Deebo Samuel SIGNS with 49ers, ADP Updates, Tight End Leftovers, plus Training Camp Mailbag! (0731 Fantasy Football Podcast)

Summary

Fantasy Football Today (July 31, 2026) — Episode Summary

Main Theme & Purpose

This episode dives into the major fantasy football headlines of the week, focusing on:

• Deebo Samuel’s new contract with the 49ers and its fantasy implications
• ADP (Average Draft Position) risers and fallers with immediate reaction
• “Tight End leftovers” — deep cuts and late-round TE value
• Key training camp updates and mailbag Q&A The show is fast-paced, packed with actionable advice, position debates, and the hosts’ trademark banter.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Deebo Samuel Re-Signs with the 49ers (00:45–07:11)

• Contract Details & Context: Deebo Samuel returns to San Francisco on a one-year, $7M deal.
• Age, Health & Production: Adam notes Deebo is 30, will turn 31 in January, and started last year strong before a heel injury derailed his season.
• Christian McCaffrey Effect: Adam highlights a telling stat:

  “McCaffrey has averaged a 12.6% target share with Deebo Samuel on the field, and an 18.7% target share with Deebo Samuel off the field.” (02:35–02:50)

• Fantasy Analysis:
  • Jamie:

    “There’s a history of Kyle Shanahan and Deebo Samuel, but… I’m probably not going to draft Deebo Samuel personally.” (03:56–04:57)
    Notes Debo’s conditioning concerns and advanced age among a roster “so old.”

  • Dave:

    “I'll draft him, but it’s going to be in the double-digit rounds... not expecting a big year from him. Just a good bench piece.” (04:57–06:16)
    Both caution not to reach for Deebo based on name value.

  • All: If Stefon Diggs moves to Washington, he’s preferred over Deebo at ADP.

Memorable Moment:
Jamie drops a fun stat:

“Debo is the only wide receiver in NFL history with 20+ receiving touchdowns and 20+ rushing touchdowns.” (03:56)

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2. ADP Updates & Draft Value Quick Hits (07:11–10:16)

Players Under the Microscope:

• Rashee Rice: ADP 2/3 turn
• Zay Flowers: 3/4 turn
• Ladd McConkey: 46th overall (near 4/5 turn)
• Mike Evans: 5/6 turn

Jamie’s Take:

• Only uncomfortable with Rice’s ADP; others feel “priced appropriately.”
• Notes how sorting by projections, not ADP, can create surprise values in some platforms.

Adam & Dave:

• Adam loves Mike Evans as a potential draft steal:

  “If I can really get Evans 60th overall... it’s going to truly affect my draft strategy.”(10:16)

• Jamie sees Evans rising with Piersol news.

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3. “Tight End Leftovers” — Deep Dives on Late-Round TEs (10:16–14:34)

Discussion Highlights:

• Juwan Johnson: Dave sees Week 1 stream or deep roster value, but prefers younger upside TEs in typical leagues.
• Jamie: Compares “proven production vs. unproven upside” for players like Johnson, Schultz, Hunter Henry vs. Gunner Helm or Kenyon Sadiq; prefers upside in late rounds.

Notable Quote:
Jamie:

“I'd rather chase the younger player that I think has more upside as opposed to maybe the veteran that I think could take a step back.” (12:21)

• Both mention watching for Week 1 matchups and waivers for surprise TE breakouts.

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4. Rookies & Second-Year Tight End Sleepers (14:34–19:49)

• Not chasing most rookies or sophomores in typical redraft (Dave)
• Potential stash names: Sadiq (Lions), Gadson (Chargers, but crowded), Ferguson (Rams), Arroyo (Dolphins)

Key Analysis:
Rams' TE room is “frustrating” for fantasy due to depth (Jamie), but Ferguson could carve a slot-like role if the team lacks WR options.

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5. Lions Stack: Gibbs, St. Brown, Laporta? (19:01–21:25)

• Should you hesitate to draft Sam Laporta if you already have Gibbs or Amon-Ra?
  • Jamie: “Not really… this is going to be a team that has one of the best schedules.”
  • Dave: Slight concern with Laporta and Jameson Williams cannibalizing each other, but “one of those offenses where there will be weeks where many people will eat.”
  • ADP “tier” of Laporta, Pitts, Fanon, and Kraft discussed for diversification strategy.

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6. Brock Purdy, Jared Goff & 49ers’ Receiving Situation (21:01–22:40)

• Purdy’s 2025 stats were “inflated” versus weak opponents (Jamie)
• Both Jamie & Adam would now prefer Jared Goff for fantasy over Purdy thanks to Detroit’s schedule and 49ers’ aging, banged-up WR corps.

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7. “What’s It Gonna Take For You To…” Game — Debating Buzzy Players (24:17–34:08)

• Malik Nabers in Round Two?

  • Dave: “I’m clicking on Malik Nabers… late round two.”
  • Jamie: “20, 35, 32 players get hurt.” (a hard pass — not buying in at current price).

• Bijan Robinson/Jahmyr Gibbs contract holdouts:

  • Jamie: Would only downgrade if “holding out into the final week of preseason.”

• Parker Washington Round Five?

  • Dave & Jamie: Comfortable at 5/6 turn based on buzz and projected slot volume, but recognize risks (crowded Jags WR room, limited track record).
  • Adam: "That's usually not the guy we want to buy into."
  • Jamie: “It could easily blow up in your face… but I don’t think you’re making a huge investment."

• Basil Tootin vs. DeAndre Swift (RBs):

  • Jamie: “Non-injury related? Yeah, nothing.” Not drafting Tootin over Swift unless injury strikes.

• Bryce Young as a Breakout?

  • Jamie & Dave: “Great year for him” is still mediocre for fantasy. Down on his upside amid O-line and supporting cast questions.

Memorable Banter:
Adam: “I want to be on the top [of the screen view]. I think I’ve earned that.”
Dave: “Are you serious?”
Jamie: “Yes, he is.” (26:47–27:00) — self-deprecating, lighthearted moment

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8. Training Camp News & Fantasy Reactions (38:08–47:20)

• Deebo deal: One year, $7M (recap)
• Injuries: Ricky Pearsall (knee), Jordan James (rib), and others
• Olave contract: $132M extension; fantasy WR7 last year
• Romo Dunze: Says foot “feels amazing”
• Jahan Dotson: Standing out as likely Falcons WR2 (context: beat writer observation, not official depth chart)
• Kyler Murray struggles; JJ McCarthy impressing
• Chris Godwin: “100%” at Bucs camp (via Pete Prisco)
• Backup RB handcuffs: Ray Davis for James Cook, Kalyn Black for McCaffrey

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9. The James Cook/Lead Rusher Regression Trend (45:04–49:19)

Jamie’s Stat Bomb:

• Last 5 NFL rushing champions lost at least 848 yards and 6 TDs the following year.
  • “If you’re worried about Cook, you should be a little panicked.”
  • Points out heavy workload/recent regression is a real risk, not just for Cook but for any RB coming off a huge season.
• Draft Advice: “Draft Ray Davis with a late-round pick if you get James Cook…” (Dave)

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10. Mailbag: Listener Questions (49:19–67:42)

Topics:

• When to draft a QB in 10-team leagues: Wait for value, but don’t pass up a stud who falls.

• How hosts got their start in the industry: Brief, light-hearted career summaries (51:01–53:31)

• Tiebreakers: “Most points” is the preferred tiebreaker in leagues (53:50–54:05)

• Is injury risk overrated in fantasy?

  • Dave: “If injury risk is a concern for everyone… just draft based on nobody getting hurt.”
  • Jamie: Says even so, injury history matters for high-usage, aging players.

• Superflex Draft Strategy:

  • Prioritize QBs, know your league’s 4 or 6-pt passing TD scoring, but depth at the position means you don’t have to go QB-QB.
  • Don’t be afraid to flex a non-QB if you miss the run.

• Emmett Johnson as Ken Walker's handcuff: “Seems like he'll be the guy… but wouldn’t be surprised if it's a committee.” (Jamie)

• Chase Brown as a fantasy star with Jamar Chase: Not opposed to stacking both Bengals (Dave)

• Chase Brown’s upside: “More PPR upside than either James Cook or Jonathan Taylor.” (Adam, 65:33)

• End-of-show movie tangent: Ace Ventura is officially the funniest football movie — “Is Ace Ventura a sports movie?” banter (67:00+)

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Notable Quotes

• Adam (on Deebo): “He looked okay [on tape]… It wasn’t the old Deebo Samuel, but it wasn’t bad.”
• Jamie (on Parker Washington): “I don’t think you’re making a huge investment by taking him in this range, though.”
• Dave (on TE strategy): “I would rather chase the younger player that I think has more upside.”
• Jamie (on RB regression): “…the last five rushing champions lost at least 848 yards and six touchdowns the following season.”
• Dave (on stacking Bengals): “I have no problem with it… it's one of the offenses where I’d be totally fine with it.”

