PodcastFrom Yahoo Fantasy Forecast
2026 Fantasy predictions: Who is this year’s George Pickens (WR outside top 20 ADP, finishes top 5) + AJ Brown trade REAX
STACKED extracted the fantasy-relevant player signal from this podcast and kept the full transcript here for context.
1 hr 29 min
Duration
Estimated from transcript
Jun 3, 2026
Published
Wed, June 3, 2026
20
Player insights
13
Players mentioned
Topics
DeVonta SmithJaylen WaddleA.J. BrownChristian WatsonD.J. MooreGeorge PickensJameson WilliamsMakai LemonMarvin Harrison Jr.Michael WilsonOdell BeckhamRomeo DoubsTerry McLaurin
Player analysis
Player insights
A.J. Brown
NegativeInjury0:37
There are concerns about A.J. Brown's knee, which could affect his performance moving forward.
Insight pagePositiveProjection0:59
Brown's performance may be impacted by his age and previous injuries, but he could still produce solid numbers in a new offense.
Insight pageChristian Watson
PositiveBreakout0:01
Christian Watson finished as the wide receiver 16 in fantasy points per game last year and has the potential to break into the top 12 this season with a clearer role in the Packers' offense.
Insight pagePositiveUsage0:01
With a more consolidated wide receiver room, Watson is expected to see increased target opportunities, which could lead to a significant fantasy impact.
Insight pageD.J. Moore
PositiveValue0:37
DJ Moore's current ADP seems low for a player of his caliber, but he may not be a league-winning piece for fantasy despite being a solid addition to the Buffalo Bills.
Insight pageNegativeValue0:39
DJ Moore's ADP at wide receiver 20 is considered aggressive, and while he has potential in Buffalo, his recent performance does not justify such a high draft position.
Insight pageDeVonta Smith
PositiveBreakout0:11
Devonta Smith has shown he can be a top receiver in the offense and is poised for a breakout season as he finally gets the opportunity to shine.
Insight pagePositiveValue0:19
Devontae Smith is currently being drafted as wide receiver 11, and there's optimism that he could outperform A.J. Brown this season due to his high success rate against man coverage and an expected upgrade in the Eagles' passing attack.
Insight pagePositiveProjection0:56
Devonta Smith is expected to outperform A.J. Brown this season, especially given his lower ADP and consistent performance when Brown has missed time.
Insight pageGeorge Pickens
NegativeProjection0:33
George Pickens may face challenges this season due to contract issues and not attending voluntary OTAs, which could hinder his ability to meet current ADP expectations.
Insight pageJameson Williams
PositiveSleeper0:52
Jamison Williams is currently undervalued at wide receiver 26 and has shown the potential to be a top 10 receiver, especially if Amond Ra St. Brown misses time.
Insight pageJaylen Waddle
PositiveRole0:01
Waddle is stepping into a clear number one role, which enhances his fantasy outlook significantly compared to his previous situation.
Insight pagePositiveValue0:56
Jalen Waddle's ADP is surprisingly low at 27, and he is being undervalued despite being a productive player with over 900 yards and six touchdowns last season. He has the potential to be a fantasy wide receiver one in a better offensive situation this year.
Insight pagePositiveProjection0:59
Waddle has shown consistent improvement and could thrive in a new offense that is expected to throw the ball more, especially with Bo Nix leading the charge.
Insight pageMakai Lemon
PositiveInjury0:20
Makai Lemon is dealing with a hamstring issue that has caused him to miss some OTAs, which could delay his progress as a rookie.
Insight pageMarvin Harrison Jr.
NegativeBust0:01
Marvin Harrison Jr. is not expected to be a breakout candidate this year due to a crowded receiving corps and uncertainty at quarterback, making him a risky pick.
Insight pageMichael Wilson
NegativeBust0:01
Similar to Marvin Harrison Jr., Michael Wilson is not projected to have a significant fantasy impact this season due to the crowded receiver situation and quarterback uncertainty.
Insight pageOdell Beckham
NegativeRole0:24
Odell Beckham Jr. signed with the New York Giants, but his fantasy impact is expected to be minimal as he is now 34 years old and faces stiff competition from younger receivers.
Insight pageRomeo Doubs
NegativeDepth Chart0:06
With A.J. Brown's arrival, Romeo Dobbs is pushed back to a role similar to what he had with the Packers, limiting his fantasy appeal.
Insight pageTerry McLaurin
PositiveValue0:46
Terry McLaurin's ADP at wide receiver 24 presents a great value, as he has the potential to return to wide receiver 1 status in a new offensive scheme.
Insight pageFull transcript
Episode Transcript
0:00Big Show for you here today. It is the first episode of our Flip the Script series.
0:05We've got Justin Boone in the saddle as we discuss who is going to be this year's George Pickens.
0:10Yes, who are the receivers that are going outside the top 20 that could potentially sneak their way into the top 5 if all the situations break right.
0:18Plus, Boone and I react to the AJ Brown trade where we rank in him, where we rank in Devontae Smith, all
0:24that and more coming up on today's show. Boone June begins.
0:27Let's get into it. No better time to watch the NFL than during the playoffs, but what's even better than that?
0:33Going to see a live NFL playoff game, connecting with other fans, being in such an electric environment.
0:38But what's not so fun? Getting the tickets. Very different and very frustrating story there.
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1:46Download the GameTime app today. What's going on, everyone?
1:49I'm Matt Harmon. Welcome to the Yahoo Fantasy Forecast.
1:51And it is a hell of a day to talk ball.
1:54And joining me to do just that is our guy, my friend, the wonderful.
1:58Look at the company man with the Yahoo Fantasy hat on.
2:01Look at that. It's our guy, Justin Boone. Boone, what's going on, man?
2:05Well, there is a reason why I'm wearing the hat today.
2:08I had a great weekend once a year. Me and my buddies from high school, from university, we get a big group of guys together.
2:15This year, we had, I think, the most ever, like 14, 15 guys.
2:19It was awesome. It was great catching up. And I finally got some sun, Harmon.
2:23The only problem is I can't find the middle ground, man.
2:26It's either I'm Casper the Friendly Ghost White or I am red and peeling.
2:30And after I showered today, that's exactly what happened.
2:32I looked like I was a snake coming out of my skin.
2:36So we're throwing the hat on. We're hiding most of that.
2:39But yes, also being a company man along the way.
2:42Well, I am sorry to hear that. But my brother-in-law once said to me, which I'm sure this is not good health advice.
2:48You got to burn it to earn it in relation to the tan.
2:52So, you know, like I said, I don't think that's good health advice.
2:55I'll send you the link to my face sunscreen, the Korean sunscreen that I use on the face.
3:00I don't know if you're doing the Korean sunscreen just yet.
3:03But trust me, it will change your life. You will never have the red face again.
3:08I burn everywhere else. Never burn on the face.
3:10Shout out to the Korean and the hands, too, because obviously you're doing it on the hands.
3:15That's definitely nobody cares about that. All right, Boone, nobody cares about my Korean sunscreen takes here, but I will send you the link privately.
3:22You told me a few products over the year here that I've worked for Yahoo.
3:26You've told me a few products and I normally just go, oh, whatever, Harmon, whatever.
3:31I think I do need to start listening to you because it might solve a few problems that I've had over the year.
3:37I don't know a lot about everything, but I know a lot about a little.
3:41OK, so like the skincare stuff, thanks to my wife exclusively.
3:44I know I do know a lot about the skincare stuff.
3:47Anyways, definitely no one came to this show to hear the skincare breakdown.
3:51What they did come here to hear is that we are kicking off our flip the script series as we do every
3:57single summer here on the Yahoo fantasy forecast. This is the first time, though, the boon is going to be in the saddle for this one.
4:04And the series, if you're unfamiliar, if you're new, shout out.
4:07Thank you for joining us. We try to identify this year's kind of big surprises by looking back at last year's big surprises.
4:14Essentially, like who's going to be this version of last year's this?
4:17It's a little bit tongue in cheek, Boone. Honestly, when I came up with the idea a few years ago, because I
4:23kind of think this type of analysis is a little silly, but it's June.
4:27This is the time to be a little silly here on the podcast.
4:31But not everything just like copy and paste from last year.
4:34That's not really how this works. However, it does give us some good parameters, some guidelines to try to make some of our predictions for the upcoming season.
4:42So for this one, we're going to try to look at who is going to be this year's George Pickens, essentially a
4:48wide receiver going outside the top 20 wide receivers in ADP that can finish top five.
4:52Spoiler alert, probably none of them are going to do it, but we're at least going to try to see if any
4:58of them have a pathway to doing it. But before we do that, somehow June has become a massive news month.
5:04June 1st, now a massive day of news in the NFL calendar.
5:08That's where we're at at this point. We had two ginormous trades to talk about some fantasy fallout here.
5:13One of them obviously bigger than the other. Of course, Miles Garrett went to the Los Angeles Rams.
5:18But the other trade that impacts our lives from a fantasy standpoint, A.J.
5:22Brown finally traded to the New England Patriots. The Patriots get A.J.
5:25Brown in the deal. The Eagles get a 2028 first round pick and a 2027 fifth round pick.
5:30Boone, I have admittedly talked so much, written so much, spoken so much about this trade.
5:34Even though we all knew it was coming, I've still somehow talked about it way too much over the last three days.
5:41So I am really curious and I think the people are probably much more curious to hear what you think about this
5:47deal and what it means from all sides in fantasy.
5:50But let's start first on the Patriots side with A.J.
5:52Brown. Justin Boone, what do you think about this?
5:55I'm cautiously optimistic. I think it's probably the right way to put it, at least for redraft anyway.
6:00I think Dynasty, and this might be controversial, but I think in Dynasty this might be an opportunity to try to sell him high.
6:07He is an older receiver. He's going to be 29 this year.
6:10However, depending where your team is at, if you're a contender this season, maybe a hang.
6:14But if you're not or if you don't feel like you have all the pieces you need on your squad, I think
6:21this is an opportunity to move him because I don't know how much he does have left in the tank.
6:26I think he could have one really good year.
6:29And right now I'm ranking him as such. I still have him ranked as a low end wide receiver one.
6:34I think he could come through in a big way.
6:37I think he's the kind of guy who's going to be motivated with the fresh start, want to show everybody that last
6:43year and really the last couple seasons were just kind of blips on the radar.
6:47And he still does have enough left in the tank that he is one of the top wideouts.
6:52But I don't think we're talking about him as an elite guy anymore.
6:56I think he is going to fall into this offense and do a role that they really needed to fill.
7:02And it's not that he's the same kind of receiver stuff on digs, but he can be that alpha that they need.
7:08He can be that receiver for Drake May and he's getting a big time quarterback upgrade in terms of the fact that
7:14Drake May is a much better downfield passer. Drake May is going to take more shots downfield.
7:19I think that's going to do well for Brown, but there's a lot of question marks here to Harmon.
7:24Like I think last year during the season we were talking about this guy.
7:28Was he even the best receiver on his team still that Devonta Smith was the better fantasy play, at least for some
7:34of those weeks in the second half of the season.
7:37There's some concerns about potentially his knee. Is that going to be an issue moving forward?
7:41Or is that just other teams that didn't get the deal done?
7:45Throwing that out there is perhaps a reason why they didn't ultimately get that deal done.
7:49So I think there's some reasons to be concerned in terms of his age, in terms of, you know, the injury, that sort of thing.
7:56But he's going to get a lot of volume in this offense.
7:59And like I said, I do still think he has enough left in the tank to step in there and put up really good numbers.
8:06I think it's unfortunate for the rest of the pass catchers in New England because I think Romeo Dobbs, I did not have high hopes.
