Consensus PPR Top 12 (Part Two)! Nabers vs. Nacua, Jeanty Vs. Achane, Nico vs. St. Brown (06/24 Fantasy Football Podcast)

Summary

Fantasy Football Today: Consensus PPR Top 12 (Part Two) – Detailed Summary

Episode Release Date: June 24, 2025

Host: Adam Aizer
Analysts: Dave Richard, Jamey Eisenberg, Heath Cummings, and more.

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Introduction

In this engaging episode of Fantasy Football Today, host Adam Aizer and his panel of analysts delve deeper into the Consensus Points Per Reception (PPR) Top 12 rankings. This segment focuses on the critical matchups: Malik Neighbors vs. Puka Nacua, Devon Achan vs. Ashton Gentry, and Nico Collins vs. Amon-Ra St. Brown. The team examines recent changes in player rankings, backed by thorough research and audience interactions, aiming to equip fantasy managers with the insights needed to dominate their leagues.

Rankings Overview

The discussion begins with an overview of the updated rankings for this week:

• 7. Malik Neighbors (WR)
• 8. Puka Nacua (WR)
• 9. Devon Achan (RB)
• 10. Ashton Gentry (RB)
• 11. Nico Collins (WR)
• 12. Amon-Ra St. Brown (WR)

Notably, Christian McCaffrey has dropped from 12th to 13th, and Nico Collins has climbed from 13th to 11th. The analysts emphasize the fluid nature of these rankings, influenced by ongoing research and player performance assessments.

In-Depth Analysis

Saquon Barkley’s Future as a Running Back

Dave Richard presents a compelling analysis of Saquon Barkley, highlighting the historical challenges faced by running backs who accumulate over 400 touches in a season. He states:

“[...] only three of the 24 running backs who reached 400+ carries outperformed their previous years, while 17 saw a significant drop in their PPR points per game.” ([06:20])

Richard concludes that while Barkley remains a valuable asset, his reliability as a RB1 is questionable based on historical trends.

Malik Neighbors vs. Puka Nacua: A Battle of Upsides

The core of the episode centers on the debate between Malik Neighbors and Puka Nacua. Adam Aizer cites Neighbors' impressive 11.3 targets per game, emphasizing his explosive playmaking ability:

“Neighbors has the highest upside of these running backs. [...] 11.3 targets per game, the best among everybody in the universe.” ([12:03])

Jamey Eisenberg counters with insights on Puka Nacua, highlighting his efficiency and potential to surpass Neighbors in PPR points:

“Puka Nacua might be better than Malik Neighbors... He averages over six yards after the catch per reception in both of his seasons.” ([17:36])

Despite current Twitter polls favoring Nacua (56% Nacua vs. 44% Neighbors at [17:12]), the panel remains divided, acknowledging both players' high ceilings and potential risks.

Devon Achan vs. Ashton Gentry: Evaluating Running Back Depth

Transitioning to the running backs, the analysts compare Devon Achan and Ashton Gentry. Dave Richard emphasizes Achan’s robust offensive environment with the Miami Dolphins:

“Achan last year, 17.6 PPR points per game... [...] expecting him to have a solid floor with potential for growth.” ([28:01])

Conversely, Heath Cummings raises concerns about Ashton Gentry’s opportunities given the Las Vegas Raiders' offensive line uncertainties:

“He worries about how much work Gentry will really get... and whether he can maintain his rookie production without established NFL experience.” ([33:44])

The consensus leans towards Achan as a safer first-round pick, with Gentry appealing to those seeking higher upside despite the associated risks.

Nico Collins vs. Amon-Ra St. Brown: Efficiency vs. Consistency

The debate shifts to wide receivers Nico Collins and Amon-Ra St. Brown. Dave Richard likens Collins to AJ Brown, praising his physicality and efficiency:

“Nico Collins and AJ Brown are the creme de la creme... Among the very best in the NFL.” ([52:00])

Jamey Eisenberg counters by highlighting St. Brown’s consistency and his role as a safe first-round selection:

“St. Brown’s just the safest one. He has a ton of red zone targets and feels like an easy auto-select when he's on the draft board.” ([47:00])

However, Nico Collins' high target share and recent performance post-injury offer him a compelling case, especially in leagues that reward efficiency and yardage over mere consistency.

Audience Interaction and Feedback

Throughout the episode, the hosts engage with their audience through Twitter polls and live comments. A pivotal poll presented:

• Puka Nacua: 56%
• Malik Neighbors: 44%

This data-driven interaction reflects the community’s leanings but also underscores the balanced nature of the debate.

Key Quotes with Timestamps

• Adam Aizer at [12:03]:
  “Neighbors has the highest upside of these running backs. [...] 11.3 targets per game, the best among everybody in the universe.”

• Dave Richard at [06:20]:
  “only three of the 24 running backs who reached 400+ carries outperformed their previous years, while 17 saw a significant drop in their PPR points per game.”

• Jamey Eisenberg at [17:36]:
  “Puka Nacua might be better than Malik Neighbors... He averages over six yards after the catch per reception in both of his seasons.”

• Heath Cummings at [33:44]:
  “He's going to have to do enough to warrant a top five or even a top ten pick.”

Conclusion

The episode concludes with a consensus that while all six players in the Top 12 PPR rankings possess significant fantasy value, their individual risks and rewards vary. Malik Neighbors and Puka Nacua stand out as premier wide receivers, each with unique strengths that cater to different fantasy strategies. Meanwhile, Devon Achan emerges as a reliable running back choice, whereas Ashton Gentry offers a high-risk, high-reward scenario. In the receiver category, Nico Collins presents an enticing upside, but Amon-Ra St. Brown remains the stalwart option for consistency.

As the fantasy season progresses, these rankings are expected to evolve, and the analysts tease future discussions to help managers stay ahead of the curve.

Next Episode: Tune in on June 30th for "Consensus PPR Top 12 (Part Three)" where the panel will cover players ranked 13 through 18, continuing their quest to provide the ultimate fantasy football insight.

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For more expert analysis and updates, subscribe to Fantasy Football Today on your favorite podcast platform and follow us on Twitter @AskFFT.

Transcript

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Wanna play?

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Can you believe this?

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No, I can't. It's time to dominate your fantasy league.

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This is going to go the distance.

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Now here's some combination of Adam, Dave, Jamie and Heath.

[Fantasy Football Analyst 1]

Good morning, everybody. Welcome to this show. It is Tuesday, June 24th and we are talking about players 7 through 12 in the consensus PPR rankings. That would be Malik Neighbors at 7, Puka Nukua 8. Number 9 is Devon A. Chan. Number 10, Ashton Genty Number Nico Collins 11 and Amanra St. Brown 12. A little bit different than what we told you yesterday because the rankings have changed. So Christian McCaffrey was 12th. He's now 13th. Nico Collins has moved up to 11th from 13th, I believe. So again, it is neighbors. Puka Achan, Genti, Nico Aman Ra St. Brown. All right, good morning.

[Fantasy Football Analyst 3]

What? So tomorrow's show is what will be 13 through 18? 13 through 18. And then 19 through 24 is Thursday.

[Fantasy Football Analyst 1]

Very good.

[Fantasy Football Analyst 3]

Jamie, I just want. Are you going to show 13 through 24 tomorrow? No, just 13 through 18. Yeah, I was going to really like, screw my rankings up just to have fun on Thursday.

[Fantasy Football Analyst 1]

I was curious, you know, it's yesterday was June 23rd, right. And Dave, you move Nico Collins up and I'm sure this happens more than I realize where you guys are just making a slight rankings. What inspires that in the middle of June?

[Fantasy Football Analyst 2]

Research, thinking about obviously what the players can do, what their upside is. And then like in the case of Nico, like, I don't even know if I'm going to keep more. I keep them because I do think that Devon Hn has more upside than Nico Collins. But I believe that there's only seven receivers on the top tier. Nico is in that top seven. And the way that I think about it is, okay, If I'm picking 11th, these six other receivers are gone. Look at all these running backs that are left. I know I'll get one of these running backs in round two. I don't want to lose my chance on getting one of the top seven receivers. I'll take Nico Collins. Those are the types of things. It's kind of like, you know, the decisions that you make with taking Chase or Bijan. And I mentioned that yesterday, what you might want to do in round two could be the tiebreaker between those two studs in round one. These are the types of things that I think about in June and hopefully lock in so I don't have to bother with it again in August.

