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Divisional Round Winners and Losers, Big Coaching News (01/20 Fantasy Football Podcast)
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- [00:00]
Adam Azer
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Dave Richard
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Adam Azer
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Dave Richard
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Adam Azer
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Dave Richard
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Adam Azer
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Dave Richard
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- [01:35]
Adam Azer
What a play.
- [01:36]
Dave Richard
Can you believe this? No, I can't. It's time to dominate your fantasy league. Off to the races and he stays on his feet. This is going to go the distance. Now here's some combination of Adam, Dave, Jamie and he.
- [01:53]
Adam Azer
What's up everyone? It's Tuesday, January 20th. Hope you enjoyed your three day weekend. We welcome you to Fantasy Football today presented by BetMGM. Make it legendary Today on the show, winners and losers from the divisional round. CJ Stroud becoming the first player ever with five or more interceptions and five or more fumbles in a single postseason, according to the Associated Press. And that's in only two games and that's really hard to do. Obviously Bo Nix is out for the season and they'll go with Jared Stidham in Denver this week against the Patriots. We've got some coaches getting hired. We'll talk about that. We'll talk about the Zach Charbonnet injury and Ken Walker with a huge opportunity against against the Rams this week. He just went for 35 and a half PPR fantasy points. And that was a long intro. I'm Adam Azer. Hey, Dave.
- [02:43]
Dave Richard
Richard. What's going on, Adam? Yeah.
- [02:52]
Adam Azer
I'm more angry today than I was yesterday. Yesterday I was just like, you know what, it was a great season. Good for them. Today I'm like, we should have won. What a terrible throw.
- [03:03]
Dave Richard
We were round pick one throw away from the national championship. Before we went on the air, Adam and I dissected the last play of the game. The coach's film was already out on it. And if, if Carson Beck throws that ball into the end zone, the Canes are national champions.
- [03:22]
Adam Azer
Well, I think, I didn't say that because I said I think there's too. I think that it would have been even worse if he had made a good throw there because they score a touchdown maybe and then they left too much time for Mendoza and then they then Indiana game winning field goal. They needed to run it down to like 15 seconds left.
- [03:43]
Dave Richard
Yeah, I was. I agree. But getting a touchdown with any time left is better than throwing a interception on an under thrown ball where your receiver had no idea it was coming. So that's how it goes. Hey, Indiana is a good team, by the way.
- [03:56]
Adam Azer
They are terrific.
- [03:57]
Dave Richard
I mean, what am I saying? They're undefeated. Of course they're a good team. But their running back, last name Black. Yeah, I'm drafting him. I can't wait for him to go to the NFL. He is going to be awesome for fantasy.
- [04:11]
Adam Azer
What's up, Jamie?
- [04:12]
Jamie McDaniel
Sorry guys. Yo, feel free.
- [04:15]
Dave Richard
Don't be sorry. It's okay.
- [04:17]
Adam Azer
Yeah, I meant to ask.
- [04:18]
Dave Richard
It's not okay. It's. It's really not okay.
- [04:21]
Adam Azer
You know what, let me do some quick fantasy questions then I have a question for Jamie. All right, here we go. Quick Fantasy questions or NFL questions? Sorry, NFL. Should the Texans find a new quarterback for 2026 and beyond.
- [04:34]
Jamie McDaniel
2026? No, beyond potentially yes.
- [04:37]
Dave Richard
Good answer. Good answer. Good answer. Good answer.
- [04:40]
Jamie McDaniel
Yes. C.J.
- [04:41]
Adam Azer
Stroud actually looking at it now, he wasn't having a great fantasy season. But he really didn't have that bad of a regular season. You know, pretty cautious. Get the numbers here. He, C.J. stroud was the number 21 quarterback overall. But for the season, eight interceptions in 14 games. Not great on pace in his healthy games. Is on pace for just under 4,000 yards, 26 touchdowns, 11 picks and 272 rushing yards. Not that bad. 12 games that he didn't leave early. All right, that's question number one. Number two, does Denver have a chance this weekend with Jared Stidham at quarterback?
- [05:19]
Dave Richard
No small chance.
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Adam Azer
And question number three, can we reflect on. Because you're coming off these pretty bad games for RJ Harvey. You did nice job as a receiver. Travion Henderson and Woody Marks.
- [05:36]
Dave Richard
Woody Marks.
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Adam Azer
Can we reflect on how disappointing this rookie class has been? The best per game finish for this ballyhooed rookie running back class is ashton genti at RB16 per game. Then you have Harvey at 24 per game. Hender. Oh, you know what? No, I'm sorry, I forgot about Scatter Boo and, and Hampton because they missed some time. Scatter Boo RB10 per game. Hampton RB13 per game. But overall those guys were not top 30 guys. Genty RB16 per game. Harvey 24 per game. Henderson 25 per game, Judkins 26 per game, Marks 39 per game. I mean you got Bill, you got Manang guy. They were fine. Caleb Johnson didn't even see the field. Jamie, this is, this was a disappointing year for the rookie running back class which looked like it was going to be, you know, a huge factor in fantasy.
- [06:24]
Jamie McDaniel
I think overall you're right. Yes, it was disappointing because there were a lot of high expectations for the majority of the season. I think we certainly got some great moments from those guys and some potential league winning moments from those guys. RJ Harvey was definitely a great fantasy running back in the fantasy playoffs. Trevion Henderson had some monster games, especially when there was no Ramandre Stevenson, which, you know, I don't think we took into account how good Stevenson could be down the stretch. And you know, not helping Henderson live up to the expectations certainly that I had for him. Genti was a good fantasy option. He just did not play up to the expectations of where we were drafting him. And then Scatter Boot that six game stretch where he was the guy for the Giants. He was averaging over 19 PPR points per game. He had the same thing when he came back from his injury. You know, he had some very good moments. So there were certainly pockets of, you know, great performances from those guys. But sure, overall it was, it was certainly disappointing. You know, I think if we had Hampton healthy for the full season, if Scottaboo was healthy for the full season, maybe we look at a little differently because we might have had two studs and then Genti being a good fantasy option and then Harvey the way closed. So it's going to be, you know, a big point of evaluation. The last mock draft review that I did of the half PPR One, I like to kind of look at some of the buzzworthy things that we're going to be talking about. And one of those, I think is going to be where does those. Where do those sophomore running backs get drafted and how soon, you know, So I don't really love where Henderson's going right now. To me, you know. Yeah, I think Jacob took him around three and a half PPR Mock. I think he might have run around three in the, in the full PPR one, too. It's. It's tough, you know, to, to justify taking him that early since Ramon Stevenson is under contract through 2028.