8:13I did not think we're going to end the offseason with him as the number one receiver in that offense.
8:19But this just pushes him back down to the role that we have been used to him serving in Green Bay, right, with the Packers.
8:26And that's a wide receiver for Flex, kind of a boomer bus type guy.
8:30He'll have his games where he finds the end zone a couple times.
8:33But week to week, not really going to be that excited to have him in my lineup as a consistent starter.
8:39So I think in past that, there's not much in this receiver core other than Hunter Henry, who himself is kind of
8:45like a high end tight end too. So in terms of all those guys, I'm not really interested in them for fantasy.
8:52I will draft AJ Brown. And I don't know if we want to jump to the Eagle stuff, but I kind of
8:58like Devonta Smith a little better this year, Harmon.
9:00I don't know if that's a controversial take or not, but I would rather draft Devonta Smith, especially because he's going about
9:06a round later in ADP than Brown is. Yeah, let's put a pin in the Devonta Smith thing because I want to come back to that for sure.
9:14But just to kind of jump back at the very part of where you ended it there with the New England Patriots
9:20was I think they have a lot of collection of interesting receivers and pass catchers and offensive weapons here.
9:26But yeah, they didn't have like one main guy.
9:28Right. And in theory, that is what AJ Brown should be.
9:31And look, like I said, we've known this trade was coming for a long time.
9:35My rankings and my dynasty rankings, my redraft rankings have reflected the fact that Devonta Smith was going to be Eagles wide
9:42receiver one and AJ Brown was going to be the Patriots wide receiver one.
9:45Like we've known this was coming for a minute now.
9:48So I don't think there should be some like massive market shift one way or another, because this is this is pretty
9:54much been set in stone for quite some time.
9:57I like the way that you began this with like it really matters on your expectations for AJ Brown.
10:02I don't think that the Patriots are expecting to get peak prime AJ Brown.
10:06I don't think that we should expect to see peak prime AJ Brown with the New England Patriots.
10:11If that was the case, they would have traded like a first and a third.
10:15And there wouldn't be some of these medical concerns.
10:18Right. And when I say that we don't expect peak prime AJ Brown, like Boone, peak prime AJ Brown is a top three receiver in the NFL.
10:25That's who he's been over the last over basically the on balance of his entire career from 2020 to 2024 in reception perception.
10:32Brown averaged a 78.9% success rate versus man coverage and an 83% success rate versus press.
10:36If you're not familiar with RP numbers, those are like legitimately elite.
10:40Even 2024, he led the NFL all players. I charted in success rate versus man coverage, but we did see a dip
10:46pretty much across the board last year, specifically on his ability to separate on downfield routes.
10:50Now, again, because I've talked about this a bajillion times, I wrote about it in his RP profile, so I won't kind of stretch it out here.
10:58His numbers were better in the first half a year, half of the year than the second half of the year from a reception perception standpoint.
11:05And like I saw Dwayne McFarland point this out, and this is definitely true.
11:09Like he had the hamstring injury in the first half of the year.
11:13He set out the game before the bye. Then they had the bye week.
11:17He comes back and even statistically, he was much better down the stretch.
11:20Even still, though, the player that he was in the back half, I still think was a step down from elite AJ
11:26Brown, but still a very good AJ Brown. So that's always the difficult part with receiver decline.
11:31Boone is that sometimes we see these guys, you know, you just mentioned Stefan Diggs.
11:35He's been a great example of this that I think he was in decline in his final year in Buffalo and then
11:41still has kind of like aged gracefully. Right. Like he's still been a very useful player for the Texans and a really,
11:48really good player for the Patriots last year. Sometimes you see that other times, you know, to bring up a situation that
11:54I a longtime listeners to this podcast. No, I got absolutely wrong was like Allen Robinson with the L.A.
11:59Rams, by the way, in his age 29 season with a long history of lower body injuries, just like AJ Brown.
12:05It's why I think this risk is important to just acknowledge here.
12:08There were some signs of decline his final year in Chicago.
12:11I was like, you know, he wasn't happy with in Chicago.
12:14He wasn't happy with the situation. You know, he was looking for a new contract.
12:19Didn't get it. By the way, a lot of the same stuff that people will point out about AJ Brown.
12:24Like, was he given full effort the whole deal?
12:27He there was a decline in his RP numbers.
12:29I kind of like hand waved it and thought he'd be fine with the Rams.
12:33He was not fine with the Rams. Des Bryant, another example, like when it was over, it was over for Des.
12:39So I don't think that's what's going to happen with Brown.
12:42I actually think there are ways that the Patriots can use him to get like a better version of that.
12:48But that's just the question here. Like, is the decline going to be a graceful one to where I kind of will
12:54still probably have him ranked around wide receiver 15, 16 ish?
12:57Like, I'm not going to say he's going to be terrible this year, but I think you do have to just acknowledge
13:03those risks as you're kind of analyzing and ranking him for the season.
13:07Yeah, I still have a wide receiver 11. Like I said, low end wide receiver one.
13:11But I think you make a really good point there.
13:14It's been a minute since we've seen him truly dominating.
13:17And when you talk about that fresh start and that added motivation, when he went to Philly, he had that.
13:22But he was a younger receiver at the time, right?
13:25This is not the same guy. And when he got to Philly the first couple seasons, over 1,400 yards both those years.
13:31The last couple of years just barely broke 1,000 yards.
13:34You know, we've seen him have seven touchdowns. You know, each of the last three seasons hasn't eclipsed that mark.
13:40He's the kind of guy that I think should be scoring double digit touchdowns every year.
13:44So you don't love to see that. Now, could that completely change with the Patriots and getting an upgraded quarterback and all that stuff?
13:51Yes, absolutely. And I will say, too, I was kind of down on Stefan Diggs last season, in part because he was coming off the injury.
13:58And yet they played it very smart. They kind of eased him along in the early going of the season.
14:04And they got really the most out of them, out of him.
14:07So I think the Patriots organization is a smart one.
14:10I think they will use Brown the right way.
14:12They will get the most out of him. And could he improve on the kind of numbers that Diggs put up last year?
14:19Absolutely. Diggs had four touchdowns last year. Like even if Brown comes in and puts up seven touchdowns, that's going to bump him up.
14:26And last year, you know, Diggs was the wide receiver, 18 and fantasy points per game from week four on.
14:31And I'm killing those first three weeks where they kind of just eased him in a little bit.
14:36We're not going to count those because that's just going to bump down his production there.
14:41So, yeah, I think this is a good spot for him.
14:44I think he does have something left in the tank.
14:46And I think he's going to be able to produce for fantasy.
14:50But like I said, would I be shocked if as the season goes along, he starts to fade a little bit?
14:56Would I be shocked if next year he has a big drop off?
14:59Not at all, because I think we're at that point in his career where all those things are coming at some point soon.
15:06Just how fast are they going to arrive? Yeah, right.
15:09I mean, the Patriots traded a 2028 first round pick.
15:11Like, would it be shocking if A.J. Brown is not on the roster when the Eagles are theoretically making that pick?
15:17Like, I don't think so, just because of the area of he is in his career.
15:22And like Jeff Muller does a great job on Twitter.
15:24He's been pointing this out for basically like a year now.
15:28A.J. Brown has been dealing with this this knee situation for a long time.
15:31He had an interview A.J. Brown did after they won the Super Bowl.
15:35We talked about like he was getting that thing drained twice a week before every game in the year that they won the Super Bowl.
15:42So like that is, again, these are the things that can push a receiver closer to the cliff than like it kind of it should seem.
15:49And again, he's only 29 years old. Like theoretically, he should have a long way to go.
15:54But some of these bigger body like power based receivers, I know that's why the Rams were concerned.
15:59As you said, it could just be like they're putting that out there because they didn't get the trade done, the whole deal.
16:06But whatever. Last point just on this, you mentioned like using him right.
16:09And I do think the Diggs thing is instructive here because Diggs for the Patriots last year was like a slot Z based receiver.
16:16And last time that Mike Rabel and A.J. Brown were together a long time ago, 2021 NFL season, Julio Jones was the Titans X receiver.
16:23And Brown took a career high snaps off the line of scrimmage in the backfield, like in motion, kind of as that Z option.
16:30So and with Romeo Dobbs, they're like, I don't I don't know why like Brown has to be the X and Dobbs
16:36has to be the guy that moves. Like what if it's Dobbs because he was playing X with the Packers last year?
16:42Like Kyle Williams was a sacrificial X receiver when he played last year.
16:45Keyshawn Booty was a sacrificial X. We'll see if he's on the roster.
16:49But I think that part makes me pretty optimistic about how they could use Brown.
16:53But I do want to talk about Devante Smith in Philadelphia.
16:56You said you have I was honestly kind of hoping we would disagree on this, but we actually have it the same.
17:02I also have Devante Smith ranked ahead of A.J.
17:05Brown this year, and I would draft Smith ahead of Brown.
17:08So kind of unpack why you have it ranked that way, Boone.
17:11I mean, I think he's just been one of these players that's been really overqualified for the position that he's been in.
17:18I think he could have been a number one receiver in an offense for a long time here.
17:23And yet the Eagles had this just like amazing group of talented players.
17:26You can even look at a guy like Dallas Goddard at tight end who when you'd see either A.J.
17:31Brown or Smith or both those guys injured and missing time, all of a sudden Dallas Goddard shows you what he can
17:38do and has these absolute monster games. Right. Because I think Dallas Goddard is the type of tight end that could be
17:44a top five fantasy asset if he had ever been in an offense where he was, you know, the number one or number two target getter.
17:51Like we see with some of these guys like Brock Bowers and Trey McBride and whatnot.
17:56So I think Smith is kind of in that situation where now he's finally going to get this opportunity.
18:01He's really in his prime. He's shown that and it's a small sample size, of course, but he's shown that when Brown
18:07has missed time in the past, he can get it done.
18:10Right. There's been five games over the last few seasons here where Brown has missed.
18:14And what's happened with Smith? He's averaged nine targets a game and 88 yards per game.
18:19He has been fantastic for fantasy during those games.
18:21And on top of that, he's been good for fantasy regardless.
18:24Like, I don't think we should act like this is like, you know, just an average receiver.
18:29He's been like a top 20 fantasy receiver many times in his career already.
18:33He can do this and to look at him now and go, is it that much of a stretch for him to
18:39jump five to 10 spots in potential fantasy finishes?
18:42I don't think so. So I think he belongs up there in that conversation with those guys, kind of the back end of the wide receiver.
18:49One range where there's a bunch of guys. We're going to talk about George Pickens as the show goes on here.
18:55Like, there's a bunch of guys in that range that all kind of have some red flags.
18:59I don't think it's that crazy to bump Smith above those guys and to potentially, even though he has some red flags,
19:06bump AJ Brown above those guys as well. Yeah.
19:08I don't think it's a level of ADP. But I do like that you're probably ahead of consensus, at least right now on Devontae Smith.
19:15I have him as my wide receiver 11. I do expect him to be better than AJ Brown this year.
19:21And it's for a lot of the reasons that you mentioned that.
19:24I do think he is. Like I say, there's a lot.
19:27AJ Brown was number one in success rate versus man coverage back in 2024 for reception perception.
19:32You know who's number two? Devontae Smith. Like he's he's been like that guy, I think, for a minute now.
19:37So he's definitely someone I'm really excited for this season.
19:40Yeah. And I think, too, and we've talked about it on the show before, I think we're expecting a little more from
19:46this passing attack this year with Sean Manning coming in and being the OC.
19:50I think the passing attack is going to get a little upgrade.
19:54So you're combining Brown moving out of the way and that passing attack potentially getting a little better in some of his competition.
