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Derek Carr Retires! Plus Five Players We Don't Talk About Enough (05/12 Fantasy Football Podcast)
01:03:27
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- [00:01]
Lonzo Ball
Hey, Lonzo Ball, it's your agent.
- [00:03]
Heath
What's up?
- [00:03]
Lonzo Ball
I've got a commercial opportunity for you from Buzzball's ready to go.
- [00:06]
Dave
Cocktails.
- [00:07]
Jamie
Nice.
- [00:08]
Lonzo Ball
My last name is Ball. The product is a cocktail in a Ball.
- [00:11]
Jamie
I get it.
- [00:12]
Lonzo Ball
That's what I thought too. But no, they want you for your hands. They think your big hands will show off the size of their new blue biggies.
- [00:18]
Heath
Ball.
- [00:18]
Lonzo Ball
Big blue balls.
- [00:20]
Dave
Really?
- [00:21]
Lonzo Ball
Get blue balls this season with Buzz Balls.
- [00:25]
Dave
Please drink responsibly. Buzz Balls.
- [00:26]
Lonzo Ball
Available in spirit, wine and malt, 15%.
- [00:28]
Adam
Alcohol by volume Buzzballs LLC. Carroll.
- [00:32]
Kaley Cuoco
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- [00:57]
Heath
Go to your happy price. Priceline.
- [01:01]
Jamie
This is fantasy football today from CBS Sports.
- [01:04]
Heath
Wanna play?
- [01:05]
Jamie
Can you believe this?
- [01:06]
Dave
It had no idea.
- [01:08]
Adam
It's time to dominate your fantasy league.
- [01:11]
Heath
Off to the races and he stays on his feet. This is gonna go the distance.
- [01:15]
Adam
Now here's some combination of Adam, Dave, Jamie and Heath.
- [01:22]
Heath
It is Monday, May 12th. Welcome to Fantasy football today. Hope you ladies out there enjoyed your mother's day, hopefully. Hope you guys out there got something nice for your mothers or wives, whatever it may be. And we welcome you to the show. We're going to talk about five players that we have not talked about enough, including two Miami Dolphins. And we have, of course, the Derek Carr news as well as he is retiring. So what does that mean for the rest of the New Orleans Saints and what if they have a horrible offense? Well, we went back, we looked at the last four years of the worst offenses in football and what have they produced in fantasy football? Have they given us any good players? Any great players? Yes, there have been some good examples. So anyway, how's it going, guys? Jamie, how was your weekend?
- [02:05]
Lonzo Ball
Weekend was great. Got a chance to hang out with Heath and Dave a little bit, Thomas a little bit. Some former coworkers as well. A lot of friends, a lot of family. Was my son's bar mitzvah, so was thrilled that all the people who mattered to me were there, except for Adam, who decided not to come but no, it was great to see Heath and his son and Dave and his wife and Thomas and his fiance and really appreciate all the support, all the love and you know, my son crushed it. So it was fun.
- [02:32]
Heath
We have a great picture if you're watching YouTube.com fantasy football today. Great picture for you in a little bit. All right, let's get to the big news here. Derek Carr retiring due to his shoulder injury. Just some other quick notes. The Saints signed Trey Sermon, Travis Hunter. They had a two day mini camp and he did not take any defensive reps for the Jaguars, but he will next week when they reconvene. Sean Payton says he wants to use RJ Harvey in the passing game. I think, you know, pretty much figured that.
- [03:01]
Dave
Yes.
- [03:02]
Heath
And Colson Loveland is still recovering from off season shoulder surgery. Not anything that's he's expected to miss any time with, but he's not been out there yet. So let's talk about the New Orleans Saints and Heath. With Derek Carr retiring, who do you want to see be the quarterback of the Saints this year?
- [03:20]
Adam
I think we ought to let everybody have a turn, maybe just rotate one every quarter or be great to see Taysom Hill in that role. I don't really care. They're going to be a bad offense. The passing game is going to be, I would say, mediocre at best. And one of Tyler Shuck or Spencer Rattler's probably going to start the majority of the games. I would be really surprised if A quarterback starts 17 games for the Saints this year.
- [03:50]
Heath
You're what do you think about Rogers or Cousins? You think that's a possibility for them?
- [03:55]
Adam
I don't think I'm very much more skeptical on Rogers than it seems like everyone else's. But I don't think Rogers or Cousins are going to be better or significantly better than Shucker Rattler.
- [04:09]
Lonzo Ball
Wow. Okay.
- [04:11]
Adam
Aaron Rodgers hasn't been good for three years.
- [04:14]
Heath
Did you see Spencer Rattler and JK interplay last last year? Like come on, he's so much better than that now. They could obviously get better, but Rogers is so much better, so much more competent than that. And even Cousins is. I mean they were horrible those guys last year, like embarrassing. And shuck is a 20 gonna be a 26 year old rookie who completed about 62% of his passes in college, which is not it would be the.
- [04:39]
Adam
Dumbest thing in the world if the Saints with the current state of their Roger decided to go spend a significant amount of money or draft picks on Aaron Rodgers or Kirk Cousins. They're going to be bad regardless.
- [04:51]
Dave
It would be money, it wouldn't be much in the way of draft picks. And that's why I don't think Kirk Cousins is going to be really an option. Why would the Falcons want to try and help their division rival? Rogers already said he's willing to play for like 10 million and maybe the Steelers were just sitting back thinking, all right, that's, that's what it's going to cost us and the Saints can go, well, wait a minute, what if we offer you 12 million and it wouldn't be that bad on the Saints gap. The real issue though is like what's New Orleans doing? Like they're, they're mess cap wise. They always are. They've got a team that's not going to compete. I think if Aaron Rodgers goes there, they'll be on the fringe of competing and Rogers will be in the NFC and maybe that helps him have a clearer path to the playoffs than if he's in Pittsburgh in that beat up division in the AFC North. They'll be in trouble there. If I were him, I'd rather go to New Orleans. But it's not like the Saints are going anywhere either way. And so if the Saints realize that they just give the job to shuck, let him obviously earn it. And if Rattler's better than, so be it. But this is starting to look more and more like an offense that I am scared to touch. And you know Adam, you sent out a note with all the details on how bad bottom five offenses are. This makes me scared for a lot of Saints players.
- [06:06]
Heath
Yeah. So bottom five offenses over the last four seasons and last year I took the bottom six offenses. There was basically a tie for fifth worst between Jacksonville and the Raiders and there have not been any standout wide receivers until last year when we had neighbors and Brian Thomas by far the best wide receivers over the last four seasons on bottom five offenses. Running backs a little bit of a different story. We've had some good ones. Derrick Henry had a top four season a couple years ago with Tennessee on a bottom five offense. Breeze hall twice. Really with Breeze hall once overall, once per game. Jonathan Taylor was like top 12 per game one year if you remove one game where he played like one snap and who was the other one? Saquon Barkley with the Giants a couple years ago. But there have never, there has not been in the last four years a bottom five offense that's given us two great fantasy options. So I would not recommend anybody draft both Olave and Cabera unless you're getting great value here. But I mean, would anybody be surprised if this is the worst team and worst offense in the NFL?
- [07:16]
Adam
No, they're, they're in the conversation, but there's, I mean, certainly other competition.
- [07:24]
Dave
Yeah, I mean.
