Players We Love! Jonathan Taylor, Dak Prescott, Luther Burden and More (03/26 Fantasy Football Podcast)

Summary

FANTASY FOOTBALL TODAY – CBS SPORTS
Players We Love! Jonathan Taylor, Dak Prescott, Luther Burden and More
March 26, 2026

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Episode Overview

This episode is all about the players the FFT crew loves heading into the 2026 fantasy football season. Adam Aizer, Dave Richard, Jamey Eisenberg, and Heath Cummings go through their favorite values and breakout candidates across positions, focusing on players who could provide big returns based on their projection, situation, or draft cost. Hot topics include veteran quarterbacks, second-year breakouts, rookie potential, and the ever-evolving tight end landscape.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

Rookie 40 Times and Dynasty Draft Impact

• Carnell Tate's 40 Time (04:04–06:10)
  • Tate ran a 4.53, slower than expected, and then declined to re-run at Pro Day.
  • Panel consensus: 40 times are overrated for receivers; tape and skills matter more for NFL success. (Jamie: "Jerry Rice ran like a 4.7. Lots of good wide receivers in the NFL ran four fives." 04:30)
  • Landing spot (e.g., Kansas City with Mahomes) will mean more than 40 time.
  • Dynasty drafts should focus on role, system, and draft capital over combine numbers.

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Dak Prescott: Undervalued QB1

• Dave’s Case for Dak (08:08–11:08)
  • Finished as QB5 (overall) and QB8 (per game) last season, even with a poor Week 18.
  • "He was a really good fantasy quarterback last year...I've got him in round 8 and another one in round 12." (Heath, 08:26)
  • Panel highlights he's often available late; upside for this season is solid, especially given Dallas’ projected pass volume.
  • Minor concern: Hasn’t had consecutive strong fantasy years recently, but injuries and supporting cast played a big role.
  • "It's just easy to wait out Dak...I felt like I stole Burrow from you guys too. But it's round 12, there's literally nobody left that's any good. I might as well take Dak Prescott here." (Heath, 10:45)
  • If you miss out on a rushing QB or hot rookie, Dak is a high-floor play later in drafts.
  • Notable quote:
    • "At some point in your drafts, you're going to have to stare value in the face..." – Heath (10:39)

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RB Value: Tyler Allgeier vs James Conner (Cards)

• Backfield Breakdown (11:41–14:11)
  • Dave: Loves Allgeier as a bench RB with RB2 upside if injuries hit.
  • Jamie & Heath: Prefer Conner, especially if prices are similar.
    • Efficiency concerns with Arizona’s OL, but Conner is more involved (especially as a receiver).
  • Committee likely, but injuries are inevitable.
  • "I'll just take James Conner and take the good production for however many games he can play." – Jamie (12:24)

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Tight End Trends: Tyler Warren, Fanon, Laporta, Kraft (14:11–23:02)

• Dave likes targeting Warren and Fanon in late round 5, views them as possible team-leaders in targets.
• Is this the end of waiting for late tight end value? Maybe not, but middle rounds (5–7) are now loaded with potential top-5 options vs. usual busts.
• ADP check: Loveland (TE4), Warren (TE5), Fanon (TE6) all go between rounds 5–7.
• Panel is split: Jamie leans Laporta/Loveland; Adam prefers the newer, higher-upside options if cost is lower by 2+ rounds.
  • "I'm just kind of waiting until one of those guys is the last guy and that's when I want to pounce." – Heath (14:19)
• Laporta: Proven volume but may lose opportunities with new OC and more target competition; still a strong value if he falls.
• Middle tier at TE looks unusually strong this season.
  • Notable: "Is this the year that Jamie's late or great at tight end just goes away?" – Jamie (15:04)

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Christian Watson: Post-Hype Sleeper WR

• Breakout Hopes Amid Doubts (23:02–25:38)
  • Injuries and inconsistent target volume have capped his upside.
  • Adam: Efficiency and usage metrics suggest “potential explosion.”
  • Heath: "He is no Davante Adams," but if Dobbs leaves and no major additions, Watson could be a WR3 with boom weeks.
  • Jamie: Sees Will Fuller vibes; upside if role grows, but floor is low.
  • Dave: “Sky’s the limit… huge breakout candidate.” (25:30)
  • "13.2 PPR points per game last year, but it was very boom or bust." – Heath (25:30)
  • Watson is a strong upside WR3 if available in round 6–7.

