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FFT on CBSSN: How to Build a League-Winning Roster! 2025 PPR Draft Strategy for Every Pick (12-Team Mock) | 08/13 Fantasy Football Podast
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- [00:00]
Adam Azer
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- [01:17]
Heath Cummings
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- [01:43]
Adam Azer
Visit roberthalf.com talent today let's talk about the best ways to build your fantasy team. The best rock roster construction and from different spots in your draft today we'll tell you 1 through 3, 4 through 6, 7 through 9, 10 through 12. If you have a pick in any of those spots, what's the best way to go about constructing your roster? I am Adam Azer. Welcome to Fantasy Football today presented by BetMGM, the sportsbook. Born in Vegas. Gonna say hello to my two co hosts here. Hello Heath Cummings. Are you excited about James Cook and that extension he just signed?
- [02:26]
Heath Cummings
It's the most wonderful time of the year. I just wake up every morning excited. Yeah, I'm happy James Cook got his his check and we don't have to have that annoyance in doing the rankings.
- [02:38]
Adam Azer
It does help provide a little bit of clarity certainly. And we can move him into the third round. For most people he'll settle into that third round range. Hello Jamie Eisenberg. Ramondre Stevenson has an injury. We don't know all that much about it right now, but have you posted the Travion Henderson rocket ship emoji tweet yet?
- [02:57]
Jamie Eisenberg
Several times. It's hard not to get excited about him and he's probably faster than the rocket ship emoji based on what we saw. So there's a lot to love about where Trevillon is right now and potentially could be if this Ramondre Stevenson injury is something we have to worry about. So Trevillon may move back ahead of James Cook if Stevenson is going to miss any extended period of time.
- [03:16]
Adam Azer
Heath, you can't hear him either, right?
- [03:20]
Heath Cummings
Not at all.
- [03:23]
Adam Azer
Based on his face, it seemed like what he said was pretty funny, pretty clever.
- [03:26]
Jamie Eisenberg
Yeah.
- [03:27]
Adam Azer
So right now, can't hear Jamie at the. At the current moment right now. We'll work on that. All right. So Heath, what we're going to do today is, is look at the. The teams, the roster builds from a draft that Jamie was a part of last night. It was one of our St. Jude drafts and thanks to everybody who's contributed to our draft a thon. So we're going to look at the results. But let's take a look at, if you're drafting early, the best way to construct your roster. Now, this team was or this league was a 12 team league. It was full PPR where you start one quarterback, one tight end, two running backs, two wide receivers, one flex. So a little bit shallower, only one flex, only two wide receivers. But if we can take a look at the first three teams and Jamie was one of them. Jamie was team three. They started out with Jamar Chase to the team one, Bijon Robinson to team two and CD Lamb to team three. And just. There we go, we take a look there. Heath, your thoughts on just the first three picks and if they look pretty normal to you in a PPR league with only two running, two wide receivers, one flex.
- [04:29]
Heath Cummings
Yeah, yeah. I mean Chase, Bijon, Lamb are the first three picks for me in a full PPR format. That's the exact order I would take them in. Those are the exact three players I would take them in. Things get very wonky in round two. But I will say those, those first three players that were taken, the thing about it, especially when you're picking with one of the first three picks and the reason I move CD Lamb up to three ahead of any of the other running backs is I think what you see here in round two with no wide receivers being taken, that's Kind of how I feel about that range. Now, I wouldn't normally take a quarterback in round two, but I often take Trey McBride in that spot in round two. And so if I'm not going to take a wide receiver at the end of round one, I'd really. Or the end of round two, I'd really like to get one of my first three picks.
- [05:17]
Adam Azer
Okay, so, Jamie, can you give me a hello, see if we can hear you now? Hi, Adam Cannot hear Jamie yet. Okay. So Heath and I will try to handle this until we get Jamie's microphone going here. Yeah. So Trey McBride was already off the board when those second round picks were being made. Bowers went in the middle of round one. He went with the 2 7th pick of round two. Trey McBride went with the 8th or 9th pick of round two. So those last three picks, Irving, Josh Allen, Jonathan Taylor, and Allen was the first quarterback off the board. As we look at these three teams, none of them took a tight end because early. Because, you know, McBride and Bowers are off the board. And maybe it was a little bit too early for Kittle, although he went with the fifth pick of round three, which is a little earlier than we use what we usually see. When you look at, let's say, the first three picks for these three teams, do you like any of these builds better than the other two?
- [06:15]
Heath Cummings
So I think of these three builds, by far my favorite would be Chase Taylor and Kyron Williams. And I should say like that what I said about the quarterback and not wanting to take one with the first three picks, what that means, and you can see kind of what happened here is you're probably waiting on quarterback, because if you don't take one at the start of round three, in those first three picks, there's a good chance the top five quarterbacks are gone by the time you pick in round four. And there's not really anybody you want to take it the four or five turn. So I think the fact that only one team took a quarterback and they did in the second round kind of makes sense from this place. But if you already have that elite wide receiver in Jamar Chase, I'm perfectly fine. Especially if Trey McBride is gone with doubling up on running backs. I mean, there's a good chance that they, this team has the number one wide receiver in fantasy and two top 12 running backs.
- [07:07]
Adam Azer
Hi, Jamie.
- [07:08]
Jamie Eisenberg
Hi, buddy.
- [07:09]
Adam Azer
Here. You sound great. All right, so you took CD Lamb, and then you took Bucky Irving, so. And then you took Tyreek Hill. So I guess I'll ask you the same question I asked Heath, just looking at the first three rounds, is there a team that stands out for a good or a bad reason with these, with teams one through three, I mean.