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Timestamps for Important Segments

• Deebo Samuel discussion & implications: 00:45–07:11
• Early ADP Value Debates: 07:11–10:16
• Tight End Leftovers & Deep Targets: 10:16–14:34
• Rookie/2nd Year TE Deep Dive: 14:34–19:49
• Laporta if you already have another Lion?: 19:01–21:25
• QB schedule and Purdy vs Goff: 21:01–22:40
• “What’s It Gonna Take…” buzzy camp players: 24:17–34:08
• Camp Updates/News: 38:08–47:20
• James Cook lead rusher regression: 45:04–49:19
• Mailbag — QB timing, Superflex, injury risk, tiebreakers, rookie RB handcuffs, stacking Bengals: 49:19–66:47

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Overall Tone

• Conversational, expert, playful banter — a mix of stats, insight, and friendly ribbing
• Heavy focus on actionable advice and navigating ADP trends/overreactions during draft season

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For Listeners Who Haven’t Heard the Episode

This episode is a must-listen if you want:

• The very latest on San Francisco’s weapons’ value post-Deebo contract
• Early summer ADP analysis and how to exploit it
• Guidance on fishing for late-round tight end and running back upside
• Context for stacking players, navigating superflex formats, and handling injury/questionable-camp players
• A shot of the podcast’s unique camaraderie and humor

Skip the intros/outros and jump straight into the opening training camp updates for full draft impact!

Transcript

[Dave]

5:00am I'm up with a crisp Celsius energy drink running 12 miles today.

[Jamie]

Grab a green juice, quick change and head to work.

[Adam]

Meetings, workshops, One more Celsius.

[Jamie]

No slowing down. Working late, but obviously still meeting the

[Dave]

girls for a little dancing. Celsius live fit.

[Adam]

Go grab a cold refreshing Celsius at

[Jamie]

your local retailer or locate [e-mail]. this is fantasy football today from CBS Sports. What a play. Can you believe this?

[Adam]

No, I can't.

[Dave]

It's time to dominate your fantasy league.

[Adam]

Off to the races and he stays on his feet.

[Dave]

This is gonna go the distance.

[Jamie]

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

[Adam]

It's Friday, everybody, and it's mailbag time. But not for a little while. We have to catch you up on some of the major training camp storylines, some big time injuries, the 49ers signing a wide receiver. Did Christian McCaffrey just become worse? You're like, what? I'll explain. And Jamie never save the good stuff for the mic check. What were we just discussing? What trivia question were we just discussing or guessing at?

[Jamie]

Well, first we were discussing how you azer stat at your dentist appointment. We were discussing some James Cook stats and info.

[Dave]

We were.

[Adam]

We'll talk about that a little bit later. But you had a trivia question and we are.

[Jamie]

Oh, yes. Since 2000, there have been two back to back rushing champions. Can you name the two?

[Dave]

We named one already. Ladanian Tomlinson. And if I was going to give a serious guess, the guess is Derrick Henry.

[Adam]

I had. So this is the player who led the NFL in rushing yards consecutive seasons since 2001 was Ladanian Tomlinson. I. I guess Zeke and I was wrong. Thomas guessed Sean Alexander, which I think was a very good guess. But Dave's saying no, I'm.

[Dave]

No, Zeke was a better guess.

[Adam]

Sorry, Shaffer, I have no idea. Priest Holmes.

[Jamie]

Dave is correct. Is Derek Henry.

[Dave]

Oh, all right.

[Adam]

All right. So we'll, we'll talk about why.

[Dave]

Jason, the greatest day of my life

[Adam]

as the rushing yards leader last year is trying to buck a very troubling trend. But first, recent trend.

[Jamie]

Recent trends.

[Adam]

Recent trend, yes. But first, do you know which wide receiver scored 17 or more fantasy points in four of his first five games, had a 28.4% target share and then had a heel injury and stunk the rest of the year? Dave, who was it?

[Dave]

His first name is Tyson, but we know him as Debo. Debo Samuel.

[Adam]

Yes, Debo Samuel. Just a reminder, he's now he's going to be 31, actually, I think in January. I think this is age 30 season. I'll tell you that in one moment here. Yeah, he's 30. He'll be. So. He's 30 and he got off to a very good start. And McLaurin played in three of those five games. Left one of the games injured, but, you know, Debo was off to a good start. I watched some tape this morning. He looked okay. I mean, it wasn't the old Deebo Samuel, but it wasn't bad because I remember watching tape later in the year and he just looks so slow and so compromised, and he was playing through a heel injury. And here's another stat, guys. Christian McCaffrey, in his San Francisco era has averaged well. He has had a 12.6% target share with Debo Samuel on the field and an 18.7% target share with Debo Samuel off the field. And it kind of makes sense because Debo is a real. Is a very short area target. They'll give him screen passes. They'll do the things that. That McCaffrey does with Debo Samuel. So what's your reaction to this? Is Ricky Piersol. He. He might have to. I mean, he. He's could miss the season. That's. We're not there yet, but anything's possible for Pierce.

[Jamie]

All.

[Adam]

Yeah. Anyway, Jamie, what's your reaction to this Debo Samuel signing for San Francisco?

[Jamie]

I want to see what the health status is for Christian Kirk. I want to know what the role is going to be for desean Stribling, But I think you're looking at it right now, knowing that there's a history of Kyle Shanahan and Debo Samuel. By the way, Debo, according to NFL research, Debo is the only wide receiver in NFL history with 20 plus receiving touchdowns and 20 plus rushing touchdowns. So interesting little note there for him. I think when you're. When you're looking at this, like, makes me want to draft Mike Evans, makes me want to draft George Kittle if he's healthy, and then just kind of figure out the rest and maybe just let somebody else chase Debo's name. Because, look, he's had a hard time, I think, with his conditioning. I don't think that's unfair to say based on what we saw from him early in his career, you know, so hopefully he's in shape. He's older, him, McCaffrey, the receiving core. Like, there's a lot of still moving parts, even though there's. There's still familiarity there. I don't know, I'm probably not going to draft Debo Zamo personally, Dave.

[Dave]

I'll, I'll draft him but it's going to be in the double digit rounds and it's going to be with the idea that he's a good bench receiver, not a great bench receiver. You know how I feel about DK Metcalf. I'd much rather have DK Metcalf. You know I feel about Jordan Tyson. I'm taking Jordan Tyson. There are, there aren't a ton of name receivers that I will wait for after Debo Samuel, but I can't help but think he's going to get a good opportunity. We know what he's done before in San Francisco and I just think it's a guy that, yeah, maybe he'll be a bench clogger but we did see some good stuff from him before he got hurt last year. And if he's going to be in that range of six touches per game, remember he might get a carry or two along the way and some design screens and stuff like that. Yeah, maybe he can get you 10 to 12 PPR points. And so I'm, I'm going to be all right with him as long as it's with the late round pick. With the understanding that I'm not expecting a big year from him. He's just going to be like a good bench piece. Good bye week replacement wide receiver. And at this point the bodies are falling down all over again for the 49ers. I'd say that they're going to need Debo Samuel, but there's always a chance that he also incurs an injury just like he did last year. It's all the more reason why you don't chase the name. Like Jamie said, he's not worth that round eight or nine pick, you got to wait till 10, 11 somewhere in there.

[Jamie]

It's just kind of amazing that they added another 30 plus year old skill position player to this team. They're so old. They're so old. Kind of put it in context for me at least if Stefan Dig Steins in Washington, I'd rather have Diggs than Diva Fair.

[Dave]

Yep, me too.

[Adam]

Oh yeah, actually, I think Stefan Diggs one of my favorite draft values right now. He goes so late and if he goes to Washington, I, I, which you know, that's probably the favorite, I would like that. It's just hopefully it happens soon. Christian Kirk, by the way, is going to be 30 this year. You may not even think of him as old, but he's great. He's going to be 30 in November. All right, last question about this. I have another question later about Brock Purdy. But, but who's the second, who is the second 49ers wide receiver that you're drafting right now?

[Jamie]

Probably still Debo.

[Dave]

Technically that's Debo Samuel.

[Adam]

Okay. All right. I've got a lot of segments today. We're gonna go kind of fast on them. We're gonna have a fast paced show your emails later at fantasy football cbsi.com we're also going to read some of your draft a thon questions. But I'm looking at this just here's a quick segment called do you buy these ADPs? I got four guys that I feel like we'd all jump for joy if we got at least three of them at this adp. And the ADP is pretty consistent right now. Fantasy pros, CBS and draft sharks consensus Rasheed Rice at the all the crazy

[Jamie]

people who like to draft early.

[Adam]

But then you look at she Rice at the two, three turn and some someone there are going to be multiple players that are so good that are going at the 2, 3 turn that you're just like how are they there? It could be Pickens, it could be Nico, it could be A.J. brown, it could be Derrick Henry. Right now one of those players is Rasheed rice at the 2, 3 turn. Zay flowers at the 3, 4 turn. Lad McConkey 46th. So almost at the 4, 5 turn. Mike Evans at the 5, 6 turn. Do you buy those ADPs, Jamie? Rasheed rice, 2, 3 turns they flowers, 3, 4, McConkey. I'll just simplify it and say at the 4, 5 and Evans at the 5, 6.

[Jamie]

Yeah, I think the only one that kind of stands out is Rice because of where I think we have him ranked, our thoughts about him as a player and what he's capable of doing. I think the other guys are somewhat priced appropriately. You know, like I would take Zay Flowers probably at the earliest the middle of round three, but the back end of the middle around three. I think Evans is, is in the right range. I think McConkey's in the right range. The one thing I will say though, when you're doing drafts now because this happened, I did a draft, an analyst draft. I think it was two weeks ago and Rice was buried in the projections. And so like you know, when, when we draft on cbs, I can toggle by my rankings myself. You know, Dave, his rankings, Heath, his rankings, the site that I was using, I was just going off their projections and Then finding the players that I wanted and I was like, wow, Rice is really like pushed way down. I don't know why, you know, at what point they. They posted those. But like, I don't know if people weren't searching for him or what. I got him at the 3, 4 turn.

