0:00Big show for you here today. My good friend Chris Harris joins the show to talk about one thing you need to
0:06know for all 32 NFL teams before you head into your big fantasy drafts this weekend.
0:11That's right. This is the biggest draft weekend of the year.
0:14I know some of you guys, and we love you.
0:17The sickos here. You draft all year long. You listen to every single podcast.
0:20You know everything that you need to know, or at least you think you do.
0:25But there are some folks out there that are just tuning in right now trying to get that last piece of advice
0:31before they go into the biggest draft weekend. This is the show for you.
0:35One thing you need to know for all 32 teams.
0:38Plus, you listen, if you're a sicko, you've been listening all year long.
0:41You're going to get some good things out of this episode.
0:44Chris brings some great perspective, maybe some different perspective than I've been preaching all off season long.
0:49So you get a little debating, you get a little of agreeing big discussions on all 32 NFL teams.
0:54What more could you possibly want all that and more coming up on today's show?
0:59Let's get into it. What's going on, everyone? I'm Matt Harmon.
1:02Welcome to the Yahoo Fantasy Forecast. And it is a hell of a day to talk ball and joining me to do
1:08just that is one of my very good friends in the industry.
1:11I'm always on his podcast. He's going to be on my podcast today.
1:15It is my friend, Chris Harris. Chris, what's going on, buddy?
1:18Oh, thanks for having me. It's so fun and cram session.
1:21Come on. I mean, we're we get to say something about every team.
1:25And hopefully if people are just dipping into fantasy right here at the very beginning.
1:29At the end, we get to say something about every team and steer them in the right direction.
1:34That's exactly right. Chris is a professional podcaster. So he just gets right into, you know, what the topic of the day is here.
1:41Because, yeah, we are one week away from a real football game happening.
1:44I know I should be better about this because this is, you know, the job.
1:48But every time we get like one week away or one this away or this, that and the other away from the
1:55actual game or something happening, it hits me like a ton of bricks.
1:58So it was quite alarming to me to it is.
2:01It's an exciting ton of bricks to hit me in the face.
2:04That's exactly what it is. It's exciting. But the fact that, yeah, one week from today, the first game will kick off.
2:11So if you are right now just tuning into fantasy football, which, again, I know there's diehard listeners that are with us
2:1724-7, 365 every day of the year, the whole deal.
2:20There's some people I know that just tune into this show right at the very end to get a cram session in.
2:26And that's what we are going to be doing today because millions of people, millions of drafts will be taking place this Labor Day weekend.
2:33So Chris and I are going to go through all 32 teams in the NFL and give you one thing you need
2:39to know as you head into your final drafts this weekend.
2:42Chris did the AFC. I did the NFC. And we're going to go in order of current Super Bowl odds.
2:48So best odds to win the Super Bowl, worst odds to win the Super Bowl, which means I am up first, Chris,
2:54with the Los Angeles Rams, who are the favorite to win the Super Bowl this year by a good bit, which means
3:00they're definitely not going to win the Super Bowl.
3:03Hard to have to break it to you there.
3:05But one thing you need to know, all is really seemingly settled right now with this team.
3:10You look at the depth chart here. We assume Puka Nakua, nothing's happening off the field there, but that is maybe a little bit of unsettled.
3:17The backfield is settled, of course, with Kyron Williams, Blake Quorum, Demonte Adams there.
3:21Like we just kind of know what this team is heading into week one, which is funny, Chris, because last year there
3:27was all the speculation about Matthew Stafford's back. So it feels like all is settled, right?
3:32Right? Yeah, it feels like all is settled. I'm with you.
3:35I mean, if anything, the thing I would take away from the Rams is go into your draft and wait and wait and wait and take Matthew Stafford.
3:43I mean, I love it, right? You know, he's one of these pocket-based quarterbacks that is a value at the position.
3:48The other thing I would say, Chris, and I know you and I actually talked about this player on your show where
3:55I said, hey, Terrence Ferguson might be one of those guys to like take a leap in his second season.
4:00I believe your response to me was, is he going to learn how to play football or something of that nature?
4:06I remember our discussion about Terrence Ferguson. No, I'm in on Terrence Ferguson.
4:10Yeah, yeah. That's probably the only guy that really I think of the whole group here, Chris, that could maybe like outkick
4:16expectations or sort of kind of come out of nowhere from an ADP perspective and be useful in fantasy this year.
4:22Hard to draft him in a 12-team league though.
4:24Hard to like, you can take him as a second tight end, but I don't want to take a second tight end.
4:31He seems to me as more of a waiver guy.
4:33He had like 12 catches last year, but they were awesome catches.
4:37Awesome. His film was awesome. Yeah, 11 catches, I believe it was last season.
4:41So whichever one of your 11 was your favorite.
4:43There you go. Yeah, again, probably a waiver wire speed dial type of player is Terrence Ferguson.
4:48But ultimately, I do, I would say too, since they're the one of the first two games here that are going to
4:54kick off before the Sunday slate, you can kind of like in Yahoo because you can drop players after they play.
5:00You can kind of stick them on the end of your bench and just see what happens as a speculative guy and
5:06then add a defense after your draft. So there's a good cram note for the people out there.
5:11But let's get to the next team up, Chris.
5:14This is your first one from the AFC, the Buffalo Bills.
5:17What's one thing people need to know? I think DJ Moore has the stench of 2025 on him a little bit still.
5:23It was very disappointing season. We can go on and on and you and I have on my show about why that was, but it's a different system.
5:31It's a better quarterback for DJ Moore, more improvisational quarterback.
5:34And you can get DJ Moore in something like the fifth round.
5:37And that I think is a price you should be willing to pay.
5:41DJ Moore, Chris, is one of the guys I've like changed my mind the most on based on a lot of the
5:47things, the conversations that you and I have had about why I think he was a little bit just of a weird
5:53fit in the Ben Johnson offense and how he fits this system so much more.
5:57He's actually someone I've bumped up ahead of even like Terry McLaurin, who I was really excited about previous to this.
6:03I'm really in on DJ Moore. Where do you have him ranked among your wide receivers right now?
6:08Yeah, he's above McLaurin. I'm checking my own ranks because I'm not a professional.
6:1221. So well within the wide receiver two range.
6:15I think it's a particular roster build. I think he bears more risk than you typically want out of a starting fantasy player.
6:21So I would prefer to pair him with a receiver who I feel like has a pretty safe floor because I don't
6:27think he in a new situation coming off a disappointing year, he has the safest of floors.
6:32But like I've taken the plunge many times round five.
6:35Yeah, round five is the perfect area for him.
6:37And he's a good, as you mentioned, kind of guy to kind of parent one of those.
6:42I've got two receivers early. Hopefully I want to come away with in the first four rounds, as I've said many times,
6:48with at least two running backs locked in. But if he ends up being that third receiver for me, kind of that
6:54hammer, I like him in that range. Although one player, I don't know if we're talking about, well, we'll talk about the Colts when we get there.
7:02I end up weighing him against Tyler Warren an awful lot in my overall rankings.
7:06And they feel like completely different players, obviously different positions.
7:09But Warren is like safe, high floor receptions more.
7:11I think you're looking for more big plays. But ultimately a guy that can make big plays and is going to a
7:18team that was second in the NFL in explosive play percentage.
7:21I do really like the fifth round price on DJ Moore.
7:24Let's get to the Seattle Seahawks. I'm up for this one.
7:27One fantasy thing to note here, they're really selling us hard on Jadarian Price and Rashid Jaheed being more involved.
7:32It feels like Rashid Jaheed, Chris, might be one of these guys that for all of eternity, whichever team is signing his
7:39paychecks is telling us he's going to be more involved than previous.
7:42I tend to be optimistic on the Rashid Jaheed side that he can do more than he's tasked with.
7:47But so far he has been. I mean, he's been a real receiver at times, especially in New Orleans.
7:53But he just wasn't fully unleashed with the Seattle Seahawks after coming over there midseason.
7:57And obviously Jadarian Price, they're talking about him being used as a receiver.
8:01I mean, we know who the big guy is.
8:03It's Jackson Smith and Jigba here. But do you find yourself clicking on any of these?
8:08I don't want to call them ancillary, obviously starting running back, number two receiver, any of these other Seattle Seahawks players?
8:13I don't usually. But I don't feel like it's because I think their price is bad or anything.
8:18It just seems not to have worked out that way.
8:21You and I are both Torrey Horton fans. We would love Torrey Horton to be a thing.
8:26I went into the draft season having Horton ahead of Shaheed.
8:29Nothing really against Shaheed. I just maybe it's the promise of the unknown of Torrey Horton.
8:34But something to know for your draft. If you were ever thinking of Torrey Horton as a sleeper, no, he's hurt.
8:39He had a rod implanted in his shin. He's having complications.
8:43We're not going anywhere near him. And Shaheed went up in my ranks as a result.
8:47Still not top 50. But I'm not like if anybody's going to pound the table and say, you know, you really have it wrong.
8:54It should be 39 instead of 51. Like, OK, buddy, I don't know.
8:57Maybe like they're kind of all the same. Shaheed has the profile of a big play guy.
9:02And should the role expand beyond what he's done so far in his career and he might be able to do more?
9:08He'll he'll outperform it. But I can't I can say that about 40 receivers.
9:12So I don't reach for him. I tend not to reach for price.
9:16It is. Are you surprised that the market hasn't gone crazier with Jadier?
9:20Like the price actually is pretty reasonable for this first round running.
9:23Yeah, I know. I agree with that. I thought he'd be somebody that would like rocket up over the course of the
9:29summer, but he stayed kind of in a range where I in my rankings, I end up, you know, kind of facing
9:35him versus some of the receivers that I really like there.
9:38So it does sort of look into like a team build situation.
9:42But I have him sandwiched right now between, you know, the David Montgomery and Quinchan Judkins type of players.
9:47And I mean, Judkins is a really good, exciting player, but he plays for the Browns.
9:52And so it's kind of I'm weighing Montgomery versus price.
9:54I could totally understand somebody just saying, hey, I'm in the 60s.
9:58I need a volume based running back to let me at least take the guy that is younger and theoretically more exciting.
10:04Understand it. And then, of course, also understand the anxiety if you're going into your draft.
10:08You need one draft thought is that Zach Charbonnet can come back and ruin your fantasy playoffs.
10:13I'm not like counting on it, but it can happen.
10:16And I don't think David Montgomery has that problem.
10:18All right, let's get to the next team here.
10:21This is the Baltimore Ravens. What is your one fantasy thing to note for the Baltimore Ravens?
10:26Zay Flowers. He's my number one flag player. That's a good thing for me, planting a flag.
10:31Yeah, I think this is an explosion season for Zay Flowers.
10:34We're going to it's hard for five, nine receivers.
10:36I think he's a five, nine receiver to be fantasy superstars.
10:39But I just go back to Steve Smith. And I don't know if it's a perfect comp because I'm not sure that
10:45Flowers is as physical as Steve Smith was. But just like speed, quickness, open field ability.
