0:05Which NFL play callers can fantasy managers trust in the 2026 season? And which players could be primed to have massive fantasy seasons? Theo Gringer,
0:16lead fantasy analyst at Rotoire, joined today by Ryan Paganetti, who is one of the most respected football analytics and game management specialists in the
0:25NFL. Uh, now making incredible content.
0:28He's a fantastic follow on X and he's also producing some fantastic stuff over on YouTube. But Ryan, last year you were
0:36with the Las Vegas Raiders. Just how great a season could Brock Bowers have this year in the Clint Kubak offense?
0:44>> Yeah. So, so what I would say is that um you know there is there's just being on you know in a practice field in the NFL,
0:52there's sometimes where you just see a player and it kind of makes you do a double take. And when Brock Bowers
0:57showed up in in OTAAS with the Raiders last year, it was really shocking just like the the the physical talent he was
1:05coming off of, you know, his rookie year just being incredible. And um almost immediately the the the coaching staff had a consensus that this player would
1:15basically be our top receiver and he's he may actually be a better ex receiver than most of the exceivers in the NFL.
1:22And um you know wi with Pete and with Chip like as we sort of looked at the roster there was a clear kind of issue
1:29with the Raiders roster where where they were a little bit underman at the receiver position. At the time it was like Jacobe Myers was looking to get
1:36traded and whatnot. So there was some instability there but um you know we were expecting to to basically just hammer Brock Bowers with targets like he
1:44was going to be our guy. And you know, we we were thinking just based on the roster that we had that, you know, him
1:52setting receiving records in terms of catches, yards, touchdowns, like that that was sort of like the aiming point for where we were going to go with that.
1:58And he was really going to be our first read on a lot of our concepts. And week one, I think he had 103 yards in two and
2:05a half quarters. And then he actually suffered a pretty significant knee injury. And that really derailed things offensively because, you know, and I
2:12think looking back, he probably should have sat out almost immediately and he tried to play through it. The the team was a little bit overmatched at the
2:19offensive line position and at the receiver group as well. And that sort of created scenarios where um you know we were we were sort of putting out fires
2:27at different spots like whether we were helping out the offensive line with more chip protections or we were you know subbing in Mike Mayer because we didn't
2:33want to put in uh you know Brock for too many runs because we were kind of managing the knee and like so it was
2:39sort of a narrative over the course of the year to kind of manage him. He ended up getting having a period of time where
2:43he did sit. He came back I think against the Jaguars. He had one of like the best, you know, tight end seat games
2:48ever and then he ended up getting shut down at the end of the year. But I just look at the the roster that they have in
2:542026. And you know, you could make an argument that they're a little bit weaker at receiver than even the group that we had last year because they don't
3:01have Jacobe Meyers. And you know, they're going to they did add Jaylen Naylor and and and they're sort of hoping that the younger players will
3:07step up. But just given Clint Kubak's background where he really was throwing the JSN at unprecedented rates last year in terms of the target shares and and
3:16and how how you know really where he was the main guy. I don't know how you could be sitting there and evaluate the
3:22Raiders roster on a day-to-day basis if I'm Clint Kubak and not saying my offense goes through Brock Bowers at least in the pass game. It's it's
3:31incredibly exciting and I love talking about Bowers because it's it's not like some theoretical player that could explode. We look at the rookie year
3:39statistics. 153 targets, nearly 1,200 receiving yards and 112 receptions. And then like you said, the sample size we
3:48have for Kubak last year, it seems like an absolutely perfect pairing. And then you look at sort of the the target
3:55competition. I mean, for me, Brock Bowers is a first round pick in all formats, including just regular PPR. I updated my PPR rankings. You can go
4:04check those out right over at rotowire.com. Use the code Theo20. If you're enjoying shows like this, you're going to love the content we're putting
4:12out over at rotoire.com. But talking about Bowers, like for you, is it is there a gap between what Bowowers can accomplish and maybe any other tight end
4:22in football? cuz I think a lot of times people are hesitant to dive into tight end one overall just because they think
4:29they can play catch-up, but for me he's in his a sort of a tier of of his own right now.
4:35>> Yeah, I think that uh you know, Trey McBride's season was certainly exceptional. You know, I know that some of you guys have sort of dove into them
4:43being down a lot and you know how that sort of impacted like the game script and how he was getting the balls. I
4:48think in no way there's this is no disrespect to Trey McBride, but you know there are just physical attributes about Brock that are so unique that like you
4:58legitimately could enter a season and say he's just going to be our ex receiver and he probably is, you know, an elite ex receiver. And um I think
5:07that like as they sort of get a feel for this season, like most likely the Raiders are probably going to have some struggles as
5:16they work through like you know rebuilding the team and they they have a tough schedule. You know they're in a very tough division and I think you can
5:22see some of the similar narratives that you saw with McBride when they were losing a lot and you know he he's
5:27getting additional targets and whatnot.
5:28I think that there's a a reasonable world where you see some of that stuff with Brock Bowers as well. And um I I
5:35think just going back to in what he did in college where he basically showed up in the SEC at like the most elite
5:41program in college football and just immediately was a dominant force. Like I think that's like just a real good represent representation of just like
5:48how shockingly talented the player is.
5:50And I'd say one of the only concerns would be are some teams going to just like say it's an obvious pass situation.
5:59Are they going to play man defense and dare those other guys to get open and take a player like Patrick Certan and
6:04put him on Brock because that that may be your best effort to to slow down the Raiders and and they they also you know
6:11some of these teams get spooked out of playing man defense because the quarterbacks can run a little bit. I don't think you're going to be spooked
6:16out of man with Kirk Cousins and Mendoza right now because the runability is not really going to be at a high level. So I
6:22think that's one cons one minor concern about it. But I also, you know, think he can win some of those matchups, too. It
6:27was just it's just a very unique circumstance.
