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Fantasy Football Today
Big Injury Updates, New Starting QBs, New Commanders RBs, New Strategies and More (08/19 Fantasy Football Podcast)
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C
Fantasy Football today from CBS Sports.
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D
Wanna play?
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E
Can you believe this?
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C
No, I can't. It's time to dominate your fantasy league. This is gonna the distance. Now here's some combination of Adam, Dave, Jamie and he.
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D
Oh, we got a lot to talk about today. We got a big show for you on Tuesday, August 19th. Fantasy Football Today presented by BetMGM the Sportsbook. Born in Vegas, I am Adam Azer with Jamie Eisenberg. We Jamie, how you feeling today? You feeling injured at all?
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E
Injured?
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D
Yeah.
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E
I'll tell you what, I had this revelation last night at three in the morning.
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D
Oh boy.
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E
When I sent in a Joe Flacco Browns column and wrote four stories on average draft position. And I said to myself, I love my job but what am I doing?
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D
You're mentally injured.
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E
I think at 3:00am like yeah, August. August is so much fun but such a grind that yes, mentally injured could sometimes be something like.
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D
Yeah, but. But I actually think the grind. The season is much more of a grind than August.
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E
No, really. Oh for me the thing about the season is it's, it's like formatted. For us every, every day is something repetitive Good and bad, like, starts it. Once it's done, it's done. You know, like, I, I'll be responsible a little bit more so for like the, any news items that pop up, you know, like, just to give you a peek behind the curtain. So all this Washington stuff with the running backs. Yeah, like, oh, you know, let me, let me write that. I'm like, ah, you know, let me get Flacco out of the way first. And then we get a note from R.J. white saying, you know, who manages our content. He's like, hey, Dave's gonna do the running back stuff, so don't worry about. I'm like, okay, one, one less thing off, off my plate. But I want to make sure our audience has as much information as possible. And so like, I, I know August is full go. Yeah, I know that's not what you're looking for, but.
- [03:36]
D
No, no, look, today. Today is that show, right? Because first of all, we have Marty Jaramillo coming on later to talk injuries, right. He's an injury expert, physical therapist. You can see him all over the place on CBS, CBS, 8 Sports HQ and whatnot. We had him on the show last year, so he's going to talk to us about some injured players. But we got to talk about the commanders running backs. We got to talk about. Listen to this stat. So over the last three years, Joe Flacco made four starts with the jets in 2022, six starts, including the playoffs with the Browns in 2023, Amari Cooper missed one of them. So I'm going to say five with Cooper and seven starts with Josh Downs. Last year, Garrett Wilson averaged 17.3 PPR fantasy points per game, which is by far. That's only in four games, by far the best of his career. Last year he set a career high with 14.9 PPR fantasy points per game. He's at 17.3. As a rookie, four games with Flacco, including the first three games of his career, Amari Cooper averaged 20.3 PPR fantasy points per game. That's top five overall. Pick good with Joe Flacco in five games in 2023, Josh Downs 15.4 PPR fantasy points per game. And it was something like 10 or 11 with Anthony Richardson in the same amount of games last year. So for whatever reason, Flacco has averaged 41.1 pass attempts per game. He just comes in and throws 40 to 50 times. It's insane. It's like this Jameis Winston effect. He's been a little turnover prone in recent seasons. A Little interception prone, don't know if he's going to lose the job, but he's going to start with the job. And based on recent history, it could not be good for Jerry, Judy and David Najoku because by the way, even like Tyler Conklin was having big games in 2022. Najoku was great in 2023. Could be great for them. So this is big news. Obviously it's expected news, but we'll talk about it. Also, Justin Jefferson back at practice, Matthew Stafford back at practice, and they got to get into the Washington Cincinnati game and what's going on with the commanders running back. So let's start with the big news. And by the way, the FFT open drafts are going on and we are having some revelations about draft strategy, about players, about preferences as we do these live drafts. Okay.
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E
I do, I do appreciate on Joe Flacco day you let the beard go a little bit. You do look like a, you know, like you guys could be related, you and you.
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D
I could see that, I could see that. When the beard, when I grow it in and it gets really gray, it kind of looks like I have like a Fu Manchu kind of deal because the gray sort of disappears. All right, so Justin Jefferson practice and by the way, wide receiver three for them is Jalen Naylor. He's week to week with a hand injury and we know Addison's going to miss the first three games. So you know, Jefferson to the moon. Hawkinson to the moon. Yeah. And it's, it's not a small deal to have him maybe get you off to a huge start. Not, it's not a guarantee.
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E
Great. I know we had some conversations yesterday and some back and forth. Another great guillotine option. You know, you want guys that are going to get you off to good starts. I can't stress that enough.
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D
All right, so now that Stafford is back and now that, and now that Jefferson is back, give me your thoughts on Jefferson vs. Puka and Devonte Adams comes into the equation stat and whatnot.
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E
Jefferson was always ahead of Puka. I never moved that. I, I think we should be a little bit cautious about Stafford being quote, unquote back. You know, no pun intended. Yeah. Based on what Sean McVeigh said. So I don't think we're out of the woods yet. So let's see how he responds, how the rest of the week goes. It's clearly encouraging. You know, you're glad to have him back. But Jefferson on his own, I think everybody kind of expect, you know, I, I, I'VE been doing these ADP stories. Now we're to version two if you're following on CBSSports.com so I did one last week. I'll do one every week and Jefferson hasn't moved. He's still wide receiver too. If you're looking at our YouTube page on CBSSports.com I know I have Lamb too. I know Heath has Lamb too. I think Dave still has Jefferson too. Jefferson never budged as wide receiver too. So he didn't move at all in adp, you're saying in adp, yeah, Puka has slid a little bit. You know, he started as wide receiver four or five. Now he's wide receiver six, you know, so sliding a little bit. I'm curious, you know, just not that, not that we're discussing him per se, but like his neighbor is going to fall with these three injuries that he's now managing toe, shoulder and now back. But Puka has become a round two pick for me. I will probably not move him up just because I think he should be going after now Derrick Henry and Genti. I did move Devon Hn down. I want to get into that as well, but I did move HN into round two and Adams has always kind of been steady in round three. So he's gone from a early round three pick to a late round three pick. But that really has nothing to do with Stafford. That's more to do with moving some running backs up and sort of shuffling the quarterbacks around a little bit and Kettle moving ahead.
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D
It's tough with Puka because I feel like he's just a steal. If if Stafford stays healthy and you get Puka in round two. I mean, you know, look, he had the best rookie season ever for a wide receiver last year. He was wide receiver four per game and that was with leaving week one after 32% of the snaps. Leaving week week eight after getting ejected after 57 with 57% of the snaps. So you know, if you look at his Puka Nuku is 17 game pace on a normal snap share. Okay, 75% or higher was 142 catches, 1781 yards, six touchdowns on 189 targets. He had the second highest yards per out run rate in the last 12 years behind Tyree Kill in 2023. He had the highest target per out run rate by far among wide receivers. So I know Adams is there. But like I always say, cup had a pretty big role last year too until the last three games where he completely faded. But I just think Puka is, I mean, to me, I think there's honestly a case in full PPR because he doesn't score a lot of touchdowns, but in full PPR case for him to be wide receiver too, basically based on how good he's been.