[Adam]

Wow.

[Dave]

Wow.

[Jamie]

So like, it was like, okay, if he falls, I'll take him. If he's still there, I'll take him. Obviously I'm taking him. I can't wait to take him here. He taking him. It was just incredible value. So you see this sometimes by. If you sort by adp, you see it sometimes you sort by other projections from other people. Clearly there's going to be some values that you find. I think just now, again, the ADP data is great for us to use as talking points. I just think we're going to see some, not necessarily dramatic shifts, but shifts where some of these players, the injured players that are healthy, malik neighbors, for example, they get pushed up. And then conversely, you know, some of the guys that are going to deal with injuries because they're happening way too fast, they're going to get pushed down.

[Adam]

Okay, so because I've been taking McConkey at the 3, 4 turn and he's going 46, Evans, if I can really get Evans, 60th overall, it's going to truly affect my draft strategy. I'm going to not feel like I have to take a wide receiver at the 3, 4 turn. I might, but I think Evans, I really like Evans quite a bit, and I suspect with the Piersol news that Evans will move up, but we'll see. All right, Dave, let's talk about tight end leftovers. You actually wanted to talk about Juwan Johnson. I think yesterday, and we never really got to it, you felt like he deserved a little bit of a mention. This could honestly be 30 seconds, but do you think Juwan Johnson could play his way into being on fantasy rosters for much of the year?

[Dave]

He could. It just comes down to how big of a step Jordan Tyson takes. Because if Tyson's good and okay and Olave just got paid a new contract, so I think the Saints think he's going to be okay. Then I don't know how much that really leaves for Juwan Johnson. Someone suggested in our comments yesterday that Juwan Johnson is. The tight end is snag late. And I would, I would, I would offer this question. Would you rather carry Juwan Johnson into a Week 1 matchup against Detroit, which is a favorable matchup given the state of the Safeties and the linebackers in Detroit right now, or would you rather stash somebody else? And then if Juwan Johnson has a good game, you could always go and pick him up off waivers after week one. I think there are too many other tight ends that I like better than Juwan Johnson. But if it's a tight end premium league or a really deep league, your rosters are super deep, say seven plus bench spots. Joanne Johnson deserves one of them.

[Jamie]

I think there's, there's a couple, maybe three or four that these guys we kind of want to forget about, but they'll still be productive. Juwan Johnson's one. Dalton Schultz is another. I think you can maybe throw Hunter Henry in there. You know, just looking at what he's done at times over his career, maybe we get a TJ Hawkinson bounce back, but for me, really it's just Juwan Johnson and Juwan Johnson and Schultz, Dalton Schultz. But you look at the, the circumstances for both, those guys were. Both were really good last year. The addition of Jordan Tyson and then for the Texans, it's what we keep hearing about Jaden Higgins and then Tank Dell being back, you know, and so if everybody's healthy on those respective rosters, I just think those veteran tight ends lose a little bit. And so, like what Dave was talking about with Juwan Johnson carrying him the season, the first thing I thought of was, okay, if George Kittle's out, that's not a bad pivot play. Instead of just chasing Jake Tonjas and trying to handcuff the 49ers, like, maybe you get something from Juwan Johnson. He produces well throughout the early part of the season. Maybe while Jordan Tyson is working his way into understanding the NFL or unfortunately, as we've seen from him, his career, maybe he's hurt. You have Juwan Johnson as a trade chip once Kittle comes back. So I, I think there's a lot of different ways to play it. With some of these late round tight ends, it's. It's the question of like somebody in the chat just brought up Gunner Helm. Like, I think that's the type of guy you want to gravitate toward because he could pop as a second year guy now that Chigo Conko is gone. And so, like, I would rather chase the younger player that I think has more upside as opposed to maybe the veteran that I think could take a step back. But that's the kind of, you know, decision you have to make is proven production versus unproven production. And which guy can, you know, maybe be better moving forward in their careers. So like when you're comparing, you know, a Helm, a Sadiq to a Schultz and a Johnson, those veterans have been great. But again, those younger players could be fantastic.

[Adam]

I wasn't going to chuckle until I saw Dave smile there. But anyway, I'm just enjoying life.

[Dave]

I'm having the best day ever.

[Adam]

Okay, I gotta. I guess we can wrap it up. We'll take a quick break and just rookies and second year guys. We kind of shortchanged the Rendez Gads than yesterday. I feel like we need to talk a little bit about him. Elijah Arroyo. Could any of these second year guys that were not obviously there's the big three second year guys but could any of the other ones because the 2025 tight end class on draft day was really exciting. Can any of the other guys Ferguson, Arroyo, whoever I'm missing Gunner, Helm, jump out and then what about Sadiq? What about Eli Raritan in in New England? We'll be right back with that. And we've got a question about Sam Laporta. We've got an FFT open update. We've got a fun segment and a game called what's it going to take for you to blank? Don't ask me how I come up with these things. Just a gift. We'll be right back.

[Dave]

What's it going to take for you to get to the break right here?

[Adam]

We'll be right back.

[Dave]

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[Jamie]

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[Adam]

Pacifico the crisp Mexican lager that wasn't brewed to blend in. We were made for the moments when you live like you mean it. When you don't just hear the music, you feel it. When you let the bonfire burn into the night and find places you'd never spot on a map. So when the moment calls, choose to reach for the bright yellow can. Choose yellow. Choose Pacifico 21 +Discover responsibly Pacifico Clara beer imported by Crown Imports, Chicago, IL. Oh man, every day I'm getting killed for this auction strategy thing. I'm not back to. I haven't quite gotten back to looking at the comments, so I wonder Comments

[Jamie]

so you and I are going to see each other this weekend and you're going to be around a bunch of other fantasy analysts and we know several of them, a few of them listen to our show. I wonder if anybody's going to bring it up to you in person.

[Adam]

They are now. Jamie, thank you. It's a lock now. Thank you for that. Dave, are there any rookie titans I'm looking at you? Oh, Joey Ray for sure. Rookie tight ends or second year tight ends other than Loveland fan and Warren

[Dave]

that you think not chasing. I'm not really chasing any of them in typical redraft leagues, obviously in keeper and dynasty leagues. Honestly, Sadiq is probably going to be the one that I'm the most after. Let's see how training camp unfolds over the next couple weeks and if we hear some great things about Sadiq. But the one that I think most fantasy managers gravitated toward early in the off season was Gadsden and that was especially after McDaniel landed in LA. But look who else has landed in LA. Like Najoku is part of the tight end group there. It's a deep group and that this is a team that's already going to be at least based on history of Mike McDaniel's history, playing at a slow pace, maybe not necessarily throwing a ton. And lad McConkey is the guy that we've kind of earmarked as being the top target getter in that offense. Quentin Johnson, Trey Harris will be in there too. So I'm not real interested in in Gadson at this point. But the nice thing is that these are all tight ends that do have some potential. You should be able to find them all off the waiver wire if they have a good week one or week two or even later in the year and you see that there's some potential for them. Yeah, you can grab them off the waiver wire. You don't have to spend the draft pick.

[Jamie]

Jamie, with like Ferguson for example is there's so many tight ends in Los Angeles, you know, and so the, the hope would be and you know it kind of goes back to some of the off season news. They didn't trade for AJ Brown. Knee injury, not injury, but they didn't get him. They didn't draft Makai Lemon who was a potential target for them at 16 when they took Ty Simpson. And so do they essentially use one of their tight ends and Ferguson I think makes the most sense to be their third receiver. And so that's the type of player you're looking for like to take a jump in terms of opportunity. But again, Parkinson's still there, Higby's still there. They drafted another tight end, you know, so there's just a lot of players and bodies and, you know, moving parts, which is what makes the Rams offense so fun and unique, but also frustrating when it's not Puka and Adams. Like any one of these tight ends. I think it was just, hey, we're running a, a traditional offense with, you know, 11 personnel and, you know, maybe even 12 personnel, but 11 personnel and that tight end is getting featured. We saw it once upon a time. You guys made the joke a couple days ago about Higby. Like that could be just amazing for one particular guy, but there's four of them, so I think that makes it frustrating.

[Adam]

Okay, we have a question. Jamie from Travis. And this will end our tight end discussion. Do you have any hesitation taking Sam Laporta with a mid round pick if you already drafted either Gibbs or Aman Ross St. Brown?

[Jamie]

Not really. I think you, you've seen throughout the three years that these guys have been together that they've had the opportunities to produce at a high level. They might have the consistency rating for those guys. But look, this is going to be a team that has one of the best schedules. They play so many games indoors. I think from week five through 17 they play outdoors twice. One of those is at Miami. So it's just unreal what their schedule could be. Their defense could be atrocious. That's a, A plus for those guys. So no, I wouldn't, I wouldn't run away from it. But you know, if you're debating Laporta, Pitts, Fanon, Craft, like those four guys I think are the, the tier that they're all kind of grouped together, maybe pivot just to, you know, diversify your, your roster a little bit.

