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Beyond the Box Score: Rookie Gems, Best and Worst Fits and More (04/30 Fantasy Football Podcast)
01:11:25
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B
This is Fantasy Football Today from CBS Sports. What a play. Can you believe this? No, I can't. It's time to dominate your fantasy league. Off to the races and he stays at his feet. This is gonna go the distance. Now here's some combination of Adam, Dave, Jamie and Heath.
- [02:06]
A
It is fantasy football Today meets beyond the box score. What do they call this? Crossover episode.
- [02:13]
B
Crossover episode?
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A
Yeah, remember? Do you guys remember Flintstones Meet the Jetsons?
- [02:18]
B
No, we don't remember Flintstones Meet the Jetsons. We're not in your age bracket.
- [02:22]
C
I thought you'd get a reference. BoJack Horseman, which is kind of old. And then you gave us Flintstones.
- [02:28]
A
Jamie, you've seen Flintstones beat the Jetsons, right?
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D
Yeah, I was four.
- [02:32]
A
I think it's Jetsons beat the Flintstones or Something like that. It was great. Wonderful episode. Anyway, welcome to the show. You hear Jacob and Dan. Jamie is here. I'm Adam and we're going to talk about some rookie gems. We're going to also get Dan and Jacob's opinion on the first round guys and how they fit schematically with the teams that they went to. We'll talk about the DeSean Watson news. But you know, Jacob and Dan give great tips every year on players who might not be on your fantasy radar right now, but should be. And are all of them going to pan out? No. But if one or two do, that's a huge advantage to you. So I'll even maybe be more than that. We're going to identify some players that we like that are in situations that are maybe just one injury away from being really good and really beneficial for fantasy managers. Your emails, we have some of those as well. Our email address is fantasy football cbsi.com I haven't talked. Oh, Dan, what's up? I haven't talked to you in a while.
- [03:23]
B
I haven't been on in a while. I haven't talked to you and Jamie. It feels like some part of my life is missing. So it's good to be back. It's been a lot to talk about. Save it for another mailbag. This show is focused on the football.
- [03:34]
D
He's been, he's been just raving about
- [03:36]
B
his tennis game, Dan, like none of that has happened. But I am finally playing with my brother this Friday. He's been really getting into. He wants Azerbaijan, he wants an Azer match, he wants a singles match versus you and he wants doubles match for his are brothers. That still needs to happen. Well, before our match we need to get some practice matches in.
- [03:52]
A
Okay, no problem. I'm 2.0this week, by the way, including a triumphant win last night. So anyway, I have a comment in the chat from a guy who also said I was baking eggs, which is why we were late to this show today. I've never baked eggs before, but Zed says the entire class is sleepers. LOL. It really is garbage. Draft class after like 6 picks. Stan, do you agree with that?
- [04:15]
B
You know, I'm trying to bring optimism to the show. I'm trying to be a new me new year motto. But I don't feel very good about this class at all. And there's no real. I don't want to say it as if like there's actionable advice because everyone's like, all right, well, you tell me you don't feel good about the class, then what do I do? Nobody wants to trade for these picks in Dynasty. The only thing I would say is we're gonna hype players. Just keep it into some. At least in my mind, keep it in some version of like a context of, like, let's not go so crazy. Let's not trade future assets for these guys.
- [04:43]
A
Okay.
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B
That's how I feel.
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A
Jacob?
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C
Yeah, I mean, we're today, like, we're mostly focused, I think, on what could happen this year. Right. Like, you're bringing up future assets, but we're talking about, like the 2026 season. And yeah, in reality, most of these guys are behind somebody on their depth chart. So I think it's most important to find the players we think are good and the players that are on good teams. And I do think we have plenty of those this year. I know it's a. It's a weird class overall, but I do think there are a few diamonds in the rough here potentially. And I think this practice has been good in the past, like, to kind of get ahead of some of these players who end up getting steamed up the draft board by the time August rolls around. So I'm excited to get to it.
- [05:19]
A
And then let's talk about the debate we were having before the show started. I actually think, in addition to just me kind of making fun of all three of you for being wrong, I do think it's a fun fantasy debate is if you're in a Dynasty league, when to do your rookie drafts. Because I think all three of you are already doing rookie drafts, right? And I do not want to do our rookie draft in the Baked Burger Dynasty league until, honestly, August. I just, you know, I just don't want to. And I'll tell you why. I mean, I have a little. I'm scarred by drafting RJ Harvey because people, you know, let him start the driver. And then I draft R.J. harvey and then they signed J.K. dobbins. And it really bothered me. It really bothered me. It's like almost a waste of a first round pick. And I just don't understand why to do it now. Is this to me, Jamie? I'll let you have the first one. This is me. Be like, oh, the college football championship game just ended. Let's have the NFL draft in two days. It's so silly. Like, give people time to do their research, get training camp reports. That's like the equivalent of the combine. And then do your rookie draft. Why would I do it now, Jamie? It's a terrible idea, and I hate you for it.
- [06:28]
D
Yeah, I was trying to think of all the things you hate me for. I think just it's, you know, you hate fun. So.
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B
Yeah, he does. He really does.
- [06:37]
D
I think, you know, for most people, I, I would assume. And you know what happened. We know what happens when you assume, but I would assume that most people who play in dynasty leagues also dabble in redraft league still. And so you have multiple drafts usually happening in August or at least one that you probably care about a lot. And so why would you not want to start the draft process as much as, as soon as you possibly can? Because then it allows you to still make trades on the picks that you have made at this point leading up because of things that may change. So, for example, like you got in your mind burned by RJ Harvey with the JK Dobbins signing. I would imagine there are probably still people in your league, which we are part of, that would have been very, still some very interested in RJ Harvey, despite the Dobbins addition. And you may have been able to capitalize on that and either get a player that you wanted that may have gotten a little bit or trade it for future assets. If you were so pissed off that RJ Harvey was now going to stink because the addition of J.K. dobbins, it's also not taking into account why we play dynasty. It's not just for the upcoming season, it's for the future. And so, you know, at the time when they signed Dobbins, I didn't really look at it as this is their duo now for many years to come. I thought it was, this was a stop gap that RJ Harvey's still gonna have a good career. I'm still hoping for that. But obviously what we saw in his rookie campaign did not necessarily lead to that. Not to get an RJ Harvey discussion, but again, I think the part of it is like, this is the time to have the NFL draft has happened. You're excited about your dynasty league, you're excited about the rookies. You want to do a draft, you should be doing a draft.
- [08:08]
A
Yeah, I just don't want to do
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B
it, but all right, have fun. Enjoy yourself. Like, what are you so worried about? You're always so scared and nervous about things that aren't going to hurt you. Like, look, if your decision to draft RJ Harvey was impacted that much by a one year JK Dobbins signing last year, then you didn't have the right process for drafting Harvey in the first place.
- [08:27]
A
Okay, look, I, I'm Just using it as an example. I wasn't.
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D
Well, I'll give you, I'll give you, I'll give you two scenarios right now. So I'm in one draft with other analysts in our industry and I had the seventh pick. So seventh pick all throughout. It's non snake draft. In the second round I took Stribling. He was the best player on the board for me. If There is a 49ers injury that never happens. If there's a wide receiver injury, I love the situation. Stribling may be a first round pick. If there's an injury that occurs. Conversely, I traded my third round pick. Somebody offered me. It's a super flex lead. My quarterbacks are pretty terrible. Somebody offered me Jacoby Brissette for my third round pick in this year's draft. I felt like it was worth the risk to take a chance on Jacoby Brissette. That pick ended up being Claiborne from the Vikings. Their, their running back. If there is an Aaron Jones injury or a Jordan Mason injury or both. Not that Aaron Jones ever gets hurt. Unfortunately for him, Claiborne could be somebody that's very relevant and I just made a terrible mistake by not drafting him in the third round. So there's, there's, there's ways that this works out for you and obvious against you, but that's part of the risk that you take when drafting this early, which I know you don't want to take because you don't like that fun.
- [09:39]
B
I'm also a believer, by the way, in like. And nobody likes this. I like the early August drafts for my redraft home league and stuff like that. Nobody ever wants it. But like, I want to get there before all the information's out there. I want to get there before they can just have every analyst in the world tell them everything.
- [09:52]
D
That's part of it.
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B
That is part of it. But I, I think I would do it even if I was an enthusiast of just the NFL because I would want my fresh takes to have a chance to blossom instead of like, than being caught up by every single Ana, you know, all the, the cycle that comes with it. There's still some guys that you can kind of edge by a little bit still in August. And then obviously it's gone by the end of August.
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C
I just want to say I'm happy to see you today, Adam. I don't think you're a coward. I think you like that fun. I have a lot of fun when I'm with you. Hanging out. Yes.
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A
It is April you know where James
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B
and I are at.
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A
You know, we need to be drafting in April. I mean, come on, people. All right, News and notes and then we will get into. Get into the rookies.
- [10:31]
D
We have a former co worker on our chat.
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A
Yes, Greg. Greg Simoleuka. Greg, what's going on? One of my favorites. Very, very funny. Oh, look at his. His. What does his avatar say? It says, be brave enough to suck at something new. I love that.