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Jamie’s Favorite Picks

1. Amarian Hampton: Second-Year RB Leap

• Justification (26:21–27:55)
  • Mike McDaniel’s system and solid OL: "The addition of Mike McDaniel...should be great." – Jamie (27:08)
  • Range of outcomes comp: Mostert 18 TD season, Achane 170 targets over two years; Hampton is the middle ground – goal-line and receiving upside.
  • Aggressively targeting him in drafts over similar-tier RBs like Genti or Ken Walker.

2. Emeka Egbuka: New WR Alpha in Tampa

• Opportunity in Tampa (28:11–30:09)
  • No Mike Evans; Abuka steps into top role with Godwin.
  • Jamie and Dave prefer him to Devante Adams for upside.
  • Caveat: “Let’s see what Baker [Mayfield] looks like” with a new OC.
  • Third-round pick in PPR formats.

3. Luther Burden: The Next Big Leap?

• Sophomore WR Projection (31:35–36:23)
  • Projects as breakout WR2/3; only 60 rookie targets, but elite per-route production indicates more to come.
  • Targets comparison: Outlier-type leap needed, but context supports it—the offense changed late, and he flashed big time when on the field.
  • Jamie: "When he was on the field, he was so awesome." (35:12)
  • FFT panel: All high on Burden for year-two surge—talent + targets = upside.

4. Isaiah Likely: Breakout TE Potential in New Offense

• Opportunity + Familiarity (39:08–39:41)
  • Lands in ATL with ex-BAL staff; Dart (QB) relied on TE before, WRs uncertain.
  • "Big opportunity to push for top-5 at the position. Easy top-10 pick at TE." – Jamie

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Heath’s Favorite Picks

1. Jalen Hurts: Boring but Undervalued

• "What he does almost every year is give you 30+ touchdowns, finish as a top-5 fantasy quarterback…He just had his big down year and he was QB7." (Jamie, 40:02)
• Often available in rounds 7–8, panel sees minimal risk/big upside at cost.

2. Jonathan Taylor: The Forgotten Elite RB

• "I draft him at the end of round one and I absolutely love it…he feels as safe as it comes." – Heath (42:53)
• Still a top-three RB projection wise, but routinely falling outside top-8 picks.

3. Zay Flowers: Target Magnet, Ready for More TDs

• Two straight years, ~118 targets; finished WR12 per game despite minimal TDs (5).
• "If he just happens to have a season where he scores eight touchdowns, he's an easy top-10 wide receiver." – Heath (46:33)
• ADP in the 4th round; one of the few WRs with WR1 upside after Round 3.

4. Sam LaPorta: Tight End Value

• Frequently overlooked in drafts for shinier breakout names.
• Expects him to be reliable in Ben Johnson’s system, even with more competition.
• “So easy to wait on tight end. Tight end is so deep.” – Heath (48:11)

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• "Jerry Rice ran like a 4.7. Lots of good wide receivers in the NFL ran four fives... it does not matter." – Jamie (04:30, on 40 times)
• "It's just so easy to wait and take value at quarterback. At some point… you're going to have to stare value in the face." – Heath (10:39)
• “Sky’s the limit for Christian Watson… huge breakout candidate.” – Dave (25:30)
• “If he just happens to have a season where he scores eight touchdowns, he’s an easy top-10 WR.” – Heath (46:33 on Zay Flowers)
• “I draft [Jonathan Taylor] at the end of round one and I absolutely love it.” – Heath (42:53)

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Timestamps for Major Segments

• Players We Love Overview: [03:31]
• Carnell Tate/40 Time Debate: [04:04]
• NFL Week 1 Schedule Talk: [06:33]
• Dak Prescott Deep Dive: [08:08]
• RB Value: Allgeier vs Conner: [11:41]
• Tight End Trends Discussion: [14:11]
• Christian Watson’s Upside: [23:02]
• Jamie’s Favorite Picks: [26:21] (Hampton), [28:11] (Egbuka), [31:35] (Burden), [39:08] (Likely)
• Heath’s Veterans List: [39:41] (Hurts, Taylor, Flowers, Laporta)

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Final Thoughts

This episode is a treasure trove for fantasy managers seeking draft-day bargains and justified breakouts. The panel provides actionable, position-by-position insights, constantly referencing draft slotting and current best-ball ADPs. Key takeaways: don’t sleep on safe veterans like Jonathan Taylor and Jalen Hurts, grab upside WRs and TEs once sleepers go off the board, and always remember context—talent, opportunity, coaching, and draft value matter as much or more than last year’s stats.

Transcript

[Adam]

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[Dave]

What a play. Can you believe this?