- [07:28]
Jamie Eisenberg
Obviously it's hard to argue with any of the builds. If you're going to go with a quarterback as one of your first three picks, I just would not do that. So team two is not the route that I would prefer to go. I would like that much better if that was Bijon Robinson, T. Higgins in round two and then maybe either Tyreek Hill in round three or just going to running backs with your first three picks. But I like obviously what I did. I was thrilled to get Bucky Irving in the back end of round two. Obviously would have considered Jonathan Taylor as well if he was there or Kyron Williams. And then Tyreek Hill is somebody that's, you know, a little bit polarizing. You know you could put JSN in that spot if you don't like Hill or Devonta Adams. So if you want to just, you know, just play the position as opposed to the player to get two top 12ish caliber wide receivers and a top 10 caliber running back, I love that start the most. So that's my preferred build of the three.
- [08:19]
Adam Azer
Yeah. And if we just now look at the first seven picks and the way these rosters were built. One quarterback to team two, a tight end in round seven to team one. Jamie takes three running backs and four wide receivers, which was an interesting strategy since you can only start three wide receivers. But yeah, I Jamie, that's like kind of what Heath was saying. You didn't get a top five quarterback because you weren't going to take one around two or three and burrow and hurts to not fall to you in round five. In round. In round or you didn't get Kittle so he didn't fall to you in round four. In fact he went just after your pick in round three. But anyway you're. I know you like this roster, Bill. You just build out your running backs and your wide receivers and then you take a quarterback. Late in this league you took Justin Fields as your only quarterback. TJ Hawkinson was your eighth round pick. So I know you liked this team and drafting early. I think you're going to advocate not say this is necessarily how you have to do it, but you like a team that really focuses on running back and wide receiver early if you have one of the first three picks in the draft, right?
- [09:22]
Jamie Eisenberg
Yeah, absolutely. And you know we've seen most of our drafts now again it's not reflective of average draft position where there is a chance you can get Joe Burrow or Jalen Hurts coming back to you at the back end of round four, it's just rare, but it does happen. And in this, in the case of this draft, so it was 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, in round six, I was considering Sam Laporta. I think he went one or two picks before me where I took Jerry Judy. So it was looking at, you know, some. Some different options of how the draft may have fallen. But then I think, you know, you play the other side of that. To me, Garrett Wilson in round four, where I got him, is a steal to get Chuba Hubbard in round five, you can make a case that's a steal. Jerry Judy, I think is probably appropriately priced, but that's a very good pick, especially if Joe Flacco is going to start the majority of games. Really, of the players that we're showing here, the one where I may have reached on is Jaylen Warren. I know we were debating at that point, you know, because you and I were talking it out. Tyrone Tracy versus Jaylen Warren, even Caleb Johnson versus Jalen Warren. For me, at that point, it's more of a luxury pick. And I know you don't necessarily want to say that when you're talking about Round seven selection, but if he's the starting running back for the Steelers now, I have another guy to sort of factor in with Hubbard and could potentially be a flex as well. So, yes, to your point, I do like to build out my running back and wide receiver depth. I don't think you have to reach for a wide for a quarterback or tight end. And the way that it played out to get Justin Fields and TJ Hawkinson, I'm pretty thrilled with that.
- [10:37]
Adam Azer
So I think we can take a look at all of these teams individually and, you know, the entire roster if we have that and we can just sort of evaluate how these managers did. So this is team one, Heath with Jamar Chase, Jonathan Taylor, Kyron Williams. This is in order of how they picked. So they're going to be starting Kyler Murray, they're going to be starting Taylor and Kyron. Jamar Chase, Marvin Harrison and DK Metcalf would be the flex. Do they have good enough running back depth with Jordan Mason, Braylon Allen and Samaj P. Ryan? And then they've got Kelsey and Earths looks good. What do you think about this team?
- [11:17]
Heath Cummings
Yeah, I think this might be the difference between a two wide receiver and a three wide receiver league is that I might have taken one more running back where they took Jaden Higgins and I would have taken a different running back besides Smajp Ryan. But I also think it shows that like no quarterbacks, no tight ends in the first six picks for this team, they still have Travis, Kelsey, Zach, Earth. That's a very good combo even if they're 117 years old combined. And then they have Kyler Murray at quarterback, which is a high upside starting quarterback in the ninth round. So I do think looking at where this worked out, we like Jordan Mason a lot as kind of a bye week replacement running back for as long as Aaron Jones is healthy and maybe a must start running back if Aaron Jones gets hurt and Braylon Allen is moving up draft board just about as fast as anybody. So I do think they do have enough running back depth.
- [12:07]
Adam Azer
Okay Jamie, let's get your thoughts on team two and then we're going to get Heath's thoughts on team three, which is Jamie's. Team two started with Bijan Robinson and then Josh Allen, T. Higgins, R.J. harvey at 411 and then DeAndre Swift. One of the things you'll notice in this draft as we continue the show is that running backs went pretty early as a reaction, I think to preseason week one, especially Harvey and Henderson. But yeah, what do you think about this team that's going to be rolling out? Josh Allen at quarterback, Kyle Pitts and or Jake Ferguson at tight end and at running back it's Bajan Robinson, RJ Harvey, wide receiver, it's T. Higgins, Romo Dunes or Matthew golden. And then the flex is Swift probably or, or golden or Odunze, I guess. And then there's Addison at after week three. Your thoughts on team two?
