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Look at this apparel.
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You're damn right. So let's hear it.
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Yeah. Because I couldn't get one. That was 9,000 people.
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Yeah. I just cut the line.
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Steven was on the line.
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Yes, I know.
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I produce our show.
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They didn't get him one.
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I apologize to everyone and I'm apologizing everyone here. So when the awful announcing article comes out about how I cut the line, I just.
C
I'll make sure I get that too.
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I'm acknowledging it. I'm acknowledging it and apologizing to everyone at NBC. But I had. We had 10 minutes till air. You know what I mean?
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So anyway, it's hard to predict when the show's on too.
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That's.
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We'd rather you had cut that line to get that shirt to you to come on this set with no shirt at all.
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Fantasy Football Happy Hour with Matthew Berry.
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Welcome to the Fantasy Football Happy Hour. Connor Rogers. Matthew Berry. Lawrence Jackson. Jay Croucher. It is a backup producer, Pete Day. Hold on to your butts.
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Anything can happen here. Just anything can happen here. Just like anything could happen in NCAA basketball. UConn drinks for free. One of the all time great plays. My wife went to UConn, so we're a Husky household.
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You guys have a lot.
B
We got a lot going on. We got a lot of rooting. But I'm just saying, like, I come by it legitimately. I'm not so bandwagon. I married into it.
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A and M, Alabama, UConn basketball.
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Wait till Syracuse gets good again. Now that we got Jerry McNamara.
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McNamara back in the adopted Maryland as
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your Big Ten team.
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That was. Yeah, Maryland.
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He forgot about that.
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Extremely brief. Yeah, there was like a big deal at the time. I chose Maryland. Three weeks later, I've never watched Maryland again.
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I mean, like. But I mean, Jay, the odds of that. That is one of the all time great NCAA plays and arguably the best one. When you think about in totality because of they were getting their ass kicked the entire game. Right. And then just the. The odds of like all they had to do was hold the ball. There was 10 seconds left. There was not going to be a backcourt violation. Literally, once they inbounded it, all they had to do is just hold it. Yeah.
D
The other thing too is like everyone focuses on the turnover. That's a really deep three. Like that was 40ft and he didn't
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hit anything leading up to that.
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Hugely odds against.
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But that was shot with much confidence.
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And then they had to withstand their coach headbutting the referee and trying to
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get it to that was the best play for me.
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It's unbelievable.
D
That was the most incredible part of the whole thing.
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Kind of liked restraint by the ref.
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10 out of 10. 10 out of 10.
D
I guess you can't.
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I'm usually.
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You don't want to be the main
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character in those situations. I am usually like, pro coach, pro player. Like, when Alec Pierce got ejected, I thought that was ridiculous. It was, you know, and everything like that. But in this particular case, I'm like, honestly, the ref had a point. Like, the ref could have teed him up, and I'd have been like, yeah, that's fair.
D
He should have.
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Either way, unbelievable. UConn drinks for free. Last thing. What would you. What would the betting odds have been like at that moment? Jay, I'm sure you were watching that game live.
D
I mean, I think it would have been. The thing is, is, like, could have split the free throws. It's just the manner that it happened, which made it so incredible. Like, you're up two or 10 seconds. It's not like, game over. But just the manner that it happened in the shot made it so.
B
The other. The other crazy part is, like, I'm like, why are they not fouling?
C
Yeah.
B
Like, I assumed they were just immediately going to, like, let's foul. Hope he only makes one free throw.
D
And then I think Duke assumed the same thing.
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Right?
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That's right.
D
Yeah. And the amazing thing is, last the previous. And I lost a lot of money on Duke in that Houston game, so I remember it seared into my memory. They also failed to inbound the ball in the final minute. They turned it over, like, three times so they couldn't inbound the ball. Maybe practice some inbounds plays. Duke, unbelievable. You got Cooper, flag, Con Knippel. The two greatest rookies of all time can't inbound the ball. Unbelievable. But, yeah, UConn drinks for free. Yeah.
B
UConn. Yeah. Oh, here we go.
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What do we got here? This is from Ryan Oswald, who drew the husky in shawk. Impressive. That is Jimmy, not only our jib operator during the show today, but really our number one artist here. Yeah, let's clap it up.
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Well done, Jim.
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We agree.
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That is really impressive.
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Yeah, he crushed it, like. And they're. And they use, like, these, like, chalk, like, markers, which are not great, but they're hard to use and, like, because it erases it. So, yeah, Jim did a great job there. It's unbelievable. Last thing here, about backup producer Pete. He is fresh off a long trip to the theme parks here. Pete, show us A picture here. Backup producer Pete.
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Wait, he doesn't. What do you mean?
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He forgot.
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Classic.
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Oh, my God. So now I'm caught.
D
This is.
B
I swear to God, Pete and I had a conversation last night where I was like, hey, get me, like, the goofiest, funniest picture of you because he's got young kids. Like, you know, like, whether, you know you. I know you went to Universal Studios or Disney, like, all of you wearing mouse ears or like, are you, you know, in front of the. All with Hulk hands or whatever it is you guys did. And he says, okay, yeah, I got the photo. I got the photo. I get loaded up and I will call for tomorrow.
A
Wow, that's a tough moment.
D
This is what happens.
B
He was at that. Yeah, yeah. When I did talk to Pete, he was at the Baggage claim at LaGuardia where his kids had thrown up all over the place. In fairness, he had a lot going on.
D
So what happens to substitute tastes? They're too busy putting Dead Poets Society in the VCR to actually do the work.
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Chat gets it. Daniel Sullivan, said my backup producer Pete Bett just hit Stuntman Chuck. Said Barry, let's go to the. Connor, There is no video, of course.
B
Always, always, backup producer Pete. Help a brother out, for the love of God. Yeah, exactly like this.
D
Again, like, that one's on Pete. The previous ones were on you. Hey, let's roll the tape of that Andy Dalton Throw in 2014.
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We didn't have that one in the queue. Shockingly enough, from March Madness and producer Pete vacations to uniform watch the Falcons roll out new uniforms. If you haven't seen them, take a look at this. As they say, authentic, fast and timeless from the Atlanta Falcons. And Pete coming through in the clutch here. He has the picture of the uniforms.
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Lawrence, your thoughts?
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Lawrence, you're looking like the Atlanta Cardinals to me. Yeah, the Atlanta Texans. Something up in there. When you, you know, a couple times per year, they.
B
It is very Texans.
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Y. A few times per year, fellas, they wear those throwbacks from the 90s, the early 90s. And those are with the red helmets that's sitting right there for you to the home jerseys, you can get the away ones, they go to the Arizona Cardinals. And you wonder why you can't win a division with the damn Panthers in it. That's why you got no aura. That's what they say now. There's no aura there.