- [08:03]
Adam Azer
Yeah. Madre Stevens inside a four year, $36 million extension in 2024 with the Patriots. Okay. And he's. And he's been, you know, he's been much better than him lately, that's for sure. For the season, you look at just the games where they both played, where they both played almost identical numbers, basically 156 carries for Stevenson, 154 carries for Henderson. They averaged 4.7, you know, for Stevenson, 4.5 yards per carry for Henderson. Henderson. You know how it was, though. It was. He was either hitting home runs or, or not hitting a lot at all. Henderson, Stevenson, in the, in the games they play together, Stevenson did have 12 more catches and a heck of a lot more receiving yards than Travion Henderson. All right, we got a lot of coaching news, so let's get to that. Before we do that, there are a lot of other podcasts that you're going to want to listen to on CBSSports.com go to CBSSports.com podcast. See our full menu of podcasts. FFT Dynasty. Great time to be listening to FFD Dynasty. Heath is doing a startup mock draft startup Dynasty mock draft today that we're all taking part of. So you can either actually watch that YouTube.com fantasy football today, you can see all the Dynasty shows, but also just listen to that podcast and all of our others. Okay. News and notes. Dave, what's the biggest head coaching headline since last we spoke?
- [09:25]
Dave Richard
There's a bunch. I'm intrigued by Stefanski going to Atlanta and what he might be able to do to jumpstart that offense. Certainly it's an upgrade for them there. I, I don't want to focus on the negative, but what are the Lions doing getting Drew Petzing to be their offensive coordinator? If they're going to stick with Dan Campbell as the play caller, then I, I'm okay with it. But I, I'm. I don't Feel good about that one. Based on what we know about the Cardinals with Pet Sing the last few years that he's been there, that that would be the one that I would look at and kind of scratch my head and say, okay, well, maybe this is a good thing for Sam laporta. Hopefully Laporta is fine to start the season because we know that Petsing kind of comes from that. That group of coaches that likes to lean on the tight end. But if it's good for laporta, what does that mean for Jameson Williams? It's rare when Jameson laporta both had big games in the same week. And I'm not. I'm not inspired by Petsing. I don't know if that team would be inspired by Petzing. I, I'm interested to see where the lines go with it, but it makes me a little bit nervous.
- [10:30]
Jamie McDaniel
I would say, first off, the biggest news is McDermott getting fired. You know, so that was probably the, the one that was okay. I thought they lost in the first round. Maybe how they lost in. In the divisional round with the turnovers and certainly the calls and the. The interception or maybe interception.
- [10:52]
Adam Azer
It was an interception.
- [10:54]
Dave Richard
That was an interception.
- [10:55]
Jamie McDaniel
Really?
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Adam Azer
You don't think so?
- [10:57]
Jamie McDaniel
I think pretty well so. But anyway, I mean, it's, you know, we. We spend weeks on that as the NFL will, prior to the owners meetings. I think in. In the case of the Lions, it. Dave's definitely right. It doesn't feel like it's inspiring. However, when they had a pocket passer and what it did for Trey McBride and what it did for Michael Wilson and what it did for Jacoby Brissette, and now you ramp that up from a talent standpoint because he really didn't have that type of talent in Arizona that he's have that he has now in Detroit. I want to be a little bit more optimistic about it. So I, I think really anybody stepping into this situation was going to be like, okay, can they make this work? And that's really the question. Can. Can Petsic make this work? He, I thought, deserves a little bit of a. A pass on the Cardinals offense with Jacoby Brissette versus the Cardinals offense with. With Kyler Murray and certainly the Cardinals offense with Brissette is more, I think, comparable to what he's stepping into with the Lions.
- [11:58]
Adam Azer
They led the NFL in pass attempts last year. Just the resume for petsing. Two years where they had a pretty bad offense. 2023 and 2025, 2024. I think they were 13th in scoring. In Arizona, they Had a decent season there. Tight end led the team in receiving all three years, was Trey McBride all three years. And as Dave mentioned, Petsing, he. He was a tight ends coach with Cleveland and then a quarterbacks coach with Cleveland before becoming the offensive coordinator for the Cardinals. So he does have this kind of tight end background. Yeah. McDermott fired. You got Kevin Stefanski going to Atlanta and keeping their defensive coordinator, Jeff Ulbricht. You've got Detroit getting Drew Petzing as the offensive coordinator. Green bay giving Matt LaFleur a contract extension. Tennessee hiring 49ers defensive coordinator Robert Sala. He's their new head coach. He was the jets head coach and with the jets, he brought over Mike LaFleur from San Francisco to be their offensive coordinator for two seasons. It didn't work out, but, you know, we like seeing guys from San Francisco, from the Rams becoming offensive coordinators. Sometimes. It really works out. It didn't work out there against the Jets. Then he brought in Nathaniel or with the jets. Then he brought in Nathaniel Hackett, and that didn't work either. The Dolphins hired Packers defensive coordinator Jeff Halfley as their new head coach. The Chiefs looks like Matt Nagy could have a new job. Their offensive coordinator, Matt Nagy could have a new job soon. So they're bringing back Eric B. Enemy, who was the Bears running backs coach, to be their offensive coordinator. But we know that's Andy Reid. They're calling plays and yeah, Buffalo fired Sean McDermott, promoted GM Brandon Bean to president of football operations. Jamie was an interception. I think the best way. The best way that I saw it explained was by Gene Steretor, who said, if the defender hadn't been there and Brandon Cook said, made that play, gone to the ground, and then the ball had come out and he didn't survive the ground, then I think we'd all look at and go, oh, that's an interception.
- [13:56]
Jamie McDaniel
And the defender hadn't been there.
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Adam Azer
No.
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Dave Richard
If the defender hadn't been there, it would have been an incomplete pass.
- [14:00]
Adam Azer
Sorry. It would have been an incomplete pass if he had not survived the ground. It wasn't. When his knee was down, he had to survive the ground. And everybody's going, what about the Devonte Adams play? The way I interpreted it.
- [14:11]
Jamie McDaniel
You mean the same exact thing.
- [14:12]
Adam Azer
No, the way. The way I interpreted it. Similar thing. Yeah. And I could see you saying that, and I agree, you know, I certainly similar is that Adams did more before that knee was down and he completed the catch. Cooks did not complete the catch at any point. That's the way it was Explained. That's the way I interpreted it at least, and I happen to agree with it. Some people are like, clearly these were the right calls. And some people are saying, clearly these were the wrong calls or these were the same thing. So I know it's tough, I know it's tricky, but that's how I saw it.
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Dave Richard
It's all based on whether or not you thought Cooks caught it. And if you think Cooks caught it, then of course you think it's a completion.
- [14:46]
Jamie McDaniel
Also, how much of the defender's hands in there made a factor of him bobbling the ball?
- [14:51]
Adam Azer
Well, that doesn't matter.
- [14:52]
Jamie McDaniel
Right?
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Adam Azer
I mean, if he's bobbling, if he didn't complete the catch, if he didn't make his football move by the time.
- [14:57]
Jamie McDaniel
The ball, his hands are on him, when he has the football in his hands, that's the problem.
- [15:02]
Dave Richard
And then where did the football end?
- [15:03]
Adam Azer
That doesn't really matter. He didn't have long enough.
- [15:06]
Jamie McDaniel
Okay, so I guess every play from moving forward, if the defend players on the ground and defender comes and rips the ball out of his hands, it's now, it's now taking away from.
- [15:13]
Adam Azer
No, because.
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Dave Richard
No. That's what happened with devonte.
- [15:16]
Adam Azer
Right, exactly.