20:00Well, I really like Makai Lemon. I really like Eli Stowers.
20:03We're not sure how fast those guys are going to step into these roles and really be major contributors.
20:08Right. I think that they're both going to be really good players.
20:12But we see already. Right. Makai Lemon missing some OTAs.
20:15He's got to believe a hamstring issue. And it's not that he can't be healthy for training camp and pick up from there and start the season strong.
20:22But we've often seen when rookies get these injuries in the offseason in the ramp up to their first year, it can
20:29delay their progress and it can kind of slow down.
20:31And we've found them becoming the player that they're eventually going to become.
20:35And sometimes we don't see that until a month into the season or in the second half of the season.
20:41So we know that Devontae Smith is very good.
20:43We know that he can be the number one in this offense.
20:46We've seen him do it in small sample sizes.
20:49So, yeah, I'm really excited to get him. And on top of the fact, like I mentioned, you're getting him cheaper than A.J.
20:55Brown. You're getting him in the third round or a little bit later, which I think is just an excellent value.
21:01No question about it. I agree with you. And yeah, good point on Makai Lemon.
21:05Even though these OTAs, I love how Dan Campbell described it at the podium.
21:09I believe it was last week. He said, I'm not really too concerned about the pajama party in May.
21:15I thought that was great. I had to use it on the show at least once.
21:19So shout out to Dan Campbell for that one.
21:22But again, the other part just to note is I hate when rookies miss like any time at receiver in the offseason.
21:28So not that that means, yeah, Makai Lemon is going to start slow or anything, but just something to monitor.
21:33I love that Devontae Smith can live in both worlds, like the old Eagles offense that's a little more static spread and
21:39shred, which is what Jalen Hurts likes to do.
21:42He can obviously live in that world, but also if they're going to do like more big in breaking routes off play
21:48action under center stuff is what I imagine. Sean Mannion and the crew wants to do.
21:53Devontae Smith can crush it in that world, too.
21:55So, yeah, we are going to be a very pro Devontae Smith podcast this offseason just on the Rams trading for Miles Garrett really quickly.
22:02Boone, I know we're a fantasy podcast, but it's probably the most insane trade maybe in NFL history.
22:07I don't mean to be dramatic here, but he's literally the reigning defensive player of the year going to a team that was already the Super Bowl favorite.
22:15So I'm not sure that there's like a fantasy fallout here from this one other than the Browns defense is probably going
22:21to be worse than it usually is without Miles Garrett, which maybe brings more passing volume to these guys over there.
22:27I don't know if you've had any thoughts on this, but I just at least wanted to give you a chance to
22:33riff on it because it is an insane trade.
22:36So any quick thoughts on this? I think we were already expecting the passing attack to be a little bit better just
22:42because of some of the upgraded weapons that they're going to have there.
22:45So I don't want to double count that. I want to overcount that stuff too much and start to expect that the
22:51Browns passing attack is going to be unreal in any way.
22:55I think just giving them a little upgrade in the projections is more than enough and will factor in the better talent and the defensive change obviously there.
23:02I think for me, the only real takeaway here is you're going to want that Rams defense, right?
23:07I've moved them up to the defense number three, basically in competition with the Seahawks for the second defense spot at the Texans number one.
23:14But the other interesting thing here is the talk that, hey, if Aaron Donald comes back, even if Aaron Donald comes back
23:21and just plays third downs or something like that, if that happens now, this is the best defense.
23:26And this is right up there with the Texans.
23:28And this is going to be a unit that you absolutely have to go get.
23:32Maybe we even draft a little bit higher than I normally recommend.
23:36You know, and I always say don't take a defense until the last round or two.
23:40Maybe we would actually spend up and get that defense because, yeah, it would be an unbelievable group at that point.
23:46But no, not too much to take away from this one.
23:49Other than the fact that I kind of think just this made sense for both teams.
23:53I don't think Garrett was happy in Cleveland. Like, I think, you know, he signs the deal.
23:58They don't make that big step. I don't think he wanted to spend the rest of his career in that, like, you know, perpetual rebuilding phase.
24:05So he gets out of there. He goes to contender and Cleveland gets a chance to use some of those picks and
24:12get a pretty good player in return where now maybe they can fill some of those holes and start to move in the right direction.
24:19Yeah, I think that's right on essentially everything you said there.
24:22I said this on football 301 with Nate Tice yesterday that I thought this was such a win win trade for both sides.
24:28So really makes a lot of sense there. Lastly, Odo Beckham Jr.
24:31signed with the New York Giants. The Giants also signed Brax.
24:34Stop laughing, Boone. Come on. Braxton Berrios also signed with the team.
24:38Juju Smith-Schuster signed with the team. My one thing just on OBJ, look, I have no idea what he's going to do this year.
24:45I will just always say, I mean, he is one of the biggest what-if stories in NFL history.
24:50His start to his career was unbelievably unreal. In reception perception, he still owns two of the top four success rate versus man coverage season.
24:57His rookie season, that was 2014. It was the first year I did reception perception.
25:01It's still the best success rate versus press coverage season I've ever charted.
25:04It should have been a legendary career. Those were many, many years ago.
25:08It's been a long time since he's been that guy.
25:11I don't think there's like an OBJ take here.
25:13I think, Boone, if I have to guess, you're probably one thought on this is like just still more not ideal news
25:19for our guy Malik neighbors here that the team feels the need to sign three receivers.
25:24I know they needed to replace Gunner Olszewski special teamer.
25:27That's probably like the Braxton Berrios of this. But by the way, none of these guys could make all these guys might not make the roster.
25:34You know, they also have Darnell Mooney. They also have Calvin Austin, Malachi Fields as well.
25:38But yeah, a lot of a lot of bodies at the receiver position, except one who is very, very important to the team.
25:45Any thoughts on the Giants receiver transactions? The OBJ thing.
25:48It's a fun story. We'll be rooting for him.
25:50I really hope early in the season, because I think at this point I'm projecting neighbors is going to miss time.
25:56I think with all the moves that they made initially, I was just worried that he might not be 100%.
26:02I think now it's going in the direction where it wouldn't shock me at all if he misses the first month of
26:08the season or something like that, potentially even more.
26:10But we're going to keep monitoring that one. A lot of the things are lining up here, though, when you see him
26:16at charity softball game kind of hobbling around. We see even more moves.
26:20We were worried about him when they were out here getting Darnell Mooney and Isaiah Likely and Calvin Austin.
26:25Now they're signing just anybody off the scrap heap.
26:28And I don't want to be rude. You're giving OBJ like a lifetime achievement award here for everything he's done.
26:33It's awesome. It was a cool career, even though it might not have been the career that we could have gotten from him.
26:40But his name value is just so much bigger than what his fantasy impact is going to be this year.
26:45And I worry that, you know, casual fantasy players are going to come back in the summer and they're going to start
26:52to draft and they're going to see that name later in their draft.
26:55And they're going to go, oh, my God, I can grab Odell Beckham and put him on my bench.
27:01And what if he's still Odell Beckham? Like the guy is going to be 34 years old this year.
27:06Yes, he has some moments. You're going to see practice highlights.
27:09You're going to see some cool catches. I think the best we could hope for is if Malik Neighbors misses the opening month, he gets out there.
27:16He catches a couple touchdowns. They're highlights. Everybody gets excited.
27:19He gets that kind of victory tour. And that's probably going to be it.
27:23Once Neighbors comes back, as long as he's anything close to healthy, they're going to go with these guys.
27:28They have a bunch of other guys that are better than Odell Beckham at this phase of his career.
27:34And I know we have the graphic here where Beckham's on the starting lineup.
27:38Right. I hate to say it. He's probably not going to be on the starting lineup.
27:42Right. I think that Malik I Fields would hold that spot with Darnell Mooney and with Calvin Austin, because the other thing
27:48about this is Darius Slayton is also hurt. He's been a guy that's moved the Giants for a long time.
27:54Good point. He's been a good contributor. He's probably not going to be available.
27:58So they did have to go out and get a bunch of pieces.
28:01This is a really fun one. But in terms of fantasy impact, I've picked him up at a couple places on very
28:08deep dynasty leagues, like 14 team roster, you know, 34 man, like that sort of thing.
28:12But other than that, I'm not taking him, not even in best balls, like a late round pick.
28:17I just don't see it. And if I'm wrong about that, if I'm wrong about the 34 year old receiver coming in
28:23and making a big splash, I'll be the first one to just admit that and clap for him and be excited that
28:29I'm not too worried about him making a big fantasy impact this year.
28:33Oh, yeah. Anything that Beckham gives us this year, like I don't need to be invested in that from a fantasy standpoint,
28:39but I'll find joy in it because it's awesome.
28:42Like I don't need I don't need a level of investment on my on my fantasy.
28:46Honestly, same with AJ Brown to bring it back to that.
28:49Like I wrote this in the piece that I did for Yahoo.
28:52I desperately hope I'm wrong about any concern. And I hope he is like top three AJ Brown.
28:58And like I will find a lot of joy in that.
29:01Like that's how you access your happiness beyond like fantasy football stuff here, I guess.
29:05But yeah, so if Beckham does anything, that'd be awesome.
29:08But I think the big takeaway is just like, yeah, not continued bad news on Malik neighbors who obviously I'm with you.
29:14I don't think he's going to be available at the start of the season.
29:18And frankly, at this point, like I'll be surprised if we get the best of Malik neighbors at all until 2027.
29:23I mean, it's just like that's right with this very complicated knee injury.
29:27I've updated. I'm in the process of updating everything this week, and I put on my updated redraft rankings yesterday.
29:33I put out my updated dynasty trade value charts today.
29:35I even bumped them down in dynasty because I'm expecting that that value is going to take a dip here because of
29:42the injury and because we're not going to see his best at least early in the season.
29:46That's going to cause his value to drop a little bit.
29:49And at that point, we'll probably be yelling at everyone to go and try to trade for him in dynasty because I still expect a really good career.
29:57Let's hope that there's no situation here like Odell Beckham where we end up seeing neighbors not reach his best because of injury.
30:04But yeah, I think he's going to be back and fine eventually.
30:07But I think the value is going to drop before that.
30:10And right now in redraft, I'm just completely staying away.
30:13I don't even want to take chances. I'm not looking for an injury discount or anything like that with neighbors.
30:18I'm just looking at this season as potentially a lost one where maybe in the second half of the year we see him start to contribute.
30:26But is it going to be 100% back to form?
30:29I don't even feel that confident about him getting back to that.
30:32So it's just an unfortunate situation all around. Yeah, three for three on like receiver takes here that I'm like desperately hope I'm wrong about.
30:39But I completely agree with basically everything you said there that I don't even know that there is a spot right now
30:45where it makes sense to target neighbors at this point.
30:48Outside of maybe best ball where you don't have to manage the rosters.
30:51But even that, it's pretty tough. There's just a lot of good receivers out there right now.
30:56All right. We are going to take our first quick break.
30:59And speaking of good receivers on the other side of it, we're going to decide who's this year's George Pickens.
31:05We'll get into that right after this. All right.
31:07We're back. And as mentioned, it is our first edition of Flip the Script here.
31:12We're trying to identify who's going to be this year's George Pickens.
31:15And essentially, Boone, I think let's take a look back at what happened with George Pickens last year.
31:20He was outside the top 20 wide receivers in ADP for a long time.
31:24I think it was almost like wide receiver 30, wide receiver 29.
31:27Producer Colin has here that he finished wide receiver 22 ADP in the preseason.
31:31He finished as wide receiver 5 overall, wide receiver 6 in points per game.
31:35I will say he was the guy I had in my blueprint piece as the player I wanted in every single draft.
31:41I thought that he was a very easy target at wide receiver 22.