D
I like one. I like the syntax of the authentic fast times. Like Crazy stupid love, no and just go, comma, comma, very good. And second yeah, the Houston Texans alternate, actually Will Anderson in that photo. I think people understand.
C
We can't even put anybody from the Falcons now on the wall because we already got Trey McBride up there for the new Falcons.
B
Right. We do have a Bijan. We do have. We have Bijan up there. So that's, that is Bijan, not Brian Robinson. That joke will be made a million times between now and August. But speaking of the Falcons, news about a former Falcon, Kirk Cousins, now a member of the Raiders, signs $172 million deal, according to press reports as well. It's a one year deal. It's basically 20 million guaranteed. But my thoughts here very quickly are like, that's a lot of money. Like, I mean, just 20, forget the 172. That's all like salary cap. Yes. But like, you know, Adam Schefter saying, like, it's basically a one year, $20 million guaranteed deal. That's what the, you know, his tweet said. And like $20 million is not backup money. Like, that's, that's real money from, from the Raiders.
A
Guaranteed. 20 million. Yeah, that is a lot of money. You would think it would be up to 20 million. God forbid something happens to Mendoza and he has to play and he hits incentives. I still am of the full belief, as most are, that Fernando Mendoza is this team's starting quarterback. But it is strange.
B
Is this a. That's what I'm saying, do you think? And I'm not talking about Jetson play for Fernando Mendoza.
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It makes me say, oh, 20 million for Kirk Cousins. It may not be like a month thing.
A
Okay, so here's the structure of it, which does make a little bit of sense. So a contract that pays him 10 million for playing in Las Vegas this year, 1.3 million is paid by Las Vegas, the rest by the Falcons. Because of offsets, of course. Okay. And then 10 million next March in a fully guaranteed roster bonus with no offset. So it's in essence a two year deal.
B
Like, they have to get,
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they, they're not paying all of it because of his giant offset, because of the ridiculous Falcons deal initially. So it's actually not as nuts for the Raiders as it is at face value.
B
Right.
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But Kirk Cousins, the ultimate bag chaser,
C
I mean, this is like unbelievable.
B
But it's really, if it's really, quote, an $11 million deal in terms of what the Raiders are paying, forget what Kirk Cousins is making. God bless that guy. You know, just all he does, he walks into money.
D
He wakes up the Bradley Beal of the NFL.
B
He wakes up. He wakes up and falls into money. Y. You know, so. But just from the Raiders point of view, they're basically guaranteeing $11 million, which is fine. That's solid backup money for a quarterback of Cousins caliber. It's interesting just because I would think Cousins especially would actually be a really nice fit for Clint Kubiak. Right. I mean he's really good off play action. Cousins is right. I mean that's always been sort of his bread and butter and that's. I mean you just sort of think about like is Kirk Cousins any. I mean I know Darnold came off the magical year from the, from the Vikings, but is Cousins like significantly worse than Sam Darnold at this stage of this career? I mean he feel he looked fully healthy, like he was solid.
C
How about say this stage. This stage significantly, Sam Darnold got a lot more in that arm.
A
That's my concern is that like the tools are starting to go the wrong way because of the injury in the arm. But schematically though, you're absolutely right. Like it's to a T. I mean we've seen Cousins play in the similar offense and the similar coaching tree where you could see why they did this. They're trying to raise the floor of this season.
D
Yeah. And we'll see what it means for week one for Fernando Mendoza. And the thing with Mendoza is like isn't he supposed to be pretty pro ready? This isn't like rookie Josh Allen.
B
That's why it's so weird and why I think that there's. I don't know if it's a 3% chance or 10% but I think there's a non zero chance that they, they trade out of the pick or they, they have a viable option.
A
Yeah, well, they'll get murdered for that. Like hey, we haven't had a quarterback in 8 million years but let's move out of the slot when we finally can get one.
B
You know, that's nuttier things have happened.
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You're right.
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It's the NFL draft, especially for the Raiders.
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Yeah, there's always a non zero but
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there's no fantasy value to Kirk Cousins. Even if he's named the starter, he would be, you know, a QB3 for me outside. He doesn't run anymore and I think they want to be a run heavy offense. But I think what this does do. If you're doing best ball drafts right now, this gives you confidence in drafting a Brock Bowers or Ashton Genty because you know that regardless whether it's Mendoza or for some weird wacky thing. They don't end up taking a quarterback. They at least have Kirk Cousins. Kirk Cousins is going to be good enough to get the ball to the guys you care about and to run an efficient enough offense. And so that's my only take is if you're doing, if you're doing best ball drafts, you're investing in some of the Raiders skilled players. You feel good about. You feel good about. You know, the Kirkler to an extent.
A
We got way too early rankings today. We're going to start with the quarterbacks. Look at that Matthews way too early 2026 rankings. It's the most words we've ever had on that animation. It's a lot here. Here they are from 1 through 20. Josh Allen and Lamar Jackson at the top. How about Drake May at three? Matthews runner up. That's right.
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Should have, should have been the mvp,
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I think what most playoffs. Oh man, this combo could really derail the show.
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Yeah.
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So big picture though, Matthew, as we look at this list, you've said this before too, over the last recent like month or two. Feels like this is a deeper quarterback.
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Crazy deep.
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Right where you can, you can afford to wait more than other years.
B
Bo Nix is outside the top 12. So is Jackson Dart. We'll talk about that. You know Matthew Stafford, who was so monstrous last year, he's not a top 15 play for me like again, it's just incredibly deep. And then you as you get down there, like Daniel Jones, assuming he's healthy. Daniel Jones was a top 10 fantasy quarterback before he got injured. Right. We've seen Baker Mayfield. You see Baker Mayfield in 17 team. We've seen Baker Mayfield be top 10. Malik Willis has that kind of skill set. Jared Goff another year in the, you know, could Jared Goff get back in there with a, with a, with a touchdown equity like Stafford season. So it's just the, the depth, the depth of the quarterback position. We always say it's deep, but this year I feel more than ever, specifically for fantasy football, it's as deep as it's ever been. Yeah.
D
Malik Willis at 19 is wild. He's upside to be a top six seven fantasy quarterback. That seems very plausible. I know the weapons but the Will Smith meme.
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He's just standing in the room like, well, I guess a chan, but his legs are not.
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He'd had to give you that 40 rushing yards per game to really hit that fantasy ceiling.
B
But still. But I mean again, like you look at the list and like where are you moving Willis up To who? Who are you moving down like that's the Daniel Jones.