[Fantasy Football Analyst 3]

I do it when I, when I do drafts. So, like, if I come upon a decision that I'm like, you know, I don't really love this if I'm following my rankings. So, like, I had a such a great basketball draft last night. Oh, I, you know, I'll go through a draft and I'll be like, you know, this, this doesn't feel right. Doesn't look right. If I'm doing this myself, why would I encourage other people to do it? So it's typically when I'm doing those type of exercises, I'll, I'll change my rankings when it's, you know, nothing tangible or actionable has happened.

[Fantasy Football Analyst 2]

Do you, you want to hear how big of a nerd I am, Adam?

[Fantasy Football Analyst 1]

Yeah, I already know it. But sure.

[Fantasy Football Analyst 2]

Sometimes I like to do mock drafts by myself and I pick every position and that helps me set my top 200.

[Fantasy Football Analyst 1]

Okay, that's great.

[Fantasy Football Analyst 2]

Some people like to go out and like, see concerts or movies, watch TV shows, coach little league. I'm alone in my kitchen in my robe and underwear doing one person mock drafts on a Saturday. Thank you.

[Fantasy Football Analyst 1]

And I always felt Like, I could do a hundred mock drafts. We don't do that many, but it feels like it. The second I start doing a real draft, my feet are to the fire, and I have to make a pick that's actually going to impact a fantasy team. That's when I get more clarity about who I like better. It's so easy to be whatever. I'll take Drake, London here. But then when I actually. In a mock draft, it's actually a real team. I get this moment of clarity. Oh, wow. Actually, I like this guy better. So I'm sure once the real drafts.

[Fantasy Football Analyst 3]

Start, that's when we'll see how you really love Christian McCaffrey.

[Fantasy Football Analyst 1]

Well, someone said to me, you know, because I put my top six on Twitter yesterday, as it was so much different, pretty fairly different than yours. Chase, Bijan, McCaffrey, Puka, Lamb, Jefferson, and.

[Fantasy Football Analyst 3]

Someone'S not your top six.

[Fantasy Football Analyst 1]

Now, someone said to me, you're. You're treating McCaffrey like he's healthy. Why not just make him number one? That's actually a pretty good point, you know, but I don't think I'd do that. But I. Maybe two I. Chase is definitely gonna be number one for me, but I could see McCaffrey two for me, and honestly, I can see McCaffrey two for everyone. By the time it's all said and done, more and more glowing reports about Christian McCaffrey and his health. We'll see how high he goes, how high he rises, but he'll rise. I'm confident. Dave Saquon Barkley. You have a good Saquon Barkley stat. Let's hear it.

[Fantasy Football Analyst 2]

So this was something I wanted to get around to doing. And just yesterday and today I had the time to do it, so I thought I would. We know, and we. We talk a lot about. Well, Saquon had, you know, a ton of touches last year. It was like 480 something touches. I should know the number. So I wanted to go back and look over the last 15 years. Saquon is actually the 17th running back to get at least 400 touches in a season. Of the prior 16 with 400 or more touches, only three of them outperformed their 400 touch year. Only four more were close enough to their 400 touch here. The other nine running backs, they all fell short. They either sat out, which is Le'Veon Bell, when he held out of his contract because he's a knucklehead, got hurt. And that includes Christian McCaffrey. In 2020, Derrick Henry played half a year in 2021 or saw at least a 20% drop in their per game average. Three of those running backs, by the way, saw a 40% drop. So roughly a little less than half of the running backs were at least decent compared to how they did in their 400 touch year. While I did that research, one of the running backs that kept playing well year after year, I mean, not for a long time, let's call it three years, was Ray Rice. He had like three years of 400 plus touches. He was doing great. I went and looked at his catches. He had at least 65 catches in each year, had under 350 carries in each of those year. And I'm including the postseason and all of this data. So I thought I'd go back and look at 400 or more carries because that's certainly something that's a little bit more impactful. Saquon Barkley didn't really catch the ball very much last year. Much more of a carry guy. He had a ton of carries. I want to say it was around 430 and I went deeper. I went over the last 35 years, how many running backs over the last 35 years have had at least 400 carries in a season? The answer is 25. That includes Saquon. Of the prior 24 running backs with 400 or more carries, only three of those guys, wow, outperform their 400 touch year. That excludes players who got hurt. And four more were close enough to their 400 plus carrier and PPR average where you would say, okay, they weren't as good, but they were like 85% of themselves. So not that many running backs by comparison to 400 plus touches. The other 17 running backs who fell short the year after they had 400 plus carries either got hurt. That includes Jamal Lewis who missed an entire season, or they saw at least a 25% drop in their PR per game average. That makes me, that takes Saquon completely out of the RB1 conversation for me and it should be that way for you because if you're drafting him as your top RB, you're expecting him to get in the neighborhood of 20 PPR points. He just had a year where he had 22 and change. If he's going to fall off by 25%, that's four points off. Doesn't mean he's not a first round pick. But I would wait to take Saquon Barkley. I would not make him my first. I'm not even going to make him my second running back. I'M going to take a step back from this 28 year old who had a monster year and is coming off such a huge workload. The odds are based on the track record of running backs who have done what he did, the odds are against him being anywhere close to as good as he was in 2024.

[Fantasy Football Analyst 1]

Okay, so the big headline here. Since 199024 running backs before Saquon Barkley had hit 400 or more carries in a season, including the playoffs. Of those 24, 17 of them saw their fantasy points per game drop by 25% or more the next season.

[Fantasy Football Analyst 2]

Or they were just out for the year. Or they were Scott Hurt in the preseason, didn't play in a single game.

[Fantasy Football Analyst 1]

Okay, that is a huge that is a great stat. Well done sir. Great research and take take from that what you will all right. FFT Dynasty Tuesdays and Fridays. You can see that in its own feed, the Fantasy Football Teddy Dynasty feed or the episodes do drop in the FFT feed. I don't think it's going to be that way during the season, but it is for now. I'm not sure how much longer that will be going, but feel free to give a subscribe to that podcast we have some news and notes James Boyd of the Athletic thinks that Daniel Jones has a significant lead in the Colts quarterback competition. Obviously you have the shoulder injury for Richardson, but Richardson said he will be good to go for training camp. Russell Wilson said he chose the Giants because of Malik Neighbors. That's cool. Can't wait to have the neighbors versus puka discussion in a moment. Andrew DiCicco of InsideTheBirds.com and this is just more about Saquon Barkley suggests there will be more variants in the Eagles offense this year. They were so run heavy. I think it's a given that there's going to be more variants in the Eagles offense this year. Zach Kiefer of the Athletic expects the Chiefs to be more or to try to be more explosive offensively. They were 27th in big plays last year. By true media, that's defined as a play of 20 or more yards. 27th and they were 27th in pass plays of 20 or more yards last year. That's the Chiefs all right. 7 through 12 in the consensus rankings. 7 and 8 are wide receivers, 9 and 10 are running backs, 11 and 12 are wide receivers. 7 and 8 are Malik neighbors and Puka Nakua. And there was a pretty good little debate amongst the YouTube audience in our comments yesterday because we did talk about neighbors versus Nakua. Just feel like There was a little bit of a lean toward Neighbors. I don't have the Twitter poll or the YouTube poll from yesterday, but I'm current. I currently have a Twitter poll going right now. Who do you prefer in PPR, neighbors or nakua? 214 votes at the moment, and it's 56% for nakua, 44% for neighbors. Looking at the consensus rankings and. And it's the same for you guys in your individual rankings. You both have neighbors 7 and Nakua 8. Heath has Nakua 9 and neighbors 11, actually. So he likes Nakua better than Neighbors, but he's lower on both of them than consensus. Okay, you guys go ahead. Obviously, it's close, so I don't want to make you argue vociferously here about Neighbors over in a Kuwa, but why Neighbors one spot ahead? Dave?