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E
I, I don't disagree. I did. I pushed back a little bit on wide receiver too just because I don't know if he has CD Lamb ceiling, you know, based on what we saw in 2023 or Jamar Chase's ceiling, you know, but if you are looking for a 20 point per game guy, you certainly painted the optimistic view. I do think that Adams maybe in some cases better than the version of Cooper cup that we got last year across the board. Forget about the latter part of the season. Yeah, and, and he might be worse. You know, I, I don't know but I would probably lean toward maybe a little bit more of a different type of receiver than Cooper cup and depending on the type of targets that he gets. The other part of this obviously is you have to bake in now a potential Stafford injury. And so yeah, for me and just, you know, somebody who does rankings and obviously we all do drafts once you get to that group of wide receivers and it's after the top three for me, so it's after Chase, Lamb and Jefferson. There's so many pros and cons for both for that group and it really does extend through for me, at least through AJ Brown and I put Drake London head of AJ Brown. So that's why I'm not going to say anything. So you can, you can. Amanra St. Brown, Dave painted the picture for you yesterday about how he's more optimistic about the Lions maybe than Heathis. For example, I think you and I are on the Nico Collins train, you know, in terms of how good he can be when healthy. You know, so he's wide receiver four for me. Probably the same for you or no, three for me.
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D
And he's almost two.
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E
But yeah, again, you know, neighbors and, and all the targets he's going to get. You know, Dan, I'm just trying to reference people on our show that have been highly positive about some of these guys. You know, Dan's been, you know what Russell Wilson will. Will be from Malik Neighbors like Brian Thomas Jr. Could be an absolute monster in Liam Cohen's offense. Like there's so much to love about this group and so it's kind of changed my ranking of that back end of round one, which is why I've pushed Henry and Genti up because I think you can get one of these guys in early round two where you may not get those running backs. You know what I mean?
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D
You know what? Okay, so one thing I'm going to ask you is for an FFT open takeaway and I have one that is related directly to this topic so we can get into. I think maybe we'll get into it later. So I want to cover but Marty's coming on in in 10 minutes. I want to cover some of the other big news items but this, you know, do if I have a late pick do I draft a wide receiver or a running back in round one? Thinking about what's going to be available to me in round two. The easy answer, I definitely think you're right is to draft the running back. You have a better chance of getting one of the elite wide receivers in early round two than you do, you know, the running back or unless you want to dip into the Josh Jacobs, Jonathan Taylor, Chase Brown and I have.
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E
A lot Jacobs ADP on our side. Is round one super high?
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D
Yeah, a lot. I have a lot to say about this. I'm looking forward to talking about it. But other news. So let's talk about Joe Flacco being the quarterback. He's, you know you could super flex. He could get you, you know I could see him averaging 20 points a game. I don't know, maybe that's crazy but he's done it recently basically. What do you think about this for Judy and Najoku?
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E
It's obviously the scenario that we've were we're hoping for, you know. So again similar looking at the long term potential of Puka and Devonte Adams with staffer's injury, it's looking at the long term potential of what happens if and when Flacco is benched if they're not in playoff contention. So I feel more comfortable personally to what extent we'll find out but I feel more comfortable after watching Shitter Sanders and Dylan Gabriel like they're not going to be disasters in the two recent games that they played. Sanders against the Panthers and and Gabriel against the Eagles that how much of a fall off could happen for Judy and and Najoku and Cedric Tomic and I don't think it will be awful. So much more optimistic about that. Judy's in that, in that range of wide receivers you talked about. You like those wide receivers around five maybe said it off the air but you like those wide receivers in round five, you know, so whatever names you want to put up there. Ted Roll, McMillan, George Pickens, Jameson Williams, Xavier Worthy, DJ Moore, those whole, those whole guys, you know, the group. Judy's in that group for me, without question. You know, he's ranked probably a little bit lower than I would like to but just because I keep shuffling those guys around like I like Jalen Waddle moving up a little bit with the HN injury, you know, so Judy's there at this point behind him. But in any event, if I can get him as a number two receiver, I'm fine with it. Love him as a number three receiver. Ninjoko. I moved up actually with this news to tight end 4 especially with Laporta banged up.
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D
Oh my gosh.
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E
So that's why. So I mean look, you know, you reference what Nijoku, what, what Flacco has done for his receivers. Najoku in those six games that Flacco played in 2023, he was over 16 PPR points per game. That's elite. You know. And so yes, it's a different version of Flacco. He's older. It's a different version of Najoku. Harold Fannin is going to play a role to whatever extent. We'll find out. I still think when you start to look at Najoku and Laporta and Kelsey and, and Hawkinson like they're all sort of this guy's up this week, this guy's down this week. I'll take the guy that's got a quarterback that I think is going to lean on him and basically has been really good whenever it hasn't been DeSean Watson in the last three years. So I like Najoko's situation. And then you referenced what, what Flacco has done. So he's, he's played in 18 games over the last three seasons. Jets, Browns and Colts. In those 18 games, 4,428 passing yards, 30 touchdowns, 18 interceptions. Like that's solid for.
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D
And I think some of those games are like partial barely played games.
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E
Yeah. So that's Heath did his starts in the last 17 games. It's like 4,700 yards. Crazy. It's, it's pretty amazing, you know. So there's, there's short term appeal here and super flex two QB leagues they get the Bengals week one it's you.
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D
Know, game last night. Yeah, that was. Their starters were out there.
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E
It, it could be pretty incredible, you know, for Flacco again get off to a good start. So we don't know how long this will last. We don't know what will happen if they get, you know, off to 1 and 3, 2 and 5 start, you know, but six, seven games of Joe Flacco could be absolutely ridiculous for these guys. So I'm, I'm excited for this news. Like you said, we expected it, but good to have it official, especially after seeing Sanders and Gabriel hold their own, you know, for what their draft capital is.
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D
And look, I mean it's not like their draft capital was so high. It's not like they were Anthony Richardson, who was a top 10 pick, where the Colts have to see what they got with him. If Flacco plays well, I think he has a better chance of hanging on to the job than he did last year. You know, you could see why the Colts really wanted to get Richardson back on the field. I don't know how invested they are in Gabriel and Sanders, you know, or obviously Kenny Pickett.
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E
So it's, it's just, it's a strange, it's a strange decision. And granted, you know, you, you say this all the time because you're Mr. Optimism. Like they, they're not going to win a Super bowl and so does Flacco starting potentially win them more games and hurt their chances at getting that franchise quarterback in 2026.
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D
Yeah. All right, some more news. Jordan Love returned to practice and Devon Hn unlikely to practice this week. Mike McDaniel says this is preventative in nature. So how come you moved Achan down to the second round?
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E
I'm scared, dude. You get these injuries with the, you know, calf. Who's laugh? Who's the last calf injury that we worried about was going into a season?
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D
McCaffrey.
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E
Yeah. So it's just, it's just being cautious. I, I, I, so I, I put him behind gen behind. So Henry it Barkley was five, Henry was six, Genti was seven. So I put him behind those three running backs and it got to a point where do I want to take him or do I want to take those receivers? The list of guys that we discussed. So I think once you get to the back end of round one, he's now in the conversation. He's no Longer A mid first round pick for me.
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D
So you're taking Brian Thomas Jr. Or.
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E
HN at this moment, Brian Thomas Jr.
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D
What if you, what if you took Justin Jefferson around one or Nico Collins in round one and then you had to choose between Brian Thomas Jr. And HN in round two?
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E
In a three receiver league, I would probably take the receiver. In a two receiver league, I'd probably take hn.
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D
All right. And just so you know, there's been yet another glowing report about Christian McCaffrey. Every report so far has been glowing about Christian.
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E
I, I said this to Dave and Heath during a commercial break on CBS Sports Network yesterday. I'm close to putting McCaffrey as my second running back ahead of Gibbs.
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D
That's where I was. Remember, I had him at 103 months ago, I want to say, or maybe one to two months ago. I don't remember exactly. I'm, I'm fine with that. I'm a little cautious on that. He is 29 years old. He does have injury history. I mean, I feel like he should not go any later than, say, seven. But if I were doing 10 drafts, I wouldn't take him third overall all 10 times, whereas I would probably. I would take Bijan Robinson and Jamar Chase one and two every time. Right. So, I mean, I think you could definitely make the case for other guys ahead of McCaffrey. There's some risk there. You want to skew younger in fantasy football, typically. So I don't know that I would take him over Gibbs every time, if that makes sense. But if someone took him over, if someone took him as RB2, I mean, I think it makes total sense.
