Mid-Round Fantasy Steals You NEED to Draft! (05/21 Fantasy Football Podcast)

Summary

Fantasy Football Today Podcast Summary
Episode: Mid-Round Fantasy Steals You NEED to Draft! (05/21 Fantasy Football Podcast)
Release Date: May 21, 2025

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Introduction to Mid-Round Picks

In this episode of Fantasy Football Today, host Adam Azer, along with analysts Dave Richard and Jamie Eisenberg, delve into the strategies for identifying and drafting mid-round fantasy football steals. Despite Heath Cummings' absence due to illness, the trio continues to provide valuable insights based on Heath's curated list of favorite values.

Top Mid-Round Steals: Godwin, Ayuk, and Montgomery

Adam Azer kicks off the discussion by highlighting three standout players who have consistently delivered exceptional value in the mid-rounds over the past three seasons:

1. Chris Godwin

   • Current Rank: 53rd overall (Consensus Rankings - Fantasy Pro)
   • Performance: Twice out of the last three years, Godwin emerged as a top-three wide receiver on a per-game basis.

2. Brandon Ayuk

   • Current Rank: 84th overall
   • Notable Insight: "Brandon Ayuk is currently the highest-ranked San Francisco wide receiver in the consensus rankings," says Dave Richard at [03:45].

3. David Montgomery

   • Current Rank: 61st overall
   • Performance: Last season, Montgomery ranked as RB20, showcasing consistent production both in rushing and receiving yards.

Analyzing the Mid-Round Landscape

• Definition of Mid-Round Picks: Adam defines mid-round picks as rounds five through eight in a 12-team draft, corresponding to picks 49 through 96.

• Strategic Focus: The common theme among successful mid-round picks is targeting players from high-powered offenses. "We get really really good players in this range, and I'm trying to find the common theme is it just targeting great offenses," Adam notes at [02:30].

Blockbuster Trade Analysis: Justin Jefferson for Xavier Worthy and Future Picks

A significant portion of the episode is dedicated to dissecting a major trade in the Big Burger Dynasty League:

• Trade Details: Justin Jefferson is traded for Xavier Worthy along with first-round picks in 2026 and 2027.

• Jamie Eisenberg's Take: At [09:17], Jamie rates the trade as a "C plus in favor of the Jefferson manager," expressing concerns about the late first-round picks and Worthy's dependency on team performance.

• Dave Richard's Perspective: Contrarily, Dave appreciates the trade, especially favoring the Worthy side. "I like the Worthy side," he states at [11:24], emphasizing Worthy's potential as a top receiver if given the opportunity.

Rule Changes and Their Implications

• Tush Push Potential Ban: The hosts discuss the possibility of banning the Tush Push, a recent strategy that has significantly contributed to Jalen Hurts' rushing touchdowns.

  • Statistics Highlighted: "Jalen Hurts scored 42 rushing touchdowns over the last three seasons, with 27 involving Tush Pushes," Adam shares at [13:06].

• Onside Kick Proposal: Jamie informs listeners that the NFL has approved a new onside kick rule allowing declarations anytime a team is trailing, not just in the fourth quarter. "The owners have voted to pass the new onside kick proposal," Jamie explains at [13:43].

Team-Specific Discussions

Philadelphia Eagles and Washington Commanders

• Eagles: Known for frequent near 1-yard carries, led by Saquon Barkley who led the NFL with nine carries in the red zone last year.

• Commanders: Similar trend with Brian Robinson and Eckler managing near 1-yard zones but with less consistent touchdown outcomes.

Tennessee Titans: Tony Pollard vs. Tajie Spears

• Tony Pollard:

  • Concerns: "Tony Pollard is one of those settle for in the mid-round RB2s," Dave remarks at [18:44].
  • Performance Issues: Last season's disparities when Tajie Spears was unavailable raise concerns about Pollard's reliability.

• Tajie Spears:

  • Potential: Jamie sees Spears as the more explosive back, potentially a more valuable asset if he secures a consistent role.

Wide Receiver Insights

Marvin Harrison Jr.

• Recent Developments: Harrison has added muscle to improve contested catches and yards after the catch.

• Strategic Implications: Dave emphasizes the need for Harrison to focus on shorter targets to enhance his efficiency. "They've got to use them differently," he notes at [25:29].

Jerry Jeudy and Cleveland Browns QBs

• Jeudy's Situation:
  • Current Rank: 61st overall
  • Concerns: Stability at QB for Jeudy, with whispers about Joe Flacco's tenure being short-lived.
  • Jamie’s Insight: "If you're telling me Jerry Jeudy versus Chris Olave, I'm taking Jerry Jeudy all day long," Jamie shares at [28:55], highlighting Jeudy's target potential despite uncertain quarterback play.

Rookie Running Backs: Travion Henderson and Caleb Johnson

• Travion Henderson:

  • Rank: 71st overall
  • Dave's Take: "He's a borderline number two, number three fantasy running back," citing concerns over competition with Ramadri Stevenson's role.

• Caleb Johnson:

  • Rank: 95th overall
  • Prospects: Jamie regards Johnson as a potent value pick, emphasizing his receiving skills and offensive involvement.

Additional Value Picks

• DeAndre Swift:

  • Current Rank: 74th overall
  • Performance Review: Last season deemed a bust with RB24 ranking and only six touchdowns. "He stunk," Jamie concurs at [43:06], reflecting on his underperformance relative to draft expectations.

• David Najoku:

  • Rank: 90th overall
  • Outlook: Dave appreciates Najoku’s upside but advises caution until further development is evident.

Final Recommendations and Rankings

• Patrick Mahomes and Xavier Worthy:

  • Mahomes' Potential: "He could end up being the number two quarterback in fantasy," Dave muses at [50:04], contingent on Worthy's explosive contributions.

• Jameson Williams vs. Jordan Addison vs. Travis Hunter:

  • Rankings by Jamie: "Hunter, Jameson Williams, Jordan Addison," reflecting a preference for dynamic playmakers with high target potential.
  • Concerns: High dependency on touchdown production and the improvement of their respective quarterbacks.

• Chuba Hubbard and RJ Harvey:

  • Hubbard's Stability: Dave favors Hubbard as a safe RB option, ahead of other rookies despite potential competition.
  • Harvey's Opportunity: Jamie is enthusiastic about Harvey's role and potential, expecting him to exceed his current draft range.

Closing Remarks

Adam Azer wraps up the episode by emphasizing the importance of tracking player developments and making informed mid-round decisions. Upcoming episodes will continue to explore late-round picks and provide further analysis to help listeners dominate their fantasy leagues.

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Notable Quotes:

• Dave Richard [03:45]: "Brandon Ayuk is currently the highest-ranked San Francisco wide receiver in the consensus rankings on Fantasy Pros."

• Jamie Eisenberg [09:17]: "I'll say it's a C plus in favor of the Jefferson manager."

• Dave Richard [11:24]: "I like the Worthy side."

• Adam Azer [13:06]: "Jalen Hurts scored 42 rushing touchdowns over the last three seasons, with 27 involving Tush Pushes."

• Jamie Eisenberg [28:55]: "If you're telling me Jerry Jeudy versus Chris Olave, I'm taking Jerry Jeudy all day long."

• Dave Richard [50:04]: "He could end up being the number two quarterback in fantasy."

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This comprehensive summary encapsulates the critical discussions and insights from the Fantasy Football Today podcast episode, providing listeners with actionable strategies and player evaluations to enhance their fantasy football endeavors.

Transcript

[Adam Azer]

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[Dave Richard]

What a play.