[Fantasy Football Analyst 2]

I think he's got the upside to be the wide receiver one in the National Football League, and that's based on talent. There aren't many guys that can accelerate like him. And on top of that, he's just an amazing wide receiver. We were all witnessed to that last year. I think Dable deserves a little bit of credit for getting what he did out of Neighbors as a rookie with crap at quarterback. And so the play calling, the play designs the scheme. I don't think that that's a negative whatsoever against Malik Neighbors. And the opportunity was huge for him last year. 11.3 targets per game. That was the best, I believe, among everybody in the universe. So having a huge target chair, being really good at football, really explosive, really tough to defend, and working in an offense that has a semblance of an upgrade at quarterback. This certainly makes me feel like Neighbors has the highest upside of these running backs. But his floor isn't bad either because last year he averaged over 18 PPR points per game. He had a couple of stinkers in there. And so I. I still believe that he's got the opportunity to put up huge numbers. I want to have a player like that on my team.

[Fantasy Football Analyst 1]

And Jamie, your argument for Neighbors over.

[Fantasy Football Analyst 3]

Nakua, I think they're both awesome. You know, going back to yesterday, you have the opportunity to, you know, I think sort of positive and negative pros and cons for both of these guys. And, you know, make your own decision on, you know, Nakua's. You know, you said it. Nakua, his rookie year is better than Neighbors rookie year. And, you know, he took a step forward in his second year as well, you know, in terms of points per game. So will Neighbors do the same Thing I, I think the, the bottom line is didn't did which which situation got better for each player.

[Fantasy Football Analyst 1]

Yeah.

[Fantasy Football Analyst 3]

And it's hard to say that neighbor situation didn't get better for the situation for Neighbors didn't get better than and the situation for Nakua got slightly worse. So you know, again they're both top 8 top 10 players. However you look at it, they should both be first round picks no matter what and you're hoping that they continue the, the trajectory that they're on now again, can Nakua improve his his numbers in in year three? I think if he stays healthy and you look at what he did without Cooper cup producing down the stretch and hope that, you know, Devonte Adams is not that same level of production that he that he was last year and commands more targets than Nakua because Adams has clearly been the target leader more times than not throughout his career. For Neighbors it's, you know, I, I think Heath has sort of been, you know, hammering this home, which is hard to argue against. The quarterback room is dramatically better for the Giants. Dramatically better. Whether you like Russell Wilson or not, you know, Wilson, Dart Winston is so much better than Jones, Boyle, DeVito, Locke. It's just, it's not even close. And so if, if those guys can just continue to help him forget about what they do for themselves. You know, nobody's looking at Russell Wilson and Dart and Winston as, you know, maybe Winston but as, as league winners for fantasy managers or helping the Giants become Super bowl contenders. We're hoping that they're going to make Malik Neighbors the star that he's started to show that he can be.

[Fantasy Football Analyst 1]

Oh yeah. All right, I'm gonna give some some numbers on Nakua and make the case there just for Devil's advocate after this quick break update on the Twitter poll. 57% Nukua 43% neighbors. All right, we'll be right back to continue this discussion on ffd.

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[Fantasy Football Analyst 1]

Now. By the way, I looked up the word vociferous during that segment just to make sure I had used it correctly. I was a little nervous there and I did. Thank you. Thank you. It was a big word for me. It was kind of a big moment. Thank you. Okay. Anyway, Puka Naku. I just want to throw this out there.

[Fantasy Football Analyst 3]

Look straight ahead into the camera and spell it.

[Fantasy Football Analyst 1]

V O V O C I F E R O U S. You look down.

[Fantasy Football Analyst 3]

Nope. Done.

[Fantasy Football Analyst 1]

Okay. I just, you know, we love Bleak Neighbors. He was number one in the ESPN open metric and they're their advanced analytics. So he got open better than anyone in the NFL. We think he's a superstar. Could in the. Could be in the discussion as the best wide receiver in the NFL just based on talent. Right? We. I don't think people necessarily feel that way about Pukinakua, but I'm going to just say Pukinakua might be better than Malik Neighbors, which is crazy because I think Malik Neighbors is unbelievable. Pukinakua does it in a different style. But you know, I said it yesterday, I think twice, so I'll say it now again. Second highest yards per outrun rate in the last 12 years. For Pukinakua last season, the only guy who had a better season in the last 12 years was Tyreek Hill. If you compare their rookie numbers, it's not even close. Jamie alluded to that. Puka Nukua had an unbelievable rookie season, one of the best we've ever seen. He was, he was better than Neighbors and he did that with Cooper Cup. Now in the 12 games he played with Cup 12 or 13, he was wide receiver 12 per game as a rookie in 2023. This year he, this past year he usurped Cooper Cup. But I think what I would say is that even though he's not a flashy receiver, Pukinakua might be in that argument to be the best receiver in football. He averages over six yards after the catch per reception in both of his seasons. That blows away what what Malik Neighbors did last year, his explosive play rate. You don't think of him as an explosive player. His explosive play rate was terrific. So that's, you know, that's the thing. If you're going wow, Neighbors is so much more talented, I would, I would pump the brakes on that. And also I think, I think the Rams offense, their passing offense could be even better. They threw for 4,096 yards and 22 touchdowns last year. So while we do project a ton of improvement for the Giants who threw for 3,521 yards and the fewest touchdowns in the NFL last year, 15, I think the Rams have some, some ability to improve on that too. Why can't they throw 30 touchdowns this year? Yeah, it's very possible with Stafford. So I'm going to tell you the one thing that concerns me with Puka and it's that the Rams the split for Matthew Stafford last year in wins and losses. I don't know if I have this in my notes but the pass attempts, they were dramatically different. He, they became so run heavy late in the year and they won and they just kept on winning. I think he threw more than 32 passes in one of his last seven games and that was the only game they lost in that stretch. It was a game against the Eagles when they won. He was throwing probably fewer than 30 times a game. They were very, very run heavy. Crazy splits and wins and losses last year for the Rams, they have this young defense that is loaded with talent. Right. They could have one of the better defenses in the NFL this year. So that, that concerns me with Puka. If they are just league average or top 20 in pass attempts, I'm confident he'll be better than neighbors. Somewhat confident. Obviously they're very close, but yeah, I think I just wanted to bring that up that he is incredible. Go ahead, Jamie.

[Fantasy Football Analyst 3]

Does that concern you with Puka because of Adams now being there? Because obviously Puka was still putting up good stats while they weren't throwing as much last year.

[Fantasy Football Analyst 1]

No, I mean not really. I think that Cooper cup had a very underrated season until the last three weeks.

[Fantasy Football Analyst 3]

I mean again we could just reference those last three games because again Puka's numbers were still very good and they were winning.

[Fantasy Football Analyst 1]

Yeah. And cup ahead three targets.

[Fantasy Football Analyst 3]

Trying to get an idea of your correlation of the lack of throwing to how it impacts Puka.

[Fantasy Football Analyst 1]

I mean if they go into being like the packers and the Eagles last year where they are one of the most run heavy teams, then Puka is probably going to be disappointing because Adams is there. But if again, if they just think.

[Fantasy Football Analyst 3]

That'S what I'm getting at. Is it because of Adams being there on top?

[Fantasy Football Analyst 1]

Yeah, I think Adams is a slight upgrade over what cup did last year. Cup was, was a lot better than people realize. But no, it's more just, it's more just. I don't want to see them become one of the most run heavy teams in football which they were down the stretch last year.

[Fantasy Football Analyst 3]

Right. But even still doing that, Puka's numbers were good. I think the one thing that benefits him and even Adams and it was the same thing with cup is like the targets are so concentrated and so you know, do, do they. Do they potentially both these guys lose a little bit if it's a big if, if McVay sticks to what he said and he's usually a pretty honest coach because at the owner's meetings they just signed Tutu Atwell to this somewhat ridiculous deal, 10 million dollar deal for one. And he said I didn't do a good enough job of giving him more opportunities. So does he get the DeMarcus Robinson numbers? Does he get maybe a little bit more. You know and again I, I don't think it's going to happen. But you never know. Do they incorporate Tyler Higby who was coming back from the ACL tear and had a strong finish into the playoffs and maybe it's the Higby Ferguson combination of the tight ends getting a little bit more. And then in terms of Puka, like you mentioned it is, is Devonte Adams on the same level of what Cooper cup did early in the season when he was producing at that level still still Cooper cup or is he better than Cooper Cup? You know and again age, he really hasn't shown that he's declining tremendously in terms of the way that he does get his, his, his production fantasy and reality.