10:50The only thing that was lacking last year for Flowers was touchdowns.
10:53And granted, it's Lamar Jackson and Derek Henry near the end zone.
10:57There's probably not a lot of three yard touchdown passes to Zay Flowers.
11:00But long touchdown passes are sort of just random.
11:03And Zay Flowers has been a little unlucky and tackled at the one and fumbled at the one.
11:08And it's really easy for me to imagine a world where he goes from five to nine and still gets 13, 1400
11:14yards and suddenly it's a JSN style breakout. So Zay Flowers, high on my board.
11:18High on my board as well, Chris. I did.
11:21We have a bold prediction show coming out on this podcast feed on Labor Day.
11:25I believe it comes out next week. Time is really slipping away at this point.
11:29But on my other podcast. It's a flat circle.
11:32It is a flat circle. From all my other podcasts, reception, perception, the show, because I'm not a.
11:37Listen, I'm not a podcast monogamous here. All right.
11:39You know, I'm doing a couple of shows here on that bold prediction show.
11:43I said that Zay Flowers is going to leave the NFL in receiving yards.
11:47Bold prediction there. So, yeah, JSN style breakout. It doesn't even have to come from the touchdowns.
11:52It can come from the fact that they're going to play a lot of these heavy personnel packages.
11:57And that's how JSN really had his eruption season.
11:59And I've always been a Zay Flowers fan. And I think he kind of knocked off some of the mistake prone boneheaded
12:06plays last year and was just a little bit more stable.
12:09I think the Declan Doyle offense, or at least what I'm imagining it to be, Chris, is such a good fit for
12:15his skill set on these big breaking routes down the field.
12:18So late third round. I know, again, people always have the touchdown upside question.
12:22I find myself clicking him an awful lot in the late third round.
12:25And by the way, just on the touchdown part of it, it does mean something to me, at least that Declan Doyle,
12:32again, coming from the Ben Johnson coaching tree. And we can get kind of in tough situations with these bit of analysis here.
12:38But they really, the Lions at least, started funneling targets to Amon Ross St.
12:42Brown along the goal line. And, you know, obviously, Amon Ross is not the biggest player in the world.
12:47Like, can they do some of the same things schematically with Zay Flowers?
12:51I do think it's possible. Yeah, I'm not drafting up.
12:54I mean, I have him 24 overall. Like, I take him end of the second round.
12:58I'll take him anywhere in the third round. I am ahead of the market on him.
13:03I feel like I don't even need that to happen.
13:06And you're right. We do get into trouble when we start saying, oh, who's the Amon Ross in this offense?
13:11Like, probably there isn't one is the answer. He's a pretty unique player.
13:15But still, that doesn't take away the possibility. And it, you know, makes it just, I think he's going to be a fun player.
13:22Play action, one of the best receivers in the league because Derrick Henry plays for that team.
13:26Plays with a quarterback with the largest A dot in the history of the NFL for downfield shots.
13:31Like, it all lines up right. Well, if you're saying we got to be a little careful when we're talking about map,
13:38what this coach did previously to his new team, this, that, and the other, that leads us perfectly to your next team here.
13:44AFC odds to win the Super Bowl. The Chargers are right here.
13:47People are very excited about the Mike McDaniel offense coming here to Los Angeles.
13:51What's one thing that people need to know about the Chargers, Chris?
13:55So, if you're dipping in and out of the NFL over the course of August, you might have heard that, again, Rashawn Slater gets hurt again.
14:02And you start imagining, once again, the protection won't be any good.
14:05And the best laid plans of this supposedly amazing offense and Justin Herbert and everybody is, once again, you know, look amazing
14:11for a minute and then everybody will be hurt and forget about it.
14:15And the fortunate thing is that Slater seems like he's okay.
14:18Although they did lose the center and they're having to play a rookie center, which is a question mark.
14:23But if anything is going to torpedo the Chargers at this point, it does feel like it's probably infrastructure more than the skill players themselves.
14:31We can argue about, I think, O'Marion Hampton's a little overvalued.
14:34I think Keaton Mitchell's a little undervalued. But in the end, we don't really know because we don't really know usage.
14:39They're like all pretty good players. It's a really deep skill group.
14:43And so I guess the message I would give people thinking to click buttons on over the weekend would be you can
14:49probably feel pretty good about taking Chargers. Yeah, I feel pretty good about it.
14:53It definitely did sort of, are we doing this again, right?
14:56This time last year, we're all starting to get a little nervous about the Chargers offensive line.
15:01The Tyler Biotis injury certainly is going to at least give me pause when projecting the offense to go to the moon.
15:07So maybe we don't go fully to the moon here, but I think we're at least going to get out of the
15:13atmosphere with the Chargers rocket ship, Chris. And if that is the case and you are kind of maybe a little skeptical
15:19about Hampton, I have Hampton, you know, it's like a solid second round pick 18th overall.
15:24I'm not the highest on him. I'm certainly not the lowest on him.
15:27My thing is usually, and I said this on our Yahoo Fantasy League draft stream yesterday, you know, O'Marion Hampton is one of these really exciting players.
15:35I think we're all kind of hoping he becomes Derrick Henry.
15:38I usually just find myself clicking Derrick Henry as opposed to the guy we hope is Derrick Henry.
15:43But if you're not attacking the backfield, like who do you have any flag plant players or someone you usually take from this offense?
15:50I didn't plan a flag on any of them, but I'll definitely wait at quarterback and take Herbert if he comes around when I'm ready to take one.
15:58Definitely in on that. Actually, I did. I plan a flag on Keaton Mitchell.
16:02What am I talking about? You know, you get him so late.
16:05He's a double digit round guy. It's a it's an absolute flyer and he's maybe not the healthiest going to week one.
16:11But then again, they sort of do lie about that stuff.
16:14I don't know who to trust. Doesn't seem like he's not going to play or anything like that.
16:19Harbaugh. Don't trust Jim Harbaugh on the injury front.
16:22That's who you don't trust. They say nothing when it comes to injuries here.
16:26Right. It's funny. We've had a lot of conversations on my show about Lab McConkie and I'm a little on the negative
16:32side, but I feel like you can get a lot like Scott Pianowski.
16:36I'm sure you've talked to about him and he's 100 percent and he loves him.
16:40He can't get enough. And then I have other people come on and go, this is this.
16:45I just think he's being treated as always a number one and he's more like kind of best among equals and and
16:51it'll be fine in the floor is high, but the ceiling isn't isn't as high.
16:55I don't get lad. I know you're a fan, though.
16:58Yeah. Yeah, I'm I'm a big fan. I yeah, I wish I got more of him, but I'm usually in a draft
17:04with somebody who's also a really big fan. So he's a tough player.
17:08One of the biggest debates I have in my mind, and I know we're going to talk about this team, of course,
17:14because we're talking about every team here. But one of the bigger debates I have in my mind at the wide receiver
17:20position is Mecca Ibuka versus Lad McConkie versus like Tedrow McMillan.
17:23I think the guy that I'm the highest on as a player is Lad McConkie of the group, Chris.
17:28But Ibuka, and again, we're talking Bucks later. That's one of my teams.
17:32Ibuka is a player. I think actually from an opportunity standpoint and a skill set and a fit in the offense standpoint,
17:38I end up clicking him more than Lad. But that's not to say I'm not.
17:42I love Lad where he goes, and I think he actually does have an incredibly high ceiling in this offense.
17:48Yeah, I guess I don't know if I think he has an extraordinarily high ceiling.
17:52But I think he's... Is it just like the size or the skill set or what is the hang up with Lad for you?
17:59My hang up is... It's a little bit of the size.
18:02It's a little bit of the usage. Which could change because it's a new offensive system, obviously.
18:07There was such an opportunity for him to be good, even though everything else was falling around.
18:11The kind of player he was supposed to be coming out of his rookie year was supposed to be the kind of
18:18player that could salvage that pass offense. And he so did not...
18:21He played bad last year. Like, he did not help.
18:24He was part of the problem. And he stopped going down the field as much.
18:28And that can be related to the offensive line.
18:30And it might all be fruit from the poisonous tree.
18:33We might go right back to the second half at 25 or 24.
18:37But, you know, he goes in the third or maybe the early fourth.
18:41And it's a little rich for my blood. I do take McMillan more, I would say.
18:45But we'll get to them. I disagree that he played poorly.
18:48I would say that he did run cold on the 50-50 balls where he ran like white hot, you know, in his rookie season.
18:55That's the thing where I do think, quite frankly, because he's a small white slot receiver, we still kind of expect him
19:01to be like that Wes Welker type. Where, to me, he's more of like a Tyler Lockett type of player where he's
19:07more useful in the downfield passing game. Which is why I kind of like him in this offense more than the previous Greg Roman offense.
19:14But, yeah, it is just tough. Like, typically when a team loses its two starting tackles and they're awesome, like, as you
19:20mentioned, nothing good grows from that tree. And that's why I kind of just push a lot out of what happened with
19:27the Chargers offense, right or wrong last year. I think you can say the same thing about everything that we saw in
19:33Philadelphia last year, which is my next team here.
19:35My one thing to note about this team is not looking for much early season impact from these rookies.
19:41Makai Lemon and certainly Eli Stowers, who, I mean, Eli Stowers might like start the season on the inactive list.
19:46I think no one's really expecting much from him.
19:49But, you know, Makai Lemon, I'm not saying that.
19:51Honestly, I don't really care about what we saw in the preseason or any of the poor performances there.
19:57But for me, Chris, one of the things I live by with rookie receivers is I just hate when a guy misses
20:03a huge chunk of time in the offseason. And he has missed so much time, both in the padless ramp up period and then into training camp.
20:10And because I am a sick pup who still has a lot of hope for Dontavian Wicks, I think Wicks is good
20:16enough to keep Lemon at bay, at least for the first month and a half of the season.
20:22So Lemon might be one of those players that you take and you have to just live with like a really, really slow start.
20:28Honestly, might be one of those guys that gets drafted and then dropped and then you pick him up and hopefully he
20:34has that awesome second half of the season. But it is one of those passing games, too, where it might just be
20:41all concentrated about around the number one receiver and nobody else really gets into the mix here.
20:45Yeah, Devontae Smith planted a flag on him. Love, love Smith.
20:48If you can get him a third round, I like him a lot.
20:52Agree on Lemon. The good thing about Lemon, if you want to play the long game with him, is that the price
20:58has just gotten low, you know, as it should have because he missed all training camp.
21:03It's just hard. Like if you had taken odds this time, you know, two months ago in that, you know, who's higher in your ranks?
21:10Dijon Stribling or Makai Lemon? And like, oh, I don't that's not a what are you talking about?
21:15Who's Dijon Stribling? I would have said because I'm stupid and now Stribling's higher.
21:19And so absolutely not a terrible stash, but it is a stash.
21:22Yeah, he's a stash. I have Makai Lemon behind Stribling in my redraft ranks, which is bizarre to feel that way.
21:28But listen, he's going to he's going to come in here and get opportunity, whereas Lemon, I think you're going to have to wait on that one.