[Dave]

I'd be worried about Laporta and Jameson Williams. We've talked about how it seems like one of those two can be good in a given week, but it's rare when both of them are good. It's really rare when both of them get six plus targets in the same game. If, if we set the number at 10 PPR points for Sam Laporta last year he had five games with at least 10 PPR points. I remember he only played nine games. At least one of Gibbs or Monroe St. Brown had 13 PPR points in the same game and there were two games where they were both outstanding while Sam Laporta had 10 PPR points. So I don't think it's a deal breaker. This is one of those offenses where there will be weeks where many people will eat. And so if you want to load up on Lions, it's a best ball strategy to stack teams from the same offense. It probably won't hurt you, especially with Laporta getting a lift in efficiency and opportunities with the change in play caller.

[Jamie]

Yeah. And, and you could also, you know, it's not the most ideal situation, but you could also just go all in and get Jared Goff also. So you'll have some huge weeks. I, you know, tournament style format. But like in, in the fishbowl, that's exactly what I did with Gibbs, Laporta and golf.

[Adam]

I think at this point I, I want to take golf over Purdy with the schedule.

[Jamie]

Not far off with you.

[Adam]

I mean. Yeah. Because Purdy has such a terrible schedule. Golf has one cold weather game all year. And I just think at some point we like, we, we have to acknowledge the 49ers receiving situation is less than ideal. Super old and super.

[Jamie]

Also you brought this up, I think recently like Purdy feasted on the worst teams in the league last year.

[Adam]

Yeah.

[Jamie]

And so he's typically been like a 20, 21 point per game score, which is great. But 24.9 last year.

[Adam]

Yeah.

[Jamie]

Probably not who he is.

[Adam]

And he's a really good rusher. So maybe you say a four, you know, four point per passing touchdown. Purdy, six golf. But they're pretty far off in ADP as I recall. All right, one more thing.

[Jamie]

Just because there was a thing in the chat about Okonko, somebody asked like why are we giving Okonkwo the, the Zach Ertz production or treatment, whatever it was. It's not, I don't think anybody's saying that, but it's just the potential that he could do that. And so right now you're looking at it as he could be number two on the team in targets. And Jaden Daniels had a good rapport with Zachary so that tight end production could be there for him. It was like 10.7 PPR points per game, 10.4 PPR points per game for it's in 2024. I think it's again looking at these late round tight end options. Once you get past the top 11 guys, you could say Goddard and Andrews are safer because their, their resumes are better. For me, like I'm gonna shoot for upside when I'm trying to get one of those late round Titans. Probably take two of them. But Okonko to me is My favorite one.

[Adam]

Okay, so just a couple things here to promote FFT Open Monday night, 7pm Eastern. All the spots for the FFT Open are on sale. If listen the ones for for me, Dave, Jamie, Heath, Jacob, Dan, they're going to sell out very quickly. Same with last year. Like Chris Harris, Jake Seeley, Scott Fish. I'm probably forgetting some that sold out almost immediately. That's okay. We have a full roster full of the best minds in the fantasy industry. Plenty of leagues to join. It's $250. It's not cheap, but it all goes to St. Jude. It's a great idea. If you want to share a team with someone, we can certainly help you out with that. We can make a co manager for you. And if you won your division last year because the division winners move on to a playoff just for the it'll be 36 division winners this year. If you win your divi, if you won your division last year, we will give you the first opportunity to get back into the FFT Open. You just have to be in contact with us. Our colleague Claire sent you an email. If you haven't responded and you didn't get it or whatever just now is the time you email yeah, Jamie. Jamie won his division. Fantasy football. If specifically you won your division last year and you want the first dibs of getting back into the FFT Open, you can email me. Meanwhile, the CBS Sports fantasy app is phenomenal. It's improved. Please check it out, download it CBS Sports Fantasy and you can scan the QR code right [e-mail] fantasy football today. All right, segment called what's it going to take for YouTube blank aka the

[Dave]

used car salesman segment.

[Adam]

How am I going to get you into this Malik Neighbors in round two car now what's it going to take for you to draft Malik Neighbors in round two? Everything here is about a buzzy player right now in camp. What's it going to take, Dave, for you to draft Malik Neighbors in round two?

[Dave]

I told you I was going to sleep on it and I did. And now what's it going to take for me to take Malik Neighbors in round two? Okay, I'm going to open my draft room. My draft is going to start. It's going to be round two and I'm going to click on Malik Neighbor's

[Adam]

name when in round two.

[Dave]

It's going to right now. It's late round two. Easier to do a non PPR than half or full ppr. But I mean it's just a matter of time before everybody Buys right back into Malik Neighbors. He looks good. It's a great start for him. There's no, there's, there's no discussion about him taking it slow, and I know that the Giants are kind of slow playing his recovery, but he set himself the, the second surgery that he had. The timeline for that was reported incorrectly. He's been running routes for weeks. He said he, it looks like it. He looks, he looks close to his old self. And so if he looks close now and it's July 31st, then by the time we get to early September, he should be his old self. And I did a double check on math Nagy and how he did with Alan Robinson in Chicago, and I almost think that's the floor for Malik Neighbors because Robinson had two years there where he was averaging north of eight targets per game and he was getting 15.9 or more PPR points per game. That would be a disappointment for Neighbors if you're taking him in round one, which is where we would be taking him if he had never suffered the injury and he went on to have a good year like he eventually got to doing. That week three game was kind of his breakout. Weeks one and two, not as much. I, I'm excited about him and I don't think we're drafting him too close to a ceiling if we're doing it in late round two.

[Adam]

Jamie, what's it going to take for you to draft Neighbors in round two?

[Jamie]

20, 35, 32 players get hurt.

[Adam]

No, no. I don't want that to be crazy. You're not there yet.

[Jamie]

No. And I won't be there.

[Adam]

Okay, what's it going to take for you? You know what, Can I, can I pause here? This is something that's bothering me. I want to be Thomas. When we go to that full screen view and the three of us are on the side, I want to be on the top. I think I've earned that.

[Dave]

Are you serious?

[Adam]

Not really.

[Jamie]

Yes, he is.

[Adam]

Keeps getting covered up by the comments. That's not fair.

[Jamie]

First of all, your microphone covers half your face 90% of the time you're talking.

[Adam]

All right, what's it gonna take once

[Dave]

in the history of this show? And I, I, I'll speak for Jam here, because I don't think he's done it either. Have we out loud, said on the air I need my face to be featured prominently when we're showing graphics. They're not looking at your dumb face when the graphic is on.

[Jamie]

Anyway, I think I've earned it. That's the one

[Adam]

I said I heard that. I really did. I really say I earned it. I did say that tonight.

[Jamie]

I think I heard.

[Adam]

Terrible.

[Dave]

You have had one of the worst weeks ever.

[Adam]

Terrible week. Terrible week. I should say the most insulting thing anyone's ever said to me. But I'm not gonna.

[Dave]

I think you. Let's go there because it'll make your week even worse.

[Adam]

Should I say it?

[Jamie]

Okay.

[Dave]

I don't give a damn.

[Adam]

Dave says to me earlier today, he says, hold on. He says, what if you. This is like a text or a group, a G chat. What if you sneakily added me to your Baked Burger Dynasty League? Put me on under a pseudonym. I wouldn't want to control anything, just to try and help you improve. So I put that in the notes and then I removed it as the most insulting thing that anyone's ever said to me. But yeah, it's okay. I guess I don't deserve to be on top there. What would it take?

[Dave]

You don't deserve to have help with your Dynasty League anymore. How many, how. How many times have you won that league, by the way?

[Adam]

Zero.

[Dave]

How many times have you made the playoffs in that league? One.

[Adam]

Well, you talk about just, just when it became Baked Burger. That's three years.

[Dave]

I don't know how long this dumb league's been running. I'm not in it.

[Adam]

This is a like a 13 year dynasty league, but it's only been this iteration of it for three years and I made the playoffs the first year and then tank.

[Dave]

All right, so you got a 33 hit rate of making the playoffs. You're right. You don't need any help at all.

[Adam]

What's it going to take for you to downgrade Bijan Robinson and J. Gibbs amid their contract issues

[Jamie]

holding out until the final week of the preseason?

[Dave]

Jamie, you look good on the top of the screen.

[Adam]

I'm in the middle.

[Dave]

I have to tell you, you look great. I think we should stick with that.

[Jamie]

So this is. This is an azer sandwich?

[Adam]

Yes, exactly. I'm in the middle. All right. What's it going to take for you to draft Parker Washington?

[Dave]

Worst sandwich ever.

[Adam]

What's it going to take for you to draft Parker Washington in round five? This guy prays every day for Parker Washington. What's going to take for you to draft Parker Washington? Around five

[Jamie]

picks off right now, so. It's not that.

[Dave]

Yeah, I've got him at the 5, 6 turn, so I'm. I'm right there with you, James. I. I love him as one of those. Wait for it. Wait for it. Got him low end number two. Wide receivers.

[Adam]

Are you buying the buzz on Parker Washington?

[Dave]

I've been buying it since the middle of the off season, so yes, I

[Adam]

know, but there's so many things not to like. I feel like it's crowded receiver room. He, he's one of these guys that's had six good games in his three year career. That's. And he's a sixth round pick. That's usually not the guy that we in the NFL draft, by the way. That's usually not the kind of guy we want to buy into. Okay.