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E
He's three for me. You know, it's not like it's a big stretch and I know you like him up there as well. So it's, you know, we're getting a lot of, you know, question or pushback, I think, on that statement in the, in the chat. And I get it, you know, I don't, and I don't have a rank that way. I still have Gibbs. I took Gibbs ahead of McCaffrey in the FFT Open. So as of now, Gibbs is my second running back and I would take him fourth overall. So it's just when you, when you compare, we, we. We are romanticizing about Jameer Gibbs when there's no David Montgomery. He is not that great. He's great, but he's not what he was at the end of the season when Montgomery's there.
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D
Yeah, I can give you the numbers in a minute. I think it's more like 19 fantasy points per game with David Montgomery, which is awesome, which is great. Listen, Marty's coming on in a moment here, so let me ask you about the Washington Commanders running back situation here. And last night Chris Rodriguez started. He had a 40 yard run on his first carry. Jakory Crosby, Merritt, who likes to go by Bill, Bill Crosky Merritt, I'm going to call him Jakory, I think, during draft season. So you're not looking for Bill in your draft room. But he had a 27 yard touchdown run against a lot of the starters for the Bengals, hit 11 carries for 46 yards and a touchdown. And then Eckler obviously did not play. So it kind of seems like Brian Robinson Jr. Is on his way out based on the way they were talking about it on the broadcast. But how are you drafting these guys now?
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E
So I moved cross key merit to the same spot where I had Brian Robinson. So high low 30s, 31 at running back and like right around pick 90 overall. I think that it might be a little too high. I do have him ahead of Eckler and I think you said it with Chris Rodriguez. Like, we're gonna get probably a pretty strong committee here until one guy separates himself, it feels as if it's going to be crossing merit. So that's why I would draft him first. And like you said, Eckler did not play. They also played the Bengals, so it's not going to look that pretty consistently. And let's not forget who had the first carry of the game.
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D
Yeah, Debo.
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E
Debo Samuel. So he's going to be a part of this as well. Yes, it does. I'd listen to Dan Quinn's post game press conference and he said he talked to the team, explained to them the situation, what's going on. Brian Robinson, they talked to Brian earlier in the week, so yes, he is. It sounds like from. From what I saw, if he's not traded, they may cut him. Right. So it, it just seems as if he's done with the. The commander commanders are done with him. So where he goes, we'll find out. But yes, don't overlook Rodriguez, that he's going to have a role and could be a good late round pick and maybe don't overvalue Jakori Koski Merit. There's a lot to say about that. I don't want to take up all the time here, but it just feels as if we were kind of joking about this via text. Like everybody's apparently discovered him going back to high school. I'll give Jacob credit for it. He's the first person that I heard. Yeah. Banging the drum as loud as it was. You know, he was drafting him in our early mock drafts. He was talking about him in the NFL draft, coming out of the NFL draft. So I'm gonna give credit to Jacob. Anybody else wants credit, other people in the industry go ahead. It's just funny, like how everybody knew this guy was gonna be this amazing.
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D
Yeah. 7th round pick which is usually not a great thing. But he played only one game last year, Jakori Crosby Merit because of eligibility issues and that one game was with Arizona. He played against New Mexico, which is the team he played for the year before and he had 13 carries for 106 yards and a touchdown. He's basically in college was a complete non factor in the passing game. So he's very similar in terms of projected role to Brian to Brian Robinson Jr. Which is Jamie said he put, you know, he basically put cross key Merritt where he had Robinson and so not going to be a factor in the passing game. By the way, Austin eckler averaged about five carries per game when Brian Robinson Jr. Was healthy. So kind of feel like he might just keep that role and be the third down guy. And then if you have a split on first and second down, as Jamie mentioned, it could be messy until someone emerges. And to give Chris Rodriguez credit, he's played 22 games. He's averaged 4.9 yards per carry. He only has 8.6, he only has 86 carries in his career. He was a sixth round pick. He's had a nice career so far and he started yesterday in a 40 yard touchdown run. So I don't think he should be completely counted out here. We couldn't say more about it later. Well, let's take a quick break here. By the way, if you haven't signed up for BETMGM yet, please use the bonus code Fantasy and you're going to get up to a fifteen hundred dollar first bet offer on your first wager with BetMGM. So here's how it works. Download the BETMGM app and sign up and use the bonus code Fantasy. Deposit at least $10 on your first wager and on any game. Place your first wager on any game. You're going to receive up to fifteen hundred dollars in bonus bets. If your bet loses, just make sure that you use the bonus code Fantasy when you sign up. Awesome guests coming up to talk injuries right after this on fft.
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B
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C
September 4th on Paramount Plus. Someone is trying to frame us. Until our names are cleared, we're fugitives from interval. Like Bonnie and Clyde with better snacks. Espionage. You still as good as shot as.
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E
You used to be?
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D
Better.
- [25:05]
C
Is there love language? We like to walk that fine line between techno thriller, romantic comedy.
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D
We make up our own rules. NCIS Tony and Ziva. Streaming September 4th on Paramount Plus. All right, Jamie, let's do it. Let's talk injuries here. We're bringing Marty Jaramillo joining us. Let me click the button here. There he is. Marty. What's up, man?
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E
What's up, Marty?
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D
Guys, save me.
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C
Adam, what's going on, gentlemen?
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E
Hey, thanks for joining us.
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D
Great to have you here. Why is. Why is everybody so. Why is everybody so injured? Marty, this is really annoying.
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C
So, Jamie, it's a barbaric game, but it's a bar really is bigger. Stronger, Bigger. Stronger. Faster every year.
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D
And that's why. That's why I quit in college. You know, I was going to Miami was like, listen, dude, we need a linebacker. I was like, I'm sorry, I can't. I just. Too many injuries. I just can't do it. But, Devon, what happened when the.
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E
When the men's team asked you to play?
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D
All right, let's go. Let's go. I know, right?
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C
The gloves are off. Let's go.
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D
Shots fired. So Jamie said he moved Devon HN into the second round. He's got this calf injury that Mike McDaniel's downplaying a little bit, but.
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E
Yeah.
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D
What do you think about this Devon Hn situation?
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C
Well, listen, his explosive speed, right, is what made him one of the most important parts of the offensive, of the offense for the. For Miami.
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E
Right?
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C
I mean, that's. He's an incredible athlete, but now he's dealing with this calf strain that affects push off, it affects his explosiveness, and it definitely affects his change of direction. Simply put, calf's tears, they're slow to heal. It's that simple. If you're too aggressive with coming back, could become a chronic problem or even worse, predispose you to an Achilles tear and we can't have that. Here's our problem. We only have two and a half weeks less left before week one. He come back too early. His injury risk is very high.
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E
Right.
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C
I do not expect him to be ready for week one. I actually fully expect him to miss possibly the first three weeks of the season. It's just not worth it. It's just not worth it because if he does tear his calf again or potentially his Achilles, that affects his entire career. So they got to be slow with this one. No question about it.
- [27:27]
E
Okay. Wow, that's. That's pretty telling.
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D
Hey, somebody's asking who. You know, I can understand people. You might be kind of lost a lot of names going on. We were talking about Devon Hn right there. So that's a big, big one he's expecting. Marty says take it slow with the calf injury. He wouldn't be surprised if H and misses up to three games. All right, Jamie, you're next. We're next with McCaffrey here.
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E
Yeah, Marty. So obviously, let's go. We'll go from slight negative to a slight positive. McCaffrey last year dealing with the calf injury, had the knee injury as well. Once he came back, only played four games. Seems like it's all systems go. He's 29 years old, but all the reports have been positive. So just in your tracking McCaffrey from afar, how encouraged are you by his recovery from last year's injuries?
