ALMANAC DAY & Five Most Important Training Camp Stories
STACKED extracted the fantasy-relevant player signal from this podcast and kept the full transcript here for context.
1 hr 8 min
Duration
Estimated from transcript
Aug 3, 2026
Published
Mon, August 3, 2026
27
Player insights
24
Players mentioned
Topics
David MontgomeryNico CollinsTank DellBijan RobinsonBrock BowersC.J. StroudChristian McCaffreyDeebo SamuelJadarian PriceJahmyr GibbsJalen NailorJames ConnerJeremiyah LoveJonathan Taylor
Player analysis
Player insights
Bijan Robinson
NegativeInjury60:30
Similar to Jahmyr Gibbs, the source states they cannot draft Bijan Robinson at 1.01 or 1.02 if he continues to hold in through August, citing the high risk of early-season underperformance or injury following a missed training camp.
Insight pageBrock Bowers
PositiveUsage42:49
The source identifies Brock Bowers as the primary target in the Raiders' offense, noting that Clint Kubiak's track record involves hyper-targeting one wide receiver, but in this case, the target is the tight end.
Insight pageC.J. Stroud
NegativeValue33:49
Dave Richard notes that CJ Stroud is a lock to be drafted in every Superflex league, though his performance is tied to the stability of the Texans' offensive line.
Insight pageChristian McCaffrey
PositiveValue62:31
The source notes that Christian McCaffrey remains a top consideration for the RB1 spot in PPR formats, potentially alongside Jonathan Taylor, should the hold-in situations for other top backs persist.
Insight pageDavid Montgomery
NegativeProjection23:31
The source is monitoring Houston's joint practice with the Raiders; if the Texans' offensive line struggles, the source is prepared to move David Montgomery out of his current top 60 ranking in full PPR formats.
Insight pageNegativeProjection35:07
Dave Richard warns that David Montgomery's fantasy outlook is threatened by the Texans' offensive line issues; he is currently a top-60 player in full PPR but could drop if the line fails to improve.
Insight pageDeebo Samuel
NegativeValue8:27
Christopher Harris bumped Deebo Samuel to WR55, noting that while Pearsall's absence creates more opportunity, he believes Samuel has little left in the tank and only had one truly good fantasy season four years ago.
Insight pageJadarian Price
NegativeRole34:42
Jadarian Price is receiving positive reports for his pass blocking and pass catching, and was the first back up with the first-team offense in a recent scrimmage. The source ranks him as RB25 but warns against overdrafting him, as his value depends on him being the feature back and he faces competition from Zach Charbonnet later in the season.
Insight pageJahmyr Gibbs
NegativeInjury60:30
The source warns that if Jahmyr Gibbs continues to 'hold in' through August, he will be removed from round one consideration. The source cites historical precedent where players holding out often struggle or suffer injuries early in the season, making them a risky investment at their current 1.01-1.02 ADP.
Insight pageJalen Nailor
NegativeSleeper42:09
The source ranks Jalen Naylor highest among the Raiders' secondary receivers, noting he has a knack for getting open, though he is currently outside the top 60 wide receivers. He is a late-round sleeper candidate to monitor.
Insight pageJames Conner
NegativeDepth Chart57:41
The source suggests that a potential trade of James Conner to Green Bay would be a significant factor that would test Jeremiah Love's ADP.
Insight pageJeremiyah Love
NegativeValue53:25
Jeremiah Love is a polarizing prospect with significant ADP uncertainty. While the source ranks him 16th among running backs, they express concern about the Cardinals' difficult schedule, poor offensive line, and the potential for a committee backfield. The source warns against the 'Clyde Edwards-Helaire syndrome' of over-drafting based on draft capital rather than immediate workload.
Insight pageJonathan Taylor
PositiveValue62:24
The source identifies Jonathan Taylor as a potential RB1 candidate if Jahmyr Gibbs and Bijan Robinson remain unsigned and miss significant training camp time.
Insight pageJordan Addison
NegativeProjection48:33
Jordan Addison is ranked outside the top 40 (44 standard, 47 PPR) by the source, who notes that they are still bearing the 'bruises' of his disappointing performance last season.
Insight pageJustin Jefferson
NegativeProjection47:02
Justin Jefferson is ranked around 6th or 7th among receivers, but the source expresses concern about his downward mobility due to uncertainty at the quarterback position. While he possesses elite talent and target volume, the potential for inconsistent quarterback play creates risk, leading the source to fear he could drop further in rankings if reports on the quarterback situation remain mixed.
Insight pageKyler Murray
NegativeProjection47:47
The source notes that while reports suggest Kyler Murray is 'dialed in' and playing better than any Minnesota quarterback from last year, there is skepticism due to historical inconsistency and the tendency for training camp reports to be overly optimistic. The source remains unconvinced of his status as a fantasy savior, citing his historical difficulty throwing with anticipation.
Insight pageMakai Lemon
NegativeProjection24:16
The source ranks Makai Lemon as a top 40-ish receiver but notes that Philadelphia's offense may run more than in the past, and with A.J. Brown, DeVonta Smith, and Dallas Goedert present, it is difficult to project a consistent role for Lemon. The source does not view him as a top 36 receiver.
Insight pageMike Evans
NegativeValue6:57
Christopher Harris bumped Mike Evans up to WR29 (standard) and WR32 (PPR) following the Pearsall injury news, though he maintains Evans is a declining player who likely won't match his market ADP.
Insight pageNico Collins
NegativeProjection22:54
The source is monitoring Houston's joint practice with the Raiders; if Raiders beat reporters praise their defensive line's performance against Houston, it could lead to a downgrade for Nico Collins, potentially moving him out of the top 24 wide receivers.
Insight pageNegativeProjection34:02
Dave Richard notes that the Houston Texans' offensive line struggles are a red flag for Nico Collins, who is currently drafted as a top-20 player but could be moved out of the top 24 if the line continues to underperform in joint practices.
Insight pageRhamondre Stevenson
PositiveUsage29:15
The source notes that Rhamondre Stevenson is consistently receiving first-team reps in Patriots training camp. While currently ranked RB31, the source is open to moving him ahead of Travion Henderson if the practice reports continue to favor Stevenson.
Insight pageRicky Pearsall
NegativeInjury5:34
Ricky Pearsall is officially out for the 2026 season due to a knee injury requiring surgery.
Insight pageTank Dell
NegativeProjection23:38
The source expresses skepticism regarding Tank Dell's consistency and his ability to serve as a focal point in the Houston offense, citing concerns that C.J. Stroud will not have enough time to throw to support him.
Insight pageNegativeProjection35:21
Dave Richard expresses skepticism regarding Tank Dell's consistency, noting that he is not currently viewed as a must-start player.
Insight pageTre Tucker
NegativeSleeper42:09
The source currently ranks Trey Tucker slightly higher than other Raiders depth receivers, noting his speed as a potential asset, though he remains outside the top 60 wide receivers. He is a candidate to monitor for late-round value.
Insight pageTrey Benson
NegativeDepth Chart57:47
The source notes that a trade involving Trey Benson to a team with a running back injury would be a moment that tests the market's valuation of Jeremiah Love.
Insight pageZach Charbonnet
NegativeInjury35:55
The source believes it is unlikely that Zach Charbonnet will be ready for Week 1 due to his January torn ACL, and expects him to ramp up at some point during the season, which complicates the backfield outlook for Jadarian Price.
Insight pageFull transcript
Episode Transcript
0:00It's the Harris Fantasy Football Podcast with your host, Christopher Harris.
0:04Welcome in. My name is Chris and that's the long version of the intro song.
0:09Apex Manor is the band. Under the Gun is the song.
0:13A whole lot of people asked me to play the long version this morning.
0:18So there you go. It's in honor of the fact.
0:21We're back. The podcast is back to full time.
0:25Let's do this thing. Thank you so much for being here.