6:31>> Talk about Ashton Genty as well just in how you're viewing Genty taking a leap forward from year 1 to year two
6:41potentially. Also with the offensive line improvements. I know last year you guys had some injuries on the O line and and this offseason we've seen uh Vegas
6:50go out and and sign players in free agency and also you're going to get some players back from injury. Genty last
6:56year averaged like 14 and a half points per game in in fantasy football. He was a one-two turn pick like early second
7:03rounder, late first rounder. He's right back there this year, but it seems to be a lot more optimism about how his season
7:10could turn out. Are you expecting a big leap forward in terms of production as well there? I I think that if you you
7:18know, you look at Clint's scheme like Clint wants to run the ball. the the the O line coach Rick Dennison is well known
7:23to have a you know many years of of exceptional run offenses. Uh that O line was was overwhelmed last year and Colton Miller was really
7:32playing at a high level and I think you know he he went down in week four and he was done for the year and we really from
7:38a replacement standpoint it it was not where it needed to be. And um the the the addition of Linderbomb is obviously
7:46an excellent addition. You're really going to have two difference makers on that offensive line. I still have some questions about the other positions of
7:53that O line group as they kind of work through the guard spots and work through the right tackle spot. And I also sort
8:00of wonder how teams are going to approach playing the Raiders because I think there there may be some efforts to play a lot of single high and play step,
8:07you know, have guys close to the line of scrimmage and sort of dare those receivers to win just I think from a
8:13game plan standpoint. So I think it it it'll be a little bit interesting there.
8:17I think there was a to some degree there was uh there there there may be a little bit of an overestimation of how much the
8:26lack of like downto-own production for the running game last year was was entirely on like the surrounding you know scenario there. I think you know I
8:35think Ashton acknowledged like you know he there there were some areas where he could improve himself and I think he made some efforts to do so. There was
8:41like an article about him losing some weight, trimming down, and he certainly is going to be the guy that they, you
8:46know, they feature and he's kind of their bow cow. I sort of wonder also that Clint Kubak seems to be a guy that
8:51over time has uh, you know, he's given the second running back a decent amount of of opportunities and, you know, how does
8:57that fit in? And so I think there's compared to the Bowowers thing where I I feel pretty confident of on like where
9:03that's heading. I have some questions just like where that scenario is going to go with Genty and then also if they
9:08are losing for example where does where do things go there in terms of like the volume that he may be getting or like
9:14are they is Clint going to throw the ball to the running backs a lot if they're losing like how does that look I
9:18think there's definitely a lot more questions there um and you know I guess it remains to be seen how that kind of
9:24plays out let's talk about your journey Ryan because you've become like this must follow this summer for a lot of people
9:31in fantasy but they might not be aware of like your pathway, your journey. Uh you won a Super Bowl with Philadelphia,
9:40spent time with Jacksonville, and then again last year with Vegas. You are easily the first Super Bowl winner that I've ever had on any of my podcasts,
9:47which is a kind of a cool first for me.
9:49But why don't you talk about it? Um you know, and how analytics have really changed the NFL as well. Yeah. So, I I I
9:57got my start in um Philadelphia in 2015 and I was sort of fortunate that they they ended up making a coaching change a
10:04little bit after I got there and I was able to sort of partner with Doug Peterson and sort of be his coaching
10:10analytics and his game management guy and um Doug had a great attitude about using all the data and he had a very
10:16open mind and I I kind of considered myself fortunate that many of these highly successful head coaches that had established pedigrees were very
10:23resistant. they were resistant to analytics in part because they've already had some success, but Doug as sort of a first-time head coach was very
10:30open to it and the ownership of the team with Jeffrey Lur like he was a very strong advocate as well. And so, you
10:36know, we really tried to push things in terms of like buy in on fourth downs and two-point conversions and using play
10:43action or trying to run a lot of quarterback sneaks, like different metrics that I think different people in the public space had talked about and we
10:50really tried to apply those and we had some success obviously doing that. And um I think over time um you know when I
10:58started there was very few people that were really in these sort of like quantitative roles in the league and now like every team it's almost mandatory
11:04that you have you know a number of people helping in these roles and the departments are like not getting smaller but I ended up moving over to
11:11Jacksonville to sort of be a director there. And I was um you know I was fortunate to be part of the the the
11:17first Super Bowl for the Eagles and I kind of wanted to be part of the first Super Bowl for another team. And so I
11:22came in in Jacksonville and in the I think the 10-year span prior to me getting there, they had actually been the losing his franchise in the league
11:30and I think even in professional sports and so like I saw that as like a interesting test case to try to turn
11:36things around and um my you know they had just been off the Urban Meyer season which obviously was sort of a struggle
11:43and even the year before Urban that what got there they had also you know been picking first because the team had
11:48struggled and um we were able to you get a quick bounce back in terms of that first year. We we ended up winning the
11:54division and we ended up winning a playoff game and everything. And um it was cool to kind of be a part of of that
12:00sort of experience, but I think there was just sort of different nuances there that made Jacksonville a little bit of a
12:07unique unique place. Um and then I I I got to spend this last year with the with the Raiders and and that was a
12:13pretty cool experience as well. Um, but I'd say the the Raiders experience was the first time in my career where just
12:21like we felt so overmatched as a roster and um you know we we there certainly was some star players whether it was
12:28Brock or um Max Crosby and but like just from the pure depth of the team like it was it you you sort of you know uh every
12:36sort of organization I think is optimistic as you know the offseason plays out and then training camp gets going but I think at some point whether
12:44whether it's the first or second game of the year, there's like sort of a wakeup call for a lot of these teams that
12:49whether it's the fan base or in the building, like the optimism is sort of met with realism and like you sort of
12:54realize like, okay, there there's going to be some aspects of this team that are like major issues and um you know, I
13:01think the the Raiders made a ton of improvements to their team and I think that you know, I think they're they're
13:04they're heading on the right track and everything, but um uh going this route where like I can do some things publicly
13:11and do some consulting work and whatnot, like it's just like from a quality life standpoint, I think is a lot better for
13:16me and it's something that I'm enjoying doing so far.
