wide receiver 69 and Dynasty.
6:35Tua's going to love throwing this guy the ball.
6:38He's going to love it. He's going to be like watering at the mouth before he even snaps the ball knowing he's
6:44just going to throw it immediately to Zachariah Branch on like a little screen.
6:48Tua's going to be more excited to throw it to Branch than he is the other team, which is saying something.
6:55Yeah, because he gets really excited to throw it to the other team too.
6:59But he's like, no, just throw it to Zachariah Branch 0.3 seconds after the snap.
7:03And, you know, people say he's gimmicky and I'm like, sure he is.
7:07I don't care. Like they're going to use him for gimmicks and he's going to get all those PPR points and he's going to turn them into yards.
7:16And he's a really good candidate for this episode too, because he is so explosive and flashy that that like that first
7:22crazy juke move is going to hit your Twitter timeline and everyone's going to be talking about him.
7:27Yeah. So go get him before that. I had that note down that he is like the top candidate for the training
7:34camp hype train that's led entirely on videos that hit your Twitter timeline.
7:38Well, I might play a little bit of copycat here because I also have a rookie here.
7:43I think it just makes sense to talk rookies in an episode like this because we love, we love to elevate rookies during training camp.
7:50So I'm going to talk about Malachi Fields. Mitch, I think one of my biggest regrets in life, not in fantasy, just
7:57in life, is not more aggressively targeting Malachi Fields and rookie drafts this year.
8:01Imagine what could have been different. I know. And a big part of the reason I like Fields over some of the
8:08other guys is I think he's one of the most well positioned to improve his value and make an impact during training camp.
8:15That's a great point. The Giants are a big market team.
8:18There's no shortage of media attention. You're going to hear all sorts of media out of the Giants, out of New York.
8:25And Malik Nabors will maybe be ready for week one, maybe.
8:28But even if he is, he's probably not going to be super involved in camp.
8:32He's probably not going to be doing a whole lot because they're trying to get him healthy.
8:37So that leaves the New York wide receiver room with underwhelming afterthought veterans like Juju Smith-Schuster and Darius Slayton and Darnell Mooney
8:44and Odell Beckham, who's so old at this point.
8:47I'm calling him Odell Beckham Sr. I can't put Junior in his name anymore.
8:51He's so damn old. So now you have Malachi Fields.
8:54He has so much more juice than any of those guys.
8:57He's a high third round pick. 6'4", athletic specimen.
9:00Not super fast, which I think is probably why he fell to the early third.
9:04And I'll admit he's probably more of a project than I'm letting on.
9:08He's not the most day one NFL ready guy.
9:11But all of the talent and the physical attributes are there.
9:14And you know as soon as he mosses some undrafted free agent in training camp and it hits your Twitter timeline, it's
9:21going to be full steam ahead with the hype train.
9:24Everyone's going to be talking about it. And he's going to have those opportunities because there's no one else there in New York.
9:31So I like his long-term upside legitimately as a player.
9:34But just from a philosophical market valuation perspective, I like the idea of buying him now before that hype happens in training camp.
9:40Because he's in this situation where I think his value will increase before he even plays an NFL snap.
9:46Yeah, and I almost feel like that's kind of a guarantee.
9:49It's almost like when we talk about these guys that are still waiting to get signed.
9:54Like the Stephon Diggs and the Debo Samuels where it's like their value is just no matter where they go, it's going to go up.
10:02So this is also a team that couldn't be more desperate for a positive storyline.
10:06And so if there's anything to hype up, they're going to be hyping the hell out of it in like you said, the media capital of the country.
10:15That was also so disrespectful to Odo Beckham Jr.
10:17But I like this pick a lot. I'm like you're not going to get me to say a bad thing about an
10:24offense that I've been so fired up about. I love Neighbors.
10:27I love Dart. I love Likely. Like I want to see this passing offense succeed and I think it will.
10:33And I think there's a very, very good chance he's going to become a part of it.
10:38And like you said, like we don't even know what's going to happen during the season.
10:43I agree by the end of training camp, his price is going to be higher no matter what.
10:48He's like an early August one-handed catch in the back of the end zone away from being everybody's favorite best ball stack with Malik Neighbors and Jackson Dart.
10:57That's really what it is. A million percent. This episode is brought to you by Fox One.
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11:44But let's talk some Isaac Tesla, 24 years old.
11:47Wide receiver 66 in Dynasty. Wide receiver 69 in Redraft.
11:50This is a guy that it's a little bit of a combination of what we saw last year, what we've been seeing
11:56so far in OTAs, and some of the coach speak, honestly, that's been coming out because Dan Campbell has continually talked about
12:03his growth, specifically in the back half of his rookie season.
12:06Calvin Johnson actually just mentioned the other day that Tesla reminds him of himself, which, boom.
12:11Lordy. That should have just rose his price astronomically, but instead his price is actually falling right now in both formats.
12:17Just two years ago, the Lions reached on a guy who had a 97th percentile physical profile in the draft class and
12:24a 9th percentile production profile, which kind of aligns exactly with what we saw in his rookie season.
12:29Insane efficiency and production on very little opportunity. And Melo, a stat you've provided to support that.
12:34He was tied for fourth in red zone touchdowns among all wide receivers, despite being 40th in targets.
12:40And then if you look at the opportunities he got, that ticked up in the back half, kind of going with what Dan Campbell said.
12:47And another stat from you here, he averaged 15 snaps per game in his first six games and 44 in his last six.
12:54The usage increased substantially, and I think there's a huge opportunity for him to break out.
12:59But unfortunately for redraft, I do think the cat's going to be out of the bag the minute he starts lighting up training camp.
13:06Another Melo guy you go with. I know, I'm obsessed right now.
