PodcastFrom Yahoo Fantasy Forecast

QB position preview: Who we love and hate at ADP

STACKED extracted the fantasy-relevant player signal from this podcast and kept the full transcript here for context.

1 hr 23 min

Duration

Estimated from transcript

Aug 10, 2026

Published

Mon, August 10, 2026

Player insights

Players mentioned

Topics

Brock PurdyDak PrescottKyler MurrayLamar JacksonBlake CorumBo NixCaleb WilliamsColston LovelandCyrus AllenDeVonta SmithDrake MayeJalen HurtsJared GoffJayden Daniels

Player analysis

Player insights

Blake Corum

PositiveValue58:07

Matt Harmon is drafting Blake Corum frequently as a hedge against Williams, projecting a potential 60-40 backfield split for the Rams.

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Bo Nix

PositiveSleeper46:11

Bo Nix is a green-light target who is potentially being undervalued. He has been a productive fantasy player for two seasons, offers rushing upside, and plays in a strong ecosystem with a good offensive line and deep receiving corps.

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Brock Purdy

PositiveValue40:02

Brock Purdy has been downgraded from a green-light to a yellow-light target. Concerns regarding the age of the 49ers roster, injury history among key playmakers like Christian McCaffrey and Deebo Samuel, and the overall fragility of the team have cooled enthusiasm.

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PositiveValue41:58

Matt Harmon highlights Brock Purdy as a successful example of cycling through backup quarterbacks in superflex leagues, noting that Purdy has served as his reliable QB2 since he picked him up off the waiver wire.

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Caleb Williams

PositiveProjection39:20

Caleb Williams is a green-light target. Despite injury concerns in Chicago, the offense is expected to be high-scoring due to a leaky defense, and Williams is viewed as a top-tier quarterback option with significant upside.

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Colston Loveland

PositiveValue16:01

Scott Pianowski suggests that with the uncertainty surrounding Luther Burden's injury, he is prioritizing Colston Loveland in drafts. He notes that Loveland has significant helium and is a target he would push extra dollars toward in salary cap formats.

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Cyrus Allen

PositiveBreakout68:02

Matt Harmon is heavily invested in Cyrus Allen, suggesting that if Patrick Mahomes beats his ADP, it will be because Allen emerges as a massive steal and a primary man-coverage beater.

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Dak Prescott

PositiveProjection39:31

Dak Prescott is a green-light target. He operates in a high-scoring 'pinball' environment with two dynamic receivers and a favorable indoor schedule, making him a reliable fantasy asset.

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PositiveValue62:21

Matt Harmon identifies Dak Prescott as one of the most underrated quarterbacks, citing consistent league-leading stats and high-end fantasy finishes over the last three seasons.

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DeVonta Smith

NegativeInjury57:23

Devonta Smith is identified as the Eagles' WR1, but Harmon notes concern regarding his current hamstring injury, which is limiting his practice time.

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Drake Maye

NegativeBreakout53:38

Scott Pianowski admits a strong personal affinity for Drake Maye, citing his athleticism and the potential for the Patriots to remain a 9-11 win team. Despite this, Pianowski plans to avoid drafting him due to the depth of the QB position and the opportunity cost of passing on other skill players.

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Jalen Hurts

NegativeProjection58:56

Scott Pianowski is skeptical of Jalen Hurts, noting his 7.1 YPA last year and concerns that he may no longer be a double-digit rushing touchdown threat. Harmon adds that the Eagles' new offensive coordinator and a banged-up receiving corps (Smith, Lemon, Wicks) could lead to a slow start, though the early schedule against the Commanders, Titans, and Bears is favorable.

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Jared Goff

PositiveValue43:02

Jared Goff is a green-light target and an 'arbitrage' play. He benefits from a great offensive environment, quality weapons, and a solid offensive line. He has consistently produced high passing yards and touchdowns over the last four seasons.

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Jayden Daniels

NegativeProjection51:49

Jaden Daniels is ranked as the QB3 by Yahoo analysts (55th overall), which is higher than his current ADP. While Harmon was initially interested in drafting him, he has cooled on the pick because it negatively impacts his ability to build a balanced roster at RB and WR.

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Joe Burrow

NegativeValue60:01

Matt Harmon views Joe Burrow as a fade due to health concerns, offensive line issues, and the availability of Dak Prescott as a cheaper, statistically similar arbitrage play.

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Jordan Love

PositiveSleeper74:08

Scott identifies Jordan Love as a green-light sleeper, pointing to his 2023 performance as QB5 as evidence of his high fantasy ceiling.

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Josh Allen

PositiveProjection47:10

Matt Harmon and Scott Pianowski agree Josh Allen is in a tier of his own as the clear QB1. While Pianowski is fading him due to the high opportunity cost at RB and WR, he acknowledges Allen is incapable of having a poor season, remains dynamic as a runner, and has an improved supporting cast with DJ Moore and a healthy Dalton Kincaid.

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Justin Herbert

PositiveProjection38:57

Matt Harmon and Scott Pianowski view Herbert as a green-light target. Herbert benefits from Mike McDaniel's influence, a potentially healthy offensive line, and strong skill talent, with Harmon noting he could challenge for an MVP award.

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Kyler Murray

NegativeProjection52:55

Kyler Murray has shifted to a yellow-light or red-light status for Scott Pianowski. Concerns include reports of him being behind schedule in practice, potential competition from J.J. McCarthy, and his inability to elevate the offense compared to backup Jacoby Brissett last season.

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NegativeRole57:29

Matt Harmon notes that his confidence in Kyler Murray as a fantasy starter has waned since May, citing a potential split-start scenario where Murray could see 13 starts while JJ gets four.

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Lamar Jackson

NegativeValue47:32

Lamar Jackson is the consensus QB2 with an ADP of 39th overall. Harmon and Pianowski view him as part of the second tier of quarterbacks, though Pianowski is avoiding this tier entirely in favor of later-round options to prioritize other positions.

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NegativeValue59:57

Matt Harmon is out on Lamar Jackson at his current ADP, questioning if he will maintain rushing touchdown volume or if the offense will shift to a Derrick Henry-centric red zone approach.

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Luther Burden

NegativeInjury14:46

Luther Burden suffered a groin injury in training camp and will miss 'a little bit of time.' Matt Harmon and Scott Pianowski are concerned because Burden's ADP has been rising rapidly; the injury provides a reason to step back from drafting him at his current high price point.

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Malik Willis

PositiveSleeper69:47

Matt Harmon and Scott highlight Malik Willis as a 'Konami code' sleeper due to his elite rushing efficiency, despite concerns about his passing ceiling and job security.

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Matthew Stafford

NegativeProjection57:15

Matt Harmon views Stafford as a 'yellow light' player due to age-related regression concerns, the age of Devante Adams, and the expectation that the Rams offense will shift from top-5 to top-10 efficiency.

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Patrick Mahomes

NegativeProjection64:10

Matt Harmon is avoiding Patrick Mahomes at his current ADP, arguing that the Chiefs' offense is trending toward a run-heavy, defensive-focused identity that limits Mahomes' passing ceiling.

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Rashee Rice

NegativeBust35:44

Matt Harmon labels Rashee Rice a 'red light' player, citing injury concerns, the team's offensive situation, and off-field 'knucklehead' risks as reasons he is currently overrated.

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Rome Odunze

PositiveValue18:00

Matt Harmon believes Rome Odunze is undervalued relative to Luther Burden, noting that the 10-spot ADP gap between them is 'kind of crazy.' Harmon highlights that if Burden misses time, Odunze is in a prime position to lead the team in targets.

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Stefon Diggs

PositiveRole10:55

Matt Harmon views Stefon Diggs as a 'true target earner' who remains highly effective. Harmon believes Diggs is better equipped than Terry McLaurin to survive a decline in pass protection because of his ability to generate 'layup' receptions on quick-hitting routes.

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Terry McLaurin

NegativeProjection10:05

Matt Harmon is lowering his ranking of Terry McLaurin, citing the Laramie Tunsil injury and the addition of Stefon Diggs. Harmon notes that while McLaurin may see more 'layup' receptions, his vertical-heavy profile makes him more susceptible to poor pass protection than Diggs. Scott Pianowski adds that at age 31, McLaurin is likely past his peak, leading him to prefer younger 'front nine' players.

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Trevor Lawrence

PositiveProjection39:41

Trevor Lawrence is a green-light target. He is coming off a strong finish to last season, benefits from Liam Cohen's play-calling, and possesses rushing upside. The Jacksonville receiving corps is deep and talented.

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Full transcript

Episode Transcript

1,066

0:00Big show for you here today. It is the start of position preview week.

0:04We've got quarterbacks for you here today. Scott Pianowski and I do a full deep dive of the quarterback position.

0:10We've got our red light players, yellow light players, green light players, the top 12 overall ranked quarterbacks.

0:15Which ones are we drafting? Which ones are we out on this year?

0:18Full deep dive into the quarterback position coming at you on this one.

0:22All that more coming up on today's show. Let's get into it.

0:25What's going on everyone? I'm Matt Harmon. Welcome to the Yahoo Fantasy Forecast and it is a hell of a day to talk ball.

0:32Shoot, it's a hell of a week to talk ball because it is position preview week and joining me for the first

0:38stop on what's going to be a grand tour to preview all the fantasy relevant positions, quarterbacks, wide receivers, running backs, tight ends.

0:45Today we've got quarterbacks on the docket and we've got my good friend, my guy, Scott Pianowski.

0:49Scott, what's going on, buddy? How you doing? Scott, I don't know if you're, I don't know if you're muted, buddy, but I can't hear you.

0:57So we'll be right back. Let's try that all again.

0:59He's doing so good. He couldn't, he couldn't wait to mute himself to not talk.

1:04I was wondering if the behind the scenes little product here when we're in the green room, if Scott was, I was

1:10giving a really good dissertation about how much I'm enjoying the Red Rising series, the graphic audio book.

1:15And Scott was just completely ignoring me. So I thought he might not have been interested in my breakdown of the Red

1:21Rising series book, but it looks like his mic is just muted.

1:24So while Scott figures that out, I'm going to let you guys know the structure of position preview week here all week long.

1:31Like I said, we are going to be previewing all of the relevant fantasy positions.

1:35So today is quarterback. As mentioned, tomorrow will be running.

1:38Excuse me. Tomorrow will be wide receivers with Ray Garvin.

1:41Then we've got the next day up. We've got Justin Boone on the running backs.

1:45We've got tight ends later on this week as well.

1:48Here's how these position preview shows are going to go.

1:51We are going to take a big picture look at the full state of the quarterback position and strategy this year, really

1:57like a 3000 foot view of the entire position, just where we're at, how, how loaded it is, the whole deal.

2:03Top 12. We'll look at the top 12 rankings for each players and then our red light and green light players at ADP.

2:09So guys that we're really in on guys that we are targeting this year and then guys that we are not totally in on at ADP this year.

2:17And then we will wrap it up with some sleepers.

2:20So that's how all of our position preview shows are going to go.

2:23We will get into every single one of those throughout the course of the week.

2:28We'll do quarterbacks here today, provided Scott, can get his microphone situation figured out.

2:32But before we do go into the quarterback position, we do have some breaking news over the weekend.

2:37Unfortunately, some negative news, a lot of injuries here to talk about with the fantasy fallout situation.

2:41First up commanders left tackle. Laramie Tunsell suffered a torn triceps during a one-on-one pass rush drill at practice Saturday.

2:47And he's likely going to require surgery on that injury.

2:50Mike Garofalo of, I believe NFL Network ESPN, not sure how to, how to figure all that out right now.

2:55But anyways, Mike Garofalo reports that commanders, like I mentioned, left tackle, Laramie Tunsell, it's going to require surgery.

3:01He's going to miss at least a significant portion of the regular season.

3:04Honestly, it sounds like based on other reports that his season might truly be in doubt right now.