- [15:17]
Jamie McDaniel
Which was the correct call.
- [15:19]
Dave Richard
Right. For devonte, but it wasn't the correct call for Brandon Cook.
- [15:21]
Jamie McDaniel
Exactly. Thank you.
- [15:22]
Dave Richard
He didn't have control of the ball.
- [15:23]
Adam Azer
He did. No, but Jamie, I think that the way it was explained, whether you want to believe it or not, I'm not saying you're wrong. So a lot of people are on your side. The way it was explained is that devonte. Correct me if I'm wrong, Dave. Devonte Adams did more before the ball was ripped out. He. He made a football move. He had the ball longer than Brandon Cooks and that is why the plays were. Were he right. He. He, he made a football move.
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Dave Richard
He controlled the ball as he caught it and hit the ground.
- [15:49]
Jamie McDaniel
The fact that they didn't take more time to review it was that I agree with.
- [15:53]
Dave Richard
They should have taken more time. Yeah, but they would have come to the same conclusion.
- [15:55]
Jamie McDaniel
I don't know about that.
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Dave Richard
I do. I just don't think that he had. It's unpopular. I get it. And in a way I, I kind of wanted to see Buffalo make that play. But the, the rules as they're stated. The, the play followed the rules as they were stated.
- [16:13]
Adam Azer
Yeah. That's kind of how I felt too. That's exactly how I felt. Yeah, but it's. It shouldn't be this cloudy. I guess I don't know if it's. There's a way to avoid it, but it's not that.
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Dave Richard
Dealing with the what is a catch question for like 15 years now. So I don't think it's going away, especially after plays like this.
- [16:33]
Jamie McDaniel
It's okay. Des caught the ball. We know.
- [16:37]
Adam Azer
Zach Charbonnet.
- [16:38]
Dave Richard
That's where it really started.
- [16:40]
Adam Azer
Zach Charbonnet tore his acl and we'll talk about Ken Walker as a winner soon. Seattle left tackle Charles Cross is day to day with a foot injury. He's been banged up and he left last week's game. Bo Nicks fractured his ankle. Jarrett Stidhams at quarterback. Pat Bryant and Troy Franklin. Bryant has a concussion, I believe, unless I'm switching it. Bryant, concussion, Franklin hamstring. J.K. dobbins could play this week. Houston head coach D' Amico. Ryan D'. Amico. Ryan said he wasn't sure if Joe Mixon's gonna remain with the team. Ryan O'. Halloran. Yeah. Ryan O' Halloran of the Florida Times Union thinks that Travis Etn is unlikely to be with the Jaguars in 2026. If you have Basil Toon in Dynasty league, you might. Might have a big opportunity next year. George Kittle said his Achilles tear was a best case scenario in terms of the location of the tear, and it was a clean tear. So George Kittle's convinced he's going to beat the timelines and beat the expectations. Romo Dunze said his foot was an issue this year, but he will not need surgery. So we have to think about Dunes was not 100% when he came back. Didn't. Didn't come back for much, but not 100%. Aaron Rodgers getting sort of conflicting reports. Not expected to return to Pittsburgh, but the team really likes him. The players really like him. They might want him back. And I don't know, you guys feeling like, what's that?
- [18:00]
Jamie McDaniel
He'll be in Minnesota.
- [18:02]
Adam Azer
Yeah.
- [18:03]
Dave Richard
Yeah. Oh, yeah.
- [18:04]
Adam Azer
Is that what that's what Thomas wanted all along, right?
- [18:06]
Jamie McDaniel
Yeah, it is.
- [18:07]
Adam Azer
Yeah. And do we feel like AJ Brown is not going to be on the Eagles next year?
- [18:13]
Jamie McDaniel
I mean, it's hard to say everything is going to be perfect right now, but again, let's see who they hire as their offense coordinator. Maybe that makes him happy and obviously whatever money situation that he's dealing with will make him happy too.
- [18:25]
Dave Richard
Who are the names that you've heard of that are that they've interviewed for that job?
- [18:29]
Jamie McDaniel
Jamie McDaniel.
- [18:31]
Dave Richard
Wow. The table interview there.
- [18:35]
Jamie McDaniel
Who?
- [18:36]
Dave Richard
Brian Dable.
- [18:37]
Jamie McDaniel
I Don't know if I've heard.
- [18:38]
Adam Azer
I think so.
- [18:39]
Jamie McDaniel
Yeah.
- [18:39]
Dave Richard
I think McDaniel, I think he and Sirianni are tight. If Dable doesn't go to Buffalo, I wonder if he goes to Philly. And I. I would love that. And, And I agree with you. I think if. If Philadelphia does the right thing at OC and they kind of just try and make everybody take a deep breath and chill out, they could run it back with this crew with a better play caller. Maybe we get results like 2024 and not 2025.
- [19:04]
Adam Azer
Maybe we'll take a break and think about everybody. Think about it during the break. Winners and losers when we come back on Fantasy football today. All right, here we go. Winners and losers from last week's games. Four games, 2816 Patriots over the Texans, 2017 Rams over the Bears in overtime, 41 6, Seattle over San Francisco, and 33 30, Denver over Buffalo. Jamie, your first winner was Ken Walker. And let's talk about the future here for the. For the Seahawks now with Zach Charbonnet tearing the acl, Walker has, let's see, five touchdowns in two games this year without Zach Charbonnet. When one guy gets this backfill, it's pretty special.
- [19:45]
Jamie McDaniel
And you have to assume that they're going to try and resign him at this point, you know, because who knows when Charbonnet will be ready to go in 2026, if he's ready to go at all. Just given the nature of when the timeline is, you know, we don't know exactly the extent of his, you know, ACL tear. Hopefully it's similar to George Kittle that he'll beat the timeline. A different injury, though. But I think just in the case of Walker, like, if they can get him at the right price, makes sense. You know, I mean, he's. He's familiar with the system, obviously had a great run as a team. We'll see where they end up, you know, might be super bowl champions. And so he's probably gonna have an opportunity for a big game. We know the Rams run defense hasn't been great. And so like you said, whenever there's been one guy in this backfield, it's been a pretty special situation. So you got to be happy as a dynasty manager if you have Ken Walker. You got to be really upset as a Charbonnet manager because, you know, we talked about this with some of the mock draft reviews. Like, we were under the assumption that there was a chance Charbonnet could be the lead running back for Seattle, and the situation would be reversed for 20, 26. So we'll see what happens. Charbonnet is with the team for two more seasons or one more. Excuse me, one more 20, 26. So we'll see, we'll see what happens in terms of his recovery. Hopefully he's, you know, back and ready to go, but just really sucks for him and you know, very good situation for, for Ken Walker right now.
- [21:00]
Adam Azer
All right, we'll get to a couple of quarterback winners in just a minute, but I want to tell y' all to bring your playoff energy to your pro football bets all season long with the pro football boost pack for from BetMGM. It gives you three ways to boost your payout on a winning bet. Just log into your BetMGM account to receive your boost pack and then place any pro football bet and apply one of the tokens. Make sure to bet up to the minimum stake odds and legs specified on the token. If your boosted bet hits, you'll score a bigger payout. From opening kickoffs to game winning drives, this pro football boost pack is your ticket to unforgettable moments this season. Don't wait on the sidelines. Join the action with BetMGM. Caleb Williams and Drake May are fantasy winners. Caleb Williams has now scored 20.3 or more fantasy points in six straight games. And he's actually throwing the ball a ton lately. 42 or more passes in three of his last four games. So he ends the season, you know, red hot. Basically that.