0:28I am pumped. This is awesome. Never exactly positive how I'm gonna feel about the grind starting again.
0:35I gotta tell you, I woke up this morning psyched.
0:38I'm really happy to be talking to you about very stupid stuff that doesn't really matter.
0:44But it does matter because meaning is where you make it and it's a stupid show, but it's not such a stupid show.
0:52The very single best part about doing this show is all of you.
0:57I don't care where you live. I don't care what you do for a living or or who you hang out with.
1:04I mean, I do care about those things insofar as they make you happy.
1:09I hope you're happy. But it does not affect how I feel about you.
1:14It is incredibly cool that I get to talk to you for a living.
1:19We have this crazy thing that I do not take for granted all the way down to the discord, which is so
1:27fun for the Yacht Clubbers and everything else. The emails, the songs, the mixtapes, as it were.
1:33Holy moly. I don't take it for granted. Thank you.
1:36Thank you. It's great to be back for another season.
1:40And it just so happens to be Almanac Day.
1:43And Jeff Lang reminds me to play this. Chuck Saltmarch, he's forever, forever on the Mount Rushmore.
1:49Chuck, are you out there? We haven't heard you from Chuck in a while, but regardless, we love him.
1:56If you ordered the 2026 Harris Football Player Profile Almanac, if you pre-ordered it over the course of the spring or summer,
2:03you should have gotten an email to download the actual PDF this morning before I started recording.
2:09It's finally out of my hot little hands and into yours.
2:13And if you didn't pre-order the 2026 Harris Football Player Profile Almanac, I believe the good news is that you didn't get one for free.
2:22Please let me know if that's incorrect. But I believe I did it right this time.
2:28If you'll remember last year, I pushed the wrong button.
2:31I mean, it wasn't pushing the wrong button. I just set it up wrong and then spent all of August in a Swivit.
2:39This year, we are Swivit free. And if you just haven't gotten around to it and you still want to, the Almanac is waiting for you.
2:48HarrisFootball.com. It's there if you want it. If you've gotten the document, then hopefully you've opened it and seen.
2:55We put a lot of work into the art.
2:58This year's theme is action figures. There are wonderful illustrations of action figures of some of your favorite current podcast characters.
3:06I think you'll truly have fun with it. Thank you so much for considering it.
3:11Again, you can find the Almanac at HarrisFootball.com. And did I have to scramble and do a rewrite of some stuff this weekend?
3:19Well, if it's a year that has a number in it, you know the NFL is going to mess with me the weekend before an Almanac comes out.
3:29I talked on Friday about Ricky Pearsall maybe being in trouble for the 2026 season.
3:34That escalated quickly. As they say, we are now told that Ricky Pearsall is out for 2026.
3:40He needs knee surgery. He'll miss the entire season.
3:43I guess at least that's clarity, even if it's not exactly what we want to hear.
3:49And it's one more example that as much as it feels like we are vultures circling over the desert, the fact is
3:57that it's really the negative stuff in the daily camp news items that we have to pay attention to.
4:03The stuff that bright, sunshiny PR departments of NFL teams can't stop from leaking out.
4:09So when a beat reporter has been told all options are on the table, that table very often winds up being a surgical table.
4:17So remaining with the 49er receiving core, you've got Mike Evans.
4:21I had to bump him up a little bit more.
4:24Didn't love doing it. We don't want to judge this stuff by who else is there because if they can't play, there's always someone else.
4:33I do maintain that Evans is a declining player.
4:36My guess is that however much I bump him up, it probably still won't match what the market bumps him up by by the middle of this month.
4:46But I will admit the fact is he's not useless.
4:50He can still make a contested catch. He can still score touchdowns.
4:54He's just not the Mike Evans of a few years ago.
4:58So he is up to number 29 on my standard receiver list and number 32 PPR.
5:03You can find it at HarrisFootball.com. And then I gave both to John Stribling and Debo Samuel bumps too.
5:10I do not really believe that the coconut D boney has very much left in the tank either.
5:16Probably less than Evans. And I think the Niners are absolutely not committed to anything as far as anyone goes, to be honest.
5:25I also think there's only really ever been one season where Debo Samuel was good for fantasy.
5:31It was four years ago. But I have to admit it's more of a possibility with Pearsall out of the picture.
5:38And Samuel signed a contract as a direct result.
5:41But I'm not getting carried away with either one of those guys.
5:45Stribling is 51 standard. NPPR, completely sight unseen. Samuel is 55.
5:49I can't help wondering whether someone like this guy might be a candidate to sign there.
5:55I like the way you work it. Not a trash bag at all.
5:59Got all the old guys. Why not him? Only time will tell.
6:04If that's a possibility, we have so much time to find out because the show is back.
6:10I'll be here Monday through Friday this week and all the way through most of December.
6:15Wednesdays are the Yacht Club shows with Andy Behrens, of course.
6:19And throughout fantasy draft season, we're also going to be back to posting on YouTube as well.
6:25I'll be doing a video for tomorrow morning about the top 10 running backs for 2026.
6:31And then the mock drafts on YouTube also begin this week.
6:35Jake Seeley from The Athletic is going to join me for a mock draft video that we'll release on Thursday.
6:42We're going to do weekly mock drafts on YouTube.
6:45So Harris Football YouTube page, you can subscribe there.
6:48Just a quick note. This is your reminder. This is officially the week when the NFL article count on the internet begins to balloon.
6:56Pretty early here in the proceedings. I always just want to have Robot Talia give you the most important piece of advice in August you could possibly receive.
7:06Hashtag click discipline. It is really incumbent upon all of us to practice some hashtag click discipline.
7:12Just don't make yourself crazy with the bad stuff.
7:15There is so much bad stuff, so much clickbait, so much useless idle speculation, so many people who desperately want your attention,
7:23and so many headlines of fantasy articles that are just self-evidently crap.
7:27Every single article that says five must draft running backs, throw it in the trash.
7:33You know this. There's no such thing. Must draft.
7:36It's very, very stupid. Depends on when you're picking.
7:39Depends on what else you've picked. Any player can be good value or bad value.
7:44Depends on where they go. And the idea that we must do anything in a draft is honestly borderline insulting.
7:51And I know. What's the harm? I'll just read it.
7:55It's fun. It's a fun time of year. I like that there's lots of columns for me to read.
8:01I'll give it a little look-see and just I'll laugh at how silly the writer is being.
8:07And of course, listen. You're a grown-up. You could do that.
8:11I just think sometimes it's easy to get seduced by the bad reasons.
8:16So much NFL and fantasy analysis is based on bad reasoning.
8:20Crutch arguments that are eternal. Who else is there?
8:23They wouldn't have gotten him if they weren't going to feature him.
8:27That offense is definitely going to be bad. They got him a second wide receiver so he won't get so much double coverage.
8:35They got him a second wide receiver. It's a disaster.
8:39All the targets are going to go to the other guy.
8:43That coach always only uses one running back. Draft cap.
8:46I mean, you know the list. On and on.
8:49Just stuff logic that is bad. And my feeling is the more you expose yourself to it, it's the frog in boiling water.
8:57You start to kind of accept that it's legitimate.
9:01And yeah, it doesn't help you win. So click discipline, baby.
9:04We are all about click discipline in August. Okay, and lastly, Pound Foolish.
9:09The latest release from that publishing powerhouse, Cumulative Press.
9:12Cumulative. That's what I want to say. So on Friday's show, I mentioned that I wanted ideas about how to bribe the audience into pre-ordering Pound Foolish.
9:22I got a bunch. Thank you so much. I am sifting through them.
9:26A lot of really good ideas. Thank you. And we're going to do a lot of random drawings throughout August and into early September.
9:35I think maybe we'll do the first one maybe on Friday.
9:38We'll do one this week just to get it kicked off.
9:42And then we'll do multiples each week throughout August.