[Fantasy Football Analyst 1]

Yeah.

[Fantasy Football Analyst 3]

So I mean these are all things that could be working against Nakua. But I think, you know, again like I don't think this is a neighbors Nakua argument because again that's sort of depending on I think who you prefer. I think it's just the Nakua argument. Like I don't think there's reason to doubt him because of what Stafford has shown in relying on him. And then it goes back to. We talked about this on express yesterday in regards to like Justin Jefferson, like McVeigh finds so many ways to get these guys open. You know, to your point about what he does and, and it's just so fantastic. Like you know if you, I think if you're tying it back to Neighbors like offense and quarterback. If you are flipping a coin between these guys, those things are not close in favor of what Nakua has. Yeah.

[Fantasy Football Analyst 1]

And also Pukunukua. Let's see, in two years, where did he finish per game? He's been like top six per game, I think at wide receiver both years. And he has nine touchdowns in his career.

[Fantasy Football Analyst 3]

Yeah, right.

[Fantasy Football Analyst 2]

Receiving touchdowns.

[Fantasy Football Analyst 1]

Yeah, right. Touchdown last year he did have Russian touchdown. But imagine if he starts getting more end zone. Imagine if he starts catching touchdowns. He gets eight this year. It could be huge for him.

[Fantasy Football Analyst 2]

Right, that's. That's one of the drawbacks in Akua said he's never been a real red zone threat for la.

[Fantasy Football Analyst 1]

Let me give you another neighbors argument. Davis. See what you think about this. Pro neighbors. He. He scored 23 or more fantasy points in three of the four games that he played with maybe the most important player on offense for the Giants, Andrew Thomas, their left tackle. Thomas only played six games last year, only four with neighbors. Meanwhile, the Rams, they might lose their left tackle for the season, unfortunately with Larry Jackson having blood clots. So Andrew Thomas is just a massive piece of the offense for the Giants. And in theory, you'll have more Thomas games for neighbors this year.

[Fantasy Football Analyst 2]

I'm not going to. I'm not going to make that a tiebreaker between the two. That's just too far down the rabbit hole. Listen, I appreciate a good offensive line and I agree that an offensive line is very important to how real football works. That's obvious. But I'm not going to say, well, the reason I'm going to take Nakua over Neighbors is because of the offensive line issues and what might happen if one of the offensive linemen get hurt. I think that's too far down the rabbit hole. You look at the players opportunities, you look at who they're catching footballs from. Jamie's right. Russell Wilson by nearly every single metric was better than the slop that the Giants had at quarterback last year. And he also takes chances downfield. That's going to help the A dot the receiving average from a league Neighbors. I think neighbors end zone targets go up. He didn't even average the most end or red zone targets per game last year in New York. Wondell Robinson did. What the hell's that?

[Fantasy Football Analyst 1]

140 targets for Wandale last year.

[Fantasy Football Analyst 2]

I'm talking about just in the red.

[Fantasy Football Analyst 1]

I know, I know. But isn't that crazy? Because that's the thing.

[Fantasy Football Analyst 2]

So I, I think that we're going to see more of a. Of an uptick and ascension for neighbors than we will for Nakua. Provided that everybody stays healthy in LA goes as if Devonte Adams is pushed off the age cliff, then we know that Puka is going to see more than nine targets per game. That'll make him better than Malik Neighbors.

[Fantasy Football Analyst 1]

All right, let's go to our next group here. So it's 8 or 9 and 10. Pardon me. In the consensus rankings it's Devon Achan and Ashton Genty. So we can compare these two guys. But first, Jamie, is there anything that makes you put the neighbors in Nakua ahead of these two running backs, Achan or Genty, or do you think they're more or less interchangeable dealers choice kind.

[Fantasy Football Analyst 3]

Of deal in terms of who you.

[Fantasy Football Analyst 1]

Take first in terms of neighbors, Nakua, hn, Genty, does it matter? Are you adamant that the wide receivers should go ahead of those two running backs?

[Fantasy Football Analyst 3]

I am. I don't have HN as a first round pick so yes, I would definitely take the receivers over HN. He's 13th for me. So just outside of it. But you know, again, you know, Dave touched on this. Like I I think when you start to get to the back end of round one and certainly depending on where you're picking in the beginning part of round one like you're seeing, there's a much more robust group of running backs that should be available to you comparatively to the wide receivers. And so it's going to come down to format. It's going to come down to how you like to draft. I like to build your team. What you think could be available to you in in the the 3, 4 range, especially if you' in this part of the the first round for me, I'm going to take the receiver. So neighbors Nakua, Collins and St. Brown should in my opinion go ahead of these guys.

[Fantasy Football Analyst 1]

Dave, how do you feel about that?

[Fantasy Football Analyst 2]

I agree. And a lot of it has to do with supply and demand at the elite tier of wide receiver and getting in on that. Achan last year, 17.6 PPR points per game. Really good for his second season. Actually it's not. He was 17.3 as a rookie. So year over year about the same guy. But obviously it was better when Tuo was playing. I I are you we going to buy into a chan getting more work and the offense not changing in Miami when they really didn't do anything with their offensive line to suggest okay, we fortified it like we saw the Bears fortify their offensive line. Okay. They knew they had a weakness there and they're they're going to do what they can to better protect their quarterback. Dolphins didn't really do the same thing. And so does that mean that they're content with Tua just getting the ball out as fast as possible? Is he going to play hot potato with the football? And if he does, and that's obviously going to be good for a Chan and full ppr because he's going to get a lot of those little dink and dunk targets that he can go and make a play with. When. When Tua wasn't in there, he didn't even average 10 PPR points per game. That's over a six game span. And I can't count on tua for. For 17 games. I know we did two years ago. I'm nervous about it. I'm also nervous about that offense changing a little bit and trying to push the ball downfield. Why can't they get screens to waddle and Tyreek, especially if Tyrique's wrist is healthy now. So I think there's a little bit of risk with a Chan. There's obviously upside too, but I'd rather have one of those wide receivers that you can almost pencil in a floor of. Do you pencil in a floor of what they did last year? That was 18 PPR points. Maybe take a point off that as a floor, knowing that the ceiling is still in that 20 ppr point range.

[Fantasy Football Analyst 3]

What do you have?

[Fantasy Football Analyst 1]

Yeah, well, I left the room briefly to get a drink because it is so freaking hot and I was like losing it a little bit. So I needed water. But I opened the fridge. I just. I have a hard time opening the fridge and not eating something. So I ate this. They're like, they're supposed to be sort of energy. It's like an energy ball. It's oatmeal, peanut butter, honey. Flaxseed. I don't know. It was okay.

[Fantasy Football Analyst 2]

Flaxseed.

[Fantasy Football Analyst 1]

Flaxseed is a great. Is a great thing to throw in. It has very little taste unless you put a ton in and it's super healthy. So you can just throw it into things. Especially if you have kids, you want them to eat healthier, just throw some flaxseeds in there.

[Fantasy Football Analyst 2]

I'm gonna put it in my next hot fudge.

[Fantasy Football Analyst 1]

Exactly. Yeah. I know you're having this argument, but you, you, you mentioned it. I didn't hear everything you said. I'm sorry. Because I was getting water and an energy.

[Fantasy Football Analyst 2]

Yeah. You knew I would talk a long time.

[Fantasy Football Analyst 1]

No, it's. I appreciate that. But you, you mentioned that HM was a lot better with Tua. I mean, he was close to 22, 23 points per game with Tua.

[Fantasy Football Analyst 2]

5, 5 PPR points per game better with Tua.

[Fantasy Football Analyst 1]

So that's much better than what neighbors in Nakua did. So Jamie, you don't even have a Chan ranked in the first round or are you 13th? So how does that factor in what we saw with Tua and what we saw without Tua?