[Jamie]

No, I can't.

[Heath]

It's time to dominate your fantasy league. Off to the races and he stays on his feet. This is gonna go the distance.

[Jamie]

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

[Adam]

Oh boy. All right.

[Jamie]

Welcome everybody.

[Adam]

Fantasy Football Today live in studio in Fort Lauderdale and I have the worst seat in the house.

[Heath]

Yay.

[Adam]

I'm a little quiet.

[Jamie]

Why is it the worst seat? Jamie is attacking me. Oh, you're sitting by Jamie.

[Adam]

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, Absolutely. Hey, what's up, guys?

[Heath]

Literally walked into the studio and did exactly that.

[Adam]

A lot of tickles today. Anyway, Adam, Dave, Jamie, Heath here to talk about players we love and seats we hate on. On fantasy football today. Jamie's. What's up, guys? How we doing, guys? Good to see you.

[Jamie]

All better than you currently. Yeah.

[Dave]

You coming to lunch? What?

[Jamie]

Lunch?

[Adam]

Yeah, apparently there's been a lunch plan.

[Dave]

Yeah.

[Adam]

What happened? Jamie forgot to invite Heath to lunch.

[Dave]

No, not true. Yeah, it wasn't me.

[Adam]

I didn't even want to go to lunch.

[Jamie]

Just like this is normally when we don't have a show. When I eat lunch, I'm a 10am lunch guy. Wake up early. I don't usually eat breakfast. Eat lunch at 10am so, like, if you're going to lunch immediately after this.

[Dave]

Immediately after.

[Jamie]

Immediately up, like, just like quickly, then.

[Adam]

Yes. Oh, no, it's not gonna be that at all.

[Jamie]

I have to edit.

[Dave]

No, no, you're editing after. Fine, whatever.

[Adam]

All right, anyway, today on the show, players we love. Dave's gonna talk about Dak Prescott, Tyler Algier, a couple tight ends, Christian Watson. Jamie's going to talk about Amarian Hampton and all the young guys. A Mecca Buka, Luther Burden, and Isaiah Likely. He's not that young. He's going to talk about Jalen Hurts, Jonathan Taylor, Sam Laporta and Zay Flowers. First, Cincinnati resigned. Joe Flacco and six stars talked about this already. No, you didn't.

[Dave]

Yes, we did.

[Adam]

I asked them before the show yesterday.

[Heath]

Yeah, we did mentioned it. I don't know if we need.

[Dave]

We need to spend a lot of time on Joe Flacco.

[Adam]

Okay, how about Carnell Tate did not

[Dave]

run his 40 that we didn't get to.

[Adam]

Okay, so he ran a 4, 5, 3, which was a little slower than people thought. I brought it up on the show. Everybody made fun of me for bringing it up on the show.

[Heath]

This.

[Adam]

Then he decides not to run his 40. Says they're overrated or something like that. Marvin Harrison Jr also did not run his 40. I don't love it, Heath. You don't? I don't think you care that much.

[Jamie]

I could not care less.

[Adam]

I think he. It feels like you're. It feels like he's afraid to run a slow 40 if he's not going to run it at his pro day.

[Jamie]

I. I don't know, I, I think I agree with him that 40 times four wide receivers are overrated. I think if. Let's go look at the fastest wide receivers 40 times and how successful they've been in the NFL and it's not. Jerry Rice ran like a four seven. Lots of good wide receivers in the NFL ran four fives. Lots of elite wide receivers in the NFL ran a four five.

[Dave]

Okay. All right.

[Heath]

And it's not like that's his number one trait. Like, that's not his strength at all, if you ask me. I think he's fast. There's no question about it. But I, I feel like there's a lot of other things that Carnell Tate does that, you know, help him be a better receiver than just pure speed. There's other speed receivers in this draft if you're looking for that type of thing.

[Dave]

I think if, if he ends up with the right. In the right situation, nobody's gonna care.

[Adam]

Well, I, I think from, you know. All right. It just, it's worth mentioning from a Dynasty perspective because obviously people have to invest a very. I think it might be the second player off the board.

[Dave]

So if he goes. If he goes to Tennessee, right?

[Adam]

Yeah.

[Dave]

Not the most ideal situation.

[Heath]

Why?