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B
What's green stripe?
- [10:49]
A
Green stripe was a shirt that I had.
- [10:53]
B
Oh, that green stripe.
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A
I've heard it just has the random green stripe.
- [10:57]
B
Yeah, that terrible shirt.
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A
Yeah, terrible shirt. And I wore it to work and Greg called me green stripe for the forever. He would look at me, just go straight.
- [11:07]
B
When you used to go into the office, did you have to like pass your outfit by Ally, or was it just you kind of wore whatever you wanted?
- [11:13]
A
I never. I didn't know her when I went into the office.
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B
Okay, that's. That makes a lot more.
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D
But you know her after you bought your stupid Star Source.
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C
Star Trek.
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B
That Star Trek shirt is so bad. I want him to wear that.
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D
When's the last time you put that on air?
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A
It's been a while.
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D
It's so bad. That thing is definitely going in the garbage.
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B
There's no way you're keeping that.
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A
You know who's having the worst time right now? Jacob. He's just like, what are these?
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C
I'm just. I'm just working on other stuff. Yeah, carry on, Carry on.
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B
Jacob's all game, man. He's all ball.
- [11:41]
A
Yep. I love it. All right, news and notes. DeSean Watson is the inside track to be Cleveland starting quarterback, according to Mary kay Cabot of cleveland.com from a CBS sports.com article. Here's just a quote. When he has been on the field, Watson has been awful among 48 quarterbacks with at least 500 dropbacks from 2022 to 2024. So it's 48 quarterbacks. Watson ranked 47th. I'll just make it easier. 46th or 47th in net yards per attempt, expected points added per play, explosive plays per drop back sac rate and negative plays rate. So we know he's been one of the worst quarterbacks. One time the guys were dumb enough to let me write a sleepers column and I made Deshaun Watson a 2024 sleeper because he actually played five healthy games in 2023 and he averaged 20.5 fantasy points per game. And because if you actually look at his, he's played five or six healthy games in three straight seasons of Sean Watson. And I'll just point this out. He's coming off a torn Achilles, but in all three seasons he was on pace for at least 419 rushing yards. And I'll just, you know, I'll just leave it there because he still has some rushing upside to maybe make him fantasy relevant. But Jacob, what do you think? DeSean Watson, not to say that he wouldn't lose his job or anything if he struggles, but I guess would you for the sake of Casey Concepcion or Denzel Boston is. Do you have a preference of quarterback?
- [13:07]
C
No. I guess Watson, I mean you're like he's was the worst when he played and it's like, well, yeah, so was Shador and Taylor Green. Like they lost 10 straight games at Arkansas last year or whatever. Like, I no, I don't really want any of the Browns guys for this year.
- [13:21]
D
I love this, love this, love this for Fanon, Concepcion, Boston, all these guys because this is going to get them to Arch Manning.
- [13:29]
B
That is true. But that's down the line. That's good for the dynasty aspect of it. I thought it was interesting. Jamie, you retweeted, I think Mary Kay Cabot's report on this, but I just clicked through that and I just thought it was super interesting. He's like breaking news out of voluntary minicamp. Deshaun Watson has emerged as the undoubted favorite. I'm like voluntary minicap. I've been. I've seen one of these things with the Giants. It is not intense. It is. Nothing is going on there. There is no nobody emerging from camp rookie voluntary minicamp. So I think this is still going to be a job that's one in camp. I don't think Watson's going to be the favorite. I think he'll win the job just because I personally find Gabriel and and Sanders to be pretty unplayable at the NFL level. But I don't think it's going to be too much of advantage for fans about that Watson year. Like that was pre Achilles. Right. When he had those rushing yards that the Achilles was after that. Yeah. So I just. It killed. It kills his fantasy value to not be like have that upside in my mind of the rushing.
- [14:23]
A
It's been a while though. It's been a year and a half, I think. Yeah. Or it will be since he tore the Achilles. I think it's gonna be like pretty close to two full years once week. Week one rolls around. But all right. George Pickens signed his franchise tender. The Texan signed linebacker Aziz Al shire to a three year, 54 million dollar deal. And Matt Barrows of the Athletic thinks that the 49ers could release Brandon Ayuk on May 27th when their OTAs began. Give me, give me a quick beyond the box score promo. I can't. I would give it to Dan the, the, what do we call him? But I don't have enough time. So let's go to Jacob for Beyond the box score promo.
- [15:04]
C
Yeah, we've got just a bunch of NFL draft coverage. So like lots of player specific stuff, like 15 to 20 minutes on all of the biggest players if you want to learn more about them specifically. And then like we also are doing every team, looking at every single team in the NFL and what they did in the NFL draft or did not do, including like their UDFA signings and stuff like that to try to get an idea of like what these identities are. And so that's what we'll be doing over the rest of the offseason. Just kind of figuring out what we think these teams are going to do from the coaching staff down to the players and figuring out how that's all going to affect fantasy.
- [15:37]
A
And the most important thing you need to do today is you need to send Dave Richard an email because Dave is looking for people who are interested in taking part in our fan mock drafts. These are only for fans. Okay. These are only fans mock drafts and they might start as soon as next week. Joke never gets old. If you want to be in the only Fans mock draft, email Dave Richard at d.richard cbs.com which is really. We have about 10 email addresses that work.
- [16:07]
B
We have a lot of emails.
- [16:08]
A
And this is. I cannot believe he uses this one.
- [16:11]
B
But D. Richard, that is crazy. He's not using that. Well, maybe he wants to separate the real.
- [16:17]
A
They go to the same box, I think. But Anyway, D. Richard CBS.com if you want to be in this mock draft, that's for fans only. We'll be right back with rookie thoughts on FFT meets Beyond the Box Score meets the Flintstones meets the Jetsons after this.
- [16:36]
B
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- [16:44]
C
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B
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- [17:06]
A
Let's get into schemes here. Which first round pick is a good fit for his team's offense? Dan Schneier.
- [17:13]
B
Well, let me first start. First round rookie pick or first round NFL draft pick?
- [17:17]
A
NFL draft pick.
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B
Oh, NFL draft rookie drafts.
- [17:20]
D
Adam does not like those. Come on.
- [17:22]
B
Good point. That's a good point. I need to start this little dialogue by saying I wouldn't be doing my job as plug God if I didn't say, please do us a favor, go on to YouTube, type in fantasy football today beyond the box score. Just immediately hit. Subscribe to our show. Jacob and I, we really need help growing the numbers. You guys can help us do this. It means a lot if you hit like on every show and comment that's also helpful. But please subscribe, help us get it up, help us get it through the algorithm and into the people's heads. All right, that's time that I, I got my little time there. Best first round rookie draft pick or non rookie draft? Just first round pick that I like. Jordan Tyson for me, he's number one for me. As far as the fit goes. I know a lot of people have questioned it. People have said, oh, what's the ceiling here With Chris Olave on the roster, is it possible for him to out target or lave? I think the answer is yes. As good as Olave was, I still think the answer is yes because for what Kellen Moore wants to do a lot of quick game and win over the middle of the field. Something I think Tyler Shock can do but needs to still take a jump at. Like to me, Chuck was at his best last year throwing outside the numbers. He can and showed some glimpses of throwing inside the numbers. But that's going to be something that has to take a step forward with timing, with rapport. That's where Tyson can win and I think that's where Tyson will win. And I think there is upside for him to out target and potentially out produce from a reception standpoint. Maybe not a yards or possibly touchdown standpoint Olave this year. So I love the fit in the scheme and I love the fit for him to get a lot of targets there.
- [18:46]
A
Jacob, your answer. Best fit for a first round pick.
- [18:49]
C
That was incredible. I'll go Jadarian Price. I've got some concerns about Price as well, but the fit is pretty clear here. I think as the Kenneth Walker replacement, essentially coming in as the explosive back who can read out some of these outside zone runs, inside zone runs as well and find holes to to bounce Outside and he's, he's tough to bring down once he gets ahead of steam rolling. So I think he's going to be pretty effective for them on the ground.
- [19:20]
A
Jamie, any thoughts?
- [19:22]
D
I love the Price call. I mean not that the Tyson calls bad by any stretch, but I mean it's not just. And, and you know, from a, from a scheme standpoint, obviously he, he can do the things that Ken Walker does from a touch standpoint. I mean there's 400 some odd vacated touches with Walker and Charbonnet injured. You know, Walker gone and Charbonnet injured. And so it's going to be sort of fascinating to see which of the two backups, you know, which prior to the draft could have been the starters. But you know, George Holani and Emmanuel Wilson, you know, help in, in working with Price who clearly as we've, you know, seen and, and discussed many times since the draft, not a full time guy at Notre Dame. You know, can he handle that workload and be that type of guy? Because if he does, you know, as, as Jacob said, I think it might have been off there. But you know, you're talking about the things that change right now versus August and we get those August reports about he's going to be the full time guy, he's going to be the featured guy, we're going to use him more in the passing game than, than he did at Notre Dame and all these things, these positive reports like Jadarian Price, we would, he goes six round in the draft we did on Tuesday, like we could be looking at a round four or you know, if it's steamed up too much around three pick, you know, just based on the excitement. When you start to talk about those running backs, you know, 15 through 25 in a lot of people's rankings in ADP. So price is, is one of the more fascinating high end rookies just based on where he landed and what his potential could be in that offense.