- [28:11]
C
Well, without question, Jamie, he's a polarizing player. CMC's health is trending in the right direction. So is his draft stock. But let's be honest. His injury history, his availability, longevity, all come into question. Knee injury, calf injury, Achilles injury. Yes, he is healthy, but he has a lot of mileage on those legs. Okay. The. My, my issue is if he's healthy, he's going to be have one of the highest target volumes of any player in the NFL, right? Maybe 20 to 25 catches. I'm sorry, touches per game. But because of that injury history, because of that mileage, I actually expect issues with his recovery week to week. We actually might see his efficiency. Yo, yo, up and down based on his recovery. That's my biggest concern here. But he has worked so hard to get healthy. But, man, a healthy CMC man, that brings music to every fantasy manager.
- [29:14]
D
It does. It's going to be a risk tolerance thing, Jamie.
- [29:17]
E
Yeah. I think it's also interesting given the health of the backups there, because how much work will they give to somebody else to take off of his plate? You got Jordan James with the finger injury, Isaac Randall with the shoulder injury. They just lost Patrick Taylor for who knows how long. He got banged up in their preseason game. So we'll find out. I would imagine they're going to want to give some work to somebody else. So hopefully all those guys are a little bit. Yeah. Of a healthier standpoint. So we'll see what goes on there.
- [29:43]
C
And that's a great point, Jamie, because you know, the backups are really backups.
- [29:47]
E
Right.
- [29:47]
C
And they're in. And their injury status is only putting the spotlight on CMC yet again. I, I wouldn't be surprised if we see glimpses of 2023 this year.
- [29:57]
D
Oh, man, I'm hoping for more. I'm hoping for just 2023. I don't want glimpses. I want, I want the whole thing. I'm going to give you a two for one here. Right. A couple of guys coming back from serious season ending injuries and one of them is, you know, in a much different physical state than the other. So Chris Godwin fractured his ankle last season and Jamie, is it a different. I'm sorry, is it a different ankle that might put him on PUP right now? Jamie. Or a different injury for Godwin?
- [30:27]
E
No, same angle.
- [30:27]
D
It's the same ankle. It's the same injury. Because I thought he had a different injury. All right.
- [30:30]
E
Yeah, he had a second procedure.
- [30:32]
C
Second surgery.
- [30:33]
E
Yes.
- [30:33]
D
Okay, there we go. So you got Godwin and ever she Rice who is coming back from a torn knee but wasn't an acl. But are you. How worried are you about their performance? Chris Godwin and Rasheed Rice, I wouldn't have to get into the suspension thing with Rasheed Rice, but just when they're on the field, how good they are going to be.
- [30:56]
C
You know, Adam's great, great point. Here is a situation where we can actually read between the lines. Chris Godwin suffered a fractured dislocation. Very, very on serious injury on the field. But per perfectly managed. But it was serious enough to have a second procedure to add stabilization. It is very analogous to an ACL reconstruction where they repair the ligament. The ligaments around his ankle had to be repaired and reconstructed. Now even though they had a set, he had a second surgery. They while he's rehabbing, extended his contract. They know how well he is doing, let's not forget that. So he's recovered well, doing great in preseason. However, they still might need a little bit more time. Do not be surprised if he starts a season on the PUP list to give him an extra four weeks of Recovery, but that's an important. Yes, serious injury, but they gave him an extension. They know exactly how well he's doing behind the scenes. Now with Rice, interestingly enough, on replay, when he got injured last season, man, everyone was thinking acl, including myself. But what was great news, probably the best bullet he could have dodged. It was an acl. It was lcl, or the lateral collateral ligament or the ligament on the outside of the knee. Now, guess what? That ligament is extremely elastic, extremely flexible. Actually quite rare to ever require a surgery. Usually heals quite well on its own. So it was repaired, a little wear and tear in the knee was all cleaned out. And he has progressed extremely well, able to attend all his team's OTAs and minicamps. And, man, I fully expect another standout season. Why the lcl, although a stabilizing ligament is not the main stabilizer. So you. I will not expect any. Both short term or long term issues.
- [32:54]
D
That's great. So that's your thoughts on Chris Godwin and Rashid Rice. Optimism there for Rasheed Rice and his ability to. To stand out, as you said. All right, Jamie, go for it.
- [33:03]
E
Yeah, Marty, Joe Mixon's a big one for us. Just dealing with this foot injury that, that, you know, he was dealing with prior to training camp, was in a walking boot and has clearly not recovered to the point where he can even practice at this point. So, yeah, similar to I. I would assume, based on what you said about Devon H. And we're getting close to the season here, do we expect mixing to be ready to go for the start of the season? And could this be something that lingers for a guy that's also 29 years old?
- [33:27]
C
Well, Jamie, it's a great question, you know, at that position, the most unprotected position in the NFL being the running back. But the Texans are giving us tea leaves, man. They're not giving us so much news on this. They're just throwing out tea leaves that he has a foot and ankle injury and that's all they're giving us this close to the beginning of the season. I do not expect him to be available. At some point, they'll have to give us a little bit more details of what's happening, what he's dealing with. But any foot and ankle injury, just like all the running backs, right. Push off affected, acceleration affected, change of direction affected.
- [33:58]
E
Right.
- [33:59]
C
And it's just. I don't have any faith that he'll be ready for week one.
- [34:04]
E
Okay.
- [34:05]
D
What do you think about Matthew Stafford? This is a big one here. Especially as it relates to Puka Nukua and Devonte Adams back injury. Kind of returning to practice yesterday, which is a week later than we were promised, basically. So what are you thinking about Stafford right now?
- [34:21]
C
I don't. That made me laugh. Kind of returning to practice. He showed up, right?
- [34:25]
D
Yeah, yeah.
- [34:27]
C
But the Rams, man, they got ahead of this story, man, they really did, because all we were getting is like murky news. But now we know what he was dealing with. He re aggravated a herniated disc in his lumbar spine or his low back. What does that mean? Well, the discs, right, are the that are between the vertebrae in his back. And when those discs tear, they can put a significant amount of pressure on those nerves that come out of the spine. The greater the pressure on those nerves, the farther away the symptoms. Can cause severe pain right at the low back, but also severe pain and weakness down the leg. He actually was able to get an epidural injection to that side. What is that? Well, that's a steroid injection. Very focused steroid injection around the nerve to decrease that pressure of inflammation on the nerve. And it seems to be helping them a great deal. Here is our problem. Age number one to only three weeks to get ready for week one. It's just not enough. The data is very clear. You don't have a full preseason. Injury risk is quite high, especially at the quarterback level. But all those other offensive threats need him. Right, to get up their fantasy numbers as well. But I'm fingers crossed, I'm very, very encouraged. He's back. Three weeks left to get ready, but good news coming out of la.
- [35:46]
D
All right, so. So you kind of trending in the optimistic direction with Stafford in terms of just being able to make it through the season, I guess. How, on a scale of 1 to 10, how worried are you about Stafford holding up?
- [36:01]
C
I'm going to give him a four. And I am quite the optimistic person based on his age and injury history. My issue is if he does get re injured, remember, he doesn't have the full training camp. If he does get re injured, he's going to be out four to six weeks.
- [36:15]
E
Right.
- [36:16]
C
But interesting that these quarterbacks with high, high football iq, man, they find ways to just avoid getting hits somehow some way. It's like the matrix.
- [36:30]
D
Jamie, you want to ask about. We've got some injured wide receivers that we need to know about.
- [36:35]
E
Yes. And maybe we can touch on this with Marty. I know not prepared, but we just got news that Jalen McMillan's neck injury could be pretty bad. And they expect him to miss some time. Todd Bowles just said that in regards to Malik neighbors, obviously somebody that we're very interested in and fantasy managers and NFL fans dealing with three separate injuries right now has the toe injury, which could be the most problematic, has a shoulder injury that seems to be okay, but now he has a back injury. Apparently he's managing. So of those three injuries, Marty, which ones concerns you the most and is he going to have any issue at some point during the season based on recurrence knowing that this toe problem apparently has been with him since college?