3:09Like we could maybe just not have Laramie Tunsell throughout the course of the regular season.

3:14Really unfortunate situation here. This is one of the offensive linemen that actually, I think, truly moves the needle.

3:19You know, producer Colin and I were talking about this this morning, that it felt like last year the fantasy community was

3:25a little bit slow to react to Joe Ault and, well, Rashawn Slater first, and obviously Joe Ault had injury issues as well.

3:32But that was like a red flag for this entire team last year and will be likely the same here for the Washington commanders.

3:39This is one of the left tackles that you like cannot afford to lose here.

3:43Scott, do we have your audio now? Can we talk a little commanders here?

3:47I hope so. Can you hear me? I can hear you, buddy.

3:50Sound great. We're in. This is like Derek Smalls breaking through.

3:53And this is Spinal Tap. Yeah, I'm excited to be talking quarterbacks with you.

3:57And unfortunately, we have to talk training camp injuries.

4:00Guys are going down left and right. And Tunsell, a big part of that Washington offense, right?

4:04I mean, last year, everything goes off script. When Daniels gets hurt, we were hoping for a clean run out for them.

4:11And, you know, Tunsell, people say fantasy. Well, I don't draft offensive linemen, but you need to know who these guys are.

4:17Just look at how the Chargers offense got derailed last year when their offensive line went kablooey.

4:22You look at what's going on with Carolina this year.

4:24Are their tackles going to be healthy? Who's going to block for whether it's Hubbard or Brooks or Bryce Young or stuff like that?

4:31So when Tunsell injury news comes down, it just makes you nervous.

4:34Of course, we already have a nebulous backfield in Washington.

4:37Which back do you want to draft? Are you back in on Daniels?

4:41Are you buying digs there for his final – maybe his final stop of his NFL career?

4:46Comeback season for Terry McLaurin. Laramie Tunsell is a big part of all of that DNA, you know, staying together and giving

4:52us the run out that we want. Yeah, Tunsell, I mean, he's a top five, top three left tackle in the NFL right now.

4:59Like, this is a huge needle-moving injury. And luckily, the commanders do have at least a backup plan that I think is probably viable.

5:05As we're showing them in the depth chart right now, it looks like their former third-round pick, Brandon Coleman, who started games

5:11for them at left tackle before, is most likely, according to Nicky Javala, is likely to move to the left tackle position.

5:18He was kind of competing at the left guard spot, gets his foot back to left tackle.

5:22He was their starter for the vast majority of the 2024 season when obviously this was one of the best offenses in the NFL.

5:29He started a few games late last season. So, yeah, I mean, it's not the worst thing in the world.

5:35Like, when the first reports came out that it was like they're going to move Andrew Wiley, who's only ever started at right tackle, to left tackle.

5:42I thought that was, you know, no good. But still, there's no way to put lipstick on a pig here.

5:48This is likely a debilitating injury to the entire offense here, Scott.

5:51And to your point, when people say they're not drafting offensive lines in fantasy, yeah, you are.

5:56You know, fantasy football, and obviously, you know this way more.

5:59You're doing fantasy in the other sports and the whole deal.

6:02But with fantasy football, like, you're not just drafting the individual player.

6:06You know, you're drafting all of the other surrounding variables that really go into it.

6:10Especially, like, a wide receiver, you're drafting that wide receiver's quarterback.

6:13You know, for a quarterback, you're drafting the entire ecosystem, the play caller, the offensive lineman.

6:17And this is just one of those, like, to quote my old buddy Dave Dameshek from the NFL Network, like, this is

6:24one of those Jenga piece players in Laramie Tunsil.

6:26So, this is a commander's team, Scott, that I was optimistic, if not just, like, outright curious about on offense this year.

6:32And now I'm really kind of looking at, you know, putting that under the microscope, really, here.

6:37And, oh, by the way, like, they're also trying to break in a new center.

6:41You know, they kind of misread the center market when they released Tyler Biotich this year, who was immediately scooped up by the Los Angeles Chargers.

6:49You know, Nick Allegretti right now is not participating in training camp.

6:52He's yet to get out there. So, a lot of questions here along the offensive line beyond just, you know, what does

6:58the skill position players look like here, Scott? Has the Laramie Tunsil injury forced you to kind of maybe start docking some commanders in your mind?

7:05I feel like I was already maybe a half step behind this offense anyway.

7:09We saw the rookie year for Daniels. The porridge was hot last year.

7:13The porridge obviously went cold when Daniels wasn't healthy.

7:16But a lot of things went wrong. This was a very old team when it's construction and a lot of things needed to be fixed.

7:23And if we can just get the porridge just right, I'll be happy.

7:26Also really happy just to hear a Dave Damashek reference, which makes me want to talk about the commander's nickname and uniforms for, like, the next 25 minutes.

7:34Nothing to break. Dave Damashek, one of my favorite just people and commentators on the NFL.

7:39So, I'm glad you dropped his name in here.

7:41Scott, Dave gave me my first, like, shot on camera ever.

7:44Did he really? At the NFL Network. Yeah, he did.

7:47No, he's a gem. I will always go to bat for Dave.

7:50Yeah, he was one of those moments, too, where I'd done plenty of times, like, his podcast.

7:55And then I walk in there and the whole thing's lit up, the cameras or whatever.

8:00I'm like, is this show on camera? I've never done it.

8:03I've never done, like, anything on camera before. He's like, ah, you'll be fine.

8:07Just talk football, you know. Right, right. Yeah, in your best Pittsburgh voice.

8:10Your best Zin's your voice, but, you know, the other thing is you talk about, you know, you need to know the play callers, right?

8:17You need to know the offensive line. I challenge you, dear listener, dear viewer, what's the last offense that we ever said,

8:23yeah, it's a really good offense, even though the offensive line stinks?

8:27We never say that. Can you think of any offense that has done that, right?

8:31I mean, again, the Chargers making the playoffs last year with that offensive line going kablooey was something, but think of how

8:37just about everybody in that offense fell below their range last year.

8:41So, yeah, you want to at least feel good about the offensive line, not be worried about it.

8:46It's okay sometimes if these units are somewhere in the middle.

8:49You don't want to be on the bad end of it.

8:52Then it's like, oh, can Devon H.N. survive in Miami with that offensive line?

8:56Or what's going on in Arizona? Or, you know, some of the worst teams in football is the blocking good enough in Cleveland.

9:02They've tried to upgrade that position. So just, you know, you're not, again, you're not drafting these guys, but you have to

9:08have an idea of what's going on there, just like you want to feel good about the play callers.

9:14And I don't know about you, Matt, and maybe this is a show you've already done or it's coming later in the

9:20month in the minds of producer Colin, but, you know, just the offenses that have the good vibes and the bad vibes.

9:26And that's going to be a lot of offensive line, a lot of play caller, a lot of what's the structure of the target tree, things like that.

9:34You know, I find myself by the end of the draft season really focused on, I just want to, what are the offenses that are good?

9:41Let's draft those guys, right? What are the offenses that aren't good?

9:45Let's not draft those guys. Sometimes fantasy really reduces to that simple of a concept.

9:49Yeah, especially this month, right? Because we do shows all year long and I've probably been like truly a commander's optimist for most of this off season.

9:56But then, you know, 24 hours ago, it really changes with the Laramie Tunsil injury.

10:01And they might be one of those by the end of it, that they're a bad vibes team, which is funny because

10:07like, I just thought like, oh, Stefan Diggs makes so much sense for what they needed.

10:11But I will say, Scott, the one rankings change I'm really looking hard at right now, you know, we're going to do,

10:17as I mentioned, the red light, green light, you know, yellow light players for the quarterback position today and all throughout position week.

10:24I'm not going to straight up call Terry McLaurin like a guy that's going to go from a true green light player for me.

10:31He was my 40th ranked, 40th overall ranked player, wide receiver 20, very much a green light ahead of ADP.

10:36I'm not going to say that he's going to go all the way to a red light, but I am and I

10:42hate to say this because, you know, you and I have talked glowingly about McLaurin over the years.

10:47I hate to say this, but I think he's a guy that's going to have to drop in my rankings, not just because of the Stefan Diggs signing.

10:55And Diggs is a is a true still like a true target quote earner.

10:59You know, he's still very, very good. Still got it.

11:02He also was so good on these like quick hitting routes last year where he can pile up a lot of layup receptions.

11:08I think Terry is going to get more layups in this offense than previously, but he is fifth in air yards per

11:15target over the last two seasons combined behind Alec Pierce, Kayshaun Booty, Calvin Ridley, Roma Dunze, just ahead of Rashid Shahid.

11:21Like he's been a vertical receiver before. And if I'm weighing which one of these guys can maybe survive off gimme catches

11:27and stuff like that, if Laramie Tunsell is going to miss the entire season and the pass protection is going to be materially worse.

11:33I do think Terry is more susceptible to that based on who he is as a player versus who Diggs is as a player in current version.

11:41You all those discussions we're having online these days about Jay Flowers is always open.

11:45Why doesn't he score touchdowns? We used to say that about Terry McLaurin, right before that 13 touchdown season in 2024.

11:51And a lot of it was, it's not your fault.

11:54It's the quarterback play. But Terry McLaurin has generally not been a touchdown score and a little bit sneaky old.

12:00He came into the NFL in his age 24 season.

12:02So this is an age 31 season for Terry McLaurin.

12:05And the more I play fantasy and I look, I realize you and I just a couple of weeks ago, we're fighting

12:11over Mike Evans at the fantasy football expo because we both had a wide receiver need.

12:16He's in his age 33 season. I don't love that by the way now, you know?

12:20I love that we were doing that now. I got Ricky Pearsall on that draft.

12:25So ask me how I love it. But the longer I play fantasy, Matt, the more I want to skew with front

12:31nine players, with rising players, with players who haven't had their best season yet.

12:35We can't say that about McLaurin because 2024 is almost certainly going to go down as his best season.

12:40But man, this is the first year I've ever drafted.

12:43Last year, the contract staff made me nervous, but I still was probably moderate weight on McLaurin in my draft profile.

12:49This is the first year I'm probably a half step behind McLaurin.

12:52And really, as I said earlier, a half step behind the Washington offense.

12:56And if they beat me, they beat me. Yeah.

12:58Despite the fact that Diggs came into the year or came into the league in 2015 and Terry 2019, these guys are

13:04only about a year and a half apart in age.

13:07And I do think it's so hard with Terry, whose reception perception profile is going to go on the site tomorrow along with Diggs.

13:14So very heavy commander's week for me. You can excuse it because he came in with the holdout.

13:19And obviously, then he played through injuries and stuff like that.

13:22He just I don't think he was at his best last year.

13:25And that's always going to make me nervous, even if I can write it off.

13:30It's always going to make me a little nervous for a guy at this point in his career.

13:35I like the way you said that, like where just you can break ties in favor of some front nine players as opposed to back nine players.

13:42I kind of want to do it. And I'm just looking at guys that I have him in the same range of,

13:48you know, whether it's Teddero McMillan, Garrett Wilson, the Bears receivers, although we'll talk about one of those in a second.

13:54I'm kind of maybe breaking ties in favor of the younger guys right now at this point.

13:59But hopefully I'm overreacting because I do love Terry McLaurin's game.

14:02Speaking of wide receiver injuries, just want to quickly run through a few of these.

14:06And I think there's only one we really need to truly react to.

14:10But a lot of wide receiver injuries over the course of the last few days at training camp.

14:15Rasheed Rice left practice early on Saturday. Maybe an injury.

14:18Reason unknown there. Zay Flowers suffered a left quad contusion Saturday.

14:21It's going to be day to day. They're not too worried about that.

14:25Josh Downs groin injury. Stephen Holder reported today of ESPN cover the team forever.

14:29He has said that that's not a serious injury.

14:31He could return to practice as soon as Tuesday.