- [07:27]
Heath
How does that change things for Camara? Like, let's say Camara has been a fourth round pick. In our drafts, we, we always knew there was a possibility. For a little while we've known there's a possibility that Derek Carr misses the season. Now we know it's definitely happening. They did draft Tyler Shockley. Does this change anything for Camara and Olave right now and Shahid, or have you been drafting them thinking it's just going to be a disaster?
- [07:48]
Lonzo Ball
I mean, Olave's been on a slow sliding scale down for me to begin with. You know, it's not just the quarterback situation. It's his lack of consistent production, it's the health risk of the concussions that he's dealt with. And so we talked about this on last Wednesday show about the group of wide receivers basically from like 24 to 40. He's still in that group. So I think he's still a number three receiver, but he's, you know, closer to the back end of that than he was, you know, at the start of this process, at least for me, where, you know, I was hopeful of lack of target competition, which has really been the case, you know, she coming back. But there's really not a lot of other players to worry about. Even with the addition of Brandon Cooks, who's going to be 32. You know, it's, it's just, it's a terrifying situation, you know. So Camara is 31 or 30 years old, right?
- [08:35]
Heath
30.
- [08:36]
Lonzo Ball
He's, he's been extremely productive in the format that matters most for most leagues, which is ppr. And so even half PPR has still been very productive, but the lack of touchdowns are even more alarming now. The rushing production is probably going to be among the, the worst of his career again because I just don't imagine them a making him a workhorse to that level that we, we need him to be, to be that type of rusher. He's never really been that. And then again, you know, just at this point in his career, they did bring in somebody else to have some level of competition. So we'll see how that goes. But the, the offense as a whole, his age, you know, he's, I haven't really moved him too much yet, but it feels very much like at least the Way I'm thinking about it, like, between a few of the rookies, you know, Genti obviously not notwithstanding, he's been going ahead of. He will go ahead of Camaro in every draft. You know, now Harvey and Hampton and Henderson, like, you know, he's in that range. And, and that's, that's, you know, back end RB2, which is, you know, probably still going to be good value. But I don't think round four is where you want to touch him.
- [09:41]
Adam
I. I just think it's. For me, it's two totally different situations. And the Camaro one's much, much harder than the Olave one because it wouldn't surprise me at all if they were a terrible offense. And Alvin Camara caught 85 passes and finished as a top 12 running back in PPR. I think he has top five upside in full PPR. We've got really no reason to believe that Chris Olave has that kind of upside. Like, he might be a borderline wide receiver, too. He might be significantly worse. So it's easier for me to kind of pass on Olave where he's been drafted most of the time. I. I have a hard time passing on Camara in round four just because there's not very many players round four or later that have the same upside. Jamie's right about all the risks with Camara.
- [10:30]
Heath
Yeah.
- [10:30]
Adam
But you don't even need a good quarterback for him to be good. You just need somebody that can throw the ball five yards.
- [10:36]
Heath
Yeah.
- [10:36]
Dave
So last year, last year they were.
- [10:38]
Heath
24Th in points per game, so it's not like they were very good. That was the worst offense that Alvin Camara has been on in games without Derek Carr. He did. He just had very few carries in those games. He scored a lot of fantasy points. I think it's exactly what we're kind of hoping for. But the touches were. The carries were so low because they just were not really competitive. So Camara. Yeah, so Camara. All right. I put your, you know, put you to the test right now. You said he's going to be in that group, but how many rookie running backs other than Genti would you right now, today take over Alvin Camara?
- [11:17]
Lonzo Ball
I. Again, for me, it's. It's still just Genti, but that. That's kind of like where I'm leaning right now is just to move him closer to those other guys as opposed to. He was firmly entrenched ahead of those guys, you know, before the situation with their car arose. And as we cut, you know, you said we've been dealing with this for a few, for a few weeks now. You know, it just, it's, it's a little nerve wracking, you know. And I'll tell you, the last draft that we did, the Super Flex draft, I was faced with this dilemma and I kind of still lumping with the three guys that we talked about a lot last year, Joe Mixon and, and or two guys, excuse me, Joe Mixon and Ken Walker. And I purposely drafted Walker over Camaro for one reason. One reason only was the first running back I drafted was McCaffrey. I didn't want to put myself in the situation of two older running backs that, you know, may have some concerns. So I went, you know, just to sort of switch it up. Mostly because I, I view those three guys mixing Camara and, and Walker different ways that they're going to get the production. But you know, high end, you know, RB2s that he's now behind those two guys. That's the one adjustment I did make. I put him behind Walker and behind Mixon, but haven't got to the point yet where he's behind, you know, Harvey and Hampton and Henderson and.
- [12:26]
Adam
Oh, go ahead, Dave, go ahead.
- [12:27]
Dave
Okay, I'm going in non ppr. I'll put Hampton ahead of Camara and I think it's easy and I think we can work Harvey ahead of him and maybe even David Montgomery, not that Montgomery is a rookie. Four games you mentioned this Adam, where there was no Derek Carlo and there was an Alvin camara. He averaged 15.3 PPR points per game, at least 17 PPR points and three of them he had one dud in the mix there. I almost feel like that's the range that you should draft. That's the Expectation is around 15 PPR points per game unless they do something really dramatic at quarterback and that's it. And so what's the range for that type of running back and full ppr? That's round four. And I, I really wholeheartedly agree with Jamie. You don't want to lock up two old running backs with two of your first four picks. And so if you're gonna settle for Camara, maybe you're going 0rb, maybe you've taken Genty in round one or another younger running back in one of your first three picks and then you double back for Camara hoping that he's better than 15 PPR points per game like he was last year. Terrible offense, you mentioned it. Still average 19 PPR points per game and he scored eight touchdowns. I don't think he scores eight touchdowns this year, but it wouldn't surprise me. He said it. 85 catches. 85 divided by 17. That's got to be around five. Exactly.
- [13:55]
Adam
Five.
- [13:55]
Heath
Hey, think about that.
- [13:56]
Adam
Nailed it, Dave. And the other thing I was going to say was, like, the other complicating factor for Olave and I. I think Rashid Shahid still remains a great value no matter who the quarterback is, because he just gets ignored in drafts.
- [14:08]
Lonzo Ball
The.
- [14:08]
Adam
For the first five weeks when both those guys were healthy, Shahid had more targets, more receiving yards, more touchdowns, more fantasy points than Chris Olave.
- [14:16]
Heath
Yeah, I know. It was weird. It was.
- [14:18]
Dave
Did they pick up the fifth year on Olave?
- [14:21]
Lonzo Ball
Yes.
- [14:22]
Dave
Okay. Because I was gonna say if they didn't, that's a trade candidate.
- [14:26]
Lonzo Ball
Well, I was gonna say the same thing about Camaro. Like, this is something you should keep in mind, that he resigned, you know, restructured a dealer, had an extension last season. Like, it was. It was. It seemed weird at the time. It still seemed weird to me now. It seems weird to me now, like, if there's a team that's in contention that wants to get a pretty significant piece, if he's still healthy. Oh, yeah, you know, he's. He's probably gonna, you know, be of some interest to some teams. I also wonder, like, he missed three games at the end of the season with a groin injury, you know, at his age. It's just concerning.
- [14:58]
Dave
The Saints will save 18 million if they cut them before next season.