[Fantasy Football Analyst 3]

I mean, look, he's, he's awesome. And I, I do think like you look at the last two years of this offense and two years ago they produced the touchdown leader from the running back position with Raheem Mostert. And last year what HN did when Tua was healthy was in the same range of Saquan Barkley, Jameer Gibbs and, and Bijan Robinson. And so it's hard to overlook that clearly. So the question for me is the offensive line because we know it's going through another change and how will that perform, the quarterback situation, you know, will Tua stay healthy? And I do think, look, that, you know, whether you, whatever you think of Zach Wilson, I'm hoping is better than what they had last year just in terms of backup production. So maybe that keeps, you know, HN from a five point difference to maybe a three point difference or a two point difference or the same, you know, in terms of the, the production in the games that two of them may miss. Dave hit the nail on the head in terms of the offense. Hopefully they do get a little bit more downfield, but I don't know that's necessarily a negative for a Chan. It clearly will impact his receptions, but, you know, maybe leads to more scoring opportunities that helped most dirt the year before when he had 18 rushing touchdowns. I'm just curious what they're going to do to supplement Achan, you know, because the, the backups now are really interesting. Not exciting, but they're interesting, you know, just to see what they're going to do because Jalen Wright's an explosive player, didn't do anything in his rookie campaign. We know that Alexander Madison has had his moments and, you know, can clearly come in and be a different sort of option from what HN does. And then I think the wild card is, you know, Ollie Gordon and you know, if he can get back to his 2023 production when he was, you know, really looking like a, a high end draft pick and then struggled in 2024 collegiately, you know, so all these things sort of are, are going to have to be sort of for Me parsed out in, in training camp. But again, you know, whether you like him. 9th overall, 12th overall, 15th overall. You know, I know his ADP on fantasy pros I think is, you know, mid round two or early round two, but he should go in the first 15 overall picks. He's just, he's got so much stud potential that if Tua plays 17 games, we could be looking at RB1 here.

[Fantasy Football Analyst 1]

Right? I'm. I'm surprised he's not in the top 12 for you. He must be super high for someone if he's 13th for you and ninth. So this is HN. He's fourth for Heath. Heath has him fourth overall. Dave has him 11th and Jamie has HN 13th. Do you both have Genti? No, Dave does not have Genti over him. Jamie does. All right, so let's have that discussion then. Genti versus A Chan. Dave, you're taking A Chan here. Genti, you have 13th.

[Fantasy Football Analyst 2]

Love the talent with Genty. I'm not really worried about Pete Carroll's comment about using multiple running backs. And, you know, Mosert is not a reason to pass on Ashton Genti. But the overall offense in Las Vegas might be the offensive line. We seem to be talking a lot about offensive lines today, and as a whole, I think they're more important than just one guy. I, I worry about that line being good for Genty. I was thrown off a little bit by how Genti played against some of the top college programs last year and includes his last game against Penn State. That was a. He didn't have his best offensive line in front of him. It's a Boise State offensive line against Penn State with Abdul Carter, so it almost didn't seem fair. But there's going to be games this year where that Raiders offensive line is mismatched. And I, I just, I, I'm wondering just how much work he'll really get. Is he going to be a candidate for 350 touches? Is he going to get, you know, 17 touches? Is he going to average 17 PPR points per game when he's coming off of a heavy workload year at Boise State and he hasn't played NFL football yet? I don't want to, I don't want to draft him too close to the ceiling. And I was doing that earlier this off season and it was through one of those, you know, lame, loser, nerdy exercises that I do where I went, you know, why am I taking Ashton Genti over some of these established receivers that have awesome upside? And then I started, like, weighing them against A Chan and some other running backs and I settled for putting him on the 12 turn and that's where I think I'd be most comfortable taking Genti, who again, super talented. He's gonna get the ball a lot. It is a Chip Kelly offense. That's a good thing. But I'm just not sure. I'm just not sure he's going to deliver close enough to his ceiling to Warrant A top five or even a top 10 pick.

[Fantasy Football Analyst 1]

So just to give you a peek behind the consensus rankings, it would have been great if Heath or on this show because he has HN 4th and he has Genti 5th. You guys have Achan and Genty 11th and 13th. For Dave, it's HN 11th and Genti 13th. For Jamie, it's the opposite. It's Genti 11th and Achan 13th. I just did a Twitter poll here. Who's your favorite in ppr And I did these four guys. Genti, Achan, Nico, Amon, RA St Brown. They're the last four in our consensus rankings discussion for today. So we'll see what people have to say about that. Jamie, I'm going to get your thoughts on Genty vs. Achan Genti overall and we're going to do that after this break on fft. We'll be right back.

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[Fantasy Football Analyst 1]

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[Fantasy Football Analyst 1]

Okay, take it away on Genti.

[Fantasy Football Analyst 3]

I think both guys in terms of Genti, to me there's, it's a, it's a three player debate because I think if you're going wide receiver, you're going wide receiver. I think it's Genti, Achan and McCaffrey is the debate that a lot of people are going to have to decide on if you're going running back there. And to your point, Adam, if McCaffrey's healthy, he probably will be the choice. Genti's the shiny new toy and nature and I don't, I don't Think people, again, realize how good he was in the two games and just the opportunity that he has in front of him. For me, I like Genti the best of that trio right now simply because I think he's. Dave said, I don't think he's going to have, you know, a lot of competition for. For touches, despite what. What Pete Carroll said, especially when you're looking at the guys he's competing with. I mean, Mostert is probably the best of the Trio, and he's 32. When you're talking about a guy that couldn't finish the season last year, who's bounced around the league and said injury concerns almost everywhere, he's been sincere, McCormick and, you know, Zemir White, like, these are just guys, you know, Genti's such a star if he lives up to the building and superstar if he, you know, can play like he did collegiately. I think Chip Kelly being there is huge. I do think the offensive line is. Is somewhat underrated, and I think it's definitely better than Miami's. And so I don't think this is a team that, when they get behind, is going to get away from leaning on him in whatever capacity that he's on the field. Now, again, HN is going to be in the same conversation, and obviously McCaffrey is as well. So it's really a matter of, do you think Genti can be this, you know, standout rookie Saquon Barkley, Ezekiel Elliott type of guy, or is he going to be more along the lines of what? I don't want to even say running back like Marvin Harrison, you know, just, you know, another overhyped rookie that, you know, we all thought was walking into a great situation and lets us down despite the fact that his rookie numbers are probably decent, but just the overall fantasy production is terrible.

[Fantasy Football Analyst 2]

And how about Bijan as a rookie?

[Fantasy Football Analyst 3]

Yeah, great call. You know, you know, these. These guys that have, you know, a lot of hype, and they just don't live up to it. So it certainly could be the case. So, again, it's going to come down to, you know, do you. Do you trust the opportunity of what Genti is getting the team that he's on? All these things that sort of factor into it. And I trust the coach and the play caller. We know. I mean, how many times we said this in Pete Carroll's tenure? He wants to run the ball. He wants to run the ball. He wants to run the ball, you know, and what did they do in his first draft? They went out and they got the Best running back available. It just, it sets up all too perfectly. Chip Kelly's history with running backs is great, you know, and just, you know, looking at what he did with the two guys that he had, Ohio State now you, you smush Judkins and, and Trevion Henderson together and you have Ashton Genti. And so, you know, there's just, you know, so much upside here for him that it's hard to overlook. Now to Dave's point, you know, as he said, you know, you don't want to draft him at a ceiling. We don't really know what his ceiling is. You know, given the fact of, of how good he could be, I think back into round one makes sense. So, you know, whether he's, you know, 10 plus, I think that's where he should come into, into play. I don't think you should be taking him in the first, you know, six or seven picks personally. But you know, when you're, when you're looking back end of round one and, and upside and you know, starting to, you know, separate these players, you, you could go running back, running back if you want to. I don't recommend it, but I mean, imagine if, if McCaffrey's right and Genti hits like that's a huge start to your team. If you take those two players, you know, 12 and 13.

[Fantasy Football Analyst 2]

I think it needs to be said that if it's half PPR or non ppr, Genti is easily a first round pick. That's just common sense obviously, because the catches don't count. So I wanted to just put that in there.

[Fantasy Football Analyst 3]

I mean, he's going seventh overall in fantasy pros. He's a first round pick.