14:34The one that maybe had the most negative. I don't want to say negative, but just least optimistic painting to it.

14:39We just got reports from Ian Rappaport that Luther Burden, Bears receiver, who went down with a injury in one-on-ones, suffered a

14:46groin injury and quote, will miss a little bit of time.

14:49I don't know what a little bit of time means.

14:52Nobody knows what a little bit of time means.

14:54I've gotten messages from folks who would know and be like, oh, it's fine.

14:58It's not a big deal. He's going to be ready for week one.

15:02I'm like, okay. Week one is like a month from now.

15:05I was assuming he's going to be ready for week one.

15:08So, Scott, this is probably the one that I think we should at least note that he might be someone that is

15:14a don't draft into injuries type of player right now.

15:17But are you worried about the Luther Burden reports?

15:19Yeah, I think you have to be. And this is a player who had so much helium this draft season.

15:25His ADP has just constantly been rising as we're excited about Ben Johnson.

15:29We're excited about Caleb Williams. We're even excited about a defense that could be leaky.

15:33This could be a shootout team, a carnival team.

15:35And remember, the Bears, they inherited some players. They drafted some players.

15:39They drafted Loveland. They drafted Burden. They drafted Caleb Williams.

15:42This is an offense we really thought was maybe going to the moon.

15:45And because the price has been so expectant on Burden, to get any kind of pushback on it, to get any momentum

15:51on the story going in the wrong direction, that's breaking ties for me.

15:55I felt like you had to elbow the rest of the room out of the way to get Burden already.

16:01And now it's like, well, how can I get more shares of Loveland?

16:04Can, you know, a dunze is going to have that foot issue and we'll see how we feel about that.

16:10But maybe the right answer to that offense is him or maybe the right answer in this offense is Caleb Williams or DeAndre Swift.

16:17I still think Ben Johnson is going to have that minimum of top 10 offense.

16:21I'd like to think it's a top five fantasy offense.

16:24But Burden, who I was reluctantly probably going to be underway on only because the market was so excited about him.

16:29Now that there's a little bit of red ink here, I get a step back from it.

16:34And I hate saying that. Now, Loveland is not inexpensive either.

16:37You could argue there's as much helium with Loveland as there is with Burden.

16:41But this just means that if I go into my draft, I may be a little bit more focused on Loveland or

16:47certainly in the salary cap draft, I would be pushing back extra dollars to try to get Coastal and Loveland on my team.

16:54Yeah, listen, I mean, our platform here on Yahoo probably had like the most reasonable ADP on Luther Burden at 58th overall.

17:00I was ahead of that from an overall perspective.

17:03I'm ahead overall on all of the Bears past catchers because as I've said, I think this is going to be a

17:09great offense and a really highly concentrated offense. So I'm not going to dock Luther Burden too, too much.

17:14Like if I was drafting today, I think maybe I'd dock him a couple of spots.

17:19But I'm open to just seeing if this is a one or two week injury and then he's back on the practice field and that's fine.

17:26I do also just want to bring back in a note from Roma Dunze's interview at the Super Bowl where he said

17:32to me that the biggest thing that was a problem for him was not so much getting back physically, but missing practice

17:38reps with Caleb Williams and this very timing based offense ended up being a problem for him in the back half of

17:44the year more so than like playing through an injury necessarily from a physical standpoint.

17:49So that's something I at least want to keep in the back of my mind with Luther Burden.

17:54And then secondly, like I do think this is just this is just going to shine a bigger light on the fact

18:00that I think Roma Dunze being 10 spots behind Luther Burden from an overall ADP perspective is kind of crazy.

18:05It's it's so funny Scott like I don't typically try to just observe like what are people tweeting about but I mean

18:12my entire entire timeline every time there's a Luther Burden highlight from training camp that thing gets reposted 25 30 times Roma

18:18Dunze has like a sick catch from training camp.

18:20Nobody's talking about it like truly it's not going anywhere in the fantasy streets, but the buzz has been really positive on all these players.

18:27Obviously the second year guys typically get the bigger hype from the coaches hype in the fantasy Twitter streets, but yeah, I

18:34think this is just another good opportunity to note like if burden does miss any time Dunze is in a really good

18:40position here to be the highest targeted player. So we are definitely at least going to keep an eye on the Luther

18:46Burden injury and see where that goes, but let's get into the quarterback position here Scott because this is a fun fantasy

18:52position this year when you look over the course of the quarterback landscape.

18:56What does it look like to you here in 2026?

18:59Um, it's so deep. It's you can do well at any price point.

19:02I always make the comparisons to New York subway system.

19:05If you miss a train, there's another one coming in five minutes.

19:08I challenge anybody to screw up quarterback this year.

19:11You're going to feel really good whether you go vanity, whether you go in the second tier, whether you take it, you

19:17know, JJ Zach recent late round QB. I just think you could do well at any price point.

19:22And for me, it's going to be kind of a hard fade at the top only because I keep telling myself, is

19:28Zach Prescott that much different than Joe Burrow? Right.

19:31Or can Trevor Lawrence be as good as Lamar Jackson or Drake may?

19:34I don't see any reason why those guys can't.

19:37We're going to talk more in detail about that.

19:39But to me, it's I'm not going to break the seal of quarterback.

19:43There'll be a lot of leagues where I might be the last team to draft a quarterback, but I'll be the first

19:49team to get my backup in super flex. I think you can do really well with like a B and a B plus quarterback on somebody else.

19:57Jay's the quote unquote MVP candidates or the A tier quarterbacks.

20:00So I know Boone's not on the show today.

20:02He would be saying we're crazy what Josh Allen's the number one, number two quarterback every year.

20:07Why don't you want that? It's an advantage. But I don't like the way my receiver and running back builds often turn

20:13out when I take the the Allens, the Jacksons, the Mays, even going down to maybe Jalen Hurts.

20:18So to me, I think it's a great year to shop in the second, third or fourth tier.

20:24Yeah, I think again, to quote another great fantasy analyst, Rich Rebar always talks about arbitrage plays at each different position.

20:29I agree with you that I feel like there are arbitrage plays on that second tier of quarterbacks.

20:34You know, Joe Burrow to Dak Prescott's a great example.

20:37I would say Drake May to, you know, like a like a Bo Nix could could Bo Nix be last year's version of Drake May.

20:44I think that's entirely possible. There's a lot of arbitrage plays just over the course of the quarterback position, which is why

20:50I've typically not shopped in that second tier, as we'll talk about later on here.

20:55That's where a lot of the red light players to use.

20:58Scott starts. I'm totally ripping your terminology here for the entire position preview week.

21:02So I hope you appreciate that, Scott, because it is obviously a hat tip to you here.

21:06Well, I did start the American, you know, roads, you know, stop, yield, you know.

21:11So, but, you know, I mean, you were around when we started doing that, right?

21:15Like for sure. For sure. Yeah. Yeah. When you, when you're at a four way stop, you know, that's basically the work of Scott Pianowski.

21:22They call it Pianowski. Yeah. Civil engineer. Right. So, yeah, it's, you know, it's the thing I love about red light, green

21:28light, yellow light is it just makes you clear how you feel about somebody.

21:32And this is pretty much how you are in any fantasy players.

21:35Oh man, I can't wait to draft this guy.

21:38I'll elbow you out of the way. Those are our green light guys.

21:42I'm not touching that player. He makes me nervous.

21:44We didn't talk about Rasheed Rice. It's what you mentioned very briefly in that earlier segment, but he's just one of my

21:50red light players between the injuries, between the offense.

21:53I think he's a little bit overrated. And the fact that there's a little bit off field knucklehead risk with Rishi Rice.

21:59I put him in the red light. And then these yellow light guys are, you're probably playing the market on them.

22:05You're probably playing timing. It may be the flow of your draft or the roster construction.

22:09You're okay with them in the right context. You're not necessarily chasing them, but you're certainly not counting them out.

22:15So again, it's Goldilocks, you know, the hot, the just right, the cold.

22:19I mean, you probably find yourself dear listener. You probably, without realizing it, have been playing the red light, green light, yellow light game your whole life.

22:26So I think we're in agreement about where a lot of the green light players are at the quarterback position this year.

22:32Although to me, Scott, that does specifically speak to, or maybe it doesn't.

22:36You push back on me here on this. I think that does obviously specifically speak to like one quarterback leagues.

22:42I think that's one where in one quarterback league, I might truly be sick enough to say, Hey, I'll kick it all

22:48the way down to like Tyler Shuck and Malik Willis and figure the rest out later.

22:52How does that change for you in a super flex league?

22:55You know, uh, where, where then do we kind of move the barometer up and down here?

23:00Uh, from like, where are we attacking the quarterback position?

23:03How does that change for you? Uh, in a super flex based strategy?

23:07Yeah. Again, I teased this earlier and this is something I would do in one quarterback, but certainly I love doing it

23:13super, super flex, which is, I don't have to have the best quarterback one, but I want the best quarterback too.

23:19So I could have a situation where I have, I don't know, Prescott and golf, or I could have Justin Herbert and

23:25Matthew Stafford, something like that, where I'm going to double tap in a draft, or I'm going to shop in a second

23:31or third tier in a salary cap draft. I love having, I'm going to beat you with two really good quarterbacks because

23:37the problem you're going to have in super flex is if you pay up for Josh Allen, you really can't pay up

23:43for another quarterback because then you're going to have your field players are going to be so skinny and it's so difficult to find impact players at receiver.

23:51We always talk about that. And every running back who comes on the waiver wire, who's of interest, every team is going

23:57to be going after that player where you'll say Malik Willis isn't drafted in your league or say Bryce Young isn't drafted

24:04in your league and they become fantasy relevant early in the season.

24:07These aren't 12 team bidding wars, even in super flex.

24:10Some people are going, Hey, I'm set at that position.

24:13I have other needs. I'm going to let that go to somebody else.

24:16That's another reason why we can be budget conscious at this position, because when guys do emerge, we don't necessarily have to

24:22have a fight with the rest of our league to land those players.

24:26Where you do end up having to have that fight though, is like on the waiver wire.

24:31Obviously that's something to keep in mind. Like I do, once I get into the season for super flex leagues, I am

24:37trying to be pretty aggressive to get that, those random quarterbacks.

24:40Cause you just never know who that guy's going to end up being.

24:44Um, one of my favorite stories is like in dynasty.

24:46Uh, it was a year that Aaron Rodgers, I think it was the year that Aaron Rodgers was hurt, um, with the jets.

24:53And I want to, I'm pretty sure this is the same season, but he was like my longtime quarterback too.

24:59I had Josh Allen as my quarterback one. So that year I was just kind of juggling through the second quarterback position,

25:05you know, just, it was not a pretty situation.

25:07So I was very aggressive and obviously this is a dynasty league, so it's a little bit different, but I was just kind of cycling.

25:14Like whoever was the random backup starting for this, that, and the other team.

25:18And then eventually that landed me on Brock Purdy.

25:21Who's just been like my quarterback to basically ever since.

25:24So I always try to tell people when, if you're playing in super flex and yeah, I agree.

25:29Like you can, you can wait on this position maybe more than you think in drafts, but corresponding to that, I want

25:35you to be kind of pretty aggressive on the waiver wire to sort of just sort through those backup quarterbacks.

25:40If you're playing super flex, I want three starters.

25:43So you're going to have to get familiar with where are you on Sam Darnold?

25:47Where are you on CJ Stroud, Cam Ward, Jacoby Brissett?

25:50One of those guys is going to be somebody you feel comfortable with as your QB three.

25:55And those are great trading courtesy players in a super flex format.

25:58Don't turn your nose up at Gino Smith or, you know, Kirk Cousins, even these guys can get you through moments.

26:04Uh, that is why super flex is really fun by the way, because it just, you're, if you are in a normal

26:10one quarterback fantasy league, I would say in 98% of the universes, you're never thinking about Kirk Cousins.