- [12:58]
Jamie Eisenberg
I think the running backs are great. You know, whenever you have Bajan Robinson and then whatever you pair with him, you know, in this case it's RJ Harvey and DeAndre Swift. He has three top 20 caliber running backs. And whatever is going to happen in Jacksonville, round nine is a great spot to get Tank Bigsby. So the four running backs at the top of the group here, you know, are the four top running backs on this team I think are pretty impressive. The quarterback is obviously a stud in Josh Allen and I think the tight end will be okay, you know, just in terms of, you know, getting something out of Jake Ferguson, probably more so than Kyle Pitts. But you waited on the position so you know, it's not bad there. It's really about the wide receiver spot for this team, you know. So T. Higgins Locked in fine. That's great. The Odunze Golden Addison problem, at least until Addison is probably ready to go, could be a major issue because who knows what Odunse is going to do. And I do like the fact that there's a little friendship strategy going on here with Odunze and Luther Burton. So maybe one of those guys is, you know, start able in a two receiver league or flex but I think that's just a little bit of a concern there. So by taking the quarterback early and then prioritizing running back as much as they did with the three in the first five rounds, you're obviously leaving yourself a little thin at that position if you're concerned about it. So hopefully it does work out. I do think though the Addison value was great, the Bigsby value was great. I do like the Luther Burton pick as well. But there's a lot of ifs at that second receiver spot and especially knowing that T. Higgins has an injury track record. If he misses any time, especially during the Addison suspension, you could be really in trouble with the wide receiver spot.
- [14:22]
Adam Azer
He's going to get your thoughts real quick. Thirty seconds on Jamie's team, team three, which started with CD Lamb and then Bucky Irving, Tyreek Hill, etc. Here starting at quarterback, Justin Fields, tight end TJ Hawkinson. And your thoughts on Jamie's team?
- [14:37]
Heath Cummings
I'll just say that like when we evaluate each other's teams, we like to give each other a hard time sometimes. It seems pretty obvious that Jamie was the professional here because this is a fantastic team. He's got great value all the way through. Chris Godwin in the 9th is great. TJ Hawkinson, I like that value at the end of round eight as your starting tight end, Justin Fields. I said earlier that I would draft in round seven, I think last week. So obviously I love that Trey Benson's a fantastic backup running back and I love, I like Chuba Hubbard in round four. So round five is fantastic there that the, the. It looks like if there's any criticism at all at the top of this draft, it's somebody who's used to drafting in a lot of three wide receiver leagues that drafted in a two wide receiver league. Like there's a lot of wide receivers at the top and maybe sacrifice some upside at other positions, but I love the team.
- [15:27]
Jamie Eisenberg
Well, thank you.
- [15:28]
Adam Azer
Yeah, yeah, great job. Garrett Wilson going 46th was also kind of surprising. Latest I've seen him go all right, that's how to, how to pick from the first three spots. It's very Very okay and perhaps even recommended to wait on quarterback and tight end unless there's really good value there. Just build out your running backs and your wide receivers. Let's find out about picks four through six, how to build from those spots when we come back on Fantasy Football today. Hey everyone. I want to tell you about something that makes me smile other than, of course, a winning fantasy football team. It's when I walk into my living room and see my aura frame and all the great pictures we have on it all. All the great memories I get to relive every day thanks to my aura frame. Use promo code FFT@auraframes.com for a great deal more on that in a bit. OURA Frames was named the best digital photo frame by Wirecutter and it's easy to see why. There is unlimited storage so you can add as many photos and videos as you can find. Yes, videos. You can add videos up to 30 seconds long. That's a very cool feature. Now, not only is an aura frame great for you, I think it's a great gift too. Maybe for a parent or a grandparent who doesn't get to see you too often and wants some great pictures. So start reliving your favorite memories by visiting auraframes.com for a limited time. Listeners can get $35 off on their best selling Carver Mat frame. That's a U R A frames.com promo code FFT. Support the show by mentioning us at checkout. Terms and conditions apply. Now we are back here on Fantasy Football today we're talking about how to draft in a 12 team PPR league from picks four through six. We just talked about one through three. Not necessarily where you're going to get a quarterback or a tight end unless you want to spend an early pick on a quarterback there and hopefully Trey McBride makes it to you. He did not in this particular draft. But we get to picks four through six in this 12 team full PPR league where again, you start one quarterback, one tight end, two running backs, two wide receivers and a flex. Jamie, just generally speaking, what changes from picks four through six compared to one through three?
- [17:50]
Jamie Eisenberg
Well, I think in the case of this draft it was the running backs getting pushed up as much as they did. But you know, really it's after the first two picks we could see anything between three and 12 happen. You know, there's, there's clearly the two top receivers of CD Lamb and Justin Jefferson, which you've yet to see so far. He was not drafted in the first three picks. He was not drafted in the first six picks. So he fell a little bit here. That group of receivers that typically comes after those top three, they can get pushed up in some drafts, you know, the Malik neighbors, Nico Collins, Puka Nukua group, or they can fall like they did in this draft. But I think really what you're going to see is some combination of those non most likely. Bijon Robinson, Saquon Barkley running backs and anything from those receivers behind Justin Jefferson, Ceedee Lamb, they're all in play in this, in this particular spot.
- [18:34]
Adam Azer
And Heath, we see each team took a tight end in the first six rounds. Two of the three teams took a tight end of the first three rounds a little bit earlier than ADP for McBride and two of the three teams took an elite quarterback here. Lamar Jackson going at 3.4, Jaden Daniels at 3.6 and then all three of these teams have a quarterback and a tight end by the seventh round. So very different than what we saw from teams one through three. But if you want to get into it. And let's talk about the build for team four, Gibbs and St. Brown. Oh no, no, wrong. Gibbs and A.J. brown. That, yeah, Gibbs, A.J. brown, Lamar Jackson, James Connor at 409 was a little earlier than I expected. Devonte Smith, Sam laporta, Cooper cup, etc. Your thoughts on this team.