[Adam Azer]

Can you believe this? No I can't. It's time to dominate your fantasy league. This is going to go the distance. Now here's some combination of Adam, Dave, Jamie and he got to win your fantasy league with some great mid round picks. Last year you could have drafted Chris Godwin and Rasheed Rice with mid round picks. They were top three wide receivers on a per game basis. Year after year we get really really good players in this range and I'm trying to find the common theme is it just targeting great offenses. More on that in a little bit. Welcome to the show. It's fantasy football Today on Wednesday, May 21, Adam Mazer, Dave Richard and Jamie Eisenberg. Heath was supposed to be on the show today but he is not feeling well today. So best wishes out there to Heath. Hope he hope he feels better soon. He does have a list though that he provided of his favorite values and we will talk about those guys. I'm going to give you guys three players who over the last three seasons have been great mid round picks at least twice. Chris Godwin. And all of them by the way are currently mid round picks. By the way, what's a mid round pick? My definition was rounds five through eight of a 12 team draft. So that would be picks 49 through 96. Chris Godwin is currently 53rd overall in consensus rankings. So I'm using consensus rankings on Fantasy Pro. So Chris Godwin. Brandon ayuk is currently 84th overall and he is the highest ranked San Francisco wide receiver in the consensus rankings. And David Montgomery. These three players have been great mid round picks twice out of the last three years. Godwin, Ayuk and Montgomery. And Montgomery is currently ranked 61st overall in consensus rankings. He's RB20. Dave, first of all, you surprised that Brandon Ayuk is the highest ranked San Francisco wide receiver in the consensus rankings on Fantasy Pros.

[Dave Richard]

Yeah, that does surprise me. We know that Juwan Jennings did a nice job picking up for IUK first when IUK missed the game and then later on when IUK hurt himself with a significant injury. And we don't know when IUK's going to be back, how effective he'll be. That's concerning. I would much rather spend one of these mid round picks and it's closer to round eight than round four on Jennings. On Pearsall, the two wide receivers in San Francisco who are healthy and they've got plenty of potential in different ways. They're not the same type of wide receiver but they, they can help fancy managers. Whereas IUK is a huge question mark. Man. I wouldn't feel good about drafting IUK unless it was closer or into the double digit rounds.

[Adam Azer]

Okay, and what about Jamie? David Montgomery I think is a name that I really wanted to bring up because last year in the first 10, first 14 games of the season he was a top 12 running back overall and per game even in full PPR. And he had more catches, two more catches than Jameer Gibbs in those 14 games and the year before that he was RB15 per game. And Detroit is a team that we have seen over these last three seasons produce a lot of specifically the last two seasons. But even even the last three, really we had three years ago you had Hawkinson and St. Brown and this discussion is mid round picks produce a lot of really good values. Last year Jared Goff was a great value. Jameson Williams, they weren't Even in this, they weren't even mid round picks, they were late round picks. But Montgomery, it just seems like people sell him short a little bit.

[Jamie Eisenberg]

I think I definitely agree with that and I would probably shift the goal post a little bit and say round six through nine as opposed to five through eight because I would guess that both Montgomery and Godwin were around five picks over the last two years. Not mistaken or two times in the last three, whatever time frame you're using.

[Adam Azer]

So last year Montgomery was 62nd. So that's basically the 5, 6 turn. And the year before that he was actually 86th.

[Jamie Eisenberg]

That was his first year in Detroit.

[Adam Azer]

Yeah, yeah.

[Jamie Eisenberg]

I'd be surprised if they get much further than that, both those guys. But anyway, semantics, I, I think in terms of what these guys have in, in front of them, Montgomery specifically, look, he's, you know, have a great role on our great offense. Like you said, offensive line for Detroit is fantastic. It's, it's the pushback you were bringing up, and rightfully so, about Jameer Gibbs being, you know, a top three overall pick or top three running back because of Montgomery and his, you know, role there. And, and I think it's, you know, telling and it's, it's worth repeating over and over again that when both guys were healthy, Montgomery was. Have had a bigger role in the past game, had more receptions than Gibbs and I mean not a bigger role, but had more receptions than Gibbs. And so that's sort of a knock against Gibbs while also a plus for Montgomery. There is an offense coordinator change. We know that. So we'll see how much of a, of a difference John Morton has than Ben Johnson and what role that means for Montgomery and Gibbs. But I think for Montgomery you're talking about a top 20 caliber running back that you're getting at a very discounted price.

[Adam Azer]

I'm gonna provide a nickname here that I just came up with. I think we could do a little bit better than this. But I'm going to call this group Triple H, Double J. Okay, do you guys know what triple this is? A group of five running backs. Triple H, Double J. I mean Dave.

[Jamie Eisenberg]

Just gave his best Triple H impersonation on. Yeah, I'd love to get that.

[Adam Azer]

But this would be the five rookie running backs after Genty. We put Genti in there. It's Triple H. Triple J.

[Dave Richard]

Triple J, right.

[Adam Azer]

Yeah, but all those guys are going to be in the same range, right? You got Harvey, Hampton, Henderson and then the Jays, Judkins and Johnson. Where's David Montgomery in the Triple H, double J group.

[Jamie Eisenberg]

He's right there for me. I, I have Harvey and Hampton ahead of him and Henderson ahead of him. So I have a triple H ahead of him and double J behind him.

[Adam Azer]

Yes. Lean into it, Dave.

[Dave Richard]

I've got Montgomery further ahead because I, I feel like we know what his role is, we know what the expectation is. You can pencil in double digit touchdowns for him. There are very few players that aren't quarterbacks that you can pencil in double digits, double digigit touchdowns for. I think Montgomery, I think that's his game is scoring a lot of touchdowns and then he can contribute in other ways as well as I have it right now, I've got him behind Hampton, obviously behind Genty, and that's it.

[Adam Azer]

Okay. All right, so more on that in a little bit. We do have a lot of news and notes to get to here. We have a blockbuster trade to tell you about in the big Burger Dynasty league. Let's see what side Dave and Jamie like in this trade. But I will just say like there, there is, you know, looking at the best mid round picks over the last three years. There are some teams you might want to target. Right. You want Detroit being one of them. And we'll talk about that later on in the show. All right. Dynasty blockbuster trade. Justin Jefferson gets traded for Xavier Worthy and first round picks in 2026 and 2027. So Justin Jefferson for Xavier Worthy and a 2026 first and a 2027 first. Dave's not in this league. Jamie is in this league. Jamie, who do you think won this trade?

[Jamie Eisenberg]

I didn't love it at first for the team that traded away Jefferson, but this is also a very aggressive trader who's made a lot of, a lot of deals to acquire first round picks several times now. The one thing that gives me a little bit pause is that I think the team that's acquiring Jefferson, those first round picks will be late first round picks because his team is in a fairly good spot.

[Adam Azer]

Yeah.

[Jamie Eisenberg]

And so you're giving up Jefferson for basically like if it was this year's draft, you're giving up Jefferson for potentially like an Ameca Buka or a Luther Burden, you know, type of receiver. And I don't necessarily love that value. So if Worthy is the best receiver for the Chiefs for the next several years and the picks come in, then it kind of offsets what Jefferson should continue to do. So I'll say it's, it's a C plus in favor of the Jefferson manager.

[Dave Richard]

What age would you say a receiver like Jefferson's game could start to decline. Is he so good that you would say that by the time he's. You can wait until he's 32 to worry about age being a factor with.

[Jamie Eisenberg]

Justin Jefferson, barring injury, I would say the 32 mark is probably the number you look at.

[Dave Richard]

I would agree. The team that acquired Jefferson is going to get six years.

[Adam Azer]

Yeah.

[Dave Richard]

And you're right about those, those first round picks. Unless the team getting Jefferson's in win now mode, they've got a good squad. I, I can't see their squad very good. You tell me. All right, so they're going for it. I, I didn't make a trade quite like this, but I, I was kind of in the opposite role in, in the Dynasty league that we're all in. Well, Azer's not because I don't know why, but I, I don't mind going for it. And if using first round picks is what's put you over the top to go for it, then by all means you should go for it. Worthy has to hit and the team getting Jefferson has to suck one of those next two years for it to work out for the team that's getting Worthy in the picks. I like the Jefferson side.

[Adam Azer]

Okay.

[Dave Richard]

And I like Worthy a lot. You're going to hear about that today.

