The Lineup Show - Fantasy Football Superlatives for 2026 with Joe Pisapia
STACKED extracted the fantasy-relevant player signal from this podcast and kept the full transcript here for context.
33 min
Duration
Estimated from transcript
Aug 17, 2026
Published
Mon, August 17, 2026
10
Player insights
9
Players mentioned
Topics
Jeremiyah LoveAmon-Ra St. BrownBrian Thomas Jr.Christian McCaffreyJosh DownsJustin JeffersonKenneth Walker IIIKyler MurrayTucker Kraft
Player analysis
Player insights
Amon-Ra St. Brown
PositiveProjection27:22
Amon-Ra St. Brown is a locked-in top-three wide receiver who is consistently undervalued in drafts. Despite finishing as the WR3 for three consecutive seasons, he often falls to the middle of the first round. He is a safer, high-floor pick compared to other elite options, and his consistent production in the Detroit offense makes him a priority target.
Insight pageBrian Thomas Jr.
NegativeDepth Chart27:04
Justin Mello suggests Brian Thomas Jr. is a candidate to be traded due to a crowded Jaguars receiving corps, including the emergence of Parker Washington and the presence of Jacoby Myers and Travis Hunter. Mello advises fantasy managers to hold Thomas for potential trade news or buy him low if he struggles early.
Insight pageChristian McCaffrey
NegativeBust8:33
Justin Mello highlights Christian McCaffrey as a high-risk asset, noting his extreme workload (413 touches in 2025) and current soreness issues. While acknowledging his league-winning upside, Mello warns that drafting him is 'Russian roulette' given his injury history in seasons following high-volume usage.
Insight pageJeremiyah Love
PositiveValue19:56
Jeremiah Love is a generational running back prospect and a top-three overall draft pick who is being undervalued by the fantasy community due to concerns about the Arizona Cardinals' backfield committee. Historically, running backs drafted in the top 10 have not finished worse than RB11 since 2015, suggesting Love is currently being drafted below his floor.
Insight pageNegativeUsage21:24
Despite his talent, Jeremiah Love is a high-risk pick due to the presence of James Conner and Tyler Algier, combined with Nathaniel Hackett's poor track record as an offensive coordinator. Expect a slow start for the first six to eight weeks of the season, making his current mid-to-late second-round ADP difficult to justify.
Insight pageJosh Downs
PositiveRole25:48
Josh Downs is projected to have a breakout season as he transitions from a slot-only role to playing on the outside as an X or Z receiver. The Colts' lack of wide receiver additions and the departure of Michael Pittman, combined with Alec Pierce's injury issues, position Downs to emerge as a high-volume pass catcher.
Insight pageJustin Jefferson
PositiveProjection13:53
Justin Mello is investing heavily in Justin Jefferson, citing the arrival of Kyler Murray as a major upgrade for his fantasy outlook. Mello compares the situation to Sam Darnold's 2024 season under Kevin O'Connell, where Jefferson finished as the WR2 overall, and expects Murray to feed him consistently.
Insight pageKenneth Walker III
NegativeRole3:21
Joe Pisapia warns that while Kenneth Walker is a strong early-season draft pick, he is a major risk to 'stab you in the back' mid-season due to historical durability concerns and a projected shift in the Chiefs' offense toward more passing as the season progresses. Pisapia suggests drafting him for the first six weeks but looking to trade him before Halloween.
Insight pageKyler Murray
PositiveRole13:53
Justin Mello and Joe Pisapia are highly confident in Kyler Murray as the Vikings' starter, noting his history of hyper-targeting alpha receivers like DeAndre Hopkins and Trey McBride. They expect him to be a 'human jugs machine' for Justin Jefferson, reviving his own career in Kevin O'Connell's system.
Insight pageTucker Kraft
PositiveSleeper20:44
Joe Pisapia identifies Tucker Kraft as a league-winning value, noting he was the TE1 in points per game from weeks 1-8 last season. Despite his ADP rising, Pisapia argues Kraft remains a steal in the mid-rounds, offering top-tier tight end production while allowing managers to draft elite skill players elsewhere.
Insight pageFull transcript
Episode Transcript
0:00Football is back baby and whether you've been betting for years or you're just looking to put a little action on the
0:06games MyBookie needs to be added to your list of places to go line shopping.
0:10We've been talking about the teams we like and don't like for months.
0:14We're in on this Jets offense more than almost anybody and we're terrified of this Falcons offense even though you got Bijan,
0:20you got Kyle Pitts, you got Drake London but you got two bad left handed quarterbacks.
0:24And you certainly don't need to be tailing some fake betting expert on social media.