- [22:00]
Jamie McDaniel
All right, wait, wait, stop. Before. About what you're about to say. Stand up. No, no, stand up.
- [22:06]
Adam Azer
I'm wearing sweatpants.
- [22:08]
Jamie McDaniel
Jamie, that's fine. Stand up. Take a bow. You're correct. Best arm in the NFL. Wow.
- [22:16]
Adam Azer
Except I. I gotta look at it again. But they keep saying that the ball traveled 51 yards in the air. Wasn't that like 56 yards in the air or 55 yards in the air? I don't know. I'm gonna look at it again.
- [22:31]
Dave Richard
Are you talking air yards or like just trajectory and angle Air yards.
- [22:35]
Adam Azer
Right. So he throws it from the. Exactly from the 40. And it's caught five or six yards deep in the end zone. Okay, so 40. Sorry. So it's 40.
- [22:44]
Dave Richard
46.
- [22:45]
Adam Azer
46.
- [22:45]
Jamie McDaniel
Right.
- [22:46]
Adam Azer
So why are they saying 51? I don't get that. All right. Anyway, yeah, pretty crazy throw for him. Drake May is another winner here. But Jamie, what do you want to say about Caleb?
- [22:54]
Jamie McDaniel
I mean, it's really not that they're winners in terms of anything is changing. I think it's just more confirmation. Like These are going to be really great fantasy quarterbacks in 2026. And, you know, it's. It's just awesome to watch these guys play, you know, and they do enough with their legs. You know, the receiving cores are, Are certainly going to be in good shape. I hope the Patriots add another receiver to maybe replace Diggs or upgrade over digs, however you want to phrase it, just because he's getting older. But, I mean, these guys are just. Just fun. Like, they're really just fun. And, you know, in the case of both, I don't think anything's going to change. I can't imagine that Josh McDaniel is getting any head coaching jobs next year. We know that Ben Johnson's not going anywhere. Their play callers are going to be the same, you know, so good offensive lines. You know, Bears are going to need to get a little bit younger to keep this, you know, line continuing to be at a high level. Patriots are continuing to build it out, but, I mean, my gosh, they're just. This is the next group, the next wave. You know, the next Breeze, Rogers, Brady Manning. You know, these guys have the ability to lead the way, and, you know, Jayden Daniels gets healthy. It's going to be fun just to continue to talk about these guys for, for several years to come. And I think they're going to still be good values on draft day. You know, people are still going to chase Josh Allen, Lamar, Lamar Jackson, Joe Burrow, understandably. So you wait another round or two, you get a Drake May, you get a Caleb Williams. Mayo go a little bit sooner than Williams, but, you know, you get these guys at, I think, great prices, and you're going to get great production. The way that Caleb Williams finished the season was awesome. You know, the two playoff games and, and obviously the stretch run, same with Drake May. You know, it's just. These guys are just. They're just awesome.
- [24:27]
Adam Azer
Yeah. One thing that could hold them back, though, is like, Caleb Williams threw three picks in this game. Drake May has six fumbles in two postseason games.
- [24:34]
Jamie McDaniel
So what?
- [24:35]
Dave Richard
Yeah, the. I'm less worried about Drake Mace.
- [24:38]
Jamie McDaniel
We're also talking about, in the case of Williams, like, it's a playoff game. It was in bad weather. You know, these are. These are great teams. I don't care if the Rams defense isn't as good as, let's say, Seattle's or whatever. They're still great teams, you know, and, you know, for what it's worth, you know, he's facing a great defensive coordinator, too. You know, it's not like it's not going to be like that on a week to week basis. The packers just got worse. You know, their defense coordinator just left. You know, there's going to be a lot of changes for, for the teams that they face in their divisions. They're going to get tougher in some cases too. But I mean, you're just starting to see what they're capable of doing. You know, they haven't even reached their peak potential yet.
- [25:11]
Adam Azer
All right, I got a hot take on Drake B, by the way. Someone's gonna have to explain to me this. 51.6 air yards or 51.6 yards in the air when it was clearly a 46 yard throw. It must have to do with the angle. But we need to know when we see this next gen stats thing, we need to know what they're calculating here. Okay. It's like what is a catch. But for Drake May, so much of his fantasy value has been the fact that he's, he has been this year. Would you guys agree? The best deep ball thrower in football.
- [25:42]
Dave Richard
Right?
- [25:43]
Adam Azer
Like breathtaking.
- [25:44]
Dave Richard
One of them for sure.
- [25:45]
Adam Azer
Unbelievable. But that, that's. I'm only saying this because he might be the number two quarterback in, he might be the number one quarterback for some people next year. It's a lot to ask with this receiving core for him to have to be this good. You know what I mean? Like you like for things to be a little bit easier for Drake May not to have to rely on these, that played occasion booty. I mean this, that happened so many times this year. And what if that goes away? I mean, C.J. stroud, I was just looking at C.J. stroud's numbers. 20 past attempts of 20 or more air yards in his rookie year, he threw 59 of them for over a thousand yards and six touchdowns. He's, he's basically, he's basically like barely eclipsed that in his last two years combined. So when, when you're that reliant on these incredible deep throws, it's not Drake May's fault. I understand he's one of the best quarterbacks in football. Clear. But his receivers stink. So if they don't really upgrade there, then I don't know it. That's my concern, Dave, is that he's gonna be drafted so high and if he can't continue to, to throw these deep balls at an unbelievable level, he might be disappointing.
- [26:57]
Dave Richard
And yet when he did throw deep balls or he had the season where he threw a lot of deep balls, he threw for 4394 yards. Read that right. And only 31 touchdowns. I think there's room for him to get better. And I would expect, like Jamie said, for the Patriots to add something at wide receiver. Could it be a huge splash in the draft with one of the top receivers that's coming out? Yeah, it could be something like that. Could be a free agent. Maybe they're the team that trades for A.J. brown. There's a. There's a number of ways the Patriots could try to go about improving their receiving core. Any improvement that they make improves what Drake May's expectations will be. And I. It's baked into my rankings a little bit because, yeah, I don't expect the Patriots to run it back with this exact group of receivers. I think they could actually move on from Stefan Diggs, find somebody else, and maybe even be better off for it. And that offensive line is only going to get better. The running game is what it is. And, and May is really talented and throwing deep. That's. That was one of the things that made him appealing in the draft process two years ago, was that he had a cannon for an arm and on top of that, that he was a good anticipatory thrower. And we've seen those things come to life this season a little bit less the season before. He builds on it. As long as you're not reaching for Drake May in drafts next year, he's going to be a fine pick.
- [28:18]
Jamie McDaniel
You know, it makes a ton of sense just based on the type of player he is. Is Alec Pierce so much sense for that team?