[Adam Azer]

Oh yeah, and the Chiefs are another team that have given us some pretty good hits in this range, including Rasheed Rice last year and Isaiah Pacheco the year before. And I don't know if Pacheco made your lists, but he'd be on my list of favorite mid round picks right now. But I think, you know, attaching yourself to good offenses. Even though the Chiefs have not had a great offense the last couple years, it's still been good. It's. It might be a useful strategy when you're thinking about these players, but that's not the only way to go. We've got a lot of other podcasts. If you're just so sick of us and you want to listen to other podcasts in the CBS Sports family, go to CBSSports.com podcast there are so many, you know and right now I think the Dynasty show is obviously great. Fantasy baseball today I'm just going to take a little, a little peek at so I know the whole lineup here. Fantasy Baseball Today, Express beyond the Ark. That's a pressure be listening to that one right now is good. The Eastern Conference finals tip off tonight. The Early Edge is a betting podcast. You've got Pushing the Pile, which is Kyle Long and Mike Renner giving you some, you know, kind of insider, former player Analysis of the NFL Cover 3 Very popular college football podcast. We need to talk now. Ion college basketball. You can take a look at it here on YouTube.com fantasy football today we've got some soccer podcasts. Yeah. And then you're also, you're also going to see like the 247 sports podcast for specific schools. And these are very popular ones as well. So cbsports.com podcasts all right, news and notes. The Tush push could be banned. Is that today that the meetings are taking place?

[Dave Richard]

Yes.

[Adam Azer]

Could be the end of the Tush push. I'll give you some stats. Jalen Hurts before the Tush push was a thing in 2021. He did have 10 rushing touchdowns that year, including five from one yard. Out of those five one yard rushing touchdowns pre tush push, there were two where his teammate did push him. It wasn't exactly the the formation that we see, but that might be outlawed too. But he still scored 10 touchdowns that year before the Tush push over the last three seasons, 42 rushing touchdowns for Jalen Hurts. I counted 27 tush pushes over those three seasons.

[Jamie Eisenberg]

There was two rule changes that have or two rule proposals that have already been changed. There's now the owners have voted to pass the new onside kick proposal that just came through. So you don't have to wait until the fourth quarter to declare that you're going for non psychic. It can now be anytime that you are trailing. So that's one. And the playoff proposal has been removed.

[Adam Azer]

Oh, why? The one that gives home field advantage to the better record?

[Dave Richard]

They didn't have the vote, so the Lions took it off the table.

[Adam Azer]

You know, get with the program here. It's so obvious that the better team should have home field.

[Dave Richard]

But if you're an owner of an NFL team and one of four of you is guaranteed a home playoff game every year, do you really want to give that up?

[Adam Azer]

I don't really see the, the loss that you're getting because you're getting another opportunity to get home field advantage because you just have to have one of the better records. You know, I mean for.

[Jamie Eisenberg]

All right.

[Dave Richard]

But if all I need to do if I'm the the Jacksonville Jaguars is have a better record than the Texans, Colts and Titans. And I've got a home playoff game now. Fans don't like it, but Shot Khan likes it a lot.

[Adam Azer]

Yeah. All right, let's see some other news here. By the way, I wanted to mention with the Tush push stat that the Eagles have had the third most running back carries down to the one yard line over the last three seasons and last year Saquon Barkley led the NFL with nine carries down to the one. Five of those nine were followed by tush pushes. Interestingly though, the Commanders Last year the Commanders had the second most running back carries in the in the NFL go down to the one yard line. They had 13 of them, seven by Brian Robinson, five by Eckler, one by Chris Rodriguez. And whereas Jalen Hurts usually follows up those types of runs with a one yard touchdown, that only happened one time with Jaden Daniels, he only had one one yard rushing touchdown. Last year he had six total rushing touchdowns. The Bear signed guard Joe Tuni do a two year extension. We're gonna take a break because I do have actually a lot of news and notes and it's going to go a little bit long. So let's take a quick break here. Come back, I'll tell some interesting battles in Tennessee at quarterback and more specifically at running back. We'll talk about the Titans after this on Fantasy Football Today. Kick off summer with Memorial Day savings at Lowe's right now get five Scott's Naturescapes one and a half cubic foot mulch bags for just $10 plus get up to 40% off select major appliances and save an extra $50 on every $500 you spend on select major appliances. $396 or more. Lowe's we help you save valid through 528 mulch. Offer excludes Alaska and Hawaii. Selection varies by location while supplies last. See lowe's.com for more details. This episode is brought to you by Chevy Silverado. When it's time for you to ditch the blacktop and head off road, do it in a truck that says no to nothing. The Chevy Silverado Trail Boss get the rugged capability of its Z71 suspension and 2 inch factory lift, plus impressive torque and towing capacity thanks to an available Duramax 3 liter turbo diesel engine where.

[Dave Richard]

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[Adam Azer]

You'll just be getting started. Visit chevy.com to learn more. All right, right now Will Levis and Cam Ward are splitting reps. I don't know that we're going to make a huge deal this, but the first game of the year is at Denver and then the Rams and then the Colts and then the Texans. It's a pretty tough schedule to start. Does anybody think Will Levis might actually start the season as the quarterback?

[Jamie Eisenberg]

I'd be very surprised. But you know, look, if Ward struggles in camp and Levis has a good, you know, showing then you never know if Callahan may decide let's give Levis a start and make sure Ward is ready to go. And you know, the Michael Penix route or the route we've seen with you know, several of these rookie quarterbacks, you know, over, over time. But it'd be very surprising. You know, Levis was so bad last year and Ward is coming in with so much, you know, optimism. I don't want to say hype because it feels like he's one of the least hyped number one overall pick quarterbacks we've had in a long time. Mostly because of the other quarterbacks in his class getting more attention, specifically the guy in Cleveland. But in any event I, I think you have to assume that Ward will be the starter. But again, you know, Levis has a, a great camp and Ward just looks awful. Then they may decide to go a different route start season.

[Adam Azer]

So Dave, let's talk about the Titans running backs here because Brian Callahan said that they, they could have a three way backfield split but. Oh yeah, you know, you hear that a lot. But I did think what was more interesting was him saying that in an ideal world they'll have more of an even split between Tony Pollard and Tajie Spears. I've mentioned on previous shows that Pollard's splits last year were dramatically different when Tajie Spears was either not playing or there were two games where he left with an injury. You're talking about almost a 100 carry difference in the 17 game paces with and without a healthy Tajay Spears. So that makes me a little nervous about Tony Pollard.

[Dave Richard]

I'm already nervous about Tony Pollard and I this, this certainly doesn't help. He's one of those settle for in the mid round RB2s, maybe a target if you go zero RB and I, I think we know what he is at this point. Like every time he's had an opportunity to be the main guy it's been hit or miss and I think the Titans know it too and they're going to find ways to get Spears a little bit more involved. The offense should be a little bit, it should have a little more juice to it. With Cam Ward under center, his mobility, his playmaking skills, they can shift away from trying to hide the quarterback like they did last year and let Ward handle a lot more of the offense. And that, that's something that in my mind like that benefits Spears because he's the both these guys can work in the passing game. But Spears is the one that's got more explosiveness to him. And in that role, we've seen him play pretty well. But this is still. It's still a running back unit that I don't feel great about. Even though they've got a lot of the things that we look for, an improved offensive line, improved quarterback situation. Is the play caller good? I really don't know after one year because the whole thing was harpooned by bad quarterback play. I'm not excited about drafting either of these guys unless it's Spears who just falls so far that he's going to be on my bench to begin the year. And I cross my fingers that he gets opportunities beyond what we saw last year.

[Jamie Eisenberg]

Pollard's in this range, right? Of guys?

[Adam Azer]

I think so, yeah.

[Jamie Eisenberg]

I'm, I'm very excited to draft Pollard.

[Adam Azer]

All right. You think this is just coach speak because we don't need a more even split between him.

[Dave Richard]

Coach speak from him.

[Jamie Eisenberg]

Last year it was yeah and Pollard. I know a lot of that was Spears being hurt. But I'll go back to that same metric that I sent you a few weeks ago. When he's been healthy, he's been a very good running back in terms of, you know, the things that you, you like to see. Yards after contact, I think is, you know, a pretty good one and top five in that metric three of the four years when he's been healthy. So Spears is going to have a role. I fully anticipate that. That's why he's not ranked as a starter. But I think as a guy you can draft as a flex or a guy that could work in your lineup or waiting for if you go hero RB or zero RB to exactly what Dave just said, everything around him got better. Spears coming back is. Is somewhat of a detriment. But we heard the same thing last year too. And I think Pollard showed that he can be the guy for this team as he showed at the end of.