0:28Go to MyBookie and find the plays you already know you like and take a shot.
0:33That's what's cool about MyBookie. You can find the action you want and bet it wherever you are when the game kicks off.
0:39And if you're new to the club, the BetBack Bonus gives you protection on your first play.
0:43Sign up with promo code PLAYER to opt into the BetBack Bonus and take your first shot with a safety net.
0:49If your wager loses, you get it right back, no questions asked.
0:52Football is finally here. Get in now and cash in on the season with MyBookie with promo code PLAYER to get that BetBack Bonus.
0:59Bet on anything, anytime, anywhere. You're welcome. It's a brand new season of fantasy football.
1:03So let's take a look at the fantasy football class of 2026.
1:06Welcome into the lineup fantasy football show. I'm Mitch Anderson.
1:09I'm Justin Mello. And Mello, let's kick it off by giving out our first superlative.
1:13Most likely to be a returning guest on the lineup fantasy football show, it's Joe Pisapia again.
1:18Let's go. I got a lot of time on my hands, boys.
1:21And what a letdown, too. The last bald guy you had on the show was Austin Eckler, former NFL star.
1:27So this is a big, giant downgrade. But I'm just happy that you invited me back to follow up after an NFL star coming on your show.
1:34So I'm humbled. I'm happy. And it's good to see you boys again after a couple weeks of not being on a
1:40show with you, which I really enjoyed the last show.
1:43For too long. Yeah. We need a fantasy football superstar on the show, Joe.
1:47Absolutely. That's what we needed for this episode. I like where your heads at, Mello.
1:51I like it. All right, boys, let's crack open the yearbook of the class of 2026 and give out our fantasy football superlatives for the year.
1:58Of course, as our guest, Joe, you're going to kick things off.
2:01Ah, yes. All right. Let's start off with Kenneth Walker, who I am deeming most likely to stab you in the back.
2:07Oh. End of the season, at least. All right.
2:10So let's talk about the reasons why. I think going into this year, Ken Walker is a really good guy to draft.
2:16I think you're going to love him the first six weeks of the season.
2:19I think you're going to look at Ken Walker and say, look at me.
2:23I'm a genius. He's crushing this. I'm four and two.
2:26It's week six and everything's going great. But here's the thing I'm concerned with.
2:30What are the next six weeks, the next eight weeks look like?
2:33What does down the stretch look like? Ken Walker historically has had problems with durability.
2:37They're going to have to feed him the rock a lot in the beginning of the season.
2:42And Patrick Mahomes, so far, I think from everything we've seen, looks like a guy working his way back from a torn ACL.
2:48And there's going to be some limited movement. As he starts to get more comfortable and they start to pull back a
2:54little bit from Ken Walker, but also push further a little bit into the passing game again, I think there's some legitimate concerns there.
3:01And this happens all the time in all fantasy stuff where you get very excited about a player.
3:06You like the player. You invest in the player.
3:08You look like you're a genius, but then you can't get out from under it.
3:12To me, Ken Walker is the perfect guy that you want to draft.
3:16And then start to kick the tires on some trades about mid-October before we get to Halloween, because I don't know what's
3:22going to be after that in terms of workload, in terms of durability.
3:25So for me, that's where I'm starting with Ken Walker as we open the yearbook here in Fantasy Football 2026.
3:31He's basically the guy that's friends with you at the lunch table for the first eight weeks of the season.
3:36And then you try getting up to go to the bathroom in week nine, and all of a sudden you turn around
3:42and he's scoring six points a game for you.
3:45Yeah, he's gone. Your pudding cup's gone. Your girlfriend is now with him.
3:48It's a whole thing. It's terrible. Oddly specific, and I relate to it oh too well.
3:53Partially because of last year, like, obviously he didn't have the hot start that we're imagining for this year, but he kind
3:59of stabbed his fantasy managers in the back last year when you look at, I mean, last year was more so the
4:05usage he was getting versus, you know, the durability issues, but he has had durability issues throughout his career.
4:10And I brought this up to Mitch, I think, a few weeks ago, but it's interesting.
4:14Like, I like Ken Walker. I love the situation he's in in Kansas City.
4:18But isn't it a little weird that we're drafting a guy so high who his best career finish was way back his
4:24rookie year when he was the running back 18 in full point DPR?
4:28Like, I know the situation's so much better, but yeah, you're absolutely right.
4:31Like, even if we see the hot start, it's no guarantee we see it season long.
4:35It's a real, are we in love with Ken Walker?
4:38Are we in love with the idea of Ken Walker?
4:41Mmm. Yeah, that also hits home for Mitch and Mello too, guys.