- [28:25]
Dave Richard
Yeah, yeah, sure.
- [28:28]
Adam Azer
A.J. brown.
- [28:30]
Dave Richard
I mean, you'd like a receiver that can do it all. You don't necessarily want to have a receiver that's, you know, just going to get 15 plus air yard targets.
- [28:38]
Jamie McDaniel
Well, no, I think Pierce showed that his routery can. Can.
- [28:41]
Dave Richard
Yeah, I think you can.
- [28:42]
Jamie McDaniel
Definitely.
- [28:43]
Dave Richard
Sure.
- [28:44]
Jamie McDaniel
All right.
- [28:45]
Adam Azer
And yeah, look, it's easy to say that Drake May is great. Just had to bring up another angle to it. He's obviously incredible. We've got K. Sean Booty and Jaden Higgins. Jamie nominated Higgins as a winner. 10 targets in this game against New England. 11.9 PPR fantasy points. You also had Christian Gonzalez. He had a step or two on him for a potential big play and of course it was badly under thrown. So Higgins and Keisha Booty was Dave's call as he had five targets, 75 yards and a touchdown on three catches. And Jamie Higgins.
- [29:18]
Jamie McDaniel
I think the Texans have their number two receiver, you know, and we'll See how this all looks next season. But I mean there was no Nico Collins. So that's the spike in targets. You understand that. But he had some very good moments in 2025 as a rookie and wasn't a full time player. And I think he will be a full time player next season. And just somebody that, you know, we spent a lot of time over the last couple weeks. Parker, Washington, Khalil Shakir. I'm trying to think who else was in that mix. Jacoby, Myers maybe, you know, some of the teams that we were just talking about playoff wise and some of the exits. And I don't know if he's as, let's say good as Washington could be because he didn't have those type of numbers. But certainly from a talent standpoint, if CJ Stroud can get any semblance of back on track, you know, you'll, you'll like what Jaden Higgins can do because I think CJ Struggle could still be a good deep ball thrower. There's, there's just an easy type of, this is the easy type of player to take once you get close to round eight through 10. You know, depending on how receivers come off the board, depending on what the rookies look like, the free agency class, whatever. A good number four receiver to have on your team. I don't know if he'll ever be a consistent starter in two receiver leagues. I hope he'll be a starter in three receiver leagues, but can certainly work his way up that ladder as the season goes on, as he gets better in his sophomore year.
- [30:32]
Dave Richard
And I feel the same way about Booty that you could pick him with a late pick in fantasy and hopefully he takes that step forward that we're talking about with Drake May. Obviously Booty is going to be contingent on what the Patriots do at wide receiver. If they make a big splash, that's going to be their number one guy. There won't be a question about who's number two. The targets will be funneled to one guy and then Keisha Booty will be kind of a boomer bust wide receiver. But if they don't make it that type of wide receiver opposite of Keisha Booty. Look, we've seen enough of him this year when he's had opportunities. His numbers have been great. He's had five games this year, Adam. It's only five. It's a small sample size. Five games this year with five or more targets. He's hit 13 1/2 PPR points in all five of those games. So if he does get more opportunities on a week to week basis if his route tree develops. He's going into his fourth season. It's a contract year. He's only 24 years old. I think Booty could be somebody who ends up being one of those late draft picks in fantasy that turns into a weekly starter, especially in those three receiver leagues. Two receiver, one flex, two receiver, two flex type leagues. Somebody that you can draft late, get good value from.
- [31:40]
Adam Azer
Usually I sort wide receivers by 50 or more targets. Keisha Booty only had 46. So if I look at wide receivers with 40 or more targets and we're talking about teaming up with Drake May who's great at making these deep throws. Well, Jamie, Alec Pierce was number one among wide receivers in explosive play rate. K Sean Booty was number two. So Booty basically doing, you know, Pierce or Alec Pierce type things, but with about half the targets. Okay. Oh, honorable mentions at as winners. Colson Loveland. I would have to say he missed some of this game with a concussion, didn't play in overtime, left in the fourth quarter and he still had a 24 target share. He still had 10 targets and this is with everybody healthy and I think.
- [32:24]
Jamie McDaniel
It'S going to be a fascinating conversation. Who's tight end? Three? Yep, for sure.
- [32:29]
Adam Azer
And Kyron Williams. This was really interesting.
- [32:32]
Jamie McDaniel
Right.
- [32:32]
Adam Azer
He played a normal snap share. He's always around 62% of the snapshot. But 21 carries for Kyron and six for Blake Corum. When. What's that? Yeah, but not last week. I mean last week wasn't like that. Right. Last week Kyron had how many? I think he had 13 carries last week and Corum had a little neighborhood.
- [32:52]
Dave Richard
Yes.
- [32:53]
Adam Azer
So it was just kind of interesting to see them go that way.
- [32:56]
Dave Richard
Yeah.
- [32:57]
Adam Azer
Kyram is frustrating with Kyron.
- [32:59]
Jamie McDaniel
Right.
- [32:59]
Adam Azer
Because the way he's played, you know, if there were no quorum first round pick next year, probably right. Close to. Right.
- [33:07]
Jamie McDaniel
And they're.
- [33:08]
Dave Richard
They're starting to settle into using or they have settled into using multiple running backs every single week and giving up the division of labor. And I think it continues next year. I think it's easy for them, especially now that they've got Kyron Williams signed.
- [33:23]
Adam Azer
Let's take a break. Losers, the rookie running backs and CJ Stroud. Cortland Sutton after this. Hey, this is Richard Deitch, the host of the Sports Media Podcast. If you're interested in what's happening with all the places where you consume sports, the sports media podcast has you covered.
- [33:39]
Dave Richard
I've been turning down interviews all week. CodeCAPI reached out. Oprah, George Stephanopoulos. So I said no. I was booked on the Deitch podcast before the Taylor Swift phenomenon. I must live up to my responsibility.
- [33:55]
Adam Azer
Listen, wherever you get your podcasts. Who do you guys think is going to win the Super Bowl?
- [34:05]
Jamie McDaniel
Rams?
- [34:07]
Dave Richard
Patriots?
- [34:14]
Adam Azer
I don't know. Broncos.
- [34:18]
Dave Richard
Wow. No, that would be a story. No chance Jared Stidham would jump into the quarterback conversation for a lot of teams if that happened.
- [34:27]
Adam Azer
To be perfectly honest with you, I would probably have picked the Patriots to win even if Bo Nicks were healthy. I don't really. Maybe I'm crazy, but I just think that the Texans defense is so much better than every other defense. And the Broncos, I know they have a great defense, but it's nothing like Houston's to me. It's just. And they have an amazing pass rush, but I don't know, they don't scare me. They don't really scare me that much as a defense. Like, it's very good, but it's not. If you're a good offense, I feel like you should do fine against them.
- [34:54]
Dave Richard
I think it's a. I think it's a one in one. A, I agree with you that Houston would be better. If I had to pick one, I would have picked Houston over Denver. But Denver's right up there and the most underrated defense maybe on the year is New England's.
- [35:06]
Adam Azer
Yeah.