26:15In a super flex league, you might be thinking about Kirk Cousins in the year 2026.

26:20And that's just what makes it a little bit fun.

26:22Um, by the way, I would just also note, and this was something I'm going to kind of try to bring up

26:29throughout the course of position preview week. Um, got a really good message, uh, from a, uh, good email from one of

26:35our listeners, Scott Lionel shout at the Lionel sent me like a, a big email with thoughts and everything about talking, you

26:41know, how, how essentially to, to summarize the email, like just league formats.

26:45And his specific point was about when we, you and I said, well, we don't want you to get behind specifically.

26:51I kept saying, I don't want you to get behind it running back this year.

26:55But we also said like, try to build the best wide receiver room possible.

26:59That is something that I'm trying to be really cognizant of that when we're giving strategy for one position, it also impacts the other.

27:05And a big reason why it's got in one quarterback leagues this year, I'm pretty comfortable pushing off the quarterback position, even

27:12though we'll talk about some of the top top guys here on the other side of the break.

27:17I really think at tight end this year, I don't want you waiting forever.

27:21Like, I don't know that I necessarily want you taking Trey McBride or one of the top guys, but I kind of

27:27want you to live in the middle class at the tight end position this year, which is not something I normally do.

27:33And for that reason, because we also don't want you to get behind running back and we want you to build this great wide receiver room.

27:40You got to sacrifice somewhere to me, Scott. I just this is going to come up over the course of the conversation.

27:46I do think quarterback is the place to to sacrifice this year.

27:50Yeah, it should be the last starter that you draft on your fantasy roster.

27:54I'm not saying the last round, but I'm saying the last starting position that you feel.

27:58All right, we are going to take our first quick break.

28:01We come back. We talk through the top 12 ranked players here by all of us analysts at Yahoo.

28:07We'll get into that right after this. All right, we're back.

28:10Let's get into our consensus top 12 players here in the Yahoo rankings.

28:13This is the consensus rankings between Boone, Joel Smith, myself, Scott Pinowski, Hayden Winks and Josh Norris here.

28:18All of the very, very fine analysts here at Yahoo.

28:21The top 12 guys. We got Josh Allen, Lamar Jackson, Jaden Daniels, Drake May, Joe Burrow, Jalen Hurts, Justin Herbert, Caleb Williams,

28:27Trevor Lawrence, Dak Prescott, Brock Purdy and Jackson Dart.

28:30All right. So, Scott, in this top 12, I do want to stick at the very top here and just quickly talk

28:36about Josh Allen, who is kind of in a tier of his own here.

28:40In my rankings from a tier perspective, he is definitely in his own tier.

28:44He is the QB one. And from an ADP perspective, that is very much the case here.

28:49ADP of 20th overall in the last seven days among Yahoo drafters.

28:52QB two, Lamar Jackson is 39th overall. So, there's definitely a tier drop from Josh Allen to everyone else in the minds of all fantasy drafters.

28:59And certainly in myself as well. Although, based on the conversation earlier, I'm guessing you probably haven't clicked on a lot of

29:06Josh Allen in many of your drafts this year.

29:08I think I'm not going to have any Josh Allen this year.

29:11It's a lonely tier drop for me. It's the opportunity cost you pay at running back and at wide receiver.

29:17And because I feel so good about so many different quarterbacks and other offenses, Josh Allen is incapable of having a poor season.

29:23And you can even say maybe his best season is going to come.

29:27They got DJ Moore there. And Allen is still dynamic as a runner.

29:31The pieces around him look really good if they can keep Dalton Kincaid healthy for a full season.

29:36It's amazing what he did last year on 38% of the snaps, man.

29:39Just crazy. One of my favorite stats from last season.

29:42But the players you're not getting, the players your opponents are taking when you take Josh Allen, I just can't stomach that.

29:48And this is why we encourage people to be in multiple leagues, do some best ball drafts, do some mock drafting, and say, OK, fine.

29:55Draft Josh Allen and see what you feel like with your running back and receiver rooms or even your tight end situation.

30:02You spoke before the break about how you wanted to prioritize or at least quasi-prioritize that position.

30:06You just can't do those things if you take a vanity quarterback.

30:10So the position scores a lot of points. I don't think the delta, understanding that Allen's going to be the best quarterback,

30:16but I'm going to be spotting points to the Allen team week in, week out.

30:20I can live with that because I just feel that great about the players behind him.

30:25And the funny thing is, even though I'm not drafting Allen, you might say, well, great.

30:29You know, well, Mark Jackson's cheaper and Daniels is a couple of rounds cheaper and May's at a reasonable price.

30:35He's got A.J. Brown to play with now. Obviously, Burrow, when he's healthy, would see what he can do.

30:40I'm actually not drafting in that tier either. It's the guys after that, those next four or five players.

30:45Man, that is my go zone. That is my shopping center.

30:48That's where I can't wait to get out the checkbook.

30:51And it's funny because, again, this is why, you know, doing drafts, like actually putting, you know, your rankings to the test

30:57really can change how you view things. Because I would say probably two months ago, I really thought I'd and obviously some

31:04of the stuff we talked about it with the news, Laramie Tunstall and everything like that, that really changes it.

31:09But I would have thought I would be in on Jaden Daniels, you know, this year.

31:14And I'd be drafting a lot of him. And he's definitely someone at some level I'm interested in.

31:19He actually, we're like, our Yahoo rankings are higher than ADP on Jaden Daniels.

31:23He's the 55th overall player. He is our QB three.

31:26There are at least two quarterbacks, Drake May and Joe Burrow, who go ahead of him, you know, rather significantly, you know,

31:32ahead at higher than him from an ADP standpoint.

31:34But yeah, now just when I've done these drafts and I take the quarterback in the 50s, I really just don't like

31:40the way my team comes together, especially, especially at running back like receiver.

31:44You can find some guys later on. You can get some unexpected players, but it's just really tough.

31:49So I agree with you. I haven't really shopped in that tier.

31:52Although if I was to kind of put your feet to the fire here a little bit, Scott, if we're talking about

31:59this second tier of quarterbacks, which to me is, you know, 39th overall Lamar Jackson, he kind of a little bit of his own thing.

32:06But I do want to talk about Lamar a little bit more when we get to the red light, yellow light section.

32:12So maybe this next group of guys, Jaden Daniels, Drake May, Joe Burrow, Jalen Hurts, who there tempts you the most?

32:18And is it Drake May because your heart is a flutter still for Drake May?

32:22It is Drake May, but it's because my heart is a flutter for AJ Brown and Romeo Dobbs and Josh McDaniels and

32:28May, of course, into his third season. But it's really, if you ask yourself, if you draft Drake May, you ask yourself,

32:34are we still on the front nine with AJ Brown?

32:37Is he going to win the breakup with the Eagles?

32:40Is Romeo Dobbs, did they overpay for him and overslot him?

32:43Or is he really an impact player on a team that has playoff expectations?

32:47Obviously, they just went to the Super Bowl last year where everything fell right with the schedule and some of their opponents.

32:53But yeah, May also, you know, athletic, resourceful as a runner.

32:56The thing about the Patriots is they could be just as good as they were last year in true strength and still

33:02be like a 10 or 11 win team or even a nine win team because the schedule and the variance is going to kick in.

33:09So we have to live with that. But it's going to hurt me when I don't draft Drake May this year.

33:15I don't think I'm going to do it very often.

33:18I may not even do it at all, only because of the depth of this position.

33:23But May is the one guy who's kind of in that two to six quarterback range where it's going to kill me

33:29to not be in on it, but I'm not going to be in on it.

33:33Yeah. I mean, as the new YouTube intro to the show, which looks great, by the way, shout out to Jason Jung.

33:39As you say in that intro, Scott, none of you are going to say a negative word about Drake May.

33:45And yeah, correct. I will still not be saying a negative word about Drake May almost 365 days later.

33:50If you're just an audio listener, you have no idea what I'm talking about.

33:54But by the way, subscribe to the Yahoo Fantasy YouTube channel.

33:57OK, I mean, come on. You know what? You know what even sounds better than Scott Pienowski looking at Scott Pienowski as he's delivering these wisdoms here.

34:05So, yeah, go ahead and subscribe to the YouTube channel so you can check out the new intro.

34:10You know what I'm talking about? I'm not going to say anything negative about Drake May, but what if Scott, like my

34:16answer to this question actually would be, what if it's Jalen Hurts that wins the breakup with A.J.

34:21Brown? What if it's Jalen Hurts? You know, you remove the variable of A.J.

34:25Brown, which is tough. Obviously, you know, you're losing a guy who even if you have some questions, as I do about

34:31like how much is left in the tank for A.J.

34:34Brown, like where is he on the process of the decline?

34:37You know, you're losing a good player. That never is great.

34:40However, you got a wide receiver one in ready in Devante Smith.

34:43Although would love it if he could get out there practice.

34:46He's been dealing with a hamstring injury. Makai Lemon also dealing with a hamstring injury.

34:51That's not ideal either. They are giving some pub to Dontavian Wicks.

34:54I'll admit that like I've got a little half of an eye maybe on the Dontavian Wicks situation.

34:59And I just generally think that this offense, if Jalen Hurts, and it is an if, if Jalen Hurts can fit into

35:05it, you know, I think it actually could increase the efficiency of the passing game overall as they're going to be changing things under Sean Mannion.

35:13But Sean Mannion is also still going to keep a lot of the quarterback run game.

35:17He was talking about that this week. So I also am not shopping in this second tier necessarily.

35:22I haven't come away with a lot of Jalen Hurts teams, especially because for me, he's the last guy in the tier

35:2856th overall, my sixth ranked quarterback, the whole deal.

35:31But he at least tempts me a little bit more than some of the other guys here.

35:36Yeah. This is one thing where we don't agree on because for me, Hurts, I've never loved him as a pocket passer.

35:42Last year, we saw the running production went down, obviously with a different coordinator and Kevin Petula was blamed for a lot

35:48of what went wrong in Philadelphia last year. So they're happy to be moving on from that, but just 7.1 YPA last year for Hurts.

35:55And now they've changed. They have repainted this wide receiver room, but so much to the point that I don't think a

36:01quick onboarding is that can be reasonably expected in Philadelphia.

36:04It hurts that Lemon is missing reps this summer.

36:06Wicks is obviously new to the team, Holloway Brown.

36:09What's left with Dallas Goddard? I like Devonta Smith.

36:12He's a little bit dinged up now as well.

36:14I always talk about trying to get off to that good start, that 3-1, 4-0, 4-1 type of fantasy start.

36:20I think the Eagles are going to be, we're going to be asking what's wrong with the Eagles?

36:25The Eagles in the panic meter. That's going to be something we're going to be saying a month into the season because

36:31so many new players are here, a new coordinator.

36:33You have to give time for that stuff to gel, for timing to set in, for tendency, just to get your routines down.

36:40So I don't think the Eagles are going to get off to a quick start.

36:44We'll see if they can justify where they're going, where they're being drafted.

36:48And also, I wonder if Hertz is just done as a double-digit touchdown score on the ground.

36:52And without that, I can't justify the real estate he currently holds in ADP.

36:56I will say, though, to kind of talk both sides here on this issue, because as you're speaking, I'm like, you know, that's actually a really good point.

37:04This could be a slow start team overall because it's a new coordinator.

37:08It is a system overhaul to some degree. And Hertz does have to adjust to that.

37:12There's just no question about that. I think anybody who's watched Jalen Hertz throughout the course of his career, and I'm with

37:19you where I've been a little bit up and down on Hertz at times.

37:23There's no question that it will have to be an adjustment for him.

37:26And the fact that the receivers are already banged up, that's not ideal.

37:30It could be one of those slow start teams.

37:32At the same time, though, their first three games, Scott, commanders, Titans, Bears.

37:36Those are three pretty green light defenses to attack right there.