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I tell you what, looking at that list and I believe, I believe how
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quickly he bails on the shoe.
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I saw.
A
Yeah. Wow, that was all time fast.
C
Yeah, I saw Justin Herbert there at 15 and like there's. If the quarterbacks are drafted in that order or something similar, you're going to see a lot of fantasy rosters that win their leagues with a guy like Justin Herbert at quarterback. Especially if he runs like he did last year. He ran more than he'd ever done in his career. And if you could get that 25, 30 rush yards per game out of a guy who's drafted as the quarterback, 14, 15, you're going to be doing some winning.
B
Yeah, look this year when Lawrence bails on all of his quarterbacks.
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0QB.
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0QB.
C
No, we are privy to Malik Willis so. But I have Tua. I have Tua in there ducking up
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the only show you'll ever hear those
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words Tua and Bryce Young and you
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know he did really well last year.
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Bryce Young didn't even make that list.
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Lawrence did well, not too.
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I'll have them.
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Fernando Mendoza. I'll have them.
D
Your quarterbacks in our league it was like Penix and Bryce Young, right?
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Yeah. Yeah.
D
You had Jonathan Taylor and James Cook.
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Your team was insane.
D
Yeah, yeah.
B
And you had one other. You had three huge running backs. Was it iron?
C
It was Jonathan Taylor, James Cook. James Cook and Jameer Gibbs.
B
That's what it was. Jameer Gibbs. That'll do it.
A
You could have started Brady Cook in your super flex and you still would
B
have get one maybe I think one week he did. Yeah. But anyway my point is, listen and this is my initial ranks as we get closer to August, as we get more news, we'll talk about this. But like in the case of Herbert, could Herbert be a top 10 quarterback? Of course he could. The thought process here is that with a healthier offensive line they're going to be more run heavy. Last year he ran a lot more and he passed a lot more because they just couldn't run block. They just, you know, he was constantly running for his life and they just, they had to go and shotgun and just throw a lot because they just weren't able to run the ball and that that's not the offense they truly want to run. And so obviously Slater and Alt being healthy, some of the moves they've made that they expect to be more run heavy and more balanced this year. So that's a thought on Herbert. But Just again like it. It's crazy deep.
A
Doomy McSledge says I'll just punt on quarterback and take Jordan Love as my QB one.
B
Right. I mean like didn't make the list.
D
I think two years ago in the preseason I think CJ Stroud is being taken us like QB6 now that was coming off his rookie year. We had a higher opinion of CJ Stroud now. Now like QB6 is Joe freaking Burrow.
B
Like it's pretty well and by the way Burrow Burrow and Stafford are really the only guys on this entire list that don't get you any golf I guess that don't get you anything with their legs every single. I mean there's just rushing quarterback. There's so many more rushing quarterbacks again. Willis, Daniel Jones, Baker Mayfield started to run more last year. He'd get you 20 or so yards a game as well. Obviously. Herbert Nix Dart, you keep going up the. You know, Dak doesn't run as much these days but. But for the most part like of the 20 quarterbacks I ranked 16 of them, 17 of them get you at least something with their legs as well.
A
Let's go back to the top of the list. Josh Allen. Well we know he's the alien of this position year after year. How big is the gap though between him and everyone else?
B
So it's big and then it's not big. And here's what I mean by that. So it's big in the sense that like to me he's the consensus number one. He's by far the safest 41 rushing touchdowns over the last three years. Derrick Henry, really the only player in the NFL with more rushing touchdowns over the last three years than Josh Allen. Proud fantasy life investor by the way. He's been a top two fantasy quarterback. He hasn't finished lower than two in six straight seasons. So I mean just there's a. There's not just weekly upside win you the weak upside but there's also a floor there that if he's healthy he's going to be one of the top two quarterbacks in fantasy. And I think everyone else you can sort of poke a hole hole in and say like you know, Lamar with the injuries, Drake May with you know, one year, everything like Jayden obviously the injuries, et cetera. Like you can go down the list and you can sort of start poking poking holes and there's no holes to poke when it comes to Josh Allen who's been doing it without a lot of, you know, now he's got DJ Moore who's, you know, the best receiver he's had since Stefan Diggs. Right. So I think the gap is significant in that sense. But the way the reason I say it's not significant is because again it's so deep. I don't think Josh Allen is probably going to go in the third round in most drafts and given how deep the position is, I don't think he's worth a third round pick. He's my number one quarterback and I think he is. I think he is clearly like he's number one in a tier by himself. But then I also think the possession is so deep he's not going to be worth a third round pick, which is where he's going to go.
C
You talk about the consistency there. That's the thing with Josh Allen. We're going to see new guys every year and in that 3, 4, 5, 6 range. But like you said, Josh Allen always no worse than Quarterback 2. When you look at QB2 from last year, that was Matthew Stafford. He was behind him in points per game at 1.9. Could that decide a fantasy week? Yeah, but that's not a lot of points. Um, but thing is he's. Josh Allen had 11 games over 20 fantasy points again. Drake May had 10 of those, Matthew Stafford had nine, Patrick Mahomes had eight. But the thing is the consistency. So if he's going to go in the third round, I would be fine getting a guy I think could be a top five quarterback in the eighth or ninth round instead of drafting a Josh Allen in the third like guys like a Lamar has to get to around six for me the way I play, for me to even start thinking about that. So for Josh Allen, Allen gets around
B
12 for you the way you played it.
C
Not Lamar, Lamar.
B
You might actually drop after Lamar break your zero tv.
C
There was a time last year I got Josh Allen in the sixth round, somebody let him go to the sixth round, I'm like I'll take that, you know. But the second third round stuff, I'm willing to let go pass because to your point, in a way it's close but then in a way it's not.
A
Well, that's why I think Lamar is the hardest guy on this list of price because Josh Allen at number one, that's consensus. There's not going to be a lot of argument against it Jay, but Lamar Jackson is the one guy on this list when he's healthy and he's at the height of his powers like Josh Allen, he could just single handedly win you weeks but what price are you willing to pay? When we saw him look human last year, finally.
D
Yeah, so it's been a strange stretch for Lamar obviously the year before he goes 41 touchdowns through the air, four interceptions, has, you know, effectively ties for MVP with Josh Allen. Then last year. The thing that gives me confidence with Lamar is that he was amazing at the start and I thought he was amazing right at the end the Steelers game that they lost. He did everything humanly possible to win that game. And more to the point, he looked like Lamar Jackson. He was dealing with the hamstring and he came back off of that and he just didn't get a rhythm off of that injury. I think as well, before he actually started missing time, he didn't look the same to me. Like the Lions sacked him like nine times. Like why the Lions sacking Lamar Jackson nine times? That was ridiculous. And so I think that Lamar, if he is healthy, and that is always the caveat with Lamar, then yeah, he is the clear number two.