[Dave]

I'm just saying, like, came word, we don't know what is. Well, no, what I'm getting at is, like, if he goes to great quarterback, great system, has a chance to flourish, we're going to be super excited about it. He goes to. And I, I shouldn't, you know, just crap on Tennessee because yes, Cam Ward could be good and obviously Brian Dables are now and all those things. But I'm just saying, like, if he doesn't go to the most ideal circumstances, maybe that was the case for Marvin Harrison, that he's not in the most ideal circumstance because Kyler Murray wasn't the guy to elevate him, etc. Etc. So, yeah, you know, if, if he falls into the right spot, I don't think anybody's gonna worry about his 40 time on draft day. Now how it plays out, we don't know.

[Jamie]

Yeah, also, like, Kansas City might be that perfect spot. Like, maybe he goes to play with Patrick Mahomes. Rushy Rice ran a 4 5. Xavier Worthy ran a 4 2. Who

[Heath]

would you rather have?

[Jamie]

Which one would you rather have in Dynasty?

[Heath]

Yes, exactly.

[Adam]

Yeah, I get it.

[Heath]

Is Rashid Rice, like, out of the clear? Forget off field issues.

[Adam]

We're gonna have a week one. Our season open is gonna be on Wednesday.

[Heath]

Nice.

[Adam]

Wednesday and Thursday of week one. So clear Your calendars.

[Heath]

You can't ever have enough days with football on it.

[Adam]

Oh, no, there's not. Because the. The Friday game is in Australia, which will be airing on Thursday in America. So Wednesday and Thursday. All right.

[Heath]

The Seahawks play Wednesday. It's Rams Niners on Thursday.

[Dave]

I can't believe they. The division games away from the home game. Home team sites drive me crazy.

[Adam]

Why?

[Dave]

Because, like, that's what you want to see. You want to see your rivals, you know, like that should be. It should be a non division opponent where they do this with the overseas games.

[Adam]

Yeah, fair enough. Who do you want to see the Seahawks play in the opener?

[Heath]

I wanted to see them play the Rams. That's not happening. So now the Bears is probably the team I'd like to see.

[Dave]

It's a good game.

[Adam]

Yeah. I just want to. Whoever drafts Carnell Tate.

[Heath]

Let's see.

[Adam]

Let's see that speed.

[Heath]

I'm not even sure he's the best receiver in this draft.

[Dave]

Yeah.

[Adam]

Who?

[Heath]

Carnell Tate?

[Adam]

No, who do you think?

[Heath]

I think you can make the case for Lemon and Concepcion.

[Jamie]

You make these for Tyson.

[Heath]

You can make the case for Tyson too.

[Adam]

Okay. Beyond the box score. They're going to talk about. I'll make sure they do an episode on 40 times. 40 minutes of 40 times. You think they can.

[Heath]

I'd like to hear dance.

[Adam]

That's the A block. But anyway, beyond the box score. Great stuff. They have their own YouTube channel. So just look it up. Go to YouTube. Type in beyond the box score. All right, let's get into players we love. I got Dave's first. Dak Prescott was the number five quarterback in fantasy. He was number eight per game. That was with a terrible week 18 where he played half. Half the game and didn't do much. You take away week 18 is points per game. Go up to 22.9. Fantasy.

[Heath]

Higher than that. 23.3.

[Dave]

Oh, good. Here we go.

[Jamie]

This is favorite thing.

[Dave]

The.

[Adam]

The. The what?

[Heath]

Four.

[Jamie]

Ten of a point in points per game.

[Heath]

I just want him over the.

[Adam]

All right, we'll call it 23.1. Okay, compromise. Fair enough. 23 points. Very good.

[Heath]

It's clear that he was a really good fantasy quarterback last year. He wasn't the best of the best, but I've got him in one of our mock drafts in round eight and another one in round 12. We're taking two of his wide receivers as top 10 wide receivers at the position. I. I don't think the Dallas defense is going to be that much better. It'll be better but it won't be like one of the best run defenses in the league or the best defenses overall in the league. I think you're going to see Dallas still throw the ball a lot. That means a lot of fantasy points for Dak Prescott.

[Dave]

When's the last time he had back to back good years?

[Heath]

It's probably been a few. I'd have to double check. Never, Never. He's never had.

[Dave]

It's been a long time.

[Heath]

Well is that because of injuries playing a role? Because there's definitely some years where he missed time. Yeah, yeah.

[Dave]

I mean listen, it's been, it's been injuries, it's been his wide receivers not being healthy as well. You know CD Lamb, he had 20

[Heath]

plus three straight years, 2021 through 2023.

[Adam]

Okay, 2020-2019-2020-2021. He's over 24 points all three years per game.

[Jamie]

But four games in one of those seasons.

[Heath]

No.