- [19:20]
Heath Cummings
So I, I think this team really. And when, when you look at all three teams together, you can really see it because this team got a gift with A.J. brown at 209. We, we talk quite a bit about wanting to have one of those top 10 or 11 wide receivers and two teams in the four through six range passed on that this team got that. So they've got an elite running back, they've got an elite wide receiver, they've got an elite quarterback. And so that, that's a good start. I think you're right that looking past that, there may have been a few reaches in the 4 through 6 range and I'm not a huge fan of the bench, but that can be overcome when you've got elite players at three of the four positions. And this team got that because a couple other guys passed on A.J. brown.
- [20:06]
Jamie Eisenberg
I think it's interesting though guys that they took A.J. brown and DeVonta Smith because that hasn't exactly worked out perfectly the last couple of years. You know, usually one benefits a lot when the other is missing, which has happened from time to time. It's not bad. And I think again when you look at the value of these guys like you know devontae Smith, some people like him in the fourth round, so fifth round is probably appropriate for him, but it just felt like that's not the combination of wide receivers you want to pair up just based on how they've operated, especially if they're going to still be as run dominant as they were, I think they're going to throw the ball a little bit more. So I don't hate it, but I just don't love pairing up those two wide receivers in particular.
- [20:42]
Adam Azer
Well, another thing I want to talk about here is how to pivot when one position is being pushed up more than you expected. So this was the first draft that we did since preseason week one, which saw RJ Harvey look good and saw Travion Henderson look amazing. And Naji Harris was. Did not play in week one. He. We didn't know he was back. Maybe we knew he was back at practice at this point. But my point is Hampton goes 37th, Treveon Henderson goes 39th. RJ Harvey was still on the board when Team 4 took James Conner, but there really were not. The running backs that we're used to seeing in round five just weren't there. So he decided that team four decided. All right, look, I'm going to take James Conner here. Maybe he's usually around 5 pick Alvin Camara was off the board. Sometimes he's available here. So that does happen where you have to, you know, you have to reach maybe a little bit. But Chuba Hubbard was on the board. R.J. harvey was there. Maybe you guys would have preferred that to James Conner. Either way, that's team four. And let's take a look at team five now, which started with Devon Achan and Chase Brown. So this is a team that went without a wide receiver until round four. So, Jamie, how did this team do at wide receiver? Because they're great at running back with a Chan and Brown. We love George Kittle. Quarterback Speaker Mayfield. No issues there. I mean, you want to quibble about having him in round seven wherever, but how did this team do it? Wide receiver with this build, going rounds four, five, six worthy Hunter Waddle, I.
- [22:11]
Jamie Eisenberg
Think they did okay. You know, when you look at it, you got your two running backs in place, you have your tight end in place, waited a little bit on quarterback, you know, so dumping into wherever. Baker Mayfield was picked in about the same range that he's going. Average opposition. So whether you like that or not, but obviously you got a guy that has a chance to be special based on what we saw last year. And I think the receivers are okay. Worthy's going to swing this potentially one way or the other. If it's a three game suspension for Rashi Rice, then Worthy's not exactly the most ideal number one receiver. If it's a six game suspension for Rice, then Worthy, Hunter and Waddle, it's a great combination. When the hope would be is you don't need to play all three. You might have to play all three as a flex option, but you do have Javante Williams, you do have eventually Juwan Jennings. I think the receiving core as a whole is pretty good without having the lead singer at the top, but it's just a good group overall. So the way that this all played itself out, I think Worthy, Hunter, Waddle, you can make a case that all three of those guys could be round four or round five picks, certainly round five picks because that's what their average draft position is telling us. So I don't hate it. I just don't think that you ideally want to come out of the first three rounds without one wide receiver. But based on the build, getting Chase Brown in round two, getting George Kittle in round three, if you wanted to have one of those top tier tight ends, it worked out okay. In my opinion based on how this group of receivers was put together, could.
- [23:24]
Adam Azer
Have been different receivers too. If you don't love these names, that could have been Garrett Wilson instead of Xavier Worthy or Marvin Harrison or DK Metcalf instead of Worthy. It could have been McLaren or DJ Moore or McMillan instead of Travis Hunter. It could have been Jerry Judy or Zay Flowers instead of Jaylen Waddle. All right, let's take a look at position six here. Heath, and how this team that took Ashton Genty, by the way, four running backs ahead of Saquon Barkley, Bijan Gibbs, Achan Genti and then Barkley was the next pick But Genti, Trey McBride a little earlier than we're used to seeing one pick after Brock Bowers, Jaden Daniels. So how did this team do? Taking running back, tight end, quarterback. That was the only team that took a tight end and a quarterback with two of its first three picks.
- [24:09]
Heath Cummings
So when I do go not quite zero wide receiver but close to it, this is usually what my teams look more like. Taking a Trey McBride or a Brock Bowers in round two, taking a Jaden Daniels or Lamar Jackson in round three, I think he pro he has a top six running back and maybe another top 12 running back. But if not a very good number two in Bree Hall. I'm a little bit More optimistic about Terry McLaren. I think Calvin Ridley's in that blob of guys that we treat as wide receiver threes, but not that far from the low end wide receiver twos. What's really going to kind of tilt this whole thing is, is Stefan Diggs anywhere close to Stefan Diggs? Does Brandon Iuk come back and look anything at all like Brandon Iuk? I think that this can absolutely work because he's elite, really, at quarterback, tight end, RB1, RB2. And so you just need your wide receivers to be fine. There's plenty of risk in this receiving core, but if Terry McLaren signs his contract and Stevon Diggs looks like Stefan Diggs week one, this is a very, very, very good team.