B
Well, listen, so the first three weeks of the season last year he averaged over 27 fantasy points per game. Then he gets injured, comes back week nine. I don't think he was fully healthy the rest of the way. The other thing, so first off, a little bit of this baking in is just like, hey, I think he, he gutted it through last year at the end, but I'm thinking About those first three weeks and again its first six seasons prior to last year he averaged at least 20 fantasy points as a starter. So again we know the floor is there with Lamar. The other thing is, is like the reason I have him at 2. And look, you want to take Drake like there's arguments for all these guys, right? My pro Lamar argument is something that has nothing to do with stats. Connor, I'll talk to you about this. They have a new head coach in Jesse Minter. And from what, what I've heard, you know, and you tell me if you've heard the same thing from what I've heard is that John Harbaugh and Monkin obviously under Harbaugh that Lamar basically had free reign. I mean he's a superstar, you know, and he held out everything like that and that there was a, especially that Harbaugh very much a veteran coach and sort of letting players do what they say and that the, what I've heard is that Jesse Minter is much more of a in your face guy.
A
Like a, we're going to do this,
B
we're going to do this and that and that Jesse will that Coach Mintra will challenge Lamar in a way that he hasn't been challenged in recent years that, you know, will really get in his face. I have no idea if that's true. Those are just rumors that I've heard that was like, that. I didn't put that in the combine rumor, but that was one of the rumors that I sort of heard late night. I have no idea if that's true. I've never been at a Ravens practice, so I'm just saying, like. But that's the. That's the. That's the thought process there is that I've heard is that, you know, the kind of Coach Jessica mentor is that he holds players really accountable and that he will be the. One of the. Talking with Deb McCourty. Talk with our colleague Deb McCourty about Belichick. He said the genius of Belichick is that the guy he ripped the hardest was Tom Brady. That, like, he would. When he would yell at players, he would always. Brady got the brunt of it. And he's just like. Because then once you totally, you know, dress down your superstar quarterback, then no one can complain. You know what I mean?
A
Holds everyone to the same standard, right?
B
Hold everyone to the same standard. And especially like, okay, star quarterback. You're no different than, you know, whatever the punter or special teams, huh?
C
Brady wasn't no superstar when Belichick got him fair. So there was all Brady always had, like that chip, like, this dude gave me a shot type deal. So that would be the small difference. But.
B
But listen, look, again, I've never met Jesse Minter. I don't know. But, like, you're replacing John Harbaugh. You're replacing a team that has made the playoffs or been in contention for playoffs, like, for whatever, 18 seasons or as long as Harbaugh's been like, you understand that your job here is like, you've been an MVP and you've never made it to the championship round. My job is to get you over that hump. And so I think, again, from what I understand about his coaching style and what's sort of gone like, he obviously has to be an agent of change. Clearly, the ownership in Baltimore is not happy with what had gone on. And I can't imagine Lamar is happy with, you know, how they've finished the seasons a number of years.
A
If you missed it, we have a poll in the chat on who your fantasy QB2 is after Josh Allen. I just voted. Lamar Jackson is leading the charge with over 50% of the votes. Drake May is The runner up here for 30% of the votes, Jaden Jalen. I did vote for Geno Smith. I did a write in.
C
I was just thinking like, because of the injuries and the stuff, stats for Lamar that fluctuated, I was wondering, like, I wonder if there's going to be like a small discount on him. Apparently not according to these votes.
B
So still so there.
A
Maybe by round though, like he could be the QB2, but instead of Josh Allen in round three, Lamar at the end of round three, like you might get a little bit of a round discount.
C
Yeah, yeah, Lamar, Round four. To me that ain't no disconnect, not enough.
A
That's a premium pick.
B
Yeah, you know, so, but anyway, that's, that's the thought process on Lamar at 2.
A
All right, that brings us to. Let's talk about Caleb Williams because this is someone who, if he finishes QB2 next year, Jay, you'd be like, yeah, Caleb Williams was the number one pick in the draft. He plays in Ben Johnson's offense. He's insanely talented and he runs. But if he didn't make that jump, you'd also be like, yeah, there's, there's absolutely some risk with that slot. He's got more variance than the guys around him in this list.
D
Yeah, definitely. I think it's very encouraging. The last year Caleb was QB7 in terms of points per game in fantasy. And that was despite being. I know he had all the late heroics, but his game is still fairly raw. Like his completion percentage wasn't great. There was some low hanging fruit for him still to clean up. I mean, it was his second year, he's going to get better. And the other thing to Conor is that like there just wasn't the continuity with Luther Burden, with Roma, Dunze. He's very dependent on DJ Moore who they have since traded to Buffalo. So I think that, yeah, a ton of upside for Caleb, obviously, very high variance.
B
Year two Colson Loveland Year two Colson Loveland Year two Luther Burden Year two of Ben Johnson's offense behind that offensive line. Caleb Williams was a top 10 quarterback last year on a points per game basis. And now, you know, again gives you, gives you points with his rushing. He was one of only two quarterbacks to rank top seven at the position in both passing and rushing. Drake May was the other guy there again. So, you know, again Jaden Daniels is hurt and I think he could potentially get there. But you know, like, again, you like the weapon, you like the weapons around him, you like the offense around him, you like the Fact that he gets you points with both his arms and his legs. So yeah, I mean I am a QB5. I don't have him QB5. I am, I'm a QB7. I mean this year. But you know, it would not surprise me if he finished as a top five fantasy quarterback right behind him.
A
Lawrence Patrick Mahomes at number eight. And it might seem weird to see Patrick Mahomes at 8. But of course the torn ACL and LCL in his left knee, which the surgery was in December. I guess the question is do we get to see Patrick Mahomes right out of the gate week one? And what version is.
B
I'm asking you a Second question too QB8. Am I too high or am I too low?
C
Maybe too low, Matthew. Maybe. But, but it's because of the, because of the injury. 21 fantasy points per game last year with quarterbacks that played at least 12 games last year, Patrick Mahomes was actually quarterback three. A big reason why he averaged 30 and a half rushing yards per game. That's a career high for him. Despite the games he missed down the stretch because of the injury. He also had a career high in total rushing yards, over 400 in that department. Now coming off a ACL injury, I don't know that you want Patrick Mahomes running as much, but this is something we saw him in the past not do so much until they got to the playoffs. But because of the lack of weapons around the Chiefs offense, he took it upon himself earlier in the season. So I would say this, this is where the, this is the guy you're getting the discount on because we don't know when he's going to come back. So I would just say this. You could probably get Patrick Mahomes in double digit rounds and then you just go ahead and take Justin Fields with the last pick because at that point who else is going to take Justin Fields knowing you're going to probably get two, three games out of Justin Fields. So just double up in that fashion and let it be as it may and they still could trade for Tyreek Hill.