37:39So I actually, you know, kind of that I was like one foot out.

37:43Maybe now I'm like one foot back in based on the slow start for the Eagles here, just based on those defenses, which is tough.

37:50We never know which defenses are going to be good or bad, but I feel pretty good about the commanders, Titans, and

37:56Bears not being among the best defenses in the NFL.

37:59Totally fair. Although I could cheat a little bit and say Rams week four and then Jaguars in week five.

38:05So where does that go? Oh, there's a reason I cut it off at week three.

38:09Yeah, there's a reason I cut it off. And plus week five is the Jaguars.

38:13I believe that that might be a Europe game too.

38:16It's a 930 a.m. game. We know that Jacksonville is Europe's team.

38:19So it may be a case of, you know, Philadelphia comes back from Europe after they've lost to the Rams and Jaguars.

38:26I'm like, what's wrong with the Eagles? I'm going to put my what's wrong with the Eagles pieces are all going to drop after week five.

38:33Okay. So quarterback seven to 12 here, which is Justin Herbert, Caleb Williams, Trevor Lawrence, Dak Prescott, Brock Purdy, Jackson Dart.

38:39This is where Scott, we'll just get into this right now.

38:42A lot of your green light players are here in this tier.

38:45And I'm, I'm with you here. I honestly, when I, when I was like, okay, these are Scott's green light players.

38:51These are a lot of my green light quarterbacks too.

38:54So I think we're pretty much shopping in the same bucket here.

38:57So with a lot of these guys here who just get, make the case for one of these players here that you

39:04really, really like as a green light guy, quarterback seven to 12 ish.

39:07I don't mean to cheat here. I'm happy with so many of these guys.

39:11I mean, Herbert, he's got McDaniel. He's got hopefully a healthy offensive line is still really interesting skill talent there.

39:17I can see Justin Herbert challenging for an MVP award.

39:20We talked about Caleb Williams a little bit earlier with the injuries in Chicago, but man, if they're healthy, we love Ben Johnson.

39:26The offense is going to have to outscore a leaky Chicago defense that has pinball written all over it.

39:31Pinball is the way Dak Prescott lives in Dallas.

39:34Everything we love about Joe Burrow, which you love about Dak Prescott too.

39:37He's got two dynamic receivers. The defense is bad, mostly an indoor schedule.

39:41So that's really exciting. Trevor Lawrence won your league for you last year with the way he finished the season.

39:47Liam Cohen, a right answer at the play caller.

39:49And even though it's a little bit difficult at times to sort out which Jaguar receiver we want to draft, they're all good.

39:56And they're all pointing to Trevor Lawrence being a dynamic fantasy player.

39:59And of course, Trevor Lawrence can run them in as well.

40:02Purdy and Dart are the guys I'm struggling with right now.

40:05Brock Purdy was on my list of targets and in some of the premium content we've been putting out for Yahoo.

40:11I had Purdy there. And then, man, with this team being so old and so injury driven and the Pierce Hall news

40:17popped and I just get cold feet on that.

40:20Even their left tackle, their star left tackle is like 100 years old.

40:24Williams. Brock Purdy is very good. But I'm a little bit nervous about what's around him.

40:28And between McCaffrey, Kittle and Evans, what's a reasonable run out?

40:31Even Debo Samuel added to that team. He's also a back nine player.

40:35How healthy and or productive can that group be?

40:37I think Purdy, maybe his setup isn't quite what I expected.

40:40With Dart, Konami code guy. But man, he needs to be a little bit more judicious.

40:45I just get nervous. He spent so much time last year in the concussion tent.

40:49How much has he gotten to be able to connect with neighbors?

40:52How many reps have they actually run? They hardly intersected last year.

40:56Dart is somebody I'm afraid will beat me, but I'm probably not going to draft proactively.

41:00Purdy went from green light to yellow light to me.

41:03Over the last couple of weeks, just vibes on the age of this team.

41:07But everybody else I mentioned, I am excited to draft and I'm going to be overweight when I add up my shares

41:13at the end of this draft season. Yeah, we'll talk Purdy and Dart more in depth in the yellow light section because

41:19they are yellow light players for you, not red light guys.

41:22But on the green light guys, I thought one of the things that you said there just really rings true with Caleb,

41:29with Justin Herbert and Trevor Lawrence is just I do want all these pass catchers.

41:33It's really hard to pick the pass catchers, but I know who's throwing them the football.

41:37I know who is throwing these players to football.

41:40So, yeah, those guys have been some of my favorite targets.

41:43I actually have the order of it as Herbert, Trevor Lawrence, Caleb Williams.

41:47But from an overall perspective, like I'm totally cool with you guys taking any of those players basically at any point in

41:53my overall rankings, as a matter of fact, to have them 75th, 76th and 77th.

41:57So pretty much it's one of those when you see one go, that's your signal to start jumping on that tier because

42:03they to me do all kind of have the upside of I could see any of them being the, you know, like

42:09maybe not Josh Allen quarterback one overall, but QB to QB three.

42:13If everything really comes together, especially Trevor Lawrence, like I mentioned, just career highs across the board on the show last week with Ray from a rushing perspective.

42:21I think that's going to continue the drumbeat on Parker Washington is so deafening from training camp.

42:25And I mean, I kind of buy it just because I think they found the right role for him and he's so

42:31good at what he is really good at. And they just have that like Travis Hunter is getting a bunch of rave reviews as well.

42:38Like it's just there's so much good in this Jacksonville environment.

42:42All three of those guys to their inner circle play callers, Mike McDaniel, Liam Cohen, Caleb Williams.

42:46They're just three very obvious guys to be in on.

42:49And then I do think like there's a drop off, not a, not a, like we're, we're to me still shopping in

42:55the same tier with some of these players. But when we get into the Dak Prescott and Jared Goff of it, I'm

43:02glad that you included Jared Goff here, Scott, because he's kind of the arbitrage on the arbitrage.

43:06Like if Dak Prescott is the arbitrage, Joe Burrow, Jared Goff is the arbitrage of the arbitrage of Joe Burrow in that it's a great offensive environment.

43:14I'm totally fine with Drew Petsing as the offensive coordinator because Dan Campbell's still there and they have quality weapons and an

43:20offensive line that is not peak offensive line lions esque, but is still to me like a top 15 unit in the NFL.

43:26Yeah, certainly not a unit I'm going to worry about.

43:29And maybe it could even be a plus unit again, indoor schedule, probably an easy schedule.

43:34We'll see how the defense holds up physically this year.

43:37Jared Goff, I know some of this is survivor bias, but he's got the most touchdown passes and the most passing yards over the last four seasons.

43:44By the way, I also loved how you gave Caleb Williams credit as being Chicago's play caller, which is nice until Ben Johnson gets wind of that.

43:52Yes, for sure. But let me just say one other thing about quarterback and shopping in this tier.

43:57You need to be aware, and this is not hard to track whether you're doing it in the Yahoo draft room or

44:03even with just a piece of paper handy as you draft.

44:06Be aware of who's drafted quarterbacks and who isn't and play your neighborhood, right?

44:10If you're going to wait and you see and you're going to be tier driven and there's maybe three or four guys

44:16in this tier that you like, you have the four pick.

44:19It's going four, three, two, one. See what the one, two, and three teams have done at quarterback.

44:24If there's a Josh Allen manager sitting there, he's not taking a second quarterback.

44:28You can play it safe there. You want to be mindful of just even if you just put X of who's filled at quarterback.

44:35And again, this is very trackable. The Yahoo draft room is incredibly intuitive, and you always want to be scrolling and recalibrating

44:41and just kind of getting a sense. In a salary cap draft, you need to be aware of everybody.

44:46In a snake draft, it's more you have to know your neighborhood.

44:50And one of the requirements of that is understanding who's drafted a quarterback and who isn't because teams are not – anybody

44:56who takes a top five quarterback is not going to take a second quarterback in the top ten.

45:01It doesn't make any sense for them. But the teams who haven't drafted one, they may be eyeing the guy that you want.

45:08Now, you also have to decide how important is it for me to have my choice in this tier if you're shopping

45:14here like Matt and I probably are, where in a lot of leagues I'll probably take what's left to me.

45:19But I don't want to be left behind. Although even if you did, it wouldn't be the end of the world.

45:25You'd probably end up with somebody like Matthew Stafford, and I can live with it.

45:29There's some other guys we'll talk about later in the show.

45:32But good idea during your draft, especially if you're waiting on quarterback, just to be mindful of who else has filled the position.

45:39One of those guys that probably won't – you don't necessarily need to do – because that's great advice, Scott, and it's so well taken.

45:46I think one of the guys you don't have to do this for because he's going to be one of the last quarterbacks taken in a one-quarterback league.

45:54But someone I do just want to advocate for really quickly before we get to break here and go to yellow light guys in the green light section.

46:02You had the Williams, Herbert, Lawrence, Prescott, Goff, and I rubber stamp all those.

46:06I agree. One guy I would want to throw in there as a green light player for me is Bo Nix.

46:11I mean, Bo Nix has outkicked his ADP before.

46:14We've seen that happen. He's a proactive runner. Maybe not like a prolific Lamar Jackson or Josh Allen runner necessarily, but he is a proactive runner.

46:21We also talk about the guys that are in good offensive ecosystems.

46:25I mean, Bo Nix is definitely in a good offensive ecosystem.

46:28It's a really, really good pass protection offensive line.

46:30They're deep at running back, even if you've got questions about all three of those guys.

46:35They added freaking Jalen Waddell, and we're all excited about that.

46:38Obviously, Waddell, a little bit of an injury in practice right now, but sounds like he's going to be fine.

46:43Of course, Waddell has been banged up many times over the course of his career.

46:48That's really the one trap door he can fall under.

46:50But they go deep at pass catcher as well, even if Waddell was to miss time.

46:55And Sean Payton's still the figurehead of this team, but I do kind of wonder if Davis Webb is the play caller

47:01now because of his relationship with Bo Nix. And maybe that's a big signal in favor of Nix.

47:06I just feel like he's a guy that doesn't get talked about enough as a really productive passer and checks a lot

47:12of the boxes for the yellow light guys that we are.

47:15Excuse me, the green light guys that we talked about here.

47:19Yeah, it's great to spotlight him here. Obviously, part of a Payton offense in that really deep receiver room.

47:24We're going to talk mostly about Waddell and Sutton when we talk about it.

47:28But Troy Franklin was a touchdown guy. Decent part of last season.

47:31And Pat Bryant has talent. And Marvin Mims is always going to be one of these per snap guys who doesn't seem

47:37to get on the field as much. But man, if he's your fifth option in a wide receiver room, you've done really well.

47:44They have backs who can catch the ball as well.

47:47Perhaps the reason why I haven't spent that much time talking about Nix this summer and I haven't really drafted him that

47:53proactively is just because the last time we saw him, he got hurt right before the AFC championship game.

47:58He got hurt in that great divisional playoff overtime game against Buffalo.

48:01So that makes me just a little bit nervous.

48:04He needs his legs. He needs his resourcefulness to hit the high end of his range.

48:09But as you mentioned, man, quarterback seven, quarterback seven the last two years, Bo Nix has been a plus player for the last two seasons.

48:16And it's possible he's being disrespected right now. Right.

48:18See, that's exactly my thought process. You said that way better than I did.

48:22And not that this isn't always the best analysis.

48:25Like, this guy's finished at this level the last few years.

48:28Like, why is he being drafted at this level?

48:30That can be faulty at some times. But with this position specifically, I don't really see any reason other than, yeah, the

48:36health is a big part of it for sure.

48:39But if we're talking about Waddle, as I've been talking about all offseason since that trade happened, being like this big impact

48:45player for the team, it just seems a little odd that we're drafting Bo Nix behind where he's finished the last two

48:51years when he's going to inject this really, really good player into the passing game here.

48:56That just doesn't quite sit right with me. So he is definitely somebody that I think is a green light player for me here.