- [15:03]
Heath
All of my research that I've done over the last few years has really pointed to this sentence. Basically, good offenses or the quality of offense matters more for wide receivers than it does for running backs. And that had really been true as I looked at the last four years of these terrible offenses until last season, which just bucked the trend. And you had three rookies, you had. You had neighbors, you had Thomas, and you had Brock Bowers, if you want to count him, who really excelled on terrible offenses. But. But for the most part, I mean, if you're worried about offenses, it does affect. And it makes sense, right? Like, it affects wide receivers more than running backs. Because if running backs get that role where they just get so many touches, I think if you're. You know, you could look at Breece Hall. I'll just end on this breeze. Hall, in 2023, was on the third lowest scoring team in football. He had 223 carries, but he had 76 catches, and he scored nine touchdowns. And terrible quarterbacks. Terrible. You could easily see that kind of Stat line from. From Alvin Camara. All right.
- [16:08]
Lonzo Ball
But the difference is again, he was coming off the ACL tear, but he was, what, 22.
- [16:12]
Heath
Yeah. Yeah.
- [16:14]
Dave
Hey, Adam.
- [16:15]
Heath
Yes, Dave.
- [16:16]
Dave
I screwed up on the salary cap stuff with Camara.
- [16:18]
Heath
Go for it.
- [16:19]
Dave
It's actually, they save almost nothing by cutting him before the 2026 season or. Or the 2027 season.
- [16:26]
Heath
Okay. All right. Well, we're going to take a break and we're going to come back and talk about players that we just don't talk about enough. We're going to start with Chuba Hubbard, I believe is first up on the list. Yes, we'll talk about him. We have a mailbag coming up on Thursday. Don't forget about that. Get your questions in fantasy football. That is the letter I so looking forward to. We have a lot of questions already, but fantasy football. CBSI.com contribute to our mailbag and we will be right back. Hey, everyone. I want to talk about something really important. Life insurance and ethos.com FFT is the place to go to get affordable life insurance. When I became a father, it made me pause and think, if something happened to me, would my family be okay? Would they be financially prepared to handle everything from mortgage payments to everyday bills? This weighed on me. I need affordable life insurance. And you can get that through Ethos, and I love that. Ethos makes it simple. No medical exam required. You just answer a few health questions online. I got an instant rate and it took less than 10 minutes to get my free quote. It's all 100% online and you can even get same day coverage. Life insurance helps provide that financial cushion so your family can keep up with mortgage payments, college tuition, whatever life throws at them. And with Ethos, it's way more affordable than I thought. Some policies start at just $2 a day, but build monthly. Protect your family with life insurance from Ethos. Get your free', @ethos.com FFT that's E T H O S.com FFT visit Starbucks, Masercano, Paradis, Frutard. Refills gratis.
- [18:10]
Adam
To refill gratis estalisto and Starbucks.
- [18:17]
Heath
All right, welcome back, everybody. Let's get to Chuba Hubbard. We don't talk enough about him and. All right, Chuba Hubbard or Camara.
- [18:27]
Dave
Chuba.
- [18:27]
Adam
Chuba.
- [18:29]
Lonzo Ball
Chuba.
- [18:30]
Heath
Is anybody worried that if there is a a version of Mike Davis, Miles Gaskin, Alexander Madison, that it could be Chuba Hubbard?
- [18:41]
Lonzo Ball
I think he's done it a little bit of a longer time span. Right. End of the 2023 season and into 2024.
- [18:47]
Heath
He really wasn't that good at the end of the 2023. Like he, at the end of the 2023 season, he looked like the guy that was going, if they hadn't drafted Jonathan Brooks, you would have been like, oh, well, Chuba Hubbard's not that good. Yeah, he got a lot of work, but he stinks. He's gonna be the next. What I just said. Mike Davis, Alexander, Madison, Miles Gaskin. Then he had a great year. Like, just a great year. Remember, they brought in two offensive linemen. They really upgraded there. At least two in the last off season. They had the best offensive line they've had in Chuba Hubbard's career. But he, he didn't. He just got a lot of carries. He didn't really do anything with them at the end of 2023. He was freaking fantastic last year. No question about it. But yeah, I mean. All right, discuss Dave.
- [19:32]
Dave
He scored 11 touchdowns. That absolutely helped. And he averaged 16.1 PPR points per game. I ask you all this. What has changed that makes him potentially worse? The addition of Rico Dowdle. I mean, last year there was Jonathan Brooks and we were worried about this hot rookie coming in and taking his job away. I, I think it's a better situation that it's Rico Dowdle that's going to take work away from him compared to a healthy Jonathan Brooks. We know Brooks isn't even going to play this year. This offensive line you mentioned, it's great. Bryce Young played great. At the end of the year, they added another receiver in the draft that'll help clean clear out the safeties from dropping down all the time. And Dave Canalis deserves credit. He's done it now two straight years where he's put together a halfway decent offense. Even did it when Andy Dalton was starting when. Remember when Bryce Young was terrible early on in the season and they had to move from him and like, this offense is good and Chuba is the key cog. And seeing him, I, I think he's a lock to have more PPR points per game than Alvin Camara at this point.
- [20:35]
Adam
I, So I, I would definitely. I think like the most likely outcome is probably that he does, but I still think, Mara, if he hits his upside, Chuba's not doing that.
- [20:45]
Heath
Dave, let's, let's. I'm gonna let you rethink that one because I know sometimes stream of consciousness, I blurt things out and then like two seconds later I'm going, I wish I hadn't said that.
- [20:55]
Dave
We know What Alvin Camara's upside is and Heath's right, and last year proved it. Camaro was like three points per game better. Is Camara going to be able to do that? New Orleans, if that offense is terrible, he's going to need to catch a lot of pass.
- [21:07]
Heath
He will.
- [21:08]
Dave
It won't be that way in non ppr. Chuba is going to be better for sure in non ppr.
- [21:12]
Lonzo Ball
There's only one thing that I would add is, is it Rico or is it Rico and Trevor Etienne?
- [21:19]
Heath
Yeah.
- [21:19]
Lonzo Ball
Because they added two guys this offseason that could be somewhat of a very annoying factor to what Chuba does. And, and yes, we were concerned about Jonathan Brooks. We didn't have a lot of Jonathan Brooks. That's the problem is that Chuba didn't have a lot of competition because Brooks missed so much time before re injuring himself. And then there was really no competition for him afterwards. I mean, we know Miles Sanders obviously wasn't a factor at all. So I just think that if there is a downside to Chuba, it's like it, it's so hard to sort of qualify this because they gave him the contract extension right before Brooks comes back. Right?
- [21:54]
Heath
Yeah.
- [21:54]
Dave
Yep.
- [21:55]
Lonzo Ball
They really invested in him. And then this off season they bring in a guy on no money. So Rico Dow really isn't so much of a concern. But it is somebody that could just take a few touches away that we thought maybe Brooks would obviously do a lot more of and then they draft a guy. Look, we had a lot of different people on during the draft prep process. I believe it was Chris Trapasso said Trevor Etienne was one of his favorites. Right. If I'm not.
- [22:17]
Heath
No, it was Emory, maybe Chris too. But Emery had ETN in the IS5. Yeah, yeah.
- [22:23]
Lonzo Ball
So you know, look, he's clearly a talented running back. He. He had did some good things at two different schools and we know that there's a passing downs pedigree there for ETN that could be a problem for Hubbard. So I just wonder if like what we saw from Tuba last year, to your point, Adam was his best and he still will be the lead running back on. Yes. An offense that's improving and has a great offensive line and should still have an opportunity to be a solid number two running back. But did they add enough competition that we could see that 15 and a half points per game come down to 13 or 12 and now you're talking about a guy that's more like, you know, RB 22, 23 as opposed to a guy could Be challenging to be a top 12 guy.