4:44Deeply. Just so you're listening. You know, some deep rooted past stuff for both of them coming out here.
4:49It's a little bit of therapy on the show today, which I like.
4:53We'll just rename that. This is fantasy football therapy for 2026.
4:56Let's get rid of all of our trauma before we enter a new year.
5:00I might be crying by the end of this episode.
5:03I don't know. I could see it happening. I could tell you it won't be a half hour show.
5:08That's for sure. Well, this next superlative, I have another emotional one here, and that is most likely to make you pull your hair out.
5:15And that's Christian McCaffrey. And it's clear to me that he deserves this superlative, but it's much less clear to me who
5:21will be the one actually ripping their hair out.
5:23Will it be those who spend a first round pick on him for him to only go on to play four games?
5:29Or will it be those who let him fall to like sixth overall, only for him to yet again be the clear cut running back one overall?
5:36Since 2018, there have been three seasons where McCaffrey played seven or fewer games, and he obviously just completely sunk your championship
5:42hopes if you had him any of those years, given he's pretty much every year a first round pick.
5:48But in those five other years, however, he played 16 plus games and finished as the RB1 overall in three of them
5:54and the RB2 overall in the other two. So he was the definition of a league winner.
5:58Last year is maybe the most interesting to me because his efficiency was way down, but it still didn't matter.
6:04He only averaged 3.8 yards per carry, but still averaged a whole 2.7 points per game more than the next best running
6:10back on the season, thanks to his receiving work and the red zone usage.
6:14The problem going into this year is he touched the ball a whopping 413 times last year, 44 more times than any other player.
6:20And not only that, but it was his personal career high in touches.
6:24We've already seen the toll that high volume can have on his body in subsequent season.
6:28So the good news is he's healthy right now, at least allegedly.
6:31He's dealing with some tightness or something, which is a little scary.
6:35But for the most part, all indications are he is perfectly healthy and he's about the only healthy 49er weapon right now.
6:41Ricky Pearsall has done for the year. Mike Evans, Deshaun Stribbling, Christian Kirk, George Kittle, Jordan James, Kalen Black.
6:46They've all had some sort of injuries they've been dealing with in camp.
6:49Various severities. Some are pretty minor and nothing serious.
6:52If he stays healthy and he's the centerpiece again, he could just be the RB1 again.
6:56But be careful because if you draft him, if you take that shot in him, you might be the one pulling your hair out.
7:03It's most likely to make me question if I'm a coward or not.
7:06That's literally what it comes down to. It's Russian roulette in the first round of your fantasy football draft.
7:12Well, I already have no hair on my head, so I'll be a coward gladly.
7:16I think he's most likely to be eaten by a substation.
7:19That is my superlative for Christian McCaffrey. Dude, I have to say, I was one of the people who was like, okay,
7:25the substation memes are out of control. It's starting to get to me.
7:28It's starting to get to me a little. I'm like, what is going on?
7:32Should it though, considering he's got soreness already? Last time he had soreness, it was 2024.
7:36Just saying, when he was coming out of practices for soreness.
7:39I don't love the start of it. Jamie Eisberg, who is one of the best there is, he has a whole piece
7:45talking about the guys that he's fading, and I was reading it last week.
7:49He makes the great argument against McCaffrey as well at the current ADP.
7:53I was in on McCaffrey last year in best ball season at the end of July, where he was at the 12th pick overall.
7:59I'm like, yeah, great, cool. But once he started to go up to 8, 7, 6, and those kind of territories, I was out.
8:06Now you're right back there in that middle to upper tier of drafts, and I just don't want to start my team that way.
8:12I understand the upside. I understand that I could still win a fantasy championship without him.
8:17I just don't want to take on that risk.
8:19I think that's such a good way of putting it.
8:22It's like, what's your philosophy and how you approach fantasy football?
8:25And having CMC could be very funny. It could also be really not fun if that's how you start your draft.
8:31All right, let's move on to our third superlative.
8:33The most likely to become best friends, Kyler Murray and Justin Jefferson.
8:37Insert the did we just become best friends meme, as they just named him the starter of the Minnesota Vikings.
8:42Mel, you just named him a my guy in that episode we talked about with Austin Eckler.
8:47I think however you feel about Kyler Murray, I want to break down why I think he is going to become Justin
8:53Jefferson's new best friend and vice versa. One stat I keep hearing about him is that he's been great for fantasy, but he's never broken 4,000 yards.