31:45I certainly did not see him finishing as wide receiver 5.
31:48Okay. Let's be real here. I thought he was a great target there.
31:51Didn't think he was going to finish at wide receiver 5.
31:55There's a couple variables to consider. The first of which that we should admit is that CeeDee Lamb missing time obviously helped
32:01George Pickens push into the top 5 overall receivers.
32:03He was good regardless. But I had the stats included here.
32:06For the 12 games that CeeDee Lamb played more than 45% of the snaps.
32:10That was weeks 1 and 2 and then 7 to 17.
32:13You can toss out week 18 because that was like a goofball thing.
32:17CeeDee Lamb led the team with a 26% target share.
32:20George Pickens was 22%. They were both around like 13 points per game in those contests.
32:24The four games that CeeDee Lamb missed or played fewer than 45% of the snaps.
32:28Pickens had a 24% target share. Jake Ferguson actually was like the big loser when Lamb was active because he went from
32:34a 23% target share without Lamb to like 15%.
32:37And Pickens averaged 21 points per game in those contests.
32:40So that's a big part of why he jumped all the way to wide receiver 5.
32:44But that will like kind of inform some of my analysis for some of these players.
32:49But yeah, George Pickens, that was a big part of why he was so great last year.
32:53I'm glad you mentioned that because yeah, in the four weeks that Lamb missed there, Pickens was the number one scoring fantasy receiver.
33:00Just absolutely obliterated it out there. Was so good for fantasy.
33:03Was still good the rest of the way, right?
33:05If you look at once Lamb got back in the lineup in week 7, Pickens was the wide receiver 12 and fantasy
33:12points per game the rest of the way. So still good.
33:15Not necessarily top 5 or top 6 though. But yeah, I feel like this one was fairly easy.
33:20And you mentioned it, Pickens was in that group of receivers from like round 5 to round 7 that we were just constantly targeting last offseason.
33:27And it was pretty straightforward. He was a talented receiver.
33:30He was going to a better offense, an offense that was going to throw the ball more than his last destination.
33:36He got a huge upgrade at quarterback with Prescott.
33:38And then he had Lamb miss some time and it all came together for him to really show his stuff.
33:44Seemed pretty obvious. And now this year, I don't feel the same.
33:47Harmon, I still have a lot of worry about him now this season because of the contract issue, because of him not showing up to voluntary OTAs.
33:55That's where we start to get into. Maybe it's the other side of the coin now.
33:59Maybe we start to think that, you know, George Pickens might have some issues this year that might bump him down where
34:05last year it was wind at his back all the way.
34:08This guy is going to outproduce. I think now we're looking at him and going like, I'm not quite sure he's going
34:14to live up to where he's going in ADP at the moment.
34:18Yeah, you definitely have to like pay the iron price, use a Game of Thrones term to get George Pickens this year.
34:24Like last year was the great year to target him.
34:27I don't know that he's necessarily like a full on fade for me.
34:30Obviously, let's see what happens over the course of the offseason in terms of when does he show up the whole deal.
34:36I do like regardless really like Ryan Flournoy as like a late best ball pick right now, because if something crazy happens
34:43with Pickens or even if like Lamb misses time again, a couple of the games were the Lions game that Lamb left early.
34:49The Jets game, he was absolutely crushing it. So I think he makes sense as a best ball pick.
34:54And then like I think he has the talent to be like a fringe receiver, too, if something happens here.
35:00But again, regardless, I think Pickens, we have a lot of time to talk about him over the course of the offseason.
35:06But you set some really good parameters there for how we can look forward and project to be who is this year's George Pickens.
35:13So with that, welcome to our first edition of Flip the Script.
35:16All right. So Boone set some really good parameters here on the George Pickens thing.
35:20And again, the rules for this and Boone, there are strict rules.
35:24Okay. The strict rules with this exercise. Okay. Because I take this very seriously.
35:28So the parameters here for this particular one is just like Pickens.
35:31They have to be going outside the top 20 receivers in current ADP.
35:35Can't be going too late because that's like a totally different exercise.
35:38I also think that for this guy, there's got to be like a change in circumstances here where like with George Pickens,
35:44obviously big change in circumstances going from the Pittsburgh Steelers offense to the Dallas Cowboys offense.
35:49Where not only was it a better quarterback, there was going to be way more passing volume because the defense wasn't as good.
35:55That's also a part of the story too. The other thing I think that's important, like kind of a qualitative variable here
36:01is I think this player has to be like a known good player.
36:05Right? Like I think we all knew Pickens was good.
36:07But we didn't. Not everybody acknowledged he was like top five receiver.
36:11Nobody thought like, oh, George Pickens secretly stinks. Like no, at that point in his career, he had already kind of broken
36:17out with the Steelers, especially his final year there I thought was really, really good in isolation.
36:22But then it's got to be like he's taken the step to producing above expectations.
36:26So a couple guys that like didn't make sense to me when we were going over candidates like Mike Evans.
36:32Mike Evans is like too good for this exercise.
36:34Or like Luther Burden or you know those. He's too unproven, right?
36:37So the guy's kind of already had to have broken out a little, but like takes another leap here.
36:43So we've got a bunch of different candidates here.
36:45We've got DJ Moore, Lad McConkie, Terry McLaurin, Jameson Williams, Jalen Waddell, Christian Watson, Marvin Harrison Jr.
36:50slash Michael Wilson. So we will get three finalists.
36:52We'll vote on the award winner here to be crowned this year as George Pickens.
36:57So we have to come to consensus on this boon as well.
37:00If not, producer Colin gets to break the tie.
37:02I don't know if you realize that Colin has a lot of power in this exercise here.
37:07So we will see if we don't start to worry.
37:10Three finalists is going to be tricky. I think there's a lot of guys on these lists that I like.
37:16So I'm looking forward to talking them through here.
37:18Yeah, there's a lot of really good candidates here.
37:21So let's start first with DJ Moore, Buffalo Bills wide receiver.
37:24I also think he's kind of pushing it for this exercise because he's so established in his career, but at least want to talk about him here.
37:31The new variable, of course, is he's playing for a new team, your team, the Buffalo Bills.
37:36Thoughts on DJ Moore as a potential George Pickens candidate?
37:39My initial thought is that, and I said this to you already before the show, that that ADP seems so strange to me.
37:45And I'm going to chalk it up to it's early in the process.
37:49And as the summer goes along and we get more people drafting and more mock drafts, we'll start to see that ADP, I think, move a little bit.
37:57Because in a lot of best ball leagues right now, like he's going off the board after the top 25 receivers.
38:03I have him ranked as the wide receiver 28.
38:05And I just look at him like a guy that's going to help Buffalo in real life, but not necessarily be that
38:11kind of league winning piece like George Pickens was last year for fantasy.
38:15I mean, you look at more, he's 29 years old.
38:18He's seen the production decline, right? The target competition in Chicago got a little bit better.
38:22He got a little bit older and he just wasn't that same guy anymore for fantasy.
38:27And you look at some of his best years of his career was when he was the dude, when he had to be that number one guy.
38:34And now in Buffalo, he's going to get that opportunity.
38:37So I like him as a wide receiver three, a wide receiver three with wide receiver two upside.
38:42But he's going to be that league winning piece.
38:44I don't think so. He still did show me enough last year, like in the second half of the season, you know,
38:51despite the signs of decline, he showed he still has that playmaking ability, had three top seven weekly fantasy finishes down the stretch.
38:57So he can still get it done. Won't be as consistent maybe as it used to be.
39:02The final stat line won't be as good, but he will have some big weeks.
39:06I just, I worry that I think people are expecting a lot more because of what he's accomplished in his career, because
39:12now he's getting paired with Josh Allen. I think people are looking at him to be that answer, to be that number
39:18one receiver in the same way that Stefan Diggs was in this offense.
39:22And I just don't think he's that true alpha guy anymore, but he's still good.
39:26I'm not burying him completely. I think he will be a fine fantasy piece, just not somebody that I think you're looking
39:32at having that just absolute monster year for him.
39:35Yeah, I think that makes a lot of sense here.
39:37I don't want to say that like DJ Moore's ADP is lunacy, but like I, I mean, wide receiver 20 is so, it's so aggressive on DJ Moore.
39:45And honestly, I thought his ADP was aggressive last year when, when, when he was just like, oh, he, cause remember there
39:51was like a gap between him and Roma Duneza and certainly like the rookies last year as well.
39:56And it just didn't, that didn't make a lot of sense to me.
40:00I feel, I just feel like, and I look, I like DJ a lot.
40:04I'm, I'm actually still encouraged that he can have a nice year for Buffalo, but I think wide receiver 20 is like paying up for it.
40:11And I just do feel like his name value has carried a lot more weight than what he's certainly put in the box score of late.
40:19And I even think like what he's put on the field the last couple of years.
40:23I like his fitness offense. I think he can be good, but to me, Boone, he is not one of the guys
40:29I'm considering as a possible finalist for this exercise.
40:32Yeah. Despite what I said before the start of the segment there, that there are a lot of guys on this list
40:38that I want to talk up and then I want to consider as candidates.
40:42He is not one of them. So I think we can move on.
40:45Yeah, we can move on from him. Not a bad pick this year, but I think there's a lot has to go
40:51right for him to beat wide receiver 20. And I'm just not a hundred percent convinced that that is going to happen.
40:58I do think this next guy, Ladd McConkie, wide receiver 21, I think definitely can beat this wide receiver 21 ADP.
41:03I'm honestly surprised that it's here in certain best ball drafts.
41:07He goes much higher than this. He should be going much higher than this.
41:10I love Ladd McConkie. I just put together his reception perception profile.
41:14Very encouraged how that's going to map onto Mike McDaniel's offense.
41:17But Boone, where are you at with Ladd McConkie as a potential this year's George Pickens candidate?
41:22Very interested, though. I almost feel like he's too good for this.
41:25And maybe it's because, yes, the ADP is fairly high, sort of at the higher end of it.
41:30But yeah, this is a really interesting one. I feel like so much conversation has occurred with this offense.
41:35And we've done a lot of it talking about Mike McDaniel being there as OC and the improvements, the offensive line, the
41:41interior of the offensive line and getting those star tackles back, all that sort of stuff.
41:46And it's been focused, at least for me, a lot on O'Meara Hampton, a lot on Justin Herbert.
41:51But McConkie is the clear best receiver in this offense.
41:54And you think back to, like, he's only one season removed from that rookie year.
41:5882 catches, over 1,100 yards, seven touchdowns. That was enough to make him a top 20 fantasy receiver.
42:03And it was enough to make some people believe in him so much that they would risk their life by potentially eating a pen.
42:10I won't mention any names, but people were very, very strong on this guy for fantasy last year.
42:15And I think now it's going to come back around where this potentially is going to be the season where we see him take it to another level.
42:22You look at the rest of the pass catching core and Quinn Johnston is probably also underrated for fantasy right now.
42:28Like, I think he could have a really good year.
42:31We saw him have some really good stretches last year and people are just kind of like forgetting about him.
42:37But there's not a lot of proven guys in this passing attack other than McConkie.
42:41And depending how you want to look at Johnson, right?
42:44Like, you look at Trey Harris. I really like him as a player, but he's got a long way to go before
42:50we're trusting him as a real life or a fantasy asset.
42:53You look at Brennan Thompson, very quick player, but he's not going to command a ton of volume.
42:58A rookie speedster. Tight end. I think a Rondé Gadsden might be a little bit overvalued by people.
43:03He had a really good month and there's some potential there.
43:06But now we've got David and Joku to also potentially work in and eat some touches there.
43:11So I just think that you look at this offense and you say, yeah, Marion Hampton to me is a slam dunk for fantasy.