9:46So first of all, definitely if you have ideas, email me about fun things the audience might like to win that is
9:53doable if they pre-order Pound Foolish in exchange if they send me a screen cap as it were.
10:00And then second of all, you absolutely can pre-order right now.
10:03I've gotten something like 20 people who already pre-ordered and sent me a screen cap.
10:09You're entered. I put a link in the show notes to Barnes & Noble, which their website so far I think might
10:16be the only major retailer that has all three formats for pre-order.
10:21That would be paperback, e-book, and audiobook. Just to refresh what I said on Friday, all pre-orders that we get leading up
10:28to September 1st will all be counted toward the release.
10:32So it's like a rolling total as long as they aren't bought on Amazon.
10:37Amazon doesn't do the rolling total thing. Eventually, Amazon will be fine to do it.
10:42If you do it other non-Amazon places for the pre-order, it should get counted toward various bestseller lists.
10:48And I just think it would be absolutely hilarious if Cumulative Press had a bestseller.
10:54We could screenshot that bad boy and laugh about it forever.
10:58Me, an idiot, publishes a book, never done it before, winds up a quote-unquote bestseller.
11:03So that's my goal, and it's why I'm going to bribe you with drawings for fun stuff like Zoom calls and signed copies.
11:11Maybe we'll do a poker game if you want.
11:14Maybe we'll have a grand prize winner who actually comes on the podcast for a couple minutes.
11:20Like I said, I don't know if that's the bribery that's going to work.
11:25Hit me up with your bribery ideas. HeyHarris at HarrisFootball.com.
11:29And then, yeah, feel free. Go pre-order Pound Foolish at Barnes & Noble.
11:33There's a link in the show notes. It also just shows up if you search at Barnes & Noble.
11:40Take a screenshot. Send that also to HeyHarris at HarrisFootball.com.
11:43And we'll see how much can we game the system and make people in the publishing world go, Wait, what the hell is Cumulative Press?
11:52Today's kickoff. Okay, on today's show, we are going to do our training camp capstone show.
11:58For eight episodes in July, we talked team by team about what we should and shouldn't pay attention to in these training camps that are now underway.
12:07And today, we're going to boil it down and come up with our five most important training camp non-injury stories that might change our ranks.
12:16To help me do that, my good friend Dave Richard from CBS Fantasy will join.
12:21I do think you'll have fun. And I thank you again so much for listening today.
12:27I am thrilled. We're sponsored again by League Legacy.
12:30John from League Legacy is a listener. He's a yacht possum.
12:34And he has built a wonderful site that I love.
12:37Keeping your fantasy league's history is a pain no matter where you host that league.
12:43It's annoying to look up who won the most, who lost the most, who has bragging rights head-to-head, and so much more.
12:50League Legacy is finally a tool that can retrieve the data from your Yahoo, ESPN, Sleeper, CBS, Realtime Sports, NFL.com, My Fantasy League, Flea Flicker, and more.
13:00And it builds a record book that is deep and so fun to look at.
13:05Draft stats, transaction stats. Both of the leagues that I am the commissioner of are on League Legacy.
13:12It's something we really treasure. There's tons of new stuff for 2026, including pre-draft.
13:17You can get a draft scouting report newsletter for how each member of your league has typically drafted.
13:23And a post-draft newsletter giving one of those famous report cards.
13:27Check it out. LeagueLegacy.io. You really will love it.
13:30What a great time of year. If this is something your league has looked for, John has built it.
13:37LeagueLegacy.io. Give it a spin. LeagueLegacy.io. Today's guest. And today's guest, it is the aforementioned Dave Richard from CBS Fantasy.
13:44You can find him all over social media. Just look up Dave Richard CBS.
13:49He's there. He is a part, of course, of the crew that we love at CBS Fantasy, who are already back to 5x per week, as are we.
13:58Five shows a week. You can watch them. Actually, you can listen to them.
14:03You can watch them on the CBS Sports Network.
14:06They're live on there very often. I believe their draft-a-thon starts tonight.
14:11And then also, the FFT Open, like the registration, starts tonight.
14:15And the reason I'm telling you that, particularly as Dave joins the show, is because it's for St.
14:21Jude's, and it's a fantasy league that you can bid to be in with me under the auspices of CBS.
14:28And so, Dave, before we get to everything else, let's talk about FFT Open.
14:33It's really grown to this amazing charitable league where people can sign up.
14:37They can play against the expert of their choice.
14:41Certainly, you would be one of them. And it's a $250 donation to St.
14:45Jude Children's Research. And you're in a league with the fantasy expert that you've long wanted to beat in fantasy because their advice is so crazy.
14:55And you say to yourself, I could do a better job than that guy.
15:00So now you get your chance to do that.
15:03Or you could be a fan, and you could say, I'd love to just test myself against the greatest fantasy analysts in
15:10the world, and that's why they'll sign up for you.
15:14So the first guy with that weird voice will sign up against me.
15:19But people who want to test themselves, they'll sign up against you.
15:23And then the coolest part about it, we're doing 36 leagues for the first time.
15:28Only one person can win each league. When you win your league, you're not done.
15:33You advance to the playoffs then, and you'll have your team against every other team that had a league.
15:40And it kind of runs like the Scott Fishbowl does in the playoffs.
15:45So it's something like 36 teams make the playoffs.
15:48After one week, half are eliminated. After the next week, half are eliminated.
15:52Something like that. I don't even know the exact rule.
15:56But at the end, there's one crowned FFT Open champion, and you'll be remembered forever in fantasy football history annals for dominating the FFT Open.
16:05But really, it's all about raising money for St.
16:08Jude Children's Research Hospital. And when we fill all of these 36 leagues with 36 fantasy experts, we'll have raised nearly $100,000 for St.
16:16Jude Children's Research Hospital. And so that's the best part of all.
16:20It's a great cause. It's a ton of fun.
16:24And everybody is guaranteed to play against the fantasy expert of their choice.
16:28You sign up for it. And like you said, Chris, it starts Monday night, 7 p.m.
16:34Here's the URL. TinyURL.com. Yeah? Really? TinyURL? Listen to that snicker by you.
16:38I'm just saying don't worry about it. I put it in the show notes.
16:43Okay. Then I'm not even going to say it.
16:46But it's funny that it's that instead of go to cbssports.com slash FFT Open.
16:51Don't do that. Which that's what it should be, but it's not.
16:56And the reason why it's not is there's a really good reason for it.
17:01Let's start the show. Let's go. What do you want to talk about?
17:05So FFT Open, I'm correct in saying it's first come, first serve.
17:09Right? You basically, it's not like a lottery or anything.
17:13It's just the first 11 people who want to be in a league with me and they want to donate $250.
17:20Better be there at 7 p.m. on Monday night.
17:23Right. So tonight at 7 p.m. Eastern, that is.
17:27Just look in the show notes. And how many years has, I think, how many years has FFT Open been?
17:34I believe this is our third year. Yeah, maybe.
17:37Does that sound right to you? I think I've done it all the years.
17:42Yeah, yeah. I think I've done it all the years.
17:45Oh, yeah, of course you have. I dragged you into it every year.
17:50Yeah, the draft is excellent. It's just great. So we would really recommend you do it.
17:55And yeah, I mean, not everybody can afford that and not everybody would want to.
18:01But if you're kind of looking for a way to be charitable, it's fun.
18:06All right. So yes. Call a friend and split the team with a friend.
18:11Indeed. So this is, as I've been saying, the capstone to the July shows that we've been doing.
18:17And you've been coming on to be the capstone person for years and years to do this episode with me.
18:24So you know the drill. We're going to count down our top five most significant stories to track through training camps in
18:32August that we think have a potential to change our ranks.
18:35We're doing our best to stay away from the pure injury stories because obviously the health of certain players, either being good
18:43or being bad, can certainly mess with our ranks.
18:46That's a little more obvious. Listen, if some of the story lines that we bring up here are somewhat injury related, whatever, it's fine.