- [25:14]
Jamie Eisenberg
My least favorite team so far are the ones that we've seen just a lot, a lot of ifs. I mean, look, Genty, if you want to reach for him, that's fine. I don't like him at number six overall. I think there are better players on the board. Jefferson was still available. McCaffrey's still available. Like, I like those guys better than Genty. So first issue there, you know, McBride, Daniels, that's fine. Breeze hall in round four. If you want to go that route, that's fine. But it's just too many questions. Like, Stefan Diggs is a potential flex option for you. I don't like that. Coming off the knee injury. Brian Robinson, you know, okay, not bad there. But, you know, a lot of just ifs. Brandon Aiyuk may not play for the first six weeks. Garendo, who knows with his shoulder and just like too many questions for me.
- [25:51]
Adam Azer
With this team, and that's fair. However, if you just. If you take the same build in terms of running back, tight end, quarterback, running back, wide receiver, wide receiver, wide receiver, I do think that you could come up with names that you like better. So you could take Barkley there instead of Genty. You can stick with McBride and Daniels, you could take RJ Harvey for you, Jamie ahead of Breece Hall, Right?
- [26:13]
Jamie Eisenberg
Yeah.
- [26:14]
Adam Azer
Okay. And then you don't like McLaurin. You could have taken Tedro and McMillan there. Let's say you stick with Ridley, you go Ricky Pierce all over Stefon Diggs.
- [26:22]
Jamie Eisenberg
Yep.
- [26:23]
Adam Azer
All of a sudden for you, this is a team that you like a lot better, and it shows you that you can get away with this. Bill.
- [26:28]
Jamie Eisenberg
Yeah. This wasn't the quite. I'm sorry. It wasn't a question of the build, it was a question of the player. So, yes, you're right. The roster Construction for me is fine. The players that just have too many questions for me.
- [26:39]
Adam Azer
I think both angles of this are worth bringing up. We should. We'll obviously talk about the players as well. But if we learn anything from teams four through six, specifically teams five and six, I believe it's that if you don't take a wide receiver with any of your first three picks or any of your first four picks, there is a big group of wide receivers that go all the way deep to like about wide receiver 40. You can, they're okay. They're really not bad. You can take advantage of that blob as we call it. All right, so that's the first half of the draft. We'll take a look at picks seven, eight and nine. Those two, those three teams, how did they do, how did they structure their rosters? What do we like best? We'll tell you after this on fft.
- [27:25]
Heath Cummings
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- [28:00]
Adam Azer
Think it's about time Saquon Barkley be drafted. Wouldn't you guys agree? And he goes seventh overall. Welcome back to Fantasy Football Today presented by BetMGM, the sportsbook. Born in Vegas, it's Adam, Jamie and Heath talking about this 12 team PPR mock draft. One quarterback, one tight end, two running backs, two wide receivers and one flex. And so these are picks seven through nine. These are the first seven picks for these three managers. A surprise there certainly with Josh Jacobs going eighth. We're not going to tell you to do that. He should maybe be going in that spot in the second round or even a little bit later. But it's going to happen in your drafts and you have to adjust the surprises. Heath, if I told you that you were picking seventh through ninth, what would your thought be just going into the draft in a 12 team PPR league?
- [28:44]
Heath Cummings
Well, first off, I would think, well, I don't really like that very much. I'd much rather have an early pick or a later pick, but it's perfectly fine. I would be thinking about this could be a bit of a scramble to make sure at the seventh pick that I get one of those top 10 wide receivers. And closer to the ninth pick I'm thinking I might take two of them, which is exactly what happened in this draft.
- [29:06]
Adam Azer
Jamie, same question to you. You have picks 7 through 9. Your first thought is what?
- [29:11]
Jamie Eisenberg
My first thought is I'm going to try and get a potential receiver if it falls the right way. And again, knowing that there was Justin Jefferson on the board, knowing Saquon Bark was on the board, knowing Devon Hn, those are usually my three targets in those, in those spots. But I think, you know, you kind of just have to play the board, really. There's no real. For me, I'm taking this particular player. Like, I know the range of players that I'm going to be looking at, but I'm not going in with the idea of I'm going to take a specific guy. But I do think you have to consider what's happening in round two. And do I want to go receiver? Do I want to, you know, take the first run on those running backs, which is really where Josh Jacobs typically goes, or do you want to buy into, you know, one of the tight ends with Brock Bowers most likely being the first one to come off the board.
- [29:55]
Adam Azer
And I'm thinking, man, I really hope I get one of these three wide receivers. Nico Collins, Brian Thomas Jr. And A.J. brown. Drake London actually went ahead of A.J. brown in this draft. So that London pick, if you're drafting with us, is usually A.J. brown. But I'm not super confident. I'm going to love the running backs coming back to me in round two. And if you look at the three picks in round two, obviously none of them are running backs. Derrick Henry's off the board, Jacobs is off the board. He's usually in this range. I'm not opposed to taking Chase Brown there, by the way. Chase Brown went just a little bit after this range. He went with the, I want to say, the eighth pick of round two. But anyway, let's. Let's look at these three teams. So, Heath, taking a look here, do you like any of these builds? Actually, I'm sorry, can we throw just the three teams up again and just kind of look at all three of them, if possible? Sorry about that, guys. And they're. I mean, they're all pretty different. You got a three receiver there. You got running back, tight end, receiver. You got running back, wide receiver, quarterback. Very different here. Anything that stands out to you as good or bad?
- [30:56]
Heath Cummings
Yeah, I think that the pick nine team I like a lot more. In a league where I have to start three wide receivers with neighbors Thomas and Adams, that's a Powerhouse in that format. But my favorite in a two wide receiver league would be the Barkley, Bowers, McConkey, Sutton start. I think you've got two top 20 wide receivers. You've got an elite running back. You've got my number one tight end and they did well later than that as well.
- [31:22]
Adam Azer
Jamie, your favorite of these builds.
- [31:26]
Jamie Eisenberg
I'd like to take a time machine and go back with the Josh Jacobs pick. Redo that one. But I do think the, the start I like the best is the neighbors. Thomas, Adam start. You know, looking at it again, it would have been Jefferson in that spot, but taking the three receivers getting out of the way, getting Joe Burrow. After we get past the quarterback though, I hate the running back selection, but I think it could have worked out as we could, you know, illustrate when we get to that team. But just in terms of these three teams, I would agree with Heath. It's the Barkley one.
- [31:53]
Adam Azer
And if you don't like Aaron Jones and Najee Harris as your RB's 1 and 2, that could have been Pacheco or Joe Mixon or David Montgomery instead of Aaron Jones and it could have been. Really, who else? No, it couldn't have been the Naji Harris picks. There were no, not really good running backs. Probably Caleb Johnson would have been the pick there at RB2.
- [32:18]
Heath Cummings
Yeah, I don't. I think the problem was in a two wide receiver league. I know that you don't want to chase positions, but in, in this format, if you can only start two wide receivers and you see, as you guys have said repeatedly, running backs went much earlier than you expected in this draft. At some point you do kind of have to adjust to that, I think. And it doesn't sound like there were a lot. Like I wouldn't be very happy if Isaiah Pacheco was my number one and basically nobody else good to be my number two. I certainly would have probably tried to take David Montgomery where they took George Pickens at least.
- [32:57]
Adam Azer
You know, the funny thing, Heath, is that running backs did go early in this draft, but it didn't happen until that Devonte Adams pick. After that, five of the next six picks were running backs. But when you take three wide receivers with your first six with your first three picks, at some point you're going to need a running back and you better hope that it falls to you the right way or otherwise you're in trouble here. And that's kind of what happened to Adam. All right, so now we can take a look at them one by one here, starting with Team seven which started with Saquon Barkley, Heath, this is the team you said you, you like to build a lot. Jamie, I'll get your thoughts on this team. How do you feel about team seven?
- [33:30]
Jamie Eisenberg
Yeah, and a lot will change, you know, mostly for the positive for Rashi Rice because I think getting him in round six, you're kind of baking in the suspension anyway. But if you're getting a three game suspension for Rice, now you're talking about a receiving core of McConkey, Sutton and Rice where all three of those guys have top 20 upside. That's amazing to add to the start of Saquon Barkley and Brock Bowers. So Tony Pollard I think is a suitable number two running back. I think Tyrone Tracy can sort of mix and match once Tajie Spears comes back and maybe Pollard loses a little bit of value. Dobbins has huge upside. This is such a great team, you know, just in terms of the overall build. And so the one concern would be if you're not a Dak Prescott, Drake May, you know, supporter, you got both those guys and hopefully one of them can turn into something of significance here. I don't love, the only thing really that concerns me is doubling up on quarterback and tight end. I just don't love doing both of that. But I think the players that they got huge upside, especially if May hits as a second quarterback and Kincaid hits as a second tight end. So really love a lot about what this roster looks like. And one of my favorite teams, this.
- [34:28]
Heath Cummings
Is the second or third team that we've seen that drafted a tight end in the first three rounds and then drafted a second tight end. And especially with the questionable running back depth on this team, they really should have taken another one of those high upside backup running backs in the double digit rounds.
- [34:47]
Adam Azer
I'd have to look but we were talking about it during the draft last night. I'm not sure any team took their own running backs. Handcuff. There were handcuff running backs being selected, but I don't know if any team actually took their own. All right, let's take a look at team 8 here and Heath, I'll get your thoughts on team 8 which started with Josh Jacobs, which we definitely was, was too early and then Drake London ahead of AJ Brown. So going off, off the ADP a little bit and then Jalen hurts. All right, here's the team for you. What do you think about with Hertz and Andrews, Jacobs and Montgomery, London Evans, DJ Moore.
- [35:25]
Heath Cummings
Again I'll just say the same thing that I Just said about the tight ends and you took Jalen hurts in round three. I'm probably not using that round 12 pick on Caleb Williams because again, we've got some questions about the running back depth. Caleb Johnson's a good number three running back and I think round eight is a good value for him. But you're not confident that Montgomery is necessarily going to be an RB2 and Caleb Johnson's got some question marks. I would have liked to seen some more backup running backs on the bench. The wide receiving core receiver core is absolutely fantastic. We love that. And I think Mark Andrews in round nine is a pretty good value. So not, not a bad job. I probably would have taken a running back where they took Caleb Johnson if I used three of my first five picks on wide receivers in a league where I can only start two of them. But still a solid job. Other than the fact that we don't like the order some of these guys were taking.
- [36:13]
Jamie Eisenberg
This is like we discussed this on a podcast and Adam shut it down quickly because we were doing something else. But like this would be like if you traded your first round pick to get additional second or third round picks. Like there's no real first round pick on this team, but there's a lot of good players that still sort of worked itself out, you know. So I just don't love Jacobs in round one. Like I don't think you got a top 12 player could still work out that way. And Drake, London, same thing. Just, just don't love the way that it started.
- [36:42]
Adam Azer
All right, Team nine, this is the three receiver team did not take a running back until round five. That's about as zero RB as you get these days. Neighbors. Brian Thomas Jr, Devonte Adams, Joe Burrows at quarterback, Evan Ingrams at tight end. And then the running backs, Aaron Jones, Najee Harris, this, this poor soul. It just did not get any good running back value where he took Naji Harris in round seven. Again, the other running backs available at that point, Ramandre Stevenson, Zach Charbonnet, Caleb Johnson, Brian Robinson, Travis etn, Jordan Mason. So it just didn't really fall his way. He does have Jaden Blue. Jamie, you do like this team though. I think you said that earlier.