[Adam]

16, 5 and 16. Then, then a bad season in 2022 where he threw a lot of interceptions. Then he came back with a great 2023. So he basically to me had a five season stretch where he's awesome except one year where he threw 15 picks in 12 games and then 2024 wasn't great. I don't really know what happened there. Just he again he threw a lot of interceptions.

[Heath]

Ok, bad.

[Adam]

And last year was pretty good. Last year he ran, he didn't run a lot though. He has two years in a row where he's not running a lot.

[Dave]

He's not going to be a running quarterback.

[Heath]

No, not anymore.

[Adam]

But can he get to 230 like 180 yards or something like that? I think if you can get to 250 which is where he used to

[Dave]

live and that's realistic. But I, I don't think you're going to get the 400 yards from again. And you're, you know, the rushing touchdowns are hard to expect. I, I think, you know, like Dave said, he's one of the best quarterbacks to wait for. You know, if everybody's going to chase Jackson Dart and you know Caleb Williams and you know these young guys that are on the rise. Jayn Daniel's coming back. It's just easy to just sit there and say okay, I'll wait out Dak. And I think you took that for not mistaken either right before, right after Trevor Lawrence in that draft yesterday. So you know another guy that's going to be in that conversation as well.

[Heath]

It was round 12 and I had already drafted Joe Burrow. I Couldn't help myself throughout the rounds.

[Dave]

Throughout the rounds for our drafts. But, you know, was QB10, QB11, you

[Heath]

know, but at some point in your drafts, you're. You're going to have to stare value in the face instead of what you.

[Dave]

Oh, sure.

[Heath]

You know, you might be a drafter that you've got your stud quarterback already, and it's, it's easy to pass up a Dak Prescott in round eight or round nine when you've already got Joe Burrow. When did I get burrow? Like round six. I felt like I stole Burrow from you guys too. But it's round 12. There's literally nobody left at any other position that's any good. I might, I, I just said to myself, I might as well take Dak Prescott here. He's the best value on the board, to be fair.

[Dave]

We may talk about this.

[Heath]

You're.

[Dave]

You're off next week, right? So we're, we'll probably talk about this draft next week. I think if I'm not mistaken, Kyler Murray definitely went before Dak, which I don't think we'll see.

[Adam]

Oh, wow.

[Dave]

Average opposition. And Malik Willis also might have went before Dak as well. So those are two guys that I don't think we'll see.

[Adam]

Six point, right?

[Dave]

Six points, Yeah, I don't think.

[Heath]

Six point half dpr.

[Dave]

I don't think we'll see that. But Kyler was definitely drafted.

[Adam]

All right. Dave also likes Tyler Algier. Loves Tyler Alger. Apparently now with the Cardinals. Yards per carry in four seasons. 4.9, 3.7, 4.7, 3.6. So you never know with him. 13 to 18 catches in all four of his NFL seasons. Tyler Algier, you love him.

[Heath]

I just love the value of a running back who the new coaching staff brought in and will be paired with. James Conner and maybe Trey Benson works his way in there. I don't know. But Connor, we all know at this point in his career, you can't count on him for a full season. Algiers going to at worst be a 1B running back. We're taking him in the back half of fantasy drafts. It's round nine where I took him. I think in two drafts is where I got him. I just love that value for a bench running back who could end up being an RB2 at some point during the year.

[Adam]

He's looking at a draft we did last week. Connor went two picks ahead of Algier, both in round nine. So what's your read on that? And Trey Benson went in round 12. First pick.

[Jamie]

Yeah, I think if they're that close together, I'll just take James Connor and take the good production for however many games that he can play. My concern with Algiers is like, this is probably still one of the worst teams in football. They were terrible running the football last year. In terms of rushing efficiency. Algier, I don't think is necessarily. He's really good at getting whatever the, the offensive line gives him. I don't think this offensive line is going to give him very much. They're not going to score very many touchdowns. At least with James Connor, like, we could get a situation where he's also catching three passes per game.

[Heath]

Yeah.

[Jamie]

Tyler Algier, even at his best, if something happens to Connor is maybe 15 to 16 rush attempts per game, maybe he catches a pass and it's probably poor efficiency with low touchdowns. So I'll take Connor.