13:20People don't really I mean I'm sure people understand how hard you guys work in the NFL, but what was like a week in
13:27the life of Ryan maybe for the last like 3 years? Like when you're in season just how how many hours are you putting in in
13:36like a like an inseason traditional week? I mean, I don't know. Or is August and July even even longer hours? How
13:43does that work out like in just terms of your flow?
13:46>> Yeah. So, what I would say is like just as an example, picture your in season and you know, Monday, for example, would be
13:54something like 6:30 in the morning to 10:00 p.m. The same thing Tuesday, same thing Wednesday. On on Thursday, you might get out early and and get to leave
14:03at like 8:30 or 9, but you're still in there early. And then a and around the league, it's been relatively common that
14:09a lot of teams uh they sort of give people a half day on Fridays to sort of spend time with their families and
14:15whatnot, but it's still, you know, you're still in there early because especially when you're traveling to the away games, like you have to travel on
14:21Saturdays oftent times. And so like a lot of these people don't even get to see their families at all because you
14:26travel on Saturday and then you fly back right after the game and you're basically just crashing and going to bed and starting the cycle over. But um it
14:34was somewhere in the 100 hour a week range and like when your team's struggling like it's it kind of weighs on you a little bit whether it's just
14:40like your your your well-being, your happiness, your physical health, like those are like real things that I think people underestimate um that are and then and
14:50then obviously you know you're if you're part of a struggling team like the public criticism, the potential high turnover of your job and everything like
14:56there's a lot of variables that maybe aren't talked about in the public sphere enough about like how the the the day-to-day life is maybe not the the
15:07coolest thing that you could imagine is like being in the NFL.
15:11>> No. I mean, you hear a lot about like the college football coaches and and how just grueling it can be with like the
15:17recruiting aspect, but I think a lot of people don't understand like the NFL.
15:21the guys like yourself and then it's like it's it's all walks of the coaching staff and and is it like pretty much
15:28universal that everybody's putting the work in at that sort of level? Yeah, I'd say like I the the most respect I have
15:35in the coaching industry is for the the leaders like whether it's head coaches or coordinators that actually try to emphasize to their staff to like get
15:42home and spend time with their families and you know take care of their own health because there it's almost like a
15:49virus around the league where it's very extreme and like there's it some of the the work extreme work hours are kind of
15:55glorified and I just think it's it's really silly and you just think of like the cognitive ability of of you're making all these decisions and and like
16:02you're you're potentially doing it in like an extremely fatigued state, a situation where you're just like not in a good mental place and it's 1:00 in the
16:10morning on a Thursday night and like you're coming up with some third down game plan defense and you're like it's like it's just like from a macro
16:17perspective like if you if you tested people's IQ's when they're in that sleepd deprived state like it can't be that good.
16:23>> So it's Yeah. law the law of diminishing return in anything in life. It's like a little too much there. But uh yeah, and
16:30and I know you you sort of you you didn't really discuss this, but I and I know you've told this story a million
16:36times. You're going to get to tell it one more time to the to the Roto Wire audience, but talk about the Philly
16:41special cuz it's was the magical moment.
16:43Really one of the most magical moments in in any recent Super Bowl, probably any Super Bowl in in the history of
16:49Super Bowls. Um and you had a big part in that.
16:53>> Yeah. So, what I would say is um it was I like my heart was sort of beating pretty fast. I I'd say there just
17:02because uh Doug Peterson had brought up my name and press conferences and whatnot that I was helping out, you know, during the booth communicating
17:08when to go for fourth downs and whatnot.
17:10And regardless of our team success, the a lot of the Philly fans were not cool with that arrangement. like that was so
17:16unconventional then that you know I couldn't turn on the the uh the radio in Philadelphia without hearing some kind of criticisms on on like that process
17:26especially like if a fourth down did not work but we got to that situation I I was sort of thinking like oh man like
17:32this is this is going to be a very high lever situation and it's going to be very all or nothing especially because
17:38it was end of the half so it's either we're either going to get a touchdown or we're going to get nothing and the field
17:43position value of failing was not really helpful at that point because they could basically just run out the half. So, you
17:48know, as opposed to if that situation came up with 10 minutes left in the first quarter and you go for the fourth
17:53down and fail and they're starting at their own one yard line, like you're you're you have like a higher expected value there. So, um, you know, I
18:00communicated the information and Doug Peterson really didn't blink and he he was definitely going to go for that situation and, um, and then when we
18:10actually were we we kind of got out of the huddle late and we ended up calling a timeout and we and then Nick Fos came
18:14back over the sideline and, um, I'm up in the booth and and we really didn't know up in the booth what was going on,
18:20like what the play call was and then, you know, Fos runs back into the huddle and one of the coaches asks like what
18:25was called and Doug says Philly special and I'm just thinking like the fans are going that I'm not going to be welcome
18:30back in Philly if this doesn't work because the fans are going to think that I I like which I had nothing to do with.