[Dave Richard]

Last season, Round eight. Oh, I would take him for then round seven.

[Jamie Eisenberg]

I probably look for him as early around six. But it depends on where, you know, what, what my team looks like and what, what running backs are off the board in ppr, to be honest, between him and in terms of like pros, obviously the same pros and cons. But like with Pacheco, with some of the rookies, the, the Two Jays, for example, that group of. Of guys, I think he belongs firmly entrenched there. Like, I like him better than Pacheco's situation right now.

[Adam Azer]

Personally, let's see. I have a note about his lack of touchdowns somewhere in here, but 200 and 260 carries and only five touchdowns. He and Aaron Jones were the only running backs I think with 250 or more carries and that few amount of touchdowns. But again, the Titans ran the fewest plays inside the five yard line in the NFL. They were horrible. Okay, what else we got here? Marvin Harrison Jr. Acknowledged that he did add weight. He said it's going to help him with contested catches. Yards after the catch.

[Dave Richard]

Yeah.

[Adam Azer]

Do we like this or do we dislike?

[Jamie Eisenberg]

Don't say added weight. He had muscle.

[Adam Azer]

Still added weight. I add weight could slow him down though. Like guys lose weight for the combine to run faster. 40s get you at I. You're typically someone who doesn't like when players add weight.

[Jamie Eisenberg]

No, no. I'm just clarifying. Like to say they added. He added weight like it. Making it sound like he got fat.

[Adam Azer]

No, I didn't. I don't think anybody. I hope nobody interpreted it that way. But he did add muscle which from what I understand weighs more than fat. I don't have any muscle so I couldn't confirm this. But walk off win. I didn't walk it off, but we had a walk off four run seventh inning to win the game.

[Jamie Eisenberg]

Nice.

[Adam Azer]

Yeah.

[Jamie Eisenberg]

How'd you play?

[Adam Azer]

I mean I did my normal. I. I think I set a record actually. First of all, I dropped the fly ball in the first inning. So there was. That was great.

[Jamie Eisenberg]

When you say drop, like you just didn't get to it or you actually physically dropped it. Like hit your glove and dropped it.

[Adam Azer]

So this guy hit the absolute crap out of the ball to opposite field. I was in right center. I got promoted to right center for this. Sitting from right. He's the best sitter on the team. Yeah. Thank you. I was the other six innings I played. Right. But one guy was late showing up so I got to play right center first inning. So anyway, this guy hit the snot out of the ball to opposite fields. I had a little bit of like spin on it and I got there and it went like off the tip of my glove. And I caught a ball later in the.

[Jamie Eisenberg]

On the move, drifting back. So you had time to get under it but you still dropped it.

[Adam Azer]

Yeah, it was a drop. It was an error. However, I set a record. I think can never confirm this record, But I saw 15 pitches and did not swing at a single one. And I walked three times. Swing. Now I had three walks, didn't swig once.

[Dave Richard]

That sounds like you.

[Adam Azer]

15 pitches, zero swings, four pitch walk, five pitch walk and then I walked out of full count.

[Jamie Eisenberg]

Can I tell you something that should help you? I have two of the teams that I coach. One, my 10 year old's travel team and my 7 year old's rec team. It's a brother sister. They're both tennis players and they have the most beautiful opposite swing right handed because of their tennis swing. Like you should be driving the ball to right field.

[Adam Azer]

Well, I'll have you know I won 6 1, 61 last night. Okay, back to the notes.

[Dave Richard]

Can we go back to Marvin Harrison for a second?

[Adam Azer]

I guess that he play softball yesterday.

[Dave Richard]

You don't have.

[Adam Azer]

Yeah, go ahead.

[Dave Richard]

True media says that he avoided one tackle last year on his catches. That's a 1.6 avoided tackle rate. His yards after catch per reception was 2.4 yards. That was 164th among all wide receivers. That's not very good. Those are going to be the two stats that should go up now that he's added some beef to his frame. But they've got to use them differently. It goes back to what we were saying all off season and even during last season is ADOT was 13 and a half yards. That's too high. That's not his game. Certainly not his game if he's turning into like a mini tight end. So they got to use them on shorter targets. That'll open them up and that'll give him a chance to be a good number two fantasy receiver.

[Adam Azer]

All right. Kellen Moore said. Saints head coach Kellen Moore said the current quarterbacks are going to get a lot of opportunities before the Saints consider adding a veteran. So is your money on Tyler Shuck to be the starting quarterback week one?

[Jamie Eisenberg]

I might go with Rattler for week one in the current quarterback group, but they're all terrible right now.

[Dave Richard]

Chris Olave or Tony Pollard, you have.

[Jamie Eisenberg]

To draft one in a vacuum.

[Adam Azer]

I go Pollard, the guy go a lobby Dave.

[Dave Richard]

It's. It's an easy Olave. If the quarterback situation improves somehow in New Orleans, I just, I don't know if it will. For now I've got Olave one spot ahead of Pollard. So I said it. So I guess a lot.

[Adam Azer]

I think one of the reasons why I'm not going to draft a lot of Tony Pollard the way I see it right now, I mean obviously things could change is I'm going to really hit the Triple H double J group pretty hard.

[Dave Richard]

So you can just say rookie running backs, you know.

[Adam Azer]

No, I can't. It's Triple H, Double J. Now what else? Oh, oh. Brian Schottenheimer, Dallas head coach. He said George Pickens is maturing and he likes what he's seen. So far. From Pickens. In the meeting room, Seattle GM John Schneider said this about rookie tight end Elijah Arroyo. He talked about his injury history and he was even dealing with a knee injury during the combine process. So he didn't participate in the combine. So that's exactly why he was there when we were picking at 50. He has missed time, but if he hasn't missed time, the talent is like a top 15 pick. I mean, this guy is special. This was in an ESPN.com article and the article also pointed out that the Seahawks could, could save $9 million by cutting or trading Noah Fant. So you can see what they think of Elijah Arroyo. And then NFL players can participate in flag football in the 2028 Olympics. Only one player per team per country. So the United States, for example, cannot have two of any team. But you know, they can have, as I think, up to eight NFL players, but not from the same team.

[Dave Richard]

So you can't have Mahomes and Worthy on the same flag team.

[Adam Azer]

Correct. I wonder who's going to be, you know, it's going to be, it's going to be. What's his name? Jeremiah Smith is going to be like the big prize of the 2028 Olympics when he's the best receiver in football. Although more of a Ryan Williams guy I think. But it's just interesting to think like Justin Jefferson is like it's so excited about it. He may not even be, I think he will be, but he may not be a top five receiver at that point. You never know. You never know. 28, 28's a long way away. And the Eagles signed Nick Sirianni to a multi year extension. Okay, let's talk about our favorite mid round picks. We're looking at fantasy pros, ppr consensus rankings.

[Jamie Eisenberg]

You didn't see the Browns news with their quarterbacks? No, that apparently right now the, the one, the, the order is Kenny Pickett's the one.

[Adam Azer]

Okay. This is so. And one of the guys that he's had on his list was Jerry Judy. And this is the one that I think frustrates me the most. I, I just, I want to believe it. I want to buy into Jerry Jeudy. But I do think the Browns could be just an absolute disaster going through so many different quarterbacks this year. And what is that going to mean for Jerry Judy, who's currently 61st in consensus rankings. So why don't we start with that. Do you guys like Jerry Judy as a mid round pick?

[Dave Richard]

Love, like.

[Adam Azer]

Not concerned about the situation? Jamie?