43:17Who's that guy in the passing game? It's Ladd McConkie.
43:20And there is a huge ceiling here. I think the only reason that I'm hesitant to make him one of the finalists
43:26is I just feel like he's too good. He doesn't deserve to be amongst this group.
43:31I feel like he's already established himself, but he's coming off a down year.
43:35So I suppose we can't consider him. You know, he had 789 yards last year.
43:39Like it would be a nice bounce back for him to get to.
43:43Yeah. Anything George Pickens related. I honestly don't want to really consider him a finalist boon because one, I think he's like
43:49the easiest bounce back candidate to spot this year.
43:51And to me, like he fits more in the and I know I'm like picking nits on this and you know, this
43:57is just stupid, but I honestly think he fits more in like who's going to be this year's Jackson Smith and Jigba title.
44:04Like he fits better into that category. The third year leap.
44:07Also, so many of the variables that are present here in terms of like the team going to heavier personnel packages.
44:13Keenan Allen being gone is kind of akin to like DK Metcalf being gone here.
44:17Like a big target commander leaves. You go to an offense that's a little bit more conducive to one guy hogging the
44:23targets, which that's like one way that lad can thrive here.
44:26Like we showed the reception perception charts where how much success he has in the dig and out routes.
44:31Like that's where JSN was just eaten last year out of these heavy personnel packages.
44:36The Chargers added a fullback. They added multiple tight ends here.
44:39I do agree with you that Quentin Johnson is underrated in fantasy this year.
44:43I actually think like he still gets too bad of a rap for how his rookie season went.
44:48Like he's a pretty solid receiver at this point, so I don't think he's like a bad kind of bet, but I
44:54don't know that it's like that much more crowded beyond that outside of like interesting role players.
44:59But the other out for McConkie, by the way, even if again, I don't think he makes sense as like the George Pickens here.
45:05What if Justin Herbert just goes like nuclear this season, right?
45:08What if in a super efficient offense, he just throws for, you know, 45 touchdowns or something like that has a fringe MVP.
45:15I know people were like, oh, Justin Herbert doesn't win the playoffs.
45:18He's dating a pop star, whatever. Sure. But, uh, okay.
45:21Like if he just goes crazy this year from a touchdown standpoint, that's another way that like lad can really thrive.
45:27Yeah. I wrote a dynasty buys last week and normally you're looking at guys who are like by lows, but I wrote up Herbert as a by high.
45:35Like I still don't think he's valued correctly in terms of what he could potentially be with the way the scenario is
45:41set up for him this year and all the changes in the positive changes that have happened there.
45:46I also think there's been some quotes recently from Mike McDaniel about how they want to get the ball out quick this year.
45:52Who does that favor? That favors McConkie, right? That could be another way that he's just getting a ton of volume.
45:58So yes, I think it all just lines up for McConkie being someone that we are absolutely in on for fantasy, but
46:04who maybe it feels weird to name him a George Pickens type for this season.
46:08Just because I think he's too good and maybe almost like too obvious for this.
46:13Yeah, if we were again, if we were doing it this year's Jackson Smith and Jake, even though I don't think he
46:19has like maybe that ceiling because that's like just too aggressive.
46:22I think that McConkie makes sense for that, but I feel like we kind of did that segment 15 times over the course of the offseason already.
46:29So if you'd like that, yeah, go check out those segments there.
46:33Okay, so that's where lad's going to fall into, but we will consider some more candidates for this year's George Pickens.
46:39We will get into those guys right after this.
46:41All right, we're back. We're continuing to roll through our candidates for this year's George Pickens here on our first edition of flip the script.
46:48Our next guy here, Justin Boone, one of the ones you fought to include in the segment here, Terry McLaurin wide receiver 24.
46:54The variable for him is it is a new offensive coordinator.
46:57David Blau got himself a big fat promotion from assistant quarterback coach all the way to offensive coordinator here.
47:03I guess I'm excited about Terry McLaurin this year, but you wanted to fight for him to be included in the exercise boon.
47:09Tell us why you're excited about Washington wide receiver Terry McLaurin.
47:12Well, I get the concern about him and why his ADP might be a little lower than what we saw a couple years ago.
47:19You know, it's his age 31 season. He's coming off the lowest output of his career.
47:23It was just a bad year and recency bias.
47:26That's what's in people's minds. But it was really just a bad year across the board for the commanders, right?
47:32Jaden Daniels was hurt a bunch of the year.
47:34McLaurin had the contract issue that he goes out.
47:37He misses seven games. It was it just was all around bad.
47:40But everything's looking up in my mind now, right?
47:42He doesn't have a ton of target competition there.
47:45I really like Antonio Williams. I really like Chigo Conquo.
47:48These guys are more like sleepers for redraft. These aren't proven commodities.
47:51We have Debo Samuel. He's out of the picture.
47:54Now we have Zach Ertz. He's out of the picture.
47:56Now we have a new offense there that I think is going to be really exciting.
48:01David Blau talking about moving Terry McLaurin around the formation.
48:04I know a lot of new coaches come in and say that sort of thing and it doesn't happen.
48:09But we've also seen this happen on a bunch of teams now.
48:12We know the NFL is a copycat league. I think there's no reason why they wouldn't do this.
48:17Makes complete sense to me. And if you look back, we're just one year removed from 87 catches, over 1,100 yards and four scores.
48:24He was the wide receiver 14 in fantasy points per game in that first year with Jaden Daniels when Daniels broke onto the scene as a rookie.
48:32So I think we have a lot of things pointing in the right direction here, Harmon, for McLaurin to go from being
48:38drafted as a fringe low-end wide receiver 2 to potentially putting himself back in the conversation as a wide receiver 1.
48:44And I think that fits the mold. Aside from going to a completely new team, which is what Pickens did, I think
48:50the situation is really setting up for him to have a better scenario, a better environment, and a much, much better fantasy season.
48:56And something that's going to resemble that 2024 campaign and not the terrible year we saw from him last year.
49:02Truly my only pushback to you on this is like, are we sure Terry McLaurin is not too good for this exercise, right?
49:08Like he had a wide receiver 14 finish. You mentioned it.
49:11Bunch of touchdowns in 2024. And yeah, the only reason he fell back last year, I would agree, is obviously his injuries,
49:17Jaden Daniels' injuries, but also just like it was going to be a down year for Terry McLaurin because he's one of these contract holdouts.
49:24Like we've just seen this now at the wide receiver position.
49:27There's just these guys who – this happens, which by the way, we talked about George Pickens.
49:32It's at least, I guess, worth considering. Like is he going to be one of these guys too?
49:37Yeah. It's problematic, Boone. And so my only – I want to keep talking about Terry McLaurin, but my only question is
49:43just like do you think he might be too good to be included here?
49:47I will accept that. There are four guys left that I think deserve to be finalists.
49:52We're only picking three of them. So if you want to veto this one, I will allow it.
49:57But kind of like Lad McConkie, we could walk away from this one saying that at the round four or five turn
50:03for McLaurin right now and what he could potentially be in this offense this year, another slam dunk pick, another guy that
50:09everyone should be targeting for fantasy and where you're getting him.
50:12He doesn't have to be your wide receiver one.
50:15You're getting him as your wide receiver two, your wide receiver three in that range.
50:19And he's the kind of guy that I think could swing your season if he has another year like he did two years ago.
50:26And that's what I'm projecting for him this year.
50:28Yeah, let's not completely rule him out as a finalist because I we don't have to.
50:32We don't. This is the rules of the game here.
50:35We don't have to make that decision right now.
50:38We just got to get the three finalists when we vote on three finalists.
50:42So I don't say we got to rule him out here.
50:45I just if he gets ruled out, it's only because he's too good.
50:48And that's why I love this ADP at wide receiver 24.
50:51It's one of the best values on the board right now.
50:55Easy slam dunk. Again, the only concern for him would be injuries to him, injuries to his quarterback.
51:00And he has a sneaky older receiver, but I don't think we saw signs of decline last year.
51:05And you mentioned this, Boone, like David Blouse saying he's going to move him around more.
51:09And yes, all new coaches say that, but he is going to move him around more because nobody moves their receivers around less than Cliff Kingsbury.
51:16Like and this is not obviously this is what I track.
51:19I put this out a few. There's more guys in the database now, but I put this out for my skewed alignment
51:26prospect article on reception perception at the time. This was like mid April.
51:29I have 535 NFL player seasons in the full history reception perception database.
51:33Just four of them have taken more than 70% of their snaps from one outside receiver alignment.
51:38Those four player seasons 2021 DeAndre Hopkins 2020 DeAndre Hopkins 2015 Nelson Aguilar and 2024 Terry McLaurin.
51:42Three of those are Cliff Kingsbury seasons. I haven't even charted Terry McLaurin for 2025 yet.
51:47I bet you he's going to be that same bucket.
51:50So yeah, Terry's going to move around more. He's going to get more advantageous matchups.
51:54He should be able to consolidate targets. He has a good proven quarterback.
51:57And like on that consolidated targets point, we were just talking about it during the break.
52:02There's a warrant out right now for Brandon. And I use arrest for speeding.
52:06So like he's the guy that people expect to be on this roster.
52:09We'll see, baby. What I know what we're going to see is a lot of Terry McLaurin targets.
52:14So it does sound like we are both in lockstep here that we will be ahead of consensus on wide receiver 24 for McLaurin.
52:21Agreed. And when it's all said and done, we'll see if he's in the mix, but it feels like maybe McConkie and
52:27him will miss out for being just too darn good.
52:30Yes, I would agree with that. But let's get to our next candidate here.
52:34And that is Jamison Williams, wide receiver 24. Excuse me, wide receiver 26 ADP.
52:38His variable is a new offensive coordinator, the great Drew Petsing, one of the many fantasy boogeymen across the Internet.
52:43But yeah, he's got a new offensive coordinator. It's kind of, I don't know if it's the greatest variable in the world.
52:50I like Petsing, but I wouldn't say like, oh, it's that big of a change because Dan Campbell is kind of the same offense.
52:56But talk to me about your thoughts on Jamison Williams here.
52:59This is one that I don't think people are paying enough attention to.
53:03Maybe I'm wrong. Maybe I'm just not dialed in with where the public perception is on him.
53:08But it feels like him going at wide receiver 26 is a very nice value and puts him definitely in the running
53:14to be the guy here as the next George Pickens, even though, yes, not that much has changed.
53:19But we're allowing him to be in the conversation here.
53:22I remember when he came out, a lot of people saw the speed and they thought, OK, this guy's a deep threat.
53:28And I remember writing him up at the time before the draft and saying, like, no, there's a lot more to his game.
53:34He is not just a deep threat. He had the weird, you know, the injury coming at the end of his college
53:40season and, you know, his final college season. And then he doesn't really have much of a rookie year.
53:46So it's like a weird start to his pro career.
53:48But last year, we really started to see it from him.
53:52He finishes the wide receiver 18 in fantasy points per game on the year.
53:55But in the second half of the season, after the Lions, we gave by the wide receiver nine.
54:00He was averaging 14 fantasy points per game, more than 14 per game.
54:04And I'm cheating a little bit there because of Monroe St.
54:07Brown. He had a game where he missed the majority.
54:10He was banged up. So that's factoring in a little.
54:13But James did average more than a Monroe St.
54:15Brown during that final stretch in terms of fantasy points per game.
54:19So, yeah, he kind of already showed it was only for half a season, but he showed he could be a top 10 receiver.
54:25Same way that Pickens did it over the course of a full year, right?
54:29He showed that he could do it. And I see no reason why that couldn't happen again, or at least he comes close to it.