[Dave]

And to your point, the rushing efficiency probably had a lot to do with who the guys were. Right. You know, I mean it was no Connor, no Benson, didn't have Algeria on the roster. You know, we're looking at Michael Carter and Amari Di Mercado line wasn't that great either. Yeah, I mean that, that's obvious. And, and the other part of this is we didn't see Connor in the Jacoby Brissette offense. Not that that's great per se, but it's a pocket passer from a pass catching standpoint that might have been something that could help him. So if we see, you know, more of a traditional offense as opposed to Kyler Murray offense, we might see a little bit more, you know, receptions for the running back. So it could be, it could be a good situation for, for Connor at least. I still prefer Connor. I don't know if you, you're taking out your first.

[Heath]

No, I think I have Connor.

[Dave]

Yeah, I still prefer Connor. So I'm with you. I think, you know, you take that stretch of whenever he's healthy and you know, you say new coaching staff. This is still the same regime that restructured Connor's contract so.

[Heath]

Well, they, he took a pay cut to stay.

[Dave]

Yeah.

[Heath]

So, so they didn't kick him to the curb.

[Dave]

But, but, but the point would be, is like they, they still obviously see some value in him, that they're going to use him to whatever degree they use.

[Adam]

Okay, Dave, give me your thoughts before we go to break on Tyler Warren. You say you love Warren or Fanon, right? I guess that's the, that's the tight end value that you're looking at.

[Heath]

Late round five is where I'm targeting one of those two tight ends, Loveland too. If he happens to be there, I just don't think to be there. He hasn't been there in any of the drafts that we've done so far. But I, I think that both of them, especially in leagues where catches count, they're going to be able to give you more than your typical tight end would at that point. And I think that that's fairly good value. Not necessarily amazing value, but you're going to be happy having one of those top five tight ends that's going to see a lot of targets and has upside to be the top target getter on their team or someone who could be north of 12 PPR points per game at that position. I'm just kind of waiting until one of those guys is the last guy and that's when I want to pounce on them and I'm usually finding them late round five.

[Jamie]

Is this the year that Jamie's late or great at tight end just goes away.

[Adam]

No wonder we didn't.

[Heath]

No, we're still going to talk about the later great tight end because it

[Jamie]

seems like we're really excited to draft these guys in round five, round six, round seven, which has generally been when the tight end busts have happened.

[Dave]

I do think we're going to see a pretty good group of that middle tier though, right? I mean.

[Jamie]

Oh, it looks. Yeah, that's what I'm saying. So is so is later.

[Dave]

But I feel like usually when we're doing that. Yes. Later. Greatest will be good. Don't worry. We have it.

[Heath]

We'll find out. Like Isaiah likely is already the. The headliner for that list.

[Dave]

Well, I think even you probably extend it a little bit too right. Because you have Goddard still. You know who's top 13 every year but his rookie season.

[Adam]

Kelsey. We talked about Kelsey.

[Heath]

Kelsey.

[Adam]

Kelsey was fifth per game when Mahomes was healthy last year. Six per game.

[Dave]

I think in ppr. I guess the. The biggest question I have is first off, can you look what the best ball ADP is right now for the Titans because I wonder if they're going in round five.

[Adam]

Can we get a break in when we come back? Yeah. Jamie's thoughts when we come back. We'll take a quick break on fantasy football today. We'll pick up this conversation about tight ends because Heath also has Laporta on his list. So we'll talk about when should Laporta go in relation to Fannin and Tyler Warren. We'll be right Back on fantasy football today. Parle tout hablas espanol. Parle italiano.

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[Dave]

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[Adam]

for 20% [e-mail] all right, we're back hawking. I didn't get the ADP. I failed during the break.

[Dave]

You look, my question to you is because you like Laporta and Kraft I think is going to be somebody that comes into the conversation as well. Are you still going to look at those guys if Daniel Jones is not ready for the start of the season? You know, coming up, the Achilles and it's Desean Watson, maybe Watson, maybe Sanders. Like how, how's your excitement level with, with those two in particular?

[Heath]

So my excitement level will change with Fanon if the Browns make some big changes to the receiving core. And I'm talking about more than one guy. They've got a, you know, they, they get Tate in round one and then they've got a day two wide receiver

[Dave]

or signed Davis or they.

[Heath]

Right, sure. Tyreek Hill or something like that. Obviously in that type of situation, we can't look at Fannin and say he's going to get a ton of targets. It's going to drop him down a little bit. That's when I might consider Laporta over somebody like Harold Fannin. And if Daniel Jones isn't ready to start the season, yeah, it's kind of a bummer. But I still look at that passing game for Indianapolis and as long as they don't replace Pittman with someone of equal value, I still feel good about Warren being at least the number two target getter in that offense and I feel fine with that. And he's. He's locked in as a top four tight end for me. Okay.

[Adam]

I got Loveland 45th.