- [37:13]
C
You know, Jamie, I'm more concerned about how many injuries you mentioned in that introduction.
- [37:18]
E
Right.
- [37:19]
C
He's such a young career and that chronic turf toe with without question is a main issue. Main concern because that's the push off any sharp pain of that large toe.
- [37:30]
E
Right.
- [37:31]
C
You lose all power, you lose all explosiveness. Less concerned with the shoulder unless he has falls on it abruptly. And less concerns about his back tightness recently, which is also I think won't be much of an issue. But I'm concerned with longevity, availability and efficiency moving forward. He just is injury prone. So I'm concerned that he'll miss, you know, two weeks here, two weeks there.
- [37:59]
E
Right.
- [37:59]
C
It's just, it's really unfortunate that he set such a career with these injury blemishes. The turf toe can be a serious, serious issue and knock him out for a full season if he does require surgery.
- [38:14]
D
So would you say you're more concerned about neighbor's injury status right now than Justin Jefferson? And I'll throw one more guy, Tyreek Hill. You know, where are they compared to neighbors?
- [38:27]
C
Oh, well, just Justin Jefferson. You just never ever count him out.
- [38:32]
E
Right.
- [38:33]
C
He, he has a hamstring strain, but minor compared to two years ago was the opposite hamstring where he missed eight weeks. The reason I don't count him out is he knows how to take care of his body and the Vikings medical staff know how to take these hamstring tears very conservatively. I am not concerned at all with Justin Jefferson. I expect him to be cleared to play in week one, but at most maybe an extra week of rest. Zero concerns Justin Jefferson. Many more concerns with Malik Neighbors. Why? Because that injury history now Tyree Kill also interesting because he's an absolute beast and it's played through a lot of injuries. Here's our issue here. There he has an oblique tear, an oblique strain which is on the side of the ribcage. Extremely painful. Extremely painful for an athlete that constantly changes direction with the rotation and the explosiveness and of course can get re injured easily from some kind of impact. And earlier in the year, in May of this year you had a wrist surgery from a nagging a wrist injury from the previous season that has progressed extremely well in catching the football quite well now less concerns with him especially if Tua stays healthy. I expect his his target volume to also to go up as well. Except some good things from from Tyreek Hill this year. I really really do spent a lot of time taking taking care of himself so good things there and I'm most concerned about neighbors because all those things.
- [40:10]
E
We mentioned man Marty I I know all not all ACL tears are the same. It is sort of fascinating that you have Stefan Diggs who tore his ACL in I think it was week eight and he's back ready to go for the Patriots. And Brandon Ayuk, I know his ACL and MCL suffered the ACL suffered his knee injury in week six. Just in general with those injuries especially to the knee and for a wide receiver for those guys, one coming back and able to participate through everything in training camp and practice like Diggs and in the case of Ayuk most likely according to Kyle Shanahan could open the season on the PUP list. Just if you in general just speak to how different those you know, potential recoveries are because of how unique. I'm not unique but how you know different those knee injuries can be for certain players.
- [41:00]
C
You know, I think people don't realize this in the event there's an injury, let's call this ACL injury. Well when the surgeon goes in, he's getting a bird's eye view of all the history tear on the knee at that moment in time.
- [41:17]
E
Right.
- [41:18]
C
So you can have, you can go in and see a perfectly healthy knee. Just the ACL or he could see.
- [41:24]
E
Wow.
- [41:24]
C
There's a lot of things going on from years and years of of play and wear.
- [41:28]
E
Right.
- [41:29]
C
So I think that's part of the issue without question also the position the athlete plays and what's required in demands of that position. And that's why sometimes recoveries are all over the place. We do like eight months to 10 months to get back to full participation.
- [41:45]
E
Right.
- [41:46]
C
And if someone is is slightly behind that.
- [41:49]
E
Right.
- [41:50]
C
That's okay. Why? Because it's really a marathon, not a sprint. And long term health finally is part of the zeitgeist of every NFL team now they're really taking care of their athletes, thinking about them long term, realizing they are a brand and they are we need them for the long term. So I'm excited for both of those players. They've worked very hard in the off season and as we know, the ACL reconstruction is no longer a career ending or injury. It's. You can come back. I've always reported the same way on these types of surgeries. Achilles acl, a rotated cuff repair. They're nothing short of opportunities, right. An opportunity to get your mind straight. Opportunity to get your body straight. A year away, almost away from the brutality of football. Nothing short of an opportunity at early on it's chaos, right. What's going to happen but once you get all the little pieces in place and your team place, man, Opportunity to get fit, fitter, stronger and better than ever.
- [42:51]
D
Oh, man, if I get hurt, I'm going to your practice. You would fire me up to get to get my rehab going. I love it, dude.
- [43:00]
C
That's day one, man. Adam, that is day one. We have to clear the smoke. Yes. And lay it out right. This is what we're going to do and we're going to do it together and guarantee, guaranteed you become fitter, stronger than ever.
- [43:13]
D
Love it. Marty Daramillo, thank you so much for coming on and we'll talk to you, Marty. All right.
- [43:19]
C
I'll see you guys down the road, man. Have a great, great season.
- [43:21]
D
We were. We sure will appreciate it, man. Daniel Jones was just named the starter for the Colts. We'll talk about that. Plus some FFT open takeaways and how it's affecting our draft strateg. It's always fun to do these real drafts that really count and put your money where your mouth is and be on the clock and have to make a tough decision. Granted in three hours in the FFT open, but whatever it may be, we'll give you some of our big takeaways to talk about. I'm going to give you some stats, tell you why I think this is very good news for Jonathan Taylor. We'll be right back on Fantasy football today.
- [43:51]
C
Now streaming on Paramount plus it's an all new season of adventures.
- [43:55]
D
We have to stop this invasion, get to the ship, this crew, you as a team, we are going to find our way out of this.
- [44:01]
C
Star Trek Strange New worlds New season.
- [44:03]
D
Now streaming on Paramount plus now streaming. Hi again, TV's quirkiest crime solver. I'm Elspeth Tasiomi. I work with the police.
- [44:13]
C
It's on the case.
- [44:14]
D
I like my outlandish theories with a heavy dose of evidence and ready to go toe to toe with a Cavalcade of guest stars. Are you saying that this is now a murder in investigation? It's starting to look that way.
- [44:26]
C
Don't miss a moment of the critically.
- [44:27]
D
Acclaimed hit Els Beth. All episodes now streaming on Paramount plus and return CBS fall. That sounds like fun.
- [44:33]
C
Obviously, murder's not fun.
- [44:36]
D
Okay, Jamie, so Daniel Jones named the starter.
- [44:39]
E
Well, let's, let's react to Marty first because that HN statement was pretty, pretty scary, you know, to say the least, if he's going to miss the start of the season. So, you know, I think we should make something clear. Marty is not treating these players. Marty is giving his opinion on these players. It's not like they're patients of his. So when he's giving these, you know, opinions, it's, it's from afar. He's very valid, as we found out last year. You know, he was optimistic on Joe Burrow coming back, for example, and, you know, he came back and, and was, was a monster. So it just, it's, it's scary when you hear.
- [45:17]
D
Miss the first three games. Yeah. Wouldn't be surprised if we missed the start of the season. Wouldn't be surprised over three games. Yeah, it's all right. It's, it's because this is an injury where he basically was saying there's a, there's a big chance for re injury if you rush it back. So we'll be cautious. I think it makes sense to take HN in the second round. But even, you know, if he missed, if he missed two games, I still think second round could be really good value. He's gonna, we think he's gonna perform like an elite player when he's healthy. What are you doing in terms of Gordon and Jalen Wright?