- [35:07]
Dave Richard
Especially once they got Milton Williams back. It's just such a difference maker for them. The run defense has been great with Robert spilling back that. That this defense is a lot better than people really realize.
- [35:17]
Jamie McDaniel
Do you have any rushing touchdowns they allowed to running backs with Williams on the field this year?
- [35:22]
Adam Azer
Two.
- [35:23]
Jamie McDaniel
Two.
- [35:23]
Adam Azer
Hey.
- [35:25]
Jamie McDaniel
Two.
- [35:25]
Adam Azer
Look at that. Caleb Williams, best arm. Two rushing touchdowns.
- [35:29]
Jamie McDaniel
I'm feeling you got the Williams market cornered. Everything about Williams, you know, there's nothing that we can throw at you that you won't know about. Anybody with the last name Williams?
- [35:38]
Adam Azer
Yeah. Kyron.
- [35:40]
Jamie McDaniel
So. Yeah, you got that too. Yeah.
- [35:41]
Adam Azer
There we go.
- [35:42]
Dave Richard
How many carries for Kyron this year, Adam, for the season and Postseason here? Over. Under 313.
- [35:52]
Adam Azer
Under.
- [35:54]
Dave Richard
He's under 300.
- [35:55]
Adam Azer
Yeah, I was gonna say two. Including postseason, I'll say no, it's pretty close to 300.
- [36:00]
Dave Richard
I'm not even gonna.
- [36:01]
Adam Azer
Oh, I was gonna say like 280.
- [36:02]
Dave Richard
Yeah, but like, that's part of, like, how the Rams have gone about keeping him healthy and active. Like, it's definitely something that, A, I think they're going to keep doing and B, the rest of the league is going to emulate. And that kind of sucks for us in fantasy because we want to have running backs that get all the work and handle it all and do well with it. And I don't know how many of them we're going to get.
- [36:23]
Adam Azer
Okay, losers. So we have Travion Henderson, who had 12 carries for 25 yards, one catch for negative 2 yards against Houston after nine carries for 27 yards against the Chargers. Ramandre's just been playing a lot better than him lately. Woody Marks. Woody Marks had a great game last week against Pittsburgh. 19 carries, 112 yards and a touchdown. This week against this great Patriots run defense, 14 carries for 17 yards, two catches for 19 yards and a fumble. He averaged 3.6 yards for the season. RJ Harvey, six carries for 20 yards against Buffalo. Now, to be fair, Buffalo's run defense, I want to say something like six of their last eight games, they've been pretty good. So I don't know if it's the same matchup we thought it was, but Harvey was bad against Buffalo. He was 15 carriers for 28 yards against the Chargers in Week 18. So those three rookie running backs, Trayvon Henderson, Woody Marks, RJ Harvey, pretty big letdowns at least. Harvey had five catches for 46 yards. Dave, your thoughts?
- [37:24]
Dave Richard
I'm. I'm nervous about these rookie running backs as we move forward. Speaking of running backs that can get 300 plus touches, I'll start with Woody Marks. He had three games all year with over 100 total yards. He had 81 or fewer in every other game. And granted he wasn't the lead running back or even like on the field a lot for Houston to even begin the year. But he, he was, he was rarely the main guy and he was even. He. He was barely even used inside the five. He had 10 touches all year inside the five. One since week 13. He had three runs all year of 20 plus yards. That's over 200 plus carries, none longer than 23 yards. I think, I think there's a chance he's the 1B running back for Houston. And I'm not gonna, as of now. I'm not gonna get overly excited about Woody Marks for fantasy in, in 2026. I want to be excited about RJ Harvey and Travion Henderson. I love them as talents, but their teams kind of hold them back a little bit. We already talked about Travion and the workload split between him and Ramandre. Adam, you talked about how it's almost 50 50. It's practically 50, 50 as far as carries go when both those guys are healthy. And I don't see that changing. And I agree that like when at this week I took Ramandre out of my or not Ramandre Travion out of my top 12. I took RJ Harvey out of my top 12 for 20, 26. I just think there's going to be too much splitting between those two guys because those teams don't need to overwork them unless there's an injury or something like that. And then we know it's to the moon with them. Harvey especially. I was very surprised that Denver didn't run the ball much against Buffalo. We've been talking about Buffalo's run defense for weeks and weeks, how bad they've been, and Denver didn't really try and capitalize on that. Neither did Jacksonville the week before. So I'd like to talk to some coaches this offseason about that and ask them why that's the case, why they don't see the same stats we see and try and take advantage of it. And Harvey just being so inefficient on the ground pretty much all year, but especially last week, kind of took the wind out of my sails on him. And it makes me wonder if Denver does do something to add another running back or bring back J.K. dobbins and that takes Harvey out of the the potential list of running backs that has 300 plus carries. We're gonna have to think about these rookie running backs all off season long and when, when it comes time to draft, we're just gonna have to know, okay, if the do these guys have a chance at 300 plus carries, do they have a chance carries, touches, do they have the chance to get there? And if they do, great, draft them. And if not, man, let somebody else take them because they're. They're going to be a sinkhole for your fantasy team.
- [39:57]
Adam Azer
I would just lower the threshold a little bit here. I mean, we certainly don't need 300 plus cat carries. Right. So you change the touches, you want.
- [40:04]
Dave Richard
To make it 300 touches.
- [40:06]
Adam Azer
I still think that's kind of high for, you know, for a guy you're taking in the first or second round. Yeah. For a guy who could just be really good for fantasy, the question is how many of those touches are catches? Because if RJ Harvey is going to get, you know, on if he's going to have a 70 catch season, four.
- [40:23]
Dave Richard
Or five catches a game, he kind of does the Camara thing a little bit.
- [40:25]
Adam Azer
Yeah, exactly.
- [40:26]
Dave Richard
Yeah, that'd be nice, but I don't know if he's going to get a lot of carries from week to week. Do we still love him? If he's going to get, you know, if he's going to Rashad White it and get five carries and five catches every week, that's good. I'm going to be happy to have him. I'm not taking him with a top 30 or 40 pick, I don't think.
- [40:44]
Adam Azer
Yeah, it's also so frustrating that, you know, look at ESPN run block win rate. Broncos were fourth. Right. They, they have a great offensive line and he averaged 3.7 yards per carry this season. And J.K. dobbins averaged, I think, about a yard more. Let me just tell you real quick here. J.K. dobbins averaged 5 yards per carry, 5 yards per carry, and they had basically the same amount of carries. 153 for Dobbins, 146 for Harvey, 5 yards per carry for one of them, 3.7 for the other. That's, that's concerning you. Obviously, he's a rookie. You know, Christian McCaffrey had a low yards per carry as a rookie. Le'Veon Bell, bad yards per carry as a rookie. So we're not closing the book, but he's not doing much to go into 2026. As their lead running back, Cortland Sutton. I put him as a loser here. I'm just disappointed in the way this season has ended for Cortland Sutton. You could look at week 18 and throw it away because we didn't play fantasy. But they, they played week 18. They played against the Chargers team that was sitting starters, and he had two targets in that game. He had nine targets against the Bills in a 3330 game. Cortland Sutton had nine targets, which is great, but two wide receivers left in the first quarter for them, and he had four catches for 53 yards. So he's just kind of ending the season on a poor note. Week 17 was bad. Week 18 was horrible. First game of the playoffs was very disappointing as well. And then I look at his, you know, he's had 3,000 yard seasons. Cortland Sutton, 2019, 13.8 PPR fantasy points per game. 2024, 13.9 PPR fantasy points per game. 2025, 12.8 PPR fantasy Points per game. He's never finished higher than 21st per game in PPR. Jamie, is there more for Cortland Sutton or is this who he is?