18:55Really, it's an excuse just to talk our way through how you and I are thinking about ranks and how we might
19:03be making adjustments here over the next few weeks.
19:06I am going to ask you to count down five through one because obviously that's fake and doesn't make any sense.
19:13But it is a pointless countdown. Okay. The problem is that I've got like 10.
19:18So I'm going to have to make some quick decisions here.
19:22Quick decisions. Five through one. You're making me anxious.
19:25Pointless countdown. Let's play the little tag. Pointless countdown.
19:29It's a pointless countdown. Okay. And so let's do it.
19:32What's your number five most significant training camp story headed into August here?
19:37Number five, Houston's offensive line keeps making mistakes and not only gets roughed up in practice, but in preseason games too.
19:44And can I add that I think preseason games are even less consequential than the controlled scrimmages?
19:50Agreed. Like, I don't even care about the preseason games because we don't know who's playing.
19:56But in those controlled scrimmages against other teams, the reporters watch those.
20:00And it matters if they get overrun. Overrun. So talk more about that.
20:04There are a number of Texans players that are interesting.
20:08There's certainly going to be two that are drafted within the first, let's call it 65 picks of every draft.
20:15And then there's going to be two more that are going to be taken as late round flyers because people have hopes for upside.
20:23And then in Superflex leagues, CJ Stroud is going to get drafted in every league too.
20:29But this Texans offensive line has really been a problem ever since Stroud's second season.
20:34And I guess that would be the last two years.
20:38It hasn't quite bled into Nico Collins being bad for fantasy.
20:42But he's had one year where he's been not bad and one year where he's been pretty good.
20:48And in neither year has he consistently been outrageous and worthy of being – it's almost not worthy of being where we're drafting him.
20:56We're kind of drafting him as if he's been close to getting 20 PPR points per game year after year.
21:04And last year was the worst of his last three years.
21:07David Montgomery is another name. He's staring at a workload that is appealing to fantasy managers.
21:13Obviously, if he can't work behind this offensive line and they're not popping lanes for him, it could be a slog for him.
21:21And then the late-round guys, Jaden Higgins, Tank Dell, they're fun.
21:25I don't think anybody's drafting them with the idea that they're going to become must-start players unless something happens again to Nico Collins.
21:33But to me, it all starts up front for – it starts up front for every team.
21:39But for Houston especially, I don't know how to gauge that offensive line.
21:44And it's kind of a medium-sized red flag that's draped over the heads of Nico and Montgomery.
21:50And it kind of gives me pause when I'm reading reports already about how they're changing the lineups every day.
21:57And on a certain practice, they didn't look good.
22:00They didn't gel. And sometimes it works out. Like Chicago last year, they worked it out.
22:05They found their five guys. They played together. They stayed healthy.
22:09And they did a great job for their offense.
22:12It's been two years in Houston. This is year three.
22:16I don't know if it's going to be able to gel and become a strength for this team.
22:22All right. So let's talk about where the rubber meets the road.
22:27Would you say that your current Texans ranks, your skill guy ranks, reflect the optimistic side of the Texans offensive line currently or the pessimistic side?
22:36100% optimistic. Okay. And I'm wondering if that's a mistake.
22:39Right. So what will it take? What will be the moment in which you go, I'm now adjusting Montgomery.
22:46And Collins, at least further down? I think if I keep reading those beat reports about the offensive line struggling, and especially
22:54if I start hearing beat reports from joint practice, they have a joint practice against the Raiders, I believe.
23:00And it's one thing if Max Crosby demolishes them.
23:03It's another thing if everybody not named Max Crosby on the Raiders starts demolishing them.
23:09And if the Raiders beat reporters start talking about how great their D-line looked in a joint practice against Houston, I think that might be the point.
23:18That might be the point where I look at Nico Collins, and I've got him as a top 20 player.
23:25I could see myself moving him potentially out of the top 24 if that were to happen.
23:31Montgomery, a top 60 player, at least in full PPR, I could see moving him out of the top 60.
23:38And I'm not particularly optimistic on Tank Dell. I think it's fun that he's back, but I'm worried about the consistency ever
23:46returning, much less him being a focal point of Houston's offense when he's going to need TJ Stroud to have like three seconds to throw.
23:55Right, I get it. It is, I mean, there's not a real answer for any of these.
24:01Like, what's the moment when you're going to make your change?
24:05You'll know it when you see it, that kind of thing.
24:09But the whole point here is things you have your eye on, and I think that's a really interesting one.
24:16My number five in the Pointless Countdown, I will say Makai Lemon.
24:20I just think there's a path for him to earn the trust of all observers in all facets, in regular old drills,
24:27in padded practices for the Eagles, in controlled scrimmages.
24:31I don't really care about preseason games, but sure, we could say preseason games too.
24:36There's a chance for kind of him, it's almost like an absence of a negative.
24:41And then there's a chance for there to be like somewhat intellectual roadblocks set up.
24:46He doesn't seem to be able to get open against XYZ.
24:50He struggled XYZ. Like, I've talked about, in July, I've talked about the forking paths that we have and a rookie receiver taken in the first round.
25:00Meaning to, if not in actual playbook, but in hierarchy, to replace a very good player like A.J.
25:06Brown really matters. And so, I would say to this point, probably to answer my own question, I would say my rank
25:14of, I don't look at ADP right now, but I'm ranking Makai Lemon as a top 40-ish receiver.
25:20And that probably, to me, represents the optimistic side.
25:23I like him as a prospect from what I know.
25:27But if we get those roadblocks in some way, I could see myself going lower.
25:32Yeah, I get where you're coming from on that.
25:35In my rankings, he's 53rd among wide receivers. Does he have any upward mobility for you?
25:41Of course. But I certainly need to see more optimistic reports from Eagles practice.
25:46And it's been up and down from what I can tell so far.
25:50And before training camp started, I was playing both sides of this fence.
25:55Because like you, I loved Makai Lemon's film from USC.
25:59He was my favorite receiver in the draft class.
26:02CBS let me write the draft profiles for the top guys on skill positions in the draft.
26:08And so I wrote Lemon and they wanted a comp.
26:11And I went there. I said JSN. Because I really think that he's got that type of ability to win on inside-out routes.
26:19And I loved how he had that knowledge of where to go against zone coverage and ability to make plays after the
26:27catch and plays bigger than he is. All these things that we saw from JSN last year.
26:33But Philadelphia is not exactly a bastion of passing.
26:36In fact, I think they might even run a little bit more than they have in the past.
26:43If everybody's healthy, including their front five. It's a new offense coming in.
26:47We don't know how quickly Jalen's going to adapt to that new offense.
26:52And when Jalen does adapt to that offense, he's got Devontae Smith to throw to.
26:57He's got Dallas Goddard to throw to, particularly in the red zone.
27:01And it kind of leaves you wondering, well, where's the role for Makai Lemon?
27:06And if there's a role that develops every other week or every three weeks, it's going to be hard for fantasy managers
27:14to count on putting him in the lineup. So nice depth piece.
27:18Certainly could be somebody that gets the hang of the NFL game by mid-October and then hits the rookie wall by mid-December.
27:26And we get a couple of weeks out of him as a flex.
27:30But I don't think he's a top 36 wide receiver.
27:34I've seen some people very excited about that. And I'm telling you right now, I can name 40 other receivers that I'd
27:42rather have than him who I think have that upside that you talked about to be starters for my fantasy team.
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29:06Okay, we're back with Dave and Dave. What is your pointless countdown?
29:10What's your number four training camp story that you're going to be paying attention to?
29:15We don't hear enough about Travion Henderson getting first team reps, but we keep hearing a lot about Ramondre Stevenson getting first team reps.
29:24And the idea behind this is Henderson doesn't take the jump in his second year.
29:29Remember last year, we were excited about him in training camp and the practice reports were great.
29:35And then what ended up happening, it was Ramondre Stevenson as the main back and Travion as a 1B.