[Jamie Eisenberg]

Yeah, I'm concerned, but I mean, you know, going into it, I would anticipate Joe Flacco being the starter. So for how many games? That's the question. But I think if you're looking at it at what the guys in this range are from a receiver standpoint, like if you're telling me Jerry Judy versus Chris Olave, I'm taking Jerry Judy all day long. I, I think just based on how he finished last year and what the receiving core looks like right now. I know, I think, I don't know where Dave comes out on this, but I know Adam, you and I have talked about Cedric Tillman and, and the opportunity that he has in front of him also as the, the second guy there, third guy in the passing game. He played three games last year where he looked like a superstar and that's the only three games that we've ever seen from him. So yes, he has a huge opportunity in front of him. But I think if you're just looking at it like Judy should get as many targets as he can handle and maybe top 10 in targets in the NFL no matter who the quarterback is. So they're going to be some highs and lows with this, but the highs last year were unbelievable. And we're talking about that was with Jameis Winston, who we know is great for receivers and that's been tried and true. I'm hopeful that Flacco, as we saw with Amari Cooper and with najoku in the 2023 season in this offense was very special. And I think that even though there'll be some pitfalls, whether it's Pickett or the rookies, there's still going to be enough chances for Judy to have the same type of opportunities that you may get from Olave with his crappy quarterback situation. But just given the, the chance of Flacco now, I will dial it back significantly if it's not Flacco. So I'm going in with the idea of Flacco with hopefully six to eight starts and I love that upside for what that could be. So if it's Picket, I'll drop him back, you know, probably 10 or so spots in my rankings. If it's the rookies, then I'll be even more. But I'm going with the understanding that Joe Flacco should be the starting quarterback for the Browns or at least early in the season, depending on how it's all going to play out. So that's where I'm kind of basing on right now.

[Dave Richard]

The problem is, is Joe Flacco going to be the starting quarterback for 17 games?

[Adam Azer]

No, there's almost no chance.

[Dave Richard]

It's just unless, unless that defense carries them to a bunch of grind out wins and especially in that division, I don't see it happening. And how old is flacco? He's like 57 years old. So he isn't a lock to be healthy to play even 17 games. And to give you an idea of what Judy was like last year when he had desean throwing him and desean was a train wreck. Okay, I don't, I don't even know if there's a quarterback as bad. But just on the Browns right now.

[Jamie Eisenberg]

Before, before you finish, before you finish, about to say Cooper was still on the team then.

[Adam Azer]

Sure he was.

[Dave Richard]

That's fair. And it was under 8 ppr points per game. It was terrible. Last four games of the year, there's no Winston. Remember Jameis Winston is really the, the spark here that turned Jerry Judy into, you know, a huge high efficiency, amazing fantasy numbers. The target volume would have come without Cooper anyway. But you get my point. He was a monster with Winston. Last four games of the year it's Dorian Thompson, Robinson and Bailey Zappi and Judy averaged 14.9 PPR points per game, which isn't bad, but that's kind of the expectation I want to have for him when I draft him. I agree completely. Him over Olave, that's easy stuff but it's, it's putting him in that same range as some other mid round receivers that we'll talk about where I would get a little squeamish. He's a low end, number two wide.

[Adam Azer]

Receiver for me those last three games. First of all, DeSean Watson averaged 170 passing yards per game. And then in the, which is just laughable, the last three games, Dorian Thompson, Robinson and Bailey Zappi, they averaged 170 yards per game and they threw one touchdown to five interceptions in three games he scored. He averaged, you said 15 points per game, 4 points, 21.4 and 12.3. So it was all over the place for Jerry Judy. But you know what, it's, it's just like, it's apples to oranges there. So different situation. And they're going to throw for more than 170 yards per game and you know, one touchdown for every three games. Yeah, I don't know. I mean it's like when you're deciding between Jerry Judy and then you're deciding between Juwan Jennings or Ricky Piersol or, you know, for some people it's going to be IUK, not for us. Just keep in mind that 49ers keep, you know, they show up on this list of a team that's had great mid round pick value over the last three years, including Brandon Iuk twice, including George Kittle last season. You know, they, they. Brock Purdy's a guy who hasn't been a mid round pick but he's outperformed his draft value. So it's just like, you know, you could look at, I don't know if Jameson. Where's Jameson Williams? Is he not quite in this range? Probably before, but he's in this range for me. Okay. Yeah. I mean you could be like, is it Jameson Williams is ahead of Jerry Judy, right. For everyone or no, for me.

[Jamie Eisenberg]

Yeah, I would take Judy and I know he would for sure over Jameson.

[Adam Azer]

All right. Yeah. I mean that's, that's what you got to decide. Like you could definitely see a path to more targets for Judy. But again, the Lions consistently produce guys who, who destroy their adp. So these are the decisions you're going to have to make and it's interesting that you guys are on different sides of that.

[Jamie Eisenberg]

And to be fair though, just to put in context, you know, you're talking about these teams producing great mid round picks and you know, using this, the stuff from last year. Judy was a league winner from nowhere.

[Adam Azer]

Yeah, it was not just last year though, it's the last three years.

[Jamie Eisenberg]

But what I'm saying though is, you know, in terms of draft value and.

[Adam Azer]

That'S the thing that I, the last thing I'll say about Judy's. We can't spend the whole time, it's like he. This is not last year, was not the only year that Jerry Judy was really good. He only ended up as wide receiver 30 per game because he only had four touchdowns. But obviously he had that stretch where he was a top five wide receiver with Jamis. But that there was that one year, I think three years ago now in Denver where he left three games super early. But aside from those games, as I recall he averaged about 15 PPR fantasy points per game and he was kind of the number two receiver but he overtook Cortland Sutton in the second half and they had, I think they had the lowest scoring offense in the NFL. So he is not a one year wonder in my opinion. He's had two very good years and I do think that's worth mentioning for Jerry Judy. All right, the rest of the guys on Heath's list, Travion Henderson, 71st, DeAndre Swift, Swift 74th in consensus rankings. And then a couple guys later in round eight, David Najoku and Caleb Johnson. So we do have a couple of rookie running backs in there. Travion Henderson and Caleb Johnson. I don't think you guys are going to disagree with that, right, because Henderson 71st, Caleb 95th.

[Jamie Eisenberg]

No, I like all these guys, especially at their values.

[Adam Azer]

Dave, what'd you say?

[Dave Richard]

I'm sorry, I said I, I keep going back and forth with Henderson because I love the talent. He was my second favorite running back in the draft class and he's just, he, he's not a fit in terms of who the lead back has been for Josh McDaniels offenses. And even recently, I think during their most recent minicamp, the Patriots didn't have Ramadri with them. He had a very major family event happen. He had to leave the team. And Vrabel talked like he's gonna have an important role on the team. And I, I am scared of reaching for Henderson and hoping that he just completely eradicates Ramandre Stevenson's playing time. I don't think it's going to happen, but I love the talent. So like one week he's up for me in the rankings, the next week he's down. I think format matters a lot for now. I think he's like a borderline number two, number three fantasy running back.

[Jamie Eisenberg]

I think the thing, the, the two things I really like about Henderson's situation is one, Josh McDaniels and what he's done with past catching running backs. I mean, it's pretty, you know, amazing when you look at how much he uses those guys in the passing game and then you look at the receiving core for the Patriots. And while we're to whatever degrees excited about, you know, Stefan Diggs being there, coming off an ACL tear, 31 years old and Kyle Williams and what he could be as a rookie and maybe Pop Douglas, I mean, you see the names I'm talking about here in the situations, like there's a lot of opportunities for him to make plays in the passing game. And then Ramon Dre has been such an up and down rusher for his career and the fumble issues. Now the thing that I think helps him and I'm sure this is what Vrabel's looking at, like his success as a head coach has come with a bigger running back and a More physical guy, and that's clearly going to be Stevenson, more so than Henderson going into it. But I just look at the talent, like you said, Dave, and the opportunity to me is. Is. Is really clear that if Henderson can, you know, establish himself as a guy, that can be a consistent rusher, which he was at Ohio State when he got those opportunities, and the explosiveness and his role in the passing game, like, I'm excited about the scenario for him. So to me, he's. He's ahead of this range. I would draft him, you know, as early as round four.

[Dave Richard]

It. I would take him in round four as well.

[Adam Azer]

Wow. Round four for Trayvon Henderson.

[Dave Richard]

No, I don't think I would. See, and this is why I. You know what? I'm probably going to end up being like, right on the fence of Henderson. And the one thing that you said that made me react a little bit, James, was that you saw Henderson with a big role at Ohio State two years ago. He had it.