9:00He's never broken 30 touchdowns. But that reminds me of another quarterback who had never done that before playing for Kevin O'Connell,
9:06which is the now Super Bowl champion by the name of Sam Darnold, who back in 2024 with KOC passed for 4,300
9:12yards and 12 touchdowns and helped propel Justin Jefferson to a wide receiver 2 overall finish.
9:16And obviously they are different quarterbacks, and I'm not saying that Kyler Murray is just going to become Sam Darnold.
9:22So I also want to look at what Kyler Murray has done in the past when he's had an alpha number 1 wide receiver.
9:28Back in 2020, when Kyler first got that experience with wide receiver 1 DeAndre Hopkins, he absolutely peppered him with targets.
9:34160, which last season in a 17-game fantasy football season, would have made him the second most targeted wide receiver in the entire NFL behind only Jamar Chase.
9:42And if that's too far back for you, look in 2024 and even last year while he was starting when he absolutely
9:48peppered Trey McBride, their de facto wide receiver 1, with the highest target share in the NFL among all tight ends.
9:54This guy loves finding a weapon that he knows he can succeed with and just dumping it off to him.
9:59And so I think KOC is motivated to get his superstar the ball.
10:03Kyler Murray is motivated to make this thing work and revive his career.
10:06And I think he's about to be a human jugs machine for Justin Jefferson this season.
10:11Yeah, I agree 100% with this take. I hope this works out.
10:14I hope there's no like weird in between like in Step Brothers where a while like one's trying to bury the other alive.
10:20I don't want that. I want them to just get along the entire time and build bunk beds and bring us to
10:26fantasy glory because like it's no surprise that Kyler Murray was named the starter.
10:30He was brought in to be the starter. Anyone who thought this was a real competition is out of their mind.
10:36And this is why I'm investing heavily in Justin Jefferson because I think when you have a coach who I won't say
10:42is on the hot seat, but certainly I think there's a little bit more heat on him than there was going into last season for sure.
10:49There's also this moment here where it's a fork in the road for Kyler Murray in his career.
10:54And he's either going to succeed here and continue to be a starter and they're going to resign him or someone else will come and take him away.
11:01Or he's going to be one of these guys that just competes now like, well, they're going to bring in Kyler Murray
11:07to compete for a job with quarterback X and some other organization.
11:11So I'm investing and reinvesting in Justin Jefferson. I just took him the flex league in my second pick there that I
11:17had on the weekend last weekend with Jake Seeley's draft and, you know, started with Burrow, turned around with Jefferson.
11:22That's pretty good start to a team. I felt pretty good about that.
11:26I love that. Also, I love the stepbrothers reference because I'm just thinking about it.
11:30Imagine how much room for activities there's going to be in the huddle now that Kyler Murray is taking up way less space.
11:36Way less space. Yeah. I mean, come on, man.
11:39I mean, it was just, we knew that was going to be the case and he was going to take over.
11:44I think that was, I'm glad that they did it this early too.
11:48So we don't continue to let the media, you know, get in and start to create any sort of distractions because that's
11:54the last thing you want at this time of year in a locker room.
11:58It's so funny you say that though, because I mean, I've been on this boat.
12:02I've been drafting so much Kyler Murray, investing in so much Kyler Murray.
12:05I believe it's the starter son of competition. And then it felt like the 24 hours leading up to them naming him
12:11the starter, the media hype of JJ McCarthy's closing the gap.
12:14JJ McCarthy's looking good. I was like the, it's so Jover meme, but then the we're so back meme, like instantly right
12:20after that, because then they just named him the starter.
12:23It's like, okay, we knew this was going to happen all along.
12:26Now they have the whole preseason. Like you mentioned, Joe, this is going to work.
12:30I'm just so confident. This is going to work.
12:33Yeah, I am as well. So let's go. Let's hear it for the short King Kyler Murray.
12:38Let's go. We love our short Kings here at the lineup.
12:41All right, Joe, you want to kick it off with our fourth superlative?
12:44All right, let's do it. Most likely to win you a fantasy league.
12:48And I'm going to go with Tucker Kraft. Joe, I knew he loved you.
12:51Yeah. Well, there you go. As if there was any doubt before me mentioning Tucker Kraft.
12:56Tucker Kraft last year was the top three tight end fantasy points per game.
13:00Tucker Kraft was the go-to guy in the offense for the Green Bay Packers.
13:04When he went down and then subsequently a few weeks later, you lose Micah Parsons.
13:08And then the whole season just kind of goes to crap for the Packers, right?
13:12But I'm old enough to remember how good it was last fall.
13:15Well, my memory is good enough to recall that.
13:17And it shocks me that people aren't quite that memorable about what Tucker Kraft did last year.
13:22And what's so great about Kraft is his ADP, even though it's starting to rise a little bit.
13:27And I just did a great show with Theo Gremminger where we talked about Laporta and Kraft and, you know, a lot
13:33of the guys that he's targeting in the mid rounds.
13:36But the conversation, even though that ADP is starting to rise with Tucker Kraft, what you're seeing now is the ability to
13:42still draft your big-time skill position players and get a taste of what it could be to have a top two or
13:48three tight end, all of which you can have your cake and eat it too, which is the kind of stuff that wins you a fantasy football league.
13:55When you take a Brock Bowers or a Trey McBride in the second round, you're passing on the rest of the elite
14:01wide receiver talent and or the RB talent. And then you have to adjust your roster.
14:06Easier to do in a 10-team team, excuse me, 10-team league than a 12-team league.
14:10Yeah. But at the same time, Kraft kind of gives you the best of both worlds, where you could still get all
14:16the upside of the Lovelands and the McBrides and the Bowers and arguably a pretty solid quarterback situation.
14:21Maybe not spectacular, but pretty solid at the very least.
14:24And you know he's the go-to in the offense, which to be honest, like we're still trying to figure out what some
14:30of these offenses are going to be. And many of them have new coordinators too that we're trying to figure out.
14:35Yeah. You literally shed the target leader in Green Bay in Romeo Dobbs.
14:39You get rid of Dontavian Wicks. You've got the guy who we constantly talk about it through week eight, all the games
14:45he was healthy, the tight end won in points per game in PPR.
14:48It's a tight end seven off the board. What are we doing?
14:52Yeah. A tight end won a fancy points per game week one through eight among all 33 qualifying tight ends.
14:57He was ranked seventh in target share, first in receiving yards per game during that stretch, seventh in first read share.
15:03I mean, he's just the guy that you want.
15:05And the fact that he is going past that first tier is great.
15:09Sometimes you get him fifth or even sixth sometimes.
15:11I've seen him go as the seventh tight end, depending on the draft and where you are regionally.
15:16I did a draft the other day. I can't believe, like you said, Joe, like how people are forgetting just how good he was last year.
15:23I don't know if the ACL plays a role in that, but I did a draft the other day.
15:29I already had Colston Lublin. I was not planning on grabbing another tight end.
15:32And then Tucker Kraft falls into the eighth. And it's like, I'm going to take him anyways.
15:37I don't care. Like that value is too good.
15:40He will probably outperform Mello some of those wide receiver threes that you would have taken instead.
15:44A hundred percent. Oh yeah. I'm all in on Tucker Kraft.
15:47What's going on guys? We are officially partnered with underdog here in August for fantasy football draft season.
15:52If you've never used underdog before and you want to do some fantasy drafts with me and Mello, you can actually sign
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16:01L I N E U P. Basically just deposit and play with $5.
16:05And underdog is going to give you $50 in bonus entries that you can use on picks, drafts, or anything in the underdog app.
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16:22But guys, let's get back to the video. All right.
16:24Well, my next superlative here, I'm going to be talking about the most likely to leave town.
16:29We all graduate high school. Somebody is packing their bags and they're never coming back.
16:33And this season, it might just be Brian Thomas Jr.
16:36Now this superlative is largely a real life NFL take, but there are major potential fantasy implications as well.
16:41Well, we already started hearing trade rumors about Brian Thomas at last year's trade deadline.
16:45And I think they very well could heat up again here in 2026 because the Jags simply have too much talent at wide receiver.
16:52If there is such a thing, I don't know if you can ever have too much talent, but I think Mitch cloned
16:58himself a million times over, or maybe you just have a million burner accounts, Mitch.
17:02But the way that the NFL environment is talking about Parker Washington, like he's Jerry Rice's long lost son, the camp hype
17:08is out of control through the roof. And it feels like all of a sudden he is the real wide receiver one
17:14in Jacksonville, which sounded would have sounded so absurd just a year ago to say.
17:18And then you have Jacoby Myers, who's quietly still there, was sensational down the stretch last season.
17:23You have Travis Hunter, who was the second overall pick and supposedly is going to be a part of this offense in some capacity still.
17:29And all of this is true while the Jaguars and James Gladstone have been very vocal about how they're going to be
17:35deploying more two tight end sets, which means more two wide receiver sets, fewer wide receivers on the field.
17:41So if all of this is true, we could see Brian Thomas Jr., who, by the way, is extraordinarily talented in his
17:47own right and was the wide receiver for overall as a rookie.
17:50We could see him get traded before this year's deadline.
17:53So I bring this up from a fantasy perspective to keep in mind that even if he has a slow start, you
17:59may want to hold him to see if he gets traded in real life.
18:02And similarly, if you believe in the talent, but he's getting big bro'd by Mitch's letter Parker Washington through six weeks, find
18:09the frustrated BTJ owner in your league and make him an offer in the hopes that Thomas finds a new home in
18:15the NFL where he could be a bigger part of the offense.
18:18And it's a far from a lock to happen.
18:20I am by no means guaranteeing you Brian Thomas gets traded, but it feels like he is one of the most likely
18:26guys to be moved in the next few months.
18:29At the very least, one of the most likely like high profile guys to get moved.
18:33Exactly. 100%. Also, if I had a million burners, our show would be a whole lot more successful.
18:38I only have like 50. Football is back, baby.
18:40And whether you've been betting for years, you're just looking to put a little action on the games.
18:45My bookie needs to be added to your list of places to go line shopping.
18:49We've been talking about the teams we like and don't like for months.
18:53We're in on this Jets offense more than almost anybody.
18:56And we're terrified of this Falcons offense, even though you got Bijan, you got Kyle Pitts, you got Drake London.
19:01But you got two bad left-handed quarterbacks. And you certainly don't need to be telling some fake betting expert on social media.
19:07Go to my bookie and find the plays you already know you like and take a shot.
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19:50Find it near you at MichelobUltra.com. Enjoy responsibly. Copyright 2026.
19:52Anheuser-Busch. Michelob Ultra Light Beer. St. Louis, Missouri. Let's jump into our next superlative.
19:56I want to talk about the best freshman or the best rookie, Jeremiah Love.
20:00And I know this sounds ridiculous because it's like, yeah, the guy who went third overall should be the best rookie.
20:06But I just want to really impress it in people's minds the way that I think we're discounting his talent.
20:11Third overall in the NFL draft, the Arizona Cardinals, a generational running back prospect that the fantasy world was so excited about
20:17until he landed in Arizona with a perceived committee backfield, including old man James Conner and then the new kid in town, Tyler Algier.
20:24But I want to explain why he is not only the best rookie, but one of the best picks in the first few rounds relative to his ADP.
20:31Melo, you brought up this stat a few weeks ago.
20:34Since 2015, there has been seven running backs drafted in the top 10 and none have finished worse than the RB11.
20:40That guy, of course, being Ashton Gentry last year.
20:42And I think that's part of why this is happening, is that we as a fantasy community react so dramatically to what
20:48happened the year before, except for Tucker Craft for some reason.
20:51But now I'm seeing Jeremiah Love going as, what, the RB13, the RB14.
20:55And so we often say we're drafting a guy at his floor, but I actually think we're drafting him below it.
21:01Notre Dame last year, we all know this, but he went for 1,372 yards, 6.9 a carry, 18 touchdowns on the ground,
21:07also gets involved in the receiving game. And according to Nathaniel Hackett, we're already seeing him get acclimated with the offense.
21:12And he's just too talented for me to not take a shot on a guy that we always see these rookie running backs go so high.
21:20And it feels like this is the year to zig when everyone else is zagging.
21:24Yeah, I gotta tell you what. I love the talent of Jeremiah Love, but I'm seeing him go way too early in drafts.
21:30And he is the most talented. But my superlative for Jeremiah Love is the guy most likely to make you question why you're still playing fantasy football.
21:37Why do you hate yourself? Why? Why do we do this to ourselves?
21:41Because we're going to watch him in camp. We're going to see him in preseason.
21:45We're going to see him break these big runs and be great.
21:48But then we're going to realize that James Conner is still there as of right now, as of recording this.
21:54And Tyrell Algier was just brought in and paid.
21:56And the Cardinals, historically, are an organization that can't get their foot out of their mouth or out of their rear end either way.
22:03And they also have an offensive coordinator who I think is probably the worst at his job of anybody.
22:08And it's Nathaniel Hackett. Nathaniel Hackett. Okay. This goes back to the EJ Manuel era where he was out there working with the Buffalo Bills.
22:15We can talk about him being the worst head coach maybe I've ever seen outside of Urban Meyer at the NFL level
22:21when he was over there with the Denver Broncos for that hot minute.
22:24His one glorious moment shining was during the end of the Aaron Rodgers, I'm still good at football era when he's winning MVPs.
22:31And if we're thinking that somehow Nathaniel Hackett had something to do with that, you're nuts.
22:35I think Nathaniel Hackett is going to ruin this situation and ruin all your shares of Jeremiah Love, at least for the
22:41first six to eight weeks of the season. And my concern with him is I see him starting to go, you know,
22:47somewhere as the, you know, basically at the end of round two in a lot of drafts.
22:52Like that's currently where the ADP is. Sometimes even goes earlier in mid round two.
22:56To me, I just, you can't have a guy that's not going to be a full-time contributor for the first few weeks of the season.
23:03And historically, if you look at Jameer Gibbs, if you look at David Montgomery, he came into the league.
23:08If you look at all these guys, you know, in the last five, six years, when they come into the league, the
23:14first six weeks as a rookie are usually pretty tough.
23:16And we're doing that same thing we always do where we overhype a rookie and he deserves it.
23:21He's amazing. But even B. John Robinson, who he loved and I loved more than anybody, he kind of got screwed by
23:27a guy named Tyler Algier last chat. Okay. So here we go again.
23:31And Nathaniel Hackett is not a guy that I trust.
23:34So for me, I have real concerns, not about the talent of Jeremiah Love, but about the usage, at least early on.
23:40And you having to dig yourself out of that hole and wanting to dig yourself an early grave, watching Nathaniel Hackett misuse the best talent on his team.
23:47As long as Nathaniel Hackett doesn't have to manage the clock.
23:50That's one thing we're avoiding here without him as head coach.
23:53I'll leave that for the flirt. Mello, I just want one offensive coordinator job in my life.
23:58Because I feel like I can work for the rest of my life off that job.
24:02There is no better job than fired offensive coordinator in the NFL.
24:06You'll get hired six more places before you call it a career.
24:09And, I mean, right now I'm a flag football offensive coordinator.
24:12And I'm hoping that I can spin that off into the NFL in a couple years.
24:16That's what I'm hoping for. A couple flag championships.
24:19Yeah. It's honestly, it's a buddy-buddy league. It's who you know.
24:22You just got to recruit a real NFL coach to coach with you in flag and then he'll bring you over to the NFL.
24:28Bro, I just don't understand how that guy's still working.
24:31I just don't. This might be against school rules, but I think we might have to do a friendly side bet on Jeremiah Love.
24:38I'm game. We can figure it out after the show and we'll tweet it out.
24:42I want to be wrong, Mitch. I also want you to be wrong.
24:45I'll be the mediator here. I'll break up this fight in the playground.
24:49Okay. Yeah, playground fight. Here's my take. Jeremiah Love very well could get off to a slow start because he's a rookie,
24:55because he's on the Cardinals, because Tyler Algier's there.
24:57My takeaway is once that slow start happens, he is a buy for me in the trade market.
25:02If you find a frustrating owner who's like, I'm just done with Jeremiah Love, hopefully you can get him a lot cheaper
25:08than what his draft capital is right now. Yeah, but he's going ahead of Kyron Williams.
25:13He's going ahead of Chris Olave right now in ADP.
25:15He's going ahead of Zay Flowers. There's other players at Colston Love them that I just feel like I have better grip
25:21on what they're going to do and how they're going to produce in 2026.
25:25That's my new problem, and we're still in early August.
25:28What happens when we get to September and we keep talking about Jeremiah Love?
25:32It's going to be a problem. Yeah, but Jeremiah Love could be anything.
25:35He could even be Kyron Williams. If I should hope he's Kyron Williams in the first 10 weeks of the season, let's pray for that.
25:42Let's pray. All right, well, my next guy here is somebody that I'm hoping we're all aligned on, and that is most changed Josh Downs.
25:49He is getting the superlative of the most changed man.
25:52He has grown up in this Colts organization as a true slot receiver who came off the field in two wide receiver
25:58sets, but those days are over as Josh Downs is going to emerge as someone who can play on the outside, win as an X or Z receiver.
26:05And the Colts have already kind of told you that they think he can do it with their actions.
26:11You look at what they did when they traded A.D.
26:13Mitchell last season at the deadline, only to go ahead and also trade Michael Pittman this offseason, and they've done absolutely nothing
26:19meaningful at all to bring in any new wide receiver talent.
26:22And on top of that, Alec Pierce is still rehabbing his ankle from surgery earlier this offseason.
26:27He's apparently had more ankle injections than Aaron Rodgers has had any type of injection in his life.
26:32A lot of people have already believed in his talent, but fantasy managers have just been reluctant to invest high capital in
26:38him because of his limited usage and his profile as a slot.
26:41But Josh Downs is going to show the world he is a changed man here in 2026, and he's actually already proven
26:47it, at least at the collegiate level where he lined up everywhere.
26:50He was a high-volume pass catcher. His final two seasons at UNC, he boasted 202 receptions for 2,483 yards in 22 touchdowns
26:56while being Drake May's clear-cut number one weapon. We just haven't really seen it at the NFL level yet.
27:02The 5'9 receiver may not hit a literal growth spurt, but I project his usage and stat line two here in 2026,
27:08so he's going to be a very changed man.
27:10I'm imagining him coming to school on the first day like goth, and that's what Melo's doing.
27:15What's changed player this year? All right, let's kick it to our final superlative, and this is just the most obvious one that is going to happen.
27:22It's most likely to finish as the wide receiver three overall, and that's Amin Ross St.
27:27Brown, and it's pretty self-explanatory. He's been the wide receiver three in fantasy for three straight seasons, and you look at the
27:33situation, there's nothing to suggest he won't be providing the same level of high-level production again.
27:37He has the second-highest odds to lead the NFL in receiving touchdowns, third-highest to lead in receptions, fourth in receiving yards, and
27:43yet we still just have him kind of like circulating at the end of the first round, and I think it's because
27:49of his consistency that he's labeled as a guy without a ceiling, but I just don't know how wide receiver three isn't a ceiling outcome.
27:56I absolutely love him, and I want shares of Amin Ross everywhere.
27:59Now we're friends again, Mitch. We're back. See, now we're back on the same page.
28:03Did we just become best friends again? Yep. But this is the thing I don't understand.
28:08I said this last year, too, in a lot of my shows where I just said, you know, when do we start giving Amin Ross St.
28:15Brown a little bit more credit? We never discuss him as a top-three overall pick.
28:19Yeah. He's always somewhere in the middle of the first, or maybe you get him even like the eighth overall guy in some drafts.
28:25If you're in the middle of your draft and Amin Ross St.
28:29Brown is there at six, for the love of God, just take Amin Ross St.
28:33Brown. You know what you're getting out of this guy.
28:35You know it's going to be a solid offense.
28:38The continuity of the ecosystem there in Detroit has not changed much in the last three years, and the productivity, despite the
28:44fact that you've had several different play callers in the last three years, hasn't changed either.
28:48And that should give you a lot of solace in a pick.
28:52You talk about, just to bring this conversation full circle on the show, the Christian McCaffrey uncertainty upside.
28:56Yes. Versus the quiet upside of Amin Ross St.
28:59Brown basically going at the same overall ADP. I'll take Amin Ross St.
29:02Brown, especially in the PBR leagues, and just move on, and I'll find my hero RB somewhere else.
29:07But to me, annually, he is the guy that continuously gets overlooked and underappreciated when, I get it, Justin Jefferson's a highlight
29:13reel, Jamar Chase is amazing, but we just never talk about Amin Ross in the same breath, yet consistently, he is showing
29:19up at the top of that board every single season.
29:22I had like an epiphany recently. I was like drafting, we talked about how much I love Justin Jefferson.
29:27Like I was taking him over Amin Ross, and then I was just like, what am I doing?
29:32I can love Justin Jefferson and still give Amin Ross his credit, and I finally pushed Amin Ross above JJ in my
29:38rankings, because every year we dropped him too late to your point, Mitch.
29:42Even if he's the wide receiver three, that's a phenomenal ceiling.
29:45We shouldn't be acting like that's a disappointment. And the three of us just talked about draft strategies a few weeks ago,
29:51and we talked about hero wide receiver, and how nice is it to just lock in a top three receiver and then
29:57just go crazy on your running backs in the next few rounds?
30:00Yeah, it's a good situation all the way around, I'll tell you.
30:03Amin Ross and Brown, please, everybody, start respecting the man.
30:06I don't know what more he has to do.
30:09One thousand percent. All right, boys, that's the bell.
30:11School is back in session now that we have named our 2026 fantasy football superlatives.
30:15Thank you so much to Joe for joining the show yet again.
30:18You can check him out on Fandom NFL. But Joe, before we get out of here, anything left to plug as we kick off August here?
30:26Well, first of all, always great hanging out with the lineup, boys.
30:29They do a fantastic program. And yes, check out Fandom NFL.
30:32We've got a lot of mock draft shows going on.
30:35We've got some incredible guests lined up, some incredible guests already in the can.
30:38We had Theo Gremminger on last week, Dave Richard on from CBS.
30:42We're just crushing it. No NFL players yet, but we'll see how that goes.
30:46And of course, go get your fantasy black book and the digital cheat sheets on Amazon right now.
30:50Prepare for your draft. It's the most up-to-date publication you're going to find.
30:54And it's always good talking football with you guys.
30:56So always happy to do so. It's the best show.
30:59We love having you on. Mello, before we get out of here, we miss anything?
31:03I got nothing. All right, we'll catch you guys next episode.
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