- [45:52]
E
I still think based on what they've shown us, that Jalen Wright is the, is the second guy up. There was at least one South Florida media member, Chris Perkins of the South Florida Sun Sentinel, suggesting that Ollie Gordon should be the number two guy. Now, Mike McDaniel sort of indicated like, you know, they want their rookies to earn their spots. So we'll see if this is going to be something that goes into the season. We have games, probably a split. I, I still think Jalen Wright's profile fits the Dolphins as a speed guy and somebody that can, you know, work in the passing game, but I think at this point you're taking late round darts on either one.
- [46:30]
D
Yeah. I'm curious to see what, what would happen if they played their starters again. Just because we did have Jalen Wright fumbling in that second preseason game. But. But yeah, okay. You heard it from Jamie. Now. Now ready for Daniel Jones thing?
- [46:48]
E
Yeah. Crazy, huh?
- [46:49]
D
No, I. I'm actually not the least bit surprised. I just think.
- [46:52]
E
I thought they'd go the other way. They'll start Richardson and then if he struggles, you bench.
- [46:56]
D
Yeah. I just don't think Richardson does the simple things that a quarterback needs to do well enough. And honestly, Daniel Jones has struggled with that stuff too. Protections. I mean, he gets sacked a lot and I think a lot of it's because he doesn't call out the protections properly. He doesn't process, he doesn't go through his reads. He predetermines. You could see it in the preseason game. You could see it watching it for six years with the Giants. He's going to throw a slant to Tyler Warren or Josh Desert. It's going to happen. Doesn't matter how many defenders in the area. But just from a Jonathan Taylor. Let's start with the Jonathan Taylor perspective here. I had some notes. Daniel Jones in his career has a 16.9% running back target rate. 17% of his passes go to running backs Anthony Richardson, 9% in their careers. Daniel Jones has played 70 games. Richardson has played 15. Jones has six touchdowns from the 1 to 5 yard line in 70 games rushing touchdowns. Richardson has seven from the 1 to 5 yard line In 15 games. So having Daniel Jones under center to me means more passing, more catching. Sorry, more receptions for Jonathan Taylor and less competition near the goal line. I don't know if you feel the same way, but this is what I was hoping for. For everyone on the Colts, it is.
- [48:13]
E
A benefit without doubt to Jonathan Taylor. It is probably a benefit to the receivers. That said, the ceiling I still think would have been better if Richardson starts because we just don't know how his progression would have gone. Spend time this off season with a quarterback coach. I thought he looked much better in the second preseason game. Maybe I'm an idiot, but I thought he looked better, more competent, you know, took a lot of the short throws, which is what has been a problem for him. Maybe they didn't like the way he processed it. Maybe they just thought Daniel Jones done has done a better job in practice. I would have started Richardson to see where this goes. Yeah, but that's not.
- [48:53]
D
Look, look these. I think they're both going to start at some point this year. Right?
- [48:58]
E
We should probably. Yes. So if you're in a dynasty league, don't panic on Richards. Drop him. Certainly if you're in a super Flex or two quarterback league. Don't do that. This does not. If you're looking at the quarterback position, Richardson ceiling as a fantasy option is much higher than Daniel Jones. Now that being said, Daniel Jones did have a 700 yard rushing season and can clearly make some plays with his legs. So he'll have some moments and he gets a great matchup in Week 1 against the Dolphins. Although if they can't protect him because the Dolphins pass rush is going to be really good, their secondary is going to be awful. They just added Matthew Judon by the way. So it, yeah, it's a look, it's a benefit for Tyler Warren, it's a better fit for Josh Downs benefit for Michael Pittman simply because he will, as you said, he will be obvious in what he's trying to do. He's not going to make the aggressive play he did have. You know, nice, nice downfield play to Tyler Warren in the, in the preseason game. Also overthrew him on a wide open, it's wide open play as well. So he's just going to throw more.
- [49:54]
D
He's 100. He going to throw more than Richardson.
- [49:57]
E
This was never going to be, oh my God, these guys are awesome. Because Daniel Jones is starting, you know, this isn't Gardner Minchi or, or Joe Flacco, you know, and that says something, you know, for a guy in Daniel Jones who was a, you know, top 10 overall pick. So yes, it's, it's, it's better for them. This is not Joe Flacco starting making everything great for Judy Najoku Tillman. This is just slight bumps in value for Pittman, Downs and Warren and in the case of Downs, just keep an eye on the hamstring injury. You know, there, there was a million injuries we could have asked Marty about. So I'll apologize on behalf of us that just time wise we couldn't get to Taije Spears and Darnell Mooney and Josh Downs was Hampshire. We could have had three shows with Marty if we really wanted to, but we're just gracious for his time. But in any event, I think just looking at the, the, the starter being named as Daniel Jones, it's a, it's a plus for the receivers. Okay, so can we touch on the other news that just happened with Jalen Millen too? Because yes, if Godwin's on the PUP list and McMillan's out, like how are you not drafting Mecca buka the top 30 wide receiver at this point?
- [51:01]
D
Yeah, Mecca Buco or Jerry. Judy.
- [51:07]
E
Judy. Because Godwin will come back at Some point. Let's close. Yeah, that, that's where I am with the Buka. He's. He's round six, no question.
- [51:14]
D
And you've been, you've moved up Mike Evans too.
- [51:18]
E
Mike Evans is round three pick Evans or Tyreek Hill? I think I might go Evans now.
- [51:25]
D
Devonte Adams, Michael Evans. Now those are the, those are the old guys. A 31 year old and two 32 year olds.
- [51:32]
E
You know me, I love them.
- [51:33]
D
All right then. Jsn, third year guy or Mike Evans?
- [51:36]
E
Jason.
- [51:38]
D
Yeah, I don't know, man. Evans. I haven't drafted Evans once. It's gonna have to change. I didn't. I never really thought McMillan was a huge factor though, on, on Evans, you know, but. But it is something. I mean, it's.
- [51:52]
E
Well, it was. I mean, you think about this NFL draft ends and they just signed. God, when you're like, what an embarrassment of riches this is for the Bucks. Yeah. With the way McMillan finished, the way Evans still continues to play. Godwin, thinking coming back after what last year was in a first round talent, and now they've just lost potentially two receivers. Start the season like it's. You might have to reevaluate Baker too.
- [52:15]
D
And I think Kate Otten goes into sleeper territory, at least for the beginning of the year.
- [52:19]
E
Maybe he only really was good though in the time that Evans and Godwin was. Were both.
- [52:24]
D
Yeah, I think he was a little involved in the preseason game last week, as I recall. All right, so the FFT open I had like just a huge revelation for me, but I'm going to let you start. So FFT open is 12 teams, full PPR only start two receivers, shallow, shallow league, no kickers, no DST. So quarterback, two running back, two receiver, tight end, flex, six bench spots. I had the ninth pick. You had what, the fourth pick.
- [52:50]
E
Fourth pick. Right.
- [52:51]
D
So you had an interesting draft. And tell us what, what you came away with and, and you know, just your thoughts.
- [52:58]
E
First three picks were in order, actually. Jamar Chase, CD Lamb and Bijan Robinson. So I took Jameer Gibbs fourth. He's my fourth overall player. I do have Lamb ahead of him and came back in round two. And I was staring at T. Higgins. No, A.J. brown. I was staring at A.J. brown and Bucky Irving, I think were the top two players on my board. And I went with Bucky Irving. I said, you know, I'm gonna play this out to see how it goes. I also want to see how far Brown would fall with this hamstring injury and Brown's average draft position on our site is into round three. He's at 27, so a little bit different there. That's what two quarterbacks going in round two, Lamar Jackson and Josh Allen. So I take Bucky Irving, we get to round three, and T. Higgins is still on the board. JSN is still on the board. I said, you know what, I'm trying something different. Two receiver league. If it was a three receiver league, I take the receiver. No question. Two receiver league. I'm gonna take Jonathan Taylor. So I take Jonathan Taylor. So I start with three running backs in a row. You know, I mean, Mr. Running Back, I become Dave, which wide receivers could you have taken instead of Taylor, Higgins or jsn? Okay, I think if you really want.