[Jamie Eisenberg]

No, no, I didn't say he had a big role. I didn't say I had a big role.

[Dave Richard]

He did well with the role. I. I don't remember.

[Jamie Eisenberg]

I said that he could. If he can prove that he can be a consistent runner, which he showed at Ohio State. Yeah, right.

[Dave Richard]

But it's a matter of just how many opportunities it's. And to me, the opportunities are about carries. Not as much catches, because I'm with you on the. You know, is he the next James White? See the next Dion Lewis? Lewis had some big years for the Patriots, but White did, too. Is he that guy for them? I would say that there's a pretty good chance that he is. I'm worried about the touchdown production matching up because Ramadria can take that role. And I'm worried about the carries because Ohio State worked them a lot two seasons ago, and their solution to that problem because he didn't stay healthy was get Quintean Judkins in the transfer portal and use him as the more physical back and use Travion as the air back. And. Yeah, I just. I think that that's what's going to end up happening in New England, and it makes me nervous to go to round four for. For that. H. Adam.

[Adam Azer]

It's amazing in 17 seasons for Josh McDaniels as a head coach or an offensive coordinator, not including the last season with the Raiders when he got fired, how many times he's had a big, bruising running back, a guy like Corey Dillon, Lawrence Moroney. I don't know if we include Noshon Marino there, Steven Jackson, Steven Ridley, LeGarrett.

[Dave Richard]

I've got a whole list of who they were and what they did.

[Adam Azer]

Yeah, me too. Legara Blunt, Damien Harris, Sony Michelle and then Josh Jacobs. Those have been the guys that he's had and he's had a lot of committees. In 17 seasons only four running backs have had more than 250 carries. I don't think anyone thinks Trayvon Henderson's getting more than 250 carries. Can he get 70 catches? We had two 70 plus catch seasons from James White under Josh McDaniels. I don't. Do you think, do you think 70 catches is in the cards for Henderson? Because if he gets that then 5th round pick would be great. I think great value for him.

[Jamie Eisenberg]

I think he can.

[Adam Azer]

Yeah. All right.

[Dave Richard]

I've got white with three seasons of 11.3 touches per game or fewer.

[Adam Azer]

Yeah, about, you gotta say Henderson should be a much better rusher than James White because Henderson could just be a, just a great rusher. I mean he was so good at Ohio State. He's a tough one. I, I, I agree. Dave, I am with you. Like what about I want kind of.

[Dave Richard]

Brings me back is no Sean. Remember those two years of no Sean in Denver with McDaniels?

[Adam Azer]

I got 2010. He had 182 carries and 37 catches. The year before that, much better. 247 carries and 28 catches. Right.

[Dave Richard]

How many games?

[Adam Azer]

16 games in 20 in 2009. I don't know about 2010.

[Dave Richard]

Yeah, I would guess it's not 16 games in 2010, but that's, I think that's the upside case for Travion is what no Sean did those years.

[Adam Azer]

It was 13 games in 2010.

[Jamie Eisenberg]

Okay.

[Dave Richard]

So I bet the averages weren't too far off.

[Adam Azer]

Yeah, 15.4 carries per game one year, 14 carries per game the next year. All right, whatever. Getting in the weeds. Let's, let's say get back to Heath's list after we take a break. One more commercial. We'll come back and finish up here with more of our favorite late round picks so far. I'd like to highlight David Montgomery. I think we've done that successfully. Jerry Judy, Travion Henderson and Caleb Johnson, those rookie running backs we're going to like. So we'll talk about Deandre Swift and David Najoku on Heath's list. And then Dave has seven players on his list that he'd like to talk about and we'll give you some more names. We'll be right back Ryan Reynolds here from Mint Mobile. I don't know if you knew this, but anyone can get the same Premium Wireless for $15 a month plan that I've been enjoying. It's not just for celebrities. So do like I did and have one of your assistant's assistants switch you to Mint Mobile today. I'm told it's super easy to [e-mail].

[Dave Richard]

Switch upfront payment of $45 for 3.

[Jamie Eisenberg]

Month plan equivalent to $15 per month Required intro rate first 3 months only, then full price plan options available, taxes and fees extra. See full [e-mail] Are you still quoting.

[Adam Azer]

30 year old movies? Have you said cool beans in the past 90 days? Do you think Discover isn't widely accepted? If this sounds like you, you're stuck in the past. Discover is accepted at 99% of places that take credit cards nationwide. And every time you make a purchase with your card, you automatically earn cash back. Welcome to the now it pays to Discover. Learn [e-mail] credit card Based on the February 2024 Nelson Report, DeAndre Swift was a bust last year. There's really no getting around that. Do you like him? As a mid round pick this year? He was RB24 per game.

[Jamie Eisenberg]

Was he a bus last year?

[Adam Azer]

I think so.

[Dave Richard]

I mean, RB24, 12.6 PPR points per game, six total touchdowns.

[Jamie Eisenberg]

I mean, 12.6 is not bad for where he was drafted, right?

[Dave Richard]

Where was he drafted?

[Adam Azer]

Let's take a look at the adp. He would.

[Dave Richard]

I'm, I'm thinking the Bears are going to add another running back and that'll render the next couple of minutes of what we say useless and he'll end up being part of a committee.

[Adam Azer]

He was RB20. He was 61st overall.

[Dave Richard]

Yeah, that's a bust.

[Adam Azer]

He stunk. I mean, nobody, Nobody was putting DeAndre Swift in their lineup confidently, you know.

[Jamie Eisenberg]

No, no, I don't disagree with that. But I, I didn't realize he was drafted that high. I, I think the, the, the player that they add will determine how I feel about him. Because if it's Nick Chubb, I'm not going to be so worried. If it's Dobbins, I'm gonna be a little bit more concerned.

[Adam Azer]

All right, so he's gonna be in.

[Dave Richard]

The Jameer Gibbs role.

[Adam Azer]

We'll put a hold on this one here. And David Ajoku, 90th overall.

[Dave Richard]

Oh my gosh. I love it.

[Jamie Eisenberg]

Yep.

[Adam Azer]

All right, so Dave, let's take a look at your list here. Chuba Hubbard, 51st overall Xavier Worthy 60th in the consensus rankings. Omarion Hampton 62nd, Patrick Mahomes 64th, Jameson Williams 66th and then later Stefan Diggs and Juwan Jennings 92nd. I mean I love seeing that 92nd overall because in our drafts like there's no chance Juwan Jennings goes 92nd overall but I would not hesitated all to take him there. And Stefan Diggs also 92nd overall. Jennings is 93rd. But you got a couple of chiefs here. You want to start with chuba hubbard at 51st. How do you rank Chuba Hubbard with triple H, Double J?

[Dave Richard]

He's ahead of, he's ahead of everybody but Genti. I, I think he's one of the safest running backs that you can put on your team. I would obviously rather get him in round four or round five like the ADP suggests. But if I go receiver, receiver with my first two picks and he's my favorite running back left on the board in round three, I'm taking him in round three. I think that he's, I think he's proven that he's a good running back. I don't mind his situation one bit. His competition for playing time is Rico Dowdle and Trevor etn. I, I still think he's going to be the main runner and the high value touch guy in Carolina's offense. And I'm, I'm, I'm, I'm happy with what I saw from him last year. I don't think that he's a one year wonder.

[Jamie Eisenberg]

I just wonder how much they're going to give work to the other guys. It just because he didn't have to worry about that at all last year. And so now, you know, the, it's not so much doubt really. It's what ETN's role could be and just the uncertainty of it. And I agree with a lot of what you said. I wouldn't take him around 3. There's no chance. But if, if Hubbard, he's got hopefully a quarterback that's continuing to improve a receiving core that's definitely going to get better. So the offense as a whole should get better after what we saw last year where they spent so much in improving the offensive line, which I think helped him a lot. I, I don't know if he's, you know, and you brought this up, Adam, you know, based on his track record, like is he that good of a guy or is he just, you know, benefiting from a great situation? And we've seen a lot of guys like this and so did they look at it and say, okay, we just need to, you know, worry about our depth because we know Jonathan Brooks isn't going to play and we get Rico Dowel for basically nothing and then go out and get ETN to see what he has. Or is it we got Rico Doddle to play a role and we got ETN to play a role. And despite the fact that we paid Juba Hubbard, we're going to give these guys more of an opportunity to sort of take some work away. And so I think he's a really good number two running back. I think he's got a chance to be, to build off what he did last year. But he didn't have to worry about competition last year. And so now we'll see what happens if these guys can give any sort of, you know, challenge to him and how he hopefully will still continue to sort of keep them at, at a, at a distance and be the lead guy there on what again should be an offense that's going to improve looks like.