13:09I'm rubbing off on you, pause, but I'm glad I'm having such a positive impact on you.
13:15Maybe negative impact, I don't know. That's neither here nor there.
13:18You're certainly a negative influence. Very negative. But very positive on Isaac Teslow because you're right.
13:23All the physical tools are there. Really, the only issue is just it's a crowded offense with a lot of really good,
13:29you know, offensive skill players, only one ball. But he's going to be more involved.
13:34He already got more involved toward the end of his rookie year.
13:37They're going to use him down by the goal line, down by the red zone.
13:42You're going to get those crazy highlight reels in training camp like we talked about with all these other guys.
13:48And people are going to start catching on. Yeah, I think we all know how many different weapons there are in the Lions offense.
13:55But I feel like that's priced in and more for Teslow.
13:58Yeah. And I feel like we're kind of all acting like specifically at Dynasty.
14:02We're acting like there's like no ceiling for this guy.
14:05What if he just lights it up? And the next thing we know, like he goes and signs elsewhere if they feel
14:12like they don't need him or they move on from other pieces and becomes a bigger part of the offense in a few years.
14:19I just think he is such a goodbye right now.
14:22Yeah. Talent always wins out and he's got plenty of it.
14:25So there's plenty of room for growth. 100%. All right, Melo, let's get into our biggest buy of the episode.
14:31I'm going to let you kick this off, but let me just intro a guy that we cannot stop talking about, whether
14:38it's him or his pass catchers or the entire offense.
14:41Kyler Murray going to be 29 years old by kickoff going as the QB 24 in Dynasty and the quarterback 17 in redrafts.
14:48I'll let you start here. I love talking, Kyler.
14:50You can't stop us. You cannot stop us from talking Kyler Murray here.
14:54He is the perfect candidate for this episode. Like, how can we not talk Kyler Murray when we're talking about guys whose
15:01values are going to skyrocket come training time? Because I'm so confident that that's exactly what will happen to Kyler come August.
15:08He will, by that point, officially be announced as the starter.
15:11I will never put an end to any concerns that he won't be, which I don't even know why there are concerns, really.
15:18We know he's going to be the starter. I will not hear any argument that there's a true competition.
15:23There is not a true competition. But once we hear Kevin O'Connell say it, that alone will skyrocket his value.
15:29Yeah. People will wake up. People will realize that he's been a quarterback one in points per game every single year of his career up until last year.
15:38People will realize that he's playing in this Kevin O'Connell offense with Justin Jefferson and Jordan Addison and TJ Hawkinson at his disposal.
15:45And people will realize it's a perfect situation for a guy who's been such a great fantasy asset with mobility, which we
15:51talk about matters so much for these quarterbacks. Now is the time to get him.
15:56It's inevitable. His value is going to go up substantially in dynasty.
15:59A year from now, it might be through the roof if he ends up signing another contract with the Vikings.
16:05So now is the time to get him, I think.
16:08Yeah, that's such a good caveat. Like if he signs a second contract with the Vikings, there's just no universe that this
16:15isn't like the best price of all quarterbacks right now.
16:18As a self-proclaimed Parker Washington enthusiast, you'd have to check the tape.
16:21But I think I've talked about Kyler Murray even more this offseason.
16:25I think so. Honestly, we're talking about a quarterback who has never finished worse than the quarterback one in any season where he's played 12 or more games.
16:33He's got a rare rushing floor that we expect to see more out of with how long removed he is from the
16:40injury, the torn ACL a few years back. And the fact that honestly, just to put it in blunt terms, like Kyler
16:46Murray's playing for his life here in the NFL.
16:49If he needs to take off and scamper around like a Hasboula video, like he's going to do it.
16:55And now you pair him with the king of quarterback reclamation projects in KOC.
16:59And then, like you said, the best weapons of his career in JJ, Addison, Hawkinson.
17:03He just feels like he's too big to fail, which reminds me, I should check on my Lehman Brothers stock.
17:09But I don't see a world where you get a healthy season out of Kyler Murray and he doesn't finish with a quarterback one finish.
17:17And I just don't think his price is anywhere near that.
17:20And I think to put it to your point and to kind of wrap this in a bow, I think there's going
17:27to be more of a realization with that as soon as he's named as the official starter.
17:32And as soon as we're starting to see how well he's connecting with Jefferson, how well he's connecting with Addison, how much he's getting hyped up on socials.
17:40Like, I think all of that stuff that the surrounding noise is going to bring his price to where it needs to be.
17:47And I think there's value in grabbing him now, even though it seems like all that value is gone.
17:53Yeah, it's just going to keep creeping up. Like, I'm disappointed from a redraft perspective.
17:57I know by the time I'm drafting in my home league, like, he's going to be much more reasonably priced.
18:03I mean, we've got him at the quarterback 17 in redraft.
18:07Like, that price is a little less, like, outrageous.
18:09He's probably going to creep up to the 13-14, I would say.
18:13Yeah. And it's already happening and it's going to keep happening.
18:16Also, I like how you said too big to fail.
18:19I think you're the first person to ever call Kyler Murray too big.
18:23I didn't even think about that. Kyler Murray is too small to fail.
18:27Too small to fail. He's kind of like Wondell Robinson.
18:30I'm going to go watch some Hezbollah videos after this, I think.
18:33I'll watch some Kyler Murray highlights. We'll be watching the same thing.
18:37And those are five players to buy before their prices explode heading into training camp.
18:42If there's anyone that wasn't on this list that you think should be included, let us know down below.
18:47If you disagree with any of these picks specifically, also let us know down below.
18:52We love chopping it up, talking about our different player takes.
18:55And Mello, did we miss anything? Nothing for me.
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