- [20:44]
A
Dan, what do you make of Jadarian Price only having 15 catches in three seasons at Notre Dame? And what do you think about his pass catching potential in the NFL?
- [20:56]
B
It's a big flaw in his overall profile. I remember Jacob and I going over this pre draft and it was a concern. I think, you know, we've seen some guys evolve to some extent like Jonathan Taylor I think had what at Wisconsin in that range of 15 total catches something poor like that and has evolved his game somewhat at the NFL level from a receiving standby though I still feel like he's mostly just used on Design passing game touches. I don't think Price will ever be like that route winner, the guy that becomes a big focal point of the passing game. You're gonna have to win with him in the red zone. You're gonna have to win with him with explosive plays and just being in a good offense. Those are question marks for me, a lot of those. Honestly, I don't know for sure if he's going to have the red zone role even before Charbonnet gets back. I don't know how explosive that offense is going to be. It was good last year, was efficient last year. We'll see. They're. They've taken steps on the O line that I like. Obviously Gray's able, was an amazing draft pick last year, but I think there's some incomplete aspect. Like if Jamie's right and I think he will be, by the way, that he just gets steamed up. I think it could be round three, like pushing because if people are looking at the board and just being like, well, he's the lead back on Seattle Sharpade is not back until week eight. All I'm competing against is Holani and Emmanuel Wilson. People aren't going to really give them the credit and respect in my mind that Seahawks coaching staff might be. So it's going to kind of look on paper like, wow, this guy is a clear lead back role on the Seattle Seahawks. Why are we drafting some kind of, you know, some timeshare guys over him? So I think he'll probably get steamed up to a point where it doesn't add up with the profile from the receiving standpoint or from kind of the upside standpoint.
- [22:26]
D
Just, just real quick, just, you know, I went to the combine for a few years. It was the Ken Walker class. Speaking to Ken Walker, his, you know, cat pass catching potential was also questioned, I believe. Where was he before? Michigan State? Wherever he was, he was a little bit more involved in his first stint in college as a receiver. He was.
- [22:46]
B
There's an acc.
- [22:47]
A
It wasn't.
- [22:48]
C
I was thinking Wake Forest. I don't. But I don't know if that's right.
- [22:50]
A
It was Wake Forest.
- [22:52]
B
Oh, it was.
- [22:53]
D
Wow, what a call. I remember that was a conversation.
- [22:56]
A
He had 19 catches, Jamie. Ken Walker had 19 catches in college in three years.
- [23:01]
D
Yeah, it was, it was a story because Ryan Wilson likes to tell the joke. Walker was Ryan's number one running back that year and most people like Breece hall better. And we were on set with both of them and I, I said to Breeze, I go, hey, this guy has you number two, what would you say to him? Look of death.
- [23:19]
B
It's awesome.
- [23:21]
D
And Ryan likes to remind me of that all the time. I just went back and looked in high school his junior and senior year. He had 28 catches in his junior year in 11 games and 27 catches in his senior year. So if he can be a 25 catch guy, which I think is realistic, not necessarily hard to do if he's a full time guy, like that just gives him a little bit more of a bump and then anything on top of that, like if he can get into the 30 range, like then we are talking about a guy that could significantly outperform what his ADP at least is right now are setting up to be.
- [23:50]
A
Yeah, but Jamie, in high school, 35% of his catches came in one game against a team that was. That gave up the third.
- [23:58]
D
I'm just giving out
- [24:01]
B
the heck is that round.
- [24:02]
A
No, I'm just giving like a crazy stupid made up stat. Okay, second question here. Which first round?
- [24:08]
D
We also have just. Just to put in perspective a new play caller in Seattle. So Right. You know, run game coordinator from San Francisco obviously like to throw to their backs. So we'll see if that matters too. Yeah.
- [24:19]
A
Which first round rookie is a bad fit for his team's offense? Jacob,
- [24:25]
C
I have not thought about this at all. Let me, let me think about this for a moment.
- [24:29]
A
Hopefully nobody, I think people would point
- [24:32]
C
towards Lemon, but I what I would say just because Hertz is like league low in terms of targeting the middle of the field. But I do think the Lemon can do a lot more than just the slot stuff that he's done. And if you look at the GM and the coach speak, they both point towards that a lot. That he can beat all sorts of different coverage types, work from the inside and the outside. And then also we have a new play caller in Philadelphia. So maybe we do see Hertz's game expanded a little bit. But in terms of just like on paper, the fit there probably feels the most awkward of the round one guys.
- [25:04]
B
Dan, for me it's definitely Lemon. I mean look, I have a little bit more faith in both lemon and sours. I saw some. I thought it was a great discussion with Matt Harmon and Nate Tysler. They're saying like these guys are also like, yeah, they win on in breaking routes. They also can win with the quick outbreaking routes. And that's like an area of the field. Hertz has been a little bit better targeting. I still have question marks there. I mean I just flashbacks to Last year's Thursday night Football game against the Giants where he tried in the red zone to throw an outbreaker and Cordell Flot jumped it for a pick six. And it was really telegraphed and it was really bad velocity throw behind the receiver. So I, I don't necessarily know if any of their game fits Hertz, but that's a problem that any receiver was going to join the Eagles was going to have for me.
- [25:46]
A
Okay, let me throw out a. Let me throw out this one. Do we think that Jeremiah Love might be a bad fit for a team that has three legit pass casting, pass catching options already? And I mean, I think a lot of people consider them to have a bad offensive line. The Cardinals did draft an offensive lineman with their second round pick. ESPN's run block win rate had them at 15, but PFF had them at 29. So I never know what to believe there. But I feel like Jeremiah Love's gonna have to be involved Jamie in the passing game to a pretty good degree. I mean, I think we need, I think they need to use him that way because he's, he can be really good that way. But yeah, I mean, considering they have arguably the best tight end and these two wide receivers who look good last year at times, is it going to be enough for him? Is it, is he a bad fit for Arizona?
- [26:45]
D
I don't, I mean, look, it's not the most ideal fit, you know, especially if they're going to keep everybody on their depth chart. So, you know, it's not just that they have those three pass catchers, they have James Connor who also can do that. They have Trey Benson, who I think can still potentially be involved in that. I don't think there's going to be Tyler Algier, but it really comes down to, for me, like, who's going to be the quarterback. If it's Carson Beck and you're asking him to support all of these guys, then I'm gonna be terrified. You know, if it's obviously Jacoby Brissette or even Gardner Mincha, you know, guys who have had success in this type of situation, you know, bad teams having to throw a lot, having to play sort of, you know, this heroic style of football late in games, then I think it's going to be fine. It just really comes down to like, any team that he was going to go to, he was going to make better. Any, any situation that he was going to go to, they were going to feature him. Is this the, the type of offense, you know, again, it's It's a new play caller, it's, you know, new coach. So we'll, we'll see how this is. But you know, when you see the investment, knowing that they had so many holes to fill and they go out and they just say we're taking what we consider to be the best player in this draft, best player at third overall, I think that just speaks volumes to how much they're going to use him. So it really comes down to, for what we do is how much of an investment do you want to make in him? And I think where he went in our draft on Tuesday was perfect. Early round three, you know, went in that mix of running backs of, you know, right after Genti and Hampton behind Chase Brown, you know, you can argue the Josh Jacobs pick, you know, where, where that went, Jacobs falling in that draft, but around those guys, Ken Walker, all that group of running backs like Derrick Henry, like, I think you just put him in that, in that second back half of round one, that's appropriate. So ideal landing spot, ideal situation, ideal offense. Probably not on paper, but I don't think that matters for a talent like him. I think his, you know, his performance will speak for itself if he gets enough work.
- [28:40]
C
For what it's worth, Mike lafor offenses have not thrown to the running back position very much. Breeze Hall's lowest target total came in his rookie season and that was his lowest per game total too, other than last year, which was obviously just a mess with the Jets. And that's the most that a LaFleur offense has thrown to the running back position in terms of like a running back. And their targets per game. 4.4 targets per game for pre Salt that year. Then it's Kyron Williams with four targets per game and that's back in 2023. And no other running back has had more than that in this offense. It does feel a little bit awkward. The Arizona fit with him and McBride and the receivers.
- [29:11]
A
Yeah. All right, maybe my last question about the day one guys. Which rookie? Jacob, I'll go to you first. Which rookie should be drafted second in redraft leagues? Jeremiah Love is going to be first. The draft we did the other day, I believe Carnell Tate was second, but we thought maybe Price would be. Who do you think should be drafted second among the rookies?