54:36All it might take is just a Monroe St.
54:39Brown to be a little nicked up. But that's exactly what we saw for Pickens last year and Lamb.
54:44So I think this is a really good one.
54:47And regardless, another guy that I think people should be targeting because he's shown us a pretty good ceiling here as a wide receiver, too.
54:54And you're getting them at a wide receiver three value in drafts right now.
54:57Yeah, I like this one a lot. And I actually think this makes a ton of sense as a candidate here.
55:03Like we know very much George Pickens wise, like we know he's good.
55:07We know he is a volatile player. Pickens was obviously like kind of that volatile X receiver type with the Pittsburgh Steelers.
55:13He wasn't very much just like pure X receiver with the Dallas Cowboys.
55:17But shoot, even for James Williams, like you just laid it out perfectly there.
55:21He is a very volatile player. The first and second half splits kind of show that he's going to be up and down.
55:27What if you just lean into one of those seasons where he's running pure all season long?
55:32I think that's totally possible. My one concern would be that there are a lot of mouths to feed in this offense,
55:38whereas with Dallas, like it really was. And again, to go back to the data from the start here in the 12
55:44games that CeeDee Lamb played, it was 26% targets for CeeDee Lamb.
55:47It was 22.5% targets for George Pickens. Nobody else higher than 15%.
55:51I think that Sam Laporta probably too good for that.
55:54I think, you know, like Jameer Gibbs probably too good for that.
55:57Even Isaac Tesla. I don't know. He's going to have a bunch of targets, but he's going to get into the mix here.
56:03The way that I think this works, though, for James Williams Boone is if the Lions defense is really bad and they have some injuries.
56:10Brian Branch banged up. Kirby Joseph is still dealing with some injuries.
56:14Cornerback play kind of up and down. There's definitely lots.
56:16There's some good players over there. It could go one direction or another, but that's how it worked out for George Pickens, too.
56:23We haven't mentioned that in the variables here that like the Dallas defense being atrocious was a big reason why they had so much passing volume.
56:30So I do like Jameson Williams as a potential candidate here.
56:33Do you feel good enough for him to be a possible finalist?
56:37Yeah, I really do. I really think he should be in terms of also like Pickens being good, but maybe people don't
56:43realize just how good he is because he hasn't had like that absolute blow up campaign.
56:47And really all it might take is Amundra St.
56:50Brown to miss a decent chunk of games and we could see him do it.
56:54Yeah, he makes a lot of sense like in that exact variety there and I agree with you like I I think
57:00JMO at times has been kind of up and down, but I really think he's gotten better and better every single year
57:06in isolation, which is exactly what I said about George Pickens last year that you there's proof that he got better every
57:12single season with the Pittsburgh Steelers here. So I like I think he will probably be one of our finalists for this,
57:18but that is going to do it for us here on the Yahoo Sports Network.
57:23If you are watching along with us on YouTube, though, we're going to take our final break of the show and we come back.
57:29We're going to run through the rest of our candidates for this year's George Pickens.
57:34We will get into that right after this. All right, we're back.
57:37We're continuing to roll through our candidates for who is going to be this year's George Pickens.
57:42And we've got a few more to run through here before we vote on the finalists.
57:46This next one, Boone, I got to say, I think might be my early favorite.
57:50And that is Jalen Waddle. New team obviously is the new variable.
57:54And the ADP, like I got it. I got it.
57:56I was like, we got to give producer Colin a drug test.
58:00Like, is he this? This can't be correct. This ADP put on here.
58:03But no verified per Internet sources. Why does he have a 27 ADP for Jalen Waddle?
58:08Dude, I'm I don't I'm actually just I'm way higher than consensus on Jalen Waddle.
58:12Where do you have him ranked? Like, do you like where where are you at with Waddle?
58:17Because to me, I was like, this is this is crazy.
58:20But maybe I'm the crazy one. So where are you at with with Waddle?
58:24I have him ranked. I was trying to look up the specific ranking because I don't know it off the top of my head.
58:30I know I have him as a low end wide receiver to how high did I move him up in my latest update?
58:37Wide receiver 21 is where I have him. So significantly higher than this.
58:41And I don't want to spoil the end of the show, but I think there's a good chance that he is going
58:47to be the winner when we finish it off.
58:49He's been really productive. And we talk about like a player who's talented, who maybe people don't realize just how good he is.
58:56Waddle also fits that mix. Right. And he's coming out of a situation where you can question the quarterback play.
59:01You can question, you know, who else is playing with.
59:04There's a lot of things going on in Miami that kind of caused things to go south last year and in the last couple of years.
59:11And now he's going to a better offense. He's going to an offense that's going to throw the ball a ton.
59:17Bo Nix led the league last year in pass attempts.
59:20So there's going to be volume there. And he's stepping in as the number one guy.
59:24Right. He doesn't have to deal with a CD lamb type.
59:27He doesn't even need Cortland Sutton to get injured or miss time.
59:31He could just step in, be that guy, take over and have a huge fantasy season and be a fantasy wide receiver one.
59:37So I think you have to be very excited about him as a guy who's already shown us he can produce right
59:43over a thousand yards in each of his first three seasons, over 900 yards and six touchdowns on that bad Miami team last year.
59:50So still had some production despite kind of everything going poorly there.
59:53And yeah, entering his prime turning 28 this year.
59:56I really, really like him Harmon. I like him for fantasy.
59:59I like him as potentially the next George Pickens.
60:02I want to get a lot, a lot of shares of Waddle on my teams this year.
60:06Well, not, not that you would use my rankings because you're the rankings guy here, Justin Boone.
60:11But if you're using my ranking, let me tell you what you're getting Jalen Waddle.
60:15I have him as wide receiver 12 this year.
60:18Wow. You don't have to, you, you don't have to draw, obviously don't draft him at wide receiver 12, but I want
60:24you to get Jalen Waddle, which is why I've, I've, I've ranked him this high.
60:28I think there's a couple of different things going on here that why, again, why I think he fits so perfectly into this exercise.
60:35Cause one, the, the changing variable going to Bo Nix, who, as you mentioned, led the NFL in past attempts last year is just so significant.
60:42The 2025 Dolphins ranked 32nd in plays per game, 31st in seconds per play and 30th in neutral dropback rate.
60:48Like not only was there questionable quarterback play and you can think whatever you want about Bo Nix, but as long as
60:54he's healthy, which I guess is something to at least consider.
60:57There's been some mixed reports on the ankle and everything like that.
61:00That's definitely not something to just yada yada here, but yeah, there, there is a, a clear quarterback upgrade from what was going on in Miami last year.
61:08But also the volume upgrade is massive to the Broncos were fifth in plays per game last year, 12th in seconds per
61:14play and sixth in neutral dropback rate. So it wasn't even just like, Oh yeah, they were in, they led the NFL past attempts.
61:21Cause they were in a lot of these like overtime fourth quarter weird game scripts, but they were trying to throw that football a lot.
61:28And the other part of this, yeah, I mean, I agree with you.
61:31Like Waddle people don't clearly don't realize how good he is for him to be wide receiver.
61:3627 in ADP. I mean, for one, he was awesome in reception perception last year, 77th percentile success rate versus man 81st against press.
61:43Despite the fact that he played just a lot of X receiver, which he's not going to do here in Denver because of the presence of Corlin Sutton.
61:51And, but even like efficiency wise, uh, he's eighth and first downs per route run with wide receivers of 200 plus routes
61:57last year, 12th and yards per outrun 11th and successful plays.
62:00But like, he's a highly efficient wide receiver. Obviously a good player is Jalen Waddle.
62:04I think he could be great if things break right in Denver and yeah, Corlin Sutton's great.
62:09And he's going to, he's going to stay in his role.
62:12I think these other guys are like interesting role players, not like target commanders.
62:16When you look at the Pat Bryants, Troy Franklins of the world, et cetera.
62:20And really nothing from the tight end position. Like I'm not worried about Evan Ingram.
62:24Like maybe Justin Jolie, the rookie will come on at some point, but I'm not expecting that to happen right away.
62:30And even if it does, I'm not expecting him to get a ton of volume.
62:34That's going to factor into a guy like Waddle.
62:36So yeah, it's a great setup for Waddle this season.
62:39And maybe as the summer goes along that ADP will adjust.
62:42But normally right now, like we talked about the top of the show, like sometimes best ball ADPs right now are a
62:48little more accurate than they are elsewhere. And even best ball ADP has them at wide receiver 25.
62:53So we are both much higher. You a lot higher.
62:56But I love hearing that because I definitely think there's a chance and a path for him to do that.
63:02And it doesn't require a lot of bells and whistles and jumping through hoops like we're talking about with some of these other guys for it to happen.
63:10It could just naturally be he ends up being the wide receiver one on his team, and that makes him a wide receiver one for fantasy.
63:17So very excited about him this year. Yeah, I mean, very much like George Pickens last year.
63:22I said he was the guy I wanted every single draft.
63:25I want to get Jalen Waddle in every single draft.
63:28So put that on a quote graphic. There's some positive news here for you from from from me on Jalen Waddle.
63:33OK, next one here. Christian Watson wide receiver 30.
63:36I'll admit we are sort of kind of cheating the variable on this because it's the same quarterback.
63:41It's the same team. But I do think it's a pretty significant variable here, Boone, that for the first time in a
63:47minute, the Packers wide receiver room is not this big cluster of guys.
63:51Right. Like Don Tavion Wicks moves on. Romeo Dobbs moves on.
63:54I think there's a chance we could have a pretty clear cut three receiver set of Christian Watson, Jaden Reed and Matthew Golden.
64:00And then obviously Tucker Craft at tight end. Where are you at with Christian Watson?
64:04And do you think he makes sense for an exercise like this?
64:08I really like him. I have him ranked much higher than this.
64:11But I kind of look at him and I say, like, didn't he just do it last year?
64:16He was the wide receiver 16 and fantasy points per game.
64:19Like he wasn't far off. He finally had that season where he didn't get hurt, where he was able to just come
64:25out and show us what he could do for a very long stretch.
64:29And boom, there it is. He is that guy.
64:32He has that upside. He has the splash plays.
64:34He has that affinity for the red zone. It's all there for him.
64:38It's really just a matter of staying healthy. So that's kind of why I look at him and say, on top of
64:44the fact that not that much has changed other than a couple of teammates being gone.
64:48It feels like we're cheating a little too much, making him one of the guys.
64:52But if we're talking about somebody who is being drafted much, much later than where they could actually finish and who has
64:59a chance to crack that top 12, he's in the conversation for sure.
65:02Yeah, I really like him as a potential candidate here, but I agree we're kind of cheating a little bit because of the variables.
65:09But I don't think people are counting that enough with all of these Packers receivers, really, that it's not going to be this big rotation.
65:16You know, we talked about this last week that Josh Jacobs situation is one to monitor, of course.
65:21I just kind of think they might throw the ball a little bit more this year anyways.
65:26Like I'm not sure how good the defense is going to be.
65:29Jonathan Gannon, Micah Parsons is banged up, obviously coming into the season.
65:32Again, if Josh Jacobs misses time for whatever reason, like can they really establish the run with like Chris Brooks, Marshawn Lloyd
65:39and maybe some street free agent that they add?
65:41I don't know, man. I feel like there's just a chance that there might be more both raw volume and like target consolidation opportunities for this team.
65:49And when we just look at this room, I really like Jaden Reed.
65:52I've been a longtime fan of Jaden Reed, but I personally think he can play in two receiver sets, but the Packers have just never done it.
66:00I still want to draft Jaden Reed as wide receiver 41, but he would be roadblocked in that scenario.
66:05I don't know if you have a strong take on Matthew Golden.