[Adam Azer]

I mean based on last year, he's got a very. Chuba Hubbard has a very good schedule to start the year. Jacksonville was 31st against running backs, Arizona was 26th against running backs. Atlanta was 12th, New England was 25th. So that's what I want to see from him. I want to see him get off to a good start because I don't want to see, you know, them say ah, you know what, we should get Rico Dowdle more involved here. He wasn't, he was splitting third down reps last year with Miles Sanders. So I think even if he comes off the field on third down, he could still have like a 40 catch season or something like that, you know, over 17 games be involved enough. But I, I spoke a lot about Chuba Hubbard last week. I will let it go. Xavier Worthy and Patrick Mahomes being drafted in the 60s while being ranked, being ranked. It's not ADP. This is consensus rankings. We're using that right now because we think it's better than any early ADP. So Xavier Worthy 60th, Patrick Mahomes 64th and I just want to check one thing here where Rasheed Rice is. I'll get back to you on that. Sorry, but just going to look at the consensus rankings there. But all right, go ahead and talk about those, those Chiefs.

[Dave Richard]

Dave spent a lot of time studying the Chiefs this week and came to the conclusion that they're good. Hahaha. No, Worthy, we, we know how bombastic he was in his last six games. If you just take the games, he had at least six targets in. He averaged over 15 PPR points per game. If you take out the super bowl, which was like ridiculous, two touchdowns over 150 yards, still got you 14 PPR points per game in those six target games. I, I see his role developing. I think he ascends. This is the type of wide receiver that mid round values were made for. And he's. To me, I'm taking a chance on him as a top 20 wide receiver, maybe even a top 15 wide receiver. If we learn eventually that Rashid Rice isn't ready to go. Rice had the serious knee injury last year. He's just now started to run at practice with the Chiefs. There's no reason to rush him. It's May so they don't need to do like crazy stuff with Rasheed Rice now. And there's always a chance that a suspension comes down and, and Rice misses Simon, that would open the floodgates for, for Worthy to take off. But Mahomes has talked this offseason about being more explosive. This is the guy that he can be more explosive with. We all saw it in the super bowl. And so I, I want to find. I'm trying to identify a lot of these wide receivers who for lack of better terms have potential to finish as top 12 wide receivers, but aren't going to be drafted that way. AKA breakouts, AKA mid round gold, whatever you want to call them. I think Worthy is going to top that list for me based on what we saw at the end of last year. Further development, the quarterback he plays with and the goals that that offense has moving forward.

[Adam Azer]

Absolutely. He was a first round pick that they traded up for. You know, I mean there's a lot to love here. And then you've been pretty high in Mahomes. You. I'll skip him because you just. On our last episode he talked about why Patrick Mahomes could be the number two quarterback in fantasy and not ranking.

[Dave Richard]

It that way, not drafting him that way, but he could end up being that way.

[Adam Azer]

But he can't do it without a big year from Xavier Worthy. I think so it's. It goes hand in hand.

[Dave Richard]

Sure he could, he could have a big year from Rice, Brown, Kelsey.

[Adam Azer]

I don't know. I think he needs that. I think he needs that explosive element. That's what's been missing. And I think Worthy is really the only guy that can get can do that. Maybe Marquis Brown, but come on. I don't think so at this point.

[Dave Richard]

I wouldn't count on that.

[Adam Azer]

I'm gonna skip Omarion Hampton because we're all in agreement on rookie running backs being very good mid round picks. So Jameson Williams is so fascinating to me just because he's not probably not going to get that many targets and we just heard his offensive coordinator say he's expecting a breakout year from Jameson Williams. Williams was the number 17 wide receiver per game in non PPR, number 13 overall in full PPR. Not quite as good. He was number 26 per game in full PPR, number 22 overall and his 17 game pace was only 103 targets. His last nine games though was really good and Williams was on pace for 115 targets and he did a lot with those targets. So what do you think Dave, about Jameson Williams? Why is he on your list of your favorite mid round picks?

[Dave Richard]

If Worthy is the top name on my big bad booty breakout wide receiver list, JMO is going to be right behind him. We saw you mentioned those last nine games. I'm going to dial in a little bit more. In his last seven regular season games he had seven or more targets and six of them he averaged 15.3 PPR points per game. We knew last August that he was making progress as a route runner as is just more than just like a breakaway speed type of player. And we saw it in games we didn't see it consistently enough. There's a lot of mouse to feed in that offense. But by the end of the year, Jameson Williams started getting more and more involved. I think what Morton said was that he's never seen a guy as fast as Jameson Williams so why would he work on moving plays away from him and, and they want to get him even more involved. That's something that I'd like to bank on. I also think that the Lions might be in more competitive high scoring games this year than they were last year and not as many games where they just hand it to David Montgomery and he scores and, and the defense holds up. I think, I think that they could find themselves in a lot of dog fights this year and that means more pass attempts, that means more targets, not just for Jamo, but for everybody. So I like Worthy better and I would take Worthy ahead of Jameson Williams. But if I can get Jameson Williams to be my, my number three wide receiver, I, I would love it. I've got him ranked as my favorite number three wide receivers, 25th in my wide receiver rankings and I would take them round five. I, I don't think I would try and squeeze for round six. I would just rather have somebody with this kind of upside finally break through in what's effectively his second year because his rookie year, he, he barely played. And then the year after that there was a suspension. It's been a mess for him. I, I think he continues to get better.

[Adam Azer]

So look at this trio of wide receivers ranked in the consensus rankings as wide receivers. 31, 32 and 33, 65th through 67th overall. Jordan Addison, Jameson Williams, Travis Hunter. Jamie, I'll start with you. How do you rank those three? Jordan Addison, Jameson Williams, Travis Hunter, Travis.

[Jamie Eisenberg]

Hunter, Jameson Williams, Jordan Addison, Dave Jamo, Hunter, Addison.

[Adam Azer]

I like that. I love that, though. I mean, the next wide receiver off the board is George pickens, then Teteroa McMillan, then Roma Dunes A. I feel like I like those first three a lot better than those last three. So that's Addison, Jameson, Williams and Hunter. And then the next three is Pickens, Tetroa, McMillan and Odunze. You guys feeling the same way?

[Jamie Eisenberg]

The only one I don't love is Odunze. I think all the other guys are very similar sort of profiles in terms of, you know, being number two receivers on their teams with some really good number ones and chance for them to still be very productive. You can make certain cases for a few of these guys to, you know, outperform, you know, some of the number one guys. I think he said that wouldn't surprise him, right, if, if Travis Hunter was better than Brian Thomas. He's not ranking it that way, but I know he got a lot of pushback on that one. But still, you know, that's, that's one in terms of draft capital, that Travis Hunter could potentially be better than Brian Thomas. But in any event, I think you look at these guys as, you know, they're, they're most likely going to be second on their team and targets, they're still going to get opportunities that we love and hopefully they're going to deliver on it. So really old Nunese is the only one that should not be ranked this high. And I wonder how much that will change, certainly based on adp, once we get, you know, that metric that we're going to use.

[Dave Richard]

Does it bother anybody that 28 of Addison's PPR fantasy points came from touchdowns last year?

[Jamie Eisenberg]

How much of that was the same for Jameson?

[Dave Richard]

I can look it up. You're gonna have to give me a minute, but I can get you that.

[Adam Azer]

And don't forget the rushing touchdown for Jameson. It doesn't bother me as much as that the fact that Jameson Williams had six touchdowns of 35 or more yards. And I just I can't see that happening again. You know, that's so elite. But actually. And in fact, Jordan Addison had five in his rookie year. He had five touchdowns of 35 or more yards in 2023. And then Addison had only two the next year. So that's. Those are both things that, you know, you're looking for regression. For Jameson, it's long touchdowns. For Addison, it's just touchdowns in general. But yeah. What do you got on Jameson?

