Fantasy Football League Winners and Sleepers You Need to Know

Summary

Fantasy Focus Football (August 22, 2025)

Episode: "Fantasy Football League Winners and Sleepers You Need to Know"

Hosts: Field Yates, Daniel Dopp, Mike Clay, Stephania Bell, Liz Loza
Live from: Baha Mar, Bahamas
Theme: The crew dives into their league-winning picks, deep sleepers, critical draft strategies, and emerging storylines for the 2025 fantasy football season, all with a light, humorous, and energetic “Fantasy Island” twist.

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Table of Contents

1. Main Theme and Purpose
2. League Winners: Fantasy Island Edition
3. Sleepers: Shark Tank-Style Pitches
4. Draft Strategy Takeaways & Lessons Learned
5. Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments
6. Key Timestamps

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1. Main Theme & Purpose

The episode, broadcast live from the Bahamas during ESPN’s Ultimate Draft Weekend, is an upbeat, joke-filled, yet insight-rich roundtable. The experts each reveal:

• Their favorite “League Winners” for 2025 (Fantasy Island edition)
• Their deepest “Shark Tank”–style sleeper picks at each position
• In-depth discussion of draft strategy, including navigating ADP, player tiers, and flexibility

The group fields live questions, shares recent observations from camp and drafts, and pokes fun at each other’s homer picks and bold calls—all aiding listeners preparing for crucial draft weeks.

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2. League Winners: Fantasy Island Edition

Mike Clay’s Pick: Marvin Harrison Jr., WR, Arizona Cardinals

• Reasoning: Disappointed vs. sky-high rookie ADP, but still a solid year. Entering Year 2 with better chemistry with Kyler Murray and a much-improved defense in Arizona. “This is the year we get the year two leap from Marvin Harrison Jr. and he finishes as a top 10 or 12 receiver.” (03:06)
• Quote: “He just felt like a disappointment because he didn’t live up to his high ADP. So I think this year...top 10 or 12 receiver and is a league winner.” (03:06)

Liz Loza’s Pick: Emeka Egbuka, WR, Tampa Bay Buccaneers

• Reasoning: Polished route runner, impressing with first-team reps due to Chris Godwin’s indefinite absence. Starting the year as Baker Mayfield’s likely WR2, with 15th-round ADP. “He could really surprise and start the season as Baker Mayfield’s second favorite target opposite Mike Evans.” (04:31)
• Quote: “He’s brought all that nuance to Tampa Bay...start the season likely as Baker Mayfield’s second favorite target and working opposite Mike Evans. Not a bad place to be.” (04:34)

Field Yates’ Pick: (Echoes Liz) Emeka Egbuka

• Reasoning: Agrees with Liz; sees Egbuka as both a season-long contributor and an essential “pocket player” who can carry rosters during Godwin’s absence. “Ebuka feels like a strong early season candidate to be exactly that because he should be a top-2 wide out…” (06:24)
• Definition: Explains importance of “pocket players” for teams who take early risks or have injured guys: “Very few guys in your roster are going to carry the same value from week one to week eighteen.” (06:24)

Stefania Bell’s Pick: Ricky Pearsall, WR, San Francisco 49ers

• Reasoning: Believes in his second-year breakout after trauma recovery (missed 2024 after being shot), offseason work with Brock Purdy, and a “thin” 49ers WR room. “He’s going to be featured in that offense, and if he does well...you’re not going to take that volume away.” (11:30)

Daniel Dopp’s Pick: Chase Brown, RB, Cincinnati Bengals

• Reasoning: Massive workload after becoming starter in Week 9; RB2 in targets/catches, RB3 in goal-line attempts, averaged 20+ FPTS per game. Backfield with little competition (“Samaje Perine, and that’s it”). “All in on Chase Brown...he was running back 4 and averaged over 20 fantasy points per game once he became the starter.” (12:05, 12:46)

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3. Sleepers: Shark Tank-Style Pitches

Each expert gives “pitches” on their favorite deep values (not just names—detailed reasoning and positional breakdown).

Mike Clay’s Sleepers:

• QB: J.J. McCarthy, Vikings. “No surprise. Been talking about him all offseason long.”
• RB: TreVeyon Henderson, Patriots. “ADP on the rise, it’s almost hard to call him a sleeper.” Still sees strong value in volume/role.
• WR: Matthew Golden, Packers. “The guy I’ve drafted probably more than any other player this offseason...first round pick for a reason, excellent speed.” (15:33)
  • Notable debate: Packers’ WRs often spread around, but Golden could break the pattern as a true WR1. “They spent a first round pick on a wide receiver for a reason. This guy is excellent speed. He can line up all over the field.” (15:37)
• TE: Colston Loveland, Bears. “Great athlete...fully past shoulder injury. I think he’s gonna be a tight end that emerges.” (36:44)

Liz Loza’s Sleepers:

• QB: Trevor Lawrence, Jaguars. “Nice bounce-back candidate...when Brian Thomas Jr. entered the equation, Lawrence became QB2 in air yards per attempt.” (18:11)
• RB: Trey Benson, Cardinals. “James Conner expects him to eat into his workload...power rusher with 4.38 speed.” (18:43)
• WR: Marvin Mims, Broncos. “Once Bo Nix and Mims found each other, Mims’s targets per game exploded...expect Mims to pick up where he left off.” (20:02)
• TE: Brenton Strange, Jaguars. “111 targets open from Ingram and Kirk departures.”

Field Yates’ Sleepers:

• QB: Drake Maye, Patriots. “7.8 yards/carry last year...the issue: improved but not perfect supporting cast; Patriots focused on defense, so need ‘aggressive’ Drake Maye for fantasy ceiling.” (24:22)
• RB: Isaiah Pacheco, Chiefs. “Feels like he’s right beneath us...starting RB, contract year, Chiefs haven’t traded for anyone.”
• 49ers WRs: Jauan Jennings and Ricky Pearsall (see team-wide debate below for details).

Stefania Bell’s Sleepers:

• QB: Dak Prescott, Cowboys. “Sort of an unsexy pick, but outperforming ADP is the definition of a sleeper...coming off a torn hamstring, fully recovered. Has two explosive WRs now, expect more passing.” (30:06)
• RB: Cam Skattebo, Giants. “Swiss army knife, power to bulldoze into the top RB position...missed time moves his value into late rounds.” (35:52)
• WR: Jauan Jennings, 49ers. “Worry about risk of injury, but still a value if high volume persists.” (35:54)
• TE: Colston Loveland, Bears. See above. “Such a great athlete, could make a mark as a rookie TE.” (36:44)

Daniel Dopp’s Sleepers:

• QB: Dak Prescott, echoing Stefania (“one of my sleepers for a long time.”)
• RB: Tony Pollard, Titans. “Love the value and ADP...Tajae Spears injury only helps.”
• TE: Jake Ferguson, Cowboys. “Cheap, late, and I’m buying Dak’s passing game.”
• WR: Ricky Pearsall, 49ers (shared pick with Stefania).

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Special Segment: San Francisco 49ers Sleeper Debate (27:22)

• Detailed conversation about which 49ers WR (Pearsall vs. Jennings) is the better sleeper. Stefania expresses worry about Jennings’ health and contract status; Mike, Liz, and Field all slightly prefer Pearsall’s higher ceiling and draft pedigree.
• Field: “My spider senses are telling me this is a contract thing more than a calf thing.”
• Stefania: “Both things could be true...but Pearsall has kind of overtaken him for me.”

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4. Draft Strategy Takeaways & Lessons Learned

Mike Clay

• Be willing to draft for value dips, especially with veterans like Michael Pittman Jr.: If the ADP falls due to situational risk but talent is clear, “there’s at least a chance that floor comes back” if new QB Daniel Jones flourishes. (43:03, 44:05)
• Don’t overreact to uncertain situations: “If I’m getting half the season, 10th-round Michael Pittman, I’ll be in the spot because you’re building your team all season long.” (44:25)

Liz Loza

• Wide Receiver > Risky RB Early: Avoid RBs plagued by volume/usage risks like Barkley or high-unknown offenses like Ashton Genti. “If you don’t want to deal with the Ashton Genti question marks...then just take a wide receiver in the first round.” (46:26)
• Take safe floors, then mix in upside RBs later (e.g., Chase Brown, Tony Pollard).