[Jamie]

There's obviously exceptions to draft stock, as we're well aware through NFL history, but it's like, how do you not buy into everything that is coming at. It's not just the coach, it's not just the teammates, it's the beat writers. It's everybody just saying just how great this guy looks. And every day, like you said, it's, it's another Liam Cohen. He's the first guy I texted, you know, he's the first guy in the building. He's doing this, he's doing that. Trevor Lawrence loves him. Like, I don't know. I mean, yes, it's, it's a very crowded receiving core. When Travis Hunter's playing on the offensive side of the ball and Brian Thomas and, and Jacoby Myers and Brenton Strange, it's hard for him maybe to max out to what we would love to see, which I think is why we're not drafting and maybe higher than late round five, early round six, you know, or, or you know, a little bit later based on his adp. But like, I don't know how you can look at it and say he's not the Jaguars receiver that you have to take first. And then when you start to look at him in relation to the blob, because he's in the Blob, like, I don't know, I'm trying to just do it from a math perspective. I think he's going to get more targets. I don't think he's better than Jameson Williams, but I think he's going to get more targets than Jameson Williams. I think his offense, the way it's catered right now with everybody healthy, it's going to benefit Parker Washington a little bit better. So like that's one guy that I've struggled with. I think he's. When you start to stack him up to like Cornell Tate and Marvin Harrison and his own teammates, like there's just so much more to love about Washington right Now so yes, it could easily blow up in your face. I don't think you're making a huge investment by taking him in in this range though.

[Dave]

Agreed.

[Adam]

All right, one more.

[Dave]

By the way, what round was Puka Nakua drafted in?

[Adam]

Fifth round.

[Dave]

What round was the Monroe? St. Brown.

[Adam]

No, he was a fourth round pick. Saint Brown. This is. Those guys had good rookie seasons. Puka Naku was week one.

[Dave]

It's true.

[Adam]

First time.

[Dave]

Not everybody immediately comes in the NFL and does great things. Sometimes it takes a little time.

[Jamie]

Sometimes there's a Julian Edelman and a West Walker.

[Dave]

That's fine, thank you very much.

[Adam]

And he fel draft because he was hurt. Parker Washington, he got hurt in his, his last year in at college.

[Jamie]

All right.

[Dave]

My favorite part about what Jamie said is the price is a little prohibitive. That's it. Round five, round six. You might be able to get them later than that in your drafts because people, not everybody's going to be dialed into Washington but I think he does so much for that offense that they need him to be a volume receiver in the middle of the field and he can work three levels. He did it last year, he can do it again this year.

[Jamie]

And listen, if you want discounted Parker Washington, just go get Josh Downs.

[Dave]

And aren't these the type of receivers that the offenses are gravitating toward anyway because they're looking for the next St. Brown jsn I'm not saying Washington or Downs are going to be that but guys that are willing to cross the field, work on those horizontal routes and make plays after the catch like that's a way you the high shell defenses

[Jamie]

that that coaches that will feature that in quarterbacks that will trust them.

[Adam]

All right, what's it going to take for you to draft Basil Tutin ahead of Deandre Swift? Tootin getting a ton of buzz and Chris Rodriguez says the plan is for Rodriguez to be ready for week one but it's not a guarantee. What's it going to take for you to take Tootin over Swift?

[Jamie]

Non injury related? Yeah, nothing.

[Dave]

Manangai is out at camp and so if, if that lingers then it's going to be even harder for Tutin to overcome. Swift will move up. We just don't know how bad the injury is from Ananga. It might just be like a, a weekend thing for him. It's going to be hard for me to move Tutin ahead of Swift but the first thing that would have to happen is Chris Rodriguez stops being talked about in a positive light. Maybe gets banged up Again. And the Jaguars run out of options to put in the backfield behind Tutank.

[Adam]

Okay, there was an article in the Charlotte observer from Scott Fowler raving about Bryce Young. I'm here to tell you, based on whatever institutional knowledge I've acquired from covering these Carolina Panthers for 32 straight seasons, that what Bryce Young is doing in practice right now in training camp is about to lead to a really good and possibly great season for him. What's it going to take for you to consider Bryce Young as a breakout candidate?

[Jamie]

I just want to go to two words you just said in that quote for your four words you said for him, great year for him. Because great year for him could be great, could be fantastic, could be amazing. Great year for him for us could still be mediocre.

[Dave]

Fair to add the context to that. His career high and completion rate is 63.6 yardage, 3,011 yards. That's in 16 games last year. And his career high in touchdowns also came last year, 23 touchdowns. So if he can beat those types of numbers, that's a career year for Bryjan. But we would, we would never want somebody who gets 3, 500 yards and 24 touchdowns and nine interceptions as a must start fantasy QB that doesn't exist.

[Jamie]

I, I thought we were going to review the Super Flex draft. We did yesterday. So one thing that stood out to me, you guys weren't in the draft, but one thing that stood out to me, on top of Christian McCaffrey falling to 20th overall. One thing that stood out was Super Flex. The second quarterbacks. There were 19 quarterbacks drafted in the first five rounds and then 11 drafted in rounds six through 15. And so I took Joe Burrow in the first round and Malik Willis in the fifth round. And then I was like, okay, which third quarterback do I want? So I was looking at it, you know, I was like, okay, if I get Darnold Jones just because I want a little bit of a safer floor with Malik Willis. And then it was like, you just start to see the, the trickle down. I was like, is Bryce Young one of those guys? And I think that's the only time you consider drafting Bryce Young. Like there's so many number two quarterbacks that have so much more upside than him. I think the thing that you're looking at with Bryce Young, first off, how healthy are the offensive tackles? Because that's a huge, huge, huge issue now, I think more for him because you see it with smaller quarterbacks, the interior is almost more important than the, the two tackles because if they get pressure, pushback in their face, they're done, you know, so you want the tackles healthy, clearly, but, like, he has a hard time seeing over the. The line to begin with. And, you know, if the middle is okay, it's still a little bit of benefit from. But that's just, you know, nitpicking. But in any event, like, Tet can be great. Coker we saw could be decent, you know, and. And both, you know, clearly good for fantasy. I think losing Brazil and what they were hoping for him, like the sacrificial X, but just somebody that could stretch the field. Like, now that offense gets tighter and it's not great for them. So just another. I don't know if we even mentioned Adam yesterday, like, Brazil out for the season.

[Adam]

I was going to mention that. And actually, I. I think this wasn't my original thought. I saw another. I can't remember who it was. Another fantasy analyst talking about al Brazil. Like you said, could be that sacrificial X, but if he's out, Tetterall McMillan could go back to that role, and we don't want that.

[Jamie]

Yeah, they were talking about him being a slot receiver. Yep. Right.

[Adam]

We want him moving into the slot more. Not being, as, you know, not always there, but moving around more. We want the ADOT probably a little bit lower for Teterol McMillan. Brazil could have helped with that, stretch the field and allowed McMillan to do more stuff that leads to more targets. So I don't think. I don't think Chris Brazil getting hurt is a good thing. I don't know if it's a bad thing for McMillan. I don't think it's a good thing for McMillan.

[Jamie]

I agree.

[Adam]

Could.

[Dave]

To Jamie's point about pressure on Bryce Young, his completion rate when not pressured, 72%. When pressured, 45%. 5.3 yards per attempt. Terrible quarterback rating. Terrible. EPA, 4.6. Touch on right. That's actually the same as when he's not pressured. That's weird. He's. He's not a great quarterback to begin with. And if those tackles aren't there, yeah, he's gonna have a hard time seeing over the offensive line, and he's gonna lose half a second to get the ball out. Problems? I don't see him having a breakout here.

[Adam]

I should. The question I probably should have asked was about McMillan, but that's for another show. We're gonna take a break. More news and notes, just to catch you up on some of the stuff going on around training camp. And then we will read your questions. Your draft a thon questions your emails at fantasy football cbsi.com, we'll be right back. We are back. News and notes. Okay. Ricky Pierce on knee injury. Debo Samuel, one year deal could be worth up to $7 million. Christian Kirk has a strained calf. Jordan James, running back for the 49ers. He has a fractured rib and is going to miss time. So Jamie Kalyn Black, is that the guy you draft right now if you had McCaffrey and wanted his handcuff?

[Jamie]

No, they drive. They just signed the handcuff.

[Adam]

Oh, Debo.

[Jamie]

Yeah. I mean, listen, at this point it sounds like James gonna be fine for week one. This, you know, doesn't help his, his situation to win the job, but. Right. Isaac Arando could be back. Like it's just one of those things. I'll give you another scenario. I had a choice in the fishbowl. So a couple weeks ago of the 249ers running, this is my last pick, 249ers running backs and Marshawn Lloyd and I took Lloyd and I don't think there's the upside of Lloyd if there's a clear cut handcuff for the 49ers. But it was what happens if Josh Jacobs has legal issues at some point? Just clear a path. You know what I mean? So like yeah, of course if you're starting to look at the 49ers guys and like, okay, I'm waiting for the McCaffrey injury because, because of, of the history with him with 412 touches. But there's no certainty like ma pivot just to Ray Davis at this point. Like why, why not take a chance on just a handcuff with upside if that's what you're going for. Especially clear, clear cut.

[Dave]

Especially after what you said about James Cook earlier in the show.

[Jamie]

And I never said it.

[Dave]

Oh yeah, we never got into it.

[Adam]

We have so much stuff left.

[Dave]

Put a pin in that. Put a pin in that comment.

[Adam]

Yeah, I'm sure Pacheco was off the board by the way, when you made that pick. Also now Jamie has.

[Jamie]

No, no, no. By the way. May not be Pacheco.

[Adam]

Get out of here.