- [23:04]
Heath
And when we talk about like Bijan Robinson getting two thirds of the running back carries or something like that. Chuba Hubbard in weeks three through 16. Right. Weeks one and two, it was kind of Miles Sanders and then they were like, okay, we're done with Miles Sanders by week three. Andy Dalton takes over. Chuba Hubbard kind of takes over weeks three through 16. He's a top 10 running back. Let's see what he was per game. Yeah, he was number eight per game and he had 234 carries. Miles Sanders had 26 carries. Jonathan Brooks had nine carries. So that's about as much of a domination of, of carries as you're gonna see for Chuba Hubbard. I guess, like I'm just gonna tell you what scares me. He was a fourth round pick four years ago. Since then they've signed Miles Sanders, they've drafted Jonathan Brooks like they, they as an organization. I don't think really viewed Chuba Hubbard as their answer at running back. He's had two seasons with a really good yards per carry and two seasons with a pretty bad yards per carry. If you look at all of his metrics from 2020, not all, but most of his metrics from 2024, that look a lot like 2022, which was good on 95 carries, 2023 was a stinker. So I'm just not convinced. Like this guy who's never had a 40 yard run, he's not an explosive player. Doesn't mean he's bad. He's just not an explosive player. I am not convinced that he's a, he's like a, that he's more than a jag, honestly. Maybe I'm being crazy, but this guy feels like the most likely player, Chuba Hubbard, to me, to be a bust in the first four rounds. If he, if he's in the first four rounds, which I think he'll be close.
- [24:40]
Adam
He's. I mean he's basically Chase Brown on a worst team. Brown was.
- [24:46]
Heath
But you would know this, right? Hubbard is. His yards per catch is awful. I mean like one of the worst or. Chase Brown is really good in the passing game. So that's another. I don't know how you feel about.
- [24:58]
Adam
Well, his, his second year in the NFL, he averaged 12 yards per catch.
- [25:01]
Heath
Who? Chuba. How many cats last year? How many catches? Like 12 catches?
- [25:07]
Adam
Yeah, I, I just think like Chase Brown is a former 5th round pick who basically was awesome last year largely because he just played 80 of the snaps the last half of the season and got all the touches. He's on a better offense. I'll draft Chase Brown first, of course. But Chase Brown also averaged 6.7 yards per catch last year. That's not good.
- [25:29]
Heath
No, it's not. But it would make Chuba Hubbard blush. I think. I think he's at like what's his career last year? Yeah, career. What is he at? 6.2. Yeah. All right.
- [25:41]
Adam
After four last year. So.
- [25:42]
Heath
All right. We done with Chuba? Move on.
- [25:44]
Dave
Well, it's just wanted to add you're comparing Tuba's 2024 and 2022 with 2023 when that offense was absolutely atrocious.
- [25:53]
Heath
Yeah.
- [25:54]
Dave
They fired the entire coaching staff over after one year. The offensive line was absolutely terrible last year. They committed to Chuba both financially and workload wise. We saw that on the field. He was the seventh most consistent running back in fantasy in 2024. I'm not going to say that the arrow is pointing straight up and he's going to finish as a top 10 guy. You said it was a top 10 guy from week three on. Yeah, we're drafting him. Same range as Alvin Camara. And I can't remember the last time I said this, but I kind of like the Carolina Panthers offense and this guy's going to be leading it at least in at running back.
- [26:28]
Heath
Okay. All right, next up we've got Devon Hn. I feel like I kind of skip over him. You know, we take him in the first round in all of our drafts. Just take a look at our most recent draft. And he went eighth to Heath and I took Ashton Genti ninth. And then he said, I think I'm gonna flip that. But at the worst he would have taken HN ninth. So we love Devon HN in 11 games with Tua last year, including week two, I believe when Tua got hurt, Devon HN averaged around 22 fantasy points, 22.6 PPR fantasy points per game with two a tug of ILOA, which is amazing. So Jamie, your thoughts on Devon Hn? Is he a surefire first round pick? And I'll just. The only reason why I think it may be not is because he just doesn't get that many carries. And then I don't know how they're going to divvy up their targets if they're going to keep throwing to their running backs this year. But yeah, first round, easy first round pick for you. Devoni champ.
- [27:28]
Lonzo Ball
Not easy, you know, but he's. He's certainly in the conversation from like 10 through 15 overall picks. Just depends on, I think, you know, where you stack them up against the receivers. But you know, he's, he's the top five running back or top six at this worst case scenario. The last, the last question you asked, how they're going to divvy up their carries. I mean, this is his first opportunity without Raheem Mostert. So, you know, how does this go for the rest of the guys? You know, is it going to be retread guy like Madison, is it going to be a second year guy like Jalen Wright, is it going to be a rookie in Ollie Gordon? You know, how are they going to give those opportunities to the next guy? And that's what I think we have to find out. Or is it going to be all right A Chan, it's your job. Full go, let's see it. So then he may be a top three, if not number one running back, you know, based on the numbers that he produced with two and if two stays healthy. So his role in the passing game I think is something you can hang your hat on and say this could be neck one of the next, if not the best pass catching running backs in the league. We know how this Dolphins offense wants to operate, get the ball out quick. And he was such a huge weapon when, when Tua was healthy. So that's the risk you play is, you know, to his health concerns because he was terrible when Tua wasn't there. But you know, whether it's Zach Wilson or if they decide to, you know, go crazy and change things up again with Quinn Ewers, then we could see, you know, who knows how that'll go. But anyway, let's not, let's not worry about that until it happens. I think when you're drafting H and you're drafting him with the upside of what he did when Tua was there a guy entering year three, based on the explosiveness that he showed his first two seasons, I mean, he could easily be the best running back in fantasy. He's got that much upside.
- [28:58]
Heath
If I said how are they going to divvy up the carries? I actually meant how are they going to divvy up the targets? It's. Yeah, I mean, his role in the passing game, Jamie, you seem to think it's, it's there to stay. I just wonder, are they gonna go back to throwing the ball to their wide receivers? It's just a huge question. Fantasy to me is where does to A throw the ball? Who does he throw it to? Because we're gonna talk about Jalen Waddle one a bit. My gosh. His targets were miserable last year. So Dave, where are you at on on Achan and give me like what do you think his carries. So last year let's look at his 11 games with with Tua. He's on pace for 221 carries and 104 catches. What do you think is is realistic this year for carries and catches?
- [29:42]
Dave
I, I think that the pace for carries is maybe a tad lower than what it was based on what you just said when the catches could be a lot lower. I, I, I, I think he's the main guy. I think they want him to be the main guy but my guess is is that they're still concerned about Achan missing time and so Jalen Wright's going to take some work. They drafted another running back. Maybe that guy gets in there, there's going to be somebody to help him out in that backfield. But how can they move? How can they do anything but try and get the ball in his hands when he's such a good playmaker, Especially as a pass catcher. Especially if they're trying to get the ball out quick. So and, and I guess the other thing to bring up. I don't know how good you're going to feel about the Dolphins backup quarterback situation but compared to last year I think Zach Wilson is a slight upgrade and maybe that would help. Achan average like 12 PPR points per game if Tua were to miss time last year was under 10 PPR points per game when Tua did not start.