29:42And he had his moments. And certainly when Ramondre was out, Travion was awesome.
29:46But I came into this offseason thinking that Travion was going to be great.
29:51And I was drafting him well ahead of Ramondre.
29:55Could I get to the point where I'm drafting Ramondre ahead of Travion?
29:59And I think if the reports continue to tilt towards Stevenson, I might be willing to do that.
30:05I definitely understand where you're coming from. You know, if I'm tied into any team, I'm not really tied into any team.
30:13But sometimes little birdies tell me things about what's going on with the Patriots.
30:18On the show famously last year when everybody was cutting Henderson, I was like, don't cut Henderson.
30:24They have plans for him. And then he started working.
30:28Can I get to the point where I'm drafting Stevenson ahead of Henderson?
30:32Maybe not, but sure. You know, I would say I kind of never thought Stevenson would go away.
30:39And maybe it's just going to turn out that I was always lower on Henderson.
30:44I have him 21 among running backs. I have Stevenson 31 currently among running backs.
30:49Could I get them closer? Maybe. But I'm going to guess you started with Henderson higher than that.
30:55Sure. And I still do have Henderson high. But just how high?
31:00What number? 27. 27. And Romandre's at 31. But when this offseason started, like I told you, yeah, Romandre was top 20.
31:07No, I'm sorry. Travion was top 20. Oh, so you've already lowered Henderson.
31:12Yes, I've already lowered Henderson. There have been a bunch of other running backs, one of whom we'll talk about today, who've jumped them.
31:20Okay, cool. I get where you're coming from. I'll go commander's backfield for my number four.
31:26You know, I made some possum bucks last year fading J'Kory Krosky-Merritt when everybody decided that trading Brian Robinson in the bathtub
31:34on wheels meant that JCM was destined for superstardom.
31:37That turned out very much not to be true.
31:40And it was actually Chris Rodriguez who made some money in that commander's backfield last year.
31:46He's gone. And now the dreaded Rashad White. Man, if you could assemble a backfield consisting of all players that we've faded
31:53on this podcast, the commanders are really trying to do it.
31:57Because I don't love Rashad White either. But he does what he does.
32:02And there's, again, I'm trying to pick situations that have some level of possible clarification by the time we get through a few weeks.
32:10And so do I have any of these commanders high?
32:14I absolutely do not. None of them are my top 30 running backs.
32:18I would guess if I'm going to wind up with any of them, it's White in a PPR.
32:25But I'm willing to listen to the stories. I'm willing to listen if everybody's like, yeah, no.
32:31Anything you were thinking about Rashad White is not going to happen.
32:35Anything you were thinking about like Katron Allen isn't going to happen.
32:39This is probably JCM's backfield. I'll probably make some adjustments.
32:43I can't imagine it will wind up in me higher than the market on him.
32:48But it's definitely something I'll be tracking. I'd be shocked if this was JCM's backfield.
32:53I think they brought in Rashad White for a reason.
32:57I think his strengths speak for themselves. It's high value touches for fantasy purposes.
33:02And in fact, if you don't hear great things about Bill between now and September, dude, Rashad White's the guy.
33:09He's the zero RB target. He's the late round running back who can maybe get you 12 PPR points on average.
33:16A couple weeks where he maybe gets you closer to 20 and some weeks where he'll get you closer to nine.
33:23But that's just who he is. Yeah, Rashad White.
33:27Or four. Yep. I have White higher. I have White higher than JCM going into all this.
33:33So I'm right there with you. But, you know, like JCM was a first year player.
33:38Obviously, there's some details that he hadn't worked out.
33:41He obviously frustrated the previous offensive coaches enough to kind of get benched by the end of the season.
33:48And maybe he clears that up and maybe I have to be receptive.
33:53So in some regards, I feel like fading rookies is so easily my instinct that I need to make sure that once
34:00the hype is over and once we're in the second year, I can kind of like remove those blinkers and try to
34:08see it for real and not just be like the market is going to be higher than me on rookies so I can fade them.
34:17That's easy. And so I guess I'm acknowledging that I have to at least be receptive to taking off those JCM blinkers.
34:25I thought we were going to get through the segment in which nobody called him Bill, but damn it.
34:31I'm sorry. I didn't get the memo. No, I mean, it's fine.
34:36How about your number three? Coaches begin singling out Jadarian Price for his pass blocking and pass catching in practice.
34:43It's my number one. I'm right there with you.
34:46Yeah, that's a big one. They had their first scrimmage in full pads.
34:50Was it yesterday or the day before? Or recently.
34:53And he was the first guy up with the first team offense.
34:58And apparently he looked really good. And you talked about the forking road.
35:02There's a number of ways his season can go.
35:05But I've been saying on our show, the only way that you should be interested in drafting Jadarian Price is if we
35:13know for sure that he's the feature back for this team.
35:17And then you just have to hope that he continues to outplay the rest of the other guys, including Charbonnet when Charbonnet comes back whenever that is.
35:27And I worry about people overdrafting him because Charbonnet might need a couple of weeks to ramp up and be ready once
35:34he rehabs from the injury whenever that is, like I said.
35:38But the role that he'll have doesn't exactly ask him to be explosive.
35:43That's not Charbonnet's game. He's physical. He's got good hands.
35:46And if he's taking on a role that involves high value touches, that means Price isn't.
35:52And then it's a two-headed backfield where neither guy is really great.
35:56Maybe Charbonnet is better because of the goal line stuff.
36:00And people who draft Price maybe got something good out of him early.
36:04And then by the time we get to, I don't know, spitballing November, it's Charbonnet.
36:09Yeah, there's two levels to this. And you did a good job talking about the Charbonnet level.
36:15I think at this point, I'm pretty convinced we're not going to be worrying about Charbonnet in week one.
36:22And like you said, it's going to be at some point during the season.
36:27This is a January torn ACL. It's not for sure, but I don't think we're going to see him week one.
36:34So the stuff that we're probably paying most attention to, you said it exactly right.
36:40It's why it's my number one. It's just like, is the story, oh wow.
36:45The idea that we were ever thinking that Emmanuel Wilson was likely to be any kind of massive, significant drain on Jadarian
36:52Price now feels foolish in light of everything we've seen over these past several weeks.
36:58Versus, they're still mixing and matching and we really don't have a lot of clarity on how this goes.
37:04Obviously, the Seahawks are under no obligation to tell us.
37:08And so we could get surprised no matter what conclusion we think we've come to by the end of August.
37:15But to my way of thinking about this stuff and ranking this stuff, I'm going to be susceptible.
37:21There are just some situations where I'm willing to kind of watch the daily reports and kind of just accept that the
37:29boots on the ground are smart guys and ladies who cover the beat.
37:33And I'm just going to let them be my eyeballs.
37:37And if that's what they say they're seeing, I'm going to hang in there right with them kind of either way.
37:44Which is to say, there could be value in Jadarian Price for me by the end of the month or it could
37:52be an absolute stay away type market. And you're 100% right.
37:56That's before we ever get to the question of what happens with Charbonnet, which whatever you think it's going to be, I
38:04don't think we're going to get that answer by the end of August.
38:08No. Yeah. So where are you on Jadarian Price as of where we stand right now?
38:14He is my RB25. And I could see like...
38:17I'm 27. Yeah. Right. So we're in the same range.
38:21So everything could be rainbows and thumbs up. And I mean, he could move into round four pretty easily.
38:27But that does feel rich. I have to admit.
38:30Yeah. It's scary. And again, as someone who fades rookie, especially rookie running backs these days, you know, it's going to really depend on what ADP does.
38:40I think we're going to... You and I will probably be pretty close lockstep because we're going to see the same reports.
38:48So we're either both going to be raising him or both going to be lowering him.
38:53And it's going to come down to, all right, once all the listeners are actually drafting and once ADP starts to mean
39:01something in mid-August, we're going to find out whether we're high or low.