[Dave]

Okay.

[Adam]

And Warren 67th.

[Dave]

Okay. Oh, wow.

[Heath]

That's round six.

[Adam]

Fannon 75th.

[Dave]

Love it.

[Jamie]

So there's probably quarterbacks going earlier.

[Adam]

Yeah. Eight quarterbacks up to that point. 39 wide was like Michael Wilson, DK Metcalf, Courtland, Sutton. Where.

[Dave]

Where are any other tight ends in relation to that?

[Heath]

Like Laporta, you mean?

[Dave]

Yeah, yeah, sure.

[Adam]

Tight end six.

[Heath]

Yeah. Who are the next tight end?

[Adam]

Six is Tucker Kraft at 83. Tight end seven is Pitts at 89. Tight end eight is Laporta at 92.

[Heath]

I like the Laporta value a lot.

[Jamie]

Yeah, you like Dave loves my love.

[Adam]

I mean how. How close is Laporta to the three second year tight ends?

[Jamie]

The same.

[Adam]

Yeah.

[Jamie]

For me I think he was better than those guys as a rookie. He has shown like in traditionally in their offense. He's at very least one of their top targets in the end zone. Now they've got a new offensive coordinator who comes from the Kevin Stefanski tree that throws the ball 10 times per Thomas.

[Dave]

Betsy, right?

[Jamie]

Yes. Throws the ball 10 times per game.

[Adam]

Coming to lunch with us.

[Jamie]

To everybody but me. And I think he has a better quarterback than at least two of those guys.

[Dave]

He just has more target competition which.

[Jamie]

Right. He does.

[Dave]

I wonder how much though is Dan Campbell still going to be calling place

[Heath]

and I wonder how much of it is. Well, he had Trey McBride to throw to in Arizona and so they really want to utilize that element. And it's Laporta the same guy as McBride, I think, which I don't think we can say.

[Dave]

He would probably argue and. Right. It's. If it's getting closer to McBride. Not being McBride but you know, the arrow starts to go up a little.

[Heath]

McBride was getting like north of eight targets per game. Sure. Laporter was at five and a half.

[Jamie]

Well, but it's not just like if. And maybe you don't associate Cleveland with Arizona like I do, but it's also David Najoku. It's also Harold Fannin. Like, it's just been the. I don't think all of those guys are on a different level than Sam Laporta. Time, always.

[Dave]

Sure. But to. To counter that, I guess would be. Is you had. You had an Amari Cooper year. You know, there were. There really wasn't a amount wrestling Brown and Jameson Williams that those offenses were competing with. But I, I think, like, where did I, I got Laporta after those young tight ends as well in the half PPR draft we did yesterday. And like, that was an easy selection for me. Right?

[Adam]

Yeah, yeah.

[Heath]

He was the eighth tight end off the board.

[Adam]

I mean, LaPorta and Craft, they're both really good, but I don't know, are they going to even get 100 targets?

[Jamie]

Well, Laporta's had 120 in a season before and does the new offensive coordinator matter?

[Dave]

I would say yes.

[Heath]

I would say yes to a degree. I'd be worried about like six and a half target. Like, I'm worried about laporta being in the same range of targets as Warren and Fanon for now.

[Adam]

And his old offensive coordinator, Ben, you know Ben Johnson. Right. Had just had.

[Heath]

It was really good for him.

[Adam]

Yeah, I. And so you're saying he did get the 120 targets there, but was that with. I don't know when that was. Was that with Jameson Williams?

[Heath]

It was before jamo.

[Adam]

That's the thing. Like, I feel like that matters too much. And two years in a row we've seen Detroit not throw a lot when their defense was healthy and good. Their defense completely falls apart in the second half because they get so injured and then they start throwing a lot. And Laporta wasn't really a part of that this year, but he had 49 targets in nine games. I like him. It's just, I, I don't know if he or Craft are getting to 100 targets. It's kind of hard to be great at that.

[Dave]

So you're. You're gonna take the younger tight ends?

[Adam]

I'm gonna, I'm gonna skip them all.

[Dave]

No, I'm saying. But yeah, you had to choose.

[Adam]

Yeah.

[Dave]

You could take Fan and Warren, obviously love them, but Fanon and Warren over laporta and Craft

[Adam]

because they're all. Two rounds yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, I am.

[Dave]

Okay, so. And you would take laporta over all the.

[Jamie]

I'd just wait until the rookies are taken, then take Laporta like you did in the right last draft.

[Adam]

All right. What if it were an auction? I mean, you just would spend less on the porta.