- [30:50]
Heath
Yeah.
- [30:51]
Dave
That's awful.
- [30:52]
Adam
Yeah.
- [30:52]
Dave
And we know how good he was when Tua did start. I think you draft hn if you can get him in round two then you think you're lucky stars. But if you get him in late round one, I don't think it's so bad in PPR and I still think he's going to be. Yeah. Main component of this offense. Catch a lot of passes, scores a lot of touchdowns, has a lot of game breaking plays.
- [31:12]
Heath
I'm going to give the numbers one more time. 11 games with Tua 22.6 PPR fantasy points per game which is super elite. 221 carry pace, 104 catch pace. 1779 total yards, 16 touchdowns. That was his pace. Right. So just amazing. What do you what are your projections for hm?
- [31:34]
Adam
218 rush attempts, 66 catches on 83 targets. 1705 yards.
- [31:44]
Heath
Wow.
- [31:45]
Adam
And 14 touchdowns.
- [31:47]
Heath
Okay.
- [31:47]
Adam
He is one of three running backs I project to score 300 PPR fantasy points over 17 games. Saquon and Bijan are the other two.
- [31:55]
Dave
Do you want a quick stat that Heath. It's in reference to what Heath would always talk about with a Chan a year ago.
- [32:04]
Heath
Yeah. What?
- [32:05]
Dave
He's the one that kind of uncovered that when the Dolphins were in a blowout, HN went nuts. Whether they were getting blown out or they were the ones kicking butt, Dolphins have had 15 one score games, win or loss, in the past two years. Achan's played in 12 of those games. He's been over 18 PPR points four times in those 12 games. Do we need blowouts for Devon HN to be really good for fantasy? And that could happen because this Dolphins defense, on paper, outside of their pass rush, could be pretty, pretty gross.
- [32:40]
Lonzo Ball
I think the one thing that I, I look at with the situation, not necessarily just hn you have two years ago, Raheem Most are leading the NFL in rushing touchdowns. You have last year, Devon H and what he did when two was healthy. Mike McDaniel came to this team as the running backs coordinator from San Francisco under my, under Kyle Shanahan. Like, there's, there's a pretty good track record of what this backfield can produce.
- [33:01]
Heath
Yeah.
- [33:02]
Lonzo Ball
And so hn, based on Heat's projections, is the lead guy by a mile. Obviously he told you, you know, one, what do you say? One of three with over 300 PBR points. There's, there's so much upside here. Like, it's in your best interest to try to target him, but it's also in your best interest trying to get pieces of this backfill, whoever the number two guy may be. And again, it's right now, I think, a little wide open. Who could be the second guy? Because Madison, for what it's worth, is going to be the guy that manned up with the role just as the veteran guy. Ollie Gordon 2 years ago was doke with dope Campbell. I forget the word. You know, to be the best running back in the country before bad, you know, 2024 and Jalen Wright was a guy that they traded up for last year to get in the third round, you know, so there's, there's a lot of moving parts here that could be, you know, very interesting.
- [33:54]
Heath
Jamie, let's play a game. It's called Name that Doak.
- [33:58]
Lonzo Ball
Okay.
- [33:59]
Heath
One of them is the award that goes to the best running back. One of them is Florida State Stadium. Dog Walker. Doak Campbell, what do you think?
- [34:08]
Lonzo Ball
Doak Walker is the running back, though. Campbell?
- [34:10]
Heath
Yeah, I had to look it up because he really confused me.
- [34:17]
Lonzo Ball
Yeah. But again, I think this, this is a backfield that's going to have a lot of success. And Achan right now looks like a superstar.
- [34:23]
Heath
All right, before we go to break, we got a funny picture for you here. We got three more players to talk about. Tony Pollard, Jalen Waddle, and Jordan Love. But unfortunately, I did miss the festivities. I would have worn my Rodney Hampton jersey if I had known. But look at Jamie David Heath at the bar mitzvah in their jerseys. Jamie, you got two Shaq jerseys there. Lakers and Magic and he and Dave representing.
- [34:47]
Dave
Oh, my God. What? You are the worst.
- [34:52]
Adam
First off, I don't know what's funny about. Nice picture. Second, there's two Magic jerseys, but not two Shack jerseys.
- [35:00]
Heath
What was Shaq on the. On the Lakers? 33.
- [35:03]
Lonzo Ball
Oh, my God.
- [35:04]
Dave
No, that would be Kareem Abdul Jabbar.
- [35:05]
Heath
34. I'm really bad with numbers. All right, so that's Magic Johnson, Shaquille o' Neal, and Ray Lewis. My bad.
- [35:12]
Lonzo Ball
And they. We all had a two out of two.
- [35:14]
Heath
Yeah. Yeah. How about that? Oh, I. That is a bad miss by my part. Magic Johnson shouldn't have been 32. He should have been like a single digit number. That's a really cool picture. I love it. So the. The. Take us through it. Jamie, what do you want to say about this moment?
- [35:30]
Lonzo Ball
So the party was supposed to be at a basketball gym. It got moved to Dave and Buster's last minute from some unfortunate circumstances, but worked out great. And the theme of the party was jeans and jerseys. So as you see, we all kept to the theme. All the, all the attendees did for the most part. And so I, I said, Dave's jersey is great. I was telling my son that of the jerseys there, like, Heath was one of the. The five that stood out to me. So really, really impressed with. And Heath can tell the story of. Of who it belongs to.
- [36:01]
Adam
Oh, it's not actually my jersey. I just wear my son's clothes now. And he has the retro Shaq jersey. He was wearing a Ja Morant Vancouver Grizzlies. So, yeah, he's got a few jerseys. He's started to pass down some of his clothes that he feels like don't fit him anymore. So it was nice to get to wear.
- [36:24]
Heath
Hand me. Hand me down some of your son. I'm coughing too much. Let's take a break. We'll be right back on Fantasy Football Today.
- [36:31]
Kaley Cuoco
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Jamie
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- [37:27]
Heath
Let'S talk about Tony Pollard Tony Pollard was the number 22 running back per game in PPR last year. He was on pace for 276 carries for, yeah, 44 catches and let's see, about 1,400 total yards and only five touchdowns. So not a lot of touchdowns for Tony Pollard. In fact, something like all the running backs who had a certain amount of carries, I guess I want to say 260 or more carries. He and Aaron Jones had the fewest rushing touchdowns. But Pollard again RB22 per game last year in PPR. That's kind of where I had seen him being drafted probably a little bit later now because of the rookies. So we're talking about outside the top 24. Heath, I'll give you the first word on Tony Pollard. How do you feel about him?
- [38:15]
Adam
I think he belongs right in the mix with all of the rookie running backs. I think he's probably more likely to finish the year as a top 20 running back than most of the rookies, but less likely to make that leap into the top 12. His numbers were skewed a little bit by the time that tyjay Spears missed. And a lack of touchdowns is really nothing new for Tony Pollard. He has one season with more than six rushing touchdowns in his career, so I don't think you really project a big touchdown total. I do think just looking at my projections, I've got him at 254 rush attempts, 44 catches, 1300 yards and you know, just, just a, just right around 14 fantasy points per game.