Field Yates

• Don’t let ADP dictate everything: “ADP matters, but do not let it hamstring how you approach your draft...if there’s somebody that you have any level of doubt about, just pick the player.” (47:06)
• Example: Taking a player like TreVeyon Henderson at 40th overall in a mock draft—no regrets if he becomes a top-12 back.

Stefania Bell

• Draft flexibility is key: Be ready to pivot if your targets are gone. “I tend to go in thinking I only have four running backs that I really like at the top...but then I have to flip strategies.” (48:37)
• Don’t force a position out of panic: If positional runs wipe out your favorites, don’t reach—pivot to other premium spots (elite tight end, QB).

Daniel Dopp

• Hard to have elite QB and TE: “Not impossible, but very important to mock draft to make sure you’re happy with the rest of your squad—threading the needle of both is tough.” (50:13)
• Hero RB and filling RB2 later: “The second RB spot is maybe the easiest to fill in time because of injuries and emerging backs.” (52:01)

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5. Notable Quotes & Moments

• Mike on rookies breaking out: “We get the year two leap from Marvin Harrison Jr. and he’s a league winner.”
• Liz on Emeka Egbuka: “Really, really polished route runner...perfect scenario for a 15th-round receiver.”
• Field on ‘pocket players’: “The reality is very few guys in your roster are going to carry the same value from week one to week 18. You need guys that can lift you up when you’re thin.”
• Stefania on Ricky Pearsall: “He’s going to be featured in that offense and if he does well, you’re not going to take that volume away from Ricky.”
• Daniel on Chase Brown: “I am all in on Chase Brown—he was running back 4, averaged over 20 fantasy points per game once he became the starter.”
• Mike on taking your guy: “If you have a target in life or in fantasy football, go grab said target.” (48:35)
• General banter: Frequent running jokes around the “Beach Combine,” Mike’s margaritas, and even a live bachelorette party “watching Fantasy Focus”—“That’s how you know Fantasy Focus is even better than that podcast with Taylor Swift.” (09:42)

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6. Key Timestamps

• 02:09: Intro, premise for “Fantasy Island” themed league winners
• 03:06: Mike Clay on Marvin Harrison Jr.
• 04:31: Liz Loza on Emeka Egbuka
• 06:24: Field Yates: “Pocket players” explanation
• 10:05: Stefania Bell on Ricky Pearsall
• 12:05: Daniel Dopp on Chase Brown (stat breakdown)
• 14:49: Sleepers—Mike’s deep dives by position
• 18:11: Liz’s sleeper picks (Trevor Lawrence, Trey Benson, Marvin Mims)
• 24:22: Field Yates on Drake Maye and sleeper RBs/49ers WR room
• 27:22: Niners WR debate: Jennings vs. Pearsall
• 30:06: Stefania Bell’s sleeper QB: Dak Prescott
• 35:52: Stefania’s RB sleeper: Cam Skattebo
• 36:44: Stefania on Colston Loveland at TE (Bears)
• 43:03: Mike’s strategy takeaways—Pittman and Tyler Warren
• 46:26: Liz’s approach to early RB vs. WR debate
• 47:06: Field on not letting ADP control your draft
• 48:37: Stefania on being flexible in draft strategy
• 50:13: Daniel on difficulties of stacking elite QB & TE

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Summary for Non-Listeners

The panelists offer both in-depth statistical breakdowns and “draft room” wisdom. The key takeaways are:

• League winners can emerge just outside the early rounds (Marvin Harrison Jr., Emeka Egbuka, Ricky Pearsall, Chase Brown) and are often those poised for a volume leap due to teammate injury or natural progression.
• Sleepers are plentiful at all positions. Be proactive in seeking upside, especially with rookies or “post-hype” sophomores, but stay attuned to camp news (health, depth chart shifts, holdouts).
• ADP is a tool—not a rule. Trust your own analysis on player outlooks more than consensus if your conviction is strong.
• Draft flexibility is paramount. Adapt to positional runs, sniped picks, and early-round chaos. Know your tiers, but don’t panic when plans are upended.
• The art of winning in 2025, the crew believes, is mixing smart value plays with a few bold swings on well-chosen upside—and having fun in the process.

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For continued analysis and updates, subscribe to Fantasy Focus Football and join the live shows for more jokes, rivalry, and fantasy gold!

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Transcript

[A]

Hey, guys, it's Christian McCaffrey, pro running back. I'm partnering with Abercrombie this season to tell you about their viral denim. All you need to know is denim should fit like this. Abercrombie's athletic fit is a game changer. They're designed for guys with an athlete's build like mine. Just enough room and the perfect stretch. When a jean fits that well, I'm wearing it on repeat. Shop Abercrombie denim in the app, online and in store.

[B]

What's good, everybody? Welcome in to Fantasy Focus Football live from Baha Mar here in the Bahamas alongside Mike Clay, Liz Loza Field Yates, and Stefania Bell. My name is Daniel Dopp. Give it up if you're here. Thank you so much.

[C]

This awesome.

[B]

This is unreal. Oh, and Mike's already taken his shirt off. Okay.

[D]

Nobody wants to see that.

[B]

What do you guys do this a beach day? Mike, Is that what's going on?

[E]

I'm here to party. I don't know about you guys.

[B]

All right. We're here to party as well. Hopefully you guys are ready to be able to have some fun with us today. We're gonna dive into a bunch of really fun stuff, but first and foremost, we just want to say thank you on behalf of Baja Mar for letting us be here. It's unbelievable. We get to do this ultimate draft weekend here on on the island and field. I wouldn't be doing my job if I didn't ask, because everyone wants to know, are you, in fact, going to participate in the beach combine?

[C]

To be determined. I did bring several pairs of shoulder pads, so I will be protected. At the very least, I wanted to congratulate myself on making it more than 24 hours without visiting the emergency room here, however, I can tell you guys, incredible hospital, unbelievable. The nicest staff you'll ever meet. And I apologize, by the way, if I only direct my comments over here to this side of this incredible crowd. This over here.

[F]

So weird.

[B]

It's distracting.

[C]

It's distracting right now.

[E]

Yeah, you guys. You guys can work. Go ahead.

[F]

Well, look over at you. It's so.

[B]

I'm ready for it. Listen, I'll tell you what. We're on an island, right? We're gonna dive into.

[E]

I'm not here to work.

[B]

A little Fantasy island is what we're gonna do, my friends. We're gonna kick the show off with that. We're gonna talk about our favorite league winners here. Fantasy island style.

[C]

Let's go.

[B]

Why don't we start it just at the very end? Mike, no.

[E]

All right, I'll work.

[B]

Yeah. No. Oh, you're gonna put your shirt on.

[D]

All right, well, you want me to.

[F]

Hold your drink for you?

[C]

Well, we want.

[B]

Sounds like we want you to keep the shirt off.

[C]

We got one boo from the crowd. We got two booze from the crowd.

[E]

Always ruin my phone. All right.

[C]

Wow. Shirtless bike is a hit in the Bahamas.

[E]

You know what? Well, we'll have margaritas later. We'll do it. We'll do it later. All right. What are we talking about?

[B]

We're talking about.

[E]

Let's do work. Let's do work.

[B]

We're doing league winners fantasy island style. If there was one guy that you think is a league winner this year, who would it be?

[E]

League winner. For me, it's got to be a guy. I. I forget who I wrote down, but we're going to go with. We're gonna go. It can't be somebody we're taking to the top of the draft.

[C]

Why don't you define it? What are you thinking of a league winner?

[E]

I know I'm gonna go with it.

[F]

This gentleman is an.