66:08I don't honestly really. So to me, Watson's just the guy that if someone's going to really like, I think Reed has
66:15the talent to explode and I want that on the record.
66:18But I think just like what we have with the usage for Watson and what he showed last year, I think he's got the talent and the opportunity.
66:25Somebody is going to explode from this wide receiver.
66:28But I am curious your thoughts on that and Matthew Golden.
66:31Golden, I haven't taken much of. I think where they're being drafted, it makes sense to grab pieces of everybody in that passing attack.
66:38But for sure, Watson and Reed seem to be the two more obvious candidates.
66:42And Reed, we've also seen him do it. We haven't seen him do it for a full season.
66:47We've seen him do it for more stretches. But he's had high end fantasy output for big stretches of time going back to even his rookie season.
66:54Right. So he's a guy that it just needs to click there.
66:58He just needs to get a little more playing time.
67:00And all of a sudden we could talk about him being somebody that is an automatic fantasy starter.
67:05And I mean, I have the stats like we go back.
67:08You look at that rookie year wide receiver. 23 as a rookie scored 10 total touchdowns, had 119 yards on the ground.
67:15And he was only playing 56 percent of the Packers snaps that year.
67:18And he got that done the next year. He comes back.
67:21He starts really strong. He was averaging wide receiver 14 fantasy stats for the first nine games in 2024.
67:27Increased the playing time to 66 percent of the snaps that year.
67:30And then after the week 10 by that season, his numbers just completely fell off.
67:34And I can't remember whether it was injury related or usage or what the reason was.
67:39But his numbers just completely changed at that point.
67:41So, yes, he has shown it before. He's shown it for stretches.
67:44I'd love to see him get the opportunity to do more.
67:48And he's somebody else that I'm definitely targeting in drafts.
67:50But Watson has fully proven it, proven it more recently.
67:53And he seems like the most obvious one to be that number one guy in the offense.
67:58I'm not that worried about Golden being anything more than sort of a boomer bus type and more of a contributor in
68:04the offense, even though he was a first round pick.
68:07I just didn't see much from him last year.
68:09Harmon. That gives me a lot of faith that he's going to come on this year.
68:14Yeah, I don't think he was awful last year in isolation, like his reception perception profile.
68:18Like it wasn't. Oh, my God, this guy can't play.
68:21It was just like fine. It was OK, which means like maybe he can take a leap to next season and be even better than that.
68:28That's obviously totally possible. But we didn't get like enough from him.
68:32I think just watching him now, maybe he has more clear role this year.
68:36He's a little healthier. That's totally possible. But to me, yeah, I would prioritize it.
68:40Watson. And to me, I think Reed could outscore Watson.
68:43He just you mentioned the playing time. Like, that's why he was so volatile in that year, because like 60 percent of the snaps is just not enough.
68:50Like we need him up to like 70, 80 percent, something like that.
68:54If we got that, I think he could be the guy.
68:57But right now, I know Watson is going to be on the field.
69:01And he was just so much better last year than he's ever been before.
69:05And Tucker Craft has put note all kinds of clips of his rehab.
69:08And it looks good. And we think that he'll be out there this year.
69:12But that could be the other variable. I think you briefly touched on it, right?
69:16Like the idea that if Tucker Craft isn't himself at the start of the season, there's another way that we could see
69:22even more going to the receivers and another sort of change that might help us justify Watson being one of the finalists potentially.
69:29Yeah. And the answer could just be draft Tucker Craft again.
69:32Like, I think that could be the answer to the wide receiver question in Quagmire.
69:36I'm sure once again, Tyson, I will be doing that.
69:39No doubt. I would say so. I'm still iron grip on my Tucker Craft dynasty team.
69:43That is 100% the case here. All right. Last one group to consider here.
69:47I think Watson may be a fringe finalist for us, but we'll consider that when we get to it.
69:53But last group to consider here. This is kind of a little bit of a duo.
69:57Marvin Harrison Jr. Slash Michael Wilson. Essentially, the Cardinals wide receivers.
70:00Marvin Harrison Jr. Wide receiver. 32 and ADP. Michael Wilson.
70:03Wide receiver. 40. I will admit that I wanted to include these guys because I've got something to just rant about here
70:09and I'm apologizing in advance to Boone and the entire audience.
70:12But before I get that off my chest and whatever, Boone, please tell me.
70:16What do you think about the Cardinals wide receivers as potential finalists for this year's George Pickens type of situation?
70:22I don't think they really belong in the conversation, to be honest.
70:25I would be shocked if one of these guys ends up being the guy who ends up being the George Pickens this year.
70:31I've said my piece on the show about them before that I wonder if the injury situation went a different way.
70:37And if we saw Michael Wilson get hurt, whether it would have been Marvin Harrison Jr.
70:42that absolutely exploded in the second half of the season with Jacoby Brissett just throwing the ball all around the yard.
70:48But it's totally different this year, right? We have a new coaching staff coming in.
70:52We have a new offense that changes things. We presumably will have better health so we could see Trey McBride and Marvin Harrison Jr.
70:58and Michael Wilson all out there fighting for targets.
71:01And in that scenario, at least in the old offense, Michael Wilson was the one that just kind of fell by the wayside.
71:07And we saw Marvin Harrison Jr. be good but not great for fantasy.
71:11And we saw McBride be good and really good but not quite the elite producer that he was in the second half
71:17of the season when Marvin Harrison Jr. was out.
71:20But really, Harmon, when I'm on the clock and these names are there, all I keep thinking about is the quarterback situation.
71:26I like Michael coming in. I like the potential for the offense to get better.
71:30And yet I just keep picturing watching games on Sunday or any day of the week because the NFL basically has games
71:36every single day of the week now moving forward.
71:39But I keep thinking in my head, do I want to watch more Jacoby Brissett, who threw the ball a lot?
71:45Volume was great, but still wasn't like a great quarterback.
71:47And Carson Beck, I don't have a lot of faith in.
71:50And Gardner Minshew is a journeyman who I don't think is going to help these guys get where they want to go fantasy wise.
71:57So that's kind of where I'm at. I've shied away from drafting the two receivers really because of the uncertainty, but also
72:03just because of that quarterback situation and Brissett being upset with the contract.
72:07We don't know when he's going to show up.
72:09There's a lot of things that make me want to go.
72:12You know what? I'm just going to step away.
72:15I don't want to get involved in this. And that leads me to believe that I don't think either of these guys
72:21are going to be the George Pickens in 2026.
72:24I don't think either of these guys are going to be the George Pickens of 2026 simply because it's way too crowded here even for that.
72:31I mentioned that Jake Ferguson was the big loser when it sounds mean, but the big loser in terms of target share
72:37when CeeDee Lamb and George Pickens were on the field together.
72:40That's obviously not going to happen for Trey McBride.
72:43I also don't necessarily think it's going to happen for one of these wide receivers either.
72:47So yeah, to me, I think that they don't really count for this, but I don't mind taking shots on them.
72:53At ADP because I think both these guys are good and I think the offensive change is going to be good for these guys.
73:00Now, I would agree if Jacoby Brissett was like in camp and like learning the offense and the whole deal, I'd feel
73:06a little bit better about it, although he's a veteran and he should be fine.
73:10But it is this kind of that situation is odd.
73:13I feel like it's going to end with just, hey, we gave Jacoby Brissett like a $5 million bonus and like, cool, there we let's keep it moving.
73:21But I kind of wish that had happened by now.
73:23I wish the Cardinals could just be normal for five seconds, Boone.
73:27That would be nice and that would make me feel a little bit better about it.
73:31Don't you agree? Like if Brissett was just in camp, that would make me feel a little bit better.
73:37Yeah. And the situation is just getting worse, right?
73:39Like Miles Garrett showing up in the division, like rings around them and the teams around them are making really smart moves
73:45and the Cardinals just don't seem to quite be on the right track.
73:49But hopefully they'll get there soon. Okay. Where I do think and this is where my rant is going to come in
73:55here because I said this to James Cove several hours ago when we taped our show.
73:59There's like five or six things that are just driving me crazy in wide receiver world right now, which is why I
74:06certainly need to take a vacation because my social media habits are so bad.
74:09Which we're going to get into it. I am going to be off for a few shows here because I am going to be on vacation.
74:17So luckily, I'll be able to clear my head of nonsense like this driving me crazy.
74:21But I have to get this off my chest here somehow or I'm going to explode.
74:26Yesterday, it was driving me crazy, Boone, watching the quotes get aggregated about Mike LaFleur says that Marvin Harrison Jr.
74:31is in the Devontae Adams role and Puka Nakua.
74:34That's Michael Wilson's role. He never said Puka Nakua role.
74:37He never said Devontae Adams role. And I think Theo does a great job.
74:40We're showing his tweet on the screen here. But I don't blame him for this.
74:45I blame the aggregators who take this. And also, the big thing that was – this honestly wasn't even driving me crazy about this.
74:51But what was driving me crazy, Boone, was like, oh, Marvin Harrison Jr.
74:55And if people in the comments want to light me up for just not letting it go on Marvin Harrison Jr., that's fine.
75:01Take me to task. Whatever. That's cool. But just like, well, it's Marvin Harrison Jr.
75:06Just in the sacrificial X receiver role. It's going to stay the same.
75:09And I kind of – I'm not going to say I blame myself for this, Boone.
75:14But maybe I do – maybe I should blame myself for this because I – like, not – being an X receiver is fine.
75:20It's actually good to be an X receiver. Like, the outside on-ball player.
75:24Not every X receiver is a sacrificial X receiver.
75:27Okay? So maybe I've – maybe we – I think we've jumped the shark on a term that I came up with.
75:33All right? So I want to maybe apologize for that.
75:35That's part of my rant. But the other part of what I want to say here is that when you actually look
75:42at what Mike LaFleur said about Marvin Harrison Jr., it, I think, is the more important thing than he's in the Devontae
75:48Adams role or the Puka Nakua role. So I'm just going to – Boone, if you want to go and get a
75:54drink during this or do anything else, that's totally fine.
75:57I wouldn't blame you. You want to mute me?
75:59I also think that's fine. But I'm going to read from – this is Coach Speak Index in his Discord.
76:05Greg does a great job. And if – Greg, I'm giving out your information here live on the air.
76:10I apologize. But I'm going to read it because it's really good.
76:13This is the exact quote from Mike LaFleur on this.
76:16Quote, on Marvin Harrison Jr. As more of an X receiver or slot, his profile would be that of a typical X receiver.
76:23They come in all shapes and sizes but just kind of that lengthier body that can play on the outside.
76:28But what's unique about this system? Not just the Arizona Cardinals but the systems that run something similar.
76:33You can move them inside and out on a whim just in terms of our formations and our motions and all that kind of stuff.
76:40You don't want to say that you can protect them by bringing people inside.
76:44But you can just utilize their skill set in different ways.
76:47So he is our X receiver. But you can move him around where sometimes he is and sometimes he's not.
76:53On Harrison and Michael Wilson, how they complement each other.
76:56This is Mike LaFleur. Like I said with Marv, typically with our X receivers, let's just say Devontae Adams last year and Julio Jones in Atlanta.
77:03Didn't see any Julio Jones quotes, by the way, in the aggregation.
77:06Interesting there. Those typical X guys aren't necessarily just next to the core very often in terms of playing in between the
77:12tight ends and in between the tackles. Just as you look at that, that would be more of the Z receiver with
77:18Michael Wilson, who's a little bit more of a compact guy.
77:22Those guys are in a little bit more comfortable playing in the C, in the B, in the D areas where you can insert for safeties.
77:29When Buda Baker comes down, you're going to have one or two of your receivers that are going to handle that stuff.