- [39:00]
Heath
All right, the Taj Spears factor. So Spears played in 12 games. He played in 11 games with Tony Pollard, but in 11. In two of those 11 games, Spears barely played. So that was nine Pollard games with a normal Taj Spears and with. And in those games, you're talking about 200 and a pace of 236 carries, 43 catches. In games without Spears or with Spears barely playing, you're talking about a pace of 328 carries and 44 catches. So the catches were the same, but we're looking at almost a hundred more carry pace for Tony Pollard. So I, I really thought that was relevant. They. They split, you know, they had a pretty decent split and then when Spears didn't play, they did not use any other running back. It was basically all Pollard. That's a little bit of an exaggeration, but not really. So it was. Yeah, so it was only 11.6 PPR fantasy points per game in those nine games that Pollard played with Tajie Spears playing a normal snapshare. 11.6 ppr fantasy points per game. That's stink. That's not good. By the way, he was RB31 in our most recent draft. Dave, your thoughts on.
- [40:12]
Dave
On Pollard over the last two seasons he's played, he's had 15 or more touches in 23 games and he's had 15 or more PPR points in 15 of them. How many games is he going to get? 15 plus touches this year and that's a number that concerns me. Could he do it in half of his games? Maybe. Yeah, I mean he's. He's in an interesting spot because Tennessee could be on that same path that Carolina was on a year ago. Their offensive line, they've added some veterans this off season. They had some good young players already on that line. Should be a better offensive line. They don't have a quarterback missing targets by 10 yards under center. At least I hope they don't for the second year in a row. So it should be a little bit better of a passing offense. Maybe that gives them longer drives and more opportunities to run the football. That's a plus. But I, I don't. This is a running back. I don't want to draft anywhere remotely close to a ceiling. I want to draft him at the floor. That means I'm not drafting him as one of the first 24 running backs off the board. If I can get him after 24 plus running backs go off the board and maybe he's my third running back or desperate situation. I just need a guy to start the year as my RB2. Yeah, I'm good with it, but it. This is round seven. This is not somebody I'm targeting by any stretch.
- [41:38]
Heath
Yeah, to Dave's point, Jamie. The Titans ran the fewest plays in the NFL inside the five yard line. That's another reason why he didn't score a lot of touchdowns. So, you know, could he, like Juba Hubbard, benefit from a being on a better offense? Excuse me? The Panthers went from the worst offense in the NFL to 20th. It's a huge jump. I don't know. The Titans were the worst. I don't think they were the worst in the NFL last year, but they weren't good. Yeah, give me. Okay. Tony Pollard. Tony Pollard went after Isaiah Pacheco and Aaron Jones. He also went after Ramandre Stevenson in the draft. We just did. So compare them to those guys. Pacheco, Jones, Ramandre.
- [42:15]
Lonzo Ball
Rather have him over all those guys. I think in the case of Pollard is going to be one of my favorite draft picks this year and so is Ty J. Spears, you know, just to get a piece of this backfill, because I think there's, there's plenty of upside here, but Pollard is the one that's going to go first and you can get a great, you know, flyer essentially on, on Spears. I sent you this tweet, Adam, last week. It was from fantasy points data that Tony Pollard is ranked by yards after contact per attempt. In 2021, he was first as a minimum of 125 carries. 2021, he was first. 2022, he was second. Broke his leg at the end of 2022 and 2023 he was 23rd in that metric. And 2024, he was fourth.
- [42:56]
Heath
Wow.
- [42:56]
Lonzo Ball
Yeah. Last four years he's fourth in terms of yards after contact per attempt. Pretty solid running back and I think in a situation as they've illustrated, much better environment around him, you know, I don't think we saw how good the Callahan influence could be as one of the best offensive line coaches in NFL history and you know, his son and, and the offense of maybe that they're gonna hopefully showcase this year. So the scary part about this team is the receiving core stinks and it's a rookie quarterback. So, you know, how. How much of, you know, eight man boxes are they gonna see? I would assume a lot. But I think Pollard, based on what he, you know, is able to do and hopefully distance himself a little bit from Spears and where you're getting him, I mean, if you're getting him after those other guys, I think that's just amazing value. So he's a borderline top 24 guy. For me, by the time this is all over, he may sneak in the top 24 won't get much higher than that. But I really like the setup for him based on I think how people will sort of view him and hopefully get him at a great price.
- [43:59]
Heath
All right, let's talk about Jalen Waddle here. How can you got somebody try to convince me on Jalen Waddle? He was not even a top 50 wide receiver per game last year. He was 49th overall in full PPR. If you just look at the games with Tua, there were 11 games with Tua. He had nine healthy games. Waddle because he missed one and he left one early. Those nine healthy games with Tua, he's on pace for 96 targets. He when it comes to Tyreek Hill, John Smith, Devon Achan, Jalen Waddle, he has the fewest red zone targets. He has the fewest green zone targets. He had only two end zone targets and two green zone targets in his nine healthy games with tua. He was fourth fiddle. How? Yeah, I don't know. Does anybody want to try to get me excited to draft Jalen Waddle?
- [44:50]
Lonzo Ball
Tyree Kill misses half the season and Jalen Waddle is the number one receiver for the Dolphins without any competition besides Johnny Smith and Devon Hin.
- [44:58]
Adam
That's the path and that's why he comes out as wide receiver 46 in my projections. But I push him up to wide receiver 38 in the rankings just because like Tyree Kill was not particularly good last year, has had some off the field incidents this off season and is at the age where he could fall off a cliff. And so if something happens to Hill, Waddle could be awesome.
- [45:22]
Heath
Dave, you want to make any case, how do you feel about him?
- [45:25]
Dave
I'm scared. I'm the high guy on him and I don't want to be. He's definitely not going to be the top target getter as long as Tyree Kill is Tyreek hill. And only 3 games last year when Tyreek and HN were both on the field and Waddle had 15 plus PPR, just 3. Guess what? That was an improvement over 2023 when he had 0. I was not high on him at all last year. I am hoping and I talked about this last week. I'm hoping that the Dolphins try to reconfigure their offense so it's not Dink to Achan, Dunk to Johnu. I'm hoping that Tyreek and Waddle are a little bit more involved. I'm hoping that Waddle gets more than five and a half targets per game. I'm hoping that Tua stays healthy. I'm hoping the offensive line does a little bit better. But you see the word that I'm saying or you hear the word I'm saying, it's hope. And so as. As long as we're only hoping and we don't have any concrete evidence that. All right, yeah, Waddle's gonna have a big year. Never mind the fact that he's been banged up, like, every year. Like, I've gone to their training camp and he's in sweatpants. I'm. I'm definitely concerned, A, that I'm the high guy. I don't want to be the high guy, and B, that he's gonna underwhelm again. The nice thing about it, Adam, is that we're not other people. Last year were taking him round three, round four. I don't think anybody's going to do that this year. No, I think he's going to be somebody that falls into, like, round six ish range at the absolute earliest.
- [46:52]
Heath
That is where he went in our most recent mock draft. Jalen Waddle. He went after DK Metcalf after he went after Chris Olave. Who would you guys rather have, a Lava or Waddle?
- [47:04]
Dave
I've got Waddle. Higher. Here's one for you. Waddle or Pickens?
- [47:11]
Lonzo Ball
Pickens.
- [47:14]
Dave
I've. I've got Waddle. Head of Pickens. Right now. I could easily see myself in full ppr, putting Pickens ahead of water. I'm gonna do that, man.
- [47:22]
Heath
It's frustrating because Waddle, you know, top 10 pick right in the NFL draft. Is he in the top 10, I think.
- [47:29]
Dave
Oh, dude.