49:02We're going to take a quick break. We come back on the other side of it.

49:07We'll get into the yellow light players at the quarterback position right after this.

49:11All right, we're back. Let's get into the yellow light players here at the quarterback position.

49:15Scott, the two guys you were touching on earlier were Brock Purdy and Jackson Dart, who are the only ones that are

49:21actually being drafted as QB ones right now. We'll get into Matthew Stafford, Kyler Murray, and Malik Willis here in just a moment.

49:28But sticking on Purdy and Dart, I don't know that we need to have an extended conversation about the Purdy thing because

49:34I think you summarized that really well. And I feel the exact same way that a month ago I was really into Purdy.

49:41And I'm not going to say, you know, to again bring up Dave Damaschek that Ricky Pearsall is the Jenga piece of the 49ers offense.

49:48I don't think he would qualify as that. But Mike Evans not practicing the whole deal like it just it just makes

49:54you a little bit nervous about the fragility of it all.

49:57Dart, I think, is interesting because one thing you said on the other side of the break, and I really agree with

50:03this, is that he's the guy that I think and I don't I don't necessarily know that he's a yellow light player for me.

50:10I have missed QB 10, so I guess I'm kind of ahead of our consensus rankings on Dart.

50:15He is the one that I think could really beat us if we're if we're calling him a yellow light player, which

50:21is why I think we probably don't have him as a true red light guy.

50:25Just because he's a young player, he obviously is maybe to his fault.

50:29Sometimes he's a proactive runner and the Malik neighbors thing like we get another positive report again this week, you know, from

50:35from ESPN that he is like trending towards playing week one.

50:38That doesn't mean he's going to be himself in week one.

50:41It doesn't mean he won't be on a snap count week one, but that's just a fundamentally more positive situation than it

50:47was a couple of months ago here. Can I throw cold water on this in two words?

50:52Matt Nagy. Do it. Offensive coordinator. Yeah, that's what makes me nervous.

50:55And also just Dart has to run proactively to justify where he's going to be drafted.

51:00And I don't mind that. It's just, man, you could have tried to avoid these kill shots.

51:05Sometimes you have to accept it's a good time to slide.

51:08It's a good time to run out of bounds.

51:10It's maybe just a good time to throw the ball to the cheerleaders and not run on a specific play.

51:16He just was reckless with his running last year in a way that I don't think he can get away with long term.

51:22And also, I want to see how that chemistry with Neighbors, we talked about last year, they really basically weren't even together at all.

51:29So they're building this from square one. Malik Neighbors at his best is the top five NFL receiver.

51:34You can easily tell yourself a story where he'll be your first round pick next year if healthy.

51:39But these guys need to get going, need to get up to speed.

51:43Do they have the right pieces complementing them in this passing game?

51:46Obviously, Wondell Robinson is gone. People are hoping, I say, it likely can pop in this passing game.

51:51There's some younger players they've added. But Dart is, I know this is going to sound contradictory.

51:56I'm concerned about him beating me, but he is somebody I'm not going to draft proactively.

52:01I have him yellow because if I'm in a room of other people who are kind of quasi-Dart people, I might just say, the heck with it.

52:08Give me a FOMO share. I don't want to be locked out in case he has the breakout season and he's quarterback

52:14three at the end of the year. But more to me, between Nagy and the reckless running, I'm more out on Dart than I am in.

52:22Yeah. I mean, for me, from a tier perspective, this is my third tier of quarterbacks, which goes all the way from

52:28QB7 to QB15, which just, again, speaks to the quality of the position.

52:31He is right smack in the middle. And usually I don't shop in the middle of that tier.

52:37Like, I want the beginning or I want, you know, you talk about the U, right?

52:41I want either the top end of the U or the bottom end of it.

52:45I don't necessarily shop in that bottom end of it.

52:48But one of those players that's in the bottom end of the U is Kyler Murray, who you have as a yellow light player.

52:55I think the case for Kyler Murray is pretty obvious, right?

52:58He's the one who gets to throw to Justin Jefferson.

53:01He is a proactive runner in his own right.

53:03Our rankings on Kyler Murray from a group perspective are kind of all over the place.

53:08We've got somebody as high as QB14. We've got somebody as that's me, by the way.

53:12I'm that somebody. We've got somebody that's all the way down there at QB19.

53:16So I guess the question here from a Kyler Murray standpoint, Scott, is how convinced are you that he is the 17,

53:22you know, full season, 17 game starter for the Minnesota Vikings?

53:25You know, I just get excited when you talk about the disparities here in the Kyler Murray ranking.

53:30Just the idea that we have Josh and Hayden with us, Joel Smith with us, in addition to Yumi and Boone.

53:36We have never had more ranking power as a six-man unit.

53:39And I think our consensus rankings is going to be very powerful this year, even though we're going to have times where we don't agree on somebody.

53:47And Kyler Murray is one of those guys. Matt, if I could have camera access to all the practice reps that one

53:53team is running this year, I think Minnesota is where I'd go because I want to see what's going on.

53:59Are they coaching up Kyler Murray and getting his bad mojo from Arizona washed off?

54:03Is there any chance that J.J. McCarthy really could be a factor here?

54:07Carson Wentz is their third string quarterback. Dare he have to play this season?

54:11I've gotten kind of cold feet. Kyler Murray is somebody, Matt, six weeks ago I would have said, okay, blame it on J.J.

54:17McCarthy. Kevin O'Connell is one of the best play callers, one of the best quarterback whispers in football.

54:22We all know the long list of ordinary talents he's made into their best versions of themselves.

54:27I was ready to blame it on McCarthy. Even though I wasn't really a Murray, I've never really been a Murray guy

54:33and certainly he hasn't played good football for a while.

54:36But I was like, okay, they get Kyler. They're accepting the mistake with McCarthy.

54:40But they didn't give Kyler a lot of money.

54:42It sounds like I'm starting to believe that Murray still has to win the job.

54:46I thought like two months ago that was preposterous.

54:49Of course he's going to be their starter. I still think he will be.

54:53But, I mean, they're not handing him anything. And there were early whispers that the receivers were getting frustrated, that Murray was

54:59behind schedule on a lot of throws. And they were missing a lot of connections.

55:03I backed off drafting Justin Jefferson where he goes.

55:06He's become a red light player for me. And, man, that's not comfortable to say that because he's such a talented guy.

55:12Addison, yellow at best. Probably the day is done drafting TJ Hawkinson.

55:15But I want to believe in O'Connell. I just don't know what version of Murray they're getting.

55:20And I always say he's not getting any taller Kyler Murray.

55:23He had trouble making certain throws over the middle of the field.

55:27He never really got an end zone connection with Trey McBride.

55:30And the most damning thing about Murray is the moment he was out of that offense, all of a sudden Jacoby Brissett,

55:36an NFL journeyman, nobody's idea of a special talent.

55:38He unlocked everybody in Arizona. Maybe not Marvin Harrison.

55:41But, man, Wilson had a breakout season. McBride went nuclear and started scoring touchdowns.

55:45So two months ago I was going to be like, yeah, Murray green light, at least a strong yellow.

55:50Now I don't know what to do with Kyler Murray.

55:53Again, a player who I think could beat me.

55:55I already have some shares of Kyler Murray. I think I'm going to probably coast on those so I'm not locked out if he breaks out.

56:03But I'm not going to put myself in a position where Kyler Murray can tank my fantasy season.

56:08Yeah, I just wish he'd already slammed the door shut, you know, which just makes me think that he had.

56:13It just it makes me think we're seeing some more old Kyler Murray stuff, which we've seen over the course of his career.

56:20You know, you mentioned it like he's been up and he's had some really high highs.

56:24He's had some really low lows, and I also think that while he is a boomer bust player, this is a boomer bust offense here.

56:31That's a little bit fragile, too. I mean, Justin Jefferson is great.

56:35I think Jordan Addison is a solid wide receiver, too.

56:38There are some questions along the offensive line, but it should be better as long as Daris all is healthy this year.

56:44The backfield gives me some pause. I don't know.

56:46There's just some overall. I just felt better. I'm with you.

56:49I felt better about the Kyler Murray situation about a month ago than I do right now.

56:54Like I remember saying back in May or June or something to Joel, like I'm going to be a Kyler Murray guy in fantasy this year.

57:01When I said that, I imagined that by August 9th, there's already Kyler Murray's a starter and we're all set.

57:07But we could definitely see a situation where he gets, you know, 13 starts and JJ gets four.

57:12I think that's very live. Let's talk Matthew Stafford here.

57:15So I kind of want to save Malik Willis for the sleeper section because he's just like a classic sleeper, even if he's a yellow light player.

57:22Why Matthew Stafford, the reigning MVP yellow light for you?

57:25Just to not look, I realize he's coming off the MVP season.

57:29He's tied to Puka. He's tied to Devante Adams.

57:31He's tied to Sean McVay. What's wrong with that?

57:34You know, great infrastructure. But the age of Stafford, the obvious regression kicked in Devante Adams at his age, what age 34 season I think is for Adams.

57:42You worry about a little bit of regression there.

57:44Puka is a high contact player. There may be a little bit of off-field judgment risk with Puka at times.

57:50I think the Rams offense just takes a mild step back.

57:53Sean McVay can't help but have a good offense.

57:55But I think maybe it's more of a top 10 offense than a top 5 offense this year.

58:00I could still be fine with Stafford as my second quarterback, whether a standard start one or a second starter in a super flex format.

58:07I'm drafting a lot of Blake Korn this year.

58:10I think he's a great hedge against Williams. That can be a 60-40 backfield.

58:14But Stafford also nothing is a runner. We know that.

58:17I just think a regression kicks in, and this offense takes like a half step backwards.

58:21I think that's all very fair. There's just a lot of risks on this Rams offense, a lot of trap doors that they can step through here.

58:29But we know what it looks like if it runs pure.

58:32And they didn't even run pure last year, right?

58:34Like Adams missed time. Puka missed a game. So they didn't necessarily run pure, but from an efficiency perspective, they did.

58:40So definitely some things to keep in mind with the Rams here.

58:44But the reality is like 99th overall, a lot of people aren't drafting Matthew Stafford to be like what he was last year.

58:50There's already some regression baked in. But yeah, definitely things to be aware of on the Stafford front.

58:55We're going to take another quick break. We come back.

58:58We've got our red light players in drafts this year.

59:01We'll get into that right after this. All right, we're back.

59:04And Scott, we tease this a lot. There are red light grouping here.

59:07Lamar Jackson, Jalen Hurts, Joe Burrow, Patrick Mahomes. For the most part, at least 75% here.

59:12Math. Our guys in that second tier that we're just like not shopping in that range.

59:16To me, I would also say honestly, you know, Drake May is a little bit of a red light player for me.

59:23Like I don't necessarily think he's going to be beating me from this group.

59:27But of the three guys there, the Hurts, the Burrow, the Lamar Jackson, is there one of them in here that makes

59:33you nervous from like an individual player perspective? Maybe like actually let's put Hurst to the side because we talked about him earlier.

59:39Does like Lamar in a new situation, new offense or Burrow, just what we've seen over the course of his career, do

59:45either of those guys make you nervous from an individual player perspective?

59:49Or is it more I'm not drafting these guys to their red light because of where they go in the drafts?

59:55I'm probably more out on Jackson because of the cost.

59:57The Burrow case is a combination of the cost and some concerns.

60:01He's had trouble staying healthy, the offensive line. Maybe this is the idea that LOL Bengals, they're just going to screw it up one way or another.

60:08But with Jackson, ask yourself, is he going to run for a bunch of touchdowns?

60:13Is there a dynamic touchdown score on this offense in the passing game?

60:16Because it hasn't been Zay Flowers. It hasn't been Bateman.

60:19I know they have a rookie receiver who's been popping this summer and Mark Andrews maybe might have another 8 to 10 touchdown season in him.

60:26You have to tell yourself a story that either Jackson's going to boost up the rushing production.

60:31He's generally not somebody who gets the chippies from close or even runs to his full potential.

60:36It's more of a club in his bag that he can use as opposed to a club that he features.

60:41I realize we're excited about the play calling change, but that's most teams in the NFL when they change their play callers.

60:48We talk ourselves into the new guy. We'll see if Doyle justifies that hype.

60:52I would love it for this to be the season where Zay Flowers scores 10 touchdowns.

60:56But man, he just hasn't scored any from in close before.

60:59I just think this team is going to get inside the 5 and it's going to be the Derrick Henry show again.

61:05I realize he's at an age where nervous to draft him, but I feel like he's got 15 touchdowns sitting in his back pocket.

61:12So with Burrow, we talked about Rich Rebar and the arbitrage plays.

61:15My buddy Mike Celfino likes to talk about that stuff as well.

61:19What does Burrow give you that you don't get from Dak Prescott?

61:22When you can see an arbitrage combo that's this clean, this similar, they're the same freaking team.

61:27Bad defenses. Offense is designed around two major wide receivers.

61:30Guys were drafting in round one, round two. Thrilled to put out every week.

61:34Round three maybe for Tee Higgins, but whenever he goes early, he might go at the turn.

61:38Tell me why. Explain this why I'm 5. Why is Dak Prescott better?

61:42I'm sorry. Why is Joe Burrow better than Dak Prescott?

61:45I can't come up with a good answer for that.

61:48I don't know. I don't know, dude. It's a great point and I'm with you on it.

61:52To me, it's not even so much – there's definitely – I don't even know if definitely is the right word to use.

61:59But there's certainly a possibility that there's just a more nuclear season available for Burrow if he stays healthy for all 17 games.

62:05And Jamar and Tee stay healthy for all 17 games.

62:08And that defense doesn't get any better. There obviously is a chance that they are better.

62:13And we're not looking at the complete carnival bangles.

62:15But, you know, it's a totally fair point. Over the last three seasons, so 2023 to 2025, Joe Burrow averages 18.7 points per game.

62:22Dak Prescott, 18.4. You're just really not giving up all of that much.

62:26And then you go down one bit to the next tier, the arbitrage and the arbitrage.

62:30Jared Goff, who, as you're sitting there talking about, I think I have the least faith in the Lions defense of those three.

62:36I think they're more trending down while the other two defenses, by default for Cincinnati, and I actually think there are some good changes happening in Dallas.

62:44Those defenses are probably trending up. Jared Goff, 17.85 points.

62:47Like, you're really not giving up all of that much going to Jared Goff, even though, again, the theoretical ceiling is probably not as high for him.

62:54And he has two great receivers to throw to and a tight end who should be healthy this year and the number

63:01one overall pick in fantasy in the backfield. A lot of which is based on the fact that people are optimistic about his receiving going up as well.

63:08So, yeah, there's a lot of reasons for me, I think, to not click on Joe Burrow.

63:13I have him 59th overall. His ADP is 50th overall.

63:16And Lamar is 39th overall. I have him 47th overall.

63:19I realize this is supposed to be more about the red in Burrow than it is about the green in Prescott.

63:25But I just want to say this again. Prescott, his five best fantasy seasons are quarterback two, quarterback three, quarterback six, quarterback seven, quarterback six.

63:32He was quarterback six last year. He was quarterback three back in 2023.

63:35And you look at his career resume, this is black ink, meaning league leading stats all over the place.

63:41He's 36 touchdowns in 2003, led the league. He led the league in completions last year, in completions in 2023.

63:46He's been over 4,400 passing yards in four different seasons.

63:49I think you can make a case that Dak Prescott has been the most underrated quarterback in football.

63:54If it's not Brock Purdy, maybe it's Dak Prescott.

63:57Yeah, I mean, listen, I'm not going to argue with you on that one.

64:01I'm very much in on Dak Prescott this year.

64:03Just one other player to consider here in the red light section is Patrick Mahomes, who definitely goes much later than all these guys.

64:10He's the 100th overall player off the board. Yet you are saying Mahomes is a red light player.

64:15He is the very top of my fourth tier, which means I'm usually not drafting Mahomes in a one quarterback league.

64:21So explain the case against Patrick Mahomes this year.

64:23First of all, this idea that Andy Reid and Patrick Mahomes are just going to magically make everything sing in this offense.

64:30Last three years, Kansas City Chiefs 15th, 15th and 21st in points.

64:33Last two years, Kansas City Chiefs 16th and 20th in offensive yards.

64:36I realize Mahomes missed some time last year, but it wasn't like he missed half the season.

64:41He missed like the last three or four games of the season.

64:44This is a Maserati that's been like a, you know, just like a more of a junker car the last couple of seasons.

64:51I was like, well, okay, who's on the offense?

64:53It's the last lap of Travis Kelsey. He's becoming a catch and fall guy now.

64:58I don't know what Xavier Worthy is. We talked about the reservations of drafting Rasheed Rice.

65:02Maybe this offense revolves around Kenneth Walker, dare I say.

65:05You know, producer Collin was talking about Patrick Mahomes is the guy that your uncle, who does one fantasy draft a year right before the season.

65:12You know, he's probably drafting out of a magazine.

65:15Nothing wrong with magazines, but by the time September 1st rolls around, it's not all that relevant anymore.

65:20That's the guy who's drafting Patrick Mahomes. You don't want to be your uncle.

65:24You don't want to be that guy. You don't want to draft out of something that was published back in the spring.

65:30You're better than that. I think the offense is going to revolve around Kenneth Walker.

65:34That's the thing. To me, this looks like a year where I don't even necessarily think this is bad for the Chiefs.

65:40I think they could win a lot of games doing it this way.

65:44Be more of a rock fight team. Lean on the run game.

65:47Lean on the defense where they more heavily invested in transforming that defense this offseason than they did in the passing game in particular.

65:54There's no question. I don't want to totally just rule out Mahomes as a quarterback because, number one, he's Patrick Mahomes.

66:00He's one of the best quarterbacks we've seen play the game.

66:03And the offensive line is good. And they do have Cyrus Allen, you know, the next greatest receiver of all time on the roster as well.

66:10So I don't want to totally rule that out.

66:13Again, hard to say, is that a bit or is that serious?

66:16But the reality is I do want to just at least leave the door open that this can be a good offense

66:22for the Kansas City Chiefs and an efficient offense because Kenneth Walker fundamentally changes everything as a runner.

66:27But I think that can still equate to him being, you know, a solid fantasy quarterback and not somebody that at his ADP really beats you.

66:35There's one other thing we have to mention with Mahomes.

66:38I should have mentioned up front last year. After he was his most resourceful year as a runner, volume, efficiency, rushing touchdowns, he has a major knee blowout.

66:45There's no way that stuff year over year is going to be repeatable.

66:49They don't want to play that way. And you can just basically say goodbye to all 80 percent of those stats, I think.

66:56Yeah, based on how they've acted this offseason, they don't want to do that and they don't want to do as much of the like scammy underneath stuff.

67:03I think this is a team that wants to push the ball vertically and they want to have a really good running game.

67:10And that's where the Kenneth Walker thing comes into play.

67:13Like Kenneth Walker wanted to he wanted to leave Seattle after being kind of like a part time back there and kind

67:19of seeing his role reduced despite the fact that he was the Super Bowl MVP.

67:23He wanted to go somewhere where he is going to be the guy like he's going to be the guy in this backfield.

67:29And I think it's just weird to say when Patrick Mahomes is future Hall of Famer, Travis Kelsey, future Hall of Famer, the whole deal.

67:36The most important player on this offense this year, I do think it's going to be Kenneth Walker.

67:42He's the guy who I want to keep climbing up my overall rankings.

67:45And I'm probably I'm not like again, I'm not crossing off like Mahomes will be terrible this year or anything.

67:51It was just not somebody at 100th overall that I'm I'm really drafting proactively.

67:55So answer this question for me. If Patrick Mahomes beats his ADP this year, it's because fill in the blank beat his ADP among the pass catchers.

68:02It's because Matt Harmon was right about Cyrus Allen and he really is.

68:06OK, it was like a massive steal. I this I truly think that's the only way that this happens, because, you know,

68:12Xavier Worthy, I want to give him a pass for a lot of what happened last year because he blasted Travis Kelsey

68:18and him got, you know, they collided on the mesh concept, blasted his shoulder four plays into the damn season.

68:24But his shoulder is hurt again. Like, like that's already a problem.

68:27Rasheed Rice, not only does he have all the red flags you talked about, he's a health risk the whole deal.

68:33Like, and he's a guy that they want to get away from some of that stuff in the offense.

68:39They need like a real deal man coverage beater.

68:41And I mean, that's what Cyrus Allen is for sure.

68:44So that's the way that I truly think that's the way that this goes wrong.

68:48And, you know, if that happens, I mean, my Cyrus Allen bags are packed.

68:52I don't care about the fact that I don't I don't draft Patrick Mahomes this year in fantasy.

68:57Well, from your lips to God's ears. I mean, let's do it.

69:00Let's get let's get Allen and all of our teams as a Mr.

69:04Relevant Fantasy pick. There we go. I can't believe I didn't have him be one of my one dollar all stars.

69:10At the Fantasy Football Expo. That's pretty humiliating. Some of the guys that we think might beat Patrick Mahomes from an overall

69:16scoring perspective, we will discuss about those guys in our sleeper section, which we will get into right after this quick break.

69:22All right, we're back. And let's get into it.

69:25Scott quarterback sleepers here for the people. If we're sitting here talking about man, this this position is really interesting.

69:30It's really deep. This is where we feel the depth of the position.

69:34Once we get out of the top 120 picks in Yahoo drafts right now, you brought four to the table.

69:40We're also going to include Malik Willis in this discussion, who maybe is a little bit of a yellow light player for you at 130th overall.

69:47But let's quickly touch on Malik Willis here. I think the appeal is obvious.

69:51He is perhaps the most efficient runner at the quarterback position right now.

69:55I know that sounds crazy, but the stats do bear it out.

69:58And yet a lot of questions in the passing game, of course.

70:01So Scott, what are your hesitations on Malik Willis?

70:04Why is he not a green light sleeper for you this late in the draft?

70:08Only because I just question the passing ceiling. Number one, he really hasn't been asked to throw the ball all that much,

70:14even with the decent infrastructure he had in Green Bay.

70:17And Miami has set him up to fail with the receivers they have right now.

70:21But Malik Willis is going to have games where he doesn't play well this year and he still scores 19 points.

70:27He's obviously the most Konami-ish code of the back nine quarterbacks.

70:30So, I mean, back nine ADP, not back nine in age because Willis is still a young player.

70:35But he's going to be a player. I don't know that you want to watch him if you watch for him in fantasy this year.

70:42But, man, there's going to be a lot of Miami got blown out again.

70:46And there's Malik Willis running in his second touchdown.

70:49And now he's quarterback three for the week. Yeah.

70:51My thing with Malik Willis, Scott, is I just feel as if he is going to be QB 22 on the week

70:57right up until the fourth quarter where he has like three scrambles that just make him a QB one every single week.

71:04So, again, I still have him ranked probably in the same range as you, QB 19.

71:08And the only reason I would say that maybe I'm not just moonwalking him right into the QB one range is just

71:14that it's a lot of that same stuff that people said about Justin Fields last year.

71:19Well, he can't get benched. He can't get benched.

71:21Everybody can get benched. And Justin Fields did indeed get benched.

71:24And, like, there's definitely a world, I don't think it's likely, but there is a world where, you know, Quinn Ewers is

71:31starting games for this Dolphins team because it just never comes together.

71:34But I do think that he's going to have big weeks as Malik Willis.

71:38So, again, I'm pretty comfortable, as I said earlier on in the show, doing like in a single quarterback league, waiting all

71:44the way to get Malik Willis and Tyler Shuck.

71:47And I want to talk about Tyler Shuck here.

71:49131st overall ADP. He never was like a big-time fantasy quarterback really at any point last year.

71:54At the same time, though, I'm really excited about this Saints offense.

71:57The more and more I think about it, the more excited I get.

72:01So where are you at on Tyler Shuck? Yeah, I'm in on Shuck again.

72:05You know, and I disagree that he maybe wasn't that exciting for fantasy.

72:08His weekly scoring last five weeks, quarterback six, quarterback 16, quarterback 16, quarterback nine, quarterback four.

72:13So he was in the – there's a quarterback 12 before that segment.

72:17So he was a quarterback one and four the last six weeks.

72:20Kellen Moore, right answer. Chris Alave, dynamic receiver. They drafted a first-round receiver.

72:24I even think Jawan Johnson is grossly underrated at the tight end position.

72:27Get him as your second tight end. Play you can regress and win on.

72:31I'm going to write about that tomorrow. But Saints were fun last year at the end of last season.

72:36I think they could be one of these – not sure they're good, but they're kind of fun.

72:42They're kind of frisky. They're scoring 24, 27 points a week, indoor schedule.

72:45Yeah, I think Shuck is actually well-respected in fantasy.

72:48He's only ranked as low as he is just that speaks to the depth of the position.

72:52But, man, he would be a great quarterback three in super flex or even a quarterback two on certain builds.

72:58I believe in Kellen Moore and I believe in Tyler Shuck.

73:01Saints had the last laugh. They drafted an old quarterback.

73:04He was kind of a quasi-prospect, and, man, he was looking the part at the end of last season.

73:09Yeah, he really looked like a big boy real-deal quarterback last year, just getting in the gun and shooting from the far

73:15hash to the field, like these big outbreaking routes outside the numbers too.

73:19Made some real-deal big-boy throws. It was really stark watching Chris Olave with Spencer Rattler in the start of the year for reception perception.

73:26And, like, I think Spencer Rattler is a totally fine backup quarterback in the league and I think is actually a nice little hit.

73:33Like, you can get through a rough patch with Spencer Rattler, and that offense was pretty good with him at times.

73:38But Rattler just could never quite, and the stats bear this out, could never activate Chris Olave over the middle of the field.

73:45And then as soon as Tyler Shuck gets in there, he's just ripping these big, big routes to Chris Olave.

73:51And that's a route that Jordan Tyson runs really well in addition to you're seeing him from camp run these big, outbreaking

73:57routes really well, which, again, Shuck can push the ball outside the numbers.

74:00So, yeah, to me, this is an offense on the upswing.

74:03I want to get Tyler Shuck on the upswing as well.

74:07So I love the way you frame this guy.

74:09Like, he's a perfect QB2 target in Superflex right now.

74:12And again, Kellen Moore. And they want to play at a fast pace too, so they're probably getting a few extra snaps every week as well.

74:19Yeah, I wouldn't say that. Kellen Moore is probably not in the Ben Johnson, the Liam Cohen, you know, maybe Mike McDaniel

74:25tier of play callers, but he's right up there, man.

74:28Like, he's pretty close. And from a pace perspective, you know, there's just no question this is a team that is going to push the pace overall.

74:36Do you go to the moon with Kellen Moore?

74:38Maybe not. Is he a right answer? Absolutely. Yeah, you're getting out of the atmosphere at least.

74:43Jordan Love, I think, is an interesting one here that you put as a green light player.

74:48I believe he's in the sleeper section here at 124th overall.

74:51Make the case for Jordan Love, Scott, because if you just look at, again, just raw fantasy numbers over the last three

74:57years, he averages 16.8 points, does Jordan Love, you know, QB19 over that span.

75:01So where do we see the progression here from Love to get him into this ballpark?

75:05Well, we've seen some ceiling here. He was quarterback five back in 2023.

75:09And then the next season, he gets hurt early in the year.

75:13Kind of ruins that year. And then last year, you just wonder that the offense being designed around Jacobs, all the platooning at the wide receiver position.

75:20I'm believing that they're finally done with that. They're going to streamline.

75:23And we can finally draft their three receivers proactively.

75:26Hopefully they get Tucker Kraft back at full throttle early in the season.

75:30I'm not sure if week one is realistic for that.

75:32But this could be a fun offense if they actually play their best players.

75:36I still think LeFleur is the right answer as their offensive play designer.

75:40And the world is over Jordan Love. Nobody remembers that because NFL seasons age like dog season.

75:45So when I say he was quarterback five in 2023, that might as well be 1976.

75:49I mean, it's just so long ago that nobody cares about it anymore.

75:53But I believe that finally Matt LeFleur has a sense of how he wants to build this passing game.

75:58It's not going to be let's get our best players off the field, which has been like the last couple of years.

76:04We always trot out the stat that no Green Bay pass catcher has gone past 100 targets since they lost Devontae Adams.

76:11And that's been a bug, not a feature. This year it's going to get fixed.

76:15This year, Jordan Love, you're going to draft him.

76:17He's at least going to get you what you drafted him for.

76:21However, he definitely can end the season as a top 12 fantasy quarterback.

76:24Yeah, 14th in pass attempts per game over the last three years.

76:28I do think that changes. That's the thing where I believe there's just going to be more passing volume this year.

76:34Like Jacobs off field stuff kind of on the downswing to of his career.

76:38The defense is not going to be as good as previous seasons.

76:41And I think they're going to live out of 11 personnel a lot more, which is good news for Jaden Reed, who's

76:47also a little banged up right now. Matthew going a little banged up.

76:51That is the one thing I would say is a little nerve wracking as someone that wants to believe in this Green Bay passing game.

76:58I love the fact that they've cut down to probably just these three receivers, no rotation, the whole deal.

77:03But Tucker Kraft coming back from an injury. Christian Watson has never been the picture of health.

77:08Reed has never been the picture of health and is banged up right now.

77:12Matthew Golden also dealing with a little bit of an injury.

77:15You know, we're a couple of injuries away from Savion Williams and Sky Moore running a lot of routes for this team.

77:21I do just want to acknowledge that at least.

77:24But also remember, the most important defensive player, Micah Parsons, is on the PUP.

77:27And all the concerns you have with Jacobs, if I was on the running back show, which you'll do with Ray, I

77:34would say that he is my red light running back or one of my red light running backs.

77:39I don't want to be drafting the back nine of Josh Jacobs.

77:42So this offense, which has not been about Jordan Love for the last two seasons, there's going to be a shift in that.

77:49Generally, when you look at the play calling tendencies and how often teams throw in neutral situations, Green Bay is usually 28th in that stat.

77:56This year, they're going to have to move up.

77:58And I think LeFleur is a smart enough coach to realize that.

78:01We have Daniel Jones as a green light player, a sleeper.

78:05And I mean, I think the case for that is pretty obvious.

78:08Although, obviously, you know, his top two receivers are dealing with injuries.

78:11Josh Downs, probably not serious, but a little bit of a groin injury.

78:15Alec Pierce, I mean, just no timeline for his return.

78:18Still, still, that is a little worrisome. But obviously, just where he's going ADP-wise, if he can be even closer to the

78:24player he was last year, that's value. But the guy I want to talk about here before we get out of here,

78:30Scott, is actually a player who I think the industry has completely overcorrected on.

78:34And that's Baker Mayfield. 126th overall ADP. I mean, he's not even close to being in QB1 range.

78:39And last year, I thought Mayfield was way overdrafted and people were way too excited about Mayfield as a fantasy quarterback.

78:45And now I think the industry is really overcorrected on him.

78:48He's QB10 in points per game over the last three years since he arrived at the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

78:53I know Mike Evans is gone. Obviously, that stinks.

78:56But they have depth at this position. Like Ted Hurst flashing in camp as a rookie.

79:00Chris Godwin probably healthier this year. I mean, yeah, most likely healthier than he was last year.

79:05I think Emeka Ibuka is a dark horse to lead the NFL in catches this year, as I've talked about on the show.

79:12You know, Jalen McMillan a little banged up, but he's a good vertical receiver as well.

79:16This offensive line, like we're talking about we're drafting offensive lines and play callers.

79:20I think Zach Robinson is above board as a play caller.

79:23And I think this is a top five offensive line in the league.

79:27Like, again, I even I'll personally admit, like my feelings on Baker Mayfield kind of are a little bit of a moving

79:33target as a franchise quarterback as an answer. But I do kind of like that he's, you know, coming in a little chippy this year.

79:40Talking about like he's doing the whole nobody respects me thing.

79:43They didn't give me a contract extension. I just think Baker Mayfield is very undervalued as the 126th player off the board.

79:49And somebody that if he was a top 10 fantasy quarterback because the line is good and all these pass catchers are

79:55good and Zach Robinson moves guys around and stuff like that would 0% surprise me.

80:00And based on the ADP, it sounds like a lot of people would be pretty surprised.

80:04Yeah. Another regressive win candidate where he quarterback 10, quarterback for quarterback 12 the last three seasons.

80:09Now, part of that speaks to Mayfield playing 17 games in all those seasons.

80:13So those are cumulative point ranks. But still, he's always been a little bit underrated.

80:17And you like Baker coming in hot. You like Baker with the chip on his shoulder.

80:21Hopefully they have the wide receiver depth to offset the loss of Mike Evans.

80:25But you just listen to a bunch of guys who are all talented.

80:29And even their running backs can catch the ball to all three of them, I think, have pass catching chops.

80:35So in the offensive line being good, Zach Robinson is kind of the X factor here.

80:39I don't know what he did that was so impressive in Atlanta that got him this Tampa Bay gig in the first place.

80:46I think at the end of the year, we're going to be saying, oh, you know, Zach Robinson is finally kind of

80:52finding his way in the NFL McVay tree and all that.

80:55Or it's going to be like, oh, how did Zach Robinson get this job?

80:59Maybe we need to get another guy in here.

81:01I'm not sure where we're going to get to the fork in the road, which direction we're going to take.

81:07But with you on Baker, maybe. And this is, look, the boring – I used to talk about fantasy baseball, the Ibanez All-Stars, the boring veteran value guys.

81:15Like Courtland Sutton is one of those guys. Boring veteran.

81:18Nobody's excited. Nobody goes to their draft thinking about drafting Courtland Sutton.

81:21Nobody goes to their draft thinking about drafting Baker Mayfield.

81:24But, man, you're drafting him above his floor. And there's certainly upside here because he's shown it the last three years.

81:30Again, I get it. He's going to make a bonehead decision here and there.

81:34He's going to throw a few balls to the other team.

81:37But Baker Mayfield, his entire time in Tampa Bay has been fantasy relevant.

81:40I don't see why that would change in 2026.

81:43Neither do I. I love the way you're saying that.

81:46He goes later than his floor is if he stays healthy for 17 games.

81:50I really like the Baker Mayfield thing. That's something I didn't expect to say on the QB preview podcast.

81:55But that's when you look at the ADP and you're raising an eyebrow at that.

81:59Scott, great show here today. I think we gave the full deep dive on quarterbacks in 2026.

82:04If you come away from this not knowing what to do about your quarterback position, I guess just rewind.

82:09Like, watch the video over again. Listen to the episode again because we gave you a full deep dive on this whole thing.

82:16And position preview week, it rolls on here on the channel, on the show throughout the course of the next few days.

82:22Tomorrow, it is a big show. Ray Garvin joins me for the wide receiver position preview.

82:26That's right. Reception perception meets Trinity score. If we can't figure out how to get your wide receivers right by the end

82:33of that 90 minutes, something has gone terribly, terribly wrong.

82:35So I think you guys are going to love this show.

82:38It will be live, as we always are, 4 p.m.

82:41Eastern right here on this YouTube channel. We'll see you all tomorrow.

82:45Until then, we are out.

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