PodcastFrom Fantasy Footballers
NFC South Breakdown + Skat Talks to Jason & Mike - Fantasy Football Podcast for 7/21
STACKED extracted the fantasy-relevant player signal from this podcast and kept the full transcript here for context.
1 hr 15 min
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Jul 21, 2026
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Tue, July 21, 2026
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Full transcript
Episode Transcript
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0:34Welcome to the Fantasy Footballers Podcast with your hosts, Andy Holloway, Jason Moore and Mike Wright.
0:39Welcome in! Tuesday, July 21st. The Fantasy Footballers back with you.
0:43Hey guys! Hey! First time I'm seeing you in a while.
0:47Yeah, yeah. I mean, if you've been listening, we've not missed any shows, but we did pre-record last week.
0:53Well, speak for yourself. Well, yeah, I guess you missed shows.
0:57Yeah, you guys are handling my guys. I was handling Mai Tais.
1:01Nice! Out in Hawaii. How was your 20th anniversary?
1:04You guys still married? We are. Yeah, you made it through the trip.
1:08Yeah, you know, it was kind of depressing. We went to Kauai, which we'd never been to.
1:14Okay. Very remote island where they filmed- All islands are very remote.
1:18Okay. That's fine. Yeah, that's not the word I even meant.
1:21I meant more rural. Yeah, I know. I meant more rural, but you're right.
1:26Yeah. Yeah, thank you, Mike. It's more lush is what I have heard.
1:30Yeah, it's the garden aisle and it's where they filmed Jurassic Park.
1:34Jurassic Park. Yeah. Okay. Which is, you know, former best picture winner, I'm sure.
1:39Where was I going? I don't know. You were talking about you were depressed?
1:43Yeah, you were going to leave your wife. No, here's the thing.
1:47No, we had a great time. 20 years. That's not what I said.
1:52Oh. But we're like at the resort, we're at these restaurants and we're like talking to the servers and the people that
1:59work there and they're like, we said, I made some joke about like, you know, we had our anniversary and I tell
2:06them it's 20 years and then I'm like, yep, we don't hate each other after 20 years.
2:12And then they just start talking about all the people that they see- Oh, that hate each other?
2:18That hate each other. Oh. That go to these resorts for these vacations.
2:22Yeah, it's a bummer. Like that's so sad. Yeah.
2:25But anyways, we had a great time and I wasn't lying about the Mai Tais.
2:30So we had a great time in New York City.
2:34You guys were in New York City. All right, dude, I'm still tired.
2:38Which seriously. I'm still tired. Yeah. Jason and Mike went to Fanatics Fest and did a ton of press and media and got to attend that event.
2:47Did not attend the World Cup that was also there, but it probably affected your flights on the way home.
2:54We did watch. Yeah. Jackson Dart and Cam Scatter.
2:57Oh, we're going to talk. We got to, we got to get further on in the show.
3:02Oh, we're not talking about that. No. Because you guys broke news.
3:06Because that was, yes. Okay. That belongs in the news section.
3:10Thank you. Not the entertainment section of the show.
3:13Yes. But we have a, what do we have?
3:16We have the NFC South breakdown on today's show.
3:19We also forgot to do our AFC West divisional predictions.
3:22So we'll do that along with the NFC South today.
3:26Um, you guys had a couple of shows when I wasn't here.
3:30You guys talked to the NFC North. Yes. Yeah.
3:33Did you guys decide during that show? I'm sure it was hotly debated how good Jameer Gibbs is and that he's going
3:40to be really good for my team. We actually, when we were covering the lions, we did say that he was going to be good for fantasy football.
3:49That's good. Yeah. I did see somebody say that you never mentioned I'm on Ross St.
3:55Brown on, on the show. We also did not talk much Jameer Gibbs.
3:59I mean, when that, well, I was bringing it up because it's kind of like the nature of these shows is not
4:06to tell you that the top ranked best players that you're going to pick really high in your draft are going to be good.
4:14It's more to discuss like the newness of, of offensive systems and coaches and players and changes to the team and the nuances of the more difficult situations.
4:23Maybe not the elite players, but the ones that were like, what is the team?
4:28So that's why today's episode is going to be fantastic.
4:32We don't have to worry about a lot of elites.
4:35You know what I mean? Is that a, that's a shot at the eight and nine, eight and nine, eight and nine.
4:42Yes. Yeah. It's actually a fun division because of that, because like the competition is so level it could really go any,
4:50any direction, but it's not a good division. I think most people it's not like, well, it's not good.
4:56It's a medium. It was just kind of like, it's one of the worst.
5:01There's no, yeah, I don't know. It's the worst.
5:04There's no juggernauts. Like, I mean, you look at the NFC West, which we've yet to have our breakdown of, but here's a, here's a hint.
5:12Uh, there are three really scary dragons and then there's one.
5:16And then there's Denise. There's one no so good.
5:19Um, but yeah, I would say that nobody, the fact that you can't say, Hey, this team's going to come in and
5:26dominate the division or this team's going to be a, like, if any of them can finish fourth, then that tells you
5:34that the, the level of the division is still subject to the odds are pretty tight between like division winning odds.
5:41Well, do you have them in front of you?
5:44Yeah. I mean, we can just, well, I mean, we're going to, cause we pick winners, but do you want to, okay.
5:51So right now the bucks are plus one 64.
5:54Oh yeah. The saints are plus two 65. The Panthers at three 10, the Falcons are plus four 25 just for some,
6:01uh, some context of when a team is bad, like the AFC West, which we are making up.
6:07We forgot to give our division winners for that.
6:10So we will get into that. The Raiders are plus 2000 to win that division.
6:15Yep. And the last place, uh, worst in that in the South is plus 400.
6:20Yeah. Plus four 25 and then NFC North, the Vikings are last at plus five 10.
6:26And Andy, you've got to wrap your head around three.
6:29You've got to give us three divisions. Oh wait, I need to pick the, uh, the other one.
6:35That's right. Oh, you didn't make up the miss and today's.
6:39Okay. That's a lot of pressure to nail it, but I will.
6:43Good luck. Um, someone get me in my tie.
6:46Um, the ultimate draft kit available right now. Yeah.
6:49Before we jump into the news and talk about those discussions you guys had with the, uh, current and former giants, you can jump into the UDK.
6:58The mock draft tool is available now on the, uh, not just the iOS.
7:02Correct. But on Android as well. We've gotten all of your feedback, continue to send that in.
7:08And there are lots of features being added to it and upgraded and changed.
7:12And we, we are going to continue to make that, you know, that tool, everything is supposed to be as a mock
7:20draft tool, but it's a new feature for the UDK.
7:23And those of you that already have it or a part of the ultimate foot clan, please, uh, try it out, test
7:30it out and, uh, enjoy the draft analyzer also available on the UDK plus right now and integrated with the mock draft tool.
7:38So if you go do a mock draft or the, I see smirks back there in Deuce's alley.
7:44And that's cause you were, that was your computer back there.
7:48Was that your computer? That was my computer. That's not what I was working at, but yes, that was my, I was
7:55reminding you that that, that product is still a beta product.
7:59And Matt pointed out that it's a beta product for alphas and it made me chuck.
8:04That's what he said. Oh my gosh. I mean, Falcon.
8:07Yeah. Well, so he hasn't changed. The Sigma male of the deucers, the Falcon, beta product, but also like mute yourself back there.
8:15I just did. Thank you. You know, you always say you give us the reminders, but it's like we lead, we follow you.
8:23I mean, I tell my kid to brush his teeth too.
8:26Oh, my Rachel. Um, all right, let's jump into the news news and notes from around the league.
8:32I am particularly enjoying the first bullet point in our news section today because, yes, because it's, do you know why I'm laughing?
8:40Uh, it says during an interview by the fantasy footballers in parentheses, Jason and Mike.
8:45Yes. Don't get confused. I was not there at fanatics fest on Saturday.
8:49You guys got a chance to talk to a couple of, uh, a couple of knuckleheads.
8:55Yep. But, but also like maybe the most entertaining tandem on a team.
8:59We're really excited about Jackson Dart camp. Scataboo. We did.
9:02And we, everybody saw the video. The timing of the interview was well-placed for us because as I'm sure if you're listening
9:10to this show, you were on social media and you saw the camp Scataboo backflip fail.
9:15That was a, it was a failure. He did not stick the landing and it was like, holy crap.
9:21We're talking to him about this tomorrow. When I saw the video and we're Arizona guys, like he, he went to ASU.
9:29We watched him every week. He was basically the entire team when we made a run into the college football playoff.
9:36But like when I saw that video, I'm like, no, like, please no, because the, the, the, what's the reward?
9:42The, it's just the risk. If you, I get it.
9:46Oh my gosh. If you do that, just think about it.
9:49It's not impossible that you re injure your knee with a backflip.
9:53That is not impossible. No, it's not. If I tried a backflip, I would injure my knee.
9:59Sure. It would having, listening to his answer, which if you didn't catch the clip going around, he saw, he's like, I've
10:06been doing backflips since the age of four. It's, and honestly, I think when, when you know, when you are athletic and
10:13you know how to backflip, it's not a problem.
10:16And he was on a, like a, like a WWE type of mat, which has some bounce, has some give, you know,
10:24more like a, uh, more like a, like a gym mat, a gymnastics mat.
10:28So he flipped. He over flipped. Yeah. He over rotated.
10:32And it's honestly like on any ground, if you're going to do the backflip, I kind of understand it.
10:38I look, I'm still on the side of, you probably shouldn't be doing those things.
10:43Like, will you do a backflip real quick? He can't do a backflip.
10:47No. So we can see what under rotating is.
10:50I would definitely under rotate. But no, I won't.
10:53But he said he was okay. And we're really bringing this up because it started to make national news.
11:00And go to my cam. Oh no. Go to my cam.
11:03Mike, really? Yes. Adam Schefter. Oh no. Oh, you guys.
11:07Pro Football Talk. You guys. We saw it. We saw your, your news.
11:11Your break. The news that you broke that went to millions of people that had no credits to the provider of said information in the news business.
11:20That's a big no, no. I'm a shepherd pro Football Talk.
11:24You made the list. Guess who won't get any more credit from reports on this show from me?
11:30Oh man. Shmadam Schmefter reporting. From source. Okay. You're taking a...
11:33Yeah. Or maybe I won't even just say source.
11:36I'll just say, I heard this. I did. Yeah.
11:39I have this breaking news from me. Yeah. I mean, I saw the news and I had no clue where it came from.
11:47Oh, Brooksy says Pro Football Talk. All right. Pro Football Talk updated.
11:51Retracted. Oh, did they really? Retracted. Okay. They're still...
11:54You're back on the Christmas list. So it's just you versus Adam Schefter right now?
11:59Is that what that is? Hey, when you come at the King, don't miss.
12:04Wait, which one's the King? Me. I feel like it's Schefter.
12:07I am so... Mike has taken... I hate to break it to you, Mike.
12:12We don't break a lot of news and I think Mike took it personally.
12:17I did. Yeah. It was our one moment. Yeah.
12:20And then he's just like, oh, well, look at my reporting.
12:23Scadaboo said to the fantasy footballers, not Andy, that he's perfectly fine and promised to not hurt himself before the season.
12:30Again, I appreciate that. And I appreciate that he's perfectly fine.
12:34I also would not appreciate it if I was the Giants and I would not appreciate it if I had that contract.
12:41Look, if you've been doing it your whole life, you stop once the contract gets signed and you resume when it's over with.
12:49Right. Um, if he said, what if he said like, man, I've been downhill skiing my whole life.
12:55Yeah. You know what I mean? Yeah. No, I've been riding a motorcycle since I was 16.
13:00There is no, there's just no way there's not a, there wasn't a conversation of like, bro, you're our running back.
13:07Please be careful. Also, I'll just shared a video of himself in our slack doing a backflip into a pool.
13:14And I apologize. I was not familiar with your game.
13:17He did the backflip. It's a great backflip. It's a really good.
13:21So it went to our good backflip. It went to our slack, but it didn't go to the back wall.
13:28Well, that's a little. Is that what you're saying?
13:31We're moving on. I just, I put it on here.
13:34I apologize. I will say this, like the, the, the reality of, of cam Scadaboo, the caricature versus the, the player, like
13:42even at ASU, like there were, there are things that he did on the field.
13:47Like he always had the head shake and people thought this was like a, you know, something's wrong or you got a concussion.
13:54And this is just like a, a kind of a tick habit thing that he had done because the, the helmet feels uncomfortable on his head.
14:03And he, he talked about the beginning of the game or before games and stuff of like, you know, where it's like,
14:10Oh, he's hitting his head on a wall. He's like, that's not what I'm doing.
14:15He said, I'm, that is what you're doing. Yes.
14:18But I'm saying he's like, his talk about it was like, I'm adjusting my helmet down.
14:24But what's insane. He's not trying to pump himself up.
14:27That dude is so uncomfortable in a helmet. That's what I'm saying.
14:31It's like, okay, he's shaking his head cause the helmet doesn't fit right.
14:35He's banging his head on the wall cause the helmet doesn't fit.
14:39Like what's wrong with your helmet? Get a new, get a helmet that fits.
14:44But, uh, he did say, I'm going to keep being me.
14:48Oh, they want to say I'm brain dead. There's the flip.
14:51Enjoy YouTube. All right. Let's see. It's a good back.
14:55I missed it. Okay. We've got a back flip.
14:58Look at that tuck. I mean, that was actually perfect.
15:01It was really, that was minimal splash. I'm giving that.
15:04Hold on. Do we have cards? I don't have a way to give that an Olympic grade anymore, but that's, that's like an eight.
15:12Thank you. Wow. Jason's Jason gave it a nine.
15:15It makes for great audio. Um, Bucky Irving said he will be good to go for training camp.
15:21Oh man. I mean, Bucky Irving is on today's show and we'll leave it there and we'll talk about him extensively.
15:28Makai Lemon said he will be a hundred percent ready to go for the start of training camp.
15:34He had been dealing with a hamstring injury at OTAs.
15:38So yeah. I mean, Makai Lemon again, another interesting, we haven't broken down the, the NFC East yet.
15:44Right? So that'll be another discussion. Where do we see lemon and Goddard and Devante Smith and all of that.
15:50So it's nice to hear they'll be ready for camp.
15:53Anytime you are a rookie and you, you miss any reps in time.
15:58That's a negative, right? Yeah. We haven't seen Eli Stowers with any headlines about making an impact.
16:03So ours by all reports are crickets. Yeah. Well, no, I mean, I, I do finally get a good one.
16:10No, I'm saying crickets would be better. Oh yeah.
16:13We've had reports. We've had reports that it's, you know, that he not, it hasn't been going very well for him, but,
16:20um, you know, I think it'll go. Well, we've got enough, a raw prospect who was like new to the tight end position.
16:28So you kind of knew it was going to take time, but yeah, I still don't want to hear that.
16:35You don't want to hear it, but you, you certainly don't want to overreact to it either.
16:40I mean, not to put him in any way, shape or form in the same caliber or tier, but never forget Jamar
16:48chase was a complete bust during his rookie training camp.
16:51Yeah. That's what I'm saying. Like it was like, he can't catch the football.
16:56Tight ends though. I need tight end reports for rookies to make me feel like they can make an impact in year one.
17:03Cause I don't know. We'll see. Uh, we'll take a break.
17:07We'll get into the NFC South. Good morning students.
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17:56Let's get divisional. Well, I look, I don't want it.
18:00All of the, uh, divisional predictions to just sit at the back of the show.
18:05So let me get the one out of the way that I missed.
18:09Okay. So that was the North, the NFC North.
18:12Yes. So we got green Bay. We got the lions.
18:15We got the Vikings and the bears and the bear.
18:19Man. So this is, I have no clue what you guys did.
18:23Cause I, God forbid I'd listen to the show while I'm gone.
18:27Uh, not on vacation, not I'm not on vacation.
18:30I wouldn't wait. I wouldn't have remembered it for the record.
18:33Mike and I had the exact same order. Ooh.
18:36Okay. I hope you don't match us. Yeah. I have this like now if you match us, what an idiot.
18:43First of all, I have this like new found bitterness.
18:46When you guys agree on anything. Cause I feel like it's been happening too much.
18:51Me and Jason. Yes. Yes. Really? Yeah. You guys, you guys.
18:55Interesting. Okay. Sometimes I'm the contrarian. We are. I have my own opinions.
18:59And you guys just have like a con sheep, this type of thing.
19:03Oh, okay. All right. Give us your picks. It's so good.
19:07Oh man. I had my ties. Give us your picks.
19:10Um, if I nail this, this is, this is big trouble.
19:14If I get it, do exactly what you did.
19:17Uh, I'm going lions one bears two Packers, three Vikings four.
19:21Okay. We, we did not match one and four matched, but the, I mean that those other three teams though, I don't
19:28have strong conviction cause I'm going to offend somebody, but, um, we went Detroit, green Bay, Chicago.
19:34You guys all had Vikings last. Yeah. That's almost the most guaranteed way to get them to finish.
19:40Oh, for sure. Yeah. It was, I know we've talked about it, but like when we did our divisional predictions last year,
19:47I mean, nailing divisional winners in the NFL, man, it seems like it should be easier than it is.
19:53Part of that is just injuries. Like there will be significant injuries on, you know, a good amount of teams that are, it's pretty devastating, right?
20:02Like you even talked about like Tampa Bay, which we're talking about right now.
20:07Baker was an MVP candidate to start the year.
20:10I mean, it looked like they'd run away. It was like seven weeks in or something.
20:15The, the, the crowd is chanting MVP, MVP, because it seemed like they were a Superbowl.
20:20And Tess Johnson was like, yeah, it's me. They seemed like they were a genuine Superbowl contender.
20:26And then injuries to the offensive line, to Baker.
20:29They started six and two and then went two and seven.
20:33Yeah. So yeah, it, I mean, it just wasn't easy to nail the divisional winners last year, even when you think you, you can.
20:41So did anyone win the division in the South?
20:44Uh, let's say the Panthers did eight and nine Panthers beat the eight and nine Buccaneers who beat the eight and nine
20:51Falcons who beat the six and 11 saints. And what was even crazier about the end of the season was the fact
20:58that I don't know if you had all of these teams match up against each other for three games.
21:05I feel like the saints would have been our favorite at the time because the saints had been playing the best football,
21:12but weren't in contention for that final week tie-breaking situation.
21:15To make matters even more difficult. Every team in the division went three and three in the division.
21:21Nice. That's only happened like twice in the last decade.
21:25So yeah, I think it's fair to say when a division you're like, Oh, that's not fair that you said they're a bad division.
21:32If every team has a negative point differential, you're a bad division.
21:36Yeah. Doesn't mean somebody didn't win the bad thing.
21:39The Panthers lost three of their final four games to win the division to close.
21:44Dude. Strong. If you win the division with a sub 500 record and your matchup is against the wild card team that has a plus 500.
21:53I'm get this crap out. Now you don't get the whole field to the Panthers credit.
21:58They did play the Rams. They did. They really well in the playoffs.
22:03Here's what here's the wild stat about Carolina who will start with as the divisional winner.
22:08They went into the season last year with a six and a half win total projection from Vegas.
22:14They ended up eight and nine. They were seven and three and one score games, which means they had one victory.
22:21That wasn't a one score game guys. Wow. That's what that means.
22:25So when they when they won, they they snuck by, you know, 23 20 something like that.
22:31You mentioned it. They lost to the Saints Seattle and Tampa in three of their last four weeks, but their victory in
22:38week 16 against Tampa Bay basically secured them the division.
22:41This year's projected win total. Six and a half for the division winner.
22:46They have the third hardest strength to schedule. And I think that's where things get like when you go seven and three
22:53and one score games to squeak by to a sub 500 divisional victory.
22:57And you have to now play a first place schedule.
23:01It is funny that you've got an eight and nine team who has a first place schedule that that is that is not what you want.
23:09Like the Panthers probably didn't want to win the division.
23:13I was about to say like they would have been better to have been the Falcons where it's like, hey, we had the same record.
23:21We're you know, we're we're doing OK. You want the playoff game.
23:25I mean, of course you want the playoff game, but for the long term.
23:30Like, yeah, it's a weird. So their first place schedule includes them such matchups as the Seattle Seahawks, the Denver Broncos and the Philadelphia Eagles.
23:38Yeah, you said that right. Did you already say that?
23:41No. Gosh, no. Not like that. There's some grammatical challenges in there.
23:45Warren Sharpe's third hardest hardest. Oh, man. There are some grammatical errors.
23:49Anyways, the third hardest schedule. Interesting. Oh, man. Interesting.
23:52Someone is still in Hawaii. I have noticed that I try to insult other people's putting after I've putted because if I
24:00do it before I've putted, I'm not making that putt.
24:03Oh, gosh. Yeah, the schedule stuff. Twenty seventh in points per game last year.
24:08And we've had lots of discussions here about Ted McMillan, Bryce Young, total yardage expectations for Bryce Young.
24:14Do you think he can take a step forward?
24:17Because if he doesn't, our projections around the other talent in the Carolina backfield in the wide receiver room tied in.
24:23And it's all going to be beholden to what Bryce Young's capable of doing, is it not?
24:29Yeah. I mean, this is when you're talking fantasy football, not just the outlook for the Panthers, you know, schedule.
24:36It's like it all comes down to Bryce Young, whether or not you're going to have, you know, I know Jonathan Brooks
24:43is, you know, the hot sleeper of, you know, the running back position.
24:47And Ted Roa McMillan is someone that we all love the talent of.
24:52If Bryce Young doesn't take a step forward, it will be pretty irrelevant.
24:56I think that I'm. I'm struggling because I'm very bullish on Ted Roa McMillan, what he did as a rookie and and
25:03being able to just take a small step forward.
25:06That should be the expectation and the normal path for these young wide receivers.
25:11But it is difficult to imagine him doing much more if Bryce Young doesn't get better.
25:16And I do think he can, though. It is difficult to imagine Bryce Young getting much better.
25:22No, see that I can envision Bryce Young getting better.
25:25I think he has progressed every season. He's going into year four.
25:29He's only is about to turn 25. Still young.
25:32His completion percentage has improved each year. 60 to 61 to 64.
25:36His touchdown passes from 11 to 15 to 23.
25:39His rushing attempts have gone up. He looks. I mean, we watch every game.
25:44There was a point when Bryce Young looked like a bonafide guaranteed incompetent bust of a quarterback.
25:50He doesn't. He did not look that way last year.
25:53He had clutch throws, big plays, drives that looked like not every drive was great, but he had sustained drives where he made big plays and big throws.
26:02I think he's getting outside the pocket more and more comfortable in the offense.
26:07And, you know, you won. Like when you win seven close games, that's a testament to your quarterback being able to handle
26:14things more at the end of the game. You had the Rico games where, what was it, two games in a row
26:22where he had, you know, a bazillion rushing yards.
26:25Right now the, the, the, the wise guys lines that I'm seeing on Bryce Young are setting him at 20 and a
26:32half passing touchdowns and just in 3000 yards. So it's like you.
26:36How many? 3000. He was on pace last year for about 3,100 yards.
26:40I'm saying you can look and they get those things wrong.
26:44You know, that's why it's, you can go on either side of the opportunity.
26:49But if Bryce Young is hitting 22 passing yards and I mean, like he did last year, 3,100 yards, it is hopeless for the pass catchers.
26:57And he has never thrown for 3,100 yards. Yeah.
27:00I'm just saying your Vegas lines, wherever they have him.
27:04Like it, the thing is, is it's not been a, it's not been a clean path to here.
27:10It's not like you had a guy that was, you know, starting every single game for three consecutive seasons.
27:16And this is just where he's capped out. I just think there's more room.
27:20I mean, if you, if you came into last year, he had thrown for 2,400 yards the year before and limited starts.
27:28I mean, there, there is a range of outcomes for Bryce Young in a wide open division that I think is better than a 3,000 passing yard season.
27:37Now I'm curious where you guys projected him. I have him over that 3,100 mark.
27:42I've got him around 3,400 passing yards. So that's where I got him.
27:463450. A step forward, I think is reasonable. 3150.
27:49The schedule is obviously very difficult. So, you know, when you're playing against these teams like Denver, Seattle and, and, and the
27:57Eagles, it's not going to be easier for Bryce.
28:00So he's going to need to step up year two in the system.
28:04I think will be very helpful. Uh, you know, when you're taking another step forward is helpful, but, um, I, he's not going to be it.
28:13He's not like Bryce Young is not going to on lock anything for fantasy.
28:17When you look at the top 15 wide receivers, there are other wide receivers with vulnerabilities due to passing yardage.
28:24Not a lot. Like Tett is my wide receiver nine.
28:27Oh, man. Which is way above ADP. So I, I love Tett.
28:31I, well, you guys talked about him, but Jefferson, we don't know what kind of yardage we've had a lot of reports with the Vikings.
28:40I don't know how much you talked about it on the last show, but just regarding the running game and wanting to be focused on the running game.
28:49That's in question. Garrett Wilson. What are you getting out of?
28:53I mean, you should be able to get more than 3000 yards out of Geno Smith, but that's not a guarantee.
29:00Nico Collins, that offense, what we've seen in recent years, also a little bit subject to some question marks.
29:06So I mean, Geno Smith is thrown for 4,200 yards twice.
29:10He's, he's more capable to, to pile on the stats than, than Bryce.
29:14The question for McMillan to me is, so last year we ended at a 25% target share.
29:20Can that get to 30? Can you get to the, uh, the true elite of the elite fantasy wide receiver numbers?
29:27If you get to 30, then you're going to be fine.
29:30But if you, I think if you're stuck at the 25 to 26% target share, it's going to be, it'll be up
29:38and down and just a really sketchy pick. Yeah.
29:41I mean, it is a bet on, it sucks because he's McMillan is a incredibly talented wide receiver.
29:47I was just looking at the 13 years that Geno Smith has played quarterback in the NFL, Jason.
29:53Yeah. So he did it twice. That's cool. He's done it twice in the last, uh, three years.
29:59Um, yeah. What's the recent history? No recent history.
30:023,600, 4,300, 3000. And the year, Bryce Young gave me 3,600.
30:05I'd be pumped. I mean, look, I said he should be able to, but your love for Geno Smith is unbelievable.
30:12It's unbelievable. Like you, I don't think you heard anything else I said after I mentioned Geno Smith, because you were there looking up his stats.
30:21This is so, such a weird, so into such a funny thing where it's like, you know, this has become the reality because it is.
30:29Look, when you give your take and you stand by your take, I mean, and you love Geno Smith and whatever, man.
30:36Yeah. I mean, he's your dude. Burned down with the jets.
30:40Yeah. I mean, the jets are a great bet.
30:43Yeah. You know, picking my guys trying to take shots.
30:46Now they only need to come up with two, you know?
30:50I think that it statistically, the trajectory for Bryce Young is up, not down.
30:55I, and last year, Tett McMillan as a rookie was wide receiver 17.
30:59So somewhere between 17 and nine seems like a reasonable spot to put him, uh, because I think he's progressing.
31:06And I think that it is a huge, the Carolina bet is a bet on Bryce Young being capable of, of producing,
31:13you know, he had, he had one game last year.
31:16That was like a, I think it was an Atlanta game.
31:20You remember that one where he threw for like 450 yards or something silly?
31:25Yeah. I don't want to know what his average would be without that game, but that also showed that there was, you know, there was the capability there.
31:34Let's, let's talk the backfield here because Chuba Hubbard has been a guy over the last several seasons that we have been
31:41a little bit higher than, you know, average draft price.
31:45It's, it's worked out well. Two years ago, he was one of the better picks in fantasy.
31:50Um, not a highly respected, highly desired asset. And this year it's funny because you, you lose the guy that made it difficult on him.
31:59And the guy that took your job. The guy that took the job, Rico Dowdle is no longer on the team, but
32:06you're still, you still like Chuba even less this year than you did going into last year.
32:12And now it's all because of Jonathan Brooks, Jonathan Brooks, the guy who has not yet really played in the NFL, basically,
32:19uh, a second round draft pick, very talented guy who tore his ACL back to back and now is basically going to
32:26be a kind of a rookie in year three.
32:29Yeah. I mean, Chuba Hubbard fits the mold of one of those running backs that is solid, not spectacular.
32:36And when given enough volume will produce fantasy value.
32:39Mike won't like the comp, but I look at it like Jordan Mason, like the player he's capable of doing it with enough volume.
32:47Zero runs of 15 yards for Chuba last year.
32:50Jordan Mason can rip off a big one. That's why I don't like the comp.
32:55I mean, how many did Jordan Mason have? Probably zero.
32:58Honest question. I mean, I don't know. I watched enough Jordan Mason.
33:02I didn't get to weigh in on that. Like I think Jordan Mason is fine.
33:07You know who else was fine with a lot of volume?
33:10Devin Singletary. Like if you just gave Devin Singletary a backfield, he'd produce numbers.
33:15Kyle say Jordan Mason at least get one. Oh, he had a lot of them.
33:20Mason at four. I'm looking last year. Thank you.
33:23A lot of them. Well, he had a game with a run of 19, a run of 24, a run of 22, a run of 24.
33:32Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. He had four total. Okay. Oh, he had five.
33:36No, he had more than four because I see five different games where he had it.
33:41Oh, who's, oh, he erased his comment and changed it to five.
33:45Same. Kyle. Five is more than zero. Um, see, that's one where Kyle would not want to be sourced.
33:51You know what I mean? When it changes. Yeah.
33:54Uh, look, Chuba, Chuba is, are you, are you drafting Chuba?
33:58He, to me, he feels like a, in the seventh round, a, this is, it feels like it lacks upside.
34:05I do think he can be one of those players at the beginning of the year.
34:10You're like, cause I don't expect Brooks to, to, we go out week one and all the, the, the names are coming out.
34:18You're like, guess who's starting? Jonathan Brooks. I don't think that's what's happening.
34:22Jonathan Brooks will not take over the whole backfield.
34:25That's not happening. So the team has financially invested and respect for Chuba Hubbard.
34:30I think Hubbard is a piece of the puzzle, no matter what I do agree.
34:35Like I'm not drafting him because I don't, I just feel like what's my, my best case scenario for Chuba is I
34:42probably start the season with like three or four solid games.
34:46The committee starts to, to move a little bit more in the Brooks direction.
34:50Um, who's more explosive. He was an 86 percentile Felix score, which was better than Jadarian price.
34:56Um, the first three matchups are Chicago on the road against Atlanta on the road against Cleveland.
35:02So you have three opportunities for, for Chuba to try and take the back.
35:06I think Chuba is a, is a pretty bad pick this year in fantasy.
35:11You're, you're giving up, you know, the upside I don't think is really there for him to do anything special.
35:18Now, will he be someone that you could start at running back that you might need a couple of times through the year?
35:25Sure. But what you're sacrificing when you take him right now are some of the other like rookie wide receivers.
35:32He's going right around Jordan Tyson and Makai Lemon kind of high upside hopeful, uh, Marvin Harrison.
35:38If you want Tucker craft or someone like that, if you're into those middle round tight ends, I just don't see the upside with, with Chuba.
35:46The only other side of that is just how good he was with Canales in 2024.
35:51Um, that was a year where he got paid was the running back 13 on the season with a missed game and
35:59was every, I mean, every week was dominant. I mean, he had looks like eight different games inside the top 12, but we didn't see that last year.
36:08And I just don't think he looked that good on film last year.
36:12And there's a reason that he was losing reps after the injury to, to Rico.
36:17So otherwise players to mention Jalen Coker signed a contract Chris Brazil was brought in, in the draft.
36:23But again, if you're looking at ancillary targets beyond Ted McMillan with a low yardage, Bryce Young, they are flyers.
36:30There's a chance that the targets are just are super consolidated to McMillan and Coker.
36:35Uh, that this is more like a Coker as in the 12th round or so where he's going right now, he might be a flex play.
36:44You don't have any of the, the risk. You don't have McMillan's upside.
36:48I agree with their, I'm not saying that, but Coker is, he's at least interesting.
36:53Tampa Bay. It really feels like they blew the division last year.
36:57Cause they did. They did. They went two and seven after their buy.
37:01It's wild because just, you know, that 23 20 game, they lost to Carolina or they win any other game.
37:08They win the division, the narrative around them. You know, do you, does it change?
37:13I don't know. Um, eight and nine projected win total this year is nine and a half dealt with a lot of injury.
37:21Bucky Irving wasn't a piece of the puzzle last year.
37:24Baker got hurt. Mike Evans got hurt. Their offensive line got banged up.
37:28Yeah. I mean, if, if you look at Tampa from a scale position stability standpoint, there's a lot to like, they never
37:36covered the spread after week nine, which was wild.
37:39I mean, that's an eight week stretch of just misery.
37:42Yeah. I mean, that's difficult to do. The spreads are, you know, they're set at a place where it should go either
37:49way, you know, near 50 50 and, and they were a hundred percent, which means like they were disappointing expectation every single week.
37:57Oh yeah. Those games, Jason, they were favored in seven of eight of them and didn't cover the spread in any of them.
38:05Yeah. I mean, it, it, it, it did not go well.
38:08The question now is the continuity there. You know, they didn't remove bowls.
38:13Um, Baker is there. They have won the division so many times in a row prior to this last year.
38:19Do you just kind of throw out the end of the year and say, we, we expect that the experience that this
38:27team has will, will overcome and they'll come out much better, much more healthy.
38:31And we just forget it. Or was that kind of the beginning of the end of the Baker Mayfield era Buccaneers?
38:38And we're going to see, Oh, laser Mayfield. It's not an impossibility to me that it could be the end with Baker,
38:45but the, the revelation that we got from a quarterback, you know, the, the series of his injury list included a sprained
38:53MCL and PCL in week two, uh, a, a contusion on his bicep and a tendon issue.
38:58So he like that left his arm entirely numb at times, his throwing arm, and then, uh, an AC joint sprain in his non-throwing shoulder.
39:07Baker's Baker has an issue of, if you didn't think it's possible too much, too much dog where he will, he goes
39:14out there when his body can't properly play the position.
39:17Like this is how he lost. If he had taken a week off, maybe this year goes different.
39:23It's how he lost his job in Cleveland. He was forcing his way back on the field when it's like, this is
39:31not a player who like you're, you're not properly playing through the, the injury.
39:35Like you're not helping your team. You're a detriment to your team.
39:39We, the, the beginning of the year, you know, those first, the first month or so, and then the rest of it
39:47with your first round wide receiver, a Mecca, a Buka, AKA a Mika a Begbu, like the way that it just totally fell off.
39:55Thank you. Is it's still funny. Like something was very wrong with Baker.
39:59So I'm willing to go Mulligan on, on the year and try and reroll.
40:04There's like in this division, this is the most optimistic quarterback situation, right?
40:08Like you're, you're the most, the most potential fantasy outcome.
40:11I mean, you could argue shock, I guess, but I think it's still Baker in terms of being able to provide fantasy
40:19value for the players in their offense. It's also encouraging just in the a Mecca Buka conversation to know, like there were multiple things that went sideways.
40:28Like I can count three easily. Baker was hurt.
40:31His completion percentage in general went down 5% after the injuries.
40:34A Buka got hurt. He had his own hamstring injury.
40:38And then Mike Evans got hurt, which moved a Buka into a place that he wasn't having success.
40:44And the defense had to focus on him. So like, when you think about how a Buka season ended, which was like
40:51with a thud, you can, it ended with a whisper with, yeah.
40:55Yeah. I thought it was too generous. I mean, it was, it was non-existent.
41:00You can at least look to him and say, look, it's set up where, if the case goes well, if Tampa who's
41:07projected to win the division has a healthy Baker Mayfield, it should be very good for a Buka.
41:13Now losing Mike Evans is not good for the offense.
41:16It just isn't the stabilizing force that he was means that we have a lot of questions right around who's going to step up.
41:24Will a Buka be capable of doing it? You've got a Jalen McMillan.
41:29You've got Hearst coming in as a rookie. You have Tez Johnson.
41:33You have Kate Auton. You haven't even mentioned Chris Godwin.
41:36You have Chris Godwin who's just tried and true, right?
41:39You could see him easily coming in and being second in targets maybe behind a Buka, maybe even first.
41:45I think there's a chance that Godwin's number one.
41:48So, you know, I think there's a lot of questions, but we don't necessarily know where to direct optimism in the fantasy drafts.
41:56I think the optimism is being seen with Emeka Buka.
41:59I mean, everyone has forgiven him. No one is assuming that what we saw the second half of the year is who
42:07he is based on where he's being drafted. He's being drafted with...
42:11Yeah, where is he going right now? High upside.
42:14Last I saw, he was definitely in the top 20 of wide receivers.
42:18Let me look it up here. Looks like he is right now in the fourth round, back of the fourth.
42:25If his first half of the season had continued, he'd be a top 10 pick probably.
42:30Probably. Well, yeah. I mean, he was being traded for Justin Jefferson in Dynasty Leagues.
42:35Yeah, so he's... Right now, it looks like he has fallen to about wide receiver 22.
42:40Yeah, so like right in front of Abuka, you have Burden, Waddle, Flowers, where...
42:45Burden? Yeah, dude. Burden is out great. Burden was kind of the hot topic of Chicago of...
42:51What in the world are we doing? Yeah, it's really unfortunate where the ADP has gotten for him.
42:57So Burden is the head of Abuka right now?
43:00Yeah. Where's Adunze? Adunze is way later. Right now, Burden is wide receiver 19 and Adunze is wide receiver 29.
43:06Yeah. Even that has the... Over here, there's a couple guys that just, like, I love them, but they just get...
43:13Steamed up too high. They get pricey. No, it stinks where he is because, like, I think...
43:19Would you rather have... Would I rather have... I love Burden.
43:23I'd rather have Abuka. It's like, take cost completely out.
43:26Burden or Abuka is... Yeah. That's really close. And then if you're saying, well, Burden's just going in front, I'll take Abuka.
43:33Look, Abuka is not going to be the third target on their offense.
43:38There is a world where Burden is the third highest target in the Chicago offense.
43:43And it's not like... I mean, we're still waiting for 4,000 yards from Caleb.
43:47Whereas Baker's done that before. I don't know. That's wild.
43:51No more Rashad White. No more Mike Evans. Those were the two subtractions.
43:55They did add Kenneth Gainwell, which adds intrigue to the backfield situation.
43:59Sean Tucker's back. Bucky Irving is back. And Rashad White is gone.
44:03So... Bucky Irving is a... Is a... Doesn't he feel like just a stick of dynamite?
44:08He... He... Everything around him feels... Just... Just screams bust.
44:12Of a fantasy football pick. But we know that the man is extremely talented.
44:16So this isn't like a... Oh, I think a player's being overdrafted because he's not...
44:21He's not actually that good. He is good. But what of the backfield will he have?
44:27He had no carries inside the five last year.
44:29Is... Does the team still feel that way? That will let you know what the addition of Kenneth Gainwell?
44:36And Sean Tucker still being there? I... And then you bring in...
44:40He scares me. You bring in Kenny Gainwell. Obviously you lose Rashad White.
44:44So... I have not really viewed Gainwell as like this player to come in to...
44:49Usurp Bucky. Because you are losing someone who is very involved in Rashad White.
44:54Now, Kenny Gainwell right now is better than Rashad White right now.
44:58So that competition gets a little bit more difficult.
45:01But Bowles did say, you know, early in March he was saying that...
45:05Basically Gainwell is the 1B to Bucky's 1A. Not just like backup territory.
45:09I think Bucky will have every opportunity. I think they want Bucky to run away with his job the way he was doing as a rookie.
45:18Yeah. It's just a matter of do we believe that that can happen?
45:22And can he stay healthy? That's where the challenge is.
45:26Is if Bucky gets banged up, does he get his role back?
45:30Or does he become the Chuba of the Rico situation if Gainwell endears himself?
45:34And Gainwell just seems to do that on rosters.
45:37If Baker falls in love with Kenny... They started last year giving Bucky everything.
45:42He was on pace for 382 opportunities. Which he wasn't very efficient with the first month of the season.
45:48It didn't matter. With that much workload, you know, he was on pace for 80 receptions.
45:54Over 1,000 rushing yards. He was really, really good for fantasy football.
45:58Then he got injured with the foot and the shoulder.
46:01It was never the same the rest of the year.
46:04Didn't Werfs miss the beginning of the year? Yes.
46:07I mean right now their consensus offensive line ranking is 5.
46:115 with Werfs back into the equation. It's funny because Mike, you're saying everything right now with Bucky screams bust.
46:18And it really does feel that way. You've got a fragile coming off of injured undersized back who was a fourth round
46:25pick where they brought in other running backs. However, it's really, it's boom bust.
46:30It's not just bust because this is a guy who I believe last year coming in was being drafted as the running back 7.
46:38And we all loved him. We did say that was too high.
46:42And so thankfully we didn't have a lot of people drafting Bucky because he was being overdrafted.
46:47But that was the pathway to his fantasy relevance was not a decent RB2.
46:52It was a breakout running back 1 who is very involved in the passing game, which targets are worth so much more than a carry.
47:00Also on a good offense that should, in theory, be leading this division.
47:05At least that's how it was going into last year.
47:08He's not being drafted like that anymore. So if he bounces back, if Tristan Werfs is healthy and Bucky is healthy, and
47:15he's just the guy we saw as a rookie, he's a fantastic pick where he's going in drafts right now.
47:22I think part of the storyline here could be that all these Buccaneers bounce back.
47:27I mean, Baker, Abuka, Bucky, even Godwin, right? Into some form of relevance.
47:31Now, it should be mentioned, we have an offensive coordinator change, right?
47:35Zach Robinson's coming in. Grisard got the boot because somebody had to pay the price of last year's failures.
47:41And Todd Bowles was like, not me. So, but we like Zach Robinson enough.
47:46And it's just kind of wild how many times Baker has to do this offseason download of a new, you know, at least a changed offensive system.
47:55But yeah, I mean, it kind of makes sense.
47:5818th in points per game last year. The defense isn't insane.
48:02There just seems like there's opportunity here for Tampa.
48:05And they start the year in Cincinnati. I don't mind that.
48:08That says shootout. Then it's Cleveland at home, Minnesota at home, Green Bay at home.
48:13Those will be some interesting games. And then Dallas and Pittsburgh.
48:17I guess we got to move on. We can't talk Tampa all day long.
48:22We'll take a break and we'll come back with Kyle's Atlanta Falcons.
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49:25Taxes and fees apply. All right. The Atlanta Falcons were also 8-9 last year.
49:30That was the... Oh my gosh, you got to 8-9 is how it felt.
49:34But yeah, their projected win total last year was 7-1⁄2.
49:38This year, 7-1⁄2. Nice. Next year, 7-1⁄2. I mean, it's above Carolina.
49:42They were a weird team last year. They had that week 6 win against Buffalo, and then they beat the Rams in week 17.
49:50But then they got shut out by Carolina 30-0 and looked like the worst team in football and got beat 34-10 against
49:57Miami, who was not a powerhouse last year. But when they got beat 34-10, you know what they said to themselves?
50:04We want that quarterback. Miami's quarterback. That's our guy.
50:07He throws with the same arm as our current quarterback, so it's something we know, right?
50:12Because they probably bought a bunch of left-handed gear for the locker room and footballs.
50:17Yeah, all their footballs were left-handed. Yeah, all their plays were drawn up for lefties.
50:22The scissors, they bought a bunch of those. Stock up.
50:25Which is pretty important as a lefty. Yeah, how resentful are you towards the world's right-handed population?
50:31The full right-handed scissors, the ones that form your hands, and those are awful to use with your left.
50:37It hurts the thumb. I wouldn't know. Yeah. Yeah, me neither.
50:41Is left-handedness related to height as well? No. No, it's not.
50:45We can be super tall. You were speaking on behalf of left-handed.
50:49Yeah. People, not tall people. I mean, how tall is Tua and Penix?
50:53What's the heights here? They're pretty tall. Yeah, you're right.
50:56How about Randy Johnson? He's one of us. One of us.
51:006'10", left-handed. I got two. If anything, Randy took height away from a bunch of you.
51:05I got Tua at 6'1", and Penix at 6'3", is what I'm seeing.
51:10Well, one of them's going to be the starting quarterback.
51:13Probably both of them at some point during the year.
51:16Atlanta is wild because I feel like they become, in all conversation, a complete exception to the rule of, like, we really
51:24love everything about their offensive situation and quarterback. Because Drake London just feels immune to the conversation around quarterbacks.
51:30Mm-hmm. You know, even though, like, the DJ Moores of old and the Terry McLaurens and all these guys were like, oh, I wish they had a quarterback.
51:39London just feels immune to it. He's, for two reasons.
51:43One, he's better. He is a better player than those guys.
51:46Yeah, he's better than those guys than Garrett Wilson.
51:49I think he's in that tier of Garrett Wilson.
51:52And so Garrett Wilson was also kind of, as far as draft cost, immune.
51:57We didn't care too much about his quarterback. Obviously, we wish that they were better.
52:02But we've also seen it with Drake London. Like, last year, Drake London played with Kirk Cousins and Michael Penix.
52:09And neither were good. And Drake London was great.
52:12The other thing is there's absolutely no target competition here.
52:15You're talking about the only guy competing is Kyle Pitts.
52:18So you know you're basically, historically, analytically, if you get a 30% target share, you're a wide receiver one.
52:25Very difficult to not finish as a wide receiver one with a 30% target share.
52:30With this group, it's very difficult to imagine him not getting a 30% target share.
52:35So it just maths out. And then the other piece is Bijon.
52:39Like, we don't look at Bijon and have any qualms with his situation, even though he's had a bunch of weird variables over the years with Tyler Algier.
52:48Quarterback changes. Bijon's just Bijon. But, I mean, if you look at Bijon and Gibbs' situation, and you're trying to make a
52:55decision at the top of the draft, like, with volume no longer being a question for Gibbs, it's a really tough one for me to put.
53:04Like, I have Gibbs higher. Yeah. I think it's the two of, or I'm sorry, the Bijon-Gibs conversation.
53:10It is, like, you're splitting hairs. And as of, really, dude.
53:13Yeah, I don't think it's splitting hairs anymore. I mean, I came in.
53:18As in you like Gibbs more? Gibbs is a much better pick than Bijon in fantasy.
53:23I don't think it's that close. You are getting, you have inherited the quarterback who targets the running back position more than any quarterback in history.
53:32I absolutely love. For a bit. No, I do love that part.
53:36The fact that you're going to be targeting Bijon, he's going to get a kajillion checkdowns.
53:41That's fantastic. But the scoring opportunities, the offense, the offensive line.
53:45I've got those numbers, by the way. Which numbers?
53:48Total touchdowns for those two teams last year. Yeah.
53:5137 to 57. Sure. I saw odds for double-digit touchdowns this coming season, just like, you know, sportsbook odds.
53:57Gibbs had the, he was projected for the highest likelihood of double-digit touchdowns.
54:01Bijon was still in the top 10, but he wasn't even, like, in the top five.
54:07So, when you're looking at true upside, the offense, the expectation of scoring, the fact that they got rid of, I mean,
54:14both of these guys lost their competition from the previous season.
54:18But David Montgomery was more involved, took more touchdowns.
54:21So, I think Bijon is fantastic. You know I've always loved Bijon.
54:25I mean, everyone does. You can't go wrong with him.
54:28I don't think you're going to make a mistake taking him if you take him over Gibbs as far as, like, oh, I got a bust.
54:37By no means. But I fully expect that if they're both healthy.
54:41I mean, the only thing that I really like batter about Bijon is he is built for a heavier workload.
54:47I think that matters. And that's fine. If you want to say, hey, I'm more worried that with all that work going
54:55to Gibbs and he's a slightly undersized guy for that type of workload, I'm worried about the injury.
55:01That, to me, is a logical reason to take Bijon over him.
55:05If you're assuming that they're both healthy and you're just saying who's going to score more fantasy points, Gibbs is unstoppable.
55:12And he's going to get double-digit touchdowns almost for sure.
55:15That's pretty much how I see it. I mean, at the end of the season, Bijon's going to have a good year,
55:22and the phrase we're going to use is that he overcame a mediocre offense to do it.
55:28Unstoppable, Jay. Tell that to the Minnesota Vikings. Is that your way of saying he had a bad game against them?
55:35Not just a bad game. Two bad games last year.
55:38So week nine, he scored 4.3 fantasy points against the Minnesota Vikings.
55:42And then in championship weekend against the Minnesota Vikings, he scored 5.4.
55:46I mean, players have bad games. I mean, Bijon scored four.
55:50Two bad games? Bijon scored four points against Miami.
55:53Was it championship weekend? Week 18, he scored five.
55:56Oh, week 18. That doesn't even count. That's a weird argument.
55:59That's a really weird one. What are we doing here?
56:03I don't know what's happening. We're splitting hairs. I think it's just if we're going to be faithful to what we say
56:10about every other running back situation, we have to be faithful to this one.
56:15Bijon. Which is you want an offense that's going to score 20 more touchdowns.
56:19Totally agree. With an offensive line. Like, they were comparable last year with David Montgomery there in terms of consistency ranking.
56:26And now he's gone. Yes. And we also like known situations of quarterback.
56:31You can like the check down rate for Tua.
56:34That's great. We've never seen them on the field together.
56:37That's a variable. That's fair. Bijon to me is more of a McCaffrey, whereas Gibbs is...
56:42Yeah. I think that's a fair comp. And so it's like if things go well, you know, like if the Falcons are
56:50just like a 500 type of team. Last year, Bijon was 41% of Atlanta's total team yards.
56:55Like, he is the foundation like McCaffrey. So when it's clicking, it's going to be fantastic and very few poor performances.
57:02Let me ask this. Is there a world... Because this is why Bijon ends up as the running back one in all of fantasy.
57:10The Falcons end up surprising and they're good. Stefanski comes in.
57:14He gets it corrected. Tua is a major upgrade over Pinnock's.
57:18If that's what happens and you go, oh, Pinnock's was a problem.
57:22Because genuinely, when I went back and re-watched the film, I was like, wow, Pinnock's was worse than I remember.
57:28He is not good. So Tua, we didn't love Tua last year.
57:32Obviously got replaced in Miami. But I think he is better than Pinnock's.
57:37Is there a world where Atlanta comes out and surprises and is a, let's call it a top 10 offense this year?
57:44No. No. That's kind of how I feel too.
57:47And by the way, you are lined up to love Tua with your Geno love.
57:52I mean, that is the next on your list of dudes.
57:56But no, I mean, do you remember how horrific Tua was at times last year?
58:01He was very, very head-scratchingly bad. And you want to know something cool?
58:05As a defense, I'm the defensive coordinator going up against Tua.
58:09Here's what I'm going to do. So he's going to throw it to the Drake London guy.
58:14Yeah. No matter what. I don't know. Well, not no matter what.
58:18Kyle Pitts. He might throw it to Bijon. That's true.
58:22Kyle Pitts. Could he finish number one at the position?
58:25No. No. On his number one tight end on his team?
58:29Yes. Oh, definitely. I'll put all the chips on that.
58:32I did not understand the question. Yeah. No, I think he will be the number one tight end on this team.
58:39I'll guarantee that. Yeah. Yeah. Mike and I are in agreement again.
58:43Does that bother you? No, no, no. It doesn't because I agree that he's going to be the top tight end in Atlanta.
58:50Bah. Bah. Following our takes. I mean, he's a seventh round pick who just got a monstrous contract.
58:56He is impossible. Who ended the year with tight end six, seven, one, three, 38, and 12.
59:02And he's only 25 years old. And he's 25 years old.
59:06And you just talked about no target competition. I mean, Kyle Pitts, let me put it this way.
59:12And we're going to end Atlanta on this because we're going way past time.
59:16Kyle Pitts will be fine. Kyle Pitts will be fine for your fantasy team.
59:21I think if you took Kyle Pitts in the seventh round at ADP, it will be fine for you.
59:27I think you are making a mistake by not taking a shot at a running back or a wide receiver who could do something more special.
59:36Yeah. You would take Laporta there. I would take Laporta in the ninth.
59:40A couple rounds later. Darn right. What happened between the time I left and now with you and Laporta, by the way?
59:48He fell. He fell to the ninth, tenth round.
59:51Because you took him again. Yeah. In the ninth round.
59:54But if you go back to find clips at the beginning of this offseason, you literally were taking – and this is literal.
60:02You were taking dumps on him. No. We actually – you did not.
60:06Take it easy. You didn't listen to the last episode.
60:09But I had a whole little moment where I talked through what happened with Laporta.
60:14Oh, okay. And he has been – for where he's going in drafts, it's been the biggest change for me this offseason.
60:22The problem with Kyle Pitts is – I agree.
60:25He'll be fine. But you know who else is going to be fine?
60:29Travis Kelsey, who's going way later in drafts. Dallas Goddard is going to be fine.
60:34He's going way later. Both of those I understand.
60:37I do think that the ceiling is obviously way, way higher for Kyle Pitts.
60:42Right. Any year now. Well, I mean, last year.
60:45You can't look at the end of that season and not say that that was a special end of the year.
60:52I can't because I can say how did it go with Drake London.
60:56Drake London was not there for weeks 12 through 15, which is – When was Kyle Pitts?
61:02Good. Weeks 12 through 15. Also, Kyle Pitts was great in week 8 where – Kelsey has no ceiling.
61:08Kelsey has no ceiling. Yes, I agree. If Drake London gets hurt, Kyle Pitts is going to be awesome.
61:14Okay. Did I take a – did we take a break or did I need to take – I did?
61:21We did. Oh, that's cool. The Saints. Six and 11.
61:24Six and a half win total last year. It's up to seven and a half this year, which what?
61:31That puts us at nine and a half, six and a half, seven and a half, seven and a half for this division?
61:38I think six and a half, six and a half, seven and a half, yeah.
61:43Was it Carolina six and a half? Yeah. Yeah.
61:46Who was the other six and a half? This one.
61:49The Saints. They're at seven and a half. Oh, I was looking at last year.
61:54Wow. How dare you, Jason? I apologize. The Saints trailed on 77% of their offensive plays last year, the most in the entire NFL.
62:02But that doesn't really tell the whole story of the trajectory of the team.
62:07Now, they were 28th in points per game. They started the season with Spencer Rattler.
62:12They moved on to Tyler Shuck. Their defense was actually pretty respectable.
62:16They did their best. That must have been frustrating, watching Spencer Rattler run out there.
62:21Kellen Moore, trusted play caller that we like. The momentum at the end of the year, we liked it.
62:27This team was one and seven with Spencer Rattler.
62:30They were bottom of the barrel. And when they made the change to Tyler Shuck, they were above 500 the rest of the way.
62:38And if you, I mean, the only thing I'm going to throw out there to kind of like pause the ultra hype
62:46on Tyler Shuck in this offense is that you ended the year against a hapless Tampa Bay team at that juncture of the year.
62:54Carolina, New York Jets, Tennessee, Atlanta. Your five weeks, they were juicy.
62:58Now, this year. Even the two before that, like after the bye week, the two you're leaving out is another Atlanta and the Miami Dolphins.
63:06I mean, so. So that's a, I mean, that is the opposite.
63:10What's the opposite of a gauntlet called? A free ride?
63:13A gauntlet. Stroll in the park? What did you see him like?
63:17Goblet. A goblet. He had a goblet of a schedule.
63:21Now, the nice thing is. A cupcake. Kyle's right.
63:24Cupcake. Cupcake. Cupcake. Yeah. That's the word we use.
63:27Yeah. That's courtesy of Kyle the Borgogan. Warren Sharps got them at.
63:31We always cite our guys. That's it. I can't believe how personal you took that.
63:36It's amazing. I was irrationally upset. Oh, you were with him this weekend.
63:40So he was probably seeing all these millions of views coming in on this report.
63:45We don't break news often. We need it when we got it.
63:49Warren Sharps has the Saints as the second easiest schedule for the year.
63:53That would be my counterpoint. Yeah. No, I'm bringing it up as a point.
63:58Their schedule is going to be a lot better.
64:01But they do start the season on the road in Detroit, on the road in Baltimore.
64:06So they will be 0-2 going into week three.
64:09It's very likely. Yeah. Yeah. We've had a lot of discussions about the Saints.
64:14In summary, here's some high-level stuff. Mike loves Tyler Shuck.
64:17Yes. I think Jason does too. I'm a believer.
64:20And I do not believe that this is the year for the Saints.
64:25I think the Saints are years away, two or three years away.
64:29And they'll be more competitive this year. But, I mean, the Vegas win total 7.5.
64:33Okay. You're going to be in games. You're going to be fighting.
64:37If you're lucky, you can get to 8-9 and win this division.
64:41But, to me, they are going to have their bumps in the road, their ups and downs.
64:47And so will Tyler Shuck this season. I do believe that he's their future.
64:52I don't think people believed that at the beginning of last year.