18:36They're going to say I recommended calling a trick play to the quarterback on fourth down. Like that's that was not my role at all. And I was just thinking
18:43like this is going to be a disaster.
18:44Like it and you know it was probably a 50 55% chance it was going to work and then it ultimately did and kind of the
18:50rest is history. But um it it almost was a coin flip that went the other way and I kind of think my
18:56life would have went a whole lot differently if if it just happened to to go the other way and they cover FO or
19:01whatever you know whatever happens there. Awesome awesome moment and I'm sure it's a story that you've told a million times at this point breaking it
19:09down but it's still it's just amazing and very very cool. We talked about Clint Kubak. We talked about Brock Bowers a little bit of Ashton Genty. Who
19:17are a couple of other offenses that you're very bullish on with with some of your research, especially regarding the play callers?
19:25Yeah, I'd say, you know, one that jumps out is the Colts just because I I like looking at um you know, when you have
19:32data sets of like a lot of people look at the the year-long samples of of these different teams, but when you have these kind of
19:39unique circumstances where there was say Daniel Jones healthy with with Shane Stiken, they started out the year, they were just unbelievable. And I I spent,
19:48you know, as we were struggling on offense in Las Vegas, like I was researching heavily into what were what are the Colts doing because they they
19:55were such a massive outperformer that whatever it was 8 n 10 games into the season, they were basically the best points per drive team in like the last
20:03decade, whatever it was. Like it was they were just exceptional and they ended up kind of fading down the stretch a little bit before um you know Daniel
20:11Jones got hurt, but also of course when he did get hurt and then when they had to go with different quarterbacks. But
20:15if you take that subset of a of a time, like they were a Super Bowl contender and I think they're sort of flying under
20:22the radar a little bit just based on how things finished. You know, they didn't make the playoffs. Um, but Shane Stiken's excellent. I know Jim Bob Cter
20:29because I I was fortunate to work with Jim Bob in 2022 with the uh the Jaguars and he was one of the smartest coaches
20:36I've ever been around. And so like those two coaches together in terms of scheming up an offense I think are are
20:40are sort of a combination that people are maybe not totally appreciating just because they didn't you know they didn't make the playoffs. Things kind of faded
20:48because of the quarterback injury and some other things. And um I'm very intrigued by them. And then sort of in the same logic, I'm very optimistic
20:58about the Jaguars offense and particularly as you look at the second half of the year when they traded for Jacobe Meyers and they were an
21:07exceptional offense down the stretch last year and I think you can potentially look at Liam and Trevor sort of getting on the same page and like
21:14feeling each other out and then adding Jacobe and I mean down the stretch they were really one of the best teams in the
21:19NFL, you know, for the second half of last season. And I've always thought that Trevor is an exceptional talent and there was maybe factors behind the
21:28scenes that could have potentially explained some of his performance not always like living up to what the expectations were. But the physical
21:36talent in addition to his rush ability, I think is is sort of underestimated a lot too. you know, he he really has a a
21:44version of Josh Allen in him, like where he's not going to run people over, but he is a big guy that is very dynamic and
21:49he can run and they've started to use him more and more down in the, you know, in the red zone and the goal line and
21:55that receiver group is stacked like that. You know, they basically go four deep with guys that can can do some really good things and like, you know,
22:03Travis Hunter may have the most upside of all those guys and he really is probably like, you know, the fourth guy
22:08in the rotation right now. So, not only are they sort of well suited there, but they can kind of withstand injuries, I
22:16think, just because, you know, if any of those guys go down, they have somebody who can really step in and be a good
22:20starter. So, I think those two teams, you know, they just so happen to be in the same division. They just so happen
22:25to also have to go against Houston that is really a loaded really a loaded defense. I mean, I I think Houston
22:31people sleep on is how good they were on defense. It's like they were better than Seattle in some of the, you know, the
22:35advanced metrics defensively and they, you know, they they basically are bringing up back most of the team and they just added Clowny. And those teams
22:42are interesting to me. I think publicly people don't give enough credit to the Cowboys because, you know, the the defense was was really struggling so
22:50much. It was really 32nd in some of these advanced metrics. But Dallas was a top EPA offense last year and, you know,
22:57they're they're bringing back the same group and it's, you know, it's another year with Shanheimimer and Dak. And if they are if they just become an average
23:04defense and they can actually just get people off the field, like I could see a lot of the offensive players for the
23:09Cowboys even having better years just because they're going to have more possessions on offense because they can get people off the field and they're
23:15not, you know, they're not facing these fourminute drives that are 10 10 plays wrong and all that. So I think that
23:22those are some teams that are are interesting to me. And um you know I think it it's also kind of nuanced like
23:29you look at the schedules. I saw something about the Jaguars have basically like the hardest defensive schedule for the first seven games and
23:36then they have like the easiest or something like that. So, I think there's some cases where you could see like a
23:40team potentially struggle early on and sort of look ahead at their schedule in the second half of the year and look
23:44maybe this is a guys you could kind of buy low on or try to make a trade for in the fantasy world. Yeah, I I love the
23:51takeaways. Colts, Jaguars, Dallas.
23:53Dallas is sort of like the offense that everybody expects to score a ton of points but we don't like get excited
23:58about. we sort of take them for granted.
24:00Colts were were an interesting uh interesting observation from you and that's a team where we know they're going to give the the football to
24:07Jonathan Taylor about as much as he can handle. Is there a player besides Taylor that you would want to bet on this year?