[Fantasy Football Analyst 2]

I think that there will be at least a couple of people in every single draft in August and September that will target him, that they, they'll know they don't have a top five pick and they'll say, man, I just want to have some fun. This dude was awesome for two years in college. Now he's on the Raiders. Pete Carroll, Chip Kelly, blah blah, blah. They're not going to care about the offensive line. They're not going to care about distribution of the football to other people. They're just going to get Genty. They're not going to care what we have to say and they're just going to get him. And so I would guess that that 80. What'd you say? His, his AP is like seven. That's where he's going to end up going. Well, I don't like it. I wouldn't Take him there, but that's where he's going to go.

[Fantasy Football Analyst 1]

I don't think that people. The PPR half PPR thing should make a difference at non ppr. Yes, absolutely. You want to focus on running backs, but I don't, I don't necessarily think you should be taking wide receivers ahead of these elite running backs in ppr. Unless you're talking about a low catch running back. Because if Genty is a 50 catch running back, I definitely think that's in the cards here. For a great pass catching running back like him, he has the potential to be that. Then you're, you're getting a bigger advantage at the running back position in full PPR than you are in even half ppr. You could argue that any running back is going to catch 50 or more balls is, is more valuable in full PPR than, than half ppr. So I think full PPR might actually boost Genti's value. I don't know how much they're going to throw to him. We just had that report yesterday that Mostert would be the third down back. We'll see about that. You know, could start that way, but you know what I'm saying. I mean he has a bigger edge if he catches 50 passes. He has a bigger edge over other running backs than he does in full pbr than he doesn't have pbr. So yeah, sure, but I don't think.

[Fantasy Football Analyst 2]

He'S got that edge against the wide receivers that we're taking.

[Fantasy Football Analyst 1]

But I did, but I don't. I mean he's obviously not going to catch as many passes as a wide receiver, but I don't think that really has to be the deciding factor here. If you're in the first round, you're going well, I'm on. Rusty Brown's gonna catch a hundred something passes and, and Genti's only going to catch 50. I don't think that means you have to take St. Brown over Genti.

[Fantasy Football Analyst 2]

10 touchdowns, Adam.

[Fantasy Football Analyst 1]

What do you mean? What's 10 touchdown?

[Fantasy Football Analyst 2]

Oh, 110 catches versus 50 catches and fantasy points. That's 60 fantasy points.

[Fantasy Football Analyst 1]

But we just heard from Heath yesterday. Running backs usually get more yards than.

[Fantasy Football Analyst 2]

Wide receivers and they get more touchdowns in general as well.

[Fantasy Football Analyst 1]

Exactly.

[Fantasy Football Analyst 2]

So is, is Genti going to get enough of that compared to somebody like Saint Brown to make up that difference? St. Brown has had double digit touchdowns each of the last two years.

[Fantasy Football Analyst 1]

Well, St. Brown averaged 18 and a half PPR fantasy points per game last year and he did that with 115 catches in 17 games. Could if Genti catches 50. If Genti has 50 catches, I think he could average 18.5 PPR fantasy points.

[Fantasy Football Analyst 3]

Can Genti be 1500 total yards, 10 touchdowns and 50 catches?

[Fantasy Football Analyst 1]

I mean, I think that's low the yardage because, you know, you look at HN, HN with. With Tua was. Was on pace for like 1800 total yards. So I think Genti could definitely be in the 1700 total yard category.

[Fantasy Football Analyst 3]

I'm just using that as a baseline.

[Fantasy Football Analyst 1]

Yeah, no. 1500 total yards in a full season is.

[Fantasy Football Analyst 3]

Well, it's 10 touchdowns and 50 catches. That position though.

[Fantasy Football Analyst 1]

How many points per game is. Let's go 1600 total yards. Okay. Plus 50 plus 10 touchdowns is 60 divided by 17. That's 15.9 PPR fantasy points per game. So he's going to have to do better than that. He's going to have to get to probably 12 touchdowns and 1700 total yards.

[Fantasy Football Analyst 3]

Okay. Or 60 catches.

[Fantasy Football Analyst 1]

170 plus 50 plus. What did I say? 12 touchdowns times six is 72 divided by 17. That's 17.2 PPR fantasy points. So you see, it's not easy for a running back to average 17 PPR fantasy points per game. 12 touchdowns, 50 catches and 1700 total yards, not even counting any fumbles, is 17.2 PPR fantasy points per game. It's a great season.

[Fantasy Football Analyst 2]

And Amanra is coming off not even his best year. And he had 115 catches, 1,263 yards and 12 touchdowns. I think the catches make a difference, Adam. I think that's kind of a big deal.

[Fantasy Football Analyst 1]

They are. They are a big deal. Okay, so and. And let's transition to this Twitter poll I did here because I said, who's Your favorite in PPR? I got 149 votes.

[Fantasy Football Analyst 3]

I'd be shocked if it's not same Brown.

[Fantasy Football Analyst 1]

It is St. Brown in a. In a runaway. So I did Genti, hn, Nico and St. Brown. St. Brown is the lowest in our consensus rankings. Is that Heath's fault? Heath has him 16th. You guys both have St. Brown ninth. So you obviously are higher on St. Brown than consensus, which is 12th in our consensus rankings. It is neighbors 7, Puka 8, HN 9, Genti 10, Nico 11, Amon Ross, St. Brown 12. And it's. Heath is really influencing the rankings so much today. He's super high on Genty and Ha and he's pretty low on St. Brown. With St. Brown's 16th overall, he has Nico Collins 14th overall. So it's just this would have Been the show for him to be on.

[Fantasy Football Analyst 3]

But he's coming for Dave's. Dave's moniker as the running back guy.

[Fantasy Football Analyst 1]

I guess so. All right, so St. Brown, he finished this. Wide receiver.

[Fantasy Football Analyst 3]

Big words.

[Fantasy Football Analyst 1]

There you go. Moniker. There's a K in there, right? No, C. Just is Emma. M O, N, I, K, E, R. Yes.

[Fantasy Football Analyst 3]

Have to look it up afterwards there, Buddy.

[Fantasy Football Analyst 1]

Let's go. Saint Brown, wide receiver 7 per game last year. Maybe not quite as good as. As you might remember him to have been. He was wide receiver four per game the year before. And the big difference would really be 1500 yards in 2023, 12, 63 yards in 2024. Yeah, so that's kind of a big deal. The yards per catch went way down. Okay. Anyway, why are you guys higher on St. Brown than. Than consensus here?

[Fantasy Football Analyst 3]

He's tried and true. I mean, you know, again, if you have legitimate concerns, and this is Heath's argument, you have legitimate concerns about the Lions having significant regression because last year everything went somewhat perfect for them. They lose their offense coordinator, they lose their center, and how much of a step back do they take offensively with an improved defense? Because that was a big part of the spike at the end of the season was they had to outscore people. They had to be in these shootouts. And again, you know, you'd like to think all offenses perform at that level, no matter what's happening on their side of the ball, but they had no choice. So does sort of lend itself to a lot of things taking a step back and a lot of players taking a step back. But, you know, he did that the year before. He was better. I think what you got from last year is probably something that's replicable. Even if there is more for Jameson Williams and potentially more for Sam Laporta. I don't think that. That St. Brown's going to have a significant dip in production. So I. I said this last year, you know, I wrote the whole magazine story on who's the best wide receiver in fantasy because we had the whole debate about Lamb versus Tyrique versus Chase versus Jefferson. Like, there was so many different players, and it was. It kept coming back to the same thing. St. Brown's just the safest one. And I don't think anything really has changed. Maybe Puka's safer because of what he's now done two years in his first two years in the league. So, you know, if you want to, you know, put that, you know, moniker on him as being the safer of the two receivers, I think just in terms of St. Brown, like what he's built toward in the beginning part of his career to where he's at now, like he just feels like one of the safest picks in, in round one. And clearly he's coming off of knee surgery and he did miss a game last year if I'm not mistaken. Had the wrist injury at least St. Brown now he, the year before then it was the wrist injury. You know, he, he's, he's just so good, so consistent. Such a big part of one of the best offenses in football. I don't think Ben Johnson's departure is going to change that as long as Jared Goff is healthy. So I don't know, you get to the back end of round one, like he just feels like an easy auto select when he comes on on the, the draft board.