- [47:29]
Heath
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Cause he went ahead of Devonte Smith. That's right. So top 10 pick, rookie year, thousand yards, 104 catches, 1015 yards, six touchdowns as a rookie. Second year, 75. Cash is 1356 yards, eight touchdowns on only 117 targets. Like, how could this guy not be great, right? I mean, everything about him says he's great. Then 20, 23, he has a disappointing year, but he's still wide receiver, 22 per game.
- [47:54]
Kaley Cuoco
He.
- [47:55]
Heath
He left some games injured, didn't run as many. We didn't play as many snaps. He didn't run as many routes, but his per route data was still very good. You know, I think it may have even been better than 2022 in some cases. So I. I think that's why some of us, myself included, were excited about Waddle. And then last year, he just. Just didn't throw to him. It was too much. John who? Too much H& like you said, at least we're still talking about a player who's got. Who's been great, right? Right. So that's why I said earlier there's huge upside here.
- [48:24]
Lonzo Ball
It's just probably going to take an injury for that to happen, whether it's Tyreek or John New or to Dave's point, I guess it shouldn't necessarily be injury related. But, you know, if. If they go back to being a little bit more wide receiver friendly and throwing the ball down the field and, you know, giving him those chances. But really, I think the path to stardom is injury related. You know, like if. If Tyreek, this wrist injury is keeping him off the field as maybe should have last year, like, he could be a monster.
- [48:52]
Heath
Waddle, I really think the Dolphins are the most interesting fantasy team because they obviously could have a great offense. Right. They were second in scoring in 2023, and they averaged about, I think, 24 points per game. They averaged the same amount of points per game as the Eagles did in those 11 2A games. Like, they averaged 24 points per game. That's what the Eagles average for the full season. So they were so bad without tua, but they could obviously be a great offense. They can obviously give us elite fantasy players. But how is really, like John who Smith, is he really going to be that better than Jalen Waddle? That's insane.
- [49:31]
Dave
But I'm going to need a Dolphins fan to help me with this one. But why did they not give Waddle some of those targets? The same type of target, short area throws, get the ball out of the quarterback's hands fast. Why put the ball in John who Smith Sands instead of Jalen Waddle's hands.
- [49:50]
Heath
I don't know.
- [49:51]
Dave
Were they? Maybe it's because the coaching staff was worried about Waddle getting hurt. He might not have been at 100 at any point in the year. This is conjecture. I don't know. But this. This is an easy. This is something that the coaching staff should try and solve because there's no question about the talent of this guy. Yeah, when he's healthy.
- [50:10]
Heath
All right, let's talk about Jordan Love. There's no question about the talent of him when he's healthy either. And he really wasn't fully healthy last year. He sprained his MCL in week one and he averaged 5.5 rushing yards per game, down from 14.5 rushing yards per game. And that's a pretty big difference. He went from 247 rushing yards in 17 games in 2023 to 83 rushing yards in 15 games. In 2024, Jordan Love went from top seven quarterback per game to 17th per game. You know, Heath, maybe it's your influence because I know you're not a huge love guy, but I don't even look at him in drafts. I just, I don't even consider him. It would have to be one of those situations where he just falls and falls and falls like, oh, Jordan loves there. Okay, I'll take him. But I think maybe, maybe I'm wrong about this. I don't know. What do you, what do you think?
- [51:01]
Adam
I think that's basically where I was last year because you had to draft him as a top six, seven, eight quarterback. Now it's free money. Like it's double digit rounds. It's usually outside of the top 12 quarterbacks. I've already drafted him a couple of times. I think he is and just like the borderline QB one and I still put Jared Goff in that same territory. Especially with an offensive coordinator change. There's lots of guys you want to, you want to take a shot on an Anthony Richardson or a Justin Fields. Take a Jordan Love too. Like he fits pretty well. He's probably going to finish somewhere between I would guess 8th and 18th in fantasy points per game at the quarterback position. It's a pretty bad combination to run less than you did the year before and throw 10 fewer passes per game than you did the year before. It's hard to overcome that. I expect the pass volume to come up a little bit, but he's probably a little bit responsible for that as well. He, he does throw too many interceptions and he's got to make a little better decision making there. And hopefully he now has a number one wide receiver in Matthew Golden. But he's, it's, there's a reason I think we haven't talked about him is because we all kind of view him the same way. Is just like, sure, he's a borderline QB one.
- [52:12]
Heath
Does anybody view Jordan Love as having big upside as a guy who finished his QB7 per game in 2023? And not just that he finished, finished the season. He went on some crazy run where it looked like he was really breaking out. Does anybody see that kind of upside for him?
- [52:29]
Dave
Not that kind of upside.
- [52:32]
Heath
Matthew golden change any of that?
- [52:34]
Dave
No. No.
- [52:37]
Heath
Okay. Just, you know what's interesting is he, Jordan Love basically had the same exact passer rating in 2023 as he did in 2024. But as he's mentioned, two big things like didn't run and 10 fewer. Was it 10 fewer past attempts a game or is that just approximate? But either way, no, I think it.
- [52:52]
Adam
Was 10 fewer past attempts per game. And like, the other thing is, and we talked about this going into last year, he had four rushing touchdowns on 50 attempts in 2023. And the QB7 thing, like, it's technically. Well, I don't know if it's technically true. I had him at QB8, but it's QB7 or QB8. But that's a range also where there's a lot of guys who, if they happen to have four rushing touchdowns instead of three, might have been in that position.
- [53:21]
Dave
There's a very short window last year when he came back. Remember you heard his knee in Brazil missed two games. When he came back in Week 4, through Week 7, he averaged 36.3 attempts per game. That's more than he did in 2023. He averaged 28 fantasy points per game. It's easily his best split of the season. But he got hurt again, and when he came back, I don't think he was throwing nearly as many passes per game. And his numbers cratered after that. And his receiving core wasn't healthy. We know that too. So it's. It's another one of those situations where it's almost like everything's got to be right. He's got to stay healthy, the line's got to protect him. Receivers have to stay healthy for this year. Matthew Golden's gonna have to keep, you know, ascending. We saw him ascend at Texas. Now he's got to do it again as a rookie.
- [54:07]
Heath
It.
- [54:07]
Dave
It's kind of a tough case for love. When you see all of these other quarterbacks that are going to be available in the late rounds, they. They could get around 20 to 21 fantasy points per game. They've got the upside to get close to 25. You can see it with guys like Drake May and certainly Dak and Brock Purdy and all those guys, some of the rushing quarterbacks. So, so why. Why choose love? Unless it's a super flex?
- [54:32]
Heath
Why.
- [54:32]
Dave
Why target him?
- [54:33]
Heath
Why just kind of for one of your last few picks, why choose love? Is that really something we want to be saying on this podcast? If someone clips that?
- [54:40]
Dave
Why, why fall in love?
- [54:43]
Lonzo Ball
All you need is love points.
- [54:44]
Dave
He's going to be expensive.
- [54:45]
Heath
All you need is love. Jamie. He didn't even get drafted in our last draft. Like, I mean, are we going too far taking a guy like Drake May over Jordan love?