39:06He's a boom or a bust depending on where he is relative to our rank of him.
39:12If all the reports are good and people get super carried away and he's going RB19, oh, I'm fading Jadarian Price.
39:19What a bum, you know? And if the ADP is at 30, we're both going to be like, hey, pretty good value on Jadarian Price.
39:28My way of thinking in general is that, especially with rookies, people are really willing to believe the reports and probably his
39:35ADP gets too rich for my blood. Yeah, yeah.
39:39Yeah. We'll only know when we know, I guess.
39:42All right. So you nailed my number one, which is good.
39:46I feel less crazy because we came up independently with the same guy.
39:50Keep in mind, these are very important rankings. Oh, I mean, very.
39:54It's all important. So, so significant. Really, if you think about it, there's St.
39:59Jude's and then there's us and which is doing a force for good in the world is really close.
40:06I'll do my number three though. I said the entire Raiders receiving core.
40:11Not to say I expect any of them to launch into the top 36.
40:16I don't. But I'll, you know, with presumptively bad offenses, the offenses that everybody kind of decides beforehand, Dolphins, Jets, Raiders, whatever, Browns.
40:24I'm always more interested in sleepers from those teams because the market will decide they're all unusable.
40:30There's no chance. And I apologize to the listeners because I keep saying this, but I am saying it to different guests.
40:37We would have said that last year about the Colts in the first three quarters of the season.
40:44We would have said it about the Patriots last year.
40:47We're just wrong all the time about teams being hopeless and situations being untenable for any fantasy production.
40:54And so I'll take a chance here or there on some player that I think is an okay player in a situation that everybody's decided is utter garbage.
41:03And so if you could get through Raider training camp and tell me that, I don't know who, Trey Turner, like someone
41:11has kind of become the no doubt alpha. He's not going to be in my top 40 receivers, but he might be
41:19somebody who's on my draft, this guy in the 12th round list.
41:23Whereas if I just simply can't get any of that clarity, it'll be nobody.
41:28And I would be surprised if you, I wouldn't be surprised if you got some clarity, you know, one of Trey Tucker.
41:36I meant Tucker. Yeah. Sorry. Yeah. You had baseball on the mind.
41:40Trey Tucker, Jalen Naylor, Jack Bess. Like one of those guys will get weeded out.
41:45They have a six round rookie. I think his name is Benson.
41:49I think that he, his name has started to pop up.
41:53Some guys are going to get weeded out and you won't read about them as much anymore.
41:59And whoever's left, those will be the guys that you're looking at in the late rounds.
42:05I I've got for now, I have Jalen Naylor ranked the highest.
42:09I don't think he's a particularly sizzling talent, but he's, he's got a knack for getting open.
42:15He did in Minnesota, but that was as their number three guy, pretty easy to get open when you're the number three guy in Minnesota.
42:24And I, I do know the track record of Clint Kubiak involves hyper targeting one wide receiver.
42:30You can go back to Seattle last year, obviously, but new Orleans before that and Minnesota before that.
42:36Like we we've seen it. I don't think it's, I don't, I don't think he's sitting there in Henderson, Nevada in their
42:44facility going, yeah, I can't wait to get eight targets a game to Jalen Naylor.
42:49I think he's saying that about Brock Bowers. And so everybody knows that we're drafting Brock Bowers.
42:55That's the obvious statement of the show. Whoever, whoever ends up being that guy, whether it's Tucker Naylor, I think it's going to be one of those two.
43:05Yeah. Late round pick flex guy. I don't know if that's necessarily a ranking shifter.
43:10That's just somebody to keep in mind when you're in the double digit rounds and you want to sleeper.
43:17I might, I mean, again, it comes down to what you learn, you know?
43:22So I currently have Tucker, the higher of those three.
43:25I have them all ranked within 10 spots of each other.
43:29They're all basically where they're all outside my top 60.
43:33So you're right. It's not like, wow, one of them's now wide receiver 37.
43:38Like that's not what I'm talking about at all, but it could, I could see a world.
43:44I mean, I've said this so many times already on the show.
43:48Boy, people are going to get so tired of many things I say.
43:53I'm now back to five a week. I'm sorry to all of you for this, but wide receivers insanely flat from, from, from 18 to 50.
44:02You could convince me on any of them. Like, I don't know.
44:06They're, they all get 5.6 targets a game and they all wind up with four catches for 53 yards.
44:13And then maybe they score a touchdown. And that's the difference between them being wide receiver 11 and wide receiver 29 and wide receiver 46.
44:21Like I'm looking for someone to cut through that nonsense.
44:25I guess maybe the reason I gave Tucker the slight benefit of the doubt is because he's the fast guy.
44:32But then again, I haven't ever really seen him run routes.
44:36Right, right, right. Yeah. But I guess I'm just, yeah, I brought it up by way of saying, could one of those
44:44guys from go, go from outside the top 60 with enough positive buzz to number 45.
44:49And now he's someone I'm taking in the 13th round.
44:53There's a chance for that. And then the other thing to think about is what happens when Bowers invariably takes a big
45:00hit and he limps off the field and he's gone for a couple of weeks.
45:06And you'd like to have that name in mind of the wide receiver who had that buzz because that guy might now
45:13not get 5.6 targets per game, but maybe 7.6 targets per game.
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46:30We are back with Dave and we are getting close to our top names, although we already did my top name.
46:37We have more names to go, though, on our countdown of the training camp stories.
46:42We're paying the most attention to. Dave, we're at your number two.
46:47Two, not only do we learn that the Vikings quarterback competition is a total sham, but that Kyler Murray has been dialed in all camp long.
46:56And that means that he's playing better than any quarterback that took the field for Minnesota last year.
47:02And what does that mean for Justin Jefferson? And I'm curious where you've got him ranked and Jordan Addison ranked.
47:09But also, does it mean that defenses are going to have to play back a lot?
47:15They play back a little bit when they had, you know, Brosmer under center and J.J.
47:20McCarthy. But will they play back a lot? And what does that mean for the run game in Minnesota?
47:27And so I thought that that situation could impact a bunch of spots in fantasy drafts.
47:33And that's why I included it in there. So Kyler Murray looks better than he ever has.
47:39And he's a serious quarterback. He's a serious quarterback again.
47:42Again? Well, he's looked better than he ever has.
47:45I hear you. Yeah. I'll just say my Jefferson rank is like seven standard six PPR among receivers.
47:52Sure. Which feels like I don't think he has any upward mobility there.
47:56And probably he doesn't have any downward mobility for me.
48:00Where do you run, Jefferson? I'm exactly in the same spot in full PPR, seven.
48:05And I could see myself. I'm not a believer in Kyler Murray, Chris.
48:10But if I somehow become one, yeah, I think he could potentially get to six.
48:15I don't think I can put him ahead of CD at five.
48:19I have him behind CD. I have... Me too.
48:22Yeah. Yeah. I have Nico Collins ahead of them in standard, but not PPR.
48:27Okay. And then Jordan Addison, I mean, I bear the bruises of last year's Jordan Addison.
48:33That was bad. He's outside my top 40. He's like 44 standard, 47 PPR.
48:38And then Juwan Jennings is like 56. And, you know, the problem I have with hiking those guys up is that I'm
48:45trying to imagine the wheat from the chaff when it comes to Kyler Murray news.
48:51Calamari, as we call him around here. You know, like, what does it look...
48:56There is just a natural fluffing that goes on with a new quarterback, with a hopeful quarterback.
49:02No beat reporter worth their salt who wants to keep their clicks and views and likes is going to suggest that they wish J.J.
49:10McCarthy is the quarterback again. So everyone's kind of rooting for Kyler to look good.
49:15And so, yeah, it's just... Can you imagine a world where you can believe it?
49:21Where you're hearing it enough that you go, hey...
49:24Because I heard enough that Kyler looked good in enough Cardinals camps for me to go, yeah.