77:35You think of Puka Nakua. Yeah, all that cool stuff Puka does with the ball in the air.
77:40But it's really all the cool stuff he does without the ball.
77:43So that's where you kind of see some of that same stuff from a guy like Michael Wilson.
77:48Like the Puka role he's outlining there is like as a blocker.
77:52So all these like fantasy accounts outlining like, oh, he's going to be in the Puka.
77:56It's just, it's insanity to me. And like the key thing there, back to the Marvin Harrison Jr.
78:01part of this. And again, I do apologize, but I got to get this off my chest or I'm going to lose it.
78:08But like the idea there, what he's outlining, all the motions and everything.
78:11It's like he can be an X receiver at the snap of the ball.
78:15But because of the motion from a guy like Kendrick Bourne, he's like you chart him as the X, but then he becomes this like slot receiver.
78:23That's the key here is the motion there. In addition to the fact that like Marvin Harris Jr.
78:28last year ran a go route, according to True Media, on 21% of his routes, same as his rookie season.
78:33Devontae Adams is like 16%. So that's the lack of sacrificial part of it.
78:37It's the route tree change and 18% in route rate for Devontae Adams.
78:41It's like way less than that for a guy like Marvin Harrison Jr.
78:44So I think the system is like everything that Michael for outlined there.
78:48It's good news for Marvin Harrison. I saw it being taken as negative.
78:52I don't know if any of this is going to work out for fantasy, whatever.
78:56Obviously, freaking Carson Beck, Jacob Rissett, the whole deal, whatever.
78:59But I maintain that Marvin is a better player than he's credited in isolation.
79:03And I love the usage that was outlined for both of these Cardinals receivers.
79:07Because I do think like Michael Wilson could be pretty cool doing some Puka Nakua stuff.
79:11Not just like he's not going to be Puka Nakua, but some of the blocking, some of the toughness, some of the in-breaking routes.
79:18Because Michael Wilson is a dog, too. And I think these guys will be interchangeable, which is essentially what Michael for said.
79:24Nobody cares about the Cardinals. Nobody cares about anything I just said there.
79:27But there you have it. Had to get that off my chest.
79:31That is not true. I think a lot of people will be interested in hearing that.
79:35But you did talk for a long time. Grab yourself a drink.
79:39Take a second. And never apologize for going to Isoball.
79:41Because I feel like I do that all the time where I'm talking forever.
79:45And I see you just kind of looking at me going, when is he going to shut up?
79:50So it's fine. Always go off. Whenever you got something like that, please do it.
79:55I will say, too, and it goes back to the point that I was making at the top about Harrison, right?
80:00That if the injuries had gone a different way, we might have seen him have the much bigger season.
80:06Because before he got hurt, he was the wide receiver 28 in fantasy points per game.
80:10He had five top 24 finishes in his 10 games before injuries kind of derailed his season.
80:15So he was good. He wasn't great for fantasy.
80:17I think that's where I keep coming back to.
80:20Is the potential still there for him? Yes, he's young.
80:23He could get better. He's getting a new offense.
80:25Eventually, maybe he will find a quarterback of the future that he can pair himself with.
80:30I think the potential is still there for him to be good and maybe even reach a fairly high level.
80:35The problem was the expectations coming in were so, so high that a lot of people feel burned.
80:40And any chance they can get now to put him down, to paint him in a bad light, they seem to do
80:46it without wanting to leave that door open for him still reaching some sort of high in his career.
80:52What I keep coming back to is I think he could be a good receiver.
80:56I think he'd be a good fantasy asset. I don't think he's going to be that superstar that people thought he was coming out.
81:03But I will also say, Harmon, hats off to you because I brought this up on the show before.
81:08People these days do not click on articles. They do not read the context.
81:12They just look at the headlines. They look at what's aggregated.
81:15And they go from there without being able to form their own opinion on the actual quotes and the actual reporting.
81:21So everyone, what Harmon just did there, please do that.
81:24Do it with fantasy football. Do it in politics.
81:26Do it in every phase of your life when you see headlines.
81:29And you might go, hey, that's a really strange headline.
81:32That's surprising. Maybe I should click the story and read through to see if that's actually what they meant.
81:38Harmon just did the work for you there. But I think that's a very important life lesson to always go through and
81:44read and make sure you're forming your own opinion on stuff.
81:47Yeah, a little media literacy lesson there. We didn't know we were going to get that here from Justin Boone.
81:52So I love that. So, yeah, moral of the story, just to close the loop here before we vote on our finalists,
81:59two things that I would just say. Like, yeah, one, you mentioned all that context.
82:03I can't say it enough. Definitely subscribe to CoachSpeak Index.
82:06Great job beyond the aggregation stuff. You follow him on Twitter, of course, but I would encourage you, just like I do
82:12because I just read his work live on air.
82:14Subscribe and get the Discord access because you can get this stuff on every team.
82:18So that's great. That's going to make you a better fantasy player this summer.
82:22Maybe we'll try to get Greg on one of the shows here.
82:26The other thing I would say, too, just, yeah, that whole 2024 class after doing the charting boon.
82:31Man, all those guys were just so unlucky with injuries last year and weirdly, like, drops, too.
82:35And I'm kind of ready to buy back in on almost all of those guys this upcoming season.
82:40So they will, I'm sure, be a course of conversation over the summer for us.
82:45But we have to vote on our finalists here for who's going to be this year's George Pickens.
82:50It's not going to be any of these 2024 drafted receivers.
82:53Who do you think? So Jameson Williams, Jalen Waddell, definitely two of our finalists.
82:57Terry McLaurin, Christian Watson. I'll let you pick who the third finalist should be here.
83:01I think it should be McLaurin just because Watson did it more recently.
83:04We saw him put up the bigger stats last year where at least McLaurin had the down season that he can bounce
83:11back from where Watson's going to be going from wide receiver 16 and fantasy points per game to a top 10 or top 12 guy.
83:18Doesn't seem like that big of a stretch where McLaurin.
83:20But I agree. They both kind of are. There's an asterisk next to both of them, whichever we include.
83:26I'm with you. Let's I think Terry McLaurin is a better player and more likely to have that kind of season.
83:32So I'm with you. Let's put him in as the finalist.
83:35All right. So rank them most to least likely to be this year's George Pickens.
83:39Give me your order of preference between these three.
83:41I mean, I think because the McLaurin Watson thing, whoever that is, has to be third.
83:46So I'd have McLaurin third. I'd have Jameson Williams second, though.
83:49I feel like he fits a lot of the criteria.
83:52And then Waddell has to be the guy for all the reasons we said that he almost like to a T fits
83:58the Pickens situation in terms of changing teams and quarterback upgrade and more volume in the offense.
84:03And all that sort of stuff. But he has one thing that's even better than what Pickens had, and it's less target competition.
84:09So I don't see how you can't be excited about Waddell going to Denver and what he could do this year.
84:15And I certainly think a top 12 finishes within his range of outcomes and very impressed that Harmon is already ranking it
84:21like that because that's a little more confident than I am about it.
84:25But that's another reason why people should have some faith, because if Harmon feels that way about a receiver, get on board, folks.
84:31Well, I was right last year on Pickens, so I'm going to be wrong this year on Waddell.
84:36That's just how these things go. But no, I agree with you in that.
84:40It's only because Terry and I'm going to rank Terry ahead of Jameson Williams from a draft perspective.
84:45But I think for this exercise, yeah, the order should be the exact order that you had it.
84:50I would have it this way as well. Jalen Waddell, Jameson Williams, Terry McLaurin.
84:54So our winner for this year is George Pickens.
84:56We don't even have to have Colin break a tie here.
84:59So the lack of power for Colin continues in this one.
85:03We'll see if he has to break a tie in future episodes.
85:06Our winner of this year's George Pickens. It is Jalen Waddell.
85:09Yeah. Wide receiver 12. I'm going to have to stand on business on that one.
85:13I'm going to have to stand on business and keep it all off season.
85:17Have him be that guy. So, yes, Jalen Waddell.
85:20We are going to be a pro Jalen Waddell podcast.
85:22He fits the bill so well. Just people do not understand how good this guy is.
85:27And that is the thing I want you to take away from this conversation.
85:31Before we go, I've got to let you all know that the all new 2026 soccer pick them game is here at Yahoo.
85:37Just in time for the world's biggest soccer tournament.
85:40You make picks each round, earn points, and climb the leaderboard.
85:43You play solo. You create a private group with your friends.
85:46Or you can join a public group to play with other fans.
85:49Or you can even join our Yahoo Sports group to see if you can beat us.
85:54You can join at yahoofantasy.com slash soccer pick them.
85:56Folks, big news here. All right? Big news. I'm going on vacation.
85:59Clearly, after that little rant I had about the damn Cardinals.
86:03Dude, I ranted about Drake London's contract like three hours ago too.
86:06So that's two rants in one day. Never been a better indication that somebody needs to get off the internet.
86:11That's the thing. I need to get off the internet.
86:14I love chart and film. I chart film all day.
86:17I'm not burnt out on that one bit. I need to get away from social media for a little bit.
86:23So I'm going to be on vacation, which means it's Boone June, baby.
86:26That's right. We've got a marketing. We've got a branding campaign for these next few weeks on the pod, Boone.
86:32You're going to be doing the hosting duties and you're going to be bringing in a ton of great guests.
86:37So very much looking forward to see what you do with the show while I am gone for a few weeks.
86:43Yeah. Reaching out to some friends in the industry who are going to jump on.
86:48Really appreciate the first three people I asked. They all said yes.
86:51And it's people that I've potted with for about a decade now going back to my old show.
86:56So I'm excited to get a chance to do it again.
86:59And buddy, it's big shoes to fill, man. I had to go out and get some top dogs in the industry here to come in for three weeks.
87:07And I'm excited that these guys stepped up. So yeah, can't wait to do it.
87:11Should be really fun. Excited for you to get some much needed time off and that we will come back in the
87:17summer and we will get everybody ready for the season, man, together.
87:20And it's going to be another awesome year. It's going to be another awesome year.
87:25No question. The question really during Boone June, the question for the Boone Brigade, your fan base is are these shows going to be like 15 minutes long?
87:32Because that's the feedback that we get from the old Boone fans.
87:36This pod is too long. We hate it. It's way too long.
87:39So the question is, are you going to be these?
87:42Is Colin going to let you have like a 15 to 20 minute pod?
87:46That's the real question here. I don't think we're going to be able to shorten them.
87:50If I had it my way, dude, my wedding ceremony, I was like, people do hour long wedding ceremonies.
87:56My wedding ceremony was like 10, 15 minutes. I told the minister, let's shorten it right down.
88:00Let's get the basics. Let's get through it. And let's get to the ceremony and the fun or let's get to the reception and the fun part.
88:08Right. That's how it should be. But yeah, for this one, we're going to spend plenty of time, especially because the great guests we have coming on.
88:15We want to pick their brains and see what they think going into the season.
88:20So we'll get a good chance to do that.
88:22Yeah, I love it. It's going to be great.
88:25And I'm happy to take some time off even happier that we've got a great guy like Boone here to host the show in my absence.
88:32But yes, I'm going to be gone for the next few weeks.
88:35I'm going to be in Portugal and Spain on vacation with my wife.
88:39A little other things going on, too. So very much looking forward to that.
88:43If you got any recs, by the way, hit me up on Twitter.
88:46Let me know what I should be doing in Portugal and Spain, what to check out while I'm over there.
88:52A lot of different places. So very much looking forward to it.
88:55But in the meantime, this show is going to be back next Wednesday for Boone June.
89:00I mean, my God, what a great title for the pod while I'm away.
89:04Boone June begins. Until then, we are out.