24:14I mean certainly Alec Pierce dealing with some injuries. We talk about the potential of Brock Bowers. Tyler Warren sort of in a little bit of a tier of his
24:22own. uh going off the board as like the tight end four. Then you've got a lot of enthusiasm about Josh DS potentially on
24:29the field in more two wide receiver sets, potentially buying in on on either of those guys this year. Ryan, >> I Yeah, I I think that
24:38I the Alec Pierce one is interesting because he's a low volume guy and I know that's that's that's a little bit of a
24:44tricky predicament where like his yards per catch has been really exceptional.
24:48It was it was actually kind of interesting. I'm never I don't think anyone knows this publicly, but like there was discussions about Alec Pierce
24:54getting traded last during the draft last year and like the Raiders were a team that there was discussions with, you know, with the Colts and and then I
25:02think, you know, he ultimately had a great season and and and like so many big plays and then, you know, he signs
25:07the big contract and everything, but I'm not sure that like Alec Pierce is just simply going to increase in volume dramatically just in terms of his play
25:15style. And I could see kind of more of the the targets ending up with guys like Warren and and and DS and and and I I
25:22could see them sort of leaning into some of those players a little bit more. Not to say anything against Pierce, but I
25:28think just part of that role is as being like the the vertical player, it sort of ultimately is a little bit limiting in
25:35terms of what the total volume you might see from the player. But um yeah, I I I I I'm excited about watching their team.
25:42you know, hopefully Daniel Jones is healthy and and everything's good to go from that standpoint, but you know, there's some optimism around there.
25:49Talk about are there any offenses and I know you're you're sort of like that you're doing some awesome stuff with with Nick Underh Hill. You're you guys
25:57are are doing the the Paganetti and Underh Hill Show on YouTube. Make sure you subscribe to that. If you're watching me on YouTube right now, really
26:03easy. We'll put the link for for Ryan's show right here in the description. You can go subscribe to that one. on. If
26:09you're listening on the podcast, just go go look it up. Um, but what's interesting is you're you're sort of around the fantasy space now, the NFL
26:16space. Is there an offense that you think maybe the fantasy community is a little too excited about or potentially just the NFL in general? An offense that
26:25you maybe have some question marks about this year, uh, that could get drafters in trouble?
26:31>> Yeah. So, what I would say is I I think two of the teams that sort of um I I would have a little bit of caution about
26:39just because there I think we're we're we're need to pump the brakes a little bit about forcing teams to just get
26:45under center and say like every team needs to be under center, every team needs to be under center like and that's
26:50the solution. age to all of your woes and and I think that this is getting a little bit out of hand, but I I think
26:57both Washington and Philadelphia are teams that the quarterbacks I think are honestly probably better suited to be shotgun type quarterbacks. And there's the
27:07threat of the run ability, the ability to run read options and whatnot. Like just assuming you can just plug in the
27:13quarterback and just put him under and that there's going to be these efficiency gains is is a little bit of an overstatement at times to me. and and
27:19like you know these guys have been been operating really their whole college and pro careers in like a gunheavy type scenarios and I think the same could be
27:27said for Minnesota where you know there there's obviously some some talent there and like you know we'll see if Kyler ends up winning that job but just
27:34assuming that Kyler Mil Murray can just pop in there and be under center and and and really just like you know be the
27:42same player and and do the same things like I think you're over you definitely want to have under center game you want
27:47to have a gun game like some of these teams are incorporating more pistol. But some of these teams that I think they're
27:54overestimating the fact that teams have elected to be heavy shotgun with some of these quarterbacks for a reason. Whether it it fits their skills, whether the
28:02threat of the the the quarterback run game is is much more significant there.
28:05So some of those ones I think the transition there like I you know obviously Philly is unbelievably talented in terms of offense like with
28:12the O line and the tight ends and you know Saquon. I try to tell people like we had Bigsby and Jacksonville. Bixsby
28:18is a starting running back talent. like he is a differencemaker and you know that was a very interesting trade that they they sort of Philadelphia traded
28:26for him with the idea I think him being sort of a kick return specialist and then it sort of turned into well he can
28:31just be our our our second running back and and you know by some efficiency metrics it was clearly low usage like he
28:37was outperforming Saquon which is almost you know impossible to even say but um the the talent is very significant in Philadelphia but there you know there's
28:46such uh media attention on them 247 seven. There's criticisms on the quarterback, criticisms on the receiver group. There there's there's always sort
28:54of narratives. They're trying some totally different things this year. They they lost really probably by what most people would consider to be
29:01as the best offensive line coach in the league in terms of Jeff Stelin in terms of what he's done over the last decade.
29:06So, there's some questions there. You know, I think uh if you said two years ago, you know, after or even last year
29:14after Cliff Kingsbury's great first season in Washington, that everyone would would be like happy that he was leaving after his second year. I think
29:21that's sort of an interesting narrative there because they went with like a firsttime guy who's does not have much experience. They're going to try some
29:27different things, maybe do some more of the under center concept things, but I I'm I'm not entirely sure how that's going to work out. And I think it's
29:34something to sort of keep an eye on.
29:36Yeah, we'll we'll approach those teams with a little bit of caution and um that's a really interesting take.
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30:39Um, let's talk about is there any players? You know, you mentioned Brock Bowers. We talked about him at length.
30:44We've talked about a couple of these teams. You know, I I hear you go on these shows and you do a fantastic job,
30:50but how about just your personal conviction? Guys that you think could be poised to have tremendous seasons in 2026.