21:36OK, Kansas City Chiefs, your next team here. What's one what's one thing that people need to know?
21:41I think given Kenneth Walker being a really good player who I've always liked and defended when he went too low in
21:47drafts in Seattle, he's I don't get him. But like he's fairly valued as a second rounder.
21:52Don't take him in the first, but he's so oft injured.
21:55It's just I really care about who the second running back is.
21:58And the Chiefs are notoriously cagey and don't really tell us things.
22:01But I take Emmett Johnson in the 14th or 15th round a lot because he's, you know, he's being cast as, oh, cool.
22:08He'll be the alternate. That means he's the third down.
22:11That means he's the passing back. But not being a real college guy myself, I rely on people like you and other
22:17people who actually pay attention to college. And I am led to believe that this was a starting running back who was
22:23actually very good and could conceivably not just be the typical Chiefs satellite back.
22:27That's kind of been annoying for many, many years that isn't usable himself, but siphons away.
22:31There's a chance that if the Chiefs offense is maybe back on track and better than it's been maybe the last year
22:37and a half or so, maybe there gets to be a second running back that you can use as a flex.
22:43And that's why I'm stashing Emmett Johnson and just taking a look at him the first couple of weeks and then probably
22:50dropping him because that's what you usually do with these late round picks.
22:53But, you know, the kid winning the job was a notable thing for me.
22:57Yeah, it is really notable because everything that the Chiefs have not just I mean, I'm with you on a lot of this.
23:04I don't really care about what they say. I care about what they tell us without like their actions speak louder than their words.
23:10And everything about Kansas City's actions this offseason say like what we believe is wrong with our offense is that our run game stinks.
23:17And the numbers agree with them. They're the 32nd ranked team in explosive run rate over the last two years by a healthy dose.
23:24I think Kenneth Walker is here to solve a lot of that.
23:27I think an offensive line that is a little bit underrated is here to solve a lot of that.
23:32We'll see what the Josh Simmons stuff. Eric Biennemi coming back here is a big part of that as well.
23:38So they want to be a run first team.
23:41And the fact that they have a guy that is a I think it is a real quality back in his own right.
23:47You know, James Coe is doing some running back charting for us at reception perception.
23:51He's a big fan of Emmett Johnson's game. Yeah, people that watch him, I think, are really impressed by what he can be.
23:58So, yeah, he's one of these great backup insurance policies.
24:00And Chris, on your Kenneth Walker note, we did a couple of Yahoo fantasy sales events in New York City last week
24:07where we were talking to some folks who are getting ready for the drafts, the whole deal.
24:11And Josh Norris is there, and he's really trying to convince these people to take Kenneth Walker.
24:16You know, he's a big Kenneth Walker guy. I'm a big Kenneth Walker guy this year.
24:21And just his pitch to these people is just falling on deaf ears.
24:24And I said to Boone after the fact, I'm like, I feel like Kenneth Walker this year.
24:29And I'm totally putting this into the air. And I shouldn't be.
24:32He's just going to be one of those guys that everybody doesn't want to click on him this early because he's going to get hurt.
24:39And then we're like, no, no, no, no. But if he doesn't get hurt and then he just does end up missing time.
24:46And if that happens, like we are writing all the waiver wire articles.
24:50We are leading the waiver wire shows with a guy like Emmett Johnson.
24:53Agree. And like, you're not going to find somebody who has liked Kenneth Walker's film when he's healthy more than me.
24:59I've huge, huge booster. He's been a flag player on my show.
25:02Like this is a good free agent signing. We'll see about the offensive line.
25:06It's a bunch of new pieces. Let's see. I'd like to know that they could get it to work.
25:12I don't think Isaiah Pacheco stunk. Not as good as Kenneth Walker, but like he got hurt.
25:16And maybe that, you know, when you're relying on cream hunt, this just in your, your explosive play rate may go down.
25:23Walker's going to make some really big plays and I'm excited about him, but I don't know.
25:27It's what you said before. Like I'm not taking him 13 when there's really good receivers there.
25:32I just, I'll probably take a receiver running back before him and a running back after him, but I'll probably take receiver where he goes.
25:39Oh, I think I look literally have him ranked 13th.
25:42So I might be willing to go down with the ship on the Kenneth Walker.
25:46I can't only because only because running back dries up faster than receivers.
25:50And I think my second tier of receivers is, is so fat that at that point, I'm willing to kind of take
25:56my lumps with any of the Kenneth Walker injury stuff and lean into the upside there in the early second round.
26:02Speaking of injuries and all that, I mean, for San Francisco 49ers, which is my next team up here.
26:07One thing you just got to note is like the Mike Evans risk is as clear and as plain as day at this point.
26:14The upside is obvious. He is the San Francisco 49ers ex receiver and his name is Mike Evans.
26:19This is a great role for him. He fits the offense incredibly well.
26:23I don't, we definitely saw some signs of decline from an RP standpoint last year, in my opinion with Mike Evans, but
26:29it wasn't so bad that I'm like, oh man, he, I can't take him in the sixth round, late fifth round, wherever he goes right now.
26:36The upside is very clear, but Chris, I mean, August has not been clean for Mike Evans.
26:41It's a, you can't string like three consecutive practices together.
26:44They say it's fine. It might be fine. Who knows?
26:46But if you take Mike Evans, you just got to know, have a backup plan.
26:51And okay, like make sure you dip back in the receiver market in rounds eight to nine, where I think the tears get pretty good again.
26:58The risk is obvious with Mike Evans. The upside is there.
27:01How are you looking at Evans on your draft board right now?
27:04I think he's fairly priced. And at times, because like you, I think running back scarcity is much, much more of a problem.
27:11I'm, you know, before Evans is going, I'm usually, if I'm tie-breaking between receivers and running backs, I'm usually going running back.
27:17And therefore, when I get down to Evans's neighborhood, I have, I've clicked him a few times knowing exactly what you're saying.
27:23Feeling in my own evaluation, absolutely slowed down. I think two years ago and then last year, obviously misses most of the
27:29year injured, but it's not, he's not the same player.
27:32And the Niners were never getting the same player.
27:35And when Ricky Pearsall was healthy, you and I both big Ricky Pearsall fans.
27:39And like, I was fading the hell out of Mike Evans.
27:42And now I'm kind of like, oh, I guess I'm where the market is because I understand that it's a really good
27:48offense and a really good play caller. And I like the accuracy of the quarterback.
27:52And he's got the heart of a jewel thief and he'll throw it deep and he'll throw it at tight windows.
27:58And that's exactly what Mike Evans needs. Mike Evans needs.
28:01And that's, you know, Baker Mayfield to do the same thing.
28:04And that's why that partnership worked too. So like you said, I understand everything that can go right.
28:09But I think he's had five different soft tissue injuries in August.
28:12It sounds, sounds great. Yes. Not exactly what you want out of your like fifth or sixth round fantasy pick.
28:18But again, if he stays healthy, he probably moons walk moon walks into like 10 touchdowns.
28:22So we know what the outcomes are for Mike Evans at this point.
28:26All right. We are going to take a quick break.
28:29We come back. We're running through more teams. And one thing you need to know before you head into your drafts.
28:35We'll get into that right after this. All right.
28:37We're back. We are continuing to run through one thing you need to know for every single NFL team before your biggest draft weekend of the year.
28:45Chris Harris, you're up with the Houston Texans. What do we need to know?
28:49Well, I think probably if you're doing a fantasy draft, you know that Jaden Higgins tore his ACL in training camp.
28:55A huge bummer. A really good receiving prospect. And you may or may not know that Tank Dell trying to rehab from
29:01a gruesome injury from two years ago is not ready.
29:04And frankly, I'm not sure he'll ever, ever, ever be ready.
29:07You may not know the Texans traded for Kayshawn Booty from the Patriots, who is fine.
29:11A fine receiver. That's all. A fine receiver. And all of this leads me to I click on Jalen Knoll in the
29:17very late rounds a lot of times in many, many drafts.
29:20Is that a good thing or a bad thing?
29:23I couldn't tell if that noise was pleasure or not.
29:26It's obviously pleasure. I'm clapping for you over here, Chris.
29:28I'm so glad. Keep going. I've got stuff to say, but keep going.
29:32So the funny thing is that the film I thought was really good in his rookie year.
29:37And the moment Christian Kirk got healthy, they were like, sit down, kid.
29:41And I don't really understand why. And like, you know, there are there are he's probably mostly a slot player, although he can he can play.
29:48Why? Like he ran deep overs. He ran like complicated routes.
29:51He got open. I think he's the number two receiver on that team.
29:55And of course, we want Nico Collins and I'll take Nico Collins all day long.
29:59But if I don't. Yeah. Late in drafts. Jalen Knoll has the chance.
30:02Like, does he have a chance to do 1400 yards?
30:05No, but that's why you're taking him in the frickin 12th round.
30:09I am. I think it's weird that people just sort of decided that Knoll isn't the solution to Jaden Higgins being hurt.
30:15I couldn't agree more. I think some of it is out of sight, out of mind because he's missed a ton of
30:21time in the offseason with the like he came to the camp with an on the NFL injury.
30:26Yeah. And then he had a hamstring issue. But everything I've heard is that like the team was really happy with him before that.
30:33And then obviously they're just looking to get him ramped back up.
30:36Do you know, like there's and listen, I've said this a lot about Jalen.
30:40If you look at my player comp tool, he comps so well to all the guys that are like the Matt Harmon fell for it again.
30:47Hall of Fame. You know, there's like a Curtis Samuel comp in there.
30:51Jaden Reed. Josh. I get it. They're like two guys that are too small to play in two receiver sets.
30:57And they never end up becoming like real big breakout fantasy players.
31:00But Chris, do you know what Jalen? Do you know his height and weight?
31:04I do. I'll tell you. It's 5'11", 200 pounds.
31:065'11", 200 pounds. Not that way. Do you know Kayshawn Booty's height and weight?
31:105'11", 203 pounds. Absolutely. Yeah. You guys are telling me like, oh, immediately it's Kayshawn Booty in the two receiver sets at
31:16the Z spot as opposed to Jalen Knoll because Jalen Knoll's too small.
31:20That doesn't make any sense. I did a video the other day about consensus ADP and which guys are like the best deep sleepers.
31:27His consensus ADP, Chris, is wide receiver 104 Jalen Knoll.
31:30Like that doesn't make any sense to me right now.
31:32Yeah. His consensus rank is don't draft him. And I think that's, you know, can we sit here and bang the table
31:39and say you must leave every draft with Jalen?
31:41No, of course not. No, yeah. We're all going to have a list of five or six double digit round type players we like getting.
31:48And, you know, I already talked about Emmitt Johnson.
31:51And sometimes maybe I get in a round where I take Emmitt Johnson or I take Jalen Knoll.
31:56But on some teams I've taken both. They're late round dudes who I need to see it clearly.
32:01But it's just, yeah, the market just sometimes decide things.
32:04You know me. I call it the mind palace.