- [42:39]
Jamie McDaniel
This is who he is and he's not getting younger. You know, and the Broncos continue to build out the receiving corp, you know, so it's, I think you just know what you're getting. You know, you get to that round four spot and you're looking for a good number two receiver. Maybe at best he gets to be in the top 15ish range. But I think you just know you're getting a top 20 guy that if you have a solid number one receiver, if you go receiver heavy, he's your number three. Like I don't mind players like this at all, especially if Bonix continues to progress. Now you could make some cases for and against Bo Nicks progressing or taking a step backwards. There's certainly evidence of both at times this season. But he's still going to be their lead receiver unless they make a huge splash this offseason. I think again, you know, you look at the, the Pat Bryant pick this year, Troy Franklin the year before, you know, this is kind of, I think where they are. You know, they, they made the big off season move to go get Evan Ingram. It failed. You know, the whole joker role never materialized for him. He obviously is another player that's getting older and may get replaced. I think you just know what Cortland Sutton is, you know, so if you're drafting him to be your number one receiver, you better have a great running back, tight end, running back, core tight end and quarterback to draft Cortland Sutton first. But you know, in terms of what he is, where you should be drafting him, what your expectations are, I think number two receiver makes a lot of sense.
- [43:57]
Adam Azer
Target per out run rate was really disappointing, but it, but it kind of always is 20 target per out run rate. And I don't know if you all remember we were talking about this, I don't know, a month and a half ago or so there were two guys, Cortland Sutton and T. Higgins. They were really at the low end of the target per out run rate for fantasy wide receivers that we were starting. You know, you don't want to be at 20%. Last year, Cortland Sutton was at about 23%, 20, 22 to 23% target per out run rate. But most of the time, most of his career, he's been about 20%. And if that's, if it's 20% again, then he's going to not, he's just not going to be that good for fantasy. I mean he'd be what he was this year, 12.8 PPR, fantasy points, wide receiver, 22 per game, which by the way, most years 12.8 PBR fantasy points is not a top 24 wide receiver. It's closer to 30. But yeah, that target per out run rate 20% down from 23% the year before. It's just that was disappointing. In fact, Troy Franklin had a higher target per route run rate. Marvin Mims was just behind Cortland Sutton in target per route run rate. Pat Bryant 17%. And then there's C.J. stroud is another guy that I nominated as a loser. We already talked about him. Yeah, I don't, I don't really know. I he's not as bad as what we saw on, on Sunday. Bad conditions, horrible game, no Nico Collins. But I think the question for Stroud is that is he just holding Nico back? Is he the reason why Nico Collins can't be a fantasy superstar?
- [45:27]
Jamie McDaniel
Dave.
- [45:30]
Dave Richard
No, I don't think that's it. I think there are some other factors that, that could come into play for why Stroud. I felt like he was pressing in in the playoff game and certainly like offensive line issues haven't helped him the last couple of seasons either. If I still think they, they've got to do the same thing I said last year. They have to shore up the offensive line. That was something that helped him in his rookie year. And then the other thing, and this is on him, I felt like as a rookie he would, he would be unconscious to pass rush pressure and he would just make throws with dudes in his face. He saw it at Ohio State a bunch too, and he's regressed there over the last two years. So something's gone on. They need to rectify that and just, I don't know, is it a confidence thing? That's just something that the Texans have to address. Hopefully they have some continuity with their play caller and their offense because I think what happened in 2024 might have messed him up a little bit too. But having Nico, having Jane Higgins take the next step. We didn't talk about Jalen Noel. I think he's their slot receiver of the future. This is going to be an interesting receiving core. It's not going to be up there with the best in the league, but it's going to be interesting and I think those guys can help Stroud be better. She mentioned Dalton Schultz while we're at it too. Just it. I think there's potential for him to bounce back, but he needs that continuity and he needs to bring back that confidence that I think he kind of lost a little bit along the way the last couple seasons.
- [46:50]
Jamie McDaniel
It's also multiple Offense coordinators since his rookie season too, you know, so it's. I just don't know if he's ever going to get back to that, like that season. Maybe the, you know, the aberration. And. And this is who he is. You know, he's just a guy that. Maybe just a guy, you know, so good quarterback, not great quarterback. I think, you know, we talked about this, Adam, in terms of like Jackson, Dart, you know, and. And the expectations for a great rookie season. Yeah. Going into year two, you know, and. And hopefully there's not a huge step back. I don't think that will be the case for Dart. So put him to the side. But in the case of Stroud, like we were drafting him, top five, top six quarterback in his sophomore season because, oh, my God, look how great this was. And to your point, can he. Is he holding Collins back? Neil Collins, best season of his career came with. With CJ Shroud. You know, so maybe that's the case that. That Nico's. Can. Nico could be better more consistently or play at that level more consistently. But I just think you look at Stroud and there's going to be some really good games. There's going to be some really poor games. He's got to minimize the turnovers. It would be nice if he ran a little bit more, definitely. As Dave said, the offensive line. But even when he was good in his rookie season, the offensive line was still never great, you know, so he's always kind of had these underlying offensive line issues. I just, I just think when you. When you're looking at this passing attack, like it could be better, it could give you more, he could give you more. And it just feels like we're gonna have that maybe until he ends up with one of these amazing offensive coordinators with an amazing offensive system. And they just allow him to get some of these easier throws where it's just, you know, helps his numbers a little bit more.
- [48:25]
Dave Richard
Can I. Can I give you a stat from his rookie year? This is a fantasy stat. A fantasy average. He had seven games with Nico and Tank Dell.
- [48:33]
Adam Azer
I was about to say we have got. They were playing.
- [48:35]
Dave Richard
Hold on, let me finish this. They were playing at least 60 of the snaps each seven games.
- [48:39]
Adam Azer
Yeah.
- [48:40]
Dave Richard
And C.J. stroud averaged almost 28 fantasy points per game in those seven. So again, small sample size, but when he went into that sophomore year with Nico, Tank Dell and Stefan Diggs, and that was a receiving core that we were all hyped up about, and that was a big reason why we thought C.J. stroud was going to have a big year and it just, it didn't quite materialize to the level that we thought. Even in games with Nico Diggs and tank, there were four of them. He didn't even average 18 fantasy points. It, it was weird. And so if they can rectify that in Houston, man, he's going to be awesome. But I, I, I think the only way this matters is A, super flex leagues and B, when you think about drafting Nico Collins and we've been, where's he been going, Jamie? Top 20 for sure in our draft so far.
- [49:27]
Jamie McDaniel
He's a, he's a second round pick pretty consistently. Yeah.