- [29:32]
C
I would probably go with Tyson. I think that he has the most upside. Price does scare me for a lot of reasons. So if you do want to check out these individual profiles, I have them beyond the box score. There's a bunch of Research and he would have to be like Nick Chubb level good, I think, to be a fantasy contributor within the parameters that we have for what he looks like on paper, which is a running back who really struggles in short yardage situations and isn't much of a passing doubts contributor. I think that this might sound silly, but Emmanuel Wilson is really, really solid at those two things. He's a success rate machine and he's a good pass protector, big body. So I think he'll probably be splitting early. And then Zach Charbonnet is looming. There's obviously upside with him, but there's upside with Tyson too. I think the fit is really, really perfect there. And Kellen Moore is just the exact type of offensive coordinator to get Tyson a lot of free releases where he's moving around before the snap and finding perfect ways to strain defenses and create space for Tyson to win one on one matchups, which is what he's very good at. What he's not good at is like winning off of the line, getting physical with players, winning through the catch point. He needs space. I think he's in a perfect situation here with the Saints, so that, that's probably who I would lean towards. Although I haven't done, I've only done positional rankings. I've done overall rankings yet.
- [30:41]
A
Okay, Dan, same question. Which rookie should be drafted second in redraft leagues?
- [30:45]
B
Yeah, I actually just had this decision sort of, I mean it was love them and Doza was super flex, but I had the same to say. It's not like I was going to take Ty Simpson at three and I took Tyson. I feel very similarly. Jacob outlined a great case for him. Wow.
- [30:58]
A
Okay.
- [31:00]
B
Rookie draft in a, in a dynasty. Rookie.
- [31:03]
D
Yeah, yeah.
- [31:04]
A
Redraft.
- [31:05]
B
Adam's asking for redraft. Oh, the answer would still be Tyson. For me, I, I, I'm not very, I'm not as high on this Carnell Tate Titan situation, I think. Look, Kenmore has an explosive arm and he's really good off script and he's really good at the intermediate level, which could be great for, for Tate. I think he, if you look at the numbers dating back to even his last season in Miami, he struggled with vertical throws, the 20 plus yard air throws, the ball placement, the accuracy numbers. It was all down at Miami and down in his first season with the Titans.
- [31:33]
A
Yeah, it was. But I do think he's a good fit in that intermediate range.
- [31:38]
B
You know he is good in the intermediate range, but I think that offense could devolve very quickly into Wandell Robinson. 150 targets.
- [31:44]
C
Keller Moore has been so good for fantasy. I feel like that's just such an easy one to bet on. There could be an injury or something with Tyson, but Kellen Moore, man, is just like, put together fantasy juggernauts over and over and over. And particularly he's been really good at, like, using the slot. Like, he's produced more PPR points from the slot and Kenan Allen seasons and in CD Lamb seasons than we've ever seen before. And I don't. It's not fair to Tyson to be like, oh, he's going to be Keenan Allen or CD Lamb. But those are two guys who are like, actually kind of does move a little bit like them before the catch in terms of the quickness laterally and stuff like that. Both those guys came to mind for me and Dan when we watched a bunch of Tyson film. I think it's such a good fit.
- [32:18]
B
Cool.
- [32:19]
A
Let's get into some rookie gems. So we've heard a lot over the last few weeks about, you know, before the draft and after the draft, about the round one guys. Certainly we've. We've hammered that point home, but how about after that? Jacob, I'm gonna let you start. Who do you want to highlight here? And let's frame it appropriately. We're not saying that you need to draft these guys in redraft leagues. We're saying we like these players. If something breaks right, they could have a nice fantasy impact. I won't put words in your mouth. How do you want to frame these rookie gems? And then you can talk about whoever you want to talk about.
- [32:52]
C
Yeah. So we've gone like, super, super off the deep end sicko picks over the past couple of years with these rookie gems. I look back at last year's answers, and it was like basically everyone was round four through seven. I'm gonna cheat a little bit here because, you know, this class is maybe not as good, relatively speaking. And Adam wanted some, like, more relevant players. So I'm gonna go the round three pick, early round three pick. I really like Antonio Williams game. He's a slot receiver mostly, but I do think he can win on the outside. And if you read the coach speak, the GM speak on this guy, they love him to death. I really liked his game, but I think that he's kind of like the Elijah Moore type of profile where it's like, really, really good winner from the inside. But we're kind of moving. It seems like being a ball is kind of moving in a direction where that kind of player doesn't matter as much. And so I was like, unless he gets a perfect fit, I'm probably not going to care about him for fantasy. And then he goes to a team that really seems to value all of the skills that he brings and thinks that he has the toughness to play in two receiver sets as well. They really talk about his blocking, his ability to win over the middle, his fearlessness over the middle in terms of taking hits. They, they think he's a bigger, more physical presence than the typical slot receiver archetype. I feel so good about Williams with the caveat that, like, to Adam's point about drafting rookie drafts too early, we could easily see Brandon Iuk, Stefan Diggs, Juwan Jennings, somebody like that come in here and change the equation a little bit. But as it currently stands, he's in an offense with a really good quarterback with a new play caller who could open some things up in terms of play action and stuff like that to boost efficiency. And no clear target hog and really no other target presence behind Terry McLaurin, who's kind of always topped out of that 22 target share range. So things look great for him for fantasy purposes. And I actually did like the film and data evaluation. I just didn't know how it translated. But now that he's in a good spot, I feel really good about it.
- [34:42]
D
Mike, he's going round one in rookie drafts now. That's, it's, you know. Yeah, I, I think when you start to get past like the 10th, 11th
- [34:49]
B
pick, like even where it gets worse, even at 8, I feel like it
- [34:52]
D
just gets, that's fair. You know, I, I, you know, there's just, you look for fit, you look for opportunity. I think Jacob said it best. Like this could be one where we get screwed over a little bit for 20, 26. But McLaurin's 29.
- [35:05]
B
Right.
- [35:05]
D
You could certainly see a situation where they're done with him and whoever they add, whether it's, you know, Jennings or Diggs or Ayuk or, you know, shockingly, maybe Tyree Kill, you know, all these older receivers that are not going to be around very long. So it could be a great situation for Williams even if he doesn't necessarily have that type of production as rookie season.
- [35:23]
A
Yeah. Looking at the draft grades on our draft tracker, this one got an A plus from Mike Renner. Antonio Williams going to the Commanders early in the third round. We are going to take a break and get more rookie gems when we come back on fantasy football today. Okay. Dan, you're Up.
- [35:39]
D
All right.
- [35:39]
B
Keeping with the theme of trying to find not so deep gems for now. Started off with the less deep ones and players who might actually impact redraft right away. I'm gonna go with a player who I think is down on some people's boards. He's all the way up at nine for me overall. My dynasty rankings. And that's DeSean Stribling, the wide receiver from the 49ers. They made a much earlier draft pick than people expected. Looked into Stribling more after the draft. Saw a little bit of him pre draft. When I watched him, there was. It wasn't the most complete wide receiver profile and I wasn't a huge fan of him. But when he was drafted to the 49ers, like, this is exactly where he needs to be. It's the exact profile that I think will win in that type of scheme and that type of system that Shannon runs. It's the ability to win on overs and win with the ball after the catch. This is exactly the type of receiver they've drafted and they've had success with in a Brandon Ayuk mold. To me, just that ability. I think at one point he reached 23 miles per hour last season. Post catch shriveling, one of the fastest, if not the fastest speeds of any receiver. It's what they're looking for, somebody to run the overs off the play action, catch the ball, have Purdy time it up perfectly the way Birdie does and then once he's in space, he'll do the rest and so the fit's awesome. I think he'll get on the field early because he can block better, much better than Ricky Pierceall. Heck, he can block probably immediately better than almost every receiver on that team, especially if they don't re sign Juwan Jennings. So essentially I feel like they'll just use him like Jenny, they use Jennings. So I don't really understand any of the drawback with Stribling outside the age. The lack of production profile. Obviously coming from a team where production wasn't easy at college and a system and scheme and quarterback play where it wasn't easy. Age is definitely a factor. He's not like the loosest receiver out there. He's not. It's not like watching Jordan Tyson run routes, but I don't think it needs to be. I don't think Debo Samuel was the greatest route runner ever either with San Francisco, and he was uber productive there as well. So the blocking will get him on the field early. The post catch explosion will make it fun in fantasy. Very high on stribling.
- [37:31]
A
Yeah, Stribling is 6 foot 2 and he ran a 4, 3, 6, 40. And I looked at the list of guys who were 6 foot 2 and I don't know if I. 6 foot 2 or higher. Probably 6 foot 2 or higher or taller. And ran. He ran a 4, 3, 6. I put a 4, 3, 8, 40 or better. And you get guys like, you know, back in the day, Calvin Johnson, Julio Jones, but more recently DK Metcalf, Brian Thomas Jr. Christian Watson, then you get DJ Chark, Adonai Mitchell, and it's a list of guys with high eight O's for the most part. So my fear with Stribling, who was taken really early in the second round, I mean, kind of like when we'd be very interested in a wide receiver, just seemed like a huge reach, is that he just becomes. What are we calling it now? The sacrificial X. The deep ball guy. Because these. These big.
- [38:18]
B
I don't see that in that offense, though. That's not how that offense operates.
- [38:22]
A
What kind of did with Piersol last year and it was really bothered me with Pierce.
- [38:26]
B
Hall's a very different player, though. Yeah.
- [38:28]
A
And now he is. He shouldn't be used that way.
