0:00I want to grow the game of soccer and give every kid the chance to play.
0:05What would you like the power to do? Bank of America champion street soccer advocate Kyle Martino and is proud to be the official bank of U.S.
0:14soccer and FIFA World Cup 2026. Bank of America and a member FDIC.
0:18When I need to impress someone with a gift, I go straight to 1-800-Flowers.
0:23There's a reason they've spent 50 years as the floral authority.
0:26Every stem is hand-selected by a vetted florist. And with same-day delivery nationwide, 100% satisfaction guaranteed.
0:32That's why millions go to 1-800-Flowers to celebrate life's most important moments.
0:35Order now for up to 40% off. Don't miss out on this limited time offer.
0:40Act now and save up to 40% at 1-800-Flowers.com.
0:43That's 1-800-Flowers.com. Welcome to the Fantasy Footballers Podcast with your hosts, Andy Holloway, Jason Moore, and Mike Wright.
0:49Welcome in. Monday, June 1st. What? The Fantasy Footballers Podcast.
0:52But we do shows on Tuesday. Oh yeah, we're doing an early release.
0:57I don't know why Scooby-Doo showed up. Yeah, I don't know what the voice is, man.
1:02I was just trying to ignore it. Jason's here.
1:05Mike is here. And the UDK is here. Yes, yes.
1:08That's the main thing. And we decided we would...
1:11We do record the Tuesday show on Mondays, but we decided we'd record early and release it right away.
1:17Got all this excitement and anticipation for the UDK, which is now available.
1:21So you can go check it out. And I know that we get to this time of year and there's so much
1:29excitement and people are in the app and on the website.
1:32And you can check it out, ultimatedraftkit.com. But then they kind of get in there and they're like, what do I do?
1:39What's the first thing I utilize within the UDK is one of the most frequent questions that we actually get.
1:46So we'll do that as a quick question. But I am super excited for people to get in there.
1:52A couple of updates for you. We got, you know, everything is live.
1:56Sleepers, breakouts, busts, values, all of our player profile videos, 100 of them.
2:00But also, you know, 130,000 words of original content.
2:03See, you shouldn't say that because to me that's a deterrent.
2:07You know what I mean? It's like, oh, what?
2:10130,000? I ain't got time for that. And not just that.
2:14Oh, my God. Oh, my God. Breaking news. No.
2:16Moments into the show. No, that's not possible. That's what UDK Day is all about.
2:21The Browns are finalizing. That's not possible. A trade of Miles Garrett to the Rams.
2:26No. What? No. To the Rams. Shut it down.
2:29Oh, get wrecked, NFL. Oh, man. It's a trade for Jared Verse, a first rounder, and more.
2:35What? Okay. Well, at least Jared Verse is gone.
2:38Oh, no. Well, no, but I'm saying if you add Garrett.
2:41Yeah. And you don't lose something. This is a great trade for Cleveland.
2:45Holy Lord. Yes, it really is. Because Cleveland is not there yet.
2:49I think it's a good trade for all parties.
2:52But holy crap, this is. I wanted to talk about the UDK.
2:56And now we get breaking news. And we may have more on this show because the A.J.
3:02Brown news is right around the corner. But Miles Garrett, I saw it this morning.
3:07The smoke started to rise. Yeah. From behind the mountains.
3:10And it was Eagles. This is very Tyreek Hill where it was like, oh, there might be a trade.
3:16And he's traded immediately. What? This is a monster trade.
3:19Oh, my gosh. A monster trade. Someone. They hate their first rounders in Los Angeles.
3:24Yeah. And you know what? This is how I do fantasy.
3:28Mm-hmm. I want the known commodity. You get the best defensive player that we've seen in a long time.
3:34They were very upset that the Seahawks won the Super Bowl.
3:38The best we've seen since maybe Aaron Donald. Right.
3:40Son of a gun, he's going to the Rams.
3:43Oh, this is great news for the bottom dwellers of the NFC West.
3:48I thought the Eagles might be the ones to get him.
3:51They couldn't get him and A.J. No, they're trading.
3:54You're saying get the Patriots? Yeah, maybe. Well, there was talk that this A.J.
3:59Brown trade, which has not, as of this recording, materialized, but it seems right now inevitable.
4:04The situation for the Eagles, they talked about like a Ricky Williams episode.
4:08I think that's a great trade to get Miles Garrett.
4:11But he's a Ram now, as of right now.
4:14So, holy moly. You will not find a player profile for Miles Garrett in the UDK.
4:20I mean, look, Versus. Verse a great player. Great player.
4:23He's not Miles Garrett. So, this is at least somewhat of an upgrade for all those matchups against the Cleveland Browns.
4:30Yeah. Joe Burrow is doing like a, okay, okay, I'll take that.
4:34But all the KC Concepcion, you know, one of the downsides of the Cleveland offense is their defense is so good.
4:40They might not need to do much. This is helpful.
4:44But it makes sense for Cleveland. Jared Versus is a very good player.
4:48He's much younger. And then you add a first.
4:51This is a team that's building for the future, not for right now.
4:55And Miles Garrett gets to chase a ring, which he didn't even want originally to sign with the Browns.
5:01Because he wanted, he didn't feel like he could win there.
5:05And then they offered him so much money, he's like, okay.
5:08All right. I'll lose. Winning's overrated. You paid enough.
5:11But, yeah, I think this works for all parties.
5:14And it's great for our Arizona Cardinals because we're looking for that number one pick.
5:19Oh, my gosh. Miles Garrett will break several of our quarterbacks.
5:23Wow. Unbelievable trade. There you go. Kicking it off.
5:26June 1st is here. There you go. Stole the show.
5:29Miles Garrett stole the show from the Ultimate Draft Kit release.
5:33You can go check that out, ultimatedraftkit.com right now.
5:35The quick question was from Andrew in Reno. He says, after about two and a half years of listening to the pod,
5:43he finally decided to check out the UDK. What are some of the first things I can check out when everything goes live on June 1st?
5:51Like I said, this is one of the biggest questions we get.
5:55It's like you get paralyzed by how many different resources you have.
5:59Do you guys have a good answer for Andrew?
6:02Yeah, I mean, for me, it changes during different times of the year.
6:06The first thing that I would take a look at if it was me is the player profile videos.
6:12I'd go to the videos and just watch them all.