B
My ranking is with, you know, we'll obviously update as we get closer to August, but I am ranking him assuming he's playing week one. So if we find out that there is, there's a setback that he's not going to be back till week four, whatever. Obviously the ranking will change. But again, look, I think he's, I think he's a superstar quarterback. I think they're adding talent. I think they'll continue to add talent this year. And I think Eric Banaby coming back actually will help. He's another.
A
I agree.
B
He's another fiery guy that will. That will get results.
D
What do you think the Chiefs do with their first pick?
A
I think they're going to go defense. I think they're kind of hoping that's why they went out and signed Kenneth Walker. Like Jeremiah Love won't make it there. Look at Ruben Bane, Caleb Downs. I feel pretty good about them. There's also a question like, if will Carnell Tate even be there? If they wanted him, he could go from the Giants to the Browns to the Saints.
B
They're going to get to Tate as your number one wide receiver in terms of backup.
A
Jordan Tyson.
B
You have Tyson Tate's two. Okay.
A
But he'd be a great fit for the Chiefs. They don't have a lot of big receivers. And the one they have, Rasheed Rice is never available. So how about Ved regular saying Mahomes or Burrow this season?
B
Well, I have Burrow higher. Proud fantasy life investor Joe Burrow. I have Burrow higher. But again, sort of similar questions. I mean, Burrow continuously gets hurt. Now he's currently healthy and Mahomes isn't. But like, you know, you have to factor that in. I mean, and if I drafted Burrow, you never like to draft two quarterbacks. But depending on the depth of the league, Joe Flacco is, you know, he's in Cincinnati and we've seen like Flacco in two minutes.
C
We've talked about two quarterback handcuffs.
B
I know it's.
C
Which is one quarterback league.
A
That's legends Joe Flacco and Justin Fields.
B
I know we're up against the breaks. I'll just very quickly. I know when I release these rankings, some of the questions that came at me on Twitter, on threads, on, you know, X. Sorry, whatever. I'm on threads. Yeah, baby.
A
I don't even have my login.
B
Yeah, exactly. I know because I tag you on threads and it's just like, I appreciate you doing that.
A
But.
B
But anyway, when I posted my rankings, among the questions that came back, it's like, why is Jackson Dart not a top 12 guy? I think that the two reasons why. And again, this may adjust as we get closer to August. I think Day Ball and Kafka going down to Nagy. I think that's a downgrade in terms of offensive system. I'm not the biggest Matt Nagy fan.
A
You're not alone on that, man.
B
And you know, again, we need to see the health of Malik Neighbors See what else they do with that, do with the offense. Isaiah Lakely. Okay, great. But it's going to be a new system. And also like he rushes so much. He's. There's some injury risk there. We love, we love it in fantasy when he's out there. But again, so currently have him, you know, I have, I have dart at 13, so I don't have him as a, as a. I have him borderline QB1, but I'm at 13. And then Stafford, who last year, you know, was a top three fantasy quarterback. I'm in the teens. Well, the problem is I just don't expect that kind of massive touchdown equity that he had last year. The previous two seasons, Matthew Stafford was QB23 on a points per game basis because he doesn't run. You know what I mean? And they tend to run when they get in close with Kyron or Blake Corum. We'll talk about that coming up. But just. Anyway, that's the reason on Stafford is I just, I think last year was an outlier year. Yeah, it's great to see.
C
Yes.
D
There were six extra goal line touchdown fades. Because he wanted to win MVP.
B
Yeah, he did.
D
Yeah.
B
He's still a 38 year old quarterback with a bad background. Right. That doesn't run. So.
C
Had a lot of career highs last year. Hell of a year.
A
We're gonna take our first break. When we're back, we got the way to early running back rankings. Bijan or Gibbs, who's number one? Stick around. We're back. Way too early running back rankings 1 through 20. Bijan stands at the top ahead of Jameer Gibbs.
B
Matthew. Yeah. And obviously, look, I'll tell you, if I'm in a draft and somebody takes Jameer Gibbs at 101, like I'm not blinking. I totally get it. It's really razor thin for me. I just. For Bijan Robinson. I just felt like, you know, especially with Tyler Algier leaving, I know that they signed Brian Robinson. There's all sorts of jokes about the B Robs, about the B Robs and drafting the wrong B Rob at the top of the draft. But I feel like, I feel like Bijan Robinson will have more to touchdown equity this year. Again, it's razor thin. You have to be really nitpicky here. But I weirdly. All due respect, I feel better about the Lions offense overall. When you've got Amon Ra and you've got William.
A
No, no, no.
C
But I'm speaking the truth here.
B
No, I'm just saying there are more Options for Jared Goff and the coaching staff in Detroit in terms than there are in Atlanta where I feel like it's really like it's Bijan, it's Pitts, it's Drake, London. Right. And so you've basically got those three guys. I feel like you've got. There's more options in Detroit. They get goofier as well. So, you know, just he's somebody that you know in his. He had 11 games last year with at least 20 touches. Averaged over 26 fantasy points per game. Obviously, you know, almost 2,300 yards from scrimmage. He was the second best running back in fantasy, but he had less than 40% of the team's goal line rushes. If we can get that up to 60%, it doesn't even have to be 100%. Like we can get that up to 60%, 65% of the team's, you know, goal to go rushing attempts, then I think, you know, to me he's the number one running back again. It's razor thin to me. We love Jameer Gibbs here as well. But Bijan, for me, any disagreement, like I would totally, I could totally get the argument for Jameer.
C
The thing with Jameer is out of, you know, him, Bijan, Christian McCaffrey. Jameer Gibbs is that lightning bolt that could go from 80 on the dime. Right. But Bijan Robinson, he put up wide receiver 2 numbers. Like his receiving numbers are better than a lot of receivers in fantasy. So that's the big difference then. Here I am talking about Tua twice in one episode. Tua was with Devon A chan last year, 78 catches before that. So this a walk in the park for Tua. You just gotta do the same thing he did in Miami.
B
But I think that's a great point. Exactly. Like people don't think about that. But that's absolutely right.
C
And this is me saying that with not knowing, knowing the injury status of Michael Penix.
D
Yeah, the Hidden Valley, the thing with Tour as well. He's one of the best kind of ball handlers.