30:59Yeah, I think one that is a little bit of an odd circumstance is Trayvon Henderson is unbelievably talented and the big playability is is really
31:10shocking. I mean, I it was almost like I just remember that last year watching them in preeason and Trayvon's ripping off these huge runs and you know he he
31:18had a bunch of you know whatever it was 50 yarders last year like the the success rate was low and like he was
31:23getting hit in the back field a lot and ultimately like it was a sort of a up and down season for him but from a pure
31:29talent standpoint and then just from this the the aspect that AJ Brown stepping in there and is going to kind of change how these defenses are
31:37called where you have to respect AJ and I I also could see AJ as well being a guy that is going to really sort of turn
31:44that offense up up a little bit in New England. Um, you know, I think some people have made a little bit of a
31:50comparison of when, you know, Randy Moss went to New England and like I it's certainly not the same as that, but like
31:55AJ Brown, they didn't trade a first round pick for nothing for him. Like I could see that him sort of, you know,
32:00really both those players between Trayvon and AJ sort of being difference makers that can kind of, you know, show their pure talent level. Um, and then I
32:08think uh it's uh it's going to be interesting, you know, just in terms of where some teams go with, you know, these there's
32:17so many play color changes around the league. I think Mike McDaniel going to uh the Chargers is like a real wild
32:25card. Like he he does some of the best run game stuff you could ever imagine and they they they were so decimated
32:30with injuries last year with with the Chargers. But I think you could see either of those running backs, you know, or even Lad Manki, like you could see
32:38some interesting things happen with the Chargers. Um, you know, I I think people forget like a couple years ago, uh, you know, Mike McDonald was or Mike
32:46Mike McDaniel was really like the the guy in terms of like the the run game or offensive innovations. I mean, he put up
32:5270 in a game at one point. Like it was really kind of exceptional. and but they they have some interesting talent and
32:58they're bringing back really a left tackle and a right tackle that essentially missed the whole year last year who are both excellent players and
33:05and and this might be the best quarterback that Herbert's, you know, in Herbert that Mike McDaniel's ever worked with. So, I think some of those players
33:12on that offense, you know, are guys to keep an eye on and and and and there's there's definitely some some interesting
33:17players there.
33:18>> Yeah, it's a great great call out with with Mike McDaniel. That's an offense we've been really excited about and uh I
33:23can't wait to uh throw this one at at Scott Barrett who I know you've podcasted with as well. I'm constantly fighting against him on on Travon
33:31Henderson. I've been pounding the table on Henderson and I'm fighting the good fight. A lot of people want to fade him
33:35this year, but I'm with you. I think the talent level is exceptional and the amount of stacked boxes that both he and
33:42Roandre uh Stevenson saw last year. AJ Brown and and even Romeo Dubs, Eli Raridan, the improvements they've made at the skill positions. I mean, I think
33:52it's gonna going to open things up for more explosive runs. And and to me, that's Trayvon Henderson. Just a really really good player. And counting stats
34:00wise, he's being written off, but if you look at like what he did last year as a rookie, guys that do that with that sort
34:07of draft capital don't usually just fade away in year two. So, I think people are overthinking that one. Um, let's talk
34:14about another play caller that it's interesting. You talked about I I saw your show with uh with Hayden and Josh.
34:20That was excellent. But a couple of stats you talked about with those guys and you've been doing these on X and if
34:25you're not following Ryan, make sure you are. Some of your charts on X and some of the stat takeaways are just terrific.
34:31But it's the the 10 plus yard design run rates. And the coach that was very successful with these was Todd Monkin.
34:40Uh, and now you've got Monkin in a very different situation without the mobile quarterback in Lamar Jackson, but there is a running back in Quinnshan Judkins.
34:49Could you see Judkins uh poised for a strong year despite some of the challenges that the offense might have in terms of figuring out who's behind
34:59center, getting consistent quarterback plays, but just Todd Monkin, the play designer, what what are some of the positive attributes you could see kind
35:07of correlating uh in Cleveland? Yeah, I I think a lot of people need to, you know, take a look at how how much
35:14success Todd Monkin has had in different offenses. I mean, he did it at Georgia.
35:18He's done it in his past where like he's had these excellent offenses over the years. And I think that was partly why,
35:23you know, Cleveland hired him because, you know, as much as they were an elite defense over these years, like they they
35:29just simply could not win games consistently because the offense was such a problem. and you know trying to turn things around whether that's with
35:37Deshaawn Watson or whoever ultimately kind of wins that job. Um I think that that ultimately is like the the rationale be you know behind what what
35:45they did there. But you know Judkins is is a similar player. I mean, if anyone who kind of watched Ohio State a couple
35:50years ago with Judkins and Trayvon together, like that at any moment either of those guys could could really do some things like, you know, Judkins was more
35:58of kind of like a violent yards after contact guy and then Trayvon was sort of the guy that could go 60 yards really,
36:03you know, on a sort of whim there. But I think that that's uh, you know, just simply saying that Monkin will not, you
36:11know, have as good of a rush offense because he doesn't have Lamar and Derk Henry is maybe not that simple. He he's
36:16he's really designed some cool stuff over his whole career and he was doing it at Georgia. They didn't have a really
36:21a dynamic mobile guy when he was doing it at Georgia. You know, he's had some different run games over the years that
36:26I think are pretty effective. So, um I think that that that that's an offense to to really sort of keep an eye on.
36:32And, you know, certainly the the the quarterback situation may dictate a lot of that. Like, it may ultimately be that teams are just stacking the boxes and
36:40and sort of daring them to throw the ball and saying we're going to stop the run game. So, I think that that's
36:44something to keep an eye on. But, you know, even we played Judkins last year too, like Judkins is a really impressive
36:49player and um you know, I between the injury and then between between what kind of played out in the offseason last
36:55year like there he didn't really get a full season to sort of express that, but you know, I think you could see just
37:01like at different moments like there was an impressive player there, you know, to to do some to do some damage at least in
37:07the fantasy world this coming year.