[Jamie]

Could be Vaki.

[Adam]

Yeah.

[Jamie]

No way you say that. Are you wearing your Isla Pacheco underwear today or is that in the washing machine?

[Adam]

I have six of them and today is the one day that I that I don't have it.

[Jamie]

So you have one for every game that he's played over the last three years.

[Adam]

One for every 10 yard carry he's had. Anyway, I was meant to make this joke. It's been a long time, but Jamie said he had Lloyd. So now I would say you can't triple stamp a double stamp. Chris Olave, four year deal, $132 million extension, $90 million guaranteed. He was the number seven wide receiver per game last year. It was his first season as a top 20 wide receiver on a per game basis. Good news for Romo Dunes A. He said something earlier in the offseason about how his foot was basically never going to be the same. He had a new normal, but he said, you know, too much was made of that. His foot feels amazing. Roma Dunze. According to espn, Johan Dotson will probably be Atlanta's number two wide receiver. So if you're in a really deep league, Johan Dotson maybe somebody worth getting bonix looks like he's.

[Jamie]

Excuse me. Catch the context of that though.

[Adam]

No, that. Oh, that Zachariah Branch would be like a gadget player to start.

[Jamie]

No, it was more of it was the beat writer saying who stood out so far as the second best receiver or the third best option in the passing game behind London and Pitts. And that was the name he said right now.

[Adam]

Okay. Bo Nicks, full go for training camp. Baker Mayfield seems pretty angry that he didn't get a contract extension. He seems very motivated and he said he's in the best shape of his life. Kyler Murray not really having a great camp, it seems. Some, some tweets out there make it seem like JJ McCarthy has been better than Kyler Murray. So I don't think.

[Dave]

Well, we'll say that would be incredible.

[Adam]

Yeah. Pittsburgh rookie quarterback Drew Aller having a good camp. Not that he's going to win the job, but for you dynasty people out there, Ashton Genti said he was not in good, good enough shape last year. He stopped eating candy. And Ashton Genti is in better shape now. Dontavian Wicks appears basketball. What's that?

[Jamie]

You see him play basketball? The videos in playing basketball.

[Adam]

No. Pretty good, I'm assuming.

[Jamie]

I mean he just dunks like crazy.

[Dave]

Shocker.

[Adam]

Dontavian Wicks appears to be ahead of Makai Lemon right now for Philadelphia.

[Jamie]

See, these are, these are the things that just should help you when you're looking at players, when you're trying to get value. Don Tavian Wicks knows the offense. Don Tavian Wicks came with the guy who's the play caller. Don Tavian Wicks has been in the NFL. Makai Lemon has dealt with an injury this off season. Lemon will be better than Don Tavian Wicks. It may take a few weeks, but Lemon will be the better player. So let this push his value down and then you go get him.

[Adam]

Drake London proposed to his wife with Taco Bell. They were eating Taco Bell. That's pretty cool.

[Dave]

Not bad romance.

[Adam]

Michael Penix I hope no lettuce. Michael Penix Jr. Michael Penn could be out another four weeks.

[Jamie]

Marry me and have diarrhea.

[Adam]

Geez. You know the thing about yeah, forget it. Todd Monkin said Harold Fannin Jr. Is going to be a focal point. Tucker Kraft expects to come off PUP soon. Aaron Glenn said Kenyon Zadiq is going to be a huge weapon for the offense. Both Chargers offensive tackles have been cleared for training camp. Ryan's the Texans head coach. He's been praising Woody Marks and Jaden Higgins, a couple second year players there. Meanwhile, second year receiver Jalen Noel is going to miss a couple weeks with a finger injury. I mentioned Chris Rodriguez is practicing and he had off season foot surgery. He plans to be ready for week one. Left tackle Tristan Worf. So the Bucks hurt his hamstring. He missed the first four games of last year. So this early hopefully he's okay. Saints defensive tackle Brian Brazil Brizzy does he have a torn acl?

[Dave]

I believe he does.

[Adam]

Okay.

[Dave]

I believe the season's over. It's a small blow to what was already a defense that was in serious is in serious question.

[Adam]

Yeah. And Cincinnati defensive lineman Shamar Stewart. We thought based on the video he might have had a season ending injury, but he doesn't. He avoided a major injury but he'll miss a little bit of time.

[Jamie]

Pete Prisco was in Tampa Bay. You can see some of the videos on if you go to the NFL and CBS site on Twitter you can obviously see it on CBS Sports HQ and they run the recaps of those and just google it if you want to. But Chris Godwin 100%.

[Dave]

Oh good.

[Adam]

Awesome.

[Jamie]

He also Pete had a very funny bit with Baker Mayfield. He said hey, I hear you're having contract issues and he gave him 20 bucks on there. He said Baker kept it.

[Dave]

Yeah, I was about to say I hope Baker kept it.

[Adam]

That is awesome. All right Jamie, I'm running very behind and I have to get to the draft a thon questions that the people paid for. So let's go two minutes for this awesome James Cook stat. We're going to talk about him on the running back preview next week, but you won't be here for that. But let's put People in a panic before the weekend.

[Jamie]

Yeah, you said awesome. It wasn't so awesome when I found it. So the last five rushing champions. So going back to Derrick Henry in 2020 through Saquon Barkley in 2024, so not including James Cook. So the five prior to 2025, they lost at least 848 yards and six touchdowns the following season, eight, 48 and six. Now, that's not the average because if the average, it would be worse because McCaffrey only played four games after his 2023 leading the NFL in rushing. But if you're watching on YouTube, you see what it was. And Derrick Henry and McCaffrey both over a thousand yards worse than they were the previous season. They both suffered significant injuries. You remember 2021 was Derrick Henry with the broken foot and then 2024 was McCaffrey with the knee injury. But this is scary as all can be that this is what we could be looking at now, as we told you with the trivia question to start the Show, Derek Henry 2019 led the NFL in rushing yards. 2020 led the NFL in rushing yards. So it's not that far back that we're looking at somebody who's had some success. But the concern would be is clearly the workload. Now in McCaffrey's case, in 2023, he only had, I think it was like 230 carries. So a lot of what he did was as a pass catcher. So it's not necessarily the carries that scare you, but all the other guys in the year that leading the NFL in rushing were over 300 carries. And James Cook, first time in his career last year over 300 carries. So I'm not panicking yet on Cook, but this was on top of all the workload issues that we were talking about with Saquon Barkley last year. If you remember, I kept saying the history of 2000 yard rushes, there were only eight of them. So small sample size for both of those. Obviously you see what happened to Barkley going from 2000 yards. Same thing with Derrick Henry 2020, he was over 2000 yards rushing. 2021 injury and clearly a step back. So it is just something to keep in mind. It is something to be a little bit panicked about. I'm not going to say I may have played a place the bet on the under on James Cook rushing yards, but something to consider if you're looking at that as well. Just the history here is not that great of what the. The recent history of what that's been for the leading rusher the following year.

[Dave]

You guys have heard us talk about how worried we are about players coming off of 400 touch seasons and McCaffrey's coming off of 450 touch seasons. And obviously if you're going to be the rushing leader that means you had a lot of touches. Cook had 385 touches, so practically 400 touches last season, career high by a lot at bare minimum. And this is the same advice I would tell you with drafting Christian McCaffrey. Draft Ray Davis with a late round pick if you get James Cook because Davis is actually a darn good running back when he's replaced James Cook and could be that and locking up the Bills running back. That seems like a really good spot to have in fantasy.

[Jamie]

You also Joe Brady had can't, you know, just again so the story would be up on the site making a case for all the first round players and why they could be bus. And so this is what led me down this path. But also Joe Brady has said similar to what we hear, it's hard to expect it to play out. He wants to give Ray Davis and Ty Johnson more touches to take pressure off of James Cook. And then I think, I know Joe Brady hasn't done that as the coordinator, but I think Joe Brady is going to have them throw the ball more. So I think that was more of a McDermott holding Brady back from I think what he wants to do and I think Brady's going to have this team be a little bit more pass happy.

[Adam]

Okay, man. So that's just something to think about with James Cook. But honestly, I mean look, yes, he led the league in rushing. He was less than 30 yards better than Derek Henry. He was less than 40 yards better than Jonathan Taylor. They all had big rushing seasons and could regress. That's why honestly, I think it's insane to draft them ahead of Christian McCaffrey. But I know other people are feel differently. I mean they're certainly younger. That's the good thing. But they all had a lot of touches and they all had a lot of yards.

[Jamie]

So I think if you're legitimately concerned by this and again, I'm not there yet, but I'm getting close. If you're legitimately concerned by this and you're stacking up concerns for McCaffrey and concerns for Cook, to your point, Adam McCaffrey's upside is better no matter how these guys play out, if they both play the season, no injuries, I'm taking McCaffrey 10 out of 10.

[Adam]

Yeah, I think everyone is okay Draft a thon questions. Andrew bought two questions. Thank you Andrew. We appreciate your generosity. Andrew's In a 10 team PPR league, you start one quarterback, two running backs, two receivers and two flexes. There are a lot of good quarterbacks available in this league. Do you think it's best to wait on quarterback until after the top tier QBs have been drafted? It's a 10 team PPR league with one QB, two receivers, two running backs, two flexes. Should you wait?

[Jamie]

Dave?