[Fantasy Football Analyst 2]

I'm cool taking him in the middle part of round one.

[Fantasy Football Analyst 3]

Yeah.

[Fantasy Football Analyst 2]

Just to have that safe type of player locked into your team, you know, with, with neighbors there is a little bit of downside. What if Russell Wilson regresses and Jackson Dart totally botches it and now Malik is back to where he was last year and maybe he doesn't average as many fantasy points per game. Nukuo if. What if he scores only four total touchdowns again this year? I, I have a tough time believing that St. Brown's going to score double digit touchdowns. But I also have a hard time believing that this version of the Lions offense is going to get so exotic with John Morton that they're going to get away that, that the targets per game will take another step back. With Saint Brown, he lost two targets per game year over year he was. He had 10.3 targets per game. In 2023 it went down to 8.3. What did that do for his fantasy numbers? His touchdowns went up, his fantasy points per game went down by two PPR points per game. And I don't think that there's another step down from there. So I agree with you, Jamie. What he did last year is totally replicable. And when John Morton's feeling the heat in the second half of games, when the Lions are tied or down seven, he's calling plays for Saint Brown. That dude's going to get a lot of work. And he also gets a ton of red zone targets. Okay. Nakua Neighbors, Those guys averaged one red zone target per game. St. Brown averaged nearly two. He had a hammer lock on that on the Lions. I don't think that's changing either. Safe pick in round one.

[Fantasy Football Analyst 3]

Kind of like your, your James Cook.

[Fantasy Football Analyst 1]

Argument I'm just about to say that.

[Fantasy Football Analyst 3]

Yeah, you want, you want the, the top receiver on this passing offense, top pass catcher on this passing offense, you know, you want the top running back on the Bills offense.

[Fantasy Football Analyst 1]

Yeah, I do think we're calling him the safest of. Among who? He's not safe.

[Fantasy Football Analyst 2]

I think he might be the safest player of everybody we've talked about on this show today.

[Fantasy Football Analyst 1]

Okay. Neighbors, Nakua, H.N. genti, Nico, St. Brown.

[Fantasy Football Analyst 3]

Yeah.

[Fantasy Football Analyst 1]

Saying St. Brown's the safest of that group.

[Fantasy Football Analyst 3]

What about, I mean, really, like once you start to get past Chase, like he's probably the safest.

[Fantasy Football Analyst 1]

What about just the fact that he had 142 targets in 17 games? Because that's the lowest over eight targets per game.

[Fantasy Football Analyst 2]

You still love to see that. But that's why he's not going, you know, ahead of Jefferson or Lamb.

[Fantasy Football Analyst 1]

But it's not as good as Neighbors or Nakua or Nico based on when Nico is healthy, you know. Yeah.

[Fantasy Football Analyst 3]

I mean the upside for some of those guys is probably better.

[Fantasy Football Analyst 1]

Right. So he did have a higher catch rate than Nico Collins, but in terms of yards per catch, yards per target, Nico is, is as good as it gets. Nico, let's talk about him right now because that's what we love about Nico Collins, his efficiency. Nico Collins, I think there's a very easy comp for Nico Collins. To me, it's AJ Brown in terms of what kind of player they are. They are big, physical outside receivers. They are so good. And in terms of yards per outrun yards per target, yards per catch, Nico Collins and A.J. brown are the creme de la creme, basically. I mean, they are among the very, very best in the NFL. For Nico, it's been two years in a row. For A.J. brown, it's been his entire career. Nico, you might say, will probably get more targets than A.J. brown. I think that's, that would be the, the guess. Although I would look at the Recent history with A.J. brown. Before this past year, he was a 150 target guy two years in a row, basically close to that. But yeah, I mean, this is what we. This is the difference between Nico and, and Saint Brown. Nico is going to do more with his targets, probably. I don't know if you guys disagree with that. You feel free. But not more. More with yards. Catches, no yards. You know, he should be better on a per target basis. Touchdowns maybe. We'll call that a toss up. So is there an argument to be made that in a half PPR league you should take Nico ahead of St. Brow.

[Fantasy Football Analyst 2]

Yeah.

[Fantasy Football Analyst 3]

In half ppr.

[Fantasy Football Analyst 1]

Yeah.

[Fantasy Football Analyst 2]

Yeah.

[Fantasy Football Analyst 3]

I mean, you can make case in full ppr.

[Fantasy Football Analyst 1]

I would take him over. Same Brown.

[Fantasy Football Analyst 3]

Yeah. This is one of the biggest stumbling blocks for me is who's. Who's who. I keep flip and flopping in my rankings of Nico and, And St. Brown because I do think that there's more upside with Nico because of everything that we've discussed with the Lions and, And. And some of the potential pitfalls. I, I do think that there's a higher floor for Saint Brown. You know, look, you got a quarterback in Houston that's, you know, maybe dealing with a shoulder injury. We don't know how potentially impactful it could be. Seems like it's nothing but, you know, not ideal that he's dealing with it in the off season. He took a step back last year. The offensive line, if you're gonna, you know, nitpick. Frank Ragnow leaving. I mean, my God, they got rid of Laramie Tunsil and overhauling that entire group almost, you know, so another coordinator change for them, you know, so. Right. And they.

[Fantasy Football Analyst 1]

Yes, the Texans.

[Fantasy Football Analyst 3]

Yeah, right. You know, so there's. And then new. New. New running mates coming in, you know, so Christian Kirk and. And Higgins body of work over the season. Maybe better than what, Tank Dell, the six games of Stefan Diggs and everything else that sort of had to go into play there with the. The Texans receiving core as the year went on. So, I mean, look, he may completely dominate targets. He may lose more than we thought because these other guys are bigger pieces of the puzzle and, and guys that Stroud may rely on a little bit more. So I, I don't really have a lot of concerns, but there are some for. For Nico comparatively to what St. Brown is dealing with here.

[Fantasy Football Analyst 1]

The first four games of the season, Diggs played all four. Tank Dell played three of them. Nico Collins averaged 22.7 PPR fantasy points per game. He was unbelievable. He had eight, 10, 10 and 15 targets. The 15 target game came without Tank Dell. Then he hurt his hamstring. Two catches for 78 yards and a touchdown on two targets against the Bills. Hurt his hamstring.

[Fantasy Football Analyst 3]

I am of the first quarter, right?

[Fantasy Football Analyst 1]

Yeah, Yeah. I am of the belief that he was not the same player when he came back from the hamstring injury.

[Fantasy Football Analyst 2]

Every stats would agree with you.

[Fantasy Football Analyst 1]

The stats, the advanced stats, you know, it just was not the Nico Collins we were used to seeing. And he still was solid, but he wasn't great. But when he's been healthy the last couple years on A on a per route basis, all that stuff. He's as good as anyone and I'm fired up for him because I, I think and I like, you know, you talk about Malik, neighbors getting a quarterback upgrade. Sometimes when you see wide receivers have a big season, it's because their quarterback, even if it's the same guy, bounces back. So C.J. stroud, you've talked about it, Jamie. C.J. stroud was pretty good. The first four games. He struggled. Yeah, right. I only had him in the first four games. He was very good. On pace for almost 4, 500 yards, 26 touchdowns. He could bounce back. He was so good as a rookie. What if he just has a better year? You know, that I think could elevate Nico as well.

[Fantasy Football Analyst 3]

Certainly could happen. I mean, again, you're looking at a very talented guy. That should, despite what I said about Kirk and Higgins, he should dominate targets. Dominate targets, you know, and, and that's the allure here of what he could be this elite talent that we talked about the first couple years of his career and then he gets C.J. stroud in a coaching change and bam, he became this, you know, stud that we're talking about for the last couple of seasons and now talking about as a borderline first round pick. So he's the one that's probably going to get pushed out of the first round. If I had to guess, you know, of the players that we've talked about because of whether it's McCaffrey or HN or Genti or, you know, St. Brown, the guys that are at the, you know, back tier of our consensus rankings, it's just, you know, I, you could be getting a top three wide receiver. You know, he's got that much upside, you know, so he could be better than, like, think about all the things we're saying about neighbors, and I know neighbors, like you said, Adam, you know, could be the best receiver in football right now. You know, just based on some of the expectations from like Nico's situation. Could be better by far.