- [37:25]
Jamie Eisenberg
No, I like the start and I think the roster construction and the build could have been fantastic. You know, again you look at forget about neighbors, right? So let's just say it's just Jefferson, but even his neighbors, right? So Nabors, Thomas, Adams, like those are three top 15 caliber wide receivers. They're two potential top eight guys, when you have Nabors and Thomas, Joe Burrow is obviously going to be in the mix to be a top three, top five quarterback, depending on how you look at him. And then it just starts to fall apart from there, you know, just unfortunately with how the running backs were. I love George Pickens, but it's a luxury pick that you didn't really weren't able to afford because of how the draft started for you. So like you said, you know, getting David Montgomery there would have made more sense. I like Pickens better than David Montgomery in theory, especially in ppr, but I don't think it works for you. So if you would have gone, let's just say you like Jones, Jones, Montgomery, and then somebody else besides Najee Harris, because we don't know when he's going to be ready to play. And obviously he's in a secondary role. Like that would have been such a better trio there and then. I really like the back half of it because Charbonnet's got huge upside. Jayne Bleu, huge upside, Ray Davis, huge upside. Like, those are smart picks for the way that your roster build is, but I just don't think that you got the best two running backs to start the season with. And that's the big concern for me.
- [38:36]
Adam Azer
Well, if you've been paying attention, we've gone through nine teams and we have not said Justin Jefferson's name yet. So when we take this break and come back, we will say Justin Jefferson's name. We say it three times. He'll appear on the show. We'll be right back with teams 10 through 12 on FFT after this.
- [38:59]
Heath Cummings
You all know I've been running an Airbnb for a while now, and it's been a great way to make use of my extra space, especially when I'm traveling. And I've got some great trips coming up. First, I'm heading to Pinehurst, North Carolina for an annual golf trip with the crew. Always a blast. Then I'm swinging down to my old stomping grounds in Gainesville, Florida to catch a Gators game and and slide into my favorite Mexican spot, La Tienda, for some steak tacos. What I love is that with the Airbnb co host network, I don't have to think twice about what's happening back home. I found a local pro who handles everything, creating the listing, managing bookings, messaging guests, even being there in person. If anything comes up, I get to enjoy the trip, be in the moment, and know everything's running smoothly. So whether you already host like I do. Or you've got a space just sitting empty while you're away. This is a total game changer. Find a co host@airbnb.com host.
- [40:06]
Adam Azer
A lot of people don't like having a late pick, but we're going to show you that it can absolutely work, especially that wide receiver value at the end of the first round, beginning of the second round. Let's take a look at teams 10 through 12. Full PPR draft start. One quarterback, one tight end, two running backs, two receivers and only one flex. So Heath, the first thing I notice when I look at this beautiful color coded draft board combined in the first seven rounds for these three teams we have one quarterback, zero tight ends. Do you think that's something that we should expect for the last three picks to not have Bowers, McBride, Kittle or really any of the top five quarterbacks?
- [40:41]
Heath Cummings
Well, I think I'm the only person here that's willing to take Brock Bowers early in round two. And so if you are not, then yes, because I, I mean Trey McBride pretty much never gets to the end of round three in our drafts. And I think we're going to get to the point these George Kittle reports being so positive with Juwan Jennings still being hurt with Brand I you being out till week six, I don't think George Kittle is going to make it to this range very much. And so really the first five rounds there may not be much of an opportunity to draft a tight end at this point. You're not going to get one of the top three quarterbacks likely at this point. And so maybe you see a Jalen Hurts or a Joe Burrow in this range on occasion. But yeah, I do think that it's kind of typical that there are less elite tight ends and quarterbacks available to you at the back end of the draft.
- [41:29]
Adam Azer
Jamie, obviously Jacoby Myers is one that stands out. Probably went a little bit too early there going ahead of the Jameson Williams. But you look at these builds here and do you think it was better to go three running backs with your first four picks and have St. Brown, McMillan, Mahomes, Piersol, like team 10 or teams 11 and 12 went two running backs with their first two picks. Do you have a preference? Sorry, sorry. First four picks. Team 10 goes three running backs with their first four picks. Teams 11 and 12, two running backs with their first four picks.
- [42:07]
Jamie Eisenberg
Do you have a preference in this format? I think it can go either way. I really like what team 12 did though. You know, just looking at the mixing and matching of, you know, Henry and Nico jsn and then Hampton and Pacheco. Just how that worked out. I just like all those combination of players in those spots, like just James Cook now falling to round four, you know, Alvin Kamara, maybe a reaching round three. Fine to go two and two that way, and even, you know, McCaffrey, St. Brown, and then the two running backs. But once you get to that second wide receiver spot, it just looks a little bit questionable. So I do think getting two of the receivers in the first three rounds worked out a little bit better for team 11 and team 12.
- [42:45]
Adam Azer
All right, let's look at these teams individually here. Heath, I'll give you Team 10, which started with Christian McCaffrey, Amon Ross, St. Brown, then Ken Walker, Travion Henderson, Tetoroa McMillan and Patrick Mahomes. And the tight end on this team, they have both Tyler Warren and Colston Loveland.
- [43:01]
Heath Cummings
I mean, you want to talk about. Sometimes when we're doing our live streams, I say, you know, I'm just going to draft the most exciting team that I can so that all the people watching like my team. This is an exceptionally exciting team. You've got Christian McCaffrey, who might be the most valuable player in fantasy. Amon Ross, St. Brown's been awesome. Ken Walker and Trevion Henderson. You might have three top 15 running backs there, there, and then Tet McMillan. I love the upside of this team, the tight ends again, upside, Warren and Loveland. I might have done something different with some of those bench spots, but absolutely love the upside this team drafted.
- [43:35]
Adam Azer
Let's give Jamie team 11 here and see how he's feeling about this squad, which got Justin Jefferson and then Puka Nakua. Not a bad start in a PPR league.