49:30And then he came out and played like Kyler Murray.
49:33So I'm having a hard time believing it. Me too.
49:37I don't know what that would look like. I don't know what it would look like.
49:42Maybe... No? I was about to say maybe Kyler just having a more serious tone.
49:48But I think he generally has a serious tone anyway.
49:51And I don't even really care what he has to say.
49:55Like, if he changes his tone in press conferences, I don't think that's going to make me move him up.
50:02I think it's just going to have to take, like, stacking reports, glowing reports, one after the other after the other, before I even really consider it.
50:12But what I'm fearing is the opposite, which is what we've kind of been getting up and down, up and down.
50:19And then Jefferson is the one that's the one moving the wrong way.
50:24Okay. I mean, then, yeah. I think that's probably right.
50:27I think it's probably less about him being dialed in and more about him not being dialed in.
50:33Because, at least for Jefferson. Because you're agreeing with me that where we're ranking Jefferson right now is kind of...
50:40We wish he could be the number two. He should be.
50:44He should be number one in terms of talent.
50:48But, like, you just can't go there again after last year's disaster.
50:52And so, the worry is that Murray is so inconsistent that you go, oh, I think I need to rank Jefferson, like, 12.
51:00And I can imagine, I guess, I don't know, I'll ask you.
51:04Can you imagine a world where the reports are so mixed on Murray that you significantly lower Jefferson?
51:10Yeah. Because the names after him, A.J. Brown, Nico Collins, Drake London, Malik Neighbors, I think everybody can see a clean season for those guys.
51:19Especially at the target volume that they get. And Jefferson gets that same type of target volume, too.
51:26But, I don't know, other than Nico, and London, too, obviously, but he just gets so many targets.
51:32But, if the quarterback is bad, that obviously impacts the receiver.
51:36We just learned that lesson last year with Jefferson.
51:39I guess I could see it, but that would have to be in the other direction, Chris, where every other day, it's
51:47Kyler Murray looks like he doesn't know what he's doing.
51:50Right. Well, but that's... I can sit here and speak for the storybook of history and say that's not uncommon when it comes to Kyler Murray.
51:59I agree. Yeah, yeah, yeah. I've been on the other side with Kyler Murray a long time.
52:05And assuming he's your savior is, whew, that is something else.
52:09It could happen. I think he's a fairly competent player.
52:13I think a lot of his faults get overstated.
52:16But, you know, where I've always come from when Murray himself was someone that was being boosted as a fantasy option, obviously,
52:24it was because those were the years where people decided that if you were a running quarterback, nothing else mattered.
52:31You did not have to be able to do anything else in the job.
52:35We like to refer to those as the Anthony Richardson years.
52:39You know, that was easy for me to go, yeah, no, they have to be okay at throwing.
52:46You got to be okay. And Kyler, unfortunately, I don't think it's height.
52:50I don't think it's like smarts. I just think he has a hard time throwing with anticipation.
52:56And maybe Kevin O'Connell gets through to him. But I like our rephrasing.
53:01I'm going to put it in the show notes as our rephrasing, which is Kyler Murray can't get dialed in.
53:08Because we've already ranked Jefferson kind of at his peak, but there's more doubt.
53:13We're saying kind of like more downward mobility, which I think I agree with that.
53:18I do. Yep. All right. My number two, which is the last one I will mention, it's just another backfield.
53:25It is the Cardinals. I guess it's pretty self-evident.
53:28I'm interested once the draft stats and, you know, the public starts drafting how high Jeremiah Love winds up going.
53:35A lot of that will be kind of independent of reports.
53:39People have just been sold that any top five draft pick needs to, that's fun.
53:44And you got to take them higher and yada, yada, yada.
53:48But it's also just about four bodies in camp.
53:51Do the Cardinals finally relent? Does someone get cut?
53:55Does someone get traded? It feels like even just in terms of who's on the roster, we could tell ourselves a story
54:02on August 27th that says, well, phew, it's down to Tyler Algier and Jeremiah Love and then a bunch of, you know, third stringers.
54:11And this is just all a lot easier to understand as opposed to, oh my God, four guys are still there.
54:18I am very scared to draft all of them.
54:21And then, yes, also all the various usages and shufflings and what they look like in joint practice and all that stuff will factor in as well.
54:31It's just a big mess. And I assume, well, either some clarity is coming by the end of the month or no clarity is coming.
54:40And I would lean toward no clarity. Maybe. Because why do they have to give clarity and why should they embrace –
54:47why should they – I know they drafted Love third overall.
54:51Well, what's the upside of playing him a ton other than in games where he's got a hot hand?
54:58And for all we know, that could be every game.
55:01I mean, this is not out of the realm of possibility with a guy this talented, but it is the Arizona Cardinals
55:09facing the league's toughest schedule behind one of the league's least impressive offensive lines in a first-year offense.
55:15With three capable pass catchers and a team – I don't know if their over-under win total is, but it's probably four and a half.
55:24Chris, I don't think the environment is good for Jeremiah Love to even have more than five games with 18-plus touches.
55:32Because they don't have to. And why would they when they know this season is already kind of crappy?
55:38Well, okay. I'll push back on – once again, I think you and I and everybody overstate their abilities to close their
55:46eyes and touch their temples and predict what a team is going to be.
55:51If we'd done this last year, again, you would have said the Patriots are going to suck.
55:57You would have said the Colts are going to suck.
56:01You would have said – you know, like we know the list.
56:05But I'm going to agree with your conclusion, even if I – like one of your reasons I don't love.
56:12But I've seen Bajon Robinson on a pretty decent team have to split with Tyler Algier.
56:17I've seen Jameer Gibbs on a pretty decent team have to split with David Montgomery and other people.
56:24The larger point is that folks, I think, are going to be convinced that Arizona's – they're like dual pressures on me here.
56:32Because on the one hand, folks are going to be like Arizona's definitely bad.
56:37This is just a bad situation. I'm positive. Therefore, I don't want Jeremiah Love.
56:42That's what makes me want Jeremiah Love. But then the other pressure is he's a top five pick and they got to
56:49give him a bunch of workload draft capital. They have to.
56:53And that's the thing I always fight against. Me too.
56:57That's the Clyde Edwards-Elair syndrome. And so I'll be fascinated to see what the Cardinals actually transmit out there.
57:03And I'll be fascinated to see what ADP does with Jeremiah Love.
57:08I've seen articles saying Jeremiah Love is one of the running backs you must come out of a draft with.
57:15I've seen other ones saying stay away from Jeremiah Love.
57:18Unworkable situation. Like he's going to be a tough guy to know what to do with because of these dueling pressures.
57:26And whoever drafts him is going to be compelled to start him every week.
57:31And those pressures are going to be very interesting.
57:34Right. Yeah. The thing that I will, you know, the thing that's going to be the upward pressure on Love's ADP is
57:41the trade that sends James Conner to Green Bay.
57:45Or the trade that sends Trey Benson to someplace where a running back gets hurt or whatever.
57:51That's going to be a moment where we're going to be testing Jeremiah Love's ADP.
57:56I think the larger point that I always try to communicate this time of year about rookie running backs is that when
58:04they get drafted high, when, I mean, I just saw it last year, you know, saw Ashton Gentry.
58:10Everybody just assumes Ashton Gentry is an amazing prospect.
58:13And if you're not taking him in the first round, you're a fool, yada, yada, yada.
58:19And I sit there and go, they drafted Ashton Gentry for his career, not for 2025.
58:24They drafted Jeremiah Love for his career, not 2026.
58:28So what you said is 100% right. Whether they're good or whether they're bad, the Cardinals have, they're not going to beat him like a rented mule.
58:37They bought the mule. Right. You know what I mean?
58:41So anyway, I think we're... 100%. Tell me where you are on Love among running backs.
58:46He is my, and so this is where I'm going to look silly because he's not like 28th or whatever, but I've got him at 16.