[Dave]

Generally my answer would be yes, but I wouldn't pass up and we talked about this on the quarterback preview. Highly encourage everybody to watch it or listen to it if you haven't already. But you you want to steal a quarterback and if Lamar Jackson's sitting there in round five, Drake May is sitting there in round five around six. Why would you pass up that type of value? Why would you give that value to somebody else in your league? So you can have the idea of waiting for a quarterback. But don't be a fool. And if you've got a chance to get a stud quarterback later than the ADP says you should take it.

[Adam]

And also in a 10 team league, the onesie positions. Not everyone feels this way but you could say I want to make sure I'm elite at the at quarterback and tight end or at least one of them because you know you can. Because you can have a bigger advantage there. You want, you want as many elite players as possible and it's more doable in a 10 team league.

[Dave]

All right.

[Adam]

Another one from Andrew is I've listened to your show for a few years. I've gotten some great advice on players, music, movies and shows. You're welcome Andrew. I've never heard how you guys got started in the industry. Could you share how you got your start? 30 seconds each Jamie yeah, 30 seconds is 45.

[Jamie]

Industry.

[Adam]

Yeah, sure.

[Jamie]

I was a newspaper guy for the Palm Beach Post covering a variety of teams including the Dolphins. Michael Fabiano had just left CBS Sports and I was hoping to stay in South Florida. I was honestly looking for really a foot in the door to get to CBS and maybe continue just being an NFL guy. But this fantasy stuff has just been so much fun. Working with Dave and Adam has been amazing. Adding Heath was even better and Dan and all the other cast of characters. So why leave when it's just such a great ride?

[Adam]

Dave, how'd you get your foot in the door?

[Dave]

I can't do. I don't think I can do it in 30 seconds was the 32nd version would be got My foot in the door with cbs. People knew that I loved fantasy football. Eventually got the chance to write about Fantasy Football on NFL.com and then CBS brought me over. A year before they brought Jamie in,

[Jamie]

I would have gone with Kerry Wood, got hurt. Dave was great at what he does, and everybody noticed it.

[Dave]

Dave met a girl who wanted him to move out of his parents basement, and so he started rapidly applying for jobs online and fell ass backwards into a job covering pro wrestling in Florida, which in and of itself is a dream job, and then parlayed that into being a fantasy football writer. The girl is no longer in his life. He married somebody else.

[Adam]

And I did student radio at the University of Miami and interned for what at the time was college sports television, CSTV in Manhattan. They hired me out of college. They became CBS Sports Network. So I was in like the CBS Sports family. I was working in New York from 2007 to 2009. After I graduated in 06, I wanted to move back to Florida, where my family was. CBSSports.com was in Fort Lauderdale. So I transferred there and I started. Jave and Jamie were two of the first people I met. They were like, hey, why don't you go host this fantasy football podcast? And that's. That was 19 years ago.

[Jamie]

We never said that.

[Dave]

We never asked for you. No, no, no, no, no, no.

[Adam]

You. No, sorry, you didn't say that, but someone said it to me.

[Jamie]

You know, like, we used to have a radio. We used to have a radio station in the building we were at, and we would record our podcast in there. And then one day this kid just started showing up and said, listen, I know a lot about podcasts. I think I should host a show. I think I've earned it.

[Adam]

I should be on the top. Absolutely. All right.

[Dave]

There's so many terrible jokes. We could go on.

[Adam]

Matt Walters with this question here. Thank you for your donation, Matt. 12 team league with colleagues. What should the tiebreaker be? Who has more in. In their divisions? Who has more wins in the division, or most points for the season?

[Dave]

Most points?

[Adam]

Yeah.

[Dave]

Most points is the easy tiebreaker for everything because that's something that you actually earn as a fantasy manager. The points that you get based on the lineups that you set. And it's really hard to have that end in a tie.

[Adam]

You guys don't remember saying that to me. Hey, why don't you do guy?

[Dave]

Hey, new guy that I only know because your brother and I went to college together. Yeah, why don't you host this show and annoy us for 15, 20 years. Once a year, somebody is like, hey, didn't you go to college with Adam's brother? And I say, yeah. And they go, so that's why Acer works at cbs. And I go, no, actually, Adam did it on his own.

[Adam]

Yeah, exactly. All right, Tyler in New York City, who maybe I'll run into tomorrow. I believe injury proneness is one of the most overrated risks. In fantasy. Is there anyone this year that's being unjustifiably downgraded due to perceived injury risk?

[Jamie]

Downgraded due to perceived injury risk.

[Adam]

Right. I think Mike Evans.

[Dave]

But if you're going to say that for McCaffrey and Evans, then you might as well say it for everybody, because we're literally talking about Evans, who got hurt multiple times last year, and McCaffrey who has suffered significant injuries to his lower body after every single season he's had 400 plus touches. And so everybody has injury risk. It's football freaking. Patrick Mahomes got hurt last year and tore his acl. But some players you could. You could look at and say, all right, there's a chance, there's a high, there's an elevated chance that they could get hurt. But I don't hate the way that Tyler's looking at it, which is if. If injury risk is a concern for everybody, then why consider it for anybody and just draft based on nobody getting hurt and you don't have to fear it at all. And that's not a bad way to go, to be perfectly honest.

[Adam]

I do think that the doctors, the sports doctors that, you know, you see on Twitter and whatever, or probably any, any sports doctor would say that getting injured, that you automatically have a higher chance for re injury.

[Jamie]

I do think tissue injuries are obviously scary, you know, for these guys because they tend to linger. High ankle sprains. Now we're learning about the PCL injury and how bad it is. You know, it used to be like the ACL tear was the end of your career, and now the PCL injury is the one that's keeping you out for a significant amount of time or just completely limiting your play, like we saw for Bowers last season. So, yep, I think just to kind of pivot off of what Dave said a little bit, I think when you have guys that have these track records, and obviously it's the veteran guys, usually the ones that are approaching 30 or in their 30s, you kind of know what you're dealing with here. And then the other part of this, I think, is what he's talking about. The question is like, we're downgrading George Kittle, we're downgrading Malik Neighbors, we're downgrading Tucker Kraft, we're downgrading the guys that are coming off of injuries and waiting to see. So like you asked about neighbors, like, what's going to take to push him into round two. A month ago we would have laughed in your face if you asked that question because we were never getting to the point of thinking of him in round two. We were running the other direction and thinking of him as a round four, round five pick, you know, at that point. So as we get more updates and reports, you know, so Kittle could come off the PUP list. Craft come off the PUP list and these guys are.

[Adam]

He is off the page today. He just came off the public Craft.

[Jamie]

Okay, so there you go. So now his, his ADP rise. You know, we said it with the quarterback show that Mahomes could be one of the biggest risers because of his name and the fact that he looks okay if that continues to be the case. So I think any of these guys that are coming off of injuries are the ones that are going to have their ADPs rise. Conversely, to the, to the point, we're pushing these guys down because of their injury situations right now.

[Adam]

Yeah. Okay, next question. We got about six minutes left here. So this is from Richard Todd. He says Dear Chad Boomer, Glenn and Ken jets quarterbacks. I'm embarking on my first Super Flex league this year. Any advice on where to find good rankings and strategies and how would my Super Flex league differ from my normal PPR league? Dave

[Dave]

super flex obviously means that there's a higher priority in premium on quarterbacks. That's the highest scoring position in fantasy, when you can start two good quarterbacks, you're usually ahead of the curve in the rest of your league. But having two quarterbacks doesn't mean you have to draft too early. You could, I think this year because of the depth at the position, you could go with drafting one early and one in like the early middle rounds and feel really, really good about your team. Obviously want to prioritize quarterbacks that you think are going to be able to start 17 games and not potentially lose their job in the middle of the season or late in the season. Like a Jacoby Brissette, like a Geno Smith, certainly like a Kirk Cousins. And every quarterback basically comes into play. You'll see a quarterback from all 32 teams drafted. Yes, even the Browns. And that's all the more reason why you should be Interested in. In getting a couple of them. You want to have three good ones. One should be great. If two are great, go for it. If you happen to be a savant that can find good quarterback value in the middle of late rounds, and this could certainly be a year where you can do it. You could wait at that position and just load up on running backs and wide receivers with maybe your first four picks and then try and find this year's version of Trevor Lawrence, of Matthew Stafford, of Jackson Dart, and your. Your team will be better off for it. If you draft Malik Willis, and Willis ends up being a stat machine because he's not losing his job. They just paid him to be the quarterback, your. Your fantasy team will benefit oh, so much. Same thing with Tyler Schuck. Same thing of Baker. If Baker stays healthy, now that he's. We know he's motivated for a contract, he's got to steal money from Briscoe. That's. That's huge. And it's not a terrible idea to draft three of those quarterbacks, hoping that two of them are your starter every single week. And if they perform as top 12 quarterbacks, you're way ahead of the game.

[Jamie]

And we've, oh, a few things just to piggyback off that. Thomas just showed the. The story that we wrote about the draft.

[Adam]

That was me. That was me.

[Jamie]

Oh, Adam. Excuse me.

[Adam]

I've earned it.

[Jamie]

Wow.

[Dave]

Top of top of the page and you're putting up graphics.

[Jamie]

Sure, I should have.

[Dave]

Also, you just put yourself on the top of the page right now.