- [43:45]
Jamie Eisenberg
Absolute gift, you know, and looking at. Hopefully Puka is going to be fine, but to take him around 2, fine because of Matthew Stanley. Excuse me. Hopefully Stafford's okay, but to get him in round two is just an absolute steal. Look, you know, Kamara and Cook, you know, you flip them, maybe people like it that way. You're still getting two, you know, potential running backs. That should be great. Joe Mixon, you're going to love Adam. That value in round six. You know, I think that's probably appropriate for him maybe on the high end at this point. Like you said, the Jacoby Myers pick was a little bit of a reach. Deebo Samuel may end up being a steal depending on how this goes for Terry McLaurin in the hold out there. And I love the value for David Najoka So it's a solid squad and obviously again when you get a gift like Justin Jefferson at 11, I don't think we're going to see that in any other draft that we do.
- [44:24]
Adam Azer
All right, let's take a look at team 12. Any gifts for team 12? Nico Collins, Derrick Henry. This team could have been Nico Collins and Puka Nakua and then like Omarion Hampton and James Cook. But you know, whatever it is, what is you don't know who's going to be there when you're making your first two picks. Heath, do you like the build for this team? Yeah.
- [44:45]
Heath Cummings
I mean, you want to talk about waiting on tight end? Is this the only team that waited all the way until the last pick and it turned out to be the last pick of this draft and still got Dallas Goddard? I might have taken two tight ends there at the end. I like the combination of pairing up Jerome Ford and Dylan Sampson in the double digit rounds. So I, I think there's a lot of upside at the top. I'm not the biggest Isaiah Pacheco fan, but this is a good round to take him. Love, Igbuka. I like this team a lot.
- [45:11]
Adam Azer
All right, thank you all so much if you participated in the draft. We really appreciate it if you were with us last night for the livestream. That was a lot of fun as well. We want your questions so our next segment will be all about you or answering your questions. Ask fft when we come back. Ready to level up. Champa Casino is your playbook to fun. It's free to play with no purchase necessary. Enjoy hundreds of online social games like blackjack, slots and soccer solitaire anytime anywhere. With fresh releases every week. Whether you are at home or on the go. Let Chumba Casino bring the excitement to you. Plus get free daily login bonuses and a free welcome bonus. Join now for your chance to redeem some serious prizes. Play Chumba Casino today. No purchase necessary. VGW Group void board prohibited by law 21/TNCs apply. Time for your questions. Here's what's on your mind. Zach wants to know why Cooper cup is available after pick 100. Why is he being so undervalued? Guys. Heath, this is a great one for you. You like Cooper Cup?
- [46:21]
Heath Cummings
Yeah, I think it's a bad one for me because I have no idea why he's available so late. No, it's. It's because he's 32 years old and he got hurt last year and people are scared that this is the end.
- [46:33]
Adam Azer
Yeah, we have a 91 in our ADP. So I would not go into your draft thinking you can get cup after pick 100 but you can get them fairly late. Now let's see our next question. Here it is from a lot of numbers in that Amen. Is it crazy to take Burrow at 3 in a 10 team super flex? I feel like Lamar is going to regress to the mean. I'm not a fan of second year quarterbacks. I'll take Alan, but if not jb, if then Chase. Like if not Burrow then chase. So he wants to take Burrow over Lamar Jackson. Basically. Your thoughts, Jamie?
- [47:07]
Jamie Eisenberg
I mean I wouldn't do that but you know Burrow is coming off an amazing season. We've talked about this like he's you know, probably the best candidate to throw for 5,000 yards of the of the quarterbacks right now and receiving cores locked in. So if you have that belief then, then do it. But I would still take Lamar Jackson or maybe trade down, see if he can move down and pick up a draft pick someplace else.
- [47:27]
Adam Azer
Yeah, especially if it's a four point for passing touchdown league. You don't want to be taking Burrow over Jackson. All right, next question. 10 team half PPR league. Do you value taking an early quarterback or tight end or maybe both for the positional advantage with more players available in the 10 team versus 12 team league? Heath?
- [47:47]
Heath Cummings
100% yes. The fewer running backs, wide receivers that are going to be started in a given league. So two running back, two wide receiver, no flex leagues or 10 team or eight team leagues. The more I'm going to prioritize having an elite quarterback or tight end and.
- [48:03]
Adam Azer
Maybe both if it falls that way. We'll see. If we have one more question we can answer here. Oh my. League awards these bonus points for 50 yard touchdowns. Which wide receivers are good for touchdown bombs?
- [48:18]
Jamie Eisenberg
Jameson Williams, Xavier worthy. I think George Pickens will fall into that.
- [48:26]
Adam Azer
We got time for one more. Let's get one more question in there. Heath, you can have this one. What is Travis Hunter's value in Yahoo leagues that have IDP spots?
- [48:36]
Heath Cummings
If you can count his defensive and offensive points both, then he's a surefire top 20 wide receiver.
- [48:45]
Adam Azer
Round three maybe? Yeah, something like that. All right, well that is it for Fantasy Football today. If you enjoyed the show, please check out the Fantasy Football today podcast anywhere you listen to podcasts. A lot of thank yous to give out but of course to Jamie Eisenberg and Heath Cummings and for all of you who watch and listen to today's show I'm Adam Azer. Thanks again. We'll talk to you next time on Fantasy Football Today.
- [49:12]
Jamie Eisenberg
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Heath Cummings
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Adam Azer
This blazer is sharp and wrinkle resistant.
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Heath Cummings
So you can travel anywhere with it.
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Jamie Eisenberg
Just throw it in your bag and.
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Heath Cummings
It will remain wrinkle free. It even comes with security zip pockets.
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Adam Azer
A sunglasses loop, and an optional pocket Square.
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Jamie Eisenberg
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