A
Point guard.
D
Yeah, he's very good with the deception and the handoffs and everything. So I think Tua will be fine for Bijan and also like they're not going to throw it a ton like they are going to lean on Bijan. I think it's also encouraging with Stefanski in town. Stefanski, he was just given Quinton Jumpkins an insane amount of workhorse carries last year. Is obviously Nick Chubb prior to that and with Gibbs also like two time
B
coach of the year Kevin Stefanski, not everyone knows.
D
Maybe he went for a third time. Maybe he does finally get back.
C
All you got to do is go nine and eight.
D
The other thing too is with Gibbs, it's pretty concerning games at the end of the year for Detroit with the O line. Connor just like it just never clicked. And it'll probably. There's some uncertainty there.
A
Yeah, we'll see what they do in the first round. That could be an area of need for them. Christian McCaffrey at 4. Guys, I want to throw something interesting at you. Christian McCaffrey coming off a career high in touches, 413, he had a great season with volume last year. His three highest volume seasons before that, right. You look at 20, 19, he had 403 touches. The year after that, played three games, you look at 20, 22, he had 329 touches. The following year played six games, you look at 20, 23 at 339 touches. The following year, played four games. Are we due for another sub seven, six game season for McCaffrey coming off this kind of workload?
B
There's, that's always the risk with Christian McCaffrey.
A
That's a crazy trend.
B
It's a crazy trend. And he's, he's, you know, he's over the age of 30 now. He's a Disney dad. I don't know if you saw that. Did you see that video?
A
Maybe that gives him some new dad strengths.
B
Maybe. Yeah, he was, he was going through the parks with his kids. Look, the pro Chris McCaffrey argument is that even at less efficiency last year some of the underlying metrics were down. He's still a monster fantasy player. And I think the pro, the anti McCaffrey argument at this high is exactly what you just said. Serious injury risk. He's over the age of 30, he's coming off a massive workload year. And to your point about the trend like previous times where he's come up that massive workload, he's going to turn 30 in June. Sorry. He'll be over 30 by the time the season starts. Here's the pro argument though, is that no running back had more targets, receptions or receiving yards than Chris McCaffrey. And so that saves a lot of wear and tear. And then you think about what the current receiving options are for the 49ers. Right? I mean, so yes, they have Mike Evans, also an injury risk. We don't know what's going to happen with Jon Jennings. We don't know what Ricky Piersoll is yet. We've Seen flashes, but he has not. He's not lived up to the billing as of yet. Connor. George Kittle is, you know, we don't know when he's coming back from the Achilles. Like, there's a very real chance that the leading receiver in terms of yards, receptions and receiving yards next year on the 49ers is Chris McCaffrey again. Yes, that's what I'm saying.
A
Yeah, but.
B
So that's the argument is that we're going to save the wear and tear on him because he's going to. He's going to catch 90 balls again or something like that, you know, whatever it is. And so. But I mean, I mean he actually had 102 receptions last year. But you know what I mean? Like, I just. That's the. But there's no question he's a really tough guy to rank. And it's, it's, it's the same conversation we've had every single year. You're either in or you're out. You're. I mean, every running back's an injury wrestle.
A
I'll correct myself. One of those years was the trade year. So it was the split season. But the point is two other times he's had huge volume years, not three, two other times he's basically missed almost all of the next season.
D
Yeah.
A
So I'm not saying that's going to happen again because he did have back to back years of high volume and been okay. But when you're getting closer to 30, you have a career high and 413 touches. He might just, he might be a little, you know, overworked at some point.
D
Yeah, certainly in terms of injury risk, the two things that you look for as you project forward, one, age and two, workload and then also as well, just like, do you have an injury history. So with like, you know, Todd Gurley is a degenerative condition with his knee. There were red flags there. McCaffrey, I mean, it's been, you know, previously, the injuries, like he had some soft tissue stuff and then moved past that and then he was doing the Achilles tendinitis and then he did the PCL, which I think is a bit more random two years ago. But the thing is with McCaffrey is
B
that, yeah, they haven't all been the same injury. Some of it's like bad luck.
D
Yeah, exactly. And the thing was with McCaffrey clearly takes incredible care of his body. We issued him. He is, in a good way, one of the most intense people I've ever come across in my life.
B
Yeah, for sure.
D
Talks about football like he's, you know, going into battle, preparing himself for war as he takes his body.
A
And look at his physique. I mean, he's sane.
D
And the other thing, too is that
B
it's like a young Matthew Berry out there. Here he is at Disney. Here he is. Yeah, he was just.
C
He turned everything into a workout.
B
Yeah, exactly like. Yeah, I like that. By the way, underneath the bridge. He pulls it back and then out
C
in the sun, hit a little juke move with the stroller right there.
A
Stroller on the track.
B
Yeah, exactly. By the way, this is apparently footage of back. What Pete should have done is just put his face over McCaffrey, because I'm sure this is. Pete was doing the exact same thing, right? Yeah, Exactly. There's Chris McCaffrey with his daughter. Unbelievably beautiful.
A
The old chicken Disney dinner.
B
Yeah.
C
Wait now. You tired?
B
Yeah, exactly. There you go. There we go. There we go. The teacups. There you go. That is Christmas.
A
That's the other McCaffrey for the.
B
By the way. By the way, look at. Yeah. Two questions about this photo. Number one, where's the wife?
A
She left, right?
B
Exactly. I don't blame her. She's drinking somewhere.
C
Cause he's taking a selfie, too.
B
Yes. The other thing here is that I have known Pete Damalatas for basically four years. Known him for four years. This is the first time in four years I've seen him in not a Mets hat.
A
You're right. Or the Giants.
B
Or the Giants.
A
Something Giants.
B
Yeah. This is the first time I've seen him in a non New York sports baseball hat. Yeah. It's unbelievable.
A
Representing his alma mater of bc, I guess.
B
But usually he. I mean, like four years straight of Mets or Giants.
D
Yep.
A
And it's winter.
D
You get the ranges, though. The Rangers.
B
Every once in a while, the Rangers makes an appearance. Right.
D
Shusterkin's dead to him.
B
Yeah. I don't blame Mrs. Backup producer Pete for bailing. Heading for the exits there. But back to McCaffrey. You in or you out?
C
Once I'm in, I'm in. Especially if I'm on the back half of the first round because of how I like to draft if McCaffrey don't work out. Well, I got the running back that I just took in the second round and then I'm going to take the handcuff later on anyway. Like, come on, like 900. He was almost the first guy to do 1,000, 1,000 twice. I got to be in on CMC.