[Jamie]

A couple things about the draft. And first off, I think the biggest thing is, no, if it's four points or six points for passing touchdowns, because four points does not mean you have to go early on quarterbacks, especially if it's minus two for interceptions. Six points would definitely make it more of a priority for quarterbacks. Take a look at what Heath did. If you're inclined to go quarterback quarterback. He had the seventh pick. I adjusted that, by the way, because Heath was originally supposed to be 12. So I gave him the seventh pick. So he started quarterback quarterback with Drake May and Jaden Daniels. Look at his running backs and receivers if you are so inclined. His receiving core is awesome. Rashi Rice, George Pickens, Ameka Buka are his three guys. And he has Greece hall and Tony Pollard at running back. He did. He did. Surprisingly, had Sam Laporta. He was on the clock till the very last second and took Jadarian Price instead of Sam Laporta. Or maybe it's Pollard instead of Saying Laporta, yo, I'm sorry, it was Pollard. He took Pollard instead of Stan Laporta. I was like, there's no way he's not taking Laporta here. And he didn't take Laporta. Guess who took Laporta the same round I did. Screw you, Heath. So that's one strategy of taking quarterbacks early. Another strategy is you can see I'm going to give you three different ones. Go to Todd Roan's team. He sort of waited on quarterbacks. He didn't take his first quarterback until round three and he went back to back in rounds three and rounds four. So we got Bo Nix and Jackson Dart. Bo Nix and Jackson Dart. So started with two stud running backs and then waited on quarterback a little bit and then go to Brandon Howard's team because this is really if you want to avoid quarterback and just sort of build around it a different way. He didn't take his first quarterback until Patrick Mahomes around three. His second quarterback is Shadur Sanders. That's the only two quarterbacks that he drafted. So he's making on Sanders being the starter there. But he's also going with the approach which you can. I know Adam talks about this a lot. You don't have to throw the quarterback into the Super Flex spot. It's obviously ideal because you're going to get the max amount of points if those guys do what they're capable of doing. Again, six points versus four points. This is a six point league. But look at his starters. His starting LineUp features Devon HN, Derek Henry. His receivers are CD Lamb, DJ Moore, Tedron McMillan and Pitts at tight end. Jameson Williams is a flex that's pretty impressive. Again, quarterback, not great aside from Mahomes, but he could have a hole at the Super Flex spot while everything else is great. And again he could fill the Super Flex spot with something else.

[Dave]

See, that's where I would go with the four point versus six point is that if it's a super flex at four point, you don't have to use a quarterback in the Super Flex if you don't want to. But quarterbacks are still going to be in pretty heavy demand in a four point league in Super Flex.

[Jamie]

Adam, I did it again. I sort of just passed on receivers. So my first pick was Burrow. I had the 12th pick so I went Burrow. James Cook might be disgusting at this point. Burrow James Cook and then the next turn I took Amari Hampton and Saquon Barkley.

[Dave]

One stat. You're totally souring on James Cook.

[Adam]

No, I love, I love what you did there. I I, I mean I like to zig where other zag I guess in Super Flex, although more people are doing it now. But I just don't prioritize quarterback as much as I used to because I think there are 18 quarterbacks that I'd be happy with as my starter in a 1QB league. So as long as I get two of those 18 in a 2 QB league, then I'm happy. Sorry. I'm going to skip around a little bit here real quick. Jamie, what are your thoughts on Emmett Johnson as Ken Walker's handcuff?

[Jamie]

Seems like he'll be the guy but I would be surprised if he's the full time guy if Walker misses any time. I think we'll see DeMarcusado. I think we'll see Brashard Smith. But Johnson, if you're going to handcuff Walker at this point, that's the guy to do it. Agree.

[Adam]

Dave Joe from Indiana has the third pick. He's going to be getting Jamar Chase. It's a non PPR league. If would you take Chase Brown if he falls to him in the second round? Would you take T. Higgins if he falls to him in the fourth round? In other words, does having Jamar Chase prohibit you from taking other Bengals?

[Dave]

Now that this is one of the offenses where I don't know if I'd encourage it, but I'd be totally fine with it. And we heard Burrow this week talk about how he loved both of the Chases, Jamar Chase and Chase Brown as being pivotal parts of the offense. There were many games last year. There were. I think it was like four or five games last year where all three had good games for fantasy but certainly many games where Brown and one of the receivers had a good game and that was usually Jamar Chase. I have no problem with it.

[Adam]

Yeah, he said we're going to try to get the ball in Jamar Chase's hands as much as we can. But a close second is Chase Brown. I'm so excited for for this offense.

[Dave]

I'm excited for Chase Brown. I, I know I'm the outlier thinking that he's worthy of a first round pick.

[Jamie]

No, he's first round pick. He's first round pick in the CBS Sports adp.

[Dave]

Hell yeah, man. Fantastic. I'm glad people are on top.

[Jamie]

I'm sorry, I'm sorry. Excuse me. The consensus rankings.

[Dave]

Okay.

[Adam]

No, I think you're right. I think it's even better because then

[Dave]

we're all kind of on the same page, and we're all seeing it the same way. If that Cincinnati defense takes the step forward that they want it to, and I think they might, it's going to favor Chase Brown to get more carries and more touches and put up more points. We've seen him wreck games late before. I really, I like this guy a lot. I've toyed with the idea of putting him ahead of McCaffrey, and now I think I've got a toy with the idea of putting him ahead of James Cook. After what Jamie unearthed today, six games

[Jamie]

last year after Burrow came back from his injury, he was over 22 PPR points per game. In the seven games that Burrow played that he was healthy. So taking out game two, he was at 20 PPR points per game. And if you give him the week two game where, where Burrow got hurt, it's still 19 PPR points per game. So in eight games with Joe Burrow on the field, 19 PPR points per game or better. So it's just a lot to love. And Smaj P. Ryan played in most of those as well.

[Dave]

Yeah, but not all of them. And I wonder if some of those games with P. Ryan out may have helped push that.

[Adam]

And there were two games without T. Higgins where he had something like eight targets in both games or 10 targets. He got a lot of production in the passing game without Higgins or without P. Ryan. But he also did the same thing in 2024. He was, he was even better, I believe, in terms of points per game in 2024, the second half, when he became the starter. So he, he has shown, no question, Chase Brown has shown more ppr upside than either James Cook or Jonathan Taylor. He just, he's not as steady, you know, he's not probably not as talented. But in terms of upside, I don't even think there's a dispute. He has shown more ppr upside than either of those guys.

[Jamie]

And he's based on where you see some drafts, like you can get him middle of Round two. Yeah, because people still like. And I get it, you like HN better. You like Genti better. You know, that pushes, you know, Chase Brown down a little bit and then you get in the mix of the receivers. Man, imagine starting your team with Amara St. Brown and Chase Brown.

[Adam]

This is a great question that we'll have to get AJ Brown some other time. Am I the only one who remembers the front half of last season for Chase Brown? Are we just throwing that out? We should talk about that more in Depth. Because we got running back previews coming up and we will get to it, but great. There's so much potential for him. But you're right, that that did happen. We can't just ignore it.

[Jamie]

Of course, a lot of that was without Burrow.

[Adam]

Yeah, most of it was. Last question here. I don't have a name here. We'll call it from

[Dave]

Gimmick Infringement.

[Adam]

Oh. Oh, Dave. Who's this one from?

[Dave]

It's Claude from Quebec, Canada.

[Adam]

Hey, Einhorn. Pedactor. Melissa and Finkel. If we're considering Jerry Maguire a sports movie, then we have to consider Ace Ventura a sports movie. It starts with the theft of a team mascot, goes down the path of sports psychology, meets multiple players and front office staff, and ends the movie on the football field. And I'll add. And Dan Marino is in it. Yeah. Do you idiots feel like admitting that Jerry Maguire is not a football movie yet?

[Jamie]

No. Ace Ventura is a great football movie.

[Dave]

One of the best.

[Adam]

It is the funniest football movie ever, for sure. Thank you to Claude for this wonderful email.

[Jamie]

Can you name three other football players in the movie?

[Adam]

Yeah. The two offensive linemen that carry him out of the Isotoners commercial.

[Jamie]

Those weren't football players. Those were thugs.

[Adam]

They were henchmen.

[Jamie]

Yeah, henchmen.

[Adam]

Good word, Finkel.

[Jamie]

Like real football players.

[Dave]

Why am I blanking on this?

[Adam]

No, there were no others.

[Jamie]

One is a very prominent media member in South Florida.

[Dave]

Joe?

[Jamie]

No, Joe Rose.

[Dave]

Not Nacho Rose.

[Jamie]

Same rhymes with Joe.

[Dave]

Oh.

[Adam]

Ronde.

[Dave]

Oh. Tim Bow Camper.

[Jamie]

Yep. Okay.

[Adam]

I don't know. I'm gonna go listen to lineup by Aerosmith right now from that movie. We will talk to you on Monday on fantasy football Football today as we get ready for running backs and wide receivers next week. See you later, everybody. Have a great weekend.

[Jamie]

Paramount Podcasts. Hello and welcome to Pluto Foe. If you know the name of the

[Adam]

movie you'd like to see, just stream it for free on Pluto tv, where

[Jamie]

all your blockbuster favorites are landing all summer long. Catch. Anchorman. The Legend of Ron Burgundy.

[Adam]

Fantastic.

[Jamie]

The Matrix Trilogy. Welcome to the real world, Mean Girls. Shut up. Titanic. I'm the king of the world. And so much more. For showtimes, press Nothing.

[Dave]

They're free 24. 7.

[Adam]

That is so fast. On Pluto TV.

[Jamie]

Stream now. Pay Never.