[E]

But I don't want to go. Look, I'm not gonna go with someone that we're gonna take in rounds one or two or something like that. We're gonna go a little bit deeper. A guy that you're gonna get a big boost in value from where you drafted him. And that's Marvin Harrison Jr. A guy we talked a lot about last season, and he didn't live up to his adp. But you know what? As far as rookie wide receivers go, he was fine. You know, it was a normal rookie wide receiver season. He just felt like a disappointment because he didn't live up to his high ADP. So I think this year, going in the fourth round at 12 team, leagues better connection with Kyler Murray in their second year together, I think there's a lot. The defense is much better for Arizona, too. I just feel like that team is going to be better this season. So I think this is the year. I think we get the year or two leap from Marvin Harrison Jr. And he's a guy that finishes a top 10 or 12 receiver and is a league winner.

[B]

I like that. I mean, we all want that to happen. If that doesn't happen, we're going to be disappointed.

[C]

This guy has one sip of a margarita and he can't even hold on.

[B]

Doesn't know how to use a microphone. I'm a problem now.

[C]

Gasoline in that marg or what?

[E]

That's just. That's Just a nice lightweight.

[C]

Mike.

[E]

Baja margarita.

[B]

Nothing wrong with that. Well, for what it's worth, if that doesn't happen, Field is going to cry. We found out that or on one of the earlier episodes that we have. Marvin Harrison Jr. Really needs to pay off. Liz, if you had a league winner and you know what, it can be from anywhere that you want in the draft order, for what it's worth.

[F]

Well, you know, Mike just said it can't be anyone drafted in the first two rounds.

[E]

It can. That's just.

[G]

I'm going to go off script too.

[F]

You've inspired me to work harder.

[D]

Actually.

[F]

I heard a name being yelled by someone in the crowd. I was going to say Nico Collins because I think he's being undervalued, but. But I'm going to go with Emeka Buca, the wide receiver. Wide receiver in Tampa Bay. Really, really polished route runner has brought all of that nuance to Tampa Bay. And impressed with his perfectionism. Chris Godwin question marks around his week one availability. And so Booker has been getting a lot of first team reps. I like the offense and I think that he could really surprise and he's going to start the season likely as Baker Mayfield, second favorite target and working opposite Mike Evans. Not a bad place to be, especially when you're drafting him in the 15th round.

[E]

I'm glad.

[D]

I. I think. Is my mic working?

[C]

It's on.

[H]

Yeah.

[E]

Okay.

[D]

Liz, I think you sniped Field just like you wouldn't draft, right?

[C]

We. We put this in the document.

[F]

I know, but then he went off. Did I do it?

[C]

Yeah. It's okay.

[F]

Sorry.

[C]

You know what, Liz? Great pick. Great pick there by Liz Lo. Great pick. Such a great pick that subconsciously.

[F]

Talk about Breton. Strange.

[C]

No, I don't. Not at all. Not at all. As a league winner. Well said by Liz. So I've got about six 60 seconds. I can talk about whatever I want.

[B]

Yeah, you want Stefania to go first. You can come up with a second name.

[C]

I don't have. I don't. I don't want to give you a different answer. I want to show the confidence in a Mecca Abuka for all the reasons that Liz laid out. And so, yeah, that. That's my answer is also my answer, to be clear, was first a Mecca Abu.

[E]

Can I just make a question? I'll ask you a question then field about hit me because I know you guys are still like in off season mode, but I'm already working on like the week one playbook. Like, you know, I got the week one Rankings ready to go. Sure. And I noticed that Abuka projects pretty darn high early in the season because to your point, Jaylen McMillan's not going to be there. Chris Godwin, we know is not going to be there for a while. So Ebuca is a first round wide receiver who is going to play a big role and we might be ranking him 20th, 25th in week one. I mean, I talk about two types.

[C]

Of players in fantasy football. Pretty often there are season long players and there are pocket players. Right. Season long guys would be Justin Jefferson. You don't draft him to be okay for part of the year and then great for part of the year. You draft him with the expectation that every week you might get 20 points from Justin Jefferson. Then I talk about pocket players because the reality is that very few guys in your roster are going to carry the same value from week one to week 18. You need guys that can carry you early on in the season if you take some risks. If you draft a player like Travis Hunter who may or may not have a gigantic offensive role, or you draft Rashee Rice in the middle of the season, he's gone for four or six or even eight games. You got to have guys that can kind of lift you up during those areas or those times of the year when you're very thin. Abuka feels like a strong early season candidate to be exactly that because he should be a top two wide out in an offense that Baker Mayfield has more passing touchdowns than anybody else in the NFL over the past two seasons. So I like the pick by Liz so much so that I submitted it several hours ago to our producer.

[D]

I'm just going to add more reason to like him. And I don't want to say I told you so, but I did mention mentioned in April at the NFL draft.

[F]

You did.

[D]

You did that. There might be an issue. And leading Tampa Bay to want to draft a wide receiver in the first round. And that was the status of Chris Godwin. And maybe people have heard that it sounds like Chris Godwin is now going to be elevated off the physically unable to perform list. But they are very clear in saying that there is still no timeline for his return. And a reminder that coming off that list just allows you to return to practice. It's a way for them to work him back in. But the expectation is that he's not going to see the field for weeks, not not miss the start of the season, but potentially miss a good chunk of the season as they try to get him back to full recovery. So Emeke Buuka, not only your pick. Well, I mean, he could have been. He could have been. But not only impressing people at camp in terms of how he's participating, but. But for fantasy purposes, like, the. The benefit is right there.

[E]

I'm just curious if, like, the cat's going to be out of the bag with him if he has a good first month. Like, how do you put that back away?

[C]

Correct. Genie.

[D]

And I don't know that they need to, because what it will provide for them. I think that people keep thinking when Chris Godwin comes back, like, he's just. He's back. It's either he's gone or he's 100%. And I see a scenario where he has the opportunity to kind of get acclimated to playing football again.

[F]

And.

[D]

And they're not going to decrease Igbuka's volume that much right away.

[E]

Yeah. They might just have to keep him rolling. That could be bad news for Mike Evans if you're drafting him as your number two receiver or certainly Chris Godwin when he's back. It's definitely bad news for guys like Kate on, like. Yeah.

[C]

By the way, the power of Fantasy Focus is on display right now. Right over here, we have a bride to be who said, I want to go my bachelorette party to Bahamas specifically to watch Fantasy Focus. Oh, they're. They're. I mean, honestly, like, when I was considering places to go for my bachelor party, whatever. That was a decade or so ago. Wherever I could watch my favorite fantasy football podcast.

[E]

That was pretty high.

[B]

That was where it was at.

[C]

Shout out. Congratulations on the big day.

[B]

That's right.

[C]

I don't know.

[B]

And they've got special shirts made.

[C]

This is how you know Fantasy Focus is even better than that podcast. New heist with Taylor Swift. That's high praise. Listen, we get similar downloads, so we really appreciate that. That's.

[E]

That's awesome of you to say.

[B]

Shout out to you guys. Hey, Stefania, you're not the only one that loves a Mecca Abuka. Obviously, great minds think alike, but you're not allowed to pick him for this one. So who do you have as your league winner exactly? He's already been picked twice.

[D]

Well, it's not going to surprise anybody who knows me because I'm going to go with Ricky Pierce hall of the San Francisco 49ers, because. All right, see, see, we have 49ers fans here in the audience. Ricky Piersol fans. I love this. I've been talking about this pretty much since I went to see him in camp. And I always thought that Ricky Pearsall was due for a boost in his second year because once he came back to playing football last year after being shot, that's why he missed the early part of the season and he got used to playing in an NFL offense. We saw great production from him, especially the final two weeks of the season. So having another year, and I've talked about this, in fact, he trained with Brock Purdy both in Arizona and Jacksonville in the offseason to work on their timing. And timing is such a big part of the 49ers offense that Brock Purdy really wanted to emphasize Ricky Pierce Hall's timing. He's like, you've got great hands, you've got great speed, but this is a timing game and they are starting to click in that way. And look at the 49ers wide receiver room. It is thin.

[B]

Decimated.