32:06Like we build the mind palace of how the season is going to go.
32:10And it's very intricate. You know, it's very like this is exactly how we've mapped it all out.
32:15And of course, this is how it goes. And then week one happens and somebody throws a hammer and the mind palace gets shattered.
32:22And one thing that I think could be wrong, but I don't know it, but could be wrong is this notion that I mean, who's Kajon Booty?
32:29I'm sorry, Patriots fan over here. Like he's he's a slow, deep threat.
32:33I love those. You know, I don't know. Contested catch guy at 511.
32:37He's a good fine. He's a reserve player in the NFL.
32:40Totally fine. Yeah. No one might be also no might be also.
32:43But I'll take the chance on the speed. Yeah, that's that's where I'm at, too.
32:47I've been kind of mystified by the lack of buzz and optimism on Jalen.
32:51No, it's like a late round, super just completely cheap, possible breakout second year receiver.
32:55OK, speaking of the New England Patriots, that's the next team up here.
32:59And we're still in the AFC for you here.
33:02Yeah. If, you know, again, we're sort of trying to speak to the person who is just tuning in and they realize
33:08they have a draft and they're cram sessioning for this.
33:11You may not realize that. There we go. Keep going.
33:13Sorry. Sorry. Keep going. Hey. OK. You know, he made a bunch of big plays in two games at the end of last season.
33:20So therefore, I'm going to project him for like the fourth round or something.
33:24He can't pass protect. They don't really seem to want to throw it to him.
33:28They're talking about the kid. They just added from Arizona and glowing terms.
33:32Corey Kiner. So like don't reach for Henderson and Stevenson is probably just fine to grab to.
33:37Yeah. Henderson is just not a guy I found on a lot of my rosters because of this exact thing.
33:42I said it all the time. It's going to be tough for me to get out of my head that they trust Stevenson more.
33:49And there's just been nothing to kind of there's nothing to change my mind on that.
33:53So I wouldn't say Henderson's just like he's he's banged.
33:56He's going to be nothing. But you're not allowed to draft Travian Henderson and send a bunch of tweets in week one
34:02about like, why is he not getting the football more?
34:05If it's going to happen for Henderson, it's going to be a slow play situation.
34:09So, yeah, that's something we've talked about a lot on this show over the offseason.
34:14OK, Cincinnati Bengals next team up here. And we are still we're in like a long run of AFC teams here, pal.
34:20So you're leading off with this again. I got it covered.
34:23I got it covered. I mean, the Bengals are that narrow tree that everybody talks about, yada, yada, yada.
34:28I mean, I wrote notes out for you guys like what I was going to.
34:32So I talked about the Steelers first and how this like no Steelers go in the first six rounds for Bengals go before a single Steeler goes.
34:40And that includes Joe Burrow. So the quarterback of the Bengals is going before the running back.
34:45Any anybody on the Steelers. So the prices are going to be really high.
34:49Chase Brown's really expensive. Number 12 overall. Some places I've seen him go as high as 10 in drafts.
34:54You have to make a choice. I love Chase Brown.
34:57He was a flag guy. That was a big success story for me two years ago.
35:01I've been I very much like him, but he's a particular kind of player and needs a particular kind of arrangement.
35:07And he probably has it. And he's really good.
35:10And I would love to take a middle late second round.
35:13So it's not like I'm pooping on him. But man, that is a that's a that's a big weight to be putting on a player.
35:20His size and and his I think, you know, potential injury profile just because of the size.
35:25He's kind of a physical guy for how little he is.
35:28And that scares me if the role is really that big.
35:31And some of the goodness last year came because Joe Flacco was helpless and checking it down 700 times.
35:36So I guess I'll say I can't say don't draft Chase Brown at his price, but you really have to think about
35:42it if you're picking at the end of the first round and you're going to have to make a choice.
35:48I think the story that you have to tell yourself about Chase Brown and the Bengals offense as a whole is that
35:54they really are able to pull off what sounds like a big project in training camp has been blending the run of
36:00the pass game together, getting Joe Burrow under center more, because I mean, Chase Brown, you mentioned that the a lot of
36:06the checkdowns is up from Joe Flacco. But they're also like able to run more of a traditional NFL offense that makes
36:12life a little easier on the running back when it's not Joe Burrow back there, because Burrow is great, but he wants
36:19to play a particular style, which then you kind of need Chase Brown to catch a bazillion passes in that way.
36:25You have to make a choice, like not just on the fantasy ADP of Chase Brown.
36:29You kind of make a choice on whether you think that's going to work for the Bengals or if they're going to
36:35get through September and Joe Burrow is going to sit here and say, yeah, I want to play this way.
36:41Like, we'll just go back to doing what I want to do because, you know, that I'm the most important person in the building.
36:48So we'll see how that works out. Yeah, I find myself like kind of fine on Chase Brown, not cool, not hot,
36:54just fine on Chase Brown, who could be a really good fantasy pick this year.
36:58Let's go to the Denver Broncos here. Another AFC team.
37:01What do we got for this one? So I might be like dead wrong, but Sean Payton is talking up Jonah Coleman a lot.
37:07And you may or may not know this, but you talked about Jim Harbaugh not being trustable.
37:12I don't find Sean Payton to be trustable at all.
37:15And so he, I'm still waiting for Greg Dulcich to break out as a Bronco.
37:19That's that's coming anytime soon. I am not buying Jonah Coleman.
37:22I don't take him in drafts, but I think you're going to maybe hear people telling you to take him.
37:28Matt Waldman came on my show and was like slowest running back in the draft.
37:32I want no part of him. And I believe in Matt Waldman.
37:35So I get Dobbins or Harvey, and I think you can get them at pretty good value.
37:40Understanding that the reason they're as low as they are is because it is some sort of mess.
37:45If it's two headed or three headed, we'll find out as the season goes along.
37:49But I'm certainly more apt to advise people to take the chance on Dobbins first and then Harvey.
37:55And I'm not really biting on Coleman. Yeah, I think Dobbins is a good pick this year.
37:59Obviously, you know what the risk is. He's going to get hurt.
38:03Okay, sure. Okay, we know that. But it was still like where he goes to drafts.
38:07Yeah, it's priced. It's totally priced in. If he wasn't going to get hurt, he'd be what?
38:12Like a fifth round pick? Like he'd go in that kind of Judkins territory or something like that.
38:17Yeah, sure. So there's already that risk is already priced in.
38:20If he gets hurt, deal with it. It's fine.
38:23I'm a little more from a player perspective open to Coleman than it sounds like Matt Waldman is just because this is my type of back.
38:30Like the grinder, you know, does the little things well.
38:33Not to mention he was on the show, you know, so obviously that's a good sign for his career.
38:38You know, maybe some bias leaked in here a little bit.
38:41But yeah, no, I do like Coleman. But I also think even and Hayden Winks and I talked about this a few
38:47weeks ago, even if there's a scenario where Dobbins gets hurt, I think people will rocket Coleman up the fantasy football rankings,
38:53but he does need a few things to go right for that to happen.
38:57So he could be like a better real life back than a fantasy back anyway.
39:02So I don't mind you saying like he's a fade in that regard.
39:05Do you like did you like what you saw from R.J.
39:08Harvey last year? Like, are you an R.J. Harvey guy?
39:11OK, so that's where that's where I that's what I was kind of wondering that part of it.
39:16Yeah, no, no. I think he kind of stunk as a as a runner.
39:20I called him the six foot invisible rabbit. You know, that James Stewart movie, Harvey.
39:24I am. I am not in awe of his.
39:27Well, that one's pretty old. You might be able to catch up with it.
39:31Jimmy Stewart. The thing is, the market has the market that was so into R.J.
39:35Harvey last year could not tell you how great he was enough.
39:38And he was my number one bust on my show last year is completely out so far out.
39:43He's is he is he going the top hundred?
39:46Like, barely. And I find that's funny. You know, suddenly now it's Jonah Coleman.
39:50And I go, cool. Like, you're just deciding on the guy you don't know.
39:54And the fact is, he scored a whole bunch of touchdowns.
39:57And when they got close to the end zone last year, they threw it to him.
40:01And he's OK as a receiving back. And it turned out that a lack of college production as a receiver didn't mean anything.
40:08And he was pretty good at it. So in the same way that I can imagine rostering Rashad White because he's almost free, I can imagine rostering R.J.
40:16Harvey because he's almost free. But no, the tape wasn't very good.
40:19Yeah, that's that's that totally makes sense. I've been saying on the show for a while.
40:23I've been struggling to find any fantasy analysts who are really excited about R.J.
40:27Harvey, which is why that ADP is so low, which you're right, is a huge departure from how people felt about him last year.
40:34So where's the truth? It's probably not either end of the extreme.
40:37It's probably somewhere in the middle. And the ADP is definitely not somewhere in the middle.
40:42OK, my next team up here is Dallas Cowboys.
40:44So I'm finally on the board for this one.
40:47This one's pretty straightforward. Javante Williams has a clear runway.
40:50You know, there was some talk about like Jaden Blue, Phil Maffa, these like little young, interesting backs in Dallas.
40:55Both those dudes didn't even make the roster like Jaden Blue.
40:58I mean, it's it's so beyond over. So there are some interesting players behind him like Malik Davis maybe is the backup.
41:05But to me, Chris, you can think what you want about Javante Williams as a talent.
41:09The runway is clear for this guy to basically have the same role that he had last year.
41:14And I think the offense can be even better this year.
41:17The team can be even better this year. Like the defense almost has to be better this year.
41:22So I find myself really into Javante Williams as a fantasy back this year.
41:26Again, kind of regardless of what you think about the talent.
41:29And I like the talent. He's not a superstar.
41:32But if you're going to list the 20 best running backs in the league, I definitely think Javante Williams is on it.
41:38He's not on the 10, but I think he's in the 20.
41:41He's a good like a grinder, not a long speed guy.
41:44But like the thing that Josh Jacobs does well of, you know, not being fast and yet somehow finding a way to
41:51avoid people just through vision and power. And, you know, like kind of surprising for his size, lateral quickness, like pretty quick.
41:57Javante isn't that good, but has some some of those things.
42:00And yes, then you assemble the depth chart and part of a pretty good offense.
42:04And third round is a very, very fair price for him.
42:07Yeah, I should note Jaden Blue is on like the Eagles practice squad.
42:11So how he did it again. Congratulations there. Yeah, I'm in a Javante Williams this year.
42:15Chris, you know what else I'm into? We're not just having you on the show, buddy, because you're a great fantasy football analyst.
42:22I also want to give the people a little shout out.
42:25Well, I want to give you a shout out and let the people know this guy.
42:29That's just doing fantasy takes. He wrote a book.
42:32I got my copy right here. Look at that.
42:34Look at that. Chris, tell the people about the book.
42:37I've started it. I will admit I have not.
42:40I have not finished it, Chris, because I do my audio book listening in the morning on my morning walks.
42:45I do my book book reading at night. So sometimes I know it's not not no offense to you.
42:51You're writing. Actually, I really like I just take I, you know, it's before bed.