- [49:30]
Dave Richard
Yeah. Okay, so, and that's probably where he's going to end up. And that's going to be the thought that's going to be the biggest drawback to Nico Collins is, well, can he ever go and be one of the elite receivers in fantasy if CJ Stroud.
- [49:42]
Adam Azer
Is his quarterback, that's it for the show. I had a question for Jamie. So I was thinking about like yesterday. I just, I was excited for the game, but I wasn't, I wasn't like so fired up. I couldn't really figure out why. I think it's because Fernando Mendoza is like a Sesame street character. It's hard to root against him. And like, I don't hate Indiana. And when Miami beat Ohio State, I almost felt like that was they, they won their championship. But also I'm just older now, you know, 41. So my question for Jamie was how did the Gators winning the national championship last year in basketball compare to when they were winning and everything in the, you know, in the aughts with, with Joaquim Noah and with Tim Tebow. From your emotional standpoint, how did the, the, that's those stages of your life compare?
- [50:45]
Jamie McDaniel
I just experienced it differently, you know, because I was at the basketball championship with my kids and they had gotten so wrapped up into it. And so to watch them enjoy it and to watch them celebrate it and to watch them be able to, you know, I mean, hopefully go there one day. I don't know if that's in the cards, but, you know, to see them, you know, sort of enjoy that moment and I think, you know, they're, they're still relatively young. My oldest is 13, but they're so, you know, I think watching myself and my wife, who also went to Florida, you know, oh my God, we're here. You know, we, we, we did it. I was, I was, you know, obviously it was, it was Tough for me yesterday, because I love you guys. I have a lot of friends that went to Miami, love them, you know, and. And wanted them to celebrate the moment. Obviously, I don't love Miami anymore, and so rooting against them winning, you know, so I was really torn. I was. I was really hoping that, you know, because I know Dave was there with his family, you know, hoping he gets that moment of just being there and celebrating that with them, like, just to get that experience and obviously for you guys to, you know, have that and, you know, so it was mixed emotions. You know, my kids were like, oh, yeah, Miami lost. You know, the two that were awake last night. And I was like, I don't feel like that anymore. You know, when I was younger, it was like, oh, yeah, thank God Miami lost time to listen to all that crap. But I was really hoping for you guys, you know, like, as you get older, your perspective changes on things. You know, you.
- [52:05]
Dave Richard
You.
- [52:05]
Jamie McDaniel
You want to see the people that you care about. And I know you guys know what I'm going through a little bit right now, so, like, you want to see the people that you care about, you know, celebrate those moments. And. And again, you know, for me, it was. I was honestly, I. I. Dave, I know, was there with his kids. I have another good friend that was there with his son, and I was just. Those were the. The two people, and, you know, seen a lot of Facebook messages, people there, and whatever social media messages. I was really thinking of Dave, and I was really thinking of. Of my buddy and just hoping that they were gonna, you know, walk out of there 10ft tall and got to see, you know, what you're. What you're hoping to see really, your whole life.
- [52:37]
Adam Azer
Yeah, well, we should have. We had the chance. But I also just felt. I think it's because Dave, like, they were such big underdogs. I didn't really think they were going to win, and it just felt like they were playing with house money. I'm sure that. I don't know who I would compare it to, but, you know, if you went into. To a national championship game or a Super bowl as the heavy favorite and you lost, that would be a much worse experience than. Man, Miami just had this incredible season for the first time in 22 years, and, yeah, they lost, but they fought. They fought so valiantly. So I don't know. I was. I was not that upset.
- [53:11]
Jamie McDaniel
My.
- [53:11]
Adam Azer
Of course, my son cried again. Two weekends. Two weekends in a row, I cried.
- [53:15]
Dave Richard
I cried. You did?
- [53:16]
Adam Azer
You. I. Yeah, I. I was.
- [53:19]
Jamie McDaniel
I did.
- [53:19]
Dave Richard
On the inside, but I was okay. Not on the outside. It. I'm going to put it in perspective. That's going to make you cry.
- [53:27]
Adam Azer
Okay.
- [53:27]
Dave Richard
We were one drive and one throw away from being national champions. This was not. This was not playing with house money. When the Canes basketball team went to the Final Four and they played UConn, that was playing with house money.
- [53:41]
Adam Azer
That's a good.
- [53:41]
Jamie McDaniel
Paul.
- [53:41]
Adam Azer
Good point.
- [53:42]
Dave Richard
So this was not. And. And, you know, I'm talking with Canes fans walking into the game last night, and there wasn't a single Canes fan that was like, oh, yeah, we're gonna kick their butt and blow them out. But there also wasn't one that was like, well, I hope we compete, and I hope we're good enough to. To run with Indiana. We. We all thought that. That we were going to be at the end, and we were. And the fact that we didn't come through sucks, and it's gonna sting for a long time.
- [54:10]
Jamie McDaniel
When they had that false start on second and one, Yeah, I was like, you guys are set up for it right here. You're set up for it right here. The fact that, yeah, it's so funny because, like, I mean, obviously we watch a lot of football. You know, we break down a lot of football. We talk about all the time, but, like, it's. It's not a small play. It's obviously not, you know, it's not a score. It's not a play that took away a score. It's not a stupid, bad call and interception, which you guys are wrong about. But, you know, like that. But you see that, and you're like, oh, okay, now they're in third and long. Now they don't convert. They're gonna kick a field goal. Miami's got a chance. They. They don't go second and one, they probably score a touchdown there. Changed a lot of probably the outcome from a betting perspective, too.
- [54:48]
Adam Azer
Yeah.
- [54:49]
Jamie McDaniel
But you know what? You had your shot. And I'm sure, Dave, you're probably at that moment, you know, you get the ball back down six, you know.
- [54:56]
Dave Richard
Yeah, I was Dr. Strange. I'm going, yeah, there's only one way to go. One shot to go and do this. I thought they were gonna win, and we almost did. And the fact that we almost did is it's a shiv in my kidney. And I don't know when I'm going to have that feeling leave anytime soon, but I do have peed power, baby. Peed power. We. We almost made it happen. And, you know, I'LL I'll pose this question to all the Hurricanes fans that are watching. Do you believe in Mario now? And if the answer is yes, then our time is coming and that's good. And we've all lost in life with our teams. Whether it's fantasy teams or real life, when you've got that optimism moving forward, it makes it a little less painful. A little bit.
- [55:48]
Adam Azer
All right, well, that's congratulations to Indiana, by the way. There are 16 million fans in South Florida and across the country. She's impressive, showing not a single nasty.
- [55:59]
Dave Richard
One at the stadium, by the way. All of them very friendly. That's good to hear.
- [56:03]
Adam Azer
I'm sure the Miami fans were the same way. We'll talk about to you all tomorrow with our top 12 tight ends for 2026. See ya. Paramount Podcasts in the UEFA Champions League.
- [56:22]
Dave Richard
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- [56:38]
Adam Azer
And the biggest stars.
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Dave Richard
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- [56:43]
Adam Azer
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- [56:45]
Jamie McDaniel
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- [56:46]
Adam Azer
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- [56:49]
Dave Richard
Plus.