[D]

It is thin. And you've got Brandon Aiyuk who, who's not going to come back for a while coming off a major injury. Juwan Jennings injured and maybe not thrilled. I'm just going to leave it in the ether there. But there's, there's a lot to be had there in the wide receiver room. And right now Ricky Piersol running with the ones entirely in practice.

[B]

Yeah.

[D]

He's going to be featured in that offense and if he does well, to your point, what we were talking about earlier, like you're not going to take that volume away from Ricky.

[E]

No. He is a great opportunity to be the number one right out of the gate. And you, by the way, you know your wide receiver room's in trouble when you're trading for Sky Moore, who the Chiefs are probably going to cut.

[C]

I wasn't going to cut him now from Mike play.

[E]

It's a, it's a rough spot. So I'm with you.

[B]

I'm. I'm with you too as well. Stefano, you know he was one of my favorites heading into the season. So I'm all in on Ricky Pierce. All if I had to pick a player. I'm going to go early. I am going to go as well with someone at the top of the draft.

[D]

Can I guess here?

[B]

You can guess who it's going to be. Stefania, go ahead.

[D]

Chase Brown.

[B]

It's Chase Brown. I've been talking about Chase Brown non stop. I'm not gonna stop talking about Chase Brown.

[C]

What can Brown do for you?

[B]

This is how you know you love a player. Chase Brown, once he became the starter in week nine. I've said this a million times. But in case you haven't heard it, he was running back two in targets, running back two and catches. That's good. We love that from our running backs catching passes. In fantasy football, he was running back three in goal to go attempts. We love that. We want him to get all the goal line touches. So he's touching the football at the goal line. He's catching the football. Oh, and by the way, who else is behind him? It feels like there's not a lot of people.

[E]

Speaking of which, Adam Schefter reporting. Brian Robinson Jr. To the no, I'm just kidding.

[C]

I would.

[B]

Oh, I would lose my mind right now. I mean, it's just Samaj Piran and it's Samaj Piron, who we do think is a really good player. But from a fantasy perspective, I don't think he's going to completely vulture away. Chase Brown's volume and Taj Brooks the rookie. So I am all in on Chase Brown with everything he did. He was a running back 4 averaged over 20 fantasy points per game once he became the starter. And that team is going to have to continue to do what it did last year, which is rely on the offensive side of the football.

[C]

I could see a tattoo player being in play here. Like if Chase Brown is on a team that you win a championship this year, you get a tattoo of Chase Brown smiling somewhere on your body.

[B]

I could do that.

[C]

And if he let you down, you just go, not smiley face.

[F]

That's a strategy question, Daniel.

[B]

Absolutely.

[F]

Because I believe that you have Joe Burrow among your top five quarterbacks.

[B]

I do.

[F]

Mike and I are more in alignment about a top four being in the first tier and then Joe Burrow being the top of the second tier. But you are a top five guy.

[B]

Yeah.

[F]

Interestingly, Joe Burrow and Chase Brown are being selected around the same place. Would you rather select Joe Burrow or Chase Brown, understanding that Brown is a league winner for you, or would you rather wait on the position of quarterback and get someone later, assuming you didn't get one of the top four guys?

[B]

That's a fantastic question.

[F]

I like those.

[B]

I would love to be able to get one of the tier one quarterbacks. I think we all would. You're not going to leave a draft with one of those guys and be disappointed. But I think quarterback is deep enough that I would rather wait at the position and grab someone farther on down the draft board and make sure that I get my guy, Chase Brown to.

[F]

Be the priority for you then.

[B]

Yes, absolutely. Yep. Especially with where he's going. I mean he's a high end RB2 and if he can be my, my, my number two running back, I'm thrilled with that. I will be. I'll take that to the bank all day long.

[E]

Absolutely.

[B]

All right, those are our league winners Fantasy island edition as well. Let's dive into some sleepers here. A little, a few, I guess we're going to call them Shark Tank pitches. Mike, I'm going to start back with you again. Give us your sleepers this year and most importantly, like break down one of these guys, the one guy that you feel the most excited about as your sleeper.

[E]

Okay, so I'm actually prepared for this segment. So have somebody brought some notes?

[C]

First time for everything.

[E]

You know, I was, you know, sipping some marks before relaxing so I wasn't ready. But I'm ready now so we can do this. All right, I'm going to go through each position here. I have J.J. mcCarthy, a quarterback, no surprise. Been talking about him all offseason long. Treveon Henderson at running back. ADP on the rise right now. It's almost hard to call him a sleeper at this point because ADP is soaring. Wide receiver Matthew Golden, Green Bay packers and tight end Colson Loveland. I think my favorite guy right now by far has to be Matthew Golden. I mean, he's the guy I've drafted probably more than any other player this offseason. Ton of rookie drafts. He's been undervalued in season long.

[D]

And there's an attrition problem at wide receiver in Green Bay right now too.

[E]

Yeah, speaking of wide receiver rooms with injury issues, but I don't know that that necessarily mattered a lot. Like it's, it'll help him a little bit, get him a few extra targets. But look, the packers have had wide receiver issues for a while. They haven't had a number one. So they've spread the ball around. But now they have. They, they spent a first round pick on a wide receiver for a reason. This guy is excellent speed. He can line up all over the field. He can contribute in a lot of different ways. He has one of the best quarterbacks in the NFL. Just straight up. We're not talking fantasy, just straight up. Jordan Love, when he is healthy, is one of the better quarterbacks. That's kind of a NFL Mike. And by the way, the pushback on. What's the pushback on? Golden, right? The packers spread the ball around. They did that because they didn't have a number one receiver. They have featured Matt LaFleur's offenses have featured number one receivers. We've seen that in the past. Whether it's been Devonte Adams, Corey Davis and at times some of these packers because they didn't have a choice. Christian Watson, I was never high in that guy. Don't let Daniel tell you otherwise. Romeo Dobbs, Jaden Reed, they've tried, tried to feature these guys and it hasn't worked out which is why they invested in that position this year. So I'm all in on Matthew Golden. 12. Team ADP right now is still in the eighth round, which I, I'll take that every single day.

[B]

When you talk about that, Mike. I mean we already went through the idea of like Green Bay Packers. We've been trying to make this be a thing right. As a wide receiver. 1. Is there anything that gives you pause when it's a little bit of a smaller wide receiver like Matthew Golden? Are you like, you know, know what? He can still be that guy necessarily.

[E]

Not. Not. And I think the NFL has changed a little bit in that regard. You know, there's plenty of undersized wide receivers that are high impact starters all the time. I mean obviously the easy one is to say is Tyreek Hill. I'm not saying he's the next Tyree Kill, you know, but this he's.

[D]

You heard it here first. Mike Clay just said Matthew golden is the next Tyreeko.

[E]

Yes, that's what I said.

[D]

Yeah.

[E]

Okay. Thanks field. Okay.

[B]

Jordan Love is one of the best quarterbacks in the NFL and Matthew golden.

[E]

Is one of them. Yes. Look, if Matthew Golen's Tyree Kill level contributor, my fantasy teams are going to do pretty good this year.

[B]

And let's not forget, I mean two years ago Jordan Love finished as quarterback five in fantasy. When he is healthy and out there slinging it, he is unbelievable. Not just for himself but for his pass catchers as well. So like that.

[E]

Yeah, if he runs more he'll be a. He'll bounce back in fantasy. The problem is as we'll get to as you guys work through your sleepers is there's so many guys like that at quarterback this year. There are so many breakout candidates bounce back candidates the position like I love that top group. But after that there's so many flyers you could take at that position.

[B]

That's part of why I would be okay waiting at the quarterback spot and grabbing someone like Chase Brown. All right, Liz, we're going to go with you next. Let's dive into some of your sleepers here for 2025.

[F]

Well, I have one in every position but let you just talked about quarterbacks that could bounce back at quarterback. I think Trevor Lawrence is a nice bounce back candidate. He was the QB13 and fantasy points per game both in 202023 and in 2024 of course before he injured his non throwing non throwing shoulder and had a to end his season early. What was interesting though about last year was when Brian Brian Thomas Jr. Entered the equation Lawrence became the QB2 in air yards per attempt. I know you don't like an air yard stat but I do think it's relevant.