42:55Sometimes I get a little sleepy. So yeah, I got to I got to speed up on the book, but tell the
43:01people about the book and what they should what they should be looking forward to here.
43:05I mean, first of all, there's an audio book that I read.
43:09And obviously you love the sound of my voice.
43:11So morning, you can I'll get you the audio book.
43:14Well, you know, get me the audio book. Get me the audio book.
43:18That'd be great. I've always been saying I would need more Chris Harris in my life.
43:22Most people do say that. So it's a novel and it's a story about a football team season in Detroit.
43:28And the, you know, so we're following a full season all the way through, except there's a serial killer on the team
43:34and we don't know who it is. And the team brings in a former player to kind of on the DL to
43:40see if you can figure out who the serial killer is.
43:43And, you know, I feel like it's a a hard look at the NFL and its culture, maybe taking our current state
43:49of affairs in the NFL, maybe ratcheting up just like half a step towards unrealism.
43:54And yet, is it? You know, I don't know.
43:56We'll see. Hopefully. Hopefully it's unreal. But seeing what would happen, seeing what happened in the football culture, on the team, in
44:02the league and sort of in in the sports culture writ large, if such a thing were to unfurl.
44:08And it's really kind of born of something that you and I have talked about on my show a lot, which is
44:14how much we love football and how much it doesn't seem to love us back.
44:18That doesn't love anybody back. Like, it's just I don't know how like I think anybody if you've ever if you're watching
44:24this or listening to this and you've ever felt like.
44:27I love it. I love the NFL and I want to keep watching and I want to be into it, but I
44:33do feel pressure that feels like some of this is gross.
44:36Then I think this might be the book for you, because, Matt, you you freely admit like what we do, we're kind
44:42of like glorifying something that is sometimes pretty gross.
44:45And I feel mixed about it. Yeah. You got to talk about stuff on the show that you don't want to like don't want to talk about.
44:53Like you just you want to focus on what ultimately is a beautiful game and people getting to make something of their
44:59lives that they never would have been able to possibly, you know, by living out their dreams.
45:03And that's, you know, you go through the NFL draft process.
45:07Something I always think about is like, oh, my God, this is a what a moment for these guys that they've worked
45:13through forever, you know, and not all stories end beautifully.
45:16And so, yeah, it is like a tough relationship that you'll if you guys read the book, which again, reading the book
45:22here, I like you'll start the first chapter and be like, oh, yeah, you say exactly what Chris has here.
45:27It's a you're it's a it is a it's in the ballpark of realism.
45:31And then and then, you know, you're putting a little extra seasoning salt on top of it.
45:36But I don't. Yeah, you can say that what the first chapter is, because the first chapter is the first thing I wrote.
45:42It was fall of 2023 and that Washington Commander stuff was coming out.
45:46We'd found out that cheerleaders had been filmed without their knowledge and been harassed.
45:50We found out what Dan Snyder's emails said, and we found out that it had all been covered up for years and years.
45:56And I was so pissed at the league that I wrote a chapter from the commissioner's perspective, but a purely fictitious commissioner.
46:03I don't know what you're talking about. Yeah, any resemblance is purely coincidental.
46:06And I just wrote it not knowing that it was part of a story.
46:10And then it's funny. And I had fun with it.
46:13And so the commissioner's in the book in the book is a real turd.
46:17And and then we we kind of go from there.
46:20So, yeah, my pitch is basically it's a fun whodunit.
46:23And I think you'll enjoy it. But it's also a meditation on the place that football football is amazing.
46:28Like it's it is the town square. There's nothing else.
46:31We don't have movies. We don't have books. We don't have TV shows, nothing.
46:35It's all fragmented except football. It's so awesome. We stay in touch with people and fantasy leagues like I love it.
46:40And yet, like I said, it feels like it doesn't love us back.
46:44Yeah, no, I mean, listen. Yeah, I love the game and I love what it's I don't play football, obviously, what these guys do.
46:51Like it's all about the players ultimately. But even just in our little sandbox here, Chris, like we're able to do this
46:57where we have a real life friendship, a relationship because of the game of football.
47:01So we all owe it a debt of gratitude.
47:04And yes, yes, there are times where it's you feel that if you've ever felt about football, you'll like the book.
47:10And especially if you like a good mystery and who doesn't love a good mystery?
47:14I mean, for God's sakes, look at all the crime docs out there right now.
47:18So give me a break. OK, let's get back to the football here.
47:22And let's get back to your fantasy draft prep and make sure you do check out Pound Foolish.
47:27I think you guys are really going to like it.
47:30But I also think you guys are really going to like drafting players from the Detroit Lions offense this year.
47:35And my one note to all of you is don't sweat the Drew Petsing stuff.
47:39I know people will be like, yeah, Petsing was terrible in Arizona.
47:43OK, well, number one, this is all still going to flow through Dan Campbell's vision.
47:47Number two, I think Petsing is going to do a pretty good job here revitalizing the run game.
47:52So the Lions are still very much in my circle of trust here from a fantasy football offense perspective, Chris.
47:58Yeah, and you know me, I try to have a small circle.
48:01I try to have a small circle of trust from year to year where I try not to just assume I know
48:07the Chargers are definitely going to be good or the Jags are definitely going to be good.
48:12Like they might be, but they're not in my pure circle of trust.
48:16But I'm absolutely with you. The Lions number is one of the few teams in there.
48:20OK, last one here before we go to a break.
48:23Green Bay Packers. We're in kind of an NFC North zone.
48:26So there's going to be another NFC North one on the other side of the break here.
48:31But this is Green Bay Packers here. My note on this one is this team is going to look very different on offense.
48:37Actually ties. Obviously, the biggest topic with this team ties in very well with what we were just talking about with pound foolish, obviously.
48:44But the regardless of all that, what we know for sure is, is that the Green Bay Packers are going to be throwing the football this year.
48:51They're going to be playing with more pace. At least, Chris, I feel like I know that pretty well.
48:57I love the fact that Jordan Love was calling plays in the second half of the preseason game, him taking more ownership of this offense.
49:04It makes me want to draft guys that go late that I think are talented, like Jaden Reed.
49:09You know, Christian Watson is in a fine range.
49:11Matthew Golden, I'm kind of a centrist on, but I still think he's a decent value.
49:16And Jordan Love is maybe the best value of them all.
49:19I do find myself looking at this passing game quite a bit here, Chris, because I believe these players are talented.
49:25And I think there's almost no question this team is going to look different from an offensive philosophy standpoint.
49:30Yeah, unless Marshawn Lloyd is secretly amazing. You know, unless it just turns out that he's exactly what they need and Matt
49:36LaFleur can stay exactly with what he did last year.
49:39Like, let's not overcook it. They still threw more than they ran last year.
49:43But to watch those Packer games was to feel like they were very comfortable running and punting a lot and keeping the
49:49opponents in games where you kind of I remember the Greg Olson was announcing the Panthers game.
49:54They wound up losing in a rainstorm. Remember that game?
49:57Yeah. And he just kept going, why are they letting them hang around?
50:00Why are they letting them hang around? And I think you're right that there'll be less of that this year.
50:06All right. We're going to take our next quick break.
50:09We come back. We're running through more things you need to know about every single NFL team.
50:14We'll get into that right after this. All right.
50:16We're back. And in the theme of this whole episode here, the cram session for all you knuckleheads who I shouldn't say
50:22knuckleheads, the people who have real lives out there.
50:25You have real hobbies. You've been doing actual things.
50:27You've been outside this summer not preparing for your fantasy football draft.
50:31That's why you're here. Listen to the cram session episode.
50:33That is also why you need to draft smarter this year with the Yahoo Fantasy Ultra subscription, which includes a 150 plus
50:40page draft guide and access to our strategy lab.
50:42I can tell you for a fact, folk, I was still doing edits on that thing today.
50:47All right. I was still sending edits to the editor today.
50:50So we have been working on this thing right up until we put pencils down here at the end of the test.
50:56Even better. New Yahoo Fantasy Plus and Ultra subscribers can get 25% off the first year of their annual subscription fee through September 7th at 1159 p.m.
51:04Pacific. So quite literally, you wait till the very last minute.
51:07You can still get this 25% off. So you're going to absolutely love that.
51:11You will also love the Chicago Bears offense this year.
51:14And not just because, Chris, there's a lot of talented players in that Chicago Bears offense.
51:18The other thing you need to know is that this defense is going to be a problem.
51:23So not a good defense there in Chicago. Injuries, the whole deal.
51:26Kobe Bryant out for the season. They're going to have to throw that football out.
51:30They're going to have to put up a lot of points on offense.
51:34Luckily, Chris, they have a lot of talented players with which to do that.
51:38But they do. They do. The whole Odunze burden thing is going to be fascinating.
51:42It could be both. And we'll all wind up being happy.
51:45It does feel like it's been sort of a false border war where you have to pick one or the other.
51:51And I have them pretty close. And I like drafting them both.
51:54I think they're good in different ways. The whole Odunze, my foot feels different stuff.
51:59Maybe that's a thumbnail that somebody who ducked in in July had in their mind.
52:03I think we now can recognize that that was probably nonsense.
52:06And his foot probably may not feel exactly the same.
52:09It's not a phantom foot that's going to fall off.
52:12He'll be all right. Yeah, he'll be all right.
52:14I also saw Ben Johnson at the press conference yesterday talking about how, yeah, man, Roman Odunze just does all the little
52:20things well and inspires me to get him the football more.
52:23And I saw zero fantasy football aggregators tweeting about it because only the Luther Burden stuff does the numbers this offseason.
52:29So that's how it works on the fantasy football Twitter streets.
52:32But yeah, I really like drafting all the players from this offense.
52:36DeAndre Swift included. I know nobody talks about DeAndre Swift, but Swift is a decent pick in his own right in the fourth round.
52:42Okay, back to the AFC Jacksonville Jaguars. Chris, what do we got on this team?
52:47So my cram thing on them is Chris Rodriguez.
52:49I just, it seems to be one of those backfields.
52:52I mean, every backfield is some, every backfield but three is some level of platoon, is some level of timeshare.
52:58And some we decide to be very worried about and think, oh my God, Bucky Irving is doomed.
53:03And then others we go, oh, but Shulte Tootin, he's fine.
53:06I think they're all kind of doomed and all kind of fine.
53:09Like it's just the nature of the beast right now.
53:12And I draft Chris Rodriguez all over the place.
53:14I get him in almost every draft I'm in and I don't think he's like unbelievably special.
53:19Of course, I think everybody probably knows that he has a connection with Liam Cohen as the person who recruited him to
53:25Kentucky and was his coordinator for a while. But more than anything, I think he's a fine between the tackles player, a
53:31really good player on the goal line, a power back who's going to play.
53:35Right. And I don't, I'm not going to tell you, I think Tootin is ridiculously overpriced.
53:40He's a little overpriced to me. He's another one that I'm not sure he's, I think he's a great athlete.
53:45I'm not positive. He's great at football. And I think Rodriguez will just be heard from.