[Jamie]

He's going to go for less.

[Adam]

Who, who are you ranking highest?

[Jamie]

I'll probably have Loveland, LaPorta, Warren, vanish.

[Dave]

Okay.

[Adam]

All right. So, yeah, I mean, just get the value there. Whoever goes last, right, Dave, Christian Watson. You know, it just feel like. It just feels like there's something untapped there, doesn't it?

[Heath]

Yeah, it's been that way his entire career.

[Adam]

But they look like they were tapping into it a little bit even. He was still. Even at his best. Was still on like 104 target pace, which was with like a 22 or 23 target chair. They just didn't throw enough. But I, I look at numbers here and I see potential explosion for Christian Watson.

[Heath]

I do too. But the number going back to targets that I'm worried about is exactly that. Because there's only been one wide receiver in the LaFleur era in Green Bay that's been north of 6.7 targets per game, and that was Devonte Adams. And Christian Watson, as good as he is, he is no Devonte Adams. I just, I love the idea of getting him to be a high end, number three type of wide receiver. He's in that boat for me. Don't want to push him into the top 24. I hope I don't ever push him into the top 24. We know about the injury concerns. We know about the boomer bust nature of his game. But if Dobbs is out of there and they don't really take steps to replace him in that offense, it's one less mouth to feed. And that makes me more interested in pretty much all the packers pass catchers, Tucker Kraft included. But Watson's the one that I would like the best. And when I can get him in late round six or into round seven, I feel pretty good about that. If he's my number three receiver, the guy.

[Dave]

Go ahead. No good.

[Jamie]

The guy that I always think about with Christian Watson is Will for just the.

[Dave]

The perfect.

[Jamie]

The perfect ruins it for me.

[Adam]

Oh, he was really good.

[Heath]

He was good for like in spurts go well.

[Jamie]

Same for Christian Watson.

[Dave]

Yeah. Yeah.

[Jamie]

And like through the first four years, their numbers are pretty similar. Will Fuller had actually been a little bit more involved in the offense than Christian Watson had that year. 5. He averaged 80 yards a game. Will Fuller, like, he was awesome until he got hurt again. But like, I think there is upside for the breakout. The problem is the Matla floor problem.

[Dave]

Like, well, and, and to your point, you know, what, what we saw last year, that's coming off an ACL tear.

[Adam]

I know.

[Heath]

That was incredible.

[Dave]

And now we're, you know, hopefully you're removed. No Romeo Dobbs. I know you, you know, made a case when we were reviewing our last mock draft for Matthew golden, you know, and maybe him also taking a step forward too. So that could be the, the Dobbs replacement in terms of just, you know, guy getting on the field and getting more chances. But I mean, the sky's the limit for Christian Watson and this is the first draft. I think we've done five or six that I haven't actually taken. You took him instead of me, you know, so I've been, I've been targeting Christian Watson as much as possible. I think he's, he's a huge breakout candidate.

[Heath]

13.2 PPR points per game last year, but it was very boomer bust. There were four games where he was north of 18 and six games where he was under 13.

[Dave]

But as you said, you know, number three receiver, that's what you.

[Adam]

That's.

[Heath]

Yeah, yeah, yeah. That's a good boomer bust. Number three receiver. Not a safe number three wide receiver by any stretch.

[Adam]

All right, so Jamie probably, if he had sent the text message first, probably would have put Christian Watson on his. I would have on his love list. But Dave stole him. So Jamie went with Amari and Hampton a Mecca, Abuka, Luther Burden and Isaiah likely. So let's start with Amarian Hampton, who you took two weeks ago in that draft, I think early second round, which is great because you let trade Chase Brown. You've made a mistake. She's taking Chase Brown over Hampton. But that's great. 17th, 17th overall ahead of Ashton Genti. So comparing those two second year running backs, you're going Hampton over Genti.

[Dave]

So we discussed this yesterday in the show. You, you took off because you were lazy. But I keep shuffling those running backs around. Ken Walker, Genti Hampton, Chase Brown now ahead of those guys. But just looking at that group of, of, you know, back end number one running backs, I can make a case for all of them. But the thing I like about Hampton, obviously is the addition of Mike McDaniel. Assuming that the tackles stay healthy. There's the offensive line should be great. What we saw from him at the end of last season, because I Think that's the best sample size to use because Najee Harris was gone. You're looking at a guy I think that's going to get a lot of opportunities. And the thing I like about McDaniel, we've seen different running backs flourish in his offense the first year when he was there. Raheem Mