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Adam
With my Sapphire preferred card, we took
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Adam
five times the points on Chase Travel, two times the points on all other travel, plus $100 hotel credit.
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Adam
Cards issued by JP Morgan, J's bank and a member FDIC subject to credit approval terms apply. You don't just pour concrete and set steel. You build the structures that shape our skylines. Every cut made, every hole drilled, every anchor fasten is built to. Because when the work is done, it's
Heath
more than just a job.
Adam
It's cities constructed with strength and skill by pros like you.
Heath
This is fantasy football today from CBS Sports.
Dave
What a play. Can you believe this?
Heath
No, I can't.
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It's time to dominate your fantasy league.
Adam
Off to the races and he stays at his feet.
Dave
Chris is going to go the distance.
Heath
Now here's some combination of Adam, Dave, Jamie and he.
Adam
Full prediction time right now on fantasy football today on July 1st. Happy July, Dave and Heath.
Dave
We are in the month where training camp begins.
Adam
Yay.
Dave
We are. Adam, you need more excitement. It's been a. It's been a mostly boring off season.
Adam
I like that.
Dave
I'm looking forward. Well, I mean we had time to relax, but I'm looking forward to training camp, starting the stuff, really flying, football coming back. You can smell the freshly cut grass. I'm ready for this. I'm ready for this.
Adam
Yes.
Dave
Go.
Adam
You can smell the freshly cut grass at all of the soccer games around the country in stadiums that put down freshly cut grass. So first bold prediction. United States wins tonight, advances to the semifinals eventually of the World Cup. That's my first bold prediction, USA semifinals. Heath, I know you're fired up for the game.
Heath
Yeah, I think I'm glad you added the semifinals portion because the United States are enormous or at least large favorites in this game. So saying they're going to win tonight is definitely not a bold prediction.
Adam
Looking at the spreads of these soccer games being a plus, well, Bosnia is plus 688. That's not even like that high. Some of them have been insane, like.
Carvana Advertiser
Right.
Heath
But I, I just like, unless France or Argentina's playing, I think I'd like to just take those odds because who knows, one ball might squeak in.
Adam
Yeah, yeah, I feel that. Okay. Anyway, we got just one news item that I know of and an amazing stat that doesn't matter. And then bold predictions on Zay Flowers, Basil Tootin, David Montgomery and more news, injury news and note, Patrick Mahomes is trending toward being ready for 11 on 11 work at the beginning of training camp, according to Albert Brewer, Sports Illustrated. So a lot of injured players are trending in the right direction. It's good stuff. And Mahomes is one of them.
Dave
I'm curious if there's going to be an ADP bump once Mahomes is actually practicing without the injury. Jersey, full 11, all that stuff. I, I don't know. I'm. I don't know how many people are worried about Mahomes missing week one. I'm not.
Heath
I'm.
Dave
I'm ranking him as if he's playing 17.
Adam
It's QB 13 right now in average draft position. You think he'll move up?
Heath
Probably.
Dave
He's currently behind Tyler Shuck in our fans only adp. That's crazy.
Adam
That's cbs.
Dave
Yes, I think he will move up.
Heath
I mean, the big question for me is not whether he misses week one, it's whether, as we've seen from Justin Herbert, from Trevor Lawrence, from Joe Burrow, others, whether the rushing decreases because that kept him afloat last year or made him great last year. Actually, it's. It was rude to say it kept him afloat. He was QB2 before he got hurt.
Adam
Yeah, I mean, we would have expected the rushing to decrease either way, but it could.
Heath
It could crater.
Adam
Yeah, right. All right. CBS Sports HQ is a your hub for everything that's going on in the world of sports right now. Tennis, golf, soccer, NBA free agency, NFL training camps opening up. As a Yankees fan, I don't want to watch anything about baseball right now. But if you are interested in baseball and anything else, CBS Sports hq, it's on the CBS Sports app, Go White.
Dave
So White Sox fans are very interested in baseball right now.
Adam
We can all be honorary White Sox fans. Here's an amazing stat that doesn't matter. Heath is going to Talk about Sam LaPorta today. So as I was looking at the points per game leaders at tight end, Darren Waller was the number seven tight end per game last year despite playing 45% of the snaps. In the games he played in, he averaged. Darren Waller averaged as many yards per outrun as Trey McBride average. And he had the highest adot among all tight ends with 30 or more targets. Just a quick little shout out to Darren Waller. Heath, good job.
Heath
Darren Waller doesn't matter at all.
Adam
Here we go. Darren Wall. And he wasn't really that bad when he was with the Giants a few years ago. So if he resurfaces at any point, you never know. Tight end premium. Okay. Bold predictions. David. You're going to start it off with a David Montgomery. Dave always does a bold prediction about someone named Dave or David.
Dave
I do.
Adam
Unbelievable. No, you'd probably not. But this one is about David Montgomery. What do we got?
Dave
David Montgomery pulls a Joe Mixon and has one last big year. And I don't know if you remember Joe Mixon's 2024 with Houston, but he was a top 10 fantasy running back. Regardless of format, David Montgomery matches it. I, I took a second look at him recently. I recognized that the only number that he really went down in last year was touches per game. His efficiency was still good, at least in line with where it was over the two seasons prior. And now he's going to Houston. I don't think he's got major competition for carries. I certainly know he's got zero competition for goal line work. And this is a team that's pretty conservative offensively. Not going to throw the ball around a ton of one of the best defenses in the NFL. There's going to be a lot of favorable game scripts for a running back like David Montgomery to get a lot of work over the course of the season. He's not a bad pass catcher. I'm not going to draft him for his his pass catching acumen, but I am going to draft him expecting double digit touchdowns and I think he'll be an efficient runner. This will be his last big year. I can't remember the last time I was this excited to draft David Montgomery. I moved him up in my rankings and he's somebody I'm targeting in that RB2 range. But I think he's got potential to finish as a top 10 running back.
Heath
I just, I just hope he doesn't have a Joe mix in age 29 season.
Dave
I don't think that's possible at this point. Well, I guess it could be right. He could get hurt away from the team, hide the injury, not tell the team about it and then not work hard to rehab and come back from it. So I suppose that's possible. That that seems like maybe like a half percent chance of happening.
Adam
I don't know if he'll get 18 touches per game David Montgomery, but it's certainly within the realm of possibility, right?
Dave
Yes.
Adam
So over the last three seasons there have been exactly 12 running backs each year that have had 18 touches per game with a minimum of eight games. And only three of those 36 running backs finished outside the top 20 per game. And right now Montgomery's ADP is RB20, so pretty good ADP and pretty good chance of him getting all that work and maybe not winning your league, but at least being steady enough to be a top 20 running back.
Dave
One last thing. Look at the Texans schedule and tell me how many really tough run defenses they have on their schedule this year. And if you ask me, it's a damn good schedule. It's just another factor that helps sell me on David Montgomery.
Heath
I. I do have a little bit of trouble projecting him for 18 touches a game.
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Heath
Just because. And it's like it's not like he didn't receive that work because he wasn't good the last few years. He was obviously sharing with Jir Gibbs, but we are Talking about a 29 year old running back that hasn't had that much work since he was 24.
Adam
It's true.
Dave
I kind of like it. The Texas because he hasn't had that kind of work since he was 24.
Adam
The tech. It's. That's a good point too. The Texans offensive line according to espn was the worst run blocking unit in the NFL. It's very different this year. Probably.
Dave
I don't know if it's that much better though. Adam, just to point out like if there was a drawback to everything that I said about Montgomery, it is the offensive line at best, it's solid on paper and certainly unproven across the board to be good. So can it be better than it was last year? Yeah, but that just might mean they're like right around league average.
Heath
I thought sports. I thought I hated David Montgomery, but Sportsline really hates David Montgomery.
Adam
33rd.
Heath
Wow.
Adam
running back. All right. Yeah. Joe Mixon with Houston in 2024 he only averaged 4.1 yards per carry, but he got like every important touch for that team. For the 14 games he stayed healthy and was, would you say top 10
Dave
running RB10 or he was at least RB10 in every format.
Adam
All right, let's stick with Dave. Your second bold prediction is about Isaiah Likely he finishes as what I g.
Dave
I told you that he finished as a top six tight end and I don't know if that's bold enough. So let's say he finishes as a top four tight end, leads the Giants in targets, catches, yards and touchdowns. Just completely takes the leap that we've been hoping for him to have. He's in an offense that might not throw as much as we want them to, but if Malik Neighbors isn't Malik Neighbors and the rest of that receiving core isn't particularly great, this is going to be the player that Jackson Dart leans on, and we've seen it from him. It's a real small sample size. In his career, Isaiah Likely's had nine games in his career with at least six targets. Okay, nine games, six targets. He has 12.5 PPR points in eight of those nine games. That's in Baltimore. It's with a better quarterback for most of those games. And Dart in the second year, I just think he's going to need somebody in the short area to lean on. Likely has yards after catchability, and I just think that we see a completely different role for him. Last point. Matt Nagy is the play caller now in New York. When he was the play caller in Chicago, he brought in a tight end named Trey Burton. And Trey Burton wasn't necessarily great for fantasy. I think he averaged like 9.2 PPR points per game and he only had 4.8 targets per game. But it's kind of the same role that Likely will have. And I think it's going to be a bigger role than what Trey Burton had. Trey Burton just had an okay role. I think Likely ends up having a much bigger role. This is a tight end that you asked me yesterday, is there a tight end you're targeting? This is the one that I'm targeting. Outside of just getting one at a good value. If I can get Isaiah Likely, I've done a 180 on him. If I can get Isaiah Likely, let's call it round nine, round ten, or even later. I'm a happy man.
Heath
I feel like I'm two thirds of the way to the Dave Richard tight end trifecta because we've got him to turn around on Sam Laporta. We've got him to turn around on Isaiah Likely. We just got to push Kyle Pitts through. It'll be the greatest off season of my life.
Dave
That's not happening unless something happens to Drake London. If Drake London gets hurt or something like that, then yes, of course.
Adam
Okay. All right, Heath, any thoughts on Isaiah Likely? Isaiah Likely being a top four tight end?
Heath
Yeah, I've got him sixth in my projections right now. So I agree with Dave. We had to push that up to make it a little bit more. I, I think, listen, some of it's going to come down to how healthy Malik Neighbors is and, and how they, how often they actually throw the football. But, but I, I expect him to be second on the team in targets. I've got him projected for 112. He's been very efficient. I think we saw that Jackson Dart is very willing to throw the ball to his tight ends.
Dave
Oh, yeah.
Heath
So I, I pops asks in the chat, Theo Johnson. Oh, Adam tried to hit it at the same time I did.
Adam
Yeah. No, it's. I was going to bring this point up. I, I think Theo Johnson could, could wreck the, the plans for Isaiah likely a little bit.
Heath
I don't.
Dave
There could be a couple of touchdowns that go. Theo Johnson.
Heath
Yeah, he could score some touchdowns.
Dave
They're. They're not the same type. They're both tight ends, but they're not the same type of tight ends.
Heath
Well, and they already had Theo Johnson and they chose to go spend that money on Isaiah likely also.
Adam
Yeah. And, and, and tight end is a position where guys can have late breakouts after really not doing much. Johnny Smith, it was only one year. David Najoku had basically three good years after not doing much. So it's just all about opportunity. He's got the opportunity.
Dave
That's what I was going to say. Yeah, he took the words out of my mouth. Jackson Dart. 22.8% target rate to tight ends last year. Believe it or not, that was below average among qualifying quarterbacks, but that's still pretty good when you're looking for a player to get some decent volume. So if they throw, I mean to do the math, if they throw 550 times, 22% of that, it's not bad. It's not a bad target share for our guy. Likely.
Heath
That may be exactly what I have projected.
Dave
Right. And you obviously have to give some targets to Theo Johnson.
Adam
Of course. Yeah. Okay, let's take a break. We have another tight end. Bold prediction when we come back from Heath Cummings. And if you in the chat have any bold predictions, we'll read those at the end of the show. We'll be right back on fft.
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Heath
Buyer's remorse.
Adam
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Dave
I'll be moving in.
Heath
Let's get started.
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Adam
So there's no.
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Heath
It's about both. Sam Laporta will outscore Trey McBride this season.
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Heath
The guy who gained Drew Petzig versus the guy who lost Drew Petzig. And that's not entirely what it's about, but I do think this is interesting. If you look at the career averages of Sam Laporta on a per target basis versus the career bests for Trey McBride on a per target basis. Sam Laporta has averaged 8.3 yards per target for his career. Trey McBride has averaged his best season, 7.8 yards per target. Sam Laporta has a 7.9% career touchdown rate. Trey McBride last year, his best season, 6.5% touchdown rate. Sam Laporta has averaged 2.05 fantasy points per target. Trey McBride's best season, 1.87 fantasy points per target. Sam Laporta has been undeniably better than Trey McBride on a per target basis. The difference has been Trey McBride has been in this tight end centric offense. Sam Laporta has not. And so Trey McBride scored more fantasy points. Now the guy who was running Trey McBride's offense is running Sam LaPorta's offense. And yes, he has him on Ross St. Brown and Jameson Williams. Last year there were 391 snaps where a Monroe St. Brown, Sam Laporta and Jameson Williams were all on the field. Sam Laporta had a 20.7% target rate. Target share with what?
Adam
Target share or target Target share?
Heath
Okay, target share. It's target per route runs pretty similar to target share when you're just using the plays where they're on the field. Not entirely the same because he blocks sometimes, occasionally. That's 20.7% without Drew Petsic calling place. Now, maybe Drew Petsic doesn't matter at all. Maybe it's exactly the same. But even a small boost to those numbers and you are looking at a massive season for Sam laporta. Jared Goff's averaged 574 pass attempts over the last three seasons. Drew Petzig's offense has averaged 591. If you just look at my projections, 581 kind of right in the middle of those. A 21% target share, which is basically what he had last year when he was on the field, is 122 targets. A 22% is 128 targets. I don't think that's the ceiling. It's pretty easy to calculate how many fantasy points he would score because he's averaged almost exactly two fantasy points per target. 128 targets times two. That's 15 fantasy points per game.
Adam
Well, he was only on pace for 93 targets last year. So they're gonna have to throw a lot more.
Heath
They're going to have to throw a lot more than they did during the period of time when. Early in the season. And you've talked about it like when their defense hasn't been as good, they've thrown more. I don't think this has been a very good off season for the Detroit Lions defense.
Adam
Well, I was just reading about Terry and Arnold and look, he's an important player for them because he's a starting cornerback, but he's actually been a pretty big bust he's not. He hasn't been that good, but he's still. I mean, look, losing a starting cornerback is a big deal, but they didn't lose a Pro Bowler or anything like that.
Heath
Didn't they lose two starting corners?
Dave
No. Both of their starting safeties are questionable to start the season.
Heath
Is Amik Robertson back?
Dave
No, he's gone too. DJ Reed was there, a corner opposite Terry and Arnold.
Heath
Amik Robertson led the team in passes defense last year by a pretty good margin. He's gone. Alec Anzalone was second in tackles, second in passes defense. He's gone.
Dave
Yeah, I don't think either of those losses move the meter for me on the Lions defense. I actually like the nickel that they got to come in and play. Roger McCrary. He was great in Tennessee. He was okay in LA and now he's there. Malcolm Rodriguez has been a good like backup linebacker sort of for them and now he'll take over a lot of the Anzalone role at weak side. I. I don't like. They didn't really make a lot of moves to help their pass rush, obviously. Aiden Hutchinson being awesome. They drafted Derek Moore, they brought in DJ Wanham. All this still points to the same conclusion though, which is that the Lions defense isn't particularly better than it was last year. And that could open the door for some more high scoring games.
Adam
Yeah. All right, look, I. I think you made a pretty good case for Sam La Porta, whether he outscores McBride or not. It's a really good case. Your next one is.
Dave
Hold on. I think it's a great case for laporta's efficiency and you've sold me a while ago now, but you've sold me on Sam Laporta being a good draft pick. I just want to point out that there's a more than 4 target per game difference between Laporta and McBride over the past two seasons. And do I think that'll shrink a little bit this year? Of course. Because Petsing going to Detroit, the Lions want to use multiple tight end formations. It should lead to more targets for Laporta. And I do think that it's tough to expect nine targets per game for Trey McBride moving forward, but I think the gap might fall to two and a half targets per game. And that would still put Laporta around six. Six and a half targets per game. That's awesome. But I just, I don't know if that means that he can even come close to being. He could be a top three tight end.
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Adam
Anything else?
Dave
Samuel Porter's mustache is cool.
Heath
I like it.
Adam
Yeah. The other thing I just want to talk about, like just playing a multiple tight end set lead to more tight end targets because I think what, what Ryan Heath would argue is that it leads to more wide receiver targets.
Heath
I know.
Dave
No, I think on the tight end,
Heath
I think what Ryan Heath would argue is that it leads to more efficient wide receivers on their targets.
Adam
Well, here are the. Here are the teams that played the most two tight end sets last year. There's going to be some, some heavily targeted teams and tight end teams and some that aren't the Browns, Ravens, Seahawks, Falcons, Cardinals, Bears, Raiders, packers, dealer. You know, now we're at nine. At the bottom we have the Rams. Like these are the lowest tight end, two tight end set teams. Rams. Although the Rams actually played the most three tight end sets.
Dave
So yeah, you've got to make it.
Adam
You know what I should, I should have sorted it by two plus tight ends. I'm sorry Brown. It's going to be similar. Browns, Ravens, Steelers, Cardinals, Falcons, Bears. That's your top six good tight end. I mean you got Fannin, you got McBride, he got Pitts, Loveland. But they actually didn't really throw to their tight ends all that much, did they? I mean the Bears and then at the bottom you have the Texans, Chargers, Niners, Dolphins, Jets, Saints. Actually would say this is pretty good evidence that playing more than. Well, at least one year of evidence playing two or more tight ends will lead to more tight end targets with Kittle being the exception there because the 49ers rarely did it.
Dave
Loveland average seven targets per game from Week 7 on last year as a
Adam
team, they didn't throw to the tight end that much.
Heath
They had 136 tight end targets last year.
Adam
Is that a lot?
Heath
I would say I haven't got my. I've been working on my opportunity index that makes it easier to compare that but I would say it's probably close to average.
Adam
On the subject of the coaching, I think this is going to be a great test because if Stefanski and Petzing are maybe for the people like me who are more on the. It's about players, not about coaches side. This is hard to ignore their history but Petzing has been an offensive coordinator for three seasons and Trey McBride's been his best player. So Stefanski, I could, I think, you know, maybe I could see it a little bit more.
Heath
Does it, you know, you don't really care that before Petsing was an offensive coordinator for three seasons he was with Kevin Stefanski for 10 years.
Adam
No, I, of course I, I do. I do. And they sure they're going to want to use a tight end. It's just Kevin Stefanski has never had I'm on Ross and or Petsing have never had Almanacer Brown and Jameson Williams and maybe you just don't think Jameson Williams is going to do much.
Heath
I, I just. I think more it's like we're acting. I don't want to act like these coaches are going to use these bums at tight end because they always throw to tight ends. They went to places where they have very talented tight ends.
Adam
Yeah, for sure. But I also remember this hubbub about Kellen Moore and his slot receivers and who was a slot receiver in Philadelphia? It was Devontae Smith. Devonte Smith had a Devontae Smith type of season with him. A.J. brown at a 27.3% target per out run rate. Dave, I give you another example we were talking about it the other day of like oh, I mean you could even say Ben. Oh, Ben Johnson. Ben Johnson and his slot guy. I'm on Ross St. Brown. Ben Johnson is slot guy. Who did I say led the team in slot slot routes last year was the llama days? Akias. I think he was awful. So it's I don't know. It's about players to me but this is but I'm not ignoring it because this is the really I think one of the most compelling coaching arguments you can make. But if it doesn't work out then I think it will further embolden me next year to be like yeah, I
Heath
don't again I I think the vast majority of my argument for Sam Laporter was a bit about how awesome he's been.
Adam
Yeah.
Heath
On a per target basis. And that even a small boost in targets. I don't expect him to have a 30 target share like Trey McBride.
Dave
No.
Heath
But I do think he has a higher target rate this year.
Dave
What do you make of the back
Heath
injury that will be concerning to me if we get to training camp and he's not healthy.
Adam
All right, next bold prediction is actually someone else scooped you here. Where is it? Oh there was a. Someone had a Zay Flowers. I think it was Zay Flowers be a top five wide receiver. Bold prediction in our chat, by the way.
Heath
Hey, don't give Gridiron Gamer the credit they deserve.
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Adam
Okay. Sorry, I didn't see it. Gridiron gamer says Flowers will be a top five tight end. If you want to comment live in the chat. Great. If you're not watching live and you're on YouTube. You want to comment in the in the comment section, give us bold predictions there. But what is your Z Flowers bull prediction?
Heath
Zay flowers will score 10 touchdowns and be a top five wide receiver. So I, I I1 upped you a little bit. Great Iron gamer. And I, I, I talked about the first part of this on a past show. I think this fact that every year we have a wide receiver who doesn't score touchdowns. Who all of a sudden scores touchdowns. Last year it was Chris olave. Had a 3.3% career touchdown rate going into last year. Scored nine touchdowns on 156 targets. The year before it was Terry McClure and had a 4.1% touchdown rate going into that year. Scored 13 touchdowns on 117, 2023. We actually had two of those guys. Cortland Sutton, we think of him as like has always been a touchdown scorer. He had 14 touchdowns on 421 career targets before 2023. And then he scored 10 touchdowns on 90 targets. Amun Ross St. Brown had a 4.2% touchdown rate his first two seasons and now all of a sudden now he just scores touchdowns every year. And I think your comeback was pretty good. It's like, yeah, but Zay Flowers, this little guy and he doesn't get targeted in the red zone. So I did find a couple of guys who are very similarly sized to Zay Flowers who had a similar touchdown breakout about this point in their career. Tyler Lockett had a 4.4% touchdown rate his first three seasons. Two seasons, three seasons. One of the two had 10 touchdowns on 70 targets the next year. And then this one's going to really probably get you mad. But I think he might be closer to this guy in terms of fantasy production the next five years than Tyler Lockett. Antonio Brown had a 3.6% touchdown rate on his first 416 targets and then scored 13 touchdowns in a season. Zay Flowers has arrived as an elite wide receiver in the clear target hog in Baltimore. He just the touchdowns to be an elite fantasy football wide receiver. This is the year.
Adam
And you know you could have just gone with Marquis Brown, by the way. Who had, who had. Well, let's see, I was looking for end zone targets. I don't know if he scored a lot of touchdowns, but Marquis Brown had had three seasons with nine, 13 and 13 end zone targets. At least two of those were with Baltimore. Oh no, they were all with Baltimore.
Heath
Yeah, Marcus Marquis Brown wouldn't have fit quite as well, because he had seven touchdowns as on 71 targets as a rookie and then scored eight the next year. He came into the league only scoring touchdowns and. But not from the red zone. It was from the 50.
Adam
Yeah, right. I mean, I guess my point is my Marquis Brown on the Ravens was a short, 5 foot 9 ish guy who got a lot of end zone targets, which is what we'd like to see. I think when you make these bold predictions, it's like there are so many unpredictable things in fantasy. You're just looking for players who, if things break right, they could just go. Go bananas. It just could be amazing for them. Like, they might need a break or two, but they're talented enough to capitalize on that break. Would you agree with that? It's kind of what we're hunting here.
Heath
Yes.
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Adam
Yeah. Because you just, you know, you know, you can't really predict it. And that's where I'm going with my Basil Tutin bold prediction. My bold prediction is that Basil Tutin will be a league winner. No, he did not have a very impressive rush average last year, but there are plenty of running backs who struggle as rookies. And I just, I mean, I watched tape of him earlier this off season. I liked him. I watched more tape yesterday and I really like Basil Tutin. I think he's obviously super fast, but also pretty physical. But biggest problem I have here is I also like to tape for Chris Rodriguez. And I cannot deny that Chris Rodriguez is very good at what he does. He's. He's just very physical, doesn't lose yards a lot, he's hard to tackle. It's not going to be a game changer. Like the difference between Tutin and Rodriguez is if one gets hurt, Tutin, I think, has league winning potential. If Tutin gets hurt, though, I don't think Rodriguez does. He has six catches in his career and he's just not an explosive player. But if things break right, if some break happens for Basil Tutin, if there's an injury, or just outplays Chris Rodriguez and he becomes the lead back for the Jacksonville Jaguars, my bold prediction is that Basil Tutin will be a league winner. Thoughts? Dave?
Dave
One of my favorite backfields to double up on on draft day because you can get Bashel Tutin right at that round five, six, turn, that's where it is on CBS ADP. Chris Rodriguez can be had right around 100th overall, maybe a little bit later. And between the two of them, you should have hopefully a starting running back every single week. This is a great offense. They were very prolific under Liam Cohen last year. They've made it clear at least at this point that these are the two running backs that they're going to go to battle with on first and second downs. And the, the points you made about Tudin's film were good. I would add that five of his touchdowns last year came from inside the five. He had a 71 success rate inside the five. Chris Rodriguez had 35% with Washington last year. And I cannot get it out of my head that the, the commanders for, for all the running back issues that they had going into the off season let Chris Rodriguez go when they didn't really even have to. They could have given him. I think it was a restricted tag and they just let him walk and he, he went to Jacksonville. He's got familiarity with Liam Cohen. I almost think that that's the best thing about him is that familiarity. Because otherwise. You said you were impressed with the film. I thought he was okay. I don't think he's necessarily great. I think Tootin has more upside. I think everybody would see that if they watch Tootin play well.
Adam
You're talking about Chris Rodriguez film Rodriguez? Yeah, yeah, yeah. Like I, I think what was impressive about him was that he just, he doesn't go down easily. He's really tough. He's a good rugged runner, but he's nothing like Basil Toon. Basil Tutin is short. He's 5, 9 but, but 209 pounds and he ran a 4, 3, 2. He is a combination of speed and power. Yes, he is. And, and Rodriguez is not. I don't think it's going to be a week one thing. He's going to have to earn it hopefully in the first month of the season. It's going to be kind of an annoying split, I think Dave. But Tutin to me is the guy that can really take the run game to the next level.
Dave
He had a 15 carry game week 11 against the Chargers. The majority of his carries came in the first three quarters. He averaged 4.9 yards per rush. It's an example of what Tuton can do when he gets into the rhythm of a game. He really didn't get that opportunity because Travis HM was in Jacksonville last year and he was the one that was kind of leading the way in that backfield all year long. If Tin gets that role, I think he can be. I don't think he'll be 4.9 yards per carry good, but I think he'll be plenty good. And I, I think he's got a chance to at least split the short yardage touchdown work with Chris Rodriguez, particularly because of how good he was at it last year.
Adam
Heath, any thoughts here? And I'll say, you know, one of the issues with drafting Tutin, just looking at fantasy pros, is he's going in the same range as Travion Henderson. I would take Tutin, Quinchon, Judkins. I think I'd have to take Judkins. Bucky Irving, I could say the same exact stuff. I mean, I can't sit here and say Bucky Irving's not a league winner. Potential league winner. So, you know, it's not like it's not an easy draft pick. I think you're going to be passing up similar players and you know, something in you is going to have to decide you want Tootin. But what do you think?
Heath
I, I've been probably more skeptical of Tootin and I think the way you introduced this one's kind of strange.
Adam
In what sense?
Heath
I mean it's just like talking about that guys that we just are really talented and if things go right, could be. I don't think we've seen very much evidence that Bash and we don't have that much evidence from the NFL that they think he's, I guess Jacksonville letting ETN walk is about the best evidence we have. But he, he was a day three running back with one kind of good college season.
Adam
Yeah.
Heath
And I, I, he has some ball security concerns and he's probably not going to do a whole lot in the passing game. And I, I just don't, I think he, I don't, I, I think he's very similar to Bill and, except Bill was a lot better as a rusher last year. Like they, they're just, they're, they're good with the ball in their hands if they can keep the bowl in their hands on rush attempts.
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Okay.
Adam
I, I guess it's just I, I look past the numbers personally and I, I like what I see. So that's why I, Right. Yeah, there have been. So he's RB24 right now. In ADP over the last four seasons, how many running backs drafted as RB20 or later finished top 12 per game? In 22? 22 we had four. The next year we had five. The next year we had zero. And last year we had two. Cam Scatterboo and Javante Williams. So that gives us 11 running backs in the last four years that were drafted as RB20 or later and finished top 12 per game and six of those 11 were first or second year players. So that I think is kind of telling guys that, you know, the Javante Williams of the world aren't the more common the scatter booze of the world are. And maybe Tutank can be that guy this year.
Dave
All right, one last point if I may make it because he's compared him to Crosby Merrick, Crosby. Merritt had twice as many carries as Tuton. Certainly the yards per rush favored crossing merit, but in EPA they were exactly the same success rate. Tutin was better, noticeably better than crossing Merit. In what?
Heath
In success rate?
Dave
Yes.
Heath
Oh, okay. The reason I was confused was not because I, I knew that stat for Tootin, it was because Bill led the NFL in rush success rate. But Tutin probably didn't have enough carries to qualify.
Dave
That's fair. I just, I gotta compare them based on the work that they did. Tune had a better avoided tackle rate, but it was close. The explosion rate is really where cross game merit won. And that's what he's known for is just having that speed to break away. Does Tootin have it? Yeah. Do we see it as much? No, because he did. He had half as many carries. And so I am very curious to see what happens if Tutin does get in the neighborhood of 13 carries a week. Throw a catch on top of that. If that's how he starts the season and he takes off, he's going to be the featured back in Jacksonville and a must start fantasy running back.
Adam
Okay, here. Oh, he wasn't his offensive coordinator. Never mind. I was going to say 2023. There was a running back who averaged 3.6 yards per carry as a rookie, just as Basil Tutin did was RB25 in ADP. Tutin's 24 right now and finished his RB10 per game. And it was Rashad White. But that was not a Liam Cohen year as his offensive coordinator.
Dave
What year? 2023. Yeah, that was Canales.
Adam
Okay, let's take a break and I've got one more bold prediction for you when we come back on fantasy football today and then we'll read yours after that. We'll be right back.
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Adam
we got another Detroit Lions Bold Prediction Here it is. Jameer Gibbs will average the second most PPR fantasy points per game of any running back in the last 10 years. He'll be better than everyone other than 2019 Christian McCaffrey, who averaged 29.3 points per game. McCaffrey then averaged 30 points per game the next year, something like that. But that was only three games. So Jameer Gibbs is about to have the second second best running back season of the last decade. And obviously this is a bold prediction. I don't think it's actually going to happen, but I could see it because the setup is so good. Over the last three years. The Lions are second, first and fifth in running back carries, second, first and 14th in running back goal line carries. They are third, first and first in running back PPR fantasy points per game. Jameer Gibbs has been amazing over the last three years without being the goal line back. David Montgomery has the second most goal line carries in the NFL over the last three seasons. Well, he's gone now and Jameer Gibbs has scored on 70% of his goal line carries which is really, really high and won't continue. But he's very good there. Dan Campbell said that Jameer Gibbs is going to be the bell cow. And then let's take a look at this graphic here. It's a it's a little confusing, I'll have to explain some of it to you. But the gist is Jameer Gibbs is amazing on a per touch basis. PPR fantasy points per touch since he entered the league. Jameer Gibbs at 1.14 Devon Achan at 1.14. Gibbs is technically a little bit ahead of Achan in terms of decimals, but those two guys are the best. I put Priest Holmes, his best three season stretch on here and Jameer Gibbs is a little bit better than Priest Holmes was. I put ladanian Tomlinson a six season stretch for him from 2002 to 2007. And Jameer Gibbs on a per touch basis is much better than Ladanian Tomlinson was. He's also better than Bijan Robinson and Derrick Henry and Jonathan Taylor and Saquon Barkley have been. And if you're looking at this graphic, Trisha McCaffrey is just behind Gibbs and Achan. Those three seasons though I eliminated 2024 so I went with 20, 22, 3 and 5 for him. But the bottom line is you have got the most efficient running back on a per touch basis. Who just lost David Montgomery. He's on the best offense over the last three years to produce running back fantasy points. It couldn't be a better setup for a break your league. You won because you have Jameer Gibbs type of season. So my bold prediction is that he is basically going to be Ladanian Tomlinson and be incredible.
Dave
So you're taking him first so far?
Adam
Yeah, I am taking him first. Overall.
Heath
It's a good choice.
Dave
It's bold.
Adam
I was Jamar Chase, but then I just thought I was like. No, it's.
Dave
If you were, if you were in an auction draft, would you spend 40 of your budget on Jameer Gibbs?
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No.
Dave
In a full ppr?
Adam
No, I wouldn't.
Dave
It'd be worth that much.
Adam
I, I mean look, if my bold prediction comes true then sure. But I don't think.
Heath
Well, if your bold prediction comes true, he's probably worth 60, right?
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Maybe.
Dave
Absolutely.
Heath
When I first did ran my calculations and I've only got him projected for like 20 more fantasy points than any other non QB. I love this bold prediction but when I first ran kind of my auction values, I came up with him at 39. So out of 100. Out of 100. So I'm. I guess I'll get Jameer Gibbs in the auction league.
Adam
Okay, well maybe I go 39 and a half. 39.50. I'm not in the auction league. Don't worry about it. Is he, he's number one for Heath. Dave, is he number one for you?
Dave
Oh, of course.
Adam
I mean we talked about him versus Bijan last week and I, I do think I said that I cannot put an argument on paper of why to take Bijan over Gibbs. It doesn't mean that I don't think Bijan could outscore him, but I think some of the comments that we got were like Bijan's a lot bigger. He's more suited for the every down role. That's the only thing that concerns me that Gibbs is. Is his body going to let him be A bell cow. I don't have that concern with Bijan Robinson, so I could see that getting in his way. Other than that, I don't think anything's getting in his way.
Heath
You know what. What probably could determine it is which of Sam Laporta or Kyle Pitts gets the most of a coordinator boost. Because I think Dave's talked about this a lot. Like, a lot of times there's a negative relationship between tight end targets and running back targets. And it could be that I've kind of wondered if maybe they use Gibbs just a little bit less in the passing game. And he doesn't share rush attempts near as much as he has in the past, which would probably be bad for his fantasy points per touch, but not for his touchdowns and total fantasy points.
USPS Advertiser
Yeah.
Adam
Jameer Gibbs had a 21.2% target share without Laporta and a 13.3% target share with Laporta. Yeah, I mean, huge difference. So that's an. I wouldn't really call that a concern. I mean, I think he'll be involved enough in the passing game. I'll take the over on 13.3%, but, yeah, it was. It changed his season last year for sure. I mean, he was already. It was great, but he was greater after the laporte injury. Okay, let's see what the audience has to say. Simple predictions from the people gridiron gamers. Got a lot of them. Wandale Robinson will finish the year with more targets and yards. And Carnell Tate.
Dave
I like it.
Adam
I don't.
Heath
I. I agree with the targets and disagree with the yard.
Adam
Exactly where I was going. Yeah. Willie, who will have more fantasy points?
Heath
I'll take you.
Dave
I would draft Tate first.
Adam
Oh, my God. This is so bold. From Wisco Disco. This better include like, six special teams touchdowns. Raheed Shahid will lead Seattle in touchdowns.
Dave
That's bold.
Adam
Yeah, I see it.
Heath
Yeah.
Dave
I mean, JSN gets hurt week one. I don't even want to say that. What am I doing?
Adam
Did you know that I'm pretty. I'm 95. Sure the status correct. Sam Darnold had the best yards per attempt on deep balls. 20 or more air yards last year.
Dave
Sounds familiar.
Adam
I mean, I know it was better like May because I remember looking it up for the Super Bowl. So that. That should help Rashid Jeet if he could do that again.
Heath
Yeah, he's not gonna do that again.
Dave
Yeah, I think that'll be part of what they asked Shahid to do, but I think they're trying to change his role at least based on what we're. We're reading about. And they just paid him a lot of money, so he should see an uptick. He should see some of the best volume he's ever had in his career. But it's a matter of, well, I mean, scoring more than Jackson, Smith and Jigba seems crazy. Jason's gonna have to win Powerball in order for that to happen, but we could. You should absolutely consider drafting Rashid Shahid with a late pick. Nothing wrong with that at all.
Adam
All right, next up is from JC Reyes. Ashton Genti will disappoint and finish below top 12 at running back. Isaiah likely finishes top five. We already covered that one. We haven't top four. As a bold prediction, Jordan Tyson and Makai Lemon will finish higher than Carnell. Tate
Dave
could see all those things.
Adam
What's the most likely, no pun intended, of this gently will disappoint. We got to make it a little bit more bold than top 12, I think, like, let's say top six.
Dave
20.
Heath
Yeah. I think he's 12th in my projections, so that's definitely the most likely of his bold project predictions.
Adam
Genti.
Dave
I think it was 14th among running backs last year on a per game basis. Double checking. Where is he? 16th. My bad. Could he be worse than that? I think that would be a bold prediction.
Adam
I think I likely finishes top five is the boldest.
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Yes.
Adam
All right. George Holani will outscore Jadarian Price in fantasy this year from Trey Gross.
Heath
Really gross.
Adam
Yeah.
Heath
Do you guys like Price or Tootin since you just had your Tootin one?
Adam
Tootin.
Dave
I'm on Tootin.
Adam
Bold prediction from Eddie. Adam will win at least one set in his next tennis match against Dan. Yeah, Yeah, I feel decent about it. We'll see.
Heath
You're gonna win the whole thing.
Adam
Yeah, I don't, but I just. There's, like, one shot that I need to get better at, and I feel like I can because he always hits. He always hits the ball to my backhand, and then he comes in. I have to get better at my backhand lob. If I can get better at my backhand lobby, I can beat him. So I'll be working on that.
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I do.
Adam
You should all know I have Achilles tendonitis and I haven't played in two weeks. Hoping to get back out there next week, but I am injured, so I wouldn't. I wouldn't put too much on me. Gridiron gamer says Cam Ward finishes as a top 12 quarterback. I like it. Yeah, it's within the realm.
Dave
I Don't see it.
Adam
It's a tough position to crack the top 12 in. Mm, yeah, I don't really see it either. But the fact that they are encouraging Cam Ward to rush more as as Gridiron Gamer points out is encouraging.
Heath
I mean, it just kind of depends on are we talking full full season? Are we talking per game?
Adam
Everyone plays 17 games.
Heath
So everyone plays 17 games. What's that?
Adam
Both. Yeah. Per game and overall. Yeah, I don't know. It's going to be tough.
Heath
12 last year was 21.1. That's not that outlandish.
Adam
Yeah, it's just I'm sure you probably feel like they're going to be 12 quarterbacks who can do that, but you're right. It's not crazy for him to average 21 points per game. Jordan Tyson is a top five wide receiver from Ben Seth.
Heath
That's pretty insane. Unless Chris Olave is not. Okay.
Adam
That's wild.
Dave
It's true.
Adam
And finally, from Brian's gonna have to stay.
Dave
Okay. Remember, Tyson isn't at 100 right now either.
Adam
From Brian Jaden Daniels regains his form and outscores Drake May.
Dave
I don't see it. I think Mace proven to be a pretty good quarterback and now he's getting A.J.
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brown.
Heath
I, I would not. I've got them separated by two points in my projections for the full season.
Dave
So yeah, I, I, if I did projections, it would be more. What was the stat you were looking for on Sam Darnold?
Adam
Highest yards per attempt on past attempts of 20 more air yards.
Dave
He was actually second. He had 8.5. That's really good. You know who first was?
Adam
Matthew.
Dave
Timely.
Adam
Matthew Stafford.
Dave
Drake May.
Carvana Advertiser
No.
Dave
8.9 yards per attempt. You sure? No, I'm not sure. Son of a. Sorry, salty language.
Adam
Because I remember looking that up going into the super bowl and I was like, oh, Even the best thing about the Patriots offense, Sam Darnold has done better than Drake May this year.
Dave
Darnold was first, 18.5. Drake May was fourth, 15.6. I didn't have the filter on error yards.
Adam
There you go.
Dave
Overall for the season, though, Drake May first in yards per attempt. That's pretty damn good.
Adam
Yeah. Yes, it is. Okay. Is that it?
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I think that's it. Right?
Dave
Please. I don't want to mess up another statistic.
Adam
All good. So Tomorrow, back to 10am and we'll see you then. For Dave and Heath, I'm Adam. I want to thank all of you for your participation in today's show. That was awesome stuff and we'll see you later. Have a good one.
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FANTASY FOOTBALL TODAY (CBS Sports)
Episode: SHOCKING Bold Predictions for 2026 Fantasy Football!
Date: July 1, 2026
Host Adam Aizer, with analysts Dave Richard and Heath Cummings, dive into their boldest, most "shocking" predictions for the 2026 fantasy football season. Spanning running back, tight end, and wide receiver hot takes, they break down players who could overperform (or underperform) expectations and provoke robust debate on the impact of coaching changes, offensive schemes, and evolving NFL storylines. The crew also discusses audience-submitted bold predictions at the end of the show.
[44:47 – END]
The episode is high-energy, packed with stats and strong opinions. The banter is friendly but forceful—each analyst vigorously defends their takes, referencing both historical data and subjective film study. They encourage listeners to embrace uncertainty, chase high-ceiling upside, and factor in “what if?” scenarios when building a fantasy roster. Listener participation is encouraged and integrated to close out the show.
For listeners seeking actionable, courageous fantasy stance—and the logic behind the leaps—this is must-listen content, with every bold prediction explained, debated, and connected to broader trends in fantasy football strategy for 2026.