D
The last thing on CMC is that with age you worry about, you know, player kind of dropping off a bit, losing their speed. I think that kind of already happened last year. He was already.
B
I don't think he had a 20
D
yard run until like week 16. And still he's very shifty, he's quick, but he doesn't have the same top end speed that he did in years prior. And he's still. Just because he's so smart, he's so good as a receiver, and he still does have enough quickness that he's still incredible.
B
And just again, on a different team, maybe it's a different conversation. But behind that offensive line, with Kyle Shanahan calling plays, getting him in space, figuring out ways to use him, even at quote, unquote, diminished skills. Again, I'm in on McCaffrey. Obviously, I'm at 4. I get the concerns, but I'm with you in terms of how he takes care of his body.
A
All right, that brings us to. Let's go to RB9, Saquon Barkley, which last year, for a variety of reasons, the Eagles were a little difficult to figure out. Matthew, this is another tough guy to rank because, you know, when he's at his best, he is literally the top or second best running back in fantasy. But coming off a down year, how were you able to stack them up?
B
Yeah, look, I'm banking. This is me banking on talent, banking on the offensive line being healthy. You think about Lane Johnson, Landon Dickerson, Cam Juergens, all of them were hurt last year. Just the whole offensive line just never seemed to be fully healthy and gelling at the right time. And by the way, and the play calling was atrocious. They have made a switch there at offense coordinator in part because Barkley was so ineffective last year as well. Right. I mean, this, this is somebody who averages in Philadelphia. You know, you see it right there on your screen. This is somebody who, yes, he was RB15 last year. That was tough. But he's averaging 21 punches as a Philadelphia Eagle. He's averaging over 21 touches a game. So that kind of workload, still young, still, you know, talent wise, one of the best running backs in the NFL. So it's, it's me banking on a healthy offensive line, better play calling and just Saquon being Saquon, another guy.
C
Matthew, I'm. And on Saquon too, it's like you got the highest of the high in 2024. And for a guy like Saquon Barkley on this offense, where we expect the play calling to be different. This, that was probably the lowest of the low. So we could get something back to in the middle of that. That's a top five running back in fantasy right there to go for 1100 rushing yards and seven touchdowns. And that's a bad year down year. That's. That's people's career year in the NFL. So for Saquon Barkley, like you got him at nine, that's. That's respectable based on where he finished last year. But he'll be back in the top five again. And I would be happy to have pick number 11 out of 12 in my draft, take Christian McCaffrey and then Saquon in Redraft and go on about my way.
D
Yeah, just macro with these running backs and with, you know, workload risk off of injury and stuff, I think that we might now just be in an era of sports science where we just have to look at these guys differently. Like Saquon. Everyone expected Saquon to get hurt last year. Right. He still wasn't as good as effective, but stayed healthy the whole season, had a massive workload. And there used to be the old, like the. I think it was an Aaron Schultzing of the curse of 370. You have 370 carries as a running back. The year after is just. You fall off a cliff. I think now we're in this world where like Jayson Tatum comes off in the Achilles 10 months later, just looks like Jason Tatum straight again, like this wasn't happening five years ago. I think these guys like CMC Saquon, Derrick Henry, they take such good care of their body. They have so much more information and help in terms of nutrition and everything around taking care of your body that I think these guys, they are much more resilient to workloads these days.
B
Yeah, that's a great point, by the way.
C
Great point. I like wish people on the Internet just could hear what Jay just said right there.
B
Yeah, completely agree. You'd think with all the resources that are available to people, you'd think I'd take better care of myself.
D
And I don't chicken tend to Mattie.
B
Exactly.
A
NBC Sports sc.
C
No sauce.
D
The berry tenders.
C
Dry tenders.
B
Yeah. And Pinot Matty. You know what's interesting though? Just as we're seeing, you know, Barkley finish at 15. So last year in the preseason, I did the. I did the Tonight show with Jimmy Fallon. Right. And so we did. There was part of the interview was they asked me a couple of fantasy football questions. It's Very. And anyway, one of the questions was, what's a player that you think will underperform? And my original answer was Saquon, who was on my preseason hate list. And then I'm just like, man, it's a Tonight Show. Like, you know, it's like a big general audience that totally doesn't understand, like, fantasy football, adp. Do I really want to be on the Tonight show saying, I quote, hate Saquon Barkley? So I'm like, no, no, let me go with another guy that I think will regress, James Cook. So it's the end, by the way. It's the. And that's, of course, the clip that the Tonight Show Social team.
A
Oh, they loved it.
B
Well, they. They didn't. I mean, not as a thing. But, like, the day after that was. The clip they chose was just the. You know, my number one pick was ja' Mar Chase, who's a player that I think will underperform my Ride or Die Amarian Hampton. Right. And so, like, that's the clip that if you go to my Instagram, that's the one I have pinned. But it's just like the lead in rusher. I should have had the guts. And like, I was right with Saquon, I was wrong with Cook, and I should have stuck to my guns. Instead, I would.
D
Good lesson for the kids at home.
B
Good lesson for the. When you're on the Tonight show, go with your initial gut.
A
Floor it.
B
Yeah.
A
Don't get hesitant. Well, speaking of, you know, Pino, Matty, guys, Chase Brown.
B
Yes, sir.
A
Last year kind of sunk you the first five weeks, first six weeks of the season, he didn't get to 50 rushing yards.
B
I'm a whale. I'm aware.
A
He had one touchdown and then he really found it from week seven and on. And it's no coincidence, Matthew. Like, this is somebody that. It depends on when Joe Burrow's healthy.
B
It is. But what I feel really good about is that Joe, as we mentioned in the previous segment, comeback player of the year Joe Flacco is now the backup to Joe Burrow. And Jake Brading's gone and. Exactly. I mean, but look at this. I mean, like, so Chase Brown, no surprise. When Joe Burrow was under there, the offense was better. Averaged almost 20 fantasy points per game. But with Joe Flacco, he was averaging 16.6, like, very, very respectable. And he was single digits with Jake Browning on her center. So the fact that Joe Flacco, Comeback player of the year Joe Flacco is there behind proud fantasy life investor Joe Burrow makes you feel better about Chase Brown again Because I just sort of feel like the Bengals offense will be if Burrow gets hurt again, it'll be a float with Flacco, who I think should have been a starter this year. I'm surprised he thinks so too. I know he does. I saw that.
C
I wouldn't have been shocked if the Raiders chose him over instead of Kirk Cousins. Yeah, Kirk Cousins.
D
Yeah.
C
I mean that Joe Flacco arm. That thing is live.