6:15It's basically like getting more of the podcast individual on a player.
6:19All three of us talk about a single player at a time for four to six minutes.
6:25And, you know, we're giving good information. And it really helps you remember who they are, what they did, what their outlook
6:32is, you know, their range of outcomes. And you've got time now.
6:36Like if this is late August and you're prepping for your drafts, I'm marking players.
6:41And I'm highlighting who I want to make sure I don't forget and using some of the other tools.
6:47Right now, it's more like research and entertainment and enjoyment and knowledge.
6:51And so I would start with the player profile videos personally.
6:55One of the things to remind you of is, you know, the mobile app, the web.
7:00You can mark players. So you can favorite players.
7:03You can set aside players that you want to pay attention to in your upcoming draft.
7:08It's a way to kind of keep a running list of the things you're paying attention to.
7:13One tool I wanted to remind people about is the value scout tool, which is part of the UDK, which actually takes
7:21a look at our consensus rankings and compares it to the average app position that is currently in place and finds some
7:28different, you know, players we believe in much more than ADP, less than ADP.
7:32It's a clear way to take a look at that, Mike.
7:36I would go that we have a, if you're on the web, you go to myudk.com.
7:41That'll give you a shortcut right to your UDK.
7:44We have a, there's a projections area. Inside of that has Mike's 2026 projections.
7:49Okay. That's where I would start. Mm-hmm. Yeah. Yeah, yeah.
7:52Mike's been known for perfect projections for years now.
7:55Champ, champ, can't hear you. Okay. And I choose not to hear you.
7:59Let's get into some news. News and notes from around the league.
8:03One piece of- Super duper champ, I apologize. I was going to say, one piece of news is that it's just as
8:10painful today as it was the day you won both titles.
8:14No, I- I really need to get one. Feels good, man.
8:17Feels good. Well, we talked all through the insane Miles Garrett news, which I'm sure more and more details of that trade
8:24will be breaking over the next 24 hours. But here we are, June 1st.
8:29Jeremy Fowler reporting that the Patriots remain confident they'll acquire A.J.
8:33Brown. A bunch of reporters talking about that. The reason why it's taken so long is because the dead cap for A.J.
8:40Brown before June 1st was $43 million. It's $16 million after June 1st.
8:44And so, pretty big deal to wait. The talk is a first-round pick from New England, which I don't know, man.
8:51That's a tough one for me. I've seen a 1st.
8:54I've seen a 28 1st. I've seen a 2nd and a 4th.
8:58We don't know yet. I'm guessing by the time this is released shortly after the deal is made, everyone knows what it is.
9:05And A.J. Brown is a Patriot. And then we'll talk about the details of what that means for Devontae Smith, Makai Lemon.
9:13I'll talk about him right now because I think this trade is going to happen.
9:18I think, one, Devontae Smith is a certifiable one.
9:20I think he can produce like a 1 in that offense.
9:24Every time that A.J. Brown's been off the field, he's been able to be a 1.
9:29And these next-up options for them, Dallas Goddard's still under contract, so I'd love to be all over Eli Stowers as a
9:36rookie, but I can't do it yet. Makai Lemon is a super talented player.
9:41They're one of the lowest passing volume teams in the league, statistically.
9:45So it's not that I don't like Makai Lemon.
9:48It's just that I'm a little nervous about what the distribution will be like.
9:52I want to know that he's going to be the guaranteed second option.
9:57I don't know if I feel that way. Do we have that new snake graphic?
10:02Did that come in? Not yet. He's doing it tonight.
10:05What a loser. I'll bet. Our team's letting us down.
10:08Hey, Brian, thanks for nothing. Yeah. So we were going to give you a really cool graphic there.
10:14We can't, so the show is inferior because of that.
10:17Oh, my gosh. But on the other side, I mean, like, A.J.
10:21Brown is still playing at a level where he should dominate in New England.
10:26He should. I mean, Drake May is my number two overall fantasy quarterback.
10:30He's a 4,000-plus yard passer. And Stephon Diggs and all those targets are gone.
10:34I mean, it's going to be 130-plus targets easy for A.J.
10:38Brown. Oh, for sure. I mean, he will. Probably a lot more than that.
10:43But he is coming here as the alpha. They're going to trade enough draft capital, probably give him some money on the contract.
10:50And they need him. I mean, they really do.
10:53I know they went all the way to the Super Bowl.
10:57And so you could be like, well, do they really need him?
11:00Yeah, they do. They don't have a stud alpha one.
11:04Sorry, Mike. Romeo Dobbs is not quite there. But no.
11:07And A.J. Brown will demand them. I mean, that's his issue with Philly is he wasn't getting the ball enough.
11:13And so whether that's good for the Patriots, I don't know.
11:17It's good for fantasy. It's good for A.J. Brown.
11:20I think A.J. Brown goes over to the Patriots and dominates for fantasy this year.
11:25He's older. If you're in a dynasty league and you wanted to take advantage of this news and trade A.J.
11:31Brown right now because he's going to be playing at 29 years old, try to get a haul, get a young prospect,
11:39a wide receiver plus a 27 first and a young wide receiver, I'm fine making that move.
11:44But if you're a contender, I think you're going to have two years of top 12 fantasy points from A.J.
11:51Brown left. Last year, Philadelphia was the 24th ranked offense, 23rd ranked passing offense.
11:55New England was the 5th ranked offense, the 4th ranked passing offense.
11:594,459 passing yards for New England. 3,400 passing yards for Philadelphia last year.
12:03It's a huge upgrade for A.J. Brown in that offense.
12:07If it happens, would I give up a first if I was New England?
12:11I would not. I would not, no. I think that's too much for the time period.
12:16If A.J. Brown was 27, of course. He already got traded for a first.
12:21Philly did it right. Yeah, the numbers on players like this at this age being traded for a one and then having
12:28long-term impact on the team, the numbers are very bad.
12:31But you're going for it. You feel like no one else is probably as available as A.J.
12:37Brown. But you better win. A couple other bits of news.
12:40Jeremy Fowler also reported. It's funny because. It's like Miles Garrett's older than A.J.
12:45Brown. Right. It's like trading a first and Jared versus.
12:48I know right now he is more dominant in his position than A.J.
12:52Brown is at his position. But it is funny to think like he's near the end and you're saying if you get
13:00two years of dominance totally worth a first and Jared verse.