- [54:08]
D
Me to look, I'll look it up.
- [54:11]
E
So come back to round four. I was hoping for Cortland Sutton. He goes right in front of me. I take DK Metcalf, I have him right back to back. And then round five, I take Garrett Wilson.
- [54:23]
D
Yeah, that's wild. That Gary. I don't really want to draft Garrett Wilson, but holy cow, this is why we said there's no such thing really as a do not draft list. Round five, Wilson 100. That's insane. All right, so basically taking three running backs, you still end up with DK Metcalf. No. Yeah, DK Metcalf and, and Garrett Wilson. All right, so here's, here's what I realized.
- [54:46]
E
So I will say just, just before you go. So you say revelation fans.
- [54:49]
D
Yeah.
- [54:50]
E
I think based on a two receiver league. And I've probably been a little too stubborn in this, in giving advice this way because most of my leagues are three receiver leagues. In two receiver leagues, I think you can get away with two running backs in your first three picks, especially this year.
- [55:07]
D
Absolutely. So, yeah, you're right. By the way, JSN and T. Higgins were on the board when you took Jonathan Taylor, 28th overall. Okay, so I had the ninth pick and I wrote, I wrote all my thoughts out here so I could do this sort of succinctly. So I'm just going to sort of read this originally, you know, when we were starting a draft maybe last month or whatever, I had seven elite running backs and eight elite wide receivers. I'm going to call them the mean 15. The only way to be guaranteed to get two of the mean 15 in a 12 team league was to pick 10th, 11th, or 12th. And you're going to have two top 15. Yes. Or someone takes Lamar Jackson or someone takes Brock Bowers or whatever.
- [55:46]
E
And someone Falls People value other players different than you do.
- [55:49]
D
Absolutely. But it was pretty much a consensus. Top seven running backs and top eight wide receivers. I don't really think like no one. Yeah, I'm gonna say very, very rarely was anybody taking a different running back in that top seven or a different wide receiver in that top eight. So anyway, I would love to have come away with two top 15 players. ADP and all the drafts we've done were suggesting that if I had a late pick in the first round and we talked about this like a half hour ago, it made more sense to take a running back first and then the wide receiver in the second round because the odds of Derrick Henry or Ashton Genty or even a Chan back then, now hn's a little bit different now. Following you around 2 weren't as high as the odds of Brian Thomas Jr. I'm on Ross and Brown. Nico Collins following you around two. I had the ninth pick, which means I had the 16th pick. So I wasn't necessarily going to get one of the mean 15 in round two. I'm up and HN, I believe, was off the board. So it was Ashton Genti and Derrick Henry were the only top seven running backs left, whereas Nico neighbors, Brian Thomas Jr. And Puka were all available. Logic would say take Genti there, hope that one of those wide receivers falls to in round two. I took Nico. I took him because I just liked him better, you know, And I just thought just takes one wacky pick for me to get another one of my mean 15. Well, it turns out unfortunately there were two auto picks, so I ended up getting Genti in round two. I don't expect that to happen, but I was extremely pumped about Nico and Genti. But here's the more important thing. I realized, Jamie, when I took Nico Collins that my mean 15 in full PPR is now a mean 16. There is an eighth running back including HN, by the way. I'm not having moved him out an eighth running back that I am comfortable with in my top 16 and that is Chase Brown. I realized that I'm so high on Chase Brown now and nothing that I saw last night did anything to stop that, you know, surge because he had a ton of touches and a goal line touchdown with the ones I'm so high on Chase Brown in full PPR that I think he belongs. He deserves to be a top 16 pick. And I am fine now if I have the ninth pick, you know, I feel like I'll come away with two of my top 16 guys and then after that, it gets a little trickier. Do I go Bowers? Do I go A.J. brown? Do I go Drake London?
- [58:08]
E
Well, let me ask two questions. One, why Chase Brown over Josh Jacobs after knowing now that Marshawn Lloyd, who may or may not have been a threat to him, could miss some significant time?
- [58:24]
D
The Lloyd thing doesn't really change anything for me. Yeah, no, I, I just think I'm, I'm going.
- [58:30]
E
Why not put both of them in your mean 17?
- [58:33]
D
I don't think Jacobs. I know he's done it before. I just don't think he really has the upside in full PPR to win you your league, you know, I think he's safe.
- [58:46]
E
Well, you don't.
- [58:46]
D
You disagree?
- [58:47]
E
I do.
- [58:48]
D
Yeah. I don't. I don't know. I don't. I don't see it. I think he's very safe and I think he's very good, but I don't see him. I don't really see a big difference between him and Jonathan Taylor. So I think Chase Brown has the ability to be on what could be the highest scoring team in football. It's the. You look at the Matt LaFleur era, we are always talking about a good offense. I think they've only had one year where they've been a great offense. I think it was one of the last Aaron Rodgers years where he won the MVP. They're usually around 10th or so in scoring. The Bengals could lead the NFL in scoring. Wouldn't surprise me. And I just think you're going to get more catches. Even though Chase Brown is going to split third down work. I think you're going to get more catches, a lot more maybe from Brown than you are. Jacob. So that's, that's my answer.
- [59:28]
E
I don't. Listen, they're back to back for me. That is running backs run that. Yeah. That is running backs 8 and 9. I. I don't know why I feel safer with Jacobs that that might be.
- [59:40]
D
I do feel safer with Jacobs, but I. Because I think he's more built for the workload. I'm a little worried about injury for, for Chase Brown. Jacobs is a proven commodity.
- [59:50]
E
If his camera don't think Jacobs is coming off the field and I could see that with Chase Brown. They already showed it. You know, P. Ryan playing on third notes.
- [59:57]
D
You think Jacobs will be. I don't think he'll be the third down back.
- [60:00]
E
I don't think Jacobs is coming off the field.
- [60:04]
D
This year. I don't even know who their third down back was last year. Let's see his snap shares Jacobs. No, he comes off the field a lot. He, he averaged 63% of the snaps down the stretch. He was flirting with more like 80 some games. But he's, he's going to come off the field. I think their snapshares will be pretty similar. All right, so the other thing was I want to get your thoughts on this. So I had one point also.
- [60:31]
E
I'm sorry, I. What, what is your hesitancy. Hesitancy with Drake London in that group.
- [60:39]
D
Has it. It's not, it almost sounds like I don't like Drake London. I just don't think.
- [60:43]
E
No, I don't want to paint that picture.
- [60:44]
D
Yeah, no, I just don't think he's as good of a player as the other eight receivers being drafted ahead of him and A.J. brown. So nine receivers because I think those guys are all elite talents, whereas London just hasn't really shown that. And also again last year the Atlanta Falcons had the seventh most passing yards in football and Drake London was wide receiver 14 per game. We keep talking about them having it. Well, I don't know. We keep talking but people think maybe they're going to have an improved passing game. I, I don't know that they will. And they could be super run heavy like they were at the end of last year. So he's an Easy wide receiver. 10 for me after A.J. brown. If you want to take him ahead of Brown. Totally get it because the injury. But those two guys are like two of the easiest picks for me in terms of where I like. Brown is easy number nine for me. London is easy number ten. There's no debate.
- [61:32]
E
And why not Bucky?
- [61:33]
D
Yeah, Bucky's another. Bucky's tough. I, I absolutely. Because he, he will not play much on third down. So I wonder if his receptions are capped unless Rashad White misses time and White's injured right now. But he had again one of the lowest third down rates basically even with Derrick Henry among running backs. So that could cap the receptions. But I have no problem if people want to put Bucky there. I have absolutely no problem with it. I think he's awesome and he should be on a great offense. But there you go. I think maybe the takeaway is do you have you the drafter? Do you have that eighth running back? Is hn still in that group for you? How many players are in your, you know, mean 15, mean 16, whatever it is that rhymes, you know, with mean that you feel good about in the second round and that should help you determine who you're going to take in.