53:50Yeah, I think he will be too. So definitely a good like double digit round pick.
53:54It's an ambiguous backfield. It is. I think Tootin's probably going to be the RB one.
53:59I have it ranked as if he's going to be the RB one, but I might, I might be wrong about that.
54:05And that's why I think Chris Rodriguez is a good pick where he goes back to the NFC here and back to
54:11the NFC North for me as well. Minnesota Vikings.
54:14This team is a little bit more committed to the ground game than they have been in previous years.
54:19They hire Frank Smith, the former offensive coordinator, the Miami dolphins.
54:22I think there's going to be some of that.
54:25That's why from what I've heard, that's why they wanted to bring Frank Smith in there to help with the run game.
54:31They bring in Juwan Jennings to be a power slot, essentially a blocker for them.
54:35You know, they saw they got a fullback on the roster.
54:38They've got multiple tight ends on the right. Like, I think this team wants to run the football.
54:43Kevin O'Connell gives like lip service to it every year, but then never really follows it up.
54:48I think this year they probably follow it up, Chris, even to the point that like they've started to leak out.
54:54Like maybe we just run Kyler Murray a lot this year, which makes me feel a little mixed on Kyler Murray's long-term prognosis there.
55:01But overall, I do think both running backs are, they go super cheap.
55:04I think they want to run the football more.
55:07Can they do it effectively? We'll find out about that.
55:10It's just interesting to me that that's another one where people just decided it's Jordan Mason.
55:14And it seems to me that every single time Aaron Jones gets hurt, but every time he comes back, they go, cool, you're our guy.
55:21You're our guy again. I would, I probably say Jones over Mason, even though I understand Mason's younger, bigger, like more, more, less injured.
55:28Uh, but I get Aaron Jones, some in the double digits again, like 10th, 11th round.
55:32Yeah. I took him in the double digits of the, the fantasy analyst league yesterday, uh, because it was just like, Oh,
55:38I want to take Woody marks or do I want to take Aaron Jones?
55:42I think Aaron Jones is going to give me some weeks, you know?
55:46Uh, again, if I believe this narrative about the, the rushing attack, we know he's likely going to get hurt.
55:52That's why he's like 11th, 12th round pick or whatever.
55:54So yeah, I think you're fine with Aaron Jones.
55:57There is a double digit round pick. Although I do have it ranked Jordan Mason ahead of Aaron Jones, but pretty close.
56:03Uh, so take a shot on both those guys.
56:06If you wait on the running back position, okay.
56:08AFC South back to the AFC Indianapolis Colts. What do we got here?
56:12Chris. So Alec Pierce, you know, spent the last two months essentially freaking out.
56:16And probably if you know anything about Alec Pierce, you know that he didn't do training camp, he just decided to work
56:22on his ankle and his hair or something. I don't know.
56:25He wasn't involved in training camp. And all of a sudden they're like, no, he's good back at practice.
56:30He's fine. He's certainly going to come at a discount to what his ADP would have been with that brand new contract.
56:37Had we not learned that he had serious ankle surgery that required extra treatment once we got to July.
56:42But, um, I, I raised his rank pretty high.
56:44I, I think you can justify like I could see taking him sixth round.
56:48I'd love it if he lasts to the seventh.
56:51I think in some default ranks, he's going to be real low.
56:54So if you're drafting with, with, uh, non sharks, you might say they might just not have him on their draft board
57:00because they haven't scrolled down far enough. So you might be able to wait a little bit, but of course the downside is terrible.
57:07He gets tackled around the ankle one time and it all goes to hell.
57:11But the upside is no Michael Pittman there and Keenan Allen to take over.
57:15And, you know, I think we can both agree that Alec Pierce did more than just run wind sprints last year for the first time in his career.
57:23Yeah, no, uh, he was really good on those like deep overs be bigger dig routes, the whole deal.
57:28But, but the thing that I would worry about Chris is just like, they have three guys right now who could be
57:34awesome in the short and intermediate area and Keenan Allen, Josh Downs and Tyler Warren.
57:38Does that just like push Alec Pierce's role even farther down the field?
57:42And then it's like, we've got a banged up Daniel Jones, the whole deal.
57:46So I still don't find myself drafting Alec Pierce, which is a shame because I love him as a player.
57:52I've always been kind of higher than the market on him.
57:55Yeah. I'll say, you know, the day Josh Downs ruins anybody's fantasy season other than Josh Downs is will be the first day that that's happened.
58:02He's fine. He's how dare you? How dare you come on this show and talk down on Josh Downs?
58:07How dare you? It's just tiny. And they are terrified of giving him the ball in the middle of the field.
58:13I think, what do you have three catches between the hashes last year?
58:17Like they are, they do not want him to get hit.
58:20There's also just like combustion risk with this entire offense.
58:23Like Alec Pierce already injured. Josh Downs has been banged up this off season.
58:27Tyler Warren has been banged up this off season.
58:29You know, Keenan Allen, 34 years old, getting arrested.
58:32Not what you want. There's a lot of Daniel Jones coming off the kill.
58:36There's a lot of combustion risk with this entire offense in general.
58:39Okay. Next team up here, Tampa Bay Buccaneers. My thing to know about the Bucs are the vibes are a lot better
58:45with this team right now than they were throughout most of last year from an injury perspective, especially.
58:50I mean, vibes started off pretty high with Tampa Bay, went south quickly with a lot of injuries.
58:55Emeka Bucas got the toe injury. He's running routes in practice.
58:58I think he's generally going to be okay this season.
59:01And Chris, this is just one of those teams where I look at the offensive line.
59:06That is probably a top three offensive line in the NFL.
59:09There's a lot of talent on this team. I think picking Buccaneers in fantasy this year is going to be a pretty winning strategy.
59:15What do you think? Bucky Irving. Absolutely. Think again.
59:18I said, I said it early. Like I've got so much Bucky Irving.
59:22I'm going to die fantasy wise if he doesn't work out.
59:25There's just been too much. Kenny. There's been, you know, nobody drafts Kenny Gainwell.
59:29Nobody drafts anybody, any other running back. And yet everybody goes, wow, you're too high on Bucky Irving.
59:34Yeah. Chris, Chris. No, it's not true. You know who drafts Kenny Gainwell and which is, I'm surprised, you know, a man as old as yourself.
59:41You're like Bucky Irving. All the like boomer fantasy analysts and players.
59:44They love Kenny Gainwell because it's like cheap PPR points.
59:47They love that stuff. But I actually am with you that.
59:50Can we go back to me being ancient? This is.
59:53Yes. Cut off his mic. Somebody cut off his mic.
59:56Hey, this is my show. You come on here and talk down Josh Downs.
60:00I'm going to go ahead and take an age-based shot in the next segment.
60:04That is what is going to happen here. But no, I mean, Kenny Gainwell, I think we have.
60:09He's a nice player. Nice little role player. But I think we've over indexed on what a passing weapon he is because
60:15Aaron Rodgers checks the football down a lot based on last season.
60:18So I am with you that Bucky Irving has become a guy that I didn't know if he was going to be
60:24someone on my list this this offseason. Now he is squarely someone I think is a great pick.
60:29Yeah. Me too. Love his ADP. I loved a Buka.
60:32I thought even when when everything turned to poo in Tampa last year, a Buka still was trying so hard and it wasn't working.
60:39And obviously he flopped hard in the second half.
60:42But you could see he was not a happy.
60:44He trying to make it work so hard. I wish he was healthy.
60:48You know, I wish I would. I would fall more in love if he was healthy.
60:52I hope I'm not just like yada yada the toe injury thing because I'm like take locked into just what a good
60:58role he's in in this offense and the breakout I imagined, which is certainly possible.
61:03So see, Chris, you insulted Josh Downs. I insulted your age.
61:06But we come to an agreement here that Bucky Irving is a great pick in fantasy football this year.
61:11Speaking of Aaron Rodgers wanting to check the ball down all the time, the next team up on our list here is,
61:17in fact, the team that employs Aaron Rodgers. Chris, what do we need to know about the Steelers?
61:22I said it earlier. No, no Steeler goes in the first, I think, six rounds.
61:26And, you know, do I find that offense exciting?
61:29No. Is it going to be seven million little Aaron Rodgers cowardly checkdowns on third nine?
61:33It absolutely is. But I don't have to draft really any of them to be starters.
61:38And like, I'll take a, if Jalen Warren falls far enough, I think he's terrific.
61:42I'll take him. And DK Metcalf, I know what the ride's going to be, but I don't have to draft him anywhere near being a starter.
61:49I probably take Pittman before him. But the bottom line is basically they're all going to be cheap.
61:54And of course, you know, the kind of grossness and heavy sigh of the offense is baked in.
61:59And therefore, like, I think you're probably fine in the eighth round taking a Steeler because that's where they're all going to go.
62:06Yeah. Their highest drafted player right now is indeed Jalen Warren, 77th overall ADP.
62:10So if you want a Steeler, you're going to be able to get them.
62:14And yeah, I mean, I'm joking about the boomers out there, but I am such a boomer when it comes to the Michael Pittman projection this year.
62:21I just think his game projects perfectly with Aaron Rodgers at this stage.
62:25I saw Rodgers in a clip today talking about how Roman Wilson, he threw an interception in practice and Amelia was like,
62:31well, yeah, Roman Wilson made a mistake on his route and all this.
62:35I'm like, man, my God, man. No, never change.
62:37Never change. Be who you are. You got to love to see it.
62:41Okay. Washington commanders next team up here. If you haven't, if for whatever reason, like you're a last minute draft or you're
62:47listening to this show in September, but you also for some reason listen to the shows like in May and April and
62:53March, you just tune out during the rest of summer.
62:56Cause again, you have a life, like you're backpacking through Europe.
62:59You're drinking fabulous wines all through the countryside, which that sounds nice.
63:03That sounds wonderful. If for whatever reason, that's how you consume this podcast.
63:06I want to correct the record and say, this was the team I was really into for most of the summer.
63:12Most of like the spring. Now I'm kind of not feeling great about the commanders because their offensive line has fallen apart.
63:18Laramie Tunsil, probably not going to play this entire season.
63:21Uh, so they're bringing in a new left tackle.
63:24It's Brandon Coleman, most likely who played for them.
63:26It's a mess. It's one of those teams that much like the charges we talked about earlier, you lose a great player.
63:32Like that was really when the charges lost Joe alt, that it all went to hell on the offensive line.
63:38The, the commanders have already lost a player who Joe alt's awesome, uh, but like is even better than Joe alt.
63:44So I am like kind of backed, I'm not totally crossing them off my list, but I've backed away on the aggressive
63:50ranking of like Terry McLaurin really being interested in the backs.
63:53Jaden Daniels being a QB one. I liked, so I'm pretty spooked about the offensive line and just like how young the
63:59offensive play caller is the whole staff there. Chris, what do you feel about the commanders right now?
64:04I was always a little behind on Daniels. So I feel like I kind of caught up the, or the market caught
64:10up to where I was like, he's still a QB, he's QB seven or something like that.