B
Steve. He was in the mix for Minnesota. Minnesota was talking about him. If they didn't get Kyler Murray like he was on the short list for Minnesota as well. Yep.
D
No, but Chase Browning really was just sunk by those Jake Browning games. Or as producer Damian called him on the pre show call, Joe Browning trying to invent a third Joe QB rumor.
A
Hybrid, hybrid.
C
Sprinkle some of that greatness on him. That what he trying to do.
A
Let's take a look at rankings 21 through 40. We're obviously not going to deep dive this list today, but to give you an idea where some guys fall into Quinshon Judkins was the guy on the The Fringe at 21. DeAndre Swift right behind him. David Montgomery now for now the lead guy in Houston. We'll see what they do in the draft. Maybe with the 38th overall pick they get somebody to pair with him. Kyle Manungai. Great to see him on that list at 32 for the Bears. Be interesting to see if he kind of passes Swift this year. If it's more of what we saw last year.
B
By the way, you sort of look at that 31 through 40 list or even like starting from like 25 on down. Like again if you go zero RPG, there's a lot of kind of these committee backs that, that have that will that can be productive and especially in an injury situation. You know, you know that like, you
C
know I am staring Kenneth Gainwell right in the eye. When you talk about 0 RB like Kenneth Gainwell, he's going to be the guy. Like when you're stacked up with four receivers that you took in the first five rounds and you got Kenneth Gainwell there, it's like that's precious.
A
And would it shock you if James Conner bounces back? He's one of the guys like you don't really care that he's 30 now. James Conner is just one of those guys that does everything the right way. Maybe not an RB1 or even an RB2, but a viable flex player.
C
If he do it again, man, that'll
B
be so when we'll see what Arizona's offense looks like but it could easily be, you know, actually pretty good, especially with Jacoby Brissette under center. Are you surprised? I know you and I both love Quincean Judkins from a talent perspective. Connor, he's one of your highest rated guys out of the draft. But you know, you think about this Browns offense here. He's not involved in the passing game. Am I too low or too high on Quintean Judkins?
A
I mean they rebuilt their offensive line and I think they're going to add a left tackle in the draft where you know and I know Todd Monkin can draw up the offense. I think there's a chance he, he would finish his RB 13 to 15 if things go right for him. So I'm high on Quinn shot Judkins again. He did get hurt which factors into this as well. He's got a couple of years.
C
I think he could get double digit rushing touchdowns because that's where it's going to come from. I don't know that he'll as a receiver.
B
Yeah, he's nothing in the passing game and it sort of depends who's the quarterback. Is it going to be Sanders? There's rumors coming back like do they. Do they draft a trade? So anyway, who knows with Cleveland as well. But but anyway, all the positional ranks are up on rotoworld.com NBCSports.com go check them out and then, you know, tweet at me or threat at methewberrytmr. Let me know what you think, what's right and what's wrong.
A
We're going to take one more break. When we're back it's back to the futures. We're looking at offensive player of the year odds right after this. On DraftKings sportsbook. New customers commit $5 and get $200 in bonus bets instantly. Download the app and use promo code ffhh when you sign up DraftKings sportsbook.
B
The crowd is yours.
A
Back to the futures on Offensive player of the Year Oz already. Jay, what do you like on the very, very early board?
D
Gonna go Jonathan Taylor plus 1800 RV3 for Matthew who's well on his way to winning this award the previous season. He got into I think -400 to win before Daniel Jones got hurt and went off the rails bit. But Jonathan Taylor has as much upside as anyone.
A
Give me Justin Jefferson plus 1200. Listen, it's Justin Jefferson. He's gonna have a capable quarterback throwing him the ball. Big bounce back season. I know you like that as well.
B
Yeah, that would have been my choice as well. But I'm gonna go with ken Walker the third. He's plus 3500 he this list. Especially in a world where Magic Mahomes isn't back or they limit him. I think the Chiefs offense gets back. And so if he's the centerpiece of an Andy Reid offense and the Chiefs didn't make the playoffs and they come back and become the Chiefs again and he's the center point at +3535 to 1. Give me KW the 3. KW 3.
C
I'm going to go with Bijan Robertson. This is a guy who could have won it last year if the Falcons was just a little bit better. He goes against his own division. He goes against the AFC North. That division isn't as scary anymore. And like I said earlier, this guy puts up wide receiver two numbers while almost rushing for 1500 yards. So give me Bijan there.
B
Need a lot of tua there.
A
One quick thing. Is the offensive player of the year curse real or is it just normal regression to the mean? Take a look at this.
B
This is the year after shout out Michael Thomas. Michael, I was going to see your buddy Michael Thomas.
D
Can't guard Mike until you could start guarding him.
B
In fact, all of us could in fact guard Mike.
A
It's really besides Saquon, it's just health.
B
Yeah. It comes down to JSN be really interesting. All right. You don't have to go home, but you can't stay here because it's closing time. Go check out my rankings on Rotterworld.com and Connor's big board as well. For Lawrence J and Connor, I'm Matthew. We'll see you next week. Peace out.
Episode: Way Too Early QB and RB Rankings for 2026
Date: April 2, 2026
Host: Matthew Berry (NBC Sports)
Panel: Connor Rogers, Lawrence Jackson, Jay Croucher
This episode of Fantasy Football Happy Hour centers on Matthew Berry’s “way too early” quarterback and running back rankings for the 2026 fantasy football season. The team explores depth at both positions, discusses big off-season moves (especially QBs), debates player values, and shares strategy tips for the upcoming fantasy season. The aim: give listeners a head start in evaluating both veteran and emerging talent, with Berry’s signature blend of data, opinion, and banter.
| Topic | Key Takeaway | |------------------------|-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | QB Depth | Deeper than ever—don’t overpay early, strong value in mid-rounds for mobile QBs | | Josh Allen | Safest pick, but not 3rd-round value due to massive depth at position | | Lamar Jackson | #2 due to ceiling, but some risk with new coaching and health | | Mahomes/Burrow | Both discounted due to injuries; Mahomes may go in double-digit rounds | | RB Rankings | Bijan over Gibbs, but razor thin; both elite options | | McCaffrey | Big injury risk due to age/usage, but receiving role keeps him valuable | | Saquon Barkley | Predicted bounce-back; “bad year” stat line still top-shelf for most RBs | | Zero-RB Approach | Ton of committee/late value for drafters with patience (Gainwell, Conner, etc.) | | Futures Bets | Taylor, Jefferson, Walker III, Bijan all strong bets for Offensive Player of the Year at long odds |
For full rankings, visit rotoworld.com or NBCSports.com. Submit feedback to Matthew Berry @matthewberrytmr.