37:08Yeah. and a ton of improvements that Cleveland's put on their offensive line from drafting Spencer Fano and then multiple free agent signings. It's
37:16definitely one where I feel like Monkin, the fantasy community doesn't give him as much credit because he's older and I feel like it's harder to get around like
37:24this older guy being like this sharp, really truly brilliant offensive mind.
37:29If he was 20 years younger, I feel like there'd be a lot more fantasy enthusiasm for him. Just sort of my gut feel. And
37:34it wouldn't hurt if they had a quarterback clarity either, Ryan. that that always helps us out a little bit.
37:39Let's uh kind of talk a little bit more about analytics. We talked about sort of analytics changing the game. Um what
37:46about the next edge to be exploited?
37:49It's a copycat league. You see teams try to emulate success, but what are some things we're going to see this year?
37:56Could it be more even more play action?
37:59You talked about uh you know teams lining up behind center a little bit more. What are some things that you think could be try to be exploited or
38:06some things that will be exploited?
38:08>> Yeah, I for sure there there's definitely a pattern where the the team that wins the Super Bowl or the team
38:14that scores the most points in the previous year, you see like a lot of copycat efforts there. And I think there's a pattern there where you saw,
38:21you know, the Rams led the league in points, heavy under center team, a heavy play action team that, you know, they
38:26did the 13 personnel stuff as well, which was a little bit unique. Um, Seattle was, you know, they end up winning the Super Bowl. Their offense
38:34definitely was, you know, a tick behind the Rams in terms in terms of efficiency and whatnot, but they're also like heavy
38:39on percentage team, heavy play action team, getting in big personnel. I think you'll see more and more copycatting of that sort of stuff. So, you know, like
38:46this idea that teams are going to just trot out 11 personnel for 70% of their or 80% of their snaps, like that's
38:52probably not going to be realistic for a lot of teams. And you'll see I think you're see looking at potential upticks
38:57in the uh you know tight end usage for sure. You know whether that's more 12 personnel or 13 or whatever. You know I
39:05think that that's something that to kind of keep an eye on. And um uh down there I'm I'm really interested down at the
39:12goal line like you know you saw more teams put non-quarterbacks in and just say like hey we're going to just run
39:19these tush pushes every time. And I think you saw there it was like a record amount of non-quarterbacks taking snaps and like that could definitely have
39:26fantasy implications. We actually I told somebody this like we were trying to experiment with that with Bowers because it really wasn't Gino's play style to be
39:35a sneak guy over his career and we sort of had some issues working out the snaps and our we really were overmatched with
39:40the line. But then we, you know, we we had a package where we were going to have Bowers take the snaps and and do
39:45these tush pushes and >> he ended up he ended up getting hurt week one and so that kind of partially pushed that out the window a little bit.
39:54But can you imagine if he say got eight more, you know, touchdowns just on rushes from the one yard line that that
40:00would just kind of send him to like potentially being like the best fantasy player of of any position.
40:06>> Yeah, I might faint live here on on the podcast here. You keep talking about Brock Bowers getting eight rushing touchdowns on top of everything we're
40:13expecting in the pass game. I think that's a really interesting one. And you start thinking about other guys and it's teams being creative with who's getting
40:20those tush push type runs. You know, we we saw it with like AJ Barner, um, you know, a Mark Andrews. Could we see it
40:27with even like Tyler Warren? It's sort of another potential cheat code guy considering how effective he was on short yardage at Penn State and how the
40:36Penn State coaches would get him manufactured rushes despite having like Nick Singleton and Kron Allen and like very very good Big 10 running backs who
40:46are drafted in the NFL. Tyler Warren would be a name that sort of jumps out.
40:49It's also a scary proposition for fantasy managers considering you might be banking on all of those runs going to a running back or in some cases a
40:58quarterback and all of a sudden here comes a tight end too who just happens to run in. Maybe Darnell Washington in
41:04Pittsburgh. He might not be bad on those short short yards uh runs. How about long field goals? That seems like another trend where if you know
41:13depending on your scoring format like FFPC uh you get a you get six points for a 60-yard field goal those kind of
41:20kickers. Should we be targeting kickers?
41:23People hate kicker talk but it's another edge. Should we be targeting kickers that can kick long field goals? Is that a trend we're going to see more in the
41:30NFL with teams attempting these? It seems like that's a trend we're seeing.
41:36>> Yeah. So, so interestingly enough, like I I was part of the group that sort of drafted Cam Little and then you know I I
41:42I saw on a day-to-day basis like I mean he could kick this is prior to them changing the K balls like he was making
41:47basically from 68 and uh and then they changed the Kballs and so this company Trackman that sort of does the ball
41:54tracking like if you watch I think maybe Sunday Night Football or some of these broadcasts and it says like the good
41:58from distances like Trackman you know they do they do the golf basically like the the tracers where you can see how
42:04far exactly the the shots were and like what was the max height and the ball speeds and everything. They they sort of
42:10tested these the 2024 Kball versus the 2025 Kball and they sort of uh estimated that the the balls are potentially traveling like say four or five yards
42:21farther with this new sort of K ball change this last year. So you saw more 55 plus yard field goals ever more 60
42:27plus yard field goals. Um, you know, I was actually literally part of Cam, like we're playing the Jaguars and they, you
42:34know, complete a ball to the 50 just before halftime and they trot him out and he just sits there and sets the NFL
42:39record right in front of us and he and he honestly made the 68 yard like pretty comfortably. Like it's honestly crazy to
42:45think about, but but between him and Brandon Aubrey, like you've got guys that like they feel very comfortable.