64:15I'm just, because I take quarterbacks later, I'm just never going to get that, that guy, the guy who kind of, I agree with the ADP.
64:22I'm going to wait until Stafford. I'm going to wait until somebody who I think is better or just as good and get a much later.
64:30Uh, McLaurin man, that's a hard one to, to fade almost.
64:33Yeah. He's just, he's just so good. Such a good player.
64:36And even digs. I took him today. Yeah. Yeah.
64:38I take the, I take the both, but it's kind of one of those things where the room has to like force
64:45me to do it where I would have been like really aggressively doing it about a month ago.
64:50Yes, I agree. And, and I would say they forced me to take digs more than they forced me to take McLaurin.
64:56Usually somebody winds up going, I know McLaurin is really good.
64:59And, you know, digs was a particular kind of good last year, but he was a thousand yard receiver and he hopefully
65:05is kind of the easy button for Jaden Daniels.
65:08So again, he's, he's a ninth round pick or 10th round pick or something.
65:12So I, the room forces, that's a great way to say it.
65:15They take, they forced me to take digs more often.
65:18Yeah. He just always ends up being like the highest guy on my rank.
65:22He's like, all right, I'm going to go ahead and take the shot here because I do think of the two projecting
65:28the roles, which we can get wrong. Sometimes I, I imagine the digs role is a little more, our offensive line stinks friendly than what I'm imagining.
65:35Yeah. It's going to be okay. Sticking in the NFC East here, New York giants.
65:40My note on this team is that Malik neighbors is currently kind of playing coy about his early season status.
65:45And I wanted to just make a note on this, Chris, because I don't know if Malik neighbors is playing week one.
65:51Okay. I don't, um, you know, he might not, uh, fantasy Twitter though, is, is, is determined that he is going to
65:58play week one and the whole deal. Yeah. I, this isn't really like a Malik neighbors prediction, but I actually just wanted
66:04to put a spotlight on what he said, which was something that I talk about a lot where he noted like, yes,
66:10I've been out there running routes and the whole deal, but you know, he's, he's like, that doesn't mean I'm, I'm myself yet.
66:16Essentially, uh, is what he said at practice the other day.
66:19So I just want to note that, that if Malik neighbors comes out and he plays in week one and like the
66:26first month of the season, he's out there, but he's not quite himself.
66:29That would be totally predictable based on the injury that he's coming back from now.
66:33He did have a really funny quote on in this, uh, you can find, you guys can go to my Twitter page and find it.
66:40I retweeted it. Um, but he mentioned like sometimes, yeah, I do go on social media and I watch myself run around.
66:47So he's like, man, I do look pretty crazy out there.
66:50So he's definitely still confident himself, which is awesome, but he is still working back into shape here.
66:55So yes, neighbors might be a great third. I mean, now at this point, he's kind of a second round pick might be right.
67:01Second round pick this year, Chris, but if he has to start slow, like don't be surprised by that.
67:07And that's why he's a fade for me. I, he's so good.
67:10There's obviously an 1800 yard season just sitting out there for him almost no matter who the quarterback is.
67:15He's that good, but yeah, these are just injury guys who are not having their downsides baked into their price anymore.
67:21And I just think that's a losing way to play fantasy.
67:24I don't want to take guys where cool. I'm drafting him at their absolute best case or close to their absolute best case.
67:31Um, and I think that's where late second round is.
67:34It's really gone up. I mean, man, he, when, when we found out he had the second procedure, he was in the
67:40fifth, you know, I was like, Oh, I could get behind that.
67:43I can't get behind a second. Yeah. There's just like a little buzz working in the back of my head that just
67:49thinks 2027 is going to be the year to draft Malik neighbors because he's going to come out here and be kind
67:56of sort of himself, but definitely not the whole year.
67:58And then like he might have a depressed ADP and probably won't honestly, but if he did, then 2027 would be the year to draft him.
68:06So not totally off my board where he goes, but it's getting aggressive to the point that, you know, I, I don't
68:12end up with him too, too much. Which makes me nervous.
68:15Cause as you said, he is an awesome player when he is a hundred percent healthy, but just not sure when we're
68:21going to see that from him this year. Uh, if we see it at all, uh, Carolina Panthers next team up here.
68:27This is another one for me, uh, Chuba Hubbard and Jonathan Brooks are going to compete this year.
68:32What that means, what the split looks like. Honestly, Chris, I have no idea.
68:36And I don't know that the Panthers really know either here as we walk into week one, because Chuba Hubbard has missed time this off season.
68:43And now Jonathan Brooks is kind of is Dave analysis says he's got a soreness going on, which isn't what you want
68:50to hear from a guy who's torn his ACL twice and has quite literally never completed an NFL game.
68:55So Brooks is somebody I've been really, you know, I've like been playing footsies with the idea of Jonathan Brooks breakout this
69:01year, but Chuba Hubbard is a quality player. He's now there.
69:04I have no idea what the split is going to look like.
69:08I don't think the Panthers do either. What do you think it looks like?
69:12If you don't know and the Panthers don't know, I'm too dumb.
69:15I sure don't know. Uh, the, all I know is that the, probably the Chuba Hubbard hate got too extreme and it
69:21feels like it's starting to modulate a little bit and they're, and their ADPs are starting to grow closer together again, which is as it should be.
69:29I have the rank side by side. Uh, you know, my, my, my advice for the drafter this week would probably be,
69:35be you're, you're not drafting a fantasy starter most likely, especially if you're taking Hubbard.
69:39So take the cheaper one and that's almost certainly going to be Hubbard.
69:43And that way you, you know, you can have a little bit of exposure to the run game, but it is almost
69:49certainly going to be split at least until, I mean, it's, it is worth not glossing over the fact that no running
69:55back has ever torn the same ACL twice and been any good.
69:58And so like Jonathan Brooks has a lot to overcome.
70:01He can medical science. I hear medical science gets better.
70:04So maybe, but, uh, it, it would be, it would be contradicting a lot of history.
70:08It certainly would be. Do you find yourself clicking a lot of Panthers overall?
70:12I mean, there's really only then it's the two receivers.
70:15That's it. Um, what are your levels of optimism about this Panthers offense right now?
70:19Again, like we talked about the circle of trust.
70:22I so try to make this, my prediction of the situation be as little a part of it as possible because we're
70:28just so wrong all the time about what, you know, what we think the good offenses are.
70:33You know, the, I've said it a million times.
70:35The Patriots were supposed to be terrible offense last year.
70:38The Colts were supposed to be terrible. The Jags were supposed to be blah, you know, we're just wrong all the time.
70:44So I would say the Panthers are one that I'm not worrying that much about it.
70:49I'm trying to think that Ted McMillan is very, very good.
70:52I was really impressed. So I do take him.
70:54Yeah, obviously he's good. Jalen, by the way, Taro had said today he's 20 pounds heavier than he was last year.
71:00I'm actually really interested to see what his game looks like 20 pounds heavier because there were times last year, I think
71:06he got out muscled at the catch point for a guy that's supposed to be a contested catch player.
71:12And I think if he's like a more of a slot based option, more power in his game, that's good.
71:17I mean, obviously I love Jalen Coker. I think their production is going to be pretty close together, which is not a negative take on McMillan.
71:25It's like a positive take on Coker. And yeah, I'm with you.
71:28Everybody just assumes, Hey, Panthers offense stinks. Bryce Young stinks.
71:31What if we're wrong? What if we're wrong? I think both these guys are going in a range where it could be really interesting.
71:38So of course I started with a running back take and I ended up talking about Jalen Coker.
71:43The odds on that were pretty good if that was going to happen.
71:46That was me. I did that. That was my fault.
71:49I set you up to do it. So that's good podcasting right there.
71:53All right. We are going to take another quick break.
71:56We come back. We'll run through more things that you need to know for every single team.
72:00We'll get into that right after this. All right.
72:03We're back. Next team up here with one thing you need to know, New Orleans Saints.
72:07This is another one for me. Uh, injuries have closed the distribution in the wide receiver and running back room here.
72:13About a month ago, I probably would have been like, Ooh, who's going to, who's going to have more targets?
72:19Jordan Tyson, Chris Olave. It's probably Chris Olave because he's a veteran.
72:22I know he's really, really good. Well, it's definitely going to be Chris Olave now because Jordan Tyson, who knows when he's going to play in the backfield.
72:30It's like, Oh, Alvin Kamara. Is he going to be any more than a mascot?
72:34Is he going to take a work away from Travis A.
72:37Chan? Well, he's not playing to start the season.
72:40The wide receiver room, Chris, they signed my, my, uh, one of my former pet projects, Cedric Tillman to the practice squad.
72:46But before that it was literally four dudes on the roster.
72:49It was Chris Olave. It was Devon Valle. Uh, and then two rookies, Barry and Brown and Bryce Lance.
72:54Like right now you can project a ton of work for Olave and a ton of work for Travis H.
73:00And on an offense that I do like what Kellen Moore cooked up last year.
73:04And I liked a lot of what I saw from Tyler Shuck.
73:08And don't forget Jawan Johnson. Maybe he's part of the answer via the air.
73:11He's a sleeper tight end. I like a lot.
73:14Yeah. When you get to the point of your draft and keep saying this where it's like, Oh, your league mates have
73:20heard of these dudes like the Travis Kelsey, the Mark Andrews.
73:23Just take Jawan Johnson instead, uh, because he'll at least give you some better production through the first month of the season.
73:29We're sticking in the NFC South. The next team up here is the Atlanta Falcons.
73:34I mean, the thing you need to know is this is the most unsettled quarterback situation in the entire NFL question mark.
73:40And I actually think it's, it's a period, not a question mark, because I can't believe I can still say this.
73:46It's September 2nd. The first game is in a week from today.
73:49And the Falcons have yet to tell us who there's week one starting quarterback is.
73:53Or maybe Chris, they've yet to admit to themselves who they're going to have to start in week one.
73:59I think we think it's Michael Penix, right? I think they, I mean, they want it to be Michael Penix, but can he medically get out there?
74:06Yeah. Yeah. I guess that's the question. I mean, if you're starting Michael Penix, it's the first action he'll have seen of
74:12any kind since he tore his ACL. That is, that would be wild.
74:16That would be wild. Does it, does the specter of Tua starts or just the question of it all, does it lean
74:22you away from Drake London in round two? Are you a Kyle Pitts guy?
74:26I feel like you're not a Kyle Pitts guy.
74:29Yeah. I'm very much not a Kyle Pitts guy.
74:31We all know that. Tight end 22 when he, when he scored the three touchdowns.
74:35If you take away the three touchdown game, tight end, I think 16 or something like, no, we're not doing Kyle Pitts.
74:41I'm so aboard. You're, you were my, my master when it comes to teaching me about Drake London.
74:47I wasn't sure about him, his rookie year. We had long conversation on my show about him and you really sold me
74:53and kind of changed my perspective on how I watched his film.
74:56And he's just so good that I think he'll produce no matter who the quarterback is.