64:56So, in fact, the fact that he didn't win the job out of camp had a lot of people questioning, uh-oh, what happened?
65:03Like, you only had Spencer Rattler to beat. I don't think that was a win-the-job situation.
65:09I think that the job was we're giving it to the vet, and we're going to let the second-round quarterback sit no matter what.
65:17I think that was the choice. It wasn't billed as that, though, was it?
65:21I mean, I feel like it was an open competition he lost.
65:25Because there was a lot of negative sentiment in New Orleans around, why didn't this guy take the job?
65:32But, I mean, if you're right, that's a good decision.
65:35I'm just saying I'm not certain. And so we have Tyler Shuck and what he's going to provide to this offense, to
65:42Chris Olave, to Jordan Tyson, their first-round pick, who plans to play at some point.
65:47So I was talking to – part of – like, there's some sneaky stuff with Tyler Shuck.
65:53I was talking to our guy Betts because we are – like, we're on Team Shuck and looking at odds and things.
66:00The odds of Tyler Shuck throwing for more than 4,500 passing yards.
66:04Currently better odds than Caleb Williams, Justin Herbert, Baker Mayfield, Josh Allen, Bo Nix.
66:09What? Hold on, hold on. What? Yes. Wait, wait, wait.
66:12What? What? You're saying that – Yes. That Tyler Shuck has a better – In your mind or in reality?
66:19No, in reality. Better odds in real sports books to throw for 4,500 yards than Josh Allen or Justin Herbert.
66:26This was on July 15th. That's a Kellen Moore endorsement, man.
66:29What? Yeah, no, I was – when I saw it, my mind was absolutely blown to see that.
66:35I don't believe you. Someone misread it. That is – that's wild.
66:39Okay, so now it has adjusted. He's tied now with Herbert, but still better than Allen, Caleb, Baker, and Bo.
66:46Wow. Because – Yeah, Kellen Moore. The path is – it's not just Kellen Moore.
66:51It's – You would have thrown for 4,400 if you just projected post-bye week last year.
66:56Now the schedule was nicer. And now he has another – look, potential because it's a rookie.
67:02Two, really. Sure. A-chan coming in in the backfield as well.
67:06And I'm just saying, like, the fact of – if you have Olave – and if Jordan Tyson is at all who
67:13we think he is, all who the Norland Saints think he is, that's two number one wide receivers.
67:19Like, that's – that's a gift that very few quarterbacks have.
67:23Yeah. And then you have an offensive supermind. Is that – that's an argument in the Burrow camp or the Burrow style, you know, where, like – Yeah.
67:32It's like – He could be the next one of those guys that goes out there and throws – It's like Burrow and Dak.
67:40They have two true number ones out there, and look what happens to their production.
67:45We're definitely not – It goes nuclear. We're definitely not putting Olave Tyson in our brains the same way we would – No!
67:52Chaser Higgins. But I think it's a fair point because Tyson was a top-ten pick, and Olave was one of the best-producing
68:00wide receivers in the game last year. But I think in our heads, we're still feeling a little bit of the up and down of Olave historically.
68:09Sure. And then Tyson with the injury and the younger quarterback.
68:12And none of this – It's interesting. This isn't saying this is a slam dunk, like I'm putting my stamp on.
68:19This is for sure happening. It's a – this is in the range of outcomes.
68:24And price-wise, Chuck, very cheap in your drafts. All right.
68:28Well, go ahead. I will say this. For fantasy purposes, Chuck being late and cheap in drafts, he was on pace his last seven games.
68:36Again, easy schedule, but another one coming up. His last seven games he was on pace for 4,300 passing yards, but also – He runs.
68:44425 rushing yards. So, yeah, for fantasy purposes, he could go out there and be one of those surprising – You know,
68:52there's a handful of late quarterbacks you take that you assume, oh, I see how Kyler scores a lot.
68:58I see how Jackson Dart scores a lot. Like Malik.
69:01He's like, I can see it. I know that we're long on time, but the implication of that, though, if he throws
69:09for that many yards, is that both Olave and Tyson are going to outperform the draft costs.
69:14Yes. Right. I mean, you're talking about – Tyson, for sure.
69:18If he hit 4,500, you're talking about 1,500 more yards than the projection for Bryce Young.
69:23Yeah. And to – just to be clear, this is – that's the prop at 4,500.
69:29Like, that's not his projected line. But he's probably at 4,000.
69:32Yeah, right around there. Which is 1,000 more. And so – Those two guys, and you have to include Travis H.N.
69:39Jr., which shout out to Nick Underhill, New Orleans Beat Reporter.
69:43He's on the pronunciation with us. We're really trying to get it right.
69:47Like, that's part of his skill set is your running back can go out there and have – Did we report the
69:55– did you guys talk about Kamara signing the – Yes, we did.
69:59We did. Yeah, it is interesting. I mean, they are favored in two of the first six games.
70:05You mentioned it. On the road against Detroit and Baltimore is a brutal way to start the season.
70:11It's brutal, but Detroit could – we could go in week one and Detroit's defense could be totally fixed.
70:17But we know that the potential for shootout is there.
70:20Going into Detroit. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. That'll be tough.
70:23Travis H.N., the ceiling there, I don't know what you guys talked about with the Kamara edition.
70:29Kamara obviously is going to be involved. I think it's still workhorse role for H.N.
70:34Jr. personally. Which equates to what? You taking him or Bucky?
70:38Oh. That's a good question. I mean, I feel like that's a tough one.
70:42Yee-hoo. Probably Bucky. They're back-to-back in my rankings. Probably Bucky.
70:46I've got H.N. two fantasy points more than Bucky.
70:49And H.N., it has to be volume. Like, he's not the most efficient player.
70:53Like, he's pretty good in the receiving game. But he – for a player who is, you know, very athletic and fast,
71:01he's never been like – or I guess his rookie year, sophomore slash rookie year, he was over five a carry.
71:08But then it's 3.8, 3.7, 4.3 last year. You think Kellen Moore can put him in a position where he could be
71:15like a breakout type of candidate this year? I think it's possible, yes.
71:19All right. Let's start with this division prediction-wise. Who do you think is going to win it?
71:25I've got my list for this division. I keep – I have a real hard time with two and three here, but I've got my list as well.
71:34I'm going to go – Mike, you can jot yours down.
71:38I'm going Tampa Bay winning the division. I've got New Orleans coming up number two, Carolina three, Atlanta four.
71:44So I was close to that. I'm going Tampa Bay number one.
71:48I've got Atlanta coming in number two, New Orleans number three, and Carolina bringing up the rear.
71:54We're all over the place with this one. I'm taking the Saints to win.
71:59I'll take Tampa Bay in second. I'll put the Falcons third and Carolina last.
72:03Yeah, we are all over the place. And now we've got to make up for our last time here.
72:10AFC West. You know the Chargers are number one, baby.
72:13I mean, this is just a brutal one. I'll kick it off here.
72:17For the AFC West that we missed when we did that show, we'll have the Chargers winning the division.
72:24Chiefs coming in second. Broncos third. And the Raiders seem like the free square.
72:28This division's impossible. I'm going to go Kansas City at number one.
72:32I'm going to take the Chargers two, Denver three, Las Vegas four.
72:36That schedule for Denver is my biggest concern. But I feel like that's so disrespectful because I could see them winning it.
72:44Oh, for sure. And I'm taking them. I'm going to go Denver, Kansas City, L.A., Raiders.
72:49I love it. We've picked all three different division winners here.
72:53Here come the Raiders. Here come the Raiders to destroy us.
72:56Hey, honestly, if the Raiders do, everyone wins. Oh, that'd be spectacular.
73:00That means Mendoza's a superstar. Yes, if the Raiders are immediately a good team, it's incredible.
73:06And Clint Kubiak is a genius. Yes. Thursday, we've got the NFC East.
73:10Saturday, the NFC West to wrap up the divisional series.
73:13We've got other shows coming up like Unsolved Mysteries, another mock draft episode as well.
73:18But we're going to say goodbye now. If you want for the YouTube, you can close it out with a backflip, Al.
73:25I wouldn't mind seeing that. Yeah, you know he wants to.
73:29Whee! See you, folks. Goodbye. Bye. Thank you for listening to another episode of the Fantasy Footballers Podcast.
73:35Join our fantasy football community on jointhefoot.com. And follow us on Twitter at the FFBallers.
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