- [38:32]
B
I agree.
- [38:32]
A
And now they have Evans, you know, maybe they use Evans that way. I don't know. But Stribling, I just hope he doesn't become a deep ball guy. Basically. He didn't. He did not catch. Caught 14 deep balls in 56 career games in college. I don't really know what to make
- [38:48]
D
of him, but I think the fun thing about Kyle Shanahan is that he's one of the best at evolving his, you know, profile a little bit, you know, and using what works best for him at that time. And, you know, you've seen different versions of this, you know, the Debo Samuel run offense, the Christian McCaffrey run offense. You know, how George Kittle has, you know, evolved from. I don't want to say just a red zone threat, but, you know, clearly his game continues to, you know, keep improving. And so, you know, he. He caters to his personnel. He's obviously had to cater to what Brock Purdy has done based on what he had with Jimmy Garoppolo and what they thought they were going to get with Trey Lance. And so now you're adding a Hall of Fame guy in Mike Evans. You're adding, you know, a guy that a lot of people think they reach for clearly in. In scribbling. But his Game may fit to what this offense needs. You know, we haven't seen what really Ricky Piersoll can do because he's been injured so much and you know, had a lot of missed time in, in the pre season process, you know with the gunshot wound and, and some injuries last year. So like this is. And now you have Kittle coming off an Achilles injury, you know, so there, there's a lot of moving parts again for San Francisco with a 30 year old running back like this. This is one of these guys. I think it's dribbling that he and, and I think Williams too. You know we had the comment in the chat like we're going to look back on this and say this was like the Amara St. Brown. I, I think when you look at these, these guys like these are good fits for either opportunity or role or both or, or system or both. Like he could be, he could be fascinating, you know, just based on an injury or even just a year away when Evans is 33 and he leaves the team. Like this could be a big piece of what San Francisco and Kyle Shanahan do. Assuming Shanahan's still there.
- [40:23]
C
Can I throw out an old school Shanahan comp and get your opinion on this for stribling? Somebody who had success with him in Washington and San Francisco is Pierre Garzone. Yeah.
- [40:32]
B
Oh nurse.
- [40:34]
C
I think Garcelle could do a little bit more as a route runner, but a deep ball guy who could also do some of the short stuff, can move into the slot a little bit, has a little bit of yak, was just really tough. I've been trying to figure out like who he reminds me of from Shanahan receivers and I was thinking of like Juwan Jennings and Kendrick Bourne and players like that but I'm like he's just way faster, way more athletic than those guys. And then Garcons who I kind of landed on in terms of recent recent players. I feel like Romeo Dobbs is who I've been throwing out to people where it's like the Dobbs track kind of where it's like typically this kind of player in terms of the way that they win as an NFL player doesn't often get a lot of targets or be that meaningful for fantasy. But I do think he's better than Dobbs. I think he's a little bit more physical, he's faster, has I think better feel for like space after the catch and stuff like that. So maybe he can expand on that a little bit and he's in a, maybe a Better offense too.
- [41:26]
A
Okay. Yeah. All right, Jacob, you're back on the clock with another rookie gem.
- [41:31]
C
Yeah. So I like the stribling call out, but he's not somebody I would go to because like I said, I think I have a hard time seeing the ultimate upside. Is he ever going to be like a target hog type of player? And so that's. I, I'm. I'm taking bigger swings here with like Antonio Williams or I think he could be somebody who gets like a target share above 20%. And so the other guy who from me, for me from this class stands out in that way is Chris Bell in Miami. It would be a wait and see thing. I doubt that we'll see a bunch of him early in the year, but Louisville receiver Chris Bell, awesome, awesome on film in his fourth season there, really broke out in a huge way and could have had a lot more. The quarterback play was, I mean if you watch it, you see Chris Bell like throwing his hands up all the time, making kind of showing his quarterback up. So we'll see if that translates to the pros.
- [42:13]
A
He doesn't care about the character, folks.
- [42:16]
C
Yeah, that only, that only adds to the AJ Brown comparisons which are pretty clear. Like when you watch him in the collegiate levels like that literally looks like A.J. brown out here against college guys and he's, he's a more refined player I think than you would expect given the archetype of like big physical guy. But he's gonna break out until year four. I think he's a much better version of like the Xavier Legate type of players that we've seen come in recently where they're big athletic presence but they didn't break down till late. And why is that? And then you watch him at the NFL level and like, oh, there's a, there's a lot of reasons why I think this guy can, can win at the tops of his routes and that when coming back to the ball with physicality and they can win with the ball in his hands as well. So in a Miami offense that really doesn't have anyone like that at all, he's pretty intriguing late in the year.
- [42:58]
A
Yeah, I'm probably going to take Chris Bell over Stribling. I probably will have this decision to make when I pick 11th and 12th in our stupid Dynasty league, which sucks.
- [43:07]
B
But why does the dynasty.
- [43:09]
A
Because I suck.
- [43:10]
B
Your team is so bad in it.
- [43:11]
A
Yeah.
- [43:11]
B
It's not a fair way to go about it. I know. Joking play better.
- [43:15]
D
What was the Malik neighbors trade again?
- [43:18]
A
I gave, I traded Malik Neighbors for some, a bag of popcorn. And what was it?
- [43:25]
B
Why didn't you come to people like there's a Giants fan in the league. You didn't even give them a chance.
- [43:29]
A
You don't actually check your messages. You don't even know. You don't even know.
- [43:31]
B
You can text me. Adam, we text all the time about nonsense. You can text me about something important like I'm trading neighbors. He's on the block. It's a top dynasty player, like a top 20 dynasty player. Can you beat this offer? And I might have beaten it, honestly. What was it again?
- [43:44]
A
No, it doesn't matter what it was. I don't want to talk.
- [43:46]
B
No, I want to know what you got for neighbors.
- [43:48]
A
I don't want to talk about it.
- [43:49]
B
And I need to know now it's relevant.
- [43:52]
D
Like now we're in the rookie drafts.
- [43:53]
B
Jimmy, what was it?
- [43:54]
A
Listen, I don't want to talk about it. Chris Bell. Yeah, we like Chris Bell.
- [44:00]
D
I think the Dolphins situation is fascinating. They drafted three wide receivers. Bell may not play much this year. If I'm Miami, I almost give him a red shirt year because this not going to matter very much and want to make sure this guy's healthy because he might be very relevant for them in the future. I. I think Caleb Douglas, you know, I was talking to Pete Prisco about him. He said a lot of people in the league like him much more than the draft Nick people did based on where the rankings were. So like he heard from a lot of people around the league that the Dolphins got a very nice pick in in nice player in Douglas. We'll see how that matters. And then Kevin Coleman's another guy that's gonna, you know, be potentially involved for them. It's just like this receiving core on paper could be absolutely disastrous, you know, and all three of these rookies may matter when you're talking about Jalen Tolbert and Tutu Atwell and Malik Washington, like that's what these guys are competing with and they could come in and be significant playmakers right away.
- [44:50]
A
Okay, let's go to our next one. Dan, who's your next pick?
- [44:55]
B
Fortunately, I was just told what the trade was in the chat. I have no idea when you did this, but it was just unbelievably bad just recently. Oh, my God.
- [45:02]
D
Oh, you want the trade? I'll tell you what.
- [45:04]
A
No, I don't care about the trade anymore.
- [45:05]
B
Adam traded Malik Neighbors, one of the best players in dynasty overall pretty much for Michael Wilson who actually like but not to that extent a crappy 2026. One that he's gonna do nothing with. It's like stribling or.
- [45:18]
A
Yeah, okay, we're muting him.
- [45:20]
B
And then a two and a three. All right, let me tell you my name.
- [45:23]
A
I got two first round picks and a two and a three. Okay.
- [45:26]
B
I got a second first, I hope in 2027.
- [45:28]
A
No, unfortunately, they. These picks are terrible now. I mean, the. I thought. I didn't think this draft would be this bad.
- [45:35]
B
That team is going to be so bad for so many years. Dynasty team. Oh, my God.
- [45:39]
A
It already is. It already is, my friend.
- [45:42]
D
All right, this is the curse of Darnold Mooney for you.
- [45:44]
A
All right, let's go a little faster here. I want you guys to get more players.
- [45:47]
B
Yes, yes. Okay. Okay. Let me get to my next one.
- [45:49]
A
Go ahead.
- [45:49]
B
It's one of my favorite bets in this entire class before the draft. And I don't mind the landing spot. It's Head Hurst, the wide receiver out of Georgia State. This guy is 6 foot 4, 204 pounds, ran a 4, 42 and has a 32, almost 33 inch arms and uses them well. He's unbelievable at tracking the football on the vertical plane. He can accelerate post catch in ways that are exciting for someone who's 6 foot 4. He's the closest athletic comp and not athletic, I mean, movement comp somebody. When I watch the tape, I see it to George Pickens that I've seen since George Pickens came to the NFL. He's not George Pickens, but he has some aspects of his game that you might say are maybe a little bit more intriguing. The 4, 42 speed, the post catch burst. He was a former no star recruit and now he's a NFL draft pick in round three to the Bucs, a team that lost. Mike Evans has developed wide receivers in really good ways and has really scouted wide receivers well at Buka. McMillan I thought was a good job scouting. Tez Johnson was a good job scouting. Understands the wide receiver's position and how what to win. His ability to kind of sink his hips at the top of the routes is really uncanny for somebody who's 6 foot 4 and 204 pounds. I have a couple things I wanted to bring with him. I mean, he's got production. He had 34 catches of 20 plus yards. That's obviously an FBS and so obviously it's not, you know, you want to take that into account. But this is what really stands out to me as far as like getting the hype machine going Steve Smith, former NFL receiver, said he has the ability and shows flashing of a quote unquote faster Larry Fitzgerald. And then he went over the tape and he's like, this is what Fitz used to do. And he's like showing examples. Greg Cassell, godfather of tape, said if this guy played at any of the Power 5 scores of power Force conferences, he would have been a first round draft pick. And I completely agree with him. I don't mind the landing spot and I'm all in on Hearst.
- [47:29]
A
All right, I have a question for you. Movie. Movie trivia. Yeah, I was going to say movie trivia. Name the movie that this character is in.
- [47:38]
B
Did I freeze again, Olaf? Yeah, I don't know, but I can't believe this is freezing again. I just did so many things to fix this issue.
- [47:45]
A
You don't know, Olaf?
- [47:47]
B
I don't know, Elsa. Why would I have ever seen Frozen? I was frozen the entire time.
- [47:55]
D
So brutal.
- [47:55]
B
I don't know what's happening. Thomas. Thomas. Figure it out. Talk to it. Do all the work.
- [48:01]
C
The moment he stopped talking, he unfroze.
- [48:04]
B
Yeah.
- [48:04]
A
Yeah, that's great.
- [48:06]
B
Why?
- [48:07]
A
Why?
- [48:08]
C
I love. I love the Ted Hurst call out.
- [48:10]
A
Yeah. So so far, Antonio Williams and Chris Bell from Jacob Deshaun Stribling and Ted Hurst for Dan and Jacob, you're on the clock.
- [48:22]
C
I've got lots of other receivers, but let's get them, let's get them a non receiver. I'm gonna go with Demon Claiborne. Minnesota Round 6, wide open backfield potentially one where there could be injuries. Sorry. Dan Koc, love the offensive fit there and man, the idea of him and Kyler Murray together in the backfield potentially could be a lot of fun, a lot of speed there for defenses to worry about. That offensive line could be good at moments. Last year they looked really, really good before they all got hurt. And I really liked his film. I think there's some receiving upside potentially, but mostly you're looking for explosive plays. So I think he's. He's a really interesting guy that you're going to get at the end of drafts for free who could be worth the stash and could come on strong at some point in. And even though he's small, he showed an ability to handle a lot of work up the middle, handle multiple games of 20 plus touches at the collegiate level. So I think there's, there's some upside. Probably Minnesota doesn't want him in that type of a role, but there's some upside if need be that he could push into 1015, 20 touches in a game.
- [49:17]
D
I wonder if I love the call. I wonder if. Because this running back class is not very exciting, at least not very exciting going in and you saw two guys in round one and then just everybody sort of fall later in the draft, you know, Jonah Coleman, etc on the way down. Kaylin Black, whatever. Like you get a guy like Claiborne who and I put sort of Catron Allen in the same sort of category. You know, these murky backfields or at least older potential for you know, immediate playing time like these. There, there are a couple guys that you could see being relevant now. Will they be like Damien Pierce relevant for a year and then they kind of get replaced because the next year's crop or you know, I, I'm not so well versed in the 2027 running back class but let's just say like there, there's a deeper group and a better group that there's a short term window. So like Aaron Jones gets hurt, they don't want to give Jordan Mason the full workload or they kind of, you know, use Clayborne in tandem with Mason or maybe both get hurt. Or in the case of Allen in Washington, you know he's competing with the seventh round guy and Jacqui Crosby, Mary's competing with more of a pass catching guy and Rashad White, like we get Alan getting immediate touches. Like I'm, I'm so curious about a couple of these situations. Jonah Coleman, you know how they're going to use him in Denver with a limited, you know, draft capital. They go and get a running back again and obviously Dobbins may not be there very long after this year. So like Claiborne is, is, is fascinating. You know, this is the type of guy, you know again I traded my third round pick and, and the pick was for, for Claiborne. Like that could be a guy by the time we get to August and you know the non fun people like Adam are doing their drafts.
- [50:50]
A
Yeah.
- [50:50]
D
Claiborne has a, a role based on what o' Connell is saying, based on what the reports are like he could be around two pick. You know for a guy that's going around or late round two probably at the earliest in one quarterback leagues but you know, most likely to see him in, in the round three range in Dynasty.
- [51:05]
A
Of course Jamie is talking about.
- [51:06]
D
Correct.
- [51:07]
A
Some news from Mike Garofolo. Darius Slayton just recently underwent surgery for. I have to sneeze core muscle. Oh damn it. I lost it.
- [51:18]
D
Core muscle, how he did it.
- [51:21]
A
Darius Slayton recently underwent surgery For a core muscle injury. Should be full go for training camp. So now Dan's going to tell you why Malachi Fields is a rookie gem.
- [51:32]
B
No, he wouldn't be my next pick. My next pick would be Emma Johnson, a running back out of Nebraska who I toyed with the idea pre draft of having as my RB2 overall just based on how good the tape was. This is a player who I believe was docked because he ran the 455 similar to me, Bucky Irving. It was pretty much played out exactly the same. Not similar players or prospects, but played out exactly the same. They both had good tape. They both show the ability to process behind the line of scrimmage, to understand and set up blocks to make those quick cuts, get in and out of spaces and get themselves in advantage situations. But they both ran those high four fives and then both became day three draft picks. With Johnson, I feel like he doesn't have the same maybe burst and explosiveness as Bucky, but he definitely has the same make you miss ability and he definitely has the same processing. And I think he has an even better receiving profile coming out of Nebraska. You watch that game tape and you see it was a big part of their offense. I always say this. Any of the running backs you watch in college that are a big part of the passing game and I mean, just not getting like occasional dump downs or design screens, literally they're. They're designing aspects of their game plan for this player. I believe they translate well from a receiving profile to the next level. And I look at that Chiefs roster and I'm like, yeah, they signed Kenneth Walker, but Ken's. Walker's never been a massive workload guy at any point in his career and has had a major injury history. And the Chiefs in recent years, not at all times, but in recent years for sure. And most of Andy Reid's tenure have featured multiple backs. I could potentially see Emmett Johnson stepping right into the green hunt roll. And that cream hunt roll has been super fruitful for fantasy with Kareem Hunt operating it. Emmett Johnson is just a better version of what Kareem Hunt can offer on a snap or snap basis. I don't know if necessarily have the same red zone role that hunhe and that was a big factor in his fantasy value, but I don't necessarily know that he won't either. So just a great player that I liked on tape and I think the landing spot's better than people are expecting.
- [53:19]
A
All right, let's get one more round here. Jacob, your last rookie Gem for today's show. Of course you can hear more on beyond the box score, but this will be your fourth. Go for it.
- [53:28]
B
He's gonna be for this one.
- [53:30]
C
Brendan Thompson, man, he's electric. He's so much fun. And Mike, Mike McDaniel is just absolutely fired up to get him. Perfect, perfect pairing. There a team that needed some speed on the perimeter. They've got some fast players, but he's a true, true deep ball threat, deep ball winner. Absolutely great ball tracking in hands. Really, really love this guy's film. I don't expect it to matter much in year one, but I do think that he could be one injury away and if he gets on the field, he's going to make big plays. They've already talked about wanting to get him on the field as a returner and stuff like that. And I do think they'll occasionally get on the field just to to threaten the defense because the speed is very, very real. He was just consistently toasting SEC corners last year at Mississippi State. Averaged over 3 yards per hour run. And I think can do a little bit more beyond that too in terms of like breaking his routes horizontally and winning to the sideline and stuff. And so I'm really excited about the pairing with Justin Herbert and his ability to throw with timing and throw with touch over the middle of the field. If we get a chance to actually see Thompson get to play, I think could be huge.
- [54:32]
D
Who do you like better long term, Trey Harris or Brennan?
- [54:37]
C
I'll go with Trey Harris. He seems more likely to matter for fantasy purposes long term because he can do a number of things. He's a bigger physical guy. He can stay on the field because he's blocking. They did invest around 2 pick into him. For Thompson it's like the, the number of guys who play the way that he plays and are at the weight that he is that have mattered is not a long one. So I was intrigued because I loved his film so much. And then he gets the pairing with Herbert and McDaniel and everything. So it's like, okay, maybe he could be one of the outliers that joins this group, but he does have to be an outlier.
- [55:08]
A
Yeah. Brandon Thompson, 5 9, 164 pounds. Couple guys that were similar in size. Marquis Brown and Tank dell. Brown had two seasons with about 1100 yards at Oklahoma. Dell had two seasons with more than 1300 yards. Thompson wasn't nearly as productive as best season last year. Ten great season, 1054 yards and six touchdowns. But his first three seasons he had a combined 503 yards, so it didn't really work for him until he moved to Mississippi State. Also, we just had Dan with a frozen face. Was the best frozen face ever. It.
- [55:47]
D
That's awesome.
- [55:49]
B
Thomas, how did you do that so fast?
- [55:51]
D
That was incredible.
- [55:52]
A
Honestly, I'm a big AI guy. Wait.
- [55:55]
B
Yeah, I gotta get into AI.
- [55:56]
A
Dan, do you know that movie?
- [55:59]
B
That's. Isn't that just Game of Thrones or. No, no, no. That's. That's Jack Nicklaus in the Shining.
- [56:03]
A
Yeah.
- [56:04]
B
Wow. I never thought I'd get that. What were the chances? If you had to guess before I could snap that off so fast, what chances of me getting that were. What were they?
- [56:12]
A
Plus 600.
- [56:13]
B
Yeah.
- [56:13]
D
At minimum.
- [56:14]
C
Yeah.
- [56:14]
A
Especially when you started with a Game of Thrones. Yeah. Dan thinks everything is Game of Thrones. All right, Dan, your last rookie gem.
- [56:24]
B
So how deep do we want to go? I have three tiers here. We can go through the deepest year, the second deepest tier, or the shallowest tier if.
- [56:33]
C
If we can. And maybe this makes his decision easier at the end. I'd like to just rattle off some random names and just like, just the name. Like, keep an eye on this guy. Like Jack Andres for the, you know, Cincinnati Bengals, Round 7 tight end and stuff like that, where it's like, I actually think he could play this year. It's not a long list.
- [56:49]
A
All right, fine. Also, Dan said Jack Nicholas instead of Jack Nicholson. I never get it right either. So I'm not going to make too
- [56:56]
B
much golf going on in my brain.
- [56:58]
A
Never get that right. All right, go ahead. You pick one, and then we'll go rapid fire with the list after.
- [57:03]
B
Okay, I. I don't. That really didn't answer anything as far
- [57:06]
C
as just pick your favorite because we're going to be able to cover all of them. So just pick your favorite, and then I'll be like John Michael Gillenborg at the end, you know?
- [57:12]
B
Okay. My favorite then will be Eli Raritan, the tight end the Patriots drafted. This is just the absolute best landing spot for this player we were all talking pre draft about. He's got the length, he's got the traits that maybe run the seamless, and what team could actually use him in this way? And it's so Josh McDaniels. Like, this is not Rob Gronkowski, but he certainly got closest thing to Rob Gronkowski's frame, that six, seven, lengthy body that McDaniels had to work with since Rob Gronkowski. And he's got some explosive traits and he has some moments on film where you're like, all right, this guy is a big time receiving profile, but mostly he's got that blocking profile that will never go away. You watch him block down on ends. He'll be in for 90% of the snaps in no time in New England. And when he's on the field, he could ultimately become a red zone guy. He could become a big seam stretcher for them. Scott Drake may one of the best quarterbacks in the NFL to me by far as far as throwing the football. I don't even think it's close at this point. There's only like a few guys in his tier as far as throwing the ball and keeping an offense on time and racking up passing yards. So it's an awesome fit for me in all ways. And I think the talent and the player is good. Held back a little bit by the Notre Dame scheme, by this quarterback play even though they had CAR last year. Just feel like this is a team that, I mean, this is a player that could really shine in this situation.
- [58:24]
A
Okay, let's go. Rapid fire Jacob.
- [58:27]
C
All right, two guys for the Bengals. Just good offense, decent talents. It's the Titan, Jack Injuries, round seven. And then Colby Young was a favorite of Dan's. Really rangy athlete. Both worth knowing. Four guys who could win the slot roll for their offenses. Zachariah Branch for the Falcons, Jeremy Bernard for the Steelers. Both really good with the ball in their hands. Elijah Surat is a favorite of Dan and mine. And then Malachi Fields. So Surat's with Baltimore, Fields is with the Giants. Those are two bigger bodied guys that could get on the field and could, you know, get you some PPR points if need be. If something were to happen to the top receivers in their offense. For example, Catron Allen was a really good call out. We already talked about for Miami. They've got Caleb Douglas and Kevin Coleman Jr. Are two rookies to know. Round three, round five picks. Kevin Coleman Jr. Is more of the manufacturer, touch type of slot player like Malik Washington, so I doubt that we see him much. Caleb Douglas is kind of like Colby Young, bigger Ranger athlete, probably pretty raw. I don't think either of them will probably matter, but they are names to know. Taylor Green is definitely a name to know with all the ambiguity about what's going to happen with the Cleveland Browns because if he gets on the field, he has the rushing upside to be fantasy relevant. And then I also think Oscar Dope is a really good call out. I'll end with him for the New Orleans Saints. I doubt that he matters much, but they really love him and they've talked about using him in line and having somebody, having him as somebody that can be on the field all the time. And he's really good with the ball in his hands, really good athlete. So there's the potential. You know, I want to bet on Kellen Moore's office. There's potential that he does get unlocked in year one. So keep an eye on him.
- [59:55]
D
Branch is one of my favorites. I just think that it's almost like Antonio Williams Light, like just great opportunity. There's not a lot of competition for receivers there. He's going to be fun with the ball in his hands. It's just a matter of, you know, what we see from Tua or Penix off injury in this offense. But I mean, you look at it, you got London Pitts, Bijan, you know, will he get 100 targets again, like there's nobody else?
- [60:20]
C
People are making fun of me for the rapid fire like that. That was like two minutes or something. That's amazing. That's amazing. Rapid fire for me. Rapid fire for me is normally 10 minutes.
- [60:28]
A
That was actually very, very good.
- [60:30]
C
Very efficient.
- [60:31]
A
And Antonio, you called Zachariah Branch, Antonio Williams Light. That's quite literally he's three inches shorter, he's 10 pounds lighter. But they want. They're, you know, similar in that the
- [60:41]
C
player I think is actually Antonio Williams Light is Cyrus Allen for the Chiefs Round five draft pick who can be like a real route winner from the inside. They don't ever draft guys like this who can beat me in coverage and stuff. They do always draft guys who have to play in the slot, which appears to be what they have again here. So I don't think he'll matter, but if something were to, like, happen to Rashi Rice or something, then he's a name worth knowing. Round five pick out of since I like that call.
- [61:01]
A
All right, Adam.
- [61:03]
B
Did you notice anything different about my background? By the way, today I've been meaning to ask you this.
- [61:07]
A
Five or six Giants things instead of three.
- [61:11]
D
No tennis racket.
- [61:13]
B
Oh, yeah. This was meant to. This was meant to intimidate all. Adam awesome bad boy on to intimidate him.
- [61:21]
A
I wouldn't. I would not play you right now.
- [61:23]
D
It would be. It would be since. Since you're already on the move. Open the fridge.
- [61:26]
B
Let's see what's next.
- [61:27]
D
Action.
- [61:28]
B
No, we're not opening ever do that on this show, by the way. What, are you making excuses already? You injured or something?
- [61:36]
A
The no I'm just not playing well. Right. I am injured. I'm quite injured. But that's just.
- [61:41]
D
Yeah. You know that he's reading books about tennis now to get his game.
- [61:44]
B
Oh, you're. You're into tennis books now? Trust me, I've gone down that same path with golf. It's not very fruitful. I've read two golf books. They haven't helped me at all.
- [61:50]
A
Have you ever read the inner game of tennis?
- [61:53]
B
No. Who's. What's. What's.
- [61:54]
A
No, it's about the mental approach to it.
- [61:56]
B
Oh, that's cool. That's something you need to improve on.
- [61:58]
A
Yeah. And I have so far. Was I gonna say open the fridge, Dan?
- [62:04]
D
Come on, open the fridge.
- [62:05]
C
No more.
- [62:05]
B
No more.
- [62:06]
A
Do you have any more names you want to rattle off, Dan?
- [62:09]
D
Actually. Freezer. You're already cold.
- [62:10]
B
Jacob hit. Colby Young. Jacob hit. A couple of my deep sleepers. Jay Michael Sturbian. Sturdy, sturdy. Vont sturdy.
- [62:17]
C
And I did. I did not talk about him at all. He's Green Bay packers udfa.
- [62:20]
D
The.
- [62:20]
C
Dan likes.
- [62:21]
A
Yes.
- [62:21]
B
Green Bay packers udfa. One of the better vertical route winners that I watch in this class, especially during his time at ucla. Really like that. I'll give one really deep one. Marlon Klein, a player who I said in our SLEE podcast before, I thought he'd be a six round pick, seven round pick, had no production in Michigan, but just looked awesome movement wise. And then the Texans made him what, a second round pick? I think it was.
- [62:41]
C
I was gonna say he's. He's drafted higher than anyone we've talked about so far.
- [62:45]
B
Yeah. And I don't. I think he's essentially what we've been betting on working at tight end fantasy for a while. It's bet on trades. That's what tight end has been in fantasy for the last three, four or five years. So it's another bet on trades guy. I wouldn't be shocked if he gets a role earlier than people think. And he could be really good after the catch. Yeah.
- [63:02]
D
Actually, what if our audience guesses what's in your refrigerator and you have to show it?
- [63:06]
B
Jamie, you're so focused on this. We're not doing that ever again. It was a mistake to ever do it and it's never happening again.
- [63:11]
A
Oh, I know what I was gonna say. The.
- [63:13]
B
The.
- [63:13]
A
We had a listener who also refrigerates peanut butter because that's what Dan does,
- [63:19]
D
which I think is weird.
- [63:20]
B
It's not that crazy.
- [63:21]
D
It's not that weird.
- [63:22]
B
It tastes better.
- [63:22]
A
His name is Dan Also, he is. He is the best tennis player I've ever. Like, scene. I mean, at, like, our level, he's.
- [63:32]
B
What do you mean, at our level? He couldn't be. At our level, you would say he's probably 5.
- [63:36]
D
0.
- [63:36]
A
He's a 4 0. He's not like a former college or anything. Yeah, but he would destroy you. He kills everyone.
- [63:41]
B
He wouldn't destroy me if he's a four.
- [63:43]
D
He would.
- [63:43]
C
He.
- [63:43]
A
You would.
- [63:43]
B
You would. Maybe winning way closer to four or five than four. Zero.
- [63:47]
A
No, you're not. Yes, because if you were four or five, I wouldn't. I wouldn't either.
- [63:51]
D
I'd be.
- [63:51]
A
I wouldn't be.
- [63:52]
B
You and what, Adam? You and what?
- [63:54]
A
I wouldn't be able to compete with you.
- [63:55]
B
You're not. You're not. You lost 6. 0 in the first set, and then I was tired and barely could even, like, catch a breath. Yeah, you got four games in the second set when I could barely catch a breath. You lost the first set. Six zero. Year before was what, 6062. Yeah. So it was 6006.
- [64:10]
A
Yeah.
- [64:10]
B
No, back then, six, two, six zero.
- [64:13]
A
I had you on the ropes. You know, if I won that second set, I was winning the tiebreaker. You know it.
- [64:17]
B
Because obviously I could barely move out there.
- [64:19]
A
You think you're four or five and you can barely move four or five. Tennis stamina.
- [64:23]
B
It's a conditioning issue. I'm Eddie Lacey. I'm the Eddie Lacey of town.
- [64:26]
A
What?
- [64:27]
B
So it's nothing to do with my skill set? It's his conditioning issue.
- [64:29]
D
Adam, are those the only two people you know that refrigerate peanut butter?
- [64:32]
C
Yes, my peanut butter's in my fridge.
- [64:36]
A
You're right, Jamie.
- [64:38]
B
I should.
- [64:38]
A
Your peanut butter's in your fridge, too? What the hell is wrong with you people? It's disgusting. It's because they're eating peanut butter that
- [64:45]
B
doesn't have seed oils in it.
- [64:46]
C
Adam, come on now.
- [64:48]
A
I don't. Whatever the case is. What is up? I wanted to go on this rant at some point. Why do people buy the stir peanut butter? What is the benefit to that? There's.
- [64:59]
C
It's stir.
- [65:00]
A
Yeah, the ones that's, like, liquidy and you have to stir it. Who would choose that? I accidentally bought it because. Exactly the same butter.
- [65:07]
B
Dude, that's.
- [65:08]
D
That's.
- [65:08]
B
That's the peanut butter you have to buy.
- [65:10]
A
It's exactly the same as the no stir, the one I bought. Look, the. The. It just. It doesn't have the words no stir on it, so I accidentally Bought it and it's like, what? What is the purpose of this? It doesn't taste as good. There's effort that you have to put into it. I don't know who would choose stir peanut butter.
- [65:25]
D
You can't see because the shirt matches the chair, but his shoulders are so high right now.
- [65:28]
B
Thomas isn't.
- [65:29]
D
Is it?
- [65:30]
B
Get me. Correct me if I'm wrong. Oh, my God. For those who aren't listening, just another shining picture of me AI'd in. But I think the only healthy peanut butter is the stir burn. No, I'm pretty sure. Thomas, correct me. Yeah, I'm pretty sure. If you don't have stir peanut butter, that means there's just a bunch of junk oil in it that makes it. So it doesn't stir.
- [65:54]
A
Not if you get.
- [65:55]
B
No.
- [65:55]
D
That's why you're not a good tennis player, Adam.
- [65:56]
B
Because I don't have any junk. He's just eating junk and he doesn't realize it. He's like, I don't want to stir.
- [66:02]
A
All right, you want to read some emails real quick? Let's go. Let's finish up here. From Owen in Chester, Virginia. Dear Arch, Julian and Dante. These are upcoming quarterbacks. Who's Dante?
- [66:18]
B
Julian saying Arch Manning. Dante from Oregon.
- [66:22]
A
Okay. 12 team super flex dynasty league. I finished second last year. I'm in contention mode of a young team. I have picks 110, 111, 25 and 2 9. Considering how awful this year's class appears to be and how good next year's is supposed to be, would it be crazy to try to package picks 110, 111, 25 and 29 for a first and second round pick next year?
- [66:46]
D
He's a contender now. Yeah, I would. Maybe not all of them, but I would consider it.
- [66:54]
C
Yeah.
- [66:55]
A
You just heard the names we were giving. Who's going to be available to you at 110? 11 like Dijon, Stribling and Antonio Williams. So I think I'd probably. It's a super flex dynasty league. Next year they're going to be in so many quarterbacks that are going to
- [67:07]
D
be saying, that's why I would do it.
- [67:08]
A
I'd do it. There's a keeper question from Josh. 12 team half PPR super flex. Keep four super flex. Okay. Olave in the sixth. Evans in the seventh. Purdy in the tenth. Dart in the 14th. Fan in 16th. Baker Mayfield.
- [67:32]
D
There it is.
- [67:32]
A
There we go. Baker Mayfield, 17th. Bucky Irving 18th.
- [67:36]
B
All right, you can keep how many?
- [67:38]
C
You can keep four Purdy and dart for sure.
- [67:41]
B
Yeah. That's obvious.
- [67:42]
C
I would go Bucky and Olave.
- [67:46]
B
What was the round for Bucky?
- [67:47]
A
Bucky's 18th round.
- [67:50]
B
Yeah, yeah. Bucky for sure. Based on that. And then it's either Olave or Evans. I think I would go Evans. I'm just super high on Evans this year though.
- [68:00]
A
Is it? Is purdy in the 10th better than Bucky than Baker Mayfield in the 17th?
- [68:05]
C
You could keep all three quarterbacks if you want to be a jerk. Game theory.
- [68:10]
B
This is a weird league, man. Though, like it doesn't really make any sense to me. Like in what world was Baker available to get as a 17 round keeper? That doesn't add up. Unless somebody like cut him because the injury. And then it's like you, you didn't do the rules right because you allowed it to go to the free agent guys. This is a really poorly set up league, I hate to say. And I hate to be that guy.
- [68:29]
D
These guys forever though. That's the question.
- [68:30]
B
That's what it looks like then that's even. That's not good.
- [68:32]
D
Then you may have gotten Baker when he was on the league.
- [68:35]
B
Yeah, that's not good either. All right, 17 Baker. It's just rough to see. Makes no sense.
- [68:41]
A
Last one. I just read that apparently Brendan Sorsby may enter the supplemental draft in July because of his gambling investment investigation. This would mean he gets drafted in July and according to reports he would have been in the discussion with Mendoza for QB1 or 2 this year. How do we even handle this for a super flex rookie drafted if it has already started?
- [69:05]
B
I don't think he's even available in the player pool for most not draft
- [69:09]
D
him now because he's not technically in the NFL.
- [69:13]
B
That is a good question though as far as like what your league would. I think he would just hit free agency.
- [69:18]
D
Yeah, I mean like I know how Heath does his YOLO Dynasty league where post draft he just freezes transactions and then we have a free agent bidding process right before the start of the season. So you would just have to pick him up. Then Adam's draft will just allow him to be selected at the time of the draft. Yeah, because it's going to be a free agent for anybody doing rookie drafts. Now.
- [69:42]
A
This is why you don't draft early because people get investigated for gambling and end up in the supplemental draft.
- [69:48]
C
Yeah, I think the freeze makes sense for you.
- [69:52]
A
Talk about Dan.
- [69:54]
B
Yeah.
- [69:57]
A
All right, well, I have to sneeze and blow my nose so I'm going to end the show. Thank you. To the beyond the box score crew. Remember to email Dave Richard Richard at cbs. If you want to be in our fans only mock draft, send them an email. We'll talk to you on Monday on Fantasy Football. See ya.
- [70:23]
B
Paramount Podcasts CBS Monday.
- [70:27]
A
It's the final season of the Neighborhood with an all new episode then. You may not love going to the dmv, but you'll love a new episode of the hilarious comedy dmv and the laughs turn into A Night of Justice. The hit drama FBI is new, followed by CIA, a high stakes new series
- [70:45]
B
from the team behind FBI, starring Nick
- [70:47]
A
Gelfis and Tom Ellis. All new all night CBS Monday starting at 87 Central and streaming on Paramount. Plus.