Way, Way, Way Too Early Rankings for 2026

Summary

Podcast Summary: Fantasy Football Happy Hour with Matthew Berry

Episode: Way, Way, Way Too Early Rankings for 2026
Date: December 31, 2025
Host: Matthew Berry (NBC Sports) with Jay and Connor

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Episode Overview

This episode is dedicated to Matthew Berry’s “way, way, way too early” fantasy football rankings for the 2026 season. The hosts dive deep into his Top 50, discussing key players, rankings rationale, the inherent uncertainty of projecting so far in advance, and offer insights on positional trends. They also share their fantasy New Year's resolutions and finish with futures bets for NFL awards and playoff outcomes. The tone, as always, is light, witty, and packed with inside jokes and real insights for diehard fantasy fans.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. The Challenge of Early Rankings

[04:28]

• Matthew stresses the “unknown” variables: Players’ free agency, possible coaching changes, injuries, rookie class arrivals, and even evolving team philosophies.
• Rankings assume the NFL landscape as it stands now, despite the likelihood of significant changes (“…you have to do these rankings as if the NFL is as it is today. Because...we just don't know...”).

2. The Top 10 Breakdown

Bijan Robinson at #1

[06:57]

• The presence of Tyler Allgeier isn’t a negative, but rather points to the floor for Robinson—he achieved RB2 status while taking fewer than 40% of goal-to-go carries.
• “There's both a floor and a ceiling there to Bijan Robinson...If Algier moves on, which we do expect, sky’s the limit.” — Matthew ([07:56]).

Jonathan Taylor at #5

[08:53]

• Jay and Matthew discuss Taylor’s production amid QB chaos in Indy and note his durability and versatility.
• Jay: “He is a bit more of an injury risk than Bijan Robinson and Jameer Gibbs...that would probably be my concern more than the quarterback.” ([09:10])
• Matthew points out the continuing offensive upgrades in Indy, which provides optimism for Taylor’s floor.

Christian McCaffrey at #7

[15:50]

• McCaffrey’s age (turning 30), usage, and future uncertainty with the 49ers were factored in.
• “History has not been kind to running backs over the age of 30.” — Matthew

JSN (Jackson Smith-Njigba) at #8

[17:34]

• Jay and Matthew debate whether Seattle’s low pass volume is a long-term concern.
• Jay: “I think on a per game basis he and Puka Nakua stand alone...as the two best wide receivers in football.” ([17:59])
• Target share could drop as defenses adjust and new weapons potentially arrive.

James Cook at #10

[23:59]

• Berry notes Cook’s increased workload and red zone usage is sustainable, not a fluke.
• Even if Buffalo acquires another WR1 (A.J. Brown speculated, [26:48]), Cook’s role as an RB1 remains secure.

3. Positional Strategy & Scarcity

Tight End Value: Trey McBride at #12

[28:49]

• McBride’s record-breaking receptions season and positional advantage merit potentially late Round 1 value.
• “He was over 100 points better than the second-best tight end this year...just gives you such a weekly cheat code at a scarce position.” — Matthew

4. Notable Rankings Debates

Malik Nabers (#14) versus Injuries

[30:49]

• High confidence in his talent and the upside with Jackson Dart, seeing him as the clear WR1 for the Giants when healthy.

Saquon Barkley — Falling Out of Favor

[32:21] – [34:10]

• All hosts opt to move on from Barkley in keeper leagues due to workload/age concerns.

Justin Jefferson and QB Play

[35:27]

• Berry is less bullish on JJ without reliable QB play, but expects a rebound: “He’s just had bad touchdown luck. Right? Whether it’s McCarthy overthrowing him...I’m just going to bet on volume and talent...”

George Pickens’ Ideal Situation

[38:01]

• Consensus is his best fantasy future is in Dallas alongside CeeDee Lamb and Dak Prescott, not as a true #1 elsewhere.
• “He was miscast in Pittsburgh as a number one...now goes to an offense with one of the best deep ball throwers...incredibly accurate…fantasy-friendly.” — Matthew ([39:00])

5. Extended Rankings Takeaways

• Mari(on) Hampton (#21): Huge upside with returning offensive line for the Chargers.
• Chris Olave (#24): Faith in Tyler Schuck at QB, noting their chemistry.
• A.J. Brown (#26): Fantasy value would rise on a new team, especially if traded to Buffalo.
• Josh Allen (#28): Still QB1, but depth at the position makes early-draft investment less critical.
• Travion Henderson (#30): Doesn't need a massive workload to be productive as an RB2/flex, but is limited by committee potential.

6. Fantasy New Year’s Resolutions

[41:39]-[45:34]

• Connor: Bet on the most talented rookies, not just draft capital.
• Jay: Avoid aging RBs coming off huge workloads (except Derrick Henry, “the exception to this rule”).
• Matthew: Wait on QBs—depth and mobility have flattened positional advantage. “Quarterbacks don’t really matter...good players produce regardless of their quarterback.”

7. Futures & Awards Bets

[51:36]

• Jay: Kyle Shanahan for Coach of the Year (+190), especially if 49ers beat Seattle.
• Matthew: Broncos to lose in the conference championship (+280).
• Connor: Rams (+320) to win the NFC—buy the dip while injuries keep their odds lower.

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• Matthew on Bijan Robinson:
  “You want a guy that, barring assuming no injuries, is going to be a top five fantasy running back...the fact that he's able to be this good with Algier there tells you about the floor. And if Algier moves on...sky’s the limit.” ([07:56])

• Jay on JSN’s Target Share:
  “He’s gone to 100 yards once in the last five games...you’d suspect there’ll be more competition for targets next season.” ([17:59])

• Connor on draft strategy, New Year’s resolutions:
  “My New Year’s resolution for fantasy is just start betting on the most talented rookies and stop getting so tied up in draft position.” ([41:39])

• Jay on RBs with heavy workloads:
  “Wear and tear is largely undefeated, unless you are Derrick Henry, who is the one exception.” ([42:41])

• Matthew on QBs and positional value:
  “I think that there’s so much depth at the position and...good players produce regardless of their quarterback.” ([45:34])

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Timestamps for Key Segments

• Top-10 Early Rankings Overview & Caveats: [04:28]–[06:35]
• Bijan Robinson vs. Allgeier: [06:57]
• Jonathan Taylor's Outlook & Indy Offense: [08:53]–[14:25]
• Christian McCaffrey, RB Age & Workload: [15:28]–[17:34]
• JSN’s Breakout and Target Worries: [17:59]–[22:35]
• James Cook’s Sustainability in Buffalo: [23:59]–[28:19]
• Tight End Value, Trey McBride: [28:49]
• Debate: Nabers/Hampton/Saquon: [30:49]–[34:10]
• Pickens' Dallas Fit: [38:01]–[39:57]
• New Year’s Resolutions: [41:39]–[45:34]
• Futures and Awards Bets: [51:36]–[53:12]

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Conclusion

This episode delivers classic Matthew Berry—data-driven analysis, humor, and blunt takes on the exceedingly early 2026 fantasy rankings. Listeners get an honest look at the challenges of projecting so far ahead, what drives elite fantasy value, why context matters (age, workload, competitive depth), and how to blend talent with opportunity. The show is peppered with inside jokes, “League of Assholes” references, and the kind of detailed positional arguments only the “Happy Hour” crew can provide, making it essential prep for ultra-early fantasy drafters.

Transcript

[Jay]

This is a real good story about Drew, a real United Airlines customer. After almost four years of treatments, I was finally cancer free.

[Matthew]

My mom's like, where do you want.

[Jay]

To go to celebrate? I'm like, let's go somewhere tropical. And then pilot hopped on intercom and.

[Connor]

Started talking about me.

[Jay]

And I was like, what is going on here? My wife beat cancer too, and I.

[Matthew]

Wanted to celebrate his special moment.

[Connor]

That's Bill, a real United pilot.

[Jay]

We brought him drinks and donuts.

[Matthew]

We all signed a card.

[Connor]

I was smiling ear to ear.

[Jay]

Best flight ever, for sure.

[Matthew]

That's how good leads the way.

[Jay]

Picked him up off the wave wire of my Australian league, where I'm in the final and dominating my friend Jackson King. I was very excited to see Bijan Robinson give Jackson195 McNuggies last night as I further twisted the knife with Bijan being the captain of my team.

[Matthew]

Last thing I just want to say here about Jay's Australian league, He called points McNuggies. Connor, did you see? Did you hear that? Did anyone else catch that?

[Connor]

Yeah, I didn't understand.

[Matthew]

And also, like, this Australian league, why do I feel like Jay's the only one drafting American football players and he's somehow convinced everyone else has got, like a bunch of Collarwood magpies on their team? And it's like, why am I losing 100 to nothing.

[Connor]

Jay got Jabir Gibbs in round seven.

[Matthew]

Yeah, exactly.

[Connor]

I've got massive fives of that.

[Jay]

Yeah. Jackson's got Scott Pendlebury calling the former captain.

[Matthew]

Fantasy football happy hour with Matthew Berry.

[Connor]

Welcome to the fantasy football happy hour. Here we are, Matthew still out in the bunker. Jay and I peacefully from home on this New Year's Eve. Matthew, how was the golf game yesterday?

[Matthew]

You know, it's pretty good. I struggle desperately with sand traps. That's.

[Connor]

That's not fun to be in.

[Matthew]

That's my big bugaboo. What's interesting, I have a. I have a good buddy who's a. Who's a great golfer. He's like a five handicap. And his argument is that the sand trap is actually the easiest shot in golf once you understand what you're doing. Because your point there is you're really just trying to hit sand. You're not actually trying to hit a ball. That's his argument on, on the sand traps. But it is a. It is the biggest flaw in my game. So we didn't actually play 18. I'm hoping to do that later this week. But we, we just went out to the driving range and, And Just hit balls. And I just, I worked on literally sand traps for an hour, which was, you know, fun and frustrating, but, you know, I don't get to do that in Connecticut these days.

[Jay]

What would you say is the biggest strengths of your golf game, Matthew?

[Matthew]

I'm off. I'm good off the drive. Believe it or not. The driver's little. The driver's little in my best club. You know, like I'm either, you know, when the putting is good, it's great. Otherwise I'm three putting and the irons are hit or miss. But, but yeah, I'm actually, I'm pretty good driving a ball. Okay.

[Jay]

325 off the tee. What kind of, what kind of distance we talking?

[Connor]

Easy, easy. 325 off the tee. I believe it. Aloha bricks. In the chat, Barry shot a plus four at Mini Golf Pro Am Open yesterday while the windmill on 16th was rough room and Little Bo Peep on 7th challenged him a lot. And then the dragon on the 18th ate his ball. He lost it. Meltdown. Well done.

[Matthew]

Yeah, yeah. Listen, you think it's bad here on the show? Wait, you should see the excuse lure on the golf course. Oh, man, it's, it's, it's a sight to behold.

[Connor]

This club.

[Matthew]

A little Bo Peep came out of nowhere. What are you doing?

[Connor]

Right.

[Matthew]

You know, there's a, you know, listen, and you know, I'm playing against my daughter. She's putting it two club links away from the, from the, from the. You're not allowed to do that. It's one club length. Yeah, exactly.

[Connor]

Believe it or not, we have fantasy to go through today. We're going to close the show with our back to the futures bets that we've been looking into the crystal ball all year. We have New Year's resolutions that are fantasy angled. I'd love to hear yours in the chat. If you leave them in the chat during that, I'll read as many of them as I can as well. But before we do any of that, it might be the last day of 2025, but Matthew has been on the grind. He's got his 20, 26 top 50 that we are going to get through. And let's jump right into it. Let's start with 1 through 10. Although before we fully dive into the players, Matthew, I do want to give you the floor to kind of give the caveats of what the most difficult part of doing rankings this time of the year is.

[Matthew]

Well, it's because of, it's all the unknown. There's so Much that's always unknown about fantasy football. But like, you know, if you just look at the top 10, right. Is Devonte Adams definitely back with the LA Rays? We assume everything. You know, who's the quarterback of the Colts, what's going on with the Dolphins, Devon Akan, Daniel Silver coach, who's the quarterback there? Like, you know, there's just so much that goes on that's unknown about everything in the future. And so the way I have to do it because, and we'll talk about him with B John Robinson at number one. Like you have to, you have to draft. You have to sort of do these rankings with a little bit of knowledge.

[Connor]

Right.

[Matthew]

Like, so I think Tyler, you're probably leaves that he's the free agent. I think he probably goes to another team with the Falcons. But you more or less have to do the rankings as if the NFL is as it is today. Because I can't. Because, you know, we, we just don't know will, you know, when will, when will Patrick Mahomes be back? Is Patrick Mahomes back for week one or is Patrick Mahomes back for week five? Like, we don't know yet what his, what his status is. Right. And, and, and did he get beat out by Algonquin, you know, for the, for the quarterback position? We just don't know. Right. With Mahomes. Right, right. Is he still the number one quarterback a little late?

[Jay]

Yeah. Chris Oladokin chat. Yeah, he's a six point favorite this week. Unbelievable.

[Matthew]

So anyway, so that's the caveats here is that the rankings are done but for the rankings are done for a standard 12 team 1 quarterback league PPR scoring as if the NFL is today with some, you know, baseline knowledge. But you know, there's a lot of stuff that's unknown that you just sort of have to say like all right, well I'm just going to do it as if it is today.

[Connor]

Right?

[Matthew]

As if the league is today versus, you know, again, you know, when you, when you start ranking like the Steelers guys, is Rogers back next year? Like, like we just, there's just a lot of different unknowns and that's I think the biggest challenge of ranking, you know, before the 2025 season's even over for 2026.

[Connor]

Neck Brace Nation says my New Year's resolution never drafting quarterbacks before round six. So don't worry, we're going to get to those. But as we see Bijan Robinson at the top of the rankings here, you mentioned you don't expect necessarily algier to Be back. Matthew, if he was, does that dethrone Bijan from the top spot or he still stays there?

[Matthew]

I don't think so. I mean, honestly, I think Tyler Algiers, the. The Tyler Alger being there is an argument for Bishon Robinson, not an argument against. So Tyler Algier, you know, was a vulture at the goal line. They used him a lot. Bichon Robinson saw less than 40% of the Falcons goal to go rushing attempts this season. Think about that. Less than 40% of their goal to go rushing attempts. Bichon Robinson did not. He got like 39%. Right? And yet despite that, despite having less than 40% of the goal to go rushing attempts for the Falcons, he's still the number two running back in fantasy football. He had 19 different games with 20 or more fantasy points over the last two years, right? That's six more than any other running back. So there's both a floor and a ceiling there to Bijan Robinson. Over 220, over 2200 yards from scrimmage this year. He's averaging over 140 a game. That was with Michael Penix in and out of the lineup. Kirk Cousin comes in. Drake London was banged up. I think this offense gets better in the offseason, whether there's a coaching change or not. But I just think with B John Robinson, there's both a floor and a ceiling. And the last thing I'll just say in terms of overall theory, and you know, I say this all the time, you don't have to finish as the number one player in fantasy football to be worth the number one ranking. You know, again, we talk about this. You can't win the league in your first round. You can lose it at number one overall, especially in the first round overall, but generally, especially at number one, you want floor. You want a guy that, barring assuming no injuries, is going to be a top five fantasy running back. Right. Or a top five player at his position. And my argument on Bijan Robinson is that, you know, the fact that he's able to be this good with Algier there tells you about the floor. And if Algier moves on, which we do expect, sky's the limit for B John Robinson. That's why he's my number one player.

[Connor]

Jay, we. We see the Colts banner in the background, proudly represented, and Jonathan Taylor obviously pretty high up in these rankings as well at number five. How much does their quarterback situation being a little foggy affect Taylor's outlook going into next season for you?

[Jay]

Yeah, a little bit. I think that the key is is that they're not going to go in with the same situation that they have right now with Phil Rivers and Riley Leonard being the top two quarterbacks. I think that we saw with Daniel Jones is that you don't need an absolute superstar quarterback to allow Jonathan Taylor to have, you know, number one running back in fantasy type potential, which is the trajectory that he was on before Daniel Jones went down. So I would imagine that Jones is probably going to come back and that Anthony Richardson is still there. If Richardson were to become the starter, I think that that hurts Taylor in terms of touchdown equity. But also we've seen the value of running quarterbacks and how they open up running lanes for running backs. I would be more concerned with Taylor, not so much about the quarterback situation which will get, which will be improved from what it is right now, but just the fact that he has put so many miles on his body this year and even last year where, you know, he had a huge amount of carries and he's, you know, inching towards his late 20s. I think he is a bit more of an injury risk than Bijan Robinson and Jameer Gibbs, the two running backs that Matthew has ahead of Taylor. So that, that would probably be my concern more than the quarterback.

[Connor]

How do you feel about J.T. matthew? So I mean, obviously you have him at 5 and it doesn't seem like there'll be a ton of change. We think Daniel Jones will be back. Is it just kind of business as always with this unit?

[Matthew]

Yeah, I just have to sort of, you know, assume that, you know, the Colts are very smart and they have a window here and whatever their situation is next year, whether it's Daniel Jo Jones or not, it's not going to be what it was at the end of the season where they had Riley Leonard and Philip Rivers at the, at the end of the year. Right. And even in that situation where you have 44 year old off of the couch from five years ago, Philip Rivers under center and then you know, obviously Riley Leonard is going to start next week. That's the announcement that came out recently. He still averaged over 84 yards a game, still was running back 16 on a points per game basis. So my point is, is like if you're telling me that's the floor, that in a, in a scenario where they were so beat up and they're literally starting an immobile 44 year old quarterback and he's still able to give you mid tier RB2 production where if he gets another touchdown here or there, like, I don't know, I Agree with you. Wear and tear on a running back. That's true with any of them. Right? I mean, like. Like, that was the. I guess I just sort of feel like that was the. That was the reason why Chris McCaffrey drop this year. And that was. I think one of my. One of my best calls this year is in the presence we were. Like, I'm firmly on the. Chris McCaffrey stays healthy this year. Like that. I just believe that, you know, I know so many people were burned last year because he was the number one overall player, but, you know, McCaffrey just has been as healthy as any running back with that kind of usage. So Jonathan Taylor is a professional, you know, front of the podcast. He keeps his body in shape. I understand the concern, but obviously it's not enough for me to drop him outside my top 10. He's my number five player overall.

[Connor]

Troy asks, would you still start Taylor this week if we have a week 18 championship?

[Matthew]

Yes.

[Jay]

Yeah.

[Connor]

You have to. What are your options?

[Matthew]

Better option than Jonathan Taylor. Exactly.

[Connor]

Yeah. So.

[Matthew]

And I do think, Jay, the other thing I will say is that again, I mean, listen, you're a shoe man, but I do feel like assuming Daniel Jones is back or that they have a as good or better solution at quarterback for the Colts. Like, this is an offense that. One of the issues with Jonathan Taylor has been, you know, teams like, sort of stack the box. But one of the reasons why he was so good this year is they were able to get Jones on the move and they. They added weapons for the longest time was this sort of. Was Michael Pittman and Hope. And now you add Tyler Warren.

[Jay]

You.

[Matthew]

You know, Alex Pierce has emerged as a legitimate, you know, not just a deep threat, but like a guy who's a complete wide receiver. Josh Downs is a nice piece. Like, they suddenly have a lot of pieces in this offense that you suddenly, I think, will open up more rushing lanes for Jonathan Taylor.

[Jay]

Yeah, definitely. And the thing with Taylor, too, is that the last time that we saw this offense fully functional was when Taylor had almost 300 yards against the Falcons in Berlin. And then Jones, immediately after that, fractures his leg, and he couldn't do anything against the Chiefs, and the Chiefs understood that. And then they played the Texans defense, where Taylor didn't have a huge game because it's the Texans defense. Like, we have not seen Jonathan Taylor not be Superman when he has a healthy, solid starting quarterback. And I think that the past couple weeks, like, it's just so predictable, the run game, when Phil Rivers is a quarterback playing 95 of the snaps out of shotgun. So I wouldn't hold that against jt. And yeah, this offense was breaking records the first nine or so games of the season. And in terms of the supporting personnel, like it's still Shane Steichen who we think is an elite play caller. It's still a solid offensive line that's not so old. Still Tyler Warren and Josh Downs and you know, Alec Pierce, I expect they're going to bring back and we'll see about Michael Pittman, who's the only one of that group who's, you know, remotely a veteran type of figure. So I think this offense, if Jones is back and, and is even 85% of the guy that he was when he was healthy this year, then I would expect this to be an elite offense again and that Taylor is a superstar if he's healthy.

[Matthew]

And just one last point, Jay, to everything you said about how great this offense was. The Colts. Connor, the Colts were running so hot in the first eight weeks the season. I don't want to out him out. I have a good friend who bet an enormous amount of money on the Colts to win to win the division. I think he also has some bets on on them making it to the super bowl as well. So massive amount of money my friend lost. He's a smart guy. But just to give you an idea of how good that offense was looking because this guy put honestly his kids future education in on these bets and so it just gives you an idea of just how good that offense was early on.

[Jay]

Yeah, I've heard that guy double down on the Niners needing to win this Saturday night. So if they go down, I' see you guys in hell, basically.

[Connor]

I like the reveal at the end there. I'll see you guys. We never said who it was, Jay, just to be fair. Speaking of those Niners, Christian, he will.

[Matthew]

I will already. I'll definitely be in hell. So I will see you there, Jay. Yes, of course.

[Connor]

You got. You guys have fun. Christian McAffrey comes in at number seven. Matthew, what would you say to someone if they were like, man, you were right last year. I want to take Christian McCaffrey number one overall or number two overall and you haven't met seven. Is that more related to the fact he's going into his age 30 season or how does that kind of. Or Bijan's just better right now. What do you think?

[Matthew]

B. John's just better. McCaffrey turns 30 in June, right. He's. He's had 320 year touches and more in three of the past four, almost 400 touches this season. And like, you know, there's questions about, like, does Trent Williams come back right? You know, what's the health of that offensive line? All that said is that's me nitpicking as to why he's not number one. Like, there is. Obviously McCaffrey was amazing this year, but again, 30 years old, he's had significant injury problems in his past. But Clearly I'm at 7, so I'm not that down on him. Like, you know, it's the framing that question makes me have to sort of Talk down Chris McCaffrey. Do I think B John Robinson, younger, safer, better environment? Maybe not better environment, but like, you know, you prefer on the turf and in the NFC south than outdoors and on the end in the NFC West. All that said, I'm a Chris McCaffrey believer again, like had all of last year off. So the 399 touches, they use them so much in the passing game, which aren't as much as, you know, somebody like Derrick Henry. And I do think McCaffrey is so attuned to his body because of what he's gone through. He's similar to Derek Henry. He's like, I think he's one of the guys that is the exception that proves the rule. So if somebody drafted a number one overall in a draft next year, I'm not looking at him weird like, what? Why are you taking cmc? Like, there's an easy argument to be made, but you're asking me why I haven't seven instead of one? It is because, because the usage this year, and by the way, we expect the Niners to go far in the playoffs. So it's 399 right now and it's going to only go up as the season goes on. Plus the fact that he'll be 30 years old in June and, you know, history has not been kind to running backs over the age of 30.

[Connor]

Jackson, Smith and Jigba right behind him at eight. Jay, it was an amazing season for JSN. There's no denying. He's obviously a first rounder in fantasy next year, but if we had to nitpick here, does Seattle's overall lower pass volume give you any concern or do you think that's more of Kubiak kind of easing Sam Darnold into the offense and the fact it worked and that they can run so much of their past game, specifically through jsn?

[Jay]

Yeah, I think it's a few things. One, it is the fact that they run the ball so much in this offense. And then the other factors are. JSN has been incredible. I think on a per game basis he and Puka Nakua stand alone this year as the two best wide receivers in football. But in terms of how sustainable this is, one you'd suspect that he's not going to be, you know, breaking records in terms of target share and proportion of his own offense like he is this year. And then to a lot of his production, particularly in the first half of the season was just dependent on these bomb play action passes like these. You know, the 61 yard touchdown he has against the Jags, the 50 yarder he has against Tampa, like he has, he's broken, he's gone to 100 yards once in the last five games. And I think that, you know, and now the prop market is setting him each week around like 88 and a half receiving yards. And I think that's probably more the baseline for him as opposed to, you know, he was on pace to break the all time receiving yards record for a lot of the season. So I don't think that is particularly sustainable just because so much of it was deep ball dependent. And you would suspect that whether it's Rashid Shahid becoming a bigger part of the offense or they bring in someone else, I think like he was competing for touches primarily with like AJ Barna and Cooper cup for most of the season. So you would suspect that there'll be more competition for targets next season.

[Matthew]

Yeah, I would, I would, I would agree with that as well. The other, the other concern here is just, you know, look, they, they're run heavy, right? I mean like in terms of Clint Kubiak, like again like, you know, JSN had these, you know, these huge plays but no team was lower in pass rate this season. You know, they were 32nd in pass rate, they were 28th and pass per tab. So you know, it's a low volume offense and oh, by the way, it works because Mike McDonald's offense, sorry, his defense is so good they don't need to get in any shootouts very often.

[Connor]

Right.

[Matthew]

I mean, you know, and so playing within structure, playing ball control offense with good defense is one of the reasons why Seattle has a chance to be the number one seed in the nfc. So I mean, I love jsn, but I agree with Jay's assessment there, right. In terms of the target share, I think likely comes down a little bit, right? 36%. Probably still around 30, maybe 28%. Like he's a special player but it's one of the reasons why I don't have him like his number one overall. And, you know, there's wide receivers I have over him.

[Jay]

Connor, would you take jsn, Would you take JSN over Jonathan Taylor next year because of the health stuff?

[Connor]

Yeah, yeah, I might take JSN over Puka. Yeah. I mean, once again, yeah, I just, you know, Puka is a guy that's banged up a lot, but he's amazing when he plays. And you're too, at Darnold and jsn, it's an interesting combo. But jsn, for me, there's a case who made that, like, he'd be. I'd take him at like fourth overall in the fantasy draft.

[Matthew]

So, I mean, I. Yeah, I haven't. I have his wide receiver three right now, so I have both. I have Puka and Jamar Chase over him. Right. And I have him as a top 10 play. But, you know, I. Three or four spots after you would, you know, I. My concern is, is that, you know, do teams sort of figure him out a little bit that number one is Sam Darnold has a little bit of. You know, there's some injury risk to Sam Darnold, of course. And the other thing is, is it just. It felt like every team that has Seattle on their schedule next year is going to figure out how do we stop Jackson, Smith and Jigba. And so, you know, there are a couple of games where he just absolutely disappeared because teams were able to take him out of it and Seattle didn't have an answer elsewhere. And so I think with a slightly lower target share and the fact that teams will target him in a way that they didn't. I don't know. It's a. It's a weird one. And it's a. It's a really interesting conversation because we all agree he's a special, special player who's coming off just an unbelievable season. You know, the floor was amazing as well. Right. 13 different games with at least 18 points, four more than any other wide receiver. So there was, you know, both a floor and a ceiling there with jsn. But again, it just like caught a. I agree. You know, Shahid gets a bigger target chair. They'll replace Cooper cup with somebody that's more viable. AJ Barnstorm to come on. And they just don't throw a ton. So that's why I haven't still I'm. As a top 10 player. It's always weird when you have these conversations because you have to nitpick Right. You have to. I'm sitting here saying negative things about jsn, who's awesome, who we love, you know, who was part of my squad last year when I won the League of Assholes. You know, he's got the, he's got the ring, he's got the title, you know, as part of our squad from last year.

[Jay]

Yeah. To be fair, Matthew, he immediately left your squad, joined my squad, and now is going to win offensive player of the year and became a significantly better player. So you can read into that what you will Last thing on JSN and Connor. It's injury risk is subjective, but JSN doesn't get hurt. He's not nearly as much of an injury risk as Pukinaku, who plays an incredibly violent style. Jsn, you watch him and it's like this guy, his route running is so pristine. He's not as dependent on contested catch stuff and clattering into bodies. He kind of tap dances around the field and he's incredibly light on his face. I would suspect that he is, you know, he is any. Everyone's an injury risk, but he is less of one than some of these guys at the top.

[Connor]

And I think that's the argument if you're taking him over Puka Nakuo, which would probably be a. I'd say almost a 5050 if you ran a poll on it. I think the side that would be 50% on taking JSN over him would say I just feel more confident in the week by week health, which is, I mean, like you said, Jay, it's tough to figure those things out. But I think it's a fair one to round out the top 10. James Cook over 30 touchdowns over the last two seasons. Matthew, he is touchdown dependent, but the aspect is with James Cook, although he broke off a lot of long runs this year, the Bills are good at running the football. They typically score a lot of points. I know they've had some droughts at times and he's a big part of that. So it feels like you're. You're not doubting James Cook going into next year.

[Matthew]

No, I mean what was. What was healthy to see here is the average over 21 touches a game in 2025. Right. And so they're not scared to give him a massive workload. And the touchdown usage, the red zone usage, the goal to go usage wasn't fluky from last year. We thought it might be. Might be, but. Right. Over the last two years he has top five of the NFL in goal to Go rushing attempts and red zone rushing attempts. They like to use them when they get in close. And as Josh Allen continues to get older. Look, Josh is always going to have those superman moments. You know, we saw it against the Eagles where it's like, screw it, I'm taking it in myself towards the end of the game. But there's going to be more and more times where they're like, you know what? We don't want the wear and tear on Josh's body. We were, we were happy to give it to James Cookman getting closer because, by the way, he's been productive. He's able to convert in those situations. And so would you like to be. Would you like to see him used more in the passing game? Of course. 8% career target share. He was under 20 receiving yards per game in three of his four career seasons. So he's just still not a big part of the passing game. But it just feels like unless there's a massive change in the offensive philosophy of Buffalo, and I don't think there is. I think they're going to go far enough in the playoffs this year that everyone will be back, you know, Sean McDermott, Joe Brady, and of course, Josh Allen. That James Cook will remain, you know, an elite RB one.

[Connor]

Jonathan Medici asked, do we think the Bills bring in a wide receiver one, and Cook regresses a bit. Jay? I think they do make a move for number, a true number one wide receiver in this offense. But even with that, I don't think that changes anything for James Cook and the identity of their offense.

[Jay]

No, I don't think so. I think it just makes the passing game a bit better. And you see a concentration of targets that, you know, guys that at the moment, like your Josh Palmers of the world and your Brandon Cooks, they have two cooks now on this team. Those targets start to get concentrated more to a number one wide receiver. But ultimately, like Joe Brady wants to run the ball. I think it puts Josh Allen in the best spot. Allen is a cheat code for a running game because of his own rushing threat. And James Cook, like, he's just one of the most talented running backs in the league. This guy's gonna win the rushing title. It doesn't really feel that way, but I mean, his slip and jimmy type of runs where he just kind of slithers through bodies, he is an elite running back. And I think that they don't want to put. They don't want to have to have Josh Allen wear the cape all the time. And so they want to be built on the run and James Cook. Yeah, I don't think he's going anywhere. They paid him, so he's going to come back and be a huge part of the offense.

[Matthew]

Hey, Connor, I just want to ask you just about the number one wide receiver thing on the Bills. Like, like who could they get? Because I feel like they've sort of tried this, like they drafted, oh, maybe A.J. brown.

[Connor]

Yeah, that's, that's my like top of mind.

[Matthew]

Yeah.

[Connor]

Because the Eagles then can trade him outside of the nfc. He's. We think there's a chance he'll be available after everything that's gone on. There you go. Phil o', Brien, BTJ and Buffalo might feed families in fantasy.

[Matthew]

It's interesting, right? I feel like they've made some, you know, not full throated attempts the way that like an A.J. brown would be, but like, you know, they tried to get Amari Cooper. I mean, they got Amari Cooper for a cup of coffee. They tried with Stefan Diggs for a few years. They, they drafted Keon Coleman.

[Connor]

Right.

[Matthew]

They paid Josh Palmer. Like no one thinks of Josh Palmer as the number one wide receiver. But like he got money, right? I mean, like it's, you know, like everyone was sort of like, oh, what are they seeing Josh Palmer that we don't? And the answer was, turns out nothing. We were right all along.

[Connor]

Tyrell Shavers instead.

[Matthew]

I mean, dude. So. But I'm just saying, like they, it's not like they've ignored the position. They just haven't been able to nail it. They tried different things. But yes, AJ Brown would be interesting. Yeah. Let's see. After Stefan Diggs, let's go get. You know what we need is another mercurial wide receiver. Diva wide receiver. Yes, that'll work out great. I mean, A.J. brown, super talented, but it's just like when things don't go his way, he's, you know, I don't know, he's reading another how to Survive the Ice in Buffalo and he's just sitting. I can just imagine what book will bring to Buffalo. But anyway, yeah, I mean, they have to try to do something obviously, because it's, it is just Josh Allen out there with a bunch of guys.

[Connor]

Let's go to 11 through 20 in the rankings here. Once again, this is Matthews 2026. Very, very early overall rankings. CCD Lamb at 11. Trey McBride at 12 is the first tight end on the board here. Matthew, the key question with a tight end that early is does he provide enough of a positional advantage to warrant being a first Round pick the year after he set the NFL record for most receptions in a single season by a tight end.

[Matthew]

And the answer is yes, right, Right. Now, again, this is one that my suspicion is, is that he will drop and like Bowers will come up. But we had this conversation the other day again ranking as if the NFL is today. At the moment, Trey McBride has a bad defense, a quarterback in Jacoby reset that understands the assignment can get him the ball. He's the focal point of this passing offense. And by the way, it's not just about how good is he, but it's about how much better he is than any other tight end. The reason why him has a borderline round one pick top of round two 12 overall is because he was over 100 points better than the second best tight end this year, which was Kyle Pitch, which is also sort of crazy to think about. But targets are earned here in the 28% target share on the season in Jacoby Brissette's 11 starts. And then you think about who the number two quarterback tight end is. It's Brock Bowers. And at the moment Brock Bowers quarterback is Kenny Pickett or Geno Smith with, you know, with kind of a disaster on offense around him. Now what we expect to have happen is, and Pete Carroll's his coach, we expect honestly a new coaching staff, a new offensive scheme, them to take Fernando Mendoza number one overall. So all those, if all those things happen, Brock Bowers will come up, McBride will come down. Because the difference between the two of them isn't as significant as it is now, where McBride is over 100 points better than everyone else at the position and just gives you such a weekly cheat code at a rare at a scarce position. But that's the argument on Trey McBride at the moment being a borderline first.

[Connor]

Rounder going a little further down the board, malik neighbors at 14, obviously a lost season, Jay due to injury, but I saw some chatter of this in the YouTube chat as well. You look at what Wandell Robinson is doing in this offense right now and you look at the promise of Jackson Dart. How high can Malik Neighbors rise? Especially after we get some more positive reports on his health throughout the off season.

[Jay]

Yeah, well, we know the talents, we know that there's a good chance that he'll be able to bounce back from this injury pretty quickly given how young he is. And we know that as good as one Dale Robinson has been, this will clearly be Malik Neighbors's passing game. But yeah, exactly. So he may not even be back. So I think do you Jackson Darts had a good rookie year. I think he's proven that he is the future in New York for now. But a lot of his value Connor has been driven by his rushing and as a passer it hasn't been as clean. Now he's fallen off the past few weeks and I think that's largely because the Giants is playing out the string of the season. He doesn't really have weapons to throw to outside of the great Wanda Robinson. But what have you seen Connor from Dot as a passer and how does that inform any confidence about Malik Neighbors next year?

[Connor]

Well, I think number one Dart when Dable was there was running the offense pretty effectively and efficiently. When they needed him to get the ball out, he did and he did accurately. And you can kind of pick feature all of that with quick stuff to Neighbors who's so good after the catch. But what you love about this pairing is that dark and extend plays and throw the ball down the field and that's where Malik Neighbors coming out of LSU was so dangerous is the fact that as soon as it went into a scramble drill, this guy's electric and nobody can run with him and he can win down the field. So I will be very high on Malik Neighbors going into next year. I love the idea of these two getting a full season together and I can't wait to see it happen. Adam Smith asked Matthew Keeper options for next season. Keep two Saquon Ride and died Hampton or Neighbors.

[Matthew]

I can keep two, keep two. I think I'm going to shock you here, but I think I'm throwing back Saquon.

[Connor]

I was going to go with that.

[Jay]

I agree too.

[Connor]

I'm definitely keeping Neighbors. That's the like not even thinking twice. And here's the thing with Amari and Hampton. Amari and Hampton looks good when he's healthy and back with the Chargers and they have no offensive line so I, I know it's man Saquon. It's just it's been tough this year. I was personally burned by it in the league. So maybe I have a bias, but I'm not going down that road again.

[Matthew]

No, go ahead, Jay. Sorry.

[Jay]

I was gonna say I think you need people have this idea in their head naturally what the Chargers offense looks like every week. And the defining image of the Charges offense is Justin Herbert fighting for his life every single play. And it's, it's difficult to kind of just like visually kind of make the adjustment. But they're going to get back not one but two of the best tackles in The NFL and their offense is going to look completely different next year and Hampton is going to get more of a workload, I think clearly because of the investment they made in him and talent that he's shown when he's been out there. And just for the offensive line, you're going to go from the worst offensive line in football, potentially to one of the better offensive lines in football. And that's just going to completely change the way that everything looks. I think you have faith in this organization and this offensive personnel and the play calling and Herbert as a quarterback and what he does for the offense. So, yeah, I think Hampton over Saquon. Here's the thing is, like, why will it necessarily get better for Saquon? Like, everyone's going to be a year older. He's going to be a year older. I don't think that like next year is definitely a, definitely a bounce back year for Saquon. He stayed healthy the whole year. Like there's health risk that it could get worse. So yeah, I think Hampton and Neighbors are the two there.

[Matthew]

The other concern on Saquon, Barkley, and we love Saquon here, right? One of the best players in the NFL. But one of the other concerns on Saquon is is that like depending on how the season goes, right, there could be. I mean, they've had, there have been, there's been lots of turnover at the coordinator position over the last couple of years. In some cases it's because it's. In some cases because obviously, you know, they're coming off the super bowl win, right? And so, you know, Kellen Moore gets, gets hired, Jonathan Gannon, Shane Steichen, they get gigs right, over the last couple of years in super bowl years. But then also you think about like Brian Johnson and that like years where they struggle, they get rid of everyone. And so if the Eagles don't go far this year, and you can certainly make an argument that they won't, like, we'll see how it all plays out. But if the Eagles lose in the first round, like, you could see changes on both sides of the ball at the coordinator position, especially on offense where they've struggled recently. You know, they didn't have a first down in the second half last week. Like, how does an NFL team not have a first down in a second half? So it's just love Saquon, but you know, the, the age that the concerns. Yeah, give me a Martin Hampton, especially somebody who can keep them more than just this year. Give me the guy that's much younger.

[Connor]

Matthew, you said at the top of the show you might not be able to win your league in the first round, but you can certainly lose it. That brings us to the 17th overall player on the board. And Justin Jefferson, how confident are you that him and McCarthy can grow together next year and improve from what was just based on expectations, a disastrous season for jj?

[Matthew]

Yeah, nowhere to go but up. I mean, so I guess you're. You have to squint to get there. Right? But, like, you know, if you're talking yourself into it, and I sort of AM. JJ McCarthy has looked better the last couple of weeks. He's still a very inexperienced player. He missed most of his rookie year.

[Connor]

Right.

[Matthew]

And so he's going to have the whole off season again, be fully healthy again, understanding that 18 is the focal point of that passing offense. How do we get those guys on the same page? We had a nice game last week as well. He's also been really fluky. Like he's had two touchdowns in 16 games this year. I don't care. I don't care if I'm his quarterback. He's just in freaking Jefferson. Like, he's just had. He's had bad touchdown luck. Right? Whether it's McCarthy overthrowing him missing as well. This is somebody that produced with Josh Dobbs, with Nick Mullins, with Carson Wentz, like with a. With a cavalcade of quarterbacks. So I have to believe that if the vikings commit to JJ McCarthy and he is the starting quarterback next year, I think there's a chance that they just sort of say, you know what, we might have been wrong here. But assuming that they believe in JJ McCarthy, I'm just going to bet on volume and talent with Justin Jefferson and assume he can get there. But clearly, Connor, I've ranked Justin Jefferson lower than I ever have since his rookie year.

[Connor]

I think what would give all of us a boost of confidence, if the Vikings go out and get a pro to bring into camp, that just provides the necessary insurance. And I was one of these people that when the Colts went and got Daniel Jones as Anthony Richardson insurance, I was like, I don't know what this is going to do. And it arguably saved a lot of fantasy seasons before Daniel Jones got hurt. I wouldn't be shocked if the Vikings go out and maybe it's Mac Jones, maybe it's a lesser caliber player, but get somebody just as a backup in that situation. All right, one more big topic for you.

[Matthew]

Just to that point. I mean, again, we've seen it, like, think about what the jets players did once Tyrod Taylor took over. Think about what the Cardinals said once, every, right, once you, Kobe, Brissette, like, again, not franchise guys, but professional quarterbacks that can run an offense. Right?

[Connor]

Yeah.

[Matthew]

And so. Right. I agree with you. They'll get somebody like that.

[Connor]

I believe the last really, really intriguing player on this spot that we have to talk about, guys, is George Pickens. Because Pickens is a pending free agent. But Jay, is it safe to say that the best situation is him just going back to Dallas for fantasy, or is that not the best because CD Lamb is still there?

[Jay]

I think it's the best. The fact that Pickens has been able to put up this season alongside Lamb. I understand that Lamb has missed time, but even when Lamb has been out there, Pickens has been a monster. I think Pickens is such a wild card in terms of how his NFL career has gone so far. The fact that we have found a situation where he clearly works, he's with Dak Prescott, who has one, a willingness to throw the ball down the field and then two, an elite ability to do that. I just think that also the continuity with Dak and that offense, I just, I think with Pickens, like, you don't want to touch anything, just don't change it because if you change, it could all break. And if he stays in Dallas, I suspect that he's just going to be an elite fantasy option again.

[Matthew]

Look, not everything we say is right, not everything we predict comes true. But every once in a while, you know, you say, well, this makes a ton of sense because of this and here's why I think this is going to happen and it all plays out exactly like you say. George Pickens is on the preseason love list. And one of the reasons why we said it's like, look, he was miscast in Pittsburgh as a number one wide receiver, you know, but to now go to an offense where he's got one of the best deep ball throwers in the NFL and Dak Prescott, who's incredibly accurate when in, you know, when he throws 15 or yards more downfield and he doesn't have to be the number one guy and it's going to be a fantasy friendly offense like we think he's going to be very successful and again on the preseason levels. But I didn't think he was going to be the sixth best wide receiver in fantasy, which is what he's been this year. Yes, please keep him there. Same offense, same quarterback. Keep my guy eights next to him. Pickens should be an easy fantasy superstar next year. Assuming the same situation.

[Connor]

All right, we're going to take our first break. When we're back, we got more rankings to get through, plus our fantasy New Year's resolutions right after this.

[Matthew]

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[Jay]

Something new you would like to try in 2026? I think being able to play the guitar would be cool. Strum sound, acoustic guitar. You could literally be a one man band with like the piano and the guitar. The whole thing. Yeah, technically I don't know if it'd be good, but I could be one.

[Matthew]

Yeah, I would love to shoot under an 80.

[Connor]

That's something.

[Matthew]

Now that's golf.

[Jay]

I want to get more into Twitch.

[Matthew]

And I want to play video games.

[Jay]

With like my fans. Being good at football would be my New Year's resolution. Football is fun and football is life.

[Connor]

That was some some of the 49ers on their new Year's resolutions. I love Mac Jones. Just saying he wants to be good at football this season.

[Jay]

Yeah, yeah, he's on the vibes. Mac Jones.

[Connor]

Great vibes in San Francisco, guys. My New Year's resolution for fantasy is just start betting on the most talented rookies and stop getting so tied up in draft position. And naturally, yes, it does matter where a guy is drafted because often that brings the most opportunity. But think about how many weeks we spent talking about all these different running backs. And then during the playoffs and championship weekend, who's one of the rookie running backs we're talking about with the highest upside? It's Kyle Manungai who was the 23rd running back taken in his draft. Or all the weeks we talk about Matthew golden who was a first round pick to the Panthers and to the packers. And then you look at all the receivers that were taken after him that produced both guys on the Texans and on and on it goes. Luther Burden has been phenomenal down the stretch for the Bears, and it's just so easy sometimes, guys to get wrapped up into where players went. And then you go, oh, this guy was a really, really good college player that was slightly overlooked by the NFL. Then he gets to the end of the fantasy season and he's the best stash he could have asked for.

[Jay]

Yep. No, I like it, Connor. My resolution is that I'm not going to draft running backs who are coming off massive workloads, particularly when they're older and pushing 30. And Saquon Barkley is obviously the poster child for this. I think coming into this year that it was easy to think like, all right, well, it's just the same offense, like, it's the same guys. It's the same offensive line. It's still Jalen Hurts, it's still Devonte Smith and A.J. brown giving him space on the outside with the threat of the passing game. And he's still Saquon Barkley, and he's. He's older, but he's not that old. And I think that just the hidden stuff of just accumulating so many carries just adds a lot of wear and tear. And wear and tear is largely undefeated, unless you are Derrick Henry, who is the one exception to this, and he does not apply for this rule. But I think that, you know, next year, guys like McCaffrey, I think Matthew has correctly got, you know, more of the 7 range as opposed to the 1 or 2 range because he's turning 30 and he's going to be coming off leading the NFL in touches. So, yeah, I would just be wary, particularly of older running backs coming off massive workloads.

[Matthew]

Yeah, for me, you know, we've gone back and forth on this issue, just the fantasy industry as a whole about quarterbacks. But, you know, my new Year's resolution is that quarterbacks don't really matter. And this is what I mean by this. Right? So first off is that I'm going to wait on quarterbacks in terms of draft. Right? So you've got your guys at the top that I don't think changes all that much. You've got your Josh Allens, your Lamar Jackson, your Jalen hurts, your Jaden Daniels, your Joe Burrows, your Jalen hurts. Right. But then you add some of the guys that have just sort of emerged this year. Right. You know, think about Drake May, think about Trevor Lawrence, think about the kind of year that Dak Prescott had. Think about Caleb Williams and how he uses his legs. Jackson Dart, I think is the top 10 guy. Right. And so on and on. It sort of goes there. And you know, we got production out of Sam Darnold, Tyler Schuck, we're talking about who's been like kind of a top 10 guy down the road, down the stretch as well. And so. And you know, Malik Willis we've talked about like when he's a starter next year. So I just, I think that there's so much depth at the position and that you don't need to. That whereas we thought earlier on that the, that the guys at the top gave you, gave you so much of an advantage, it's not the case anymore. Feel like almost every running back, every quarterback either runs or either runs or they pass heavily enough that you can draft. And the other thing I'll just say is when they say quarterbacks don't matter, think about Jackson Smith and Jig with dropped too far and drafts because people were worried about Sam Darnold, Crystal Lobby because we were worried about that situation. Tyler Warren because people worried about Richardson or Jones. Like I get it that Justin Jefferson was brutal with JJ McCarthy, but he's the exception that proves the rule. Generally speaking, good players produce regardless of their quarterback is quote good or not.

[Connor]

So Jonathan Medici said My 2026 resolution is to pound 30 diet cokes a day and become a fantasy foot genius. Smart. Maybe he met football.

[Jay]

Well, he's not. He's going to the French, the French word to describe football, the foot. So yeah, well done for Le Medici.

[Connor]

Nice job, Medici. All right, let's keep the rankings rolling. 21 through 30 here. Out of Matthew's top 50, there's Ride or Die Mari and Hampton RB9 at 21. Where's your confidence level form in year two? Matthew, you. We've talked glowingly about how thank God they're going to get their two potential all pro tackles back in this offense.

[Matthew]

I mean that's the point, right? This is somebody that when he was healthy this year got over 70% of the team's red zone rushes, 80% of the goal to go rushing attempts right. In games that was active. And when as we sit here Today, he's the 14th best running back in fantasy on a points per game basis, which is still above adp at least when I named he was like going as running back 20 when I named him my ride or die and, and assuming he gets those, those, those tackles back and they'll improve the offensive line. Mean OMAR Hampton was 38th, literally 38th among qualified running backs in yards Per rush before contact, he just had no room to run and yet he was such a good pass catcher. He proved it. So again, like the injury was. The injury sucked. But he was a. He's exactly what we thought he would be. Running back 14, a borderline RB1, high end RB2 with no offensive line. So I'm in on Hampton next year in a big way.

[Connor]

All right. Making it further down the board. Chris Olave at 24. Great season for Chris Alave. Jay, have you seen enough from Tyler Schuck already this year playing half the season that you could have this level of confidence in a lava? Because I, I feel great about this pairing next year.

[Jay]

Yeah, definitely. I think it's, it's a perfect pairing in terms of skill sets with Shock. His willingness to throw the ball down the field, which really activates Olave. But it's not just that. It's the more sophistication to the route tree as well, the short stuff. The accuracy from Shock has been pretty solid. Shock's ability to create outside of structure as well because of the way that he can move and Olave seems they seem to have a kind of telepathic pairing there. So yeah, I think Shock is, is pretty real. He's the 13th best quarterback by PFF grade eye test wise he's looked the part. No larvae. We know about the talent. He just needs to stay healthy.

[Connor]

What about you, Matthew?

[Matthew]

Yeah, no, completely agree. Right. The argument was, you know, can he stay healthy? And the answer is yes. And can they? Can Kellen Moore scheme in the ball? Yes. And so we've seen enough. You know, the only way that Tyler Schuck loses this job is if they have somebody better, they can get the ball to Chris Olave. And so yeah, I'm in on Olavi.

[Connor]

Not too much further down the board. AJ Brown at 26 who we said wouldn't be shocked to see him on a new team next year. Matthew, does his fantasy value increase if he was moved? Especially when we were talking about a team like Buffalo?

[Matthew]

For sure, for sure. I mean it definitely goes up because he's a super talented wide receiver and any team that goes and acquires him is going to give up a price to go get him. Like they're not going to go get him to sit there and just run block and sit on the bench and read books like he's going to be a focal point of any offense that makes the, the attempt to acquire him. But yes, if he goes back to Philadelphia which is a run heavy team and it's Just weird bad vibes and you know, seven different games with under 50 receiving yards a season. I just. Yes, I think fantasy wise we're all rooting for A.J. brown to be on another team, any other team.

[Connor]

Josh Allen shows up as QB1, but all the way down to player 28 on Matthew's top 50 here. Jay. And you heard Matthew's new year, new year's resolution. As great as Josh Allen is with how deep quarterback is, does it make it less appealing to have to draft him this early?

[Jay]

I think so. I think that Allen, particularly when you factor in that he is getting older, he plays such a violent style as well. It's like quarterback Puka Nakua with the amount of hits that he takes on it. Like he never misses games. He always just seems to play through everything. But he's dealing with this foot thing at the moment and it's just expect that his game may not age as well as we'd like. And I think that when you consider just the depth of the position. Yeah. And just there's gonna be quarterbacks that you take is 16, 17 that, you know, guys like that. Trevor Lawrence was going in that type of range this year. So yeah, I think there's probably better options to spend an early pick on.

[Connor]

At number 30 here, Matthew, to close out this group. Travion Henderson, if he's in a committee, does he drop from this spot when we get to August or is this kind of how you view it right now, even with Ramondre there?

[Matthew]

Yeah, I mean I think we talked about it like he's not a guy that's ever going to be 25 touches a game. Right. He. He's top 10 this year in terms of running back among running backs and fantasy points per touch. And I think you know, Jameer Gibbs, old school Jamar Charles, not the Gibbs of today, but like again, somebody that can be super efficient and highly effective on 15 to 17 touches a game, especially as his passing game usage increases more. So yeah, I mean I think he's. He's not somebody who I think needs a massive workload because he's got such big playability.

[Connor]

We're going to take our final break. When we're back, it's last call. Back to the futures, our favorite awards and futures bets. Right after this.

[Matthew]

The McDonald's snack wrap is back. You brought it back. Ranch snack wrap. Spicy snack wrap. You broke the Internet for a snack? Snack wrap is back.

[Connor]

Drafting Sportsbook is an official sports betting partner of the NFL and new customers commit $5 and get 200 in bonus bets. If your bet wins, down the app and use promo code ffhh when you sign up. DraftKings Sportsbook Crowd is yours. Back to the futures. Jay, are you still chasing your white whale here of coach of the year?

[Jay]

Yes. The wide whale will be slain or captured. I'm not sure what the correct analogy is there. I've never read Moby dick. Kyle Shanahan plus 190. I think this is kind of an absurd price. I think that he will simply win the award if he beats Seattle. These things are never 100. Awards can be very subjective, but I think it's high 90s. The Niners are plus 100 to win that game and Shanahan is plus 190 to win Coach of the Year. I don't agree with that disparity. So I think Shannon Shanahan is a great bet at this price.

[Connor]

Matthew, I know you got your eyes on the AFC playoff picture. What do you like?

[Matthew]

Yeah, listen, I. I'm taking the Broncos. You can choose their stage of elimination. I've said this. I think the Broncos are fraudulent. I don't think their defense is as good as they think. We saw what Jacksonville did to them as well. Their offense has been very inconsistent, so I don't think they get to the. I don't think they get to the Super Bowl. I'm taking them to lose in the conference championship game at plus 280, but I wouldn't be surprised if they lose in the divisional round as well at plus 115. I think they have the number one seed. So I do think they beat the Chiefs and take care of business this week. And so they probably get one game out, but I don't think they're going to the Super Bowl. I think they're a little bit too lucky this year.

[Connor]

I like that one a lot. All right, guys, I'm looking at the NFC side of things. I'm going to buy the dip on the Rams plus 320 to win the NFC, and everyone's probably thinking, well, they looked awful Monday against the Falcons. Why would you do that? They're missing a lot of people right now and it's somehow gone under the radar because it's. It's not just devonte Adams. They're missing two to three players on their starting offensive line. They're missing Quentin Lake at safety, who quietly has been one of the better safeties in the nfc. I think the Rams will get their mojo back in the playoffs and end up in the Super Bowl.

[Matthew]

I agree with it. Hey, listen, that music means you don't have to go home. But you can't stay here. Everyone have a safe and happy New Year. We are off tomorrow, but then we are back Friday. So everyone enjoy it.

[Connor]

Have a hangover.

[Matthew]

We'll see you Friday. Roll Tide. And peace out. The McDonald's Snack Wrap is back. You brought it back. Ranch snack wrap. Spicy snack wrap. You broke the Internet for a snack? Snack wrap is back.