[Dave Richard]

22.6%, which is a lot.

[Adam Azer]

And what it was, Addison, 28 is even more.

[Dave Richard]

It's kind of crazy how that works. What we saw from Addison in the second half of last year was he became a red zone threat for Minnesota.

[Adam Azer]

Yeah.

[Dave Richard]

Eight of his nine touchdowns were in the second half of the year. And that really is what helped stepped up his, his numbers.

[Jamie Eisenberg]

Well, wasn't he. He was hurt at some point in the beginning part of the season.

[Adam Azer]

Yes, Addison. Yes, he was.

[Dave Richard]

How many games did he miss?

[Adam Azer]

He missed two games. Yeah, he played half the snaps in week one. So he left week one early. So that, that was the, the. And also like, okay, 115 targets for Jameson Williams was something I mentioned. That was his pace in the last nine games of the season. That was also Jordan Addison's pace, 115 targets. If you remove weeks one, two and three and in, in that game, in that stretch, he may. He played half of week one and missed weeks two and three.

[Jamie Eisenberg]

They're very similar in terms of where they are in their respective teams. The difference is, is that if JJ McCarthy stinks, Addison's probably gonna stink. If JJ McCarthy's Sam Darnold, which is so strange to say, then Addison should be fine. If J.J. mcCarthy's better than Sam Darnold, then Addison's going to be a superstar.

[Adam Azer]

All right, let's.

[Dave Richard]

Came in Week 9 or later, six of those eight touchdowns were in the red zone, four were inside the 10.

[Jamie Eisenberg]

So it's basically like the, the profiles are very similar because Jameson Williams, last nine games, as we're talking about here, he was very good. Addison's second half season, very good. Like to me they're, they're, I don't want to say they're interchangeable because again, I, I give the edge to Jameson because of the quarterbacks. But you're still talking about they're not going to leave their team in targets without injuries. They're going to be relying on either big plays or scoring touchdowns or both. And you're hoping in the case of Addison that the quarterback is going to take a step forward. But I think also you got to factor in for Addison a healthy TJ Hawkinson, which he wasn't really until the final stretch of the season. So there's just to me there, the fantasy profile is very similar and I think should be drafted in a similar range.

[Dave Richard]

All right, last one game with 15 plus PPR without Hawkinson and then 5 of 10 games with Hawkinson he averaged 16.3 PPR points, 13 plus PPR points and 7 of 10. If it's the weirdest thing, I think the, the way to actually put that is if Hawkinson is back to his old self, how does that impact the entire Minnesota offense? Well, being there red zone touchdowns away.

[Jamie Eisenberg]

From, from Addison, it sounds like just him being there was good for the offense in general.

[Dave Richard]

So. So no, there's a big, that Hawkinson wasn't 100.

[Adam Azer]

There's a big thing we're missing here and it's this, the first half of the season. They didn't throw that much in in Addison's first seven games, which were week one and then weeks four through 10, 29.6 pass attempts per game in Addison's last eight games to close the season, 35.5 pass attempts per game. So six more past attempts per game and a much more productive Sam Darnold who was on pace for 38 touchdowns and four interceptions in those eight games. And in that stretch Addison was great, Jefferson was great. I think Hawkinson was, was pretty good. No, because he didn't catch a touchdown. Right. He had 100. He was on pace for 104 targets and zero touchdowns in those last eight games. But I think that that was kind of, this is a change in philosophy. They got back to their roots of throwing the ball a lot. All right, Stefan Diggs and Juwan Jennings, 92nd, 93rd overall in consensus rankings. Right now these are two players that Dave highlighted as his favorite values. I'm gonna throw a third one in there and I want you to tell me who your favorite value is. So Diggs at 92, Jennings at 93. And we'll leave the mid round area for a moment and go to Ricky Pearsall, 110th overall ball, who's your favorite value? Digs 92nd, Jennings 93rd, Pearson 110th.

[Dave Richard]

As we sit here now, it's Jennings because we don't know if Brandon Ayuk is going to be himself coming back from his knee injury. We don't know if Diggs is going to be what he was last year coming off of his knee injury and we don't know what Ricky Pierce saw. We know that he's got a lot of upside, but I, we got to hear about it a little bit more first. So it, I think just the safest way to play it as a fantasy drafter is to go after Juwan Jennings first. Okay, that can change by late August. Stefan Diggs is flying around everywhere. Dude's going to be the target leader.

[Adam Azer]

For New England to just to end the show. I just want to point out. And guys, feel free if you want to add more names, but RJ Harvey at RB28, 81st overall in the rankings is the one that really stands out to me as incredible value going right after Jalen Warren. The next pick is. Or the next guy in the rankings is Quinch on Judkins. But I mean Harvey, he's going to.

[Jamie Eisenberg]

Be such a riot. I mean he, he's should be, he's mine. I don't know where you are, Dave, but he's my second favorite rookie running back behind Genti. I mean just the opportunity, the team that he plays for, the, the situation, I mean, you know, I don't know. I, I, I can't, I can't see him staying in this range.

[Dave Richard]

I don't think he'll stay in that range either. I've got Hampton a few spots ahead of him just because I, I think I'd rather have the, the, the Bull running back for Jim Harbaugh than, than Harvey and Sean Payne. Not that that's a bad spot to be in where Harvey is. It's a close call. I just think there's more touchdown potential for Hampton. And Harbaugh kept talking about how he views Hampton as a three down player and loves his receiving skill set. That stood out to me.

[Adam Azer]

So I'm looking at NFC average draft position since May 1st. It's not a ton of drafts. RJ Harvey is RB23. He's going 65th overall.

[Jamie Eisenberg]

That's closer to where he'll go.

[Adam Azer]

Yeah, after Henderson Montgomery, then it's Harvey and Caleb Johnson and then Tony Pollard. But we are all taking Harvey well ahead of 65th overall, aren't we? Not well ahead, but ahead.

[Jamie Eisenberg]

NFC is tough because it's going to be so receiver heavy. But yeah, that's the, I think you just look at the, the RB number.

[Adam Azer]

RB 23.

[Jamie Eisenberg]

Yeah, I have him closer to like the late teens, but I think anywhere from like 18 through 26 is where he'll end up going. I think 29 is just a little bit of a stretch. It is funny we have two comments in the chat back to back. Jennings just seems like a guy that's, that's going to disappear followed by Jennings. She'll be the team targets. And I think that's kind of where people come out in this. And that's why I think Ayuk is probably still being the consensus ranking from the industry ahead of both those guys. Because if he's healthy, let's just say early in the season the thought would be he's the most proven of this group and should be the best of this group. I just have a hard time seeing him be a healthy in the season. And last year was such a struggle for him when he was healthy that Jennings right now, based on all the circumstances plus he's in a contract year. I was reading a story out of San Francisco that they sort of clearly I don't think they did the wrong thing but they undersold his value when they gave him this two year extension that is now gonna, you know, expire. With the thought of Debo still on the roster. Ayuk was going to get paid like they didn't do anything wrong by not, you know, giving their third receiver a longer contract extension. But now he may end up being their best receiver for who knows how long. And then you have Pearsall. I, I, I would almost say he's the best value simply because of the three names that you listed. Simply because I don't think Jennings stays here. I think Pierce all probably ends up staying in this range. I can't imagine that if we get reports that that Ayuk is going to be out for the start of the season ends up on the pop list, you know, doesn't, you know, make it for week one or two. That Jennings values is a skyrocket.

[Adam Azer]

All right, well we will follow all the developments for you here on Fantasy Football today. And that is it for the show. We're going to talk about our favorite late round picks on tomorrow's edition of fft. If you're watching live, hop on over to FFT Express. We'll be there in a few minutes for Dave, Jamie and Thomas. I am Adam Azer.

[Jamie Eisenberg]

See you tomorrow.

[Adam Azer]

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[Jamie Eisenberg]

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[Dave Richard]

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[Adam Azer]

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