58:55I think he can be a number two running back.
58:59Okay, okay. So we're both talking trash about him and yet still saying that he's a top 20 running back, which also
59:07kind of speaks to the running back position more than anything else.
59:11It speaks to hope. It speaks to trusting the people who scout these guys.
59:16And it speaks to, for me anyway, trying to divorce as much as physically possible, even though I know, I do suspect
59:23the Cardinals aren't going to be one of the best offenses, but allowing myself the possibility that it's not 100% that the Cardinal offense is utter garbage.
59:33And if that's the case, then he doesn't get punished by his environment.
59:37I'm worried about the Cardinals' defense being utter garbage.
59:41Sure. And that's why, I'm not saying you do this, but that's why the folks who really only base their ranks and
59:48their advice on situation, they can turn themselves into pretzels to make it mean almost anything they want.
59:55Because they can go, oh sure, I think the Cardinals are going to stink, but they're going to be playing from behind.
60:02Go Jeremiah Love. You can almost use the environment to support whichever aspect of it you want.
60:08Either the Cardinals are going to stink, so love is going to stink.
60:13Or the Cardinals are going to stink, they're going to be playing from behind, love is going to be amazing.
60:20Like, okay man, you're not really telling me anything.
60:23Let's do your number one. Number one is the easiest one, and it would also be the most impactful one.
60:30Jameer Gibbs and Bijan Robinson continue to hold in throughout the entire month of August.
60:36What would it do to your ranks? I couldn't take them.
60:39I've got them as my 101 and my 102.
60:43Me too. I cannot take them at 101 and 102 if they are not practicing at all throughout August.
60:49And I mean, countless times we've seen it where a player holds out, holds in, they want their money, last minute they
60:57get it right before the season starts, and the first four weeks of the year, they stink, they suffer an injury, that
61:05costs them more time, then they've got to come back from that.
61:09And it's like half the season is wiped out.
61:12And you're playing with fire by taking Gibbs or Robinson out of your round one consideration.
61:18But we've just seen it so many times, so many times.
61:22The most recent example I think is like McLaurin last year.
61:25So I am hoping these guys get paid soon so that I don't even have to think about it, Chris.
61:32Because I want these guys on my fantasy team.
61:36They are worthy of these early picks. That's a great one.
61:40I got to admit, I kind of didn't even think of it because I've just assumed they would pay them.
61:47But yeah, I guess. You know, there comes that date where we're sitting with our little ranks tool and we're figuring out,
61:54okay, is today the day we make the switch?
61:57Are you telling me if we're on like September 1st and those two guys are unsigned, Gibbs and Robinson go to RB 13?
62:06I don't know if I could drag them that far.
62:09Yeah. Could they go to RB 789? Maybe they should.
62:13I don't know if I could drag them that far, but I feel a lot better about that than RB 13.
62:20Maybe they should. It does. Suddenly Jonathan Taylor becomes my RB 1.
62:24Me too. And you know, well, maybe McCaffrey and PPR, but I would not argue with Taylor either.
62:31Yeah, because you know, you have to put yourself in that scenario of having the 101 in a draft and being like,
62:38is this a problem that I want to borrow?
62:41And then you put yourself in the position of saying, okay, but I'm drafting on August 20th.
62:47Has it been enough time that it's a disaster and I need to make my, like, this is a huge can of
62:55worms, but it is a game of chicken for the player and the team and also a game of chicken for us and our ranks.
63:04August 20th isn't too far out, but August 27th might be.
63:08And if you think about that, I 100% agree.
63:11I absolutely don't want to be hyperreactive, but if you think about it, that it's a week.
63:17You know, it was always seven days. I really decided those seven days were the crucial ones.
63:23Well, hold on. When does the season start? Week one is, week one of the Sunday is the 13th?
63:30Yeah. Yeah. So let's set the date at August 29th.
63:33That's the Saturday before August 30th. Look how smart I am.
63:37But August 29th would be a little bit more than two weeks before week one.
63:42If they're not signed by then, I'm going to start panicking.
63:46McLaurin was though, wasn't he? He just missed camp, but like he came in the last, he wasn't.
63:52Yeah, I'd have to double check and see. But that was just a nightmare situation all the way around.
63:59Yeah. This has a potential to be bad too.
64:02I'm with you hopefully by the end of it all.
64:06Like when I say it all, the end of this week.
64:10Let's get them all signed. But yeah, it is something we'll have to watch.
64:15It was a great one to be your number one.
64:18Dave Richard, thank you very much for your time.
64:21I appreciate it. I know you and our brethren over at CBS Fantasy are extremely busy.
64:27As we mentioned, they're making shows five times a week.
64:30You can often see them on CBS Sports Network as well.
64:34The draft-a-thon, the fantasy draft-a-thon begins today, this evening, 7 p.m.
64:38Eastern. And crucially, as I mentioned, the FFT Open, if you'd like to make that donation to St.
64:44Jude's and play against me, also at 7 p.m.
64:48Eastern tonight. Just check out the URL that's in today's show notes, and you can play in a league with me, and
64:55it all goes to charity, and we will have some fun.
64:59Thank you again so much for doing it, Dave.
65:02It was great to catch up. We need to get Jameer Gibbs paid.
65:07We need to get B. John Robinson paid. We need to get Christopher Harris paid.
65:12Thank you so much for listening. I mean, I think I'm going to be okay, but I appreciate the notion.
65:19Let's thank the, speaking of getting me paid, let's thank the sponsors because they did pay to be on the show to reach all of you.
65:28We had Viore. You've heard me talk a ton about them.
65:32I really recommend the clothing. We've had Z Biotics a lot.
65:36You've heard me talk about them, and if you do drink alcohol, I'm telling you, I don't want to call it a
65:44miracle, but I really do swear by it. I always do take it before I drink alcohol.
65:50And League Legacy. LeagueLegacy.io is a startup. Been around a couple years.
65:54You've heard me talk about it each August and sometimes in December.
65:58And John spends his marketing dollars carefully because he's a startup, and I really recommend LeagueLegacy.io.
66:04I think your league would have a ton of fun with it.
66:08You can find information about today's sponsors in today's show notes, and all the current sponsors are at harrisfootball.com.
66:15Also, in the show notes, there's a link to the Almanac.
66:19There's a link to the Barnes & Noble page where you can get Pound Foolish.
66:24And there's a link to the Charity League that we talked about with Dave off the top of his segment where you
66:32can play with me, and it benefits St. Jude's.
66:35And so lots of ways that you can spread it around, I suppose.
66:39And I appreciate that very much. That's going to do it.
66:43We're back. It's official Monday through Friday. Today, I'm going to be back with another podcast on Tuesday.
66:50My guest for that one is going to be the great Ross Tucker.
66:54We're going to talk about offensive line play that he's interested in for this upcoming year.
67:00That's a staple of August in the early part of the month, so that'll be a blast.
67:06I'm also going to go on Ross's show. I'm not sure when that's airing, but certainly this week.
67:12We're going to talk more general stuff about fantasy on his show as well.
67:17I'm also going to do top Almanac talent talk.
67:20Grades, film grades and stuff from the Almanac that is sitting in my head that I'll share with you on Tuesday's show as well.
67:29Remember, if you want to give me some ideas about how to bribe the audience into pre-ordering Pound Foolish and making cumulative
67:36press be on the bestseller list, that would be so cool.
67:40You can do it. HeyHarris at HarrisFootball.com. And remember, if you pre-order the book, please also take a screen cap and get bribed.
67:48Like, send me. Send me the screen cap. I will put you in the group to be bribed, to be put into
67:56drawings, and we'll pick winners out of that group.
67:59Until then, thanks again so much for listening. Your hat is awesome.
68:04You're awesome for wearing it. I will talk to you tomorrow.
68:07The Harris Football Podcast's opening theme is Under the Gun by Apex Manor.
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