[Fantasy Football Analyst 1]

All of these guys are that good, right? They're so good.

[Fantasy Football Analyst 2]

Sure. And could you picture Nico Collins bottoming out and being like 19th or 20th among wide receivers in PPR?

[Fantasy Football Analyst 1]

No way. None of them. Right.

[Fantasy Football Analyst 2]

Here's another wide receiver. This is why he's in the top tier.

[Fantasy Football Analyst 3]

Yeah.

[Fantasy Football Analyst 2]

Who's got a high floor and a high ceiling? I don't think he's got the same type of ceiling as the other receivers we've talked about, but I think he's real close and he's real close last year, just in PPR points per game.

[Fantasy Football Analyst 1]

Let me read this comment here from Corey. Nico is way too high. 80 something catches and he's top 12 in PPR. If he gets 84 catches, he better get 13 or more touchdowns. So he played 18% or fewer of the snaps in both week five and week 18. I don't think you should fight me on removing those games. 18% of the fewer or fewer of the snaps is not, you know, that. Get. Get rid of those games. His pace in the other 10 games that he played. Nico Collins. Can you hear this lawnmower right next to my room, by the way? I'm sorry. If you can. Okay. Nico Collins was on pace for 104 catches, 1513 yards and nine touchdowns on 156 targets. And that was playing most of that time after the hamstring injury.

[Fantasy Football Analyst 2]

So a little bit of context there is necessary. About half the season, Stefan Diggs was there and Tank Dell was on and off the field along the way. This just goes right to Jamie's point. If we're taking Diggs and Dell out of the Texans and we're replacing them with Christian Kirk and. And the two Cyclone rookies, how does this guy not get at least a 25 target share? Oh, yeah, there were games last year. I looked this up today when Diggs and Tank Dell were not on the field. This can include parts of games where they were healthy, just not on the field. Nico Collins had a 36.4 target per route run rate. It's ridiculous. No one's going to get that.

[Fantasy Football Analyst 1]

You know who's better than that?

[Fantasy Football Analyst 2]

Who is better than that?

[Fantasy Football Analyst 1]

Puka dakua, baby. 39%. No, all season. I think maybe. I think it was 39% or maybe that was the last. That seems 38.3% target per out run rate is your pick your jaw up off the floor.

[Fantasy Football Analyst 2]

Yeah.

[Fantasy Football Analyst 1]

Yeah. That's incredible.

[Fantasy Football Analyst 2]

That wasn't even top 10.

[Fantasy Football Analyst 1]

Yes, it was.

[Fantasy Football Analyst 2]

Among all players.

[Fantasy Football Analyst 1]

Among wide receivers with 50 or more routes, it was number one.

[Fantasy Football Analyst 2]

Yes, it was.

[Fantasy Football Analyst 1]

Come on, son. All right, we got to go. Someone mentioned in the chat that flaxseed is lowers your testosterone. I think this is fake news. I think this is fake, but I was actually hoping it was real. I was hoping it was true because then I would have an excuse for my softball performance, but I don't.

[Fantasy Football Analyst 2]

It's considered temporary and can potentially be reversed.

[Fantasy Football Analyst 3]

It's hard. It's hard to factor that in because you shaved right before the show.

[Fantasy Football Analyst 1]

Okay, so last week I told you, I lined a ball up the middle, and the runner at first base got kind of a bad read and got thrown out at second. You gave me a fielder's choice for this instead of a hit, which was, I thought, a little harsh.

[Fantasy Football Analyst 3]

Yesterday I gave you a feelers right.

[Fantasy Football Analyst 1]

Instead of him instead of a hit.

[Fantasy Football Analyst 3]

Oh, instead of a hit.

[Fantasy Football Analyst 1]

Yeah.

[Fantasy Football Analyst 3]

Yeah.

[Fantasy Football Analyst 1]

Yesterday I hit the ball off the end of the bat. I popped it up in between second base and center field. Second baseman's going back, gets off the tip of his glove and falls in. Give me a single or an error.

[Fantasy Football Analyst 3]

Single.

[Fantasy Football Analyst 1]

Yeah. All right, I'll take it.

[Fantasy Football Analyst 3]

So I always think, first off, we used to work with a guy who used to do the scoring for the Marlins games. Really?

[Fantasy Football Analyst 2]

The mayor.

[Fantasy Football Analyst 3]

Yeah, it works it. And he had, like, you know, that, like, official score for the. For the Marlins. Like, no, no joke. Like, not just go there with his book for fun in the stands. Like he was the gu. In the. In the scores booth. Like, everything came down to him, hit or error. So, like, we had some co workers. Our buddy Eric Mack used to always say, hey, what'd you give him there? You know? So he would ask him the next day why he scored something the way he did. I'm always. Because I. I do some scoring for, you know, my kids. Teams like, you always want to make the. Your team feel better. Right. You know, so I hope they didn't give you an error on that.

[Fantasy Football Analyst 1]

I mean, no one's keeping track.

[Fantasy Football Analyst 2]

I feel like the error has to be obvious in order to score it in error.

[Fantasy Football Analyst 3]

So I had. I had two things with my own son in little run that we're on here. One, there was a line drive over the shortstop. Heads very similar. Kid jumped full extension, vaulted off his gloves. The. The guy was scoring for us, gave an error. I was like, that's an error. Yeah. I mean, look, I don't know where his perspective was on the.

[Fantasy Football Analyst 1]

Eric. Yeah. All right.

[Fantasy Football Analyst 3]

And then the previous tournament, you're talking about how hot it is. The umpire, the home plate umpire, all the gear. Little heavyset older guy had to leave the game, called the paramedics. It was a little scary. Oh, man. So the other umpire just started calling so we can keep things moving. Called the game from behind the mound. And there was so second and third. I'm coaching third. My son hits a line drive into center field. Kid comes running in, looks like he makes a diving catch. I'm more worried about the kid at third base tagging up. Everybody's screaming at me. He Dropped. He dropped. He dropped it. Umpire calls him out afterwards. The umpire walks over to me and goes, did you think he caught it? You know, just trying to be honest. And I said to me, I said, I really couldn't tell. It looked like he made the catch. I wasn't worried about the kid tagging up. My son was so pissed at me that I didn't challenge it, you know, cost him a hit. He's looking at stats, but went back and looked at the video and yes, he did drop it. So scorers are not going to get everything right?

[Fantasy Football Analyst 1]

Unfortunately, no. I have big feelings about. About official scoring. First of all, the whole idea that you can't assume a double play. You can assume so many things in baseball when you're doing scoring, but for some reason, you can't assume a double play. That is preposterous. And then the whole, oh, high fly ball at a center field. He loses it in the sun and it drops and they score. That a hit. There's this rule of thumb that if the ball doesn't hit the player's glove, then it has to be a hit. That's clearly an error. I don't know why baseball has these stupid traditions. We know they're so dumb.

[Fantasy Football Analyst 3]

They don't touch it.

[Fantasy Football Analyst 1]

Yeah, I mean, come on, you can't give a hit. That's. That's not on the pitcher that you're punishing.

[Fantasy Football Analyst 3]

Us rule of thumb, like when we're scoring our own team hitting, would our fielders make that play?

[Fantasy Football Analyst 1]

I mean, it's different for little league because I don't know the standards, you know, But. But in Major League Baseball, high fly ball, that just drops because someone loses it in the sun or miscommunication. And that gets scored a hit when obviously that should not. Should not affect the pitcher negatively. Also, I ranted and raved about this when I was hosting the fantasy baseball podcast. We have era, right? Because if you give up an unearned run, it shouldn't affect your era. Why don't we have E whip? Why should. Right. Why should a player get on base? Re and error affect your whip, Right?

[Fantasy Football Analyst 3]

Yeah.

[Fantasy Football Analyst 1]

Not bad boy. All right, for more, follow me on Twitter now. All right, we'll talk to you tomorrow with players 13 through 18, whoever they may be, in the consensus rankings on FFTC. Later, everybody.

[CBS Sports Host]

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