13:03Great move Rams. But the Patriots are like maybe not worth a first.
13:07I think it probably is. I think that one of them is a superhero.
13:12Yeah, one of them is. One of them is A.J.
13:15Brown. One is playing peak. I don't think A.J.
13:18Brown is playing peak A.J. Brown right now. I agree.
13:21I think Miles Garrett is playing peak Miles Garrett.
13:24I think Miles Garrett is going to be. He's going to be okay for a while.
13:30One is a Hall of Famer. Yes. Is that what you said, Matt?
13:34Oh, yes. Easy. Jeremy Fowler also talking about Deshaun Watson, quote, has a leg up on the competition for the starting role.
13:41But I mean, I don't know. There's no good news.
13:44We're going to go back and forth for the next couple months.
13:48We're going to hear great reports about Shadur. We're going to hear great reports about Watson.
13:53We have to ignore it until a decision is made.
13:57The great news for everyone is it doesn't matter.
14:00If it's Watson, okay. If it's Sanders. Okay. I mean, I'm not going into my Browns targets.
14:05I'm like, oh, baby. Deshaun Watson is back. Yeah.
14:08No. We hope we get better quarterback play from whoever.
14:11But the Giants signed Odell Beckham Jr. and Braxton Barrio.
14:15Don't do it. Don't do it. Mediocre signing of the week.
14:18Eat it. Oh, how the mighty have fallen. I mean, why do you got to do that to him?
14:24OBJ has been mediocre for so long. But Malik Nabors, we watched him run around the bases at a softball game.
14:31Did we? We called that running? We saw him limp around the bases.
14:35It was like a man who had just been shot.
14:39He was not moving well. Cam Scadaboo did hit a backflip.
14:42He looked much better. The Cam Scadaboo news from this weekend was a backflip and a $50,000 grill.
14:48Oh, I didn't see that. Yes. Yeah, I see.
14:51He did some work on the teeth. On the teeth.
14:54I literally thought you were talking like he had this backyard barbecue.
14:58No, no, no. It was unbelievable. No, not a grill.
15:01$50,000. No, grill. So he iced his teeth. Iced his teeth.
15:05And then someone tried to take Ramondre Stevenson out.
15:08Yeah, that was a comedian. Oh, he was well.
15:11Slid into second base. Matt Reif. Matt Reif. Well, be funnier and get Ramondre out of my life.
15:17Oh, my gosh, Mike. I'm joking. I'm joking. I'm joking.
15:20Alvin Kamara updates? Do we have Alvin Kamara updates?
15:23The update is that there's no timetable to figuring out the Alvin Kamara situation?
15:28Underhill was reporting that. There's rumors that he still could get cut to save cap space.
15:33It's a really unique situation. His contract is pretty wild.
15:36It's TBD. There is still the chance he gets cut.
15:39That's basically the news. The problem is Alvin Kamara is a saint forever.
15:43He is a hero for the football team. And he is no longer worth the money.
15:49And when you have players like this, you come to a crossroads, you're like, what's worse?
15:54Like just carrying him on the team or taking the PR that we have gotten rid of people's I feel like they're already heading down that road.
16:03I think that's where they're headed, too. But it's hard.
16:06When you sign Travis H. And Jr., it's saying we've moved on.
16:10And honestly, it's brutal. It's the unfun part of business.
16:13But you just go back to the run of the Patriots.
16:17Bill Belichick did not care what you have done for him in the past.
16:21It was like, we're just going to make the best decision.
16:25And if you're done, I'm moving on from you.
16:28I don't care. My job is to make this football team the best this year, every year.
16:33And Alvin Kamara does not make the Saints better.
16:36Just doesn't. All right. We'll take a break. And then today's episode, I didn't even mention it yet, is a fun one.
16:43It's the Explain Yourself episode where we will each have a chance to defend a ranking that is very different from the other two.
16:51When you're a maintenance engineer in a beverage manufacturing plant, you keep production lines moving and quality on track because there is no room for slowdowns.
17:00With Grainger's vast selection of high-quality motors, sensors, belts, and hard-to-find parts, you can get what you need fast and all in
17:07one place so nothing gets in the way of getting the job done.
17:11Call 1-800-GRAINGER, click grainger.com, or just stop by. Grainger, for the ones who get it done.
17:16Carter's has your family covered for every summer first.
17:19First steps, first swim lesson, or first sleepover. Our clothes help kids and parents have their best summer ever thanks to comfy design and easy dressing details.
17:28Generations of families have trusted our must-haves for babies, toddlers, and kids.
17:32Designed to shine season after season. Visit carters.com to shop the latest styles or find a Carter's store near you.
17:38All right, before we jump in to explain yourself, any other hot trades, Al, going through?
17:44We got anything on A.J. Brown? I'll keep you posted if we see anything, but nothing yet.
17:49All right, you never know. A little early release, and we get surprised.
17:53I'm glad it broke while we were doing the show.
17:57Worked out. It just reminded me of the time that you, live on the show, Courtland Sutton.
18:02Portland Sutton, yes. One time Jason was like, did you say he's not getting a contract?
18:07I basically said there's no way he gets a contract.
18:11And then the second that I finished, I was, do-do-do-do-do-do-do-Cortland Sutton signs monster contract.
18:15Unbelievable. It was pretty great. Let's do it. Quite well, thank you.
18:19No, clearly you are not. No rational person would do as you have done.
18:24Explain yourself. Okay, we just did all of our projections.
18:27We've got our 2026 UDK projections into the app, and there's differences of opinion.
18:32There's the right opinion, some of mine, and then there's your guys' opinions.
18:36Well, let's talk about one of yours, Andrew Holloway.
18:39There is a player you have at wide receiver 17.
18:42Mike and I have near the 30s. Near the 40s.
18:45This is a player, sure. This is a player who has never, he's played four years in the NFL and has never had 50 receptions.
18:53Last year, he had over 23 yards per reception and barely squeaked in as a wide receiver, too, in fantasy.
19:00We looked up this stat, wide receivers who have not hit 50 receptions through the first four years to go up to
19:07hit, say, 70 receptions, a bet you and I made.
19:10Yeah. Only one player has ever done it in the history of the NFL.
19:15That is Mike Williams, Big Mike, who was drafted as a top 10 pick, had multiple times with nine or more touchdowns,
19:22and still only hit wide receiver 17 or better once in his career.
19:26You have Alec Pierce as your wide receiver 17.
19:29Andy, sprain yourself! It was a fun year last year for Alec Pierce.
19:33I mean, certainly fun for him. This is a player that, you know, basically capitalized on the opportunity, and that turned into
19:41a four-year, $115 million contract, 47 for 1,006 for Alec Pierce to finish as the wide receiver 23.
19:46He did miss two games due to a concussion.
19:49Sometimes we do this show, and we get the things set up, and, you know, I have my ranking the way it
19:57is, and I start to dig into it, and I really want to, I want to dig in deep, and I want
20:04to be like, yes, I believe what I believe.
20:07And that's what happened. I prefer it that way.
20:10And that's what happened. That's what happened here. I am all the more convicted that this, that the community at large has Alec Pierce far, far too low.
20:19Look, I know all the numbers are in it, and you highlighted that it's rare for a player to go through, you
20:26know, the first four years, and then the reception totals go up, and that hasn't been, like Alec Pierce's recipe for success
20:33in the NFL is the big play. He has had six-plus touchdowns and 20-plus yards per catch in back-to-back seasons.
20:39His average depth of target, 19 yards down the field.
20:43That's spicy. This one was crazy. 87% of his receptions were first downs.
20:4787%. That's number one in the league with more than 75 targets.
20:51This is something you might not know about Alec Pierce as well, but he was tied for number one with the lowest
20:58drop rate in the NFL last year. 1.2%, lowest in the league, over 75 targets.
21:03But the case for Alec Pierce, look, there was a time, and it's not perfect apples to apples, but there was a
21:10time that we saw James Cook have high-efficiency performance numbers in Buffalo and get paid like a true, bona fide number one running back.
21:18We were all like, is he that? And then he went out and he basically delivered on what the team's investment was.
21:25This was a monstrous contract that Indianapolis chose to give to a guy with under 50 catches on the season.
21:32But I watched almost every single one of the connections between him and Daniel Jones.
21:36I had him on my fantasy team last year, and this is a player that's been great at the NFL level for a long period of time.
21:45Why will 2026 be different? Number one, the setup for Alec Pierce, dramatically better.
21:50Michael Pittman, he's gone. He leaves behind 80 catches, 784 yards, and seven touchdowns.
21:54Will there be other beneficiaries of his departure? Of course.
21:58But with him traded away and the team investing, I mean, let's not, this was not just like, we want to keep you around.
22:05This is a paying you to be one of the highest paid receivers in the game of football contract, $115 million.
22:12They paid him like a true number one, not just a deep threat, like one of the top receivers.
22:19I think there's a chance I'm not bullish enough with my projections of Alec Pierce.
22:23I think that there's a chance that, you know, he had 1,000 yards on 84 targets.
22:29That's a number that most top tier receivers will take 120, 130, 150.
22:33To get to 1,000 yards. He missed two games, by the way.
22:37I mean, his numbers are a little bit, he's the perfect candidate for that.
22:41Like, you played well, but you missed a couple games, so your fantasy finish was a little bit lower.
22:47Like, that just makes you a sneaky candidate to begin with.
22:51He doesn't have to become a 120 catch guy to dominate for fantasy.
22:55He needs to add two to three short to intermediate targets per game, which are all being abandoned by Michael Pittman.
23:02And so to me, the difference is in our rankings, I'm looking at this, you guys have targets at about 90, 94, 16% target share.
23:10I've got him at 105, 20% target share, seven touchdowns.
23:14Nothing about my projection is out of bounds. He can grow into a 20 to 21% target share.
23:19He just has to change the player he's been for the first four years of his career.
23:25Would you agree with that? I would say that they have to utilize him in more ways although there are, I mean,
23:32that's the stats in whole, like you summarize his career.
23:35But when you go watch the games one by one, you also see him getting targets where, look, your yards per catch
23:43number is a reflection, not just of air yards.
23:45There were in routes. There were slant routes. There were plays that they were turning to him for first downs where he
23:53caught the ball and he ran with it. They weren't all isolated, you know, even though the averages were there, and that's what he's been as a majority.
24:02What I saw in film was a player able to prove that he could do other things.
24:07And to me, the numbers say that everybody else believes that.
24:11You know, if you only believe he's a deep threat, you do not pay him this money, ever.
24:17You just can't do it. And so to me, he is like, I asked these guys before, I'm like, where is he actually sitting in terms of ADP?
24:26And it's wide receiver 40. Yeah, he's in the eighth round.
24:29For a player. That doesn't cost you anything. He already, I don't mind that at all.
24:35No, no, no. I mean, look, wide receiver 40 is outrageous to me.
24:39The efficiency numbers were probably outrageous last year, but they're pretty close to what you could do.
24:44His yards per catch is going to come down.
24:47His targets are going to go up. He's going to score six to seven times, if not more, in this offense.
24:54And he's going to outpace the wide receiver 40.
24:57I just feel like that's a guarantee when you take the season that he had, the money he was paid, the departure of Pittman.
25:05The only thing that can really detour this in a significant way is Daniel Jones not being himself.
25:11Yes. If Daniel Jones is not there, you got a problem with Tyler Warren.
25:15You got a problem with Josh Downs. And guess what?
25:19Jonathan Taylor, you got a problem too because this offense is not going to function without Daniel Jones.
25:24That's, that's where I'm at with Alec Pierce. I feel like he's a low investment, capital wise, high reward with upside to play into the contract.
25:33I do not in, I don't have my projection for Alec Pierce statted like you do.
25:38I really don't. I think he's going to continue to play the role that he has played so well.
25:44He's so good at stretching the field, opening things up, getting deep passes.
25:49So I think they'll keep him there. However, when you are in the eighth round, the back of the eighth, he's like
25:56on the eight, nine turn right now in ADP, the wide receiver 40, it costs you nothing.
26:01And there is clearly an avenue and a money and an investment path towards, he is like, he's their alpha one.
26:08That's maybe what they want to do. I have zero problem.
26:12Like I love trying to dunk on you here and be like, you're so stupid because that's fun.
26:18But the draft cost is like, I will be taking a lot of Alec Pierce if he stays that low in drafts.
26:25Mediocre signing of the week. Oh, oh. Juju Smith-Schuster has been added to the Giants roster.
26:30Giants. Oh man. What are you doing, baby? Beckham?
26:33I mean, this is, now the red flags can fire off into the sky around Malik neighbors.
26:38I'll tell you what, man, Antonio Brown is somewhere, like he is doing the Michael Keaton Batman gift right now.
26:45OBJ and Mooney. He doesn't know where he is.
26:48Juju, OBJ, and Mooney. This is not, I mean, that's not going to be the roster come start of the season.
26:55look, Malachi Fields doesn't have to compete with much.
26:58Oh my God. Darius Slayton is there. This is the vibes.
27:01The vibes are bad. But so, back to Alec Pierce.
27:04What do you think about Alec Pierce? No, I'm, I just, while you were talking, I went in, I bumped him up a little bit.
27:13Oh, that's the highest compliment you can pay me.
27:16It's, I'm moving him down. To affect our consensus rankings?
27:19It's, he's a difficult player because you look just, you know, based off of career, projecting when, when huge jumps are going to happen, it can be difficult.
27:28Especially when a player is this established. But, we're in weird territory of, like, historically all the comps, the Mike Williams stat.
27:35Yeah, all of that exists, but also he just got that contract.
27:39So it's, you know, and NFL teams screw up contracts.
27:42You want to know who had 33 and 37 receptions his first two years in the NFL?
27:48Who's that? It's not three years, but it's two.
27:51What about four years? Nico Collins. Nico Collins didn't do anything.
27:54Oh, I like that counterpoint. I mean, there are players, Robert Woods is another one, where you just kind of, you're hiding
28:01in plain sight in the offensive system. I don't know.
28:05I've never seen a greater endorsement of a true wide receiver one than what they did this offseason.
28:11They shipped off the guy that was supposed to be their one and then paid him $115 million.
28:16I think the only problem with that is that when they shipped off Pittman, I know that they paid Pierce, and so
28:24their actions definitely said, this is a giant part of our team, but the GM and the head coach, they were just
28:31talking so much about Josh Downs and how he's the one that's going to step up.
28:36He's going to earn more targets, and of course, you've got Tyler Warren there, who I still think that's their number one receiving option this year.
28:44It's just 84 million guaranteed. Yeah. To give a player that and then give him another 17% target share or so would
28:52be a criminal misuse of your resources. I believe, Kyle, I'm pretty sure this is right.
28:57He was an unrestricted free agent, right? He was like the bell of the ball on the free agent market.
29:03Yes, he was. So he's going to get a big contract.
29:07He's going to. If you look at the Colts who just traded the future.
29:11Why is he going to get a big contract?
29:14Because there were no wide receivers on the market.
29:17Oh, that's why. The free agent market for wide receivers was just garbage.
29:22Darnell Mooney's a deep threat. He didn't get $115 million.
29:25But my point is, you couldn't lose this player.
29:28If you're the Colts and you already traded Pittman, you can't lose Alec Pierce.
29:32So I do think there's some of that. the order it happened.
29:36Yeah, it was. It was the opposite order than that.
29:39They traded him. They paid before they traded Pittman?
29:42Yes. Okay. Yeah. I'm going to lean into the contract.
29:46I mean, that's. The highest paid free agent in the history of the NFL?
29:50Yeah, that'll affect things. That wide receiver? I mean, and that's what you got to lean on, honestly, is the fact that they will change things.
29:59They will get that target share up. He seems like a player that should thrive.
30:04If you can utilize him properly, he can take, I think he can have a higher target share and be a big piece of the offense.
30:12All right. That's it for me and Alec Pierce, Mike.
30:15I think you get to set Jason up here.
30:18All right. Jason Moore over here. Dumb. Oh, I love this.
30:22I love this. You're the perfect guy to set this up.
30:25Absolute dumb dumb because Jason. What a cool setup.
30:28Well, because look, Jason's over here. He's just like at any moment, Kevin White.
30:33Oh, no, I'm sorry. Not Kevin White. He's like Michael Floyd.
30:36Oh, no, I'm so sorry. I'm so sorry, everyone.
30:39I'll get it right. Corey Davis. Oh, just at any moment, any moment, Roma Dunze, read the top 10 pick.
30:46Cool. Cool. Roma Dunze is already being destroyed by his depth chart.
30:50Colston Loveland. Kevin White. Luther Burden. It is. I mean, it is.
30:54Those are literally the only in the history of what we've done.
30:58Those are the only people he can come up with who are drafted that high who weren't great for fantasy.
31:04So he brings us. Darius Hayward Bay, Devontae Park, Le'Kon Treadwell.
31:08Devontae Parker? Yes, he was. No, you just said Darius Hayward Bay.
31:12Oh, he was a top 10 pick. Was he really?
31:15Yeah, brother. Oh my God. You should pick up a history book because NFL players bust all the time in the first round.
31:22I'm just saying, there's already better players on this team right now.
31:26The coach, Ben Johnson, has already said, I am buying Luther Burden stock right now.
31:31Last year, Roma Dunze ran 120 routes with Luther Burden on the field.
31:35In those routes, Roma Dunze was putting up a spectacular 0.81 yards per route run.
31:40And if you want context for that, that's what Tyler Lockett was putting up on the Raiders.
31:46And yes, ladies and gentlemen, before you go and check, Tyler Lockett was in fact on the Raiders last year for part of this season outproducing Roma Dunze.
31:55Adam Thielen on the Steelers outproducing Roma Dunze. That was the one I forgot.
31:59I was like, he was on the Steelers. Yeah, you don't have to look.
32:04He was there putting up more production than Roma Dunze on a per route basis.
32:09Jason, swipe yourself! That was quite the introduction. This is so easy to explain.
32:14First of all, the yards per route run when they were on the field together.
32:18The beginning of the year, Luther Burden didn't play that much.
32:22It was towards the end of the year when Luther Burden got on the field more because he was a rookie.
32:29That makes sense. It was also during the end of the year that Roma Dunze was injured.
32:34He was very injured. He literally didn't play the last like five weeks of the season after trying to tough it out.
32:42I went back week by week by week and I looked at the injury report and I watched the film and I remember having him.
32:50Let me remind people now, yes, you can talk about the busts at the top 10 drafted in the NFL but there
32:57are also really good players drafted in the top 10 at wide receiver for a reason.
33:02We never really laid out what you're explaining just in the sense that Jason has him at 19.
33:08I have... Mike has him at 30. Mike has him at 31.
33:12You do have to explain what you're explaining. I'm explaining why I have Roman Dunze.
33:1710 spots ahead of Mike. 10 spots ahead of Mike.
33:20Right now he's being drafted as the wide receiver 30 in the seventh round.
33:24Luther Burden is being drafted as the wide receiver 17 in the fourth round.
33:29So you're spinning up a lot to know that Burden is better but I want to remind people and especially you, Mike,
33:36what happened last year because when Burden started the season not involved and Rome was healthy Right.
33:42Rome was the wide receiver 3 through the first month of the season and it wasn't all touchdowns.
33:48We're talking 153 target pace. He was awesome. He got injured after week 8.
33:52So half the season is over. During that time he was already on pace for 136 targets 1148 yards 12 touchdowns.
33:59He was really awesome. How awesome? Because you know busts is what you're throwing out that he's not good.
34:05Yeah. Except he was the wide receiver 7 in points per game through the first half of the year.
34:11That's not a bust. That's a top 10 drafted pick who was alpha man who was doing everything for fantasy you wanted and then he got injured.
34:20What happened after that? Well he never had a full practice week the rest of the season including once he came back into the playoffs.
34:28He was resting every Wednesday resting every Thursday barely practicing on Friday going out there and playing like trash.
34:35I mean after he was injured 38% catch rate he was on pace for 639 yards and 3 touchdowns.
34:41He also didn't play as many snaps. He was usually out there for 93% of the snaps when he was healthy and
34:48then all of a sudden they're trying to monitor him trying to relax this heel foot injury and he's playing 70% of the snaps.
34:56Yeah he wasn't that good because he was injured.
34:59Now if he's healthy if you're telling me I have to take a bet on whether Roma Doonze who they did spin
35:06the number 9 pick in the draft for and for a reason.
35:10Everybody believed that this was a guy who was a top 10 NFL draft pick.
35:15It wasn't like they reached. It wasn't a shock in the draft where we're like Correct.
35:20Oh my God like Darius Hayward Bay that was like oh he's the fast speedster guy that got overdrafted.
35:26Rome was John Ross. Exactly. Rome was expected to be a great wide receiver.
35:31My Felix score that you know I've talked about a lot and that has been so far looking really good for judging
35:38prospects has Rome as a night Part of the UDK by the way.
35:42Part of the UDK now it's in there. Has Rome as a 90th percentile prospect.
35:47He's not a bad prospect. He's not a bus player and what he did in his sophomore year was dominate for fantasy
35:54until he injured his foot and then he sucked and then you get excited about other people.
36:00If you're telling me in the 7th round I get to take a guy who's being drafted at wide receiver 30 who
36:07has the ability to come out and truly dominate I know Rome's going to be on the field.
36:13Two wide receiver sets he's going to be on the field.
36:16He is their alpha one. Now I'm not saying anything against Luther Burden that he's not good.
36:22I love the film. He moves different. He's great.
36:25He is not as good a complete wide receiver as Rome right now.
36:29They're still talking about how like in that in that comment that you know oh I'm buying stock that's great.
36:35Except if you listen to the whole thing he's talking about how he's really worked on his route tree and we're starting
36:43to see some routes that we can add to it.
36:46That's great but he's got to do that. They don't talk about that with Rome because he has a complete route tree.
36:53Now first of all a few comments. That's really assuming a lot.
36:57One comment if you started the year with Rome and Abuka last year they're very similar.
37:02There was a major injury to Abuka that moved him around the field and the Evans injury and then the Odunze injury gets underplayed.
37:10Two, I am pretty sure Mike only is allowing himself like 10 units of love for the Bears and he has to move them from somebody.
37:18That is true. He has to move them from a Odunze 2 burden.
37:23His amount of love of burden is so high there's not enough room for anybody else.
37:28And the truth is with all three of the Bears prospects you have to choose.
37:33You just have to. Here's what I promise can't happen.
37:36Loveland can't be the wide receiver or the tight end three while burden is the wide receiver eight and Rome is the wide receiver twelve.
37:44There's just not enough for all three to hit.
37:47Unless Caleb is the quarterback one. Right. So you are taking a bet.
37:51Right now most people are betting on Luther Burden.
37:54I am betting on Rome. ADNP says that they are.
37:57Yes, that's what I mean. I genuinely believe that at the end of the year I am so confident that Rome will
38:05have far more targets far more touchdowns. On a per You guys should bet that.
38:09Touch base. Sure. I will happily bet just season finish Rome versus Burden.
38:14Fantasy finish? Fantasy finish. Oh yeah, I'll take Luther.
38:17Beautiful. Yeah, put it on the board. Bet it is.
38:20There it is. Water bet. Because, I mean, you said a lot of words but all I heard was Roma Dunze is soft.
38:27Soft. Because he hurt his foot? Yeah. Oh, okay.
38:30Soft. Can't play. Can't play through injury. His foot was a burden to him.
38:35Hey-oh! Nice. Got him. Can I just take Loveland out of this deal?
38:39Oh, no. All three of us are in on Rome.
38:42I'm more in on Rome with Jason because of the draft pricing because I believe the same things.
38:48I believe that Rome is a true alpha. You didn't even bring up the fact that, you know, they got rid of
38:55another one of their top tier receivers, right? Yeah.
38:58More is, DJ Moore is now a member of the Bills and by the way struggling with the playbook over there.
39:05Yeah. I heard that. I'm not out on Rome.
39:08No, you can't come back. You're not allowed in.
39:11You're out. I locked the door, Mike. Okay, that's fine.
39:14Dead bull. He's like, whatever. That's fine. I'm out on Rome.
39:18Yeah. He's like, no, that's cool. I was going to say, the ADP of Rome, I don't think that makes sense either.
39:25The disparity is too big. I don't think the ADP of either of those guys makes sense.
39:31Like, I'm excited for Burden. Burden does because this is what people do when they- Spilling a fourth round pick on the hope and chance.
39:39That feels hopium. The hopeium is, I can tell, I'll speak for Mike.
39:43Amon-Ra. Yes. It's the Amon-Ra argument. It's the, this dude's going to function in that role in this offense and be that
39:50good in this offense for years to come. That's wide receiver.
39:54Three numbers. I think just because Ben Johnson had Amon-Ra and comes over, people are saying Amon-Ra, it's not that same type of player to me.
40:02This is more of a, like a Percy Harvin, like get the ball on his hands on screens and just let him- Percy Harvin.
40:10Just trying to like, I mean, he's awesome with his, with the ball on his hands.
40:15He is awesome. But Amon-Ra is awesome in routes and like, you know, he's just always in the right spot at the right time.
40:23He's a tactician. I remember us having these conversations.
40:26Is Amon-Ra actually good? Yes. This will be a fun one.
40:29Luther Byrden, actually good. This will be a fun one.
40:33Rome, maybe. We'll take a break and then we'll see what Mike can do as we enter the geriatric portion of this show.
40:40Yes. Grainger knows when you're a procurement manager for an office park, you're not managing one building.
40:46You're managing all of them. And to stay ahead, you need to see through walls and around corners.
40:52Lights about to fail, filters ready to clog, HVAC on its last leg.
40:56If you wait until something breaks, you're already behind.
40:59Count on Grainger for quality products, easy reordering and 24-7 support.
41:02Call 1-800-GRAINGER, click grainger.com or just stop by. Grainger, for the ones who get it done.
41:08Carter's has your family covered for every summer first.
41:11First steps, first swim lesson or first sleepover. Our clothes help kids and parents shine thanks to comfy design and easy dressing details.
41:18Visit carters.com to shop the latest styles or find a Carter's store near you.
41:23And there it is, the geriatric portion of the show.
41:26Deuces alley. Just Josh. Josh, it's you. Yeah, don't you?
41:29Josh, it's you. Just out of nowhere. All right.
41:32Mike's player that we're talking about today is Devontae Adams.
41:35All 33.4 years old, Devontae Adams. I've got him at 32.
41:39I think that's probably a little bit too low after we did his player profile video.
41:44Because he is 33, yes. Jason has him at 27.
41:47You have aged him too low. Mike has him ranked at number 17.
41:52Yeah. This is the final year of his contract in Los Angeles.
41:55Out of all of the top 24 fantasy seasons on a point per game basis since 2010, only 5.5% have been achieved
42:03by receivers who are 33 years or older. So the biggest challenge here for Devontae Adams is father time.
42:09He's old. That's for sure. And he was also just ridiculously efficient last year around the goal line.
42:15Now when we started talking through this team, look, I think the team was willing to move on from Devontae Adams this offseason.
42:22Seemed like it. It seems like they were willing to invest in a wide receiver, but they chose Ty Simpson over Makai Lemon.
42:30So here we are. We end up with the Devontae Adams default.
42:34We'll call it that. But Mike, you have him the highest among the three of us.
42:39So explain yourself. So obviously last year, Devontae Adams, the goal line wide receiver, he ends the year with 14 touchdowns despite
42:46missing weeks 16 through 18 with the hamstring injury.
42:49Basically it was the best season inside the five yard ever for a wide receiver.
42:5427 end zone targets. Yes, he is old, but we always have our Hall of Fame outliers.
42:59Devontae Adams is a first ballot Hall of Fame type of wide receiver to me.
43:04Jason always... Like Mike Evans. He'll be a Hall of Famer, but not a first ballot.
43:09He'll probably be second ballot because of how difficult it is for...
43:13But okay, let me change the phrasing. Devontae Adams is guaranteed to end up in the Hall of Fame.
43:19Can you agree with that, Jason? I think that is probable, yeah.
43:23He's got a championship, right? Yes. Yeah, he had one with the Packers, right?
43:28Packer boy, or was that too soon? Or was that before?
43:32No, I don't actually, I don't think he has one.
43:35I don't think he's guaranteed, but I mean, the point you're making is he's an all-timer.
43:40He's great. He's an all-timer. I think he's a guaranteed Hall of Fame type of wide receiver, and those types of guys
43:47end up being able to play longer than your average.
43:50Oh, Kyle's up. No titles. No Super Bowl. He was there right before it happened, or after it happened, I guess.
43:57Can't even get to 1,000 yards. Go on. And so, and here's what I want to bring up, is the touchdowns is the story of Devontae Adams' season.
44:06That's, and, but what we're not looking at is his catch rate for a player of his caliber just does not make sense.
44:14It does not make sense at all to me that Devontae Adams, who has a, his career, before, even including last year, a 63% catch rate.
44:22That's, that's fine. That's not crazy. That's not, he's catching everything.
44:26That's not, he's, you know, down catching what, less than half of his balls like Roma Dunze.
44:31Devontae Adams was playing with the MVP of football, and yet he only caught 53% of his passes last year.
44:38Take a look at the rest of the team.
44:41Colby Park, and these are, so, catchable targets. 68.5% of Devontae Adams' targets were catchable.
44:46That's ridiculously low. Parkinson, 93%. Davis Allen, 91%. Makes sense.
44:49Tight ends. What's Puka? Jordan Winnington, 88%. Puka, with 163 targets, 86% of his targets were catchable.
44:55This is a, you think Stafford was just assuming he was faster and threw the ball out ahead of him?
45:01This is, this is a, we are not completely on the same page until we close in on the field.
45:08The fact that you can go in inside the five and catch half of your targets, turning them into touchdowns, and then
45:15only 68% of your targets on the year are catchable, that seems like a, a number to me that will regress.
45:22That really does sound like he's overthrowing. It sounds like he's like, you should be further.
45:27Last year, Adams was 10th in wide receivers for air yards and 8th for unrealized air yards as in he's just, the
45:34targets are going and they're not catchable and it's not even, it's not even Adams' fault.
45:39There's just a misconnection between Devontae Adams, a great wide receiver, and Matthew Stafford, last year's MVP.
45:45I just don't see a world where on this team, he's not still in the mid-20s, I'm not out of control of
45:52my projection, I got him at 24% of the targets.
45:55He was 25% last year. I just have him catching more of them, which seems like an absolute no-brainer to me.
46:02The fact that they passed on Makai Lemon with everything, oh, they were going to get rid of Adams, they didn't.
46:09They didn't add anybody. It's Devontae Adams, it's Puka.
46:12These are going to be the main two guys and they're going to keep running their 12 sets out there, what'll be
46:19just the two wide receivers and the consolidation of targets.
46:22And to me, there's no way this year that the connection of Matthew Stafford and Devontae Adams results in Devontae catching 53% of his passes again.
46:31Well, I would pay a lot of money for breaking news right now that A.J.
46:36Brown was traded to the Rams. I would pay a lot for that.
46:40I would change my argument. But I think the hardest part for me is those arguments all make a lot of sense
46:47to me if Devontae Adams is not in the decline of his career in terms of, oh, they'll fix what was broken.
46:54It's hard to lay at the feet of Matthew Stafford the problems last year of connecting with Devontae Adams.
47:00It's easier for me to lay that at the 33-year-old Adams' feet and say, the MVP of football who won the MVP could connect with everybody but you.
47:09To me, there's a problem there and I also don't like for fantasy.
47:14And Terrence Ferguson, by the way. And Terrence Ferguson.
47:17Okay. 60% of Ferguson's targets were catchable. The problem to me is like you get another year.
47:22You get another year of injury exposure and problems for Devontae Adams.
47:26You get another year of like, hey, does he catch enough touchdowns to make up for the inefficiencies elsewhere or does he become more efficient elsewhere?
47:34That's tough for me to try to figure out and with the injury thing on top of it.
47:40And it's just hard to project the older you get the more it gets fixed.
47:45Yeah. That's the part that is the challenge for me.
47:48But it is also very hard to look at the roster as it stands today, the depth chart as it stands today,
47:56what you expect from Stafford from a stat sheet standpoint and not say Adams ends up with a ton of it because
48:03unless someone else emerges in the offense, it's really hard not to give them those counting stats.
48:08I mean, you can, yes, he is older than the Raiders years, but you know, the Raiders years would have been what
48:16him at 30 and 31 if I'm doing the math right.
48:19Those years he caught 56% and 59%. From those Raiders sacks, he had a higher catch rate than he did from Matthew
48:26Stafford and I, I'm not, I'm not saying it's, you know, one person's fault or the other.
48:32I agree with, yeah, it's probably more on Adams than it would be on Stafford, but I think they fix it.
48:39Fix it! And you get, he doesn't have to be outrageous.
48:42Get him up to below his career average at 60% and he, he will be awesome for fantasy.
48:48This is the first environment that Devontae Adams has ever had to adjust to where you are not the dude.
48:55You are not the dude at all. Yes. And on, when I look at go-to wide receivers, when that ball is snapped,
49:02target one, two, and three is Puka and then Adams is this, I just think adjusting to that may have been more difficult for Adams.
49:10Could have been. Jason has him somewhat more on the lower side?
49:14Yeah, I mean, I, are you, do you have, you look like a man with no strong opinion here.
49:20I think that it's very difficult to bank on a 34-year-old wide receiver.
49:24You know, the stat you brought up earlier, 5.5% of all top 24 finishes, and that's not a, that's top 24, not
49:31top 12, are for players over that age. Now, he is one of those that's like, hey, maybe he could go a
49:39long time, but I believe that if he does crack the top 24, it's going to be touchdowns again.
49:45You know, it's going to be, oh, he got double-digit touchdowns, and that could absolutely happen.
49:50I do think between the 20s, he's going to be unreliable, so probably not a very consistent, where's he being drafted?
49:57ADP-wise. I don't expect him to repeat what he did last year, and that's, so if it gets worse than that, I
50:04think you're thinking I'm seeing wide receiver 19. Yeah, he's still up there.
50:08I will say this, I mean, first thoughts, I mean, it just happened.
50:12Rams defense just became, I mean, you just brought it up, one of the reasons that Cleveland, you know, they don't have
50:20to do a lot, Miles Garrett on the defensive side of the ball, are you seeing, do you have any initial expectations
50:27for that offense to be less productive? No. I don't.
50:30Because the game's in hand, and Tyson's getting some token snaps?
50:34not even that, just their defense, the Rams defense is always good, and yeah, like, you have an impact player who probably
50:41ends up with more sacks now, so a couple drives ended here, but on the season, I'm not going to look at
50:48the acquisition of Garrett and change my financial, or my offensive outlook.
50:52Or your financial outlook. You're not going to change any of your investment profile.
50:56Listen, before we close it out, as we've each defended ourselves, and I think, you know, we're on edge here, very defensive.
51:04Field Deitz just tweeted this out, I just want to read it to you.
51:08Rams first round pick since 2016. You ready? In 2016, Jared Goff, who was traded for Stafford.
51:14None, none, none, none, none, none, none. 2024, Jared Verse, who was traded eventually for Miles Garrett.
51:19None in 2025, and then Ty Simpson in 2026.
51:22So they've had none. It sounds like my dynasty team for the first 10 years.
51:27But they've basically had none, or they've traded the ones that they've had for established players.
51:32Which, you can win, but it feels like the creditors will catch you.
51:36Pour one out. They'll find you. Everybody out there, say a little prayer for one man, one man only.
51:43His name is Jared Verse. Jared, you were one drive away from the Super Bowl.
51:48Yeah. And you're going to be watching it next year from home.
51:51Sorry, buddy. Catch you on the next episode. Enjoy the UDK, everybody.
51:55Thank you for listening to another episode of the Fantasy Footballers Podcast.
51:59Join our fantasy football community on jointhefoot.com and follow us on FF Ballers.
52:03Why have I asked my HVAC guy I found on Angie.com to change my grandpa's trachea tube?
52:09I was so amazed at how we replaced our air ducts.
52:13I knew I could trust him to change Pop Pop's tube.
52:16I think we should call a doctor. Angie, the one you trust to find the ones you trust.
52:22Find pros for all your home projects at Angie.com.
52:25In the U.S., there's a break-in every 26 seconds, but when intruders step near, SimpliSafe Home Security steps up.
52:31Stop. This is SimpliSafe. Police are on the way.
52:34Using AI alerts, U.S.-based live agents help deter break-ins.
52:37SimpliSafe, no long-term contracts. Save 50% on your new system with professional monitoring at SimpliSafe.com slash SXM or with promo code SXM.
52:44Outdoor deterrence requires a SimpliSafe Active Guard outdoor protection plan starting at $49.99 a month.
52:49Visit SimpliSafe.com slash licenses for alarm license information. Tennessee 2012.
52:52Antimedia In