42:51Like they're say they're at the plus 45 yard line and it used to be completely unheard of that a team would like
42:56attempt a field goal from the plus 45 yard line in the first quarter. Like they're going to put them out there.
43:01Like that's that's like a comfortable field goal attempt for some of these teams. And like it's really like a it's a very interesting weapon for like
43:08fantasy, but also just like from a game management situational standpoint. like you're playing some of these teams, you have to think about like how you're
43:14handling the end of the half and the end of the game because like these guys the field goal range is just like totally
43:19different. One trend that we've seen and and I'll shout out to Ryan Heath um who came on my show and and I know you've
43:27you've talked to a number of times, does great work over at Fantasy Points. Uh Ryan had a great stat how the number of
43:33wide receivers to run a 75% or higher route share across a minimum of eight active games. 2021 it was 53 and it's
43:43gone down each and every year to the point where last year it was 40. Should we be valuing and we already do value
43:51these alpha elite wide receiver one types in fantasy, but even with the trend towards running backs, should we be valuing these guys even more because
44:03it's sort of a dying breed to get these guys that are just simply running routes at an exceptional rate. Um, and do you
44:10expect this trend to keep going down, Ryan, as you look at the NFL?
44:15Yeah, I'm not sure I could I could say for sure if it's going to continue going down, but there there are some
44:20interesting nuances there between um uh like a lot of these teams are trying to utilize the the receivers in the running
44:27game in terms of blocking. And so there's like some cases where teams are sort of mixing in like a third or fourth
44:33guy and he's like a little bit more of like a blocking specialist. And like say you watch the Rams like they would have
44:38their receivers come in to the you know box to block frequently but like they're not doing that with Devonte Adams like
44:43just from like a they're making a business decision like does this make sense for our veteran you know player to do. Um, and so I think you're seeing
44:50more and more teams come up with these sort of like specialist type uh players that are like going to serve a certain
44:56role for the team, whether they're blocking or they're sealing the edge or they're like they're running simple routes that um, you know, you could have
45:04anybody sort of run a a flat route or just run like a crosser versus like the guys that are more of like the precise
45:09route runners that you'd like to be like the best at running a dig or you know, running a slant or whatever. So, I think
45:15it's an interesting balance there. Um but there's also like a consideration that teams are thinking like hey this guy just ran a long route like let's
45:23just get him out of the game because he's fatigued and we don't want to like you know say he ran a first and 10 this
45:29guy ran like a 37 yard route down the field like they're just going to pull him off the field and I think you see
45:34some of that sort of consideration as well but in terms of just like managing the health of the players so there's
45:40there's some interesting layers there and um I think just because the Rams especially had a lot success with the with the receivers blocking. I think you
45:49could see more and more of that where these teams are like, "Oh, like our wide receiver four who's kind of a special
45:54teams ace. Like, let's just throw him in there because he's going to be sort of our blocking guy for some of these and
45:58we'll have some play actions off of it as well." But he he's the guy can kind of stick his head in there and kind of
46:02dig out a safety versus are we going to do this with our first round pick type receiver. So, there's some there's some
46:07interesting balance there. Yeah, very very interesting stuff. If you could know the final stats of any player in the NFL this or well we well we well we
46:16well we well we well we well we well we well we well we well you know we'll make it fantasy because uh let's go if you
46:20could know the final fantasy stats of any player in the NFL this year who would it be?
46:26I I'm very interested to see where Genty lands you know that that that's that's there's so much narrative like okay it
46:33was the circumstances were a disaster for him. you know, what was you know, I always have a little bit of extra
46:39caution when like there's so many sort of different excuses thrown out for like why performance occurred for a certain player. I think he could he he could
46:48have 1,800 yards. He could have, you know, he could continue to have a little bit of a lower yards per carry. Like I I
46:54don't know where that's going to go.
46:55Like I'm really interested to kind of sort of see how that plays out. They obviously did upgrade, you know, the the
47:00center position dramatically and, you know, Brock will hopefully be healthy for him. Colton Miller will hopefully be healthy. Like where he ends up, I don't
47:06know. You know, that that organization made a decision to invest there like at, you know, with a running back at the six
47:12overall position where like you're hoping you you you get some high production there. So, I I think that's going to be an interesting one for sure.
47:19And like, you know, I guess I'm a little bit biased because I was there and I sort of, you know, saw the player
47:24firsthand and everything. And um, you know, I hope for his sake and for the Raiders like he he blows up, but like I
47:29could there there also is like within the realm of possibilities that it's another year that's a little bit of like a lower efficiency and you start to kind
47:36of ask questions like, okay, what's going on there?
47:39Absolutely awesome stuff today from Ryan Paganetti. Ryan, let everybody know once again where they can find your work and what you have coming out. Yeah. So,
47:48just, you know, I started this kind of on XT Twitter, whatever people want to call it, just with my username is just
47:53Ryan Paganetti. And then about two weeks ago, me and Nick Underh Hill started this podcast called, you know, Paganetti and Underh Hill on YouTube. And we're
48:00really just digging into just like all sorts of unique research. and it's it's a little bit less geared towards fantasy, but I think you know some of
48:06the fantasy fans will find some application towards like what we're doing, but it's just sort of game strategy or like play callers or sort of
48:13just macro interesting sort of things and trends around the league. Yeah, really excited to see uh that show continue. It's really really strong
48:21stuff, Nick. Very, very sharp guy. Uh one of the experts when it comes to all things New Orleans Saints. Uh I think
48:27you guys are going to absolutely crush it and stick with us here on this channel. If you're listening on the podcast, give us a review. Give us a
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48:46you crush your leagues this