[C]

I don't mind them from you, I just think they're useless for Mike.

[F]

But I do think it's interesting because when you bring a wide receiver that can drag a quarterback into play production to see that stat grow so much for him to me is if in a healthy year he could continue to be dragged into production. Travis Hunter obviously joins the equation and then bearing the little bit. Liam Cohen coming off of helping Baker Mayfield reach a record season also should help him. Also Trevor Lawrence is only 25 years old, Bo Nix is 25 years old and everybody loves Bo Nicks so there is some time there. I'm not saying that he's going to be a top five producer but a low end QB one I think that's definitely within reason at running back quickly. I like Trey Benson because James Conner did last year something he had never done previously in his career which was stay on the field for 16 games. James Conner himself has said that he expects Trey Benson to eat into his workload. This is a power rusher with 438 speed. We love that combination and a skill set so I think you'll see the feel more in his sophomore campaign. Breton Strange I do like field another Jacksonville Jaguars player Evan Ingram and Christian Kirk leave 111 targets for him to see but I really really like Marvin Mims. I think that's the sleeper I'm the.

[B]

Most Ooh I like it.

[F]

Liz as the season progressed Wait, you.

[B]

Just talked down Bo Nix but you love Marvin Mims?

[F]

I'm down. I have him ranked higher than Trevor Lawrence but it did as it does with most rookies. It took a minute for the game to slip down and once it's interesting because once Bo Nix and Marvin Mims found each other once the once actually Mims caught his first touchdown of the season then the chemistry between the two really started to develop and Mims his targets per game exploded from like 1.2 to 5 over 5 targets per game from like weeks 12 to 18. So I fully expect Mims to pick up in 2025 where he left off off in 2024. His presence also helped Bo Nicks become a more efficient passer. And again, I like a speedster. I like that he's a wonderful complement to a possession option like Cortland Sutton and a short yardage joker like Evan Ingram. So there's a clearly defined role. He could be the wide receiver, too, on one of the most exciting ascendant offenses in the league. And you're getting him in the 16th, 15th round.

[B]

Yeah, I love that love. I mean, do you guys have anything to be able to rebut against those comments?

[E]

I'm still stuck on so many Jags being mentioned. Like when I'm doing my fantasy draft, I'm just like, got to get Jaguars, you know, Always a recipe for success.

[F]

Evan Ingram isn't there anymore. We do like him at tight end in Denver.

[B]

I mean, we're buying the Liam Cohen hype, right?

[D]

That's it.

[F]

That's exactly.

[B]

That's why. That's why it's happening.

[D]

He loves Travis Hunter.

[B]

Yeah, absolutely.

[E]

That's you.

[B]

That was. He is you. He meaning me.

[C]

I knew Travis Hunter. Bold take, I know.

[B]

But seeing everything that Liam Cohen did last year with Baker Mayfield and this Bucks offense, there's a reason why we're all excited about at least the passing game. Running game feels a little different, to be honest. In Jacksonville, it feels like it'll be a value.

[C]

We just don't know who that someone is.

[B]

But when you don't know which one it's going to be, it makes it tough to be able to feel confident in drafts for Jaguars.

[E]

Are we talking bus tomorrow? Maybe on tomorrow. Maybe a little Jaguar running back.

[B]

Maybe we'll bring that up tomorrow. A little tease, as we call that in the bit. The live well sale still sizzles at.

[I]

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[G]

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[I]

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[C]

The business well done by Mike Clay. I'll give you a handful of sleepers here as well. Assorted quarterback Mike mentioned J.J. mcCarthy from that 2024 NFL Draft class. We haven't yet seen J.J. but we have seen Drake May for the New England Patriots who last year averaged 7.8 yards per carry which is best amongst all qualified quarterbacks. One of the best amongst all players in the NFL. We got a Drake made jersey in the corner proud today. Shout out Baker.

[E]

Yeah Happy birthday Baker.

[B]

Happy birthday.

[E]

Happy birthday Baker got the got the.

[B]

Number 10 wearing the number 10 fantastic.

[E]

As the number 10 jersey Drake may brand new birthday present.

[C]

Now that is awesome. That is incredible right there And Drake make is he's a baller. I think the to me like the two things that can hold Drake May back from being really good in fantasy this year. One would be it's an improved but definitely not perfect group of pass catchers around him. Stefan Diggs helps and I guess Mac Hollins helps We think Trayvon Henderson's legit. But the other part is a lot of the emphasis from the Patriots this offseason has been. And this is in line with the coach he now plays for, Mike Grable. We're going to be really tough on defense. We're going to run the football well, take care of the football.

[D]

Sounds like the old Patriot way.

[C]

Yeah, right. And Drake May. Part of the appeal for him in fantasy would be if you get some of those cut it loose, ridiculous plays that he's capable of making. That's big for fantasy. I want to see aggressive Drake May. That would lead to a lot of fantasy goodness. I also mentioned Isaiah Pacheco, who, unless the Chiefs make a trade over the next call it 10 to 14 days, just feels like he's right beneath us. Our nose just sitting there. Starting running back, good offense, contract year. Liz mentioned Brenton Strage.

[D]

Who?

[C]

Jackson, James Gladstone. Their gm wants to get involved in the offense more. And then on the sleeper front, as the local 49ers fan, I'll mention the other one, Juwan Jennings, 8.6 targets last year after the team's buy. So third. And Juwan, who I'm convinced contractitis is really what's going on here. He looks. He's looking for a new deal.

[B]

I mean, it's tough to be able with both of these 49ers wide receivers. Their ADP is really similar. They're right next to each other. So it's. It kind of does come down to which one. Do you. Would you rather have?

[C]

I don't think this is a running back situation last year with like Taj Spears and Tony Pollard, like they were going back to back and it was clear it was not close. Like, this is close, this is close, but both of them could have similar value each week, right?

[B]

Mike, do you have. From a projection standpoint, is there one of these wide receivers that your projection says you like more? Are they that similar?

[E]

They're very close. So whichever one falls further, I think is the value. But you're right, that's an excellent point, which is that.

[C]

Thank you.

[E]

You can go now. Field.

[B]

You're good.

[E]

You made your good point for the show. Yeah, I think there's room in this offense for both of those guys and George kittle and Christian McCaffrey because it's Kyle Shanahan and this guy. I mean, you know Brock Purdy's going to average eight and a half, nine yards per attempt because all of Shanahan's offenses are like that. So there's room. Savannah's just sitting there enjoying this.

[D]

I have several thoughts on this. You guys know I'm going to weigh in because 49er, so I have to. But Juwan Jennings, I can't say. Like, I'm not in the room. So I don't know if it's total contractitis, but I will say that he had a calf injury in OTAS before this became an issue. So when you hear something and then there's an aggravation of it after you start training camp, he did start participating. Then he was out. Sometimes it will influence how much you want to participate if there's something that you don't want to get worse when you're trying to make a case for why you should get paid more. So I just would leave the door open that both things could be true. That being said, he's not getting the reps now in camp. And you worry now. You worry about if everything works out and we're starting, is there a risk of injury because you haven't been acclimated to football. And so Juwan Jennings becomes difficult for me in that way. Yeah. See, they agree with me.

[B]

They agree. Big 49ers fans in the crowd for sure. Big winner.

[D]

But in any event, that I have Juwan Jennings as a sleeper, like I really. But I feel like I'm fudging on that a little bit now because I'm not as confident as I was before and I think Ricky Piersoll has sort of overtaken him for me in that group. But they are close.

[B]

If you were just because I'm curious if you're on the board right now, Mike, which wide receiver you taking first, Juwan Jennings or Ricky Pearsall?

[E]

I'm going Pierce Hall.

[B]

I went upside.