- [62:22]
E
The first round as of today. Now I did put a Chan in non PPR behind Bucky behind so he's and behind Kyron like Yeah that he's 12th in in non PPR because his his best asset is his past catching ability. He could, he could clearly score 10 plus touchdowns. Wouldn't shock me but I think his best asset is in PPR and half ppr. I if we get till next week and he is not practicing through next week then Achan will fall behind Bucky Fair and probably Taylor.
- [62:58]
D
And let me say that this whole, you know, Chase brown being mean 16 full PPR only half PBR I do think it makes more sense to take Jacobs over Brown. I don't know that I do it because I just have this kind of football crush on Chase around in the Bengals offense but I probably would advise you all to do it. Would you do that? Jacobs over Brown and half ppr.
- [63:17]
E
I take Jacobs over Brown in all formats.
- [63:19]
D
Oh, I'm sorry, I thought you had. I thought you had. But you said they're back to back.
- [63:22]
E
But okay, they are back to back but I have Jacob's higher.
- [63:25]
D
All right. The other thing was I was up in the third round. So this is a two receiver league and we've talked about the importance, the value of taking an elite tight end in a two receiver league. Much easier to get away with it than in a three receiver league. I was on the clock. I had Nico and Genty and then in the third round it was Hampton. Hampton fell to me at 39 or Kittle and it was a really tough call for me. What would you have done?
- [63:50]
E
Your pick ten?
- [63:50]
D
You said pick nine.
- [63:52]
E
Pick nine. So what were the other running backs available that you could have gotten in? Did you look at the other rosters as well?
- [63:59]
D
I knew a kiddo wasn't getting back to me. No one had taken a Titan yet tight end yet. I could have taken Camara, I could have taken Henderson, Breece Hall, Ken Walker. So they were pretty good running back. I feel like one of them would have come back to me.
- [64:14]
E
So if you had taken Kittle, you may have had the opportunity to say let's say get Kittle and Camara or Kittle and Walker.
- [64:20]
D
Yes. However, I also am interested in taking a quarterback in round four and taking that either Burrow or Hertz who are both available right now.
- [64:30]
E
Yeah, look it's. I, I feel like it's not even really a discount but the discount you're getting on Kittle comparatively to the Other two guys. Like he could be better than both.
- [64:43]
D
Well, yeah. So having the ninth pick, that means I had the fourth pick of round two and the ninth pick of round three. I much prefer Kittle ninth pick of round three than Bowers fourth pick of round two. Would you agree?
- [64:57]
E
Yeah. Listen, I'm shocked. ADP on our side has Bowers 25. Oh, wow. And McBride 36 and Kittle 39.
- [65:07]
D
Well, to. To end the suspense, I took Hampton. I really liked Kittle there, but I just again, I want to be a little younger in fantasy. I can't pass up this rookie running back on a team that's going to run the hell out of the ball.
- [65:21]
E
I don't blame you.
- [65:22]
D
And he had unbelievable athletic numbers at the combine. It looks like a big freak. So I took Hampton. The next pick was Kittle.
- [65:31]
E
I think. Listen, when, when you're playing the, the, the onesie positions and the gamble on that, you never know how it's going to work out. Like you could have taken Kittle there and then every other pick is those running backs that you wanted.
- [65:46]
D
Yeah, it's true.
- [65:48]
E
And you could have taken Hampton and then you start the running back domino effect and all the running backs going. Kittle falls right back to you.
- [65:53]
D
I really felt like Hampton to me is just on a. Just. I like him just better than Camara Henderson, Ken Walker, Chuba Hubbard, all those guys.
- [66:03]
E
I, I agree. I, I think Hampton's in a better spot, but Henderson's not far behind for me. Yeah.
- [66:08]
D
And he's off the board.
- [66:09]
E
I don't understand like we're getting this kind of kiddos washed up.
- [66:11]
D
How.
- [66:11]
E
How can you say that?
- [66:12]
D
Kittle washed up. Kittle basically the most efficient tight end in football every single year. He is not washed up. He is unbelievable. He doesn't get nearly as many targets as Bowers and McBride, but he will crush my in yards. I don't think so. But he.
- [66:28]
E
I don't think so either. But you know it.
- [66:30]
D
He will crush them in yards per target. He will crush them in yards per out run. I mean, maybe Bowers can take the leap because Bowers is amazing, but he will crush just about every tight end. George Kittle is not washed up. I didn't know if there was anything else I wanted to get to.
- [66:42]
E
I did a draft yesterday where I had the first overall pick. It was a draft with analysts from other sites on sports. With First Sports Illustrated was a draft with Michael Fabiano. Draft was on sleeper and I started with Jamar Chase and then I went Chase brown. And Trey McBride at the turn. And then I came back in rounds four and five and I got devonte Adams and. And the. Oh, Devonte Adams. And I forget who it was. Oh, Devonte Adams and RJ Harvey. So this is a two receiver, two running back, two receiver, two flex league. My next turn come back, I take Ricky Pearsall and Jerry Judy. Jerry Judy. Ricky Pearson.
- [67:30]
D
Yeah.
- [67:30]
E
So my starting lineup is. And I wait on quarterback and I. It's four points for passing touchdowns. Justin Fields and Drake May back to back. So one of those two quarterbacks with Chase Brown, R.J. harvey at running back. You tell me if you like this or not. Chase Brown. I'll say Drake May because everybody's out on Justin Fields currently. Drake May, Chase Brown, RJ Harvey. Running backs Jamar Chase and Devonte Adams. Starting wide receivers, Trey McBride at tight end. And my two flexes in PPR are Ricky Piercel and Jerry Judy.
- [68:03]
D
Do I like it? It's amazing.
- [68:07]
E
My. My bench. My bench running backs are. I only drafted one more wide receiver, which is Romeo Dobbs. My bench wide receiver bench running backs are. This is my favorite part of the draft. Zach Charbonnet, Jordan Mason, Tank Bigsby and my guy, Braylon Allen. Yeah, dude.
- [68:25]
D
Just terrific work. Terrific work. All right, I actually have to go to record FFT Express and then I have to go to the vet. Not for me, for the cat. All right, we'll be back. Oh, by the way, you all know who Chad Smith is. I'm interviewing him tomorrow. He's starting. He has started the Chad Smith Foundation. He's the drummer for the Chili Peppers. It's going to be awesome. You can play fantasy football against him. We'll tell you more about. I really have to run, but go ahead.
- [68:54]
E
No, no. You will receive goat status if you do this. Will you sing to him a chili pepper song?
- [69:01]
D
No. God, no. Maybe just be like, hey, Chad, how long will this interview be?
- [69:09]
E
Please do that. Please do that.
- [69:10]
D
I might. All right, all right, we'll. We'll talk to you tomorrow on Fantasy Football Today.
- [69:15]
E
See you.
- [69:23]
D
Paramount Podcasts.
- [69:26]
C
Is this a hit It Situations. Whatever kind of adventure we want it to be now streaming on Paramount. Plus it's an all new season of adventures.
- [69:35]
D
We have to stop this invasion, get into this shit. This crew is a team. We are going to find our way out of this together.
- [69:41]
C
Hang on.
- [69:44]
D
It's one in a thousand.
- [69:45]
E
We get it done right or don't.
- [69:46]
D
Blow ourselves up along the way.
- [69:48]
C
I like those odds.
- [69:49]
E
We'll just turn it off before we blow up.
- [69:51]
C
Star Trek Strange New worlds, New season.
- [69:54]
D
Now streaming on Paramount.
- [69:55]
C
Plus.