75:01Yeah. His quarterback friendly role, at least in the last offense should make him, I mean, he, we've already seen him survive bad quarterback play.
75:08We've already seen him thrive with Michael Penix actually.
75:10So I'm very much rooting for Penix to get in there.
75:13I will just say the one thing I would be just, again, little thing just for people to remember, watch Drake London's week one role.
75:20If he's like used it X receiver a bunch more because they kind of messed up the receiver rotation in Cleveland last year.
75:27That's going to make me a little nervous about him the rest of the season, but it's just a small, small, small note.
75:33It was something I'm betting we're going to be talking about after week one, either good or bad.
75:38Okay. Next team up here. We're back in the AFC, Las Vegas Raiders.
75:42Chris, what do the people need to know? I mean, I think it's probably Jenty.
75:46It's just, you know, he, his price got more reasonable after he got hurt, but now it's, we're an information blackout.
75:52He has a high ankle sprain. I think you're crazy if you're taking high ankle sprain guys at the top of their value.
75:58And, you know, I have him like 20 overall.
76:01He's going, you know, 14. And then the person at 12 feels bad about it.
76:05Then he takes them. I think, I think we're going to get to another high ankle sprain running back guy later too
76:11on a bad team, prospectively bad team. I said it before, like the moment these guys get tackled by their bad ankles, you just go, okay, cool.
76:19Now they're out for a month. I don't see how you do it.
76:22Yeah. I have met 19th overall too, which actually I've gotten Ashton Jenty at that range.
76:27I don't know if I will at the closer we get to the season, but there have been times when, yeah, I,
76:33I have like a top pick and then he comes back around late in the second.
76:38And I end up grabbing Ashton Jenty, which feels.
76:40And again, I, I totally admit the risk here.
76:43You're a thousand percent, right? I don't care that ever since the, you know, injury happened to practice in the prayer circle,
76:49they keep saying that ankles get the high ankles getting lower and lower, lower.
76:53It's a lower ankle sprain by the minute. I, I realize there's obvious risk here, but the opportunity to potentially get like
76:59a Jamar chase Ashton Jenty pairing, I've, that has happened to me before.
77:03And that is a pretty rare opportunity. So it's just about risk tolerance with Jenty.
77:07You have to know you are certainly taking it.
77:09And I do think Mike Washington's a guy in the double digit rounds to take a look at as well.
77:15Of course, if you watched, if you haven't checked out the preseason, you're watching this on YouTube right now.
77:20Go ahead and watch the rest of the show, then come back and get through your, uh, you know, the highlights there on the, uh, Mike Washington stuff.
77:28Okay. Tennessee Titans next team up here. AFC. What do we got?
77:31I can't believe it, but the top rookie receiver on the board, I get and like, and, um, I, you know, if
77:38people are going to tell me Carnell Tate stinks because he didn't catch exhibition passes, I go, okay, what are we doing?
77:44I don't care. And almost like, unfortunately there were some practices at the end of training camp that reporters saw where Tate
77:50went nuclear and looked like the high draft pick that he was.
77:53And maybe that'll like settle it down. But, uh, I think I can still get him like in the seventh round.
77:59He's a bench player. And again, I'll, our, our mutual friend, Matt Waldman, I will, you know, he couldn't be louder and
78:05clearer that he thinks this kid could be Justin Jefferson.
78:08So I get that guy in the seventh round.
78:11I would like that guy. Yeah. Waldman and I had a conversation for my YouTube channel on, on Carnell Tate.
78:16We're, we, we both really liked Tate. Uh, I think you might like him a little bit more than me, but I still really, really liked Tate.
78:24Uh, he was my wide receiver one in this draft class.
78:27Super safe. The thing is, Chris, and I know we just talked about, we get offenses wrong all the time.
78:33I feel pretty confident about just not wanting to draft anybody from the Tennessee Titans, but I hear your point that in
78:39the seventh, that could be, I, I don't know, man.
78:41I'm, I'm, I'm pretty freaked out about it, but maybe I'm overreacting to, I'm not overreacting to the preseason though.
78:47I'm just not a Brian day ball guy. And I I've got enough questions about cam Ward that I've been just kind
78:53of avoiding this offense in general, but that is a good perspective that if you get into the seventh, probably decent there.
78:59Okay. New York jets, another team for you. What do we need to know?
79:03Yeah. I mean, the, the rookie, you talked about the Eagle rookies, not really being draftable or making a splash.
79:09I mean, the jets took two in the first round.
79:12And I think what you need to know is you probably don't need to mess around.
79:16Maybe their prospects, Omar Cooper, Kenyon Sadiq, maybe they're going to be fine, but probably you can add them as waiver wire
79:22guys and not worry about drafting them. And therefore the receiver who makes a push for the double jet rounds is actually AD Mitchell.
79:29I don't know. I can't remember whether you love him as a prospect.
79:33I didn't really know anything about him. I remember from Texas hook them, but, uh, my, you know, like I'm not drafting
79:39AD Mitchell, but probably if you want, if you want to take like a, a very high upside, but zero, absolutely no disaster floor.
79:46It's none of those rookie guys. It's probably Mitchell.
79:48I put out a top one 50 rankings and he is my 150th player just to like get him in there in the draftable range.
79:55But yeah, I mean, that's about where you're at on Mitchell from a just player perspective.
80:00He's one of these really volatile guys that he's really good against press man coverage, like on the line of scrimmage is
80:06an X receiver, but he has like no ability of where to settle down against zone coverage and the whole deal.
80:12So it just makes him a volatile player in real life, which is going to make them a volatile fantasy player, regardless of what team he plays for.
80:20And obviously we have no idea what we're going to get out of the jets, the Gino Smith, Frank Reich pairing in the year 2026.
80:27So my take with the jets is it looks like another big target chair for Garrett Wilson season this year.
80:32So, uh, you know, the deal with what Garrett Wilson can or cannot be on this offense, but he will get a lot of work.
80:39That is for sure. Um, okay. Cleveland Browns next team up.
80:42Boy, I got the good ones, huh? Uh, yeah, you mentioned Judkins or yeah, you mentioned Judkins earlier as because the Browns are so hopeless.
80:49Like, I don't know. I, I, I see running backs.
80:52I see good running backs on hopeless offenses, be good, you know, and the, at least the Browns aren't running out the
80:58same zombie offensive line from last year and pretending they're all still good.
81:02At least they tried something new. No idea really whether it will mesh or blend or anything else, but I take Judkins in the fifth a lot.
81:10Okay. Yeah. I'm fine with him there. Cause he's a good player.
81:13I just tend to say, if I'm getting exposure to the Browns, I'm going to do it with Casey Concepcion later on.
81:19Cause you know, I think we've talked about him as a player.
81:22I love him, uh, as a player on that one.
81:25Okay. Miami dolphins. Just keep, keep going Chris on some of these glorified teams here.
81:29Uh, this is your last one here in the AFC.
81:32I mean, my feeling is just you, the, the, the one thing to take away, you have to make a decision on
81:38a Chan and the same way you have to make a decision.
81:42On chase Brown and Kenneth Walker and Ash and Jente.
81:45There's, I can't tell you you're wrong if you take Jente, but you have to make a decision.
81:50It's obviously the, this is a team. I kind of do trust one of the few that is way, way outside the circle.
81:56Um, and probably not coming in, but you have to weigh that against H and having a massive workload and hopefully staying healthy.
82:02I don't really have the answer there. I get his ADP.
82:06I'm not maybe taking him all that much. There was just so much talk about receivers and I think the answer is
82:12probably none of them until we see how it works out.
82:15I don't, I don't see how you take any of those dolphins receivers over a many of the double digit round flyers
82:21that we've talked about liking in this show. So probably just don't hit the button.
82:25Yeah. You got to be in a league that goes past 15 rounds to take a dolphins receiver, you know, 16th.
82:31I I've encouraged people to take like 16th round flyer on Chris bell.
82:35We'll see what happens, but he's a rookie receiver that missed a lot of time.
82:39So he might not be ready to rock here early on, but, uh, we'll see.
82:43I'm at least open to the Malik Willis experience.
82:46I'm also open to the Arizona Cardinals, which is our final team here.
82:49Uh, I'm Cardinals curious. I've been saying that all throughout the course of the off season.
82:54The thing you need to know is they're going to try to play Jacoby Brissette as long as possible.
82:59And Chris, as long as Jacoby Brissette is under center, I think they can be a better than the 32nd ranked offense here.
83:06Uh, there's just too much talent on this team.
83:08Brissette, I think we'll fit it. If it will fit the offense into how I'm imagining, it's going to look under Michael
83:14floor, push the ball to the middle, a lot of motion, get these, uh, receivers in some creative situations.
83:20So the Cardinals are one of these teams that are the last one we're going to talk about because I've talked about them too much.
83:27Honestly, this off season, like I need to stop.
83:29I am too Cardinals curious, but I do think there's going to be some sneaky fantasy value with like the receivers later on.
83:36And you don't have to pay to get them.
83:38So like they're, they, Harrison and Wilson belong near each other and they're late.
83:42And so absolutely agree that it's, you know, Jeremiah loves the other ankle I was talking about.
83:47And I, he's, he's my, a big fade for me this year.
83:50And once again, I just think you're, there's no, the price was reasonable because he was a Cardinal and then it stayed
83:56exactly where it was and didn't change. And he had the injury and I just, I don't, I get the upside case,
84:02but he gets tackled around that ankle one time and we're on IR.
84:06Yeah, we are on IR. All right. That is going to do it for today's show.
84:11But before we go reminder, it is Yahoo fantasy football's 29th year of existence.
84:15And to celebrate day 24 of 29, we are revealing the Yahoo sports profile, express your fandom and the new Yahoo sports profile.
84:21One profile unified across sports and fantasy lets you build your fan persona, then show off your milestones, your favorite teams and fantasy achievements.
84:28You can start building right now. Sports.yahoo slash sports.yahoo.com slash mobile.
84:31Chris Harris, appreciate you buddy for jumping on this show.
84:34Tell the people about your show really quickly and where they can check you out before we get out of here.
84:39Harrisfootball.com. And the book. Yes. And the book. Like if you, if you like to read stories and you like mysteries and
84:46stuff and you have a contentious relationship with the NFL, you might enjoy it.
84:50Well, and Chris, I say on this show very often, usually it's about articles, but in this case, I can say it.
84:56We are reading again in 2026. We were reading again in 2025.
84:59We have been reading again in 2026. Will we continue reading in 2027?
85:03Stay tuned to find out. But as for now, we will be back tomorrow with a very special edition of the podcast.
85:09We have Josh Norris and Justin Boone joining me for a pre-taped show in the New York studio where we share our final pieces of draft advice.
85:16And to end the show, Chris Allen joins me to answer your questions about who do we not talk enough about this draft season?
85:23Yes, we do 90 minutes of this show, five days a week.
85:27And yet we did miss some things along the way.
85:29I am positive of it. That airs tomorrow, 4 p.m.
85:32Eastern on this YouTube channel. Until then, we are out.