[E]

I just feel like the ceiling's higher there. He was a first round pick last year and he's coming off just to find his point. Two really good games to finish last season. It's a really good situation. Easiest path to their number one wide receiver job. So I think he's the play.

[B]

Liz, which way would you go?

[F]

I agree. All of the points that Mike made, I mean, this is a moment also where I look at draft pedigree and there is so much hype around Piersall and the ceiling feels so high that I would love to have that upside.

[C]

I go with Pearsall despite the fact that I, I was the one that made the case for Tawan Dennings. Because while I, I do, my spider senses are telling me this is a calf thing. It's. I Mean, it's a contract thing more so than a cap thing. Like, you know, even if the cat feels fine, he's not going to play until a contract gets done. And as we have seen around the NFL, these contracts have proven very tricky for teams with veterans, Darren McLaren Johanneson amongst them.

[E]

Absolutely.

[B]

And I'm more in on Pierce all than Jennings. Although like we've been saying this entire time, the value you're going to get with whoever the second one is is still plenty fine for you to grab in draft.

[F]

You're getting value all around in San Francisco cmc, I think you're getting some value because of durability concerns. George Kittle, you're getting value in. Yeah.

[B]

Keep saying good things about the Niners.

[F]

Stefania's in San Francisco's pass catchers is never going to be a bad deal.

[C]

Yeah, well said.

[B]

All right, Stefania, do you have any sleepers that you want to give us that aren't 49ers? Because we just talked about the entire team.

[D]

Should I say Brock Purdy is a sleeper quarterback? Because he had.

[C]

But yes, they like it.

[D]

I know.

[B]

Love us some Brock Purdy.

[D]

Was there a blackjack, which means what? Like roll the dice.

[B]

Brock Purdy.

[D]

Good. Something. I'm trying to make some analogy here in the casino. Well, I actually in the quarterback position, my sleeper is Zach Prescott. And I feel like this is sort of, you know, sleepers. You feel like it's sort of the unsexy pixel lot. Right. Because the definition of sleeper, at least the way I came to it, is somebody who's going to outperform their draft position. So it's not like you don't know what you're getting with Dak Prescott. We know that he's been very solid in the years that he's been healthy. He's not running the ball as much as he used to since the ankle injury. But he doesn't need to, you know, he's learned how to get rid of the ball quickly. He's got two, finally two wide receivers who can go out and make huge plays and make his his stats better. Dak Prescott was on my injuries to monitor list because he's coming off a year that ended early because of a torn hamstring. You guys think you've had a hamstring strain before he tore his off the bone.

[B]

No, thank you.

[D]

The only way you can fix that is to reattach it to the bone. But he's recovered fully. He looks great. Everybody is talking about how good he looks. I saw him running down in camp. There's no issue there. So Dak Prescott to me for where you can draft him is one of my top three.

[F]

Just in 2023. Is the QB3 overall in fantasy in 2023, mostly because of his passing prowess. That defense has a lot of drama, a lot of mess. There's no way he's not going to throw the ball a lot again this year.

[C]

Yeah.

[E]

But he did run quite a bit that year and we did not see that at all last year. So my question is, is, well, the rush 2020.

[B]

What?

[F]

Not since 2020. He hasn't run to the.

[E]

Not as much. But he, it was a, it was a contributing factor. If he runs for 54 yards this season, he's not going to be a QB1. So my question for you is if you re. Reattach. Reattach the hamstring to the bone. Right. Is he going to run now? Like, can he run or is he just going to be a pocket quarterback? Is he Jared Goff now?

[D]

I don't, I don't think like, I think his.

[B]

That felt like slander the way that you just said that. So it's the way he says these. Jared Goff off.

[E]

J off with fewer touches.

[B]

Are you talking about a guy who has been a top 10 fantasy quarterback for three straight seasons? Oh, heaven forbid.

[D]

Look what you did.

[F]

The tone.

[D]

Listen, I don't think. I think the evolution of Dak has been to be less of a running quarterback as part of the self preservation, the maturation of Dak. Get rid of the ball quicker, look for your targets. And he needs to be able to move and protect himself. That's really what you're looking for. You're not looking for him to deliver. Like he's not going to be Jaden Daniels out there. I'm not counting on getting a ton of rushing yards.

[E]

Yeah, I'm not looking for that. But if we can get 350 yards and three, four rushing touchdowns, that makes a huge fantasy.

[D]

I think like the rushing touchdown thing, I think you may get a couple of those. Not a lot. Three or four is probably where I would say is the max. But I don't know about three or 400 yards.

[E]

All right.

[D]

I don't know. I'm not for that reason.

[E]

I am out on Dak Prescott.

[C]

Wow.

[B]

I'm not super invested in this running back room. Like the running back room doesn't really give me a lot of warm fuzzies. You could say. Yeah, but Dak Prescott, each of his last three healthy seasons, he's finished averaging over 20 fantasy points per game as long as he can stay healthy.

[I]

And.

[B]

And that doesn't include the. That season started with. I mean, he was averaging over 27 points. I think it was 20, 21. He was like an MVP candidate right out of the gate and then unfortunately.

[C]

Got hurt on pace for 7,000 yards.

[B]

It was unbelievable. But he's. If he's healthy, I am with you. He's going to be one of my sleepers as well. Who else you got? Stefania.

[D]

So my running back sleeper is Cam Scatter Boo. Mostly because I like saying his name. I really do. I. I love Cam Scatter Boo. And I if, like many people, my eyes were really open to him late in the season, college playoffs. I mean, the grit that he showed. And so I started looking at what he was able to do, and I think it's the fact that he's good at all things. He's very much of a Swiss army knife running back, and I think he's got the power to bulldoze his way into that top running back position for the Giants by the end of the year. I think, like, I think things will flip now. He had a bit of a hamstring issue in training camp, so I think some of the shine on him has fallen off because people haven't heard much about him in the preseason. So we were doing this mock draft project early in the year, and I saw we had Tyrone Tracy ranked ahead, but you saw in our drafts the flip where Scatterboo started to jump over because we knew what the potential was there, and I think a lot of us saw that. As the season builds, Scatterboo is probably going to be more featured back in that offense. His absence in the preseason, I think has made him fall, which makes his value that much better. When you're doing your fantasy draft, I like.

[B]

I like all that analysis, Stefania. I mean, he was a guy field. I know when I was listening to first draft like you and Mel would talk about, this is someone that just brings like an energy and a punch to that offense. I think it was Arizona State. Arizona. Where did he go?

[C]

Arizona State. Yeah. He actually became this will. This will just warms f his heart even more. The first player since Christian McAffrey with over 1500 rushing yards and 500 receiving yards in the same season.

[B]

No way.

[C]

Yeah.

[B]

So that's good company.

[C]

Yeah. FPS level.

[D]

Went to the sideline in that game, got sick, came back and actually don't even know. I. I don't even know if he went to the sideline. He got sick and then continued to play, like, so everybody's like, that's the guy you want on your team. That's up.

[C]

Chuck's going. Got to move.

[E]

So good.

[B]

All right.

[E]

Do you have anybody else?

[B]

Stefania?

[D]

Well, I had Juwan Jennings on my list.

[C]

Nice pick.

[D]

So, you know, I, I, I earlier now I'm a little concerned about him, but I still think he's for where you can draft him, especially as the chatter gets gets more.

[C]

All right, Daniel still value, but.

[E]

Sorry. You done?

[B]

Are you done?

[E]

Sorry, Sorry.

[B]

You done?

[D]

Are you.

[C]

I didn't want to interrupt.

[D]

Are you done?

[E]

No, I, I was, I was just.

[B]

Gonna make it do that. Last year. Didn't this happen last year?

[E]

I was gonna make a Daniel joke and then. But you. Then I felt bad and I.

[B]

But I'm going to interrupt.

[D]

I know this is. I, I've got ptsd. This happens.

[B]

Going back to the margarita, Mike. Just go back to the margarita.

[D]

Yeah. I want to talk about one of Liz's favorite players, Colston Loveland.

[C]

Nice picture.

[E]

Oh, I love that.