- [54:55]
Lonzo Ball
Well, I think in one quarterback leagues, you know, to Heath's point, especially if you know who you're drafting with, you know, you know, you take a guy like Drake May, like an Anthony Richardson, like a Justin Fields, and the upside for those guys, I think is higher than what Jordan Love will give you. But the floor is certainly safer for Love. I mean, you know, Drake May, if you, you know, his 17 game pace would have been RB or QB3 in terms of rushing yards behind Lamar and Jane Daniels, you know, so there's that potential of what he can be now that he has an improved receiving course. So, yes, I would rather have Drake May than Jordan Love. I think in, in what? The big thing for Love. And I don't recall this exactly, but I, I know Aaron Jones was really banged up in 2023 and that stretch of games where Love took off didn't have a run game and you know, the addition of Josh Jacobs and what LaFleur's offense was, I mean, you think about the end of the Rogers tenure. Rogers wasn't a great fantasy quarterback. So it's kind of just, I think what this offense is, it's a balanced offense. It's gonna, you know, try and, you know, know, win games, throwing the ball when they have to. Not necessarily because they necessarily want to. But then again, you see this off season, first round pick, wide receiver, third round pick, wide receiver, you know, they, you know, may get Christian Watson back at some point late in the season, but it's a receiving core that's changing a lot. And so I, I think when you look at what they want to do, no matter what Josh Jacobs said, go get a number one receiver. Do they really have one? You know, and so if, if they have an alpha and, and maybe somebody who can dominate, like maybe golden can or maybe Jaden Reed, as we saw during that stretch when Jordan Love was hot in 2023, you maybe that changes things a little bit. But I think that this defense is very underrated. They're very good. The run game is obviously amazing, as Josh Jacobs proved last year. And so Jordan Love is not a game manager, but he's a glorified game manager, you know, so not exactly the most exciting fantasy quarterback. So to his point, you know, he's a great guy to pair with a volatile number one guy that, you know, has boom, bust potential. And if you want to get that 18 to 20 point production, that's the kind of guy you're going to get.
- [56:54]
Heath
All right. All right. Good show, guys. All right, we're going to do a ranking.
- [56:59]
Dave
Do we. Did you guys see the first game of the year.
- [57:03]
Heath
Oh, no, no. What is it?
- [57:06]
Dave
Cowboys, Eagles.
- [57:07]
Heath
Ooh, that's a fun one. Where is it?
- [57:09]
Dave
September 4th.
- [57:11]
Heath
Where is it?
- [57:14]
Dave
It's in. It's in.
- [57:15]
Heath
No, Thursday game. I'm sorry. I was thinking of the. The Brazil. Like, where's the international game this year? Like, the Friday. Friday night one. Ireland.
- [57:26]
Dave
I believe it's Brazil.
- [57:28]
Adam
I think that's Chiefs, Chargers.
- [57:29]
Dave
Right.
- [57:30]
Lonzo Ball
That's what I heard in Brazil.
- [57:33]
Heath
Okay.
- [57:34]
Lonzo Ball
Ireland. Does Steelers have an opponent or. We'll find out this weekend.
- [57:37]
Dave
Oh, no, there's a rumored opponent for them.
- [57:40]
Heath
Yeah, we do have the schedule releases.
- [57:43]
Adam
It's actually the Vikings, I think. Viking, Steelers.
- [57:47]
Lonzo Ball
Are you gonna go?
- [57:50]
Heath
Where are you gonna go?
- [57:52]
Adam
If I'm going over to Ireland, I'm going over there to play golf. We can do both.
- [57:58]
Lonzo Ball
You go play golf. You watch Aaron Rodgers versus the. The Vikings. I mean, that's gonna be awesome.
- [58:02]
Heath
Dave, I don't know if this quote is going through your head, but where are you gonna go, Garth? You're gonna go to Ireland because I'm the leprechaun. Remember, in Wayne's world, too, when he's, like, tormenting Garth? No. Okay, listen. I've got three things tonight. What do you think the order of importance in terms of wins are?
- [58:19]
Lonzo Ball
Knicks. Better be one for you.
- [58:21]
Heath
I got softball, I've got tennis, and I've got the Knicks game. What do you think? You think Knicks are one?
- [58:32]
Lonzo Ball
If the Knicks aren't one for you, then don't ever watch a game again.
- [58:36]
Heath
I. I don't even care. The Knicks are.
- [58:38]
Lonzo Ball
This is our season.
- [58:39]
Heath
They're not gonna win. They have no chance like I have. I am giving up.
- [58:44]
Lonzo Ball
They have no chance. But they're up to one in the series.
- [58:46]
Dave
Yeah, well, some fan you are.
- [58:48]
Heath
They've given up on them.
- [58:49]
Adam
So I'm trying to think of your happiness. I'd probably go softball. Tennis. Knicks. Because softball. You can hope that your teammates carry you to victory.
- [58:59]
Heath
Yeah.
- [59:01]
Adam
You have to rely on yourself.
- [59:03]
Heath
The Knicks.
- [59:04]
Adam
You have to rely on the Knicks. So I'd probably hope on the softball teammates.
- [59:07]
Lonzo Ball
Are you still the last hitter on the worst team in the league?
- [59:10]
Heath
I don't know if we're the worst team anymore, but, yeah, I am the last hitter. It's embarrassing. I'm so bad at softball. Just so bad.
- [59:17]
Lonzo Ball
Any. Any errors yet?
- [59:19]
Heath
Yeah, Are you kidding? Don't call me E4 for nothing. You didn't hear the first game of the year we won. Or the second game we won. The double header. The second game of the double header. Two outs in the sixth, whatever it is. Seventh. I don't even know. Pop up to me. Pop up to win the game to get our first win. And I dropped it, dropped the pop up. And now the ball was hit off the end of the bat and it was kind of spinning, but it was pathetic. And then like, I think the next two hitters reach base. And I was like, oh my God, we're going to blow the game. It's going to be completely my fault. And then we struck out the batter to end the game. It was just great.
- [59:53]
Lonzo Ball
They only keep you around because you're semi famous.
- [59:56]
Heath
Semi. I'm sure they don't want me there anymore. It's very sad.
- [60:02]
Dave
Is this your last year playing softball?
- [60:03]
Heath
I don't know. I love the guys. Like there were such good friends. It's like, great.
- [60:07]
Adam
Maybe you could be the manager.
- [60:10]
Heath
I'm not that bad at fielding. I'm not that bad.
- [60:12]
Lonzo Ball
But are you the worst fielder?
- [60:14]
Adam
You just talked about dropping a pop up second base.
- [60:16]
Heath
I also caught some pop ups. No, I'm not. I'm not the worst. I'm not the worst fielder on the team. And I'm actually a very good base runner even though I got thrown out. Out of terrible base running play last week. But.
- [60:29]
Lonzo Ball
Wait, the day after Mother's Day, you're going to play two sporting events and watching a game.
- [60:34]
Heath
So I am DVRing the game and hoping that I can somehow avoid my phone. But yeah, I'm going to be out all night. Yeah.
- [60:44]
Lonzo Ball
You think you're going to be playing softball in the New York area?
- [60:48]
Heath
Softball? No, softball. We'll all be watching it on the bench, like checking in on it. But the game's at 7:30. Softball's at 7. After softball, I'll be like, I'll know the score at halftime. And that's pretty much it. And then I'll hopefully play tennis, not check my phone, come home, watch the rest of the game. They'll. They'll be down by 20 at halftime anyway, so it won't even matter anyway. Anyway, I hope you guys have a wonderful night. Sephora, Heath, good luck. Yeah, thank you. We will talk to you on Wednesday with players who are the toughest to rank on fantasy football.
- [61:28]
Unknown
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