[D]

He's not even listening to me. And here I am.

[F]

I'm sorry. I'm scolding Mike on your behalf. Tell me all about him. Who I think from Bliss, Idaho.

[D]

See, originally I told you. But listen, if you're looking for a tight end who is going to make a mark, we've seen rookie tight ends do it before. I think we used to not trust them. Then Kyle Pitts had this monster year and we were like, oh, this is what it's going to be. And then that was so good. And then he scarred everyone for life after that. But I think Colson Loveland could be this guy. Everybody is concerned about the malice defeat in Chicago. I understand that ball distribution maybe why Tyler Warren was get, you know, is a preferred target for some people. But I think Colson Loveland is such a great athlete. Came in with a head, was coming off an injury to his shoulder. Shoulder joint. But now is fully past that 100%. I think he's going to be a tight end that emerges. We saw hints of Cole Comet, you know, making something in that office. I think that Loveland will make the difference. I think that he and Caleb Williams are starting to connect, and we're going.

[F]

To see that he brought down the house with that rookie talent show performance.

[D]

So see that he's saying, oh, yeah, he did.

[C]

Yeah, Let me love you. That was the song you sang.

[F]

Yeah, yeah. And I already loved him. He didn't even need to sing It.

[B]

He didn't even need to sing it. Well, for what it's worth, Mike, do you want to do your joke now or you want me to start on my players?

[E]

I was just. I was just gonna ask you to lift your four Lions.

[B]

Who are my four Lions?

[E]

It's too late now. It's ruined every position. The joke's over now. I can't. I'm just. I'm. You just go ahead.

[B]

I'll tell you who I have. All right. I got Dak Prescott, who Stefania already mentioned. He's been one of my sleepers for a long time.

[E]

Yep.

[B]

I've also got Tony Pollard. I actually really love Tony Pollard with where he's going and that's the reason why because of the value and the value with where you're getting him and what's unfortunately happened with Tajie Spears has really pumped him up with where I have been in on Tony Pollard. Because last year he finally started to do some things that like as the lead back, we were really excited to be able to see getting Cam Ward coming into this offense. What are the Titans going to look like this year? I had some question marks of how good is that offense really going to be. But if Taj Speers is banged up and going to be dealing with a few things, it's helped just with the value of where you're able to get Tony Pollard.

[F]

Right now there's an interesting head to head bet on espn. Bet Tony Pollard or Bree hall who has the most rushing touchdowns.

[C]

Wow, that's kind of depressing. I'm not hall. Was the answer out there. Hall day.

[F]

I'm not. I'm just saying it's an interesting bet.

[C]

You go to E, think about if you had made that, if you had offered that bet last year at this time.

[B]

Oh my gosh.

[C]

Hey. Like the second running back off the board versus Tony Pollard who was kind of radioactive after a disappointing final season in Dallas.

[F]

Tony Pollard only had five rushing scores.

[E]

Last score much last year he was the better player.

[F]

You add in Justin Fields.

[B]

So you're saying there's positive touchdown regression for Tony Pollard is what you're saying.

[E]

I mean if he is the same workload per chance.

[B]

No one says per chance.

[E]

I say per chance.

[B]

That's not. He cuts a couple margaritas.

[E]

No. This is teaching me big words. Okay. So I'm trying. Trying out some words. All right. All right. I got a thesaurus.

[B]

Okay.

[E]

Learning.

[B]

All right.

[E]

Yeah, no, I think. Yeah, I think if he keeps the same volume, he'll be fine. And by the way, I feel like Tony Pollard and DeAndre Swift are kind of like evolving into almost the same guy, at least from a draft asset. They're like the same area of the draft, same kind of thing. They're just like the boring veteran running backs that are still of the clear path to the Lee back job. So I kind of keep putting them together for some reason. Yeah, drafted.

[B]

I like that if I can get either one of those two guys as a low end RB2 because I'm attacking other positions in the draft, I'm okay coming home with both of those guys. I also really like Ricky Pearsall. That was another one of my sleepers. But you guys talked about him. This is what happens when you go last. Everyone else takes all your players.

[E]

You done?

[B]

The last one that I have was going to be Jake Ferguson at the tight end spot because I'm buying Dak Prescott in this passing game. Right. He's basically cheap. Not someone in a 10 team league that I would target. But if I'm in a 12 team or deeper and I have other managers that address the tight end position, maybe they go for two tight ends. I don't mind grabbing a Jake Ferguson late being that I think he's going to be able to get some more upside here.

[C]

But I love that pick.

[E]

One of the Cowboys that got paid in the offseason.

[C]

Yes.

[B]

Yeah, I did get a little nervous when I looked at my list because I had Dak Prescott, Jake Ferguson and former Cowboy Tony Pollard. I think this too many cowboys, a lot of Jaguars. I gotta pump the brakes there a little bit, but that'll be my sleepers. Those were a great grouping of picks. Guys obviously continue to follow us over on Fantasy Focus as we talk.

[J]

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[B]

About this I want to close the show out okay, with one thing you guys have learned so far this year when it comes to either draft strategy, something you've taken away from your mock drafts. One thing that you feel like you're walking away from drafts with Mike, I'm going to start with you with Liz's.

[C]

League winner is a Mecca Buka.

[E]

That's it. That's yours.

[B]

That's the whole thing.

[E]

Yeah. I think lately something I've kind of adjusted to is, well, let me, let me start this way. A guy that I drafted quite a bit in our mock draft project was Michael Pittman Jr. And the thought process there was similar to Colin Sutton last year. It's like he's going in the 10th round. Yep, there's a very talented player. You're kind of getting a little bit of a dip here. There's concerns about the quarterback situation, but the thought was if it's not Anthony Richardson and it is Daniel Jones, there's at least a chance that that floor comes back for Michael Bittman. And remember, he was a top 20 scoring wide receiver receiver three years in a row before the disaster that was last year. So Daniel Jones is a starter now and I feel a lot better about Michael Pittman. I think his ADP should climb a little bit, but that's a guy I'll continue to pick a lot. And I also moved up some other guys in that offense as well, including Tyler Warren, who I had a little bit behind Colson Loveland most of the offseason. I moved him now ahead of Loveland. He's going to carry the football as well. He's going to be involved as a pass catcher. And with Jones there, I think he's in a much better position.

[D]

Let me ask you something, because I am not convinced that the quarterback stays the quarterback. I don't, I, I don't I don't.

[E]

Care about the maybe not for 17 weeks, but I think he's going to have a little bit of a so.

[D]

How long does Daniel Jones need to be the quarterback for you to be comfortable that those players that you're picking based on Daniel Jones being the quarterback are still worth it?

[E]

Well, he will be early in the season. So if I'm getting half the season, 10th round, Michael Pittman, I'll be in the spot because you're so you're building your team all season long. Things will change. Players will get hurt. But if knowing that Jones is starting early on and remember last year with Daniel Jones, Malik Neighbors led the NFL in target chair. And I'm not saying Michael Pittman's that good, but he is good. I mean he is a really good number one NFL wide receiver.

[D]

Used to have a bad back.

[B]

What's that?

[F]

Ain't nobody ever used to have a bad back.

[E]

All right, so you're fading.

[F]

I'm just nervous about it.

[C]

How many yards last year?

[D]

About that.

[C]

A lot last year.

[B]

Neighbors crushing. How many touchdowns did he have last year? That's always been a part of Michael Pittman Jr's game.

[E]

70.

[C]

Hold on, hold on now. You know what?

[E]

They'll look it up.

[B]

We're going to look it up.

[C]

We're going to look it up.

[B]

Why don't you go next while field looks up this stat.

[C]

If you look this up, if you.

[B]

Have one thing that you're taking away from drafts or something that you've noticed, what is it?

[F]

This was actually inspired via the conversation we had at dinner tonight with that last night rather it all is running together.

[C]

So say thanks for the invite tonight guys. We got some blue plate special. Eating dinner? No.

[F]

There was a very passionate conversation about running back regression last year. Last year at dinner last night. And there was some talk about Saquon Barkley coming off of this 484 total touch season and whether he would suffer and whether you should take an unknown like Ashton Genti also attached to an unknown offense who has the freshest legs and the highest projected volume among those running backs going in the first round. Whether that should be prioritized over the theoretical I guess you could see, even though there's plenty of data to support it regression that Saquon is headed towards. And my answer is if you don't want to deal with the Ashton Genti question marks and you don't want to deal with the Saquon Barkley question marks, then just take a wide receiver in the first round. You can Wait and get a Bucky Irving in the second round. You can probably wait and get a Derrick Henry in the second round if you're nervous about it. So I think the place that I'm coming to is instead of like planting a flag on either running back, though I am comfortable planting mine on Ashton Genty. Why not take one of those wide receivers and have a high elite floor there and then play around with running back a little bit later? Especially when you can have a Chase Brown or a Tony Pollard later as well.

[B]

Absolutely love that call. Liz Field, where are you at?

[C]

Just to put a pin in this, he had 1204 receiving yards last year, seventh most in the NFL despite missing two games and seven receiving touchdowns.

[F]

I said. I said seven or eight.

[C]

That's a number. Listen, I'm not the math guy up here. That's Mike. But I think top seven receiving yards is legit. Yeah. Here's my lesson from drafting so far this preseason. ADP matters, but do not let it hamstring how you're going to approach your draft.

[D]

You got hamstring. I like how you work that in.

[C]

Yes. Thank you. So, you know what happens is you go in there and you find the ADP or you're watching and Mike, who does an unbelievable job with the projections, has the list of players that's constantly populating and repopulating. You're like, I've got pick 25. I pick again at 35. The guy I want is 14 players away. Hey, I'm gonna take someone here because I guarantee the guy that I won will be there at number 35. If there's somebody that you have any level of doubt on, just pick the player. It's okay. You really want a guy. You really, really want one of those two tight ends at the very top of the draft. Hey, they're 27th in the projections, but you're picking it, you know, whatever. You're picking at 15th and you don't think they'll make it to 25. Take them at 15. If you don't, it's your team.

[B]

Field.

[C]

If you have any level of doubt, take the player. Now, I'm not saying doing something preposterous, right? If a guy's 120th on the board, you don't need to take him 33rd overall.

[H]

Right.

[C]

But we've seen this a lot. I was in. A player that I think of most in this contract recently. Recently is Trayvon Henderson.

[E]

I was just gonna. Yeah, you took the words out of.

[C]

My great point by me. Thank you.

[E]

He copied me.

[C]

Henderson, 40th during our mock draft during the fantasy football marathon. Right. So. And I was sitting there, I'm thinking to myself, wow, 40th, like, that's pretty rich. But Dan Graziano, who's incredibly smart and gifted reporter, one of them, and he took him, so. And if Henderson becomes a top 12 back this year, no one will say a thing about taking him 40th overall. So if you have a target in life or in fantasy football, go grab said target.

[E]

Love that.

[B]

All right, Stefania, you're up.

[D]

Yeah. I think for me, what I've learned is flexibility in terms of my draft strategy, because I tend to go in thinking, like, I only have four running backs that I really like at the top position, right. So I want to get one of those four running backs, but then somehow I'm not in a position to get them because depending on the group I'm drafting with, they're gone when it comes to my turn. So now I have to flip strategies. And maybe I didn't care about necessarily getting one of the top two tight ends, but now I'm going to pivot to that because I didn't get the running back I wanted. So I want to be the strongest in a different position. I'm going to with one of the top two tight ends, or I'm targeting one of the big four quarterbacks this year just because my kit making the case for how much these running quarterbacks make a difference in terms of your total fantasy points. So now I want one of them, but unfortunately, somebody else decided to take a quarterback way too early. That run happened. Now I have to flip strategies again. So I think for me, it's been going through these different mock drafts and in some case, real drafts that I've already done, flipping my strategy based on what's happening in those early rounds. And you have to be flexible on it. I mean, if I'm stuck on no, I need a running back right away. I need a running back right away. I'm drafting someone that I don't feel that excited about and watching a player who I think is better, who's going to have more value go by. And so I think for me, that's hard because I feel I'll have very strong opinions, and then I'm sort of having this little internal battle about making that switch. But I think this year I'm getting more comfortable with flipping my strategy.

[B]

I love that my big takeaway is going to be draft only Lions. No, it is difficult, but not impossible to thread the needle of drafting both island positions at the top of the draft. Did you say island island positions? Absolutely. We're talking quarterback. Yeah. We got a lot of island stuff going on this weekend, but I want to leave the draft with a top tier tight end if I can. I'd also love to leave the draft with a top tier quarterback. When you're on an island position and you only play one of those guys, I'd love to get one of both. But if you do that, you're going to leave yourself thin at either running back or wide receiver or the depth that you're going to have on your bench. It's not impossible, but it is difficult. And it's very important to be able to mock draft to make sure that you're going to be happy with the rest of your squad. Because even though you're getting positional advantage over the rest of your league at the quarterback and tight end spot, your running backs might look severely underwhelming in comparison to the rest of your league mates because of that. So it's just important to be able to not only mock draft to make sure that you can do it, but knowing that threading the needle of both of those has just been difficult for me. When I've been trying to pull it off in drafts, it's usually one or the other.

[E]

Yeah, exactly right. And I've been trying to do the same because I want one of Bowers or McBride. But you're talking the 1, 2 turn to get Bowers a little later in the. To get McBride.

[C]

And then.

[E]

So you. And then you come to the end of the second round, into the third, and then you would have to. You got to take it there. Back there, you have to pounce on one of the big four quarterbacks, is they're not coming all the way back around. So you're right, it is a very hard thing to do. You basically, to guarantee you have to spend a two and a three, Right. And that's hard to pull off. And then two of your top three picks were a tight end and a quarterback. And then you go to work at running back.

[F]

Is that what you're ending up with a lot of Tony Pollard and a lot of DeAndre Swift?

[E]

Yeah, sometimes, yeah. Yeah, absolutely.

[B]

Yeah.

[E]

I think the second running back spot is always fascinating in fantasy because if you, if you ignore that spot, if you're like, I'm just going to be. We'll say hero running back, right. So you'll take a running back in the first round, maybe the second round, and then you, you just focus on receiver, tight end, quarterback. When you're done your draft, you're going to be like, oh man, that second running back spot is a problem. The thing is though, it's maybe the easiest one to fill and time because there's going to be injuries. Now.

[B]

Last year that was emergence of other.

[E]

It was a very healthier running back last year. Get ready because that's also because Nobody.

[F]

Went over 300 carries the prior year. Not a single running back went.

[E]

But it was still an abnormal year.

[D]

I mean, I think you're going to unfortunately definitely abnormal. I mean Christian McCaffrey unfortunately took care of one of the top running backs going out, you know, at the start of the season. But after that we really didn't like.

[E]

Brian Robinson missed some games.

[D]

Otherwise people missed a few games. But there, there weren't other season ending injuries.

[E]

My point being you're gonna have more of these backup running backs were taken late. The insurance backs are gonna have more value this season. So don't forget about them in the later rounds.

[B]

I love that. Hey, we're not done here at Baja Mar. We're gonna be back here tomorrow. Thank you to everyone that stood and hung out with us the entire time.

[C]

And only one child fell asleep during the show. That's a win in my book.

[B]

That's not too bad. We're going to be back tomorrow at 3 o'.

[F]

Clock.

[B]

We will see you guys here. For those that are watching and listening at home, don't forget to love each.

[I]

Other, be kind to yourself and we'll.

[B]

See you guys tomorrow.

[H]

This episode is brought to you by FX's alien Earth the official Podcast. Each week, host Adam Rogers is joined by guests, including the show's creator, cast and crew. In this exclusive companion podcast. They will explore story elements, deep dive into character motivations and offer an episode by episode behind the scenes breakdown of each terrifying chapter in this new series. Search FX's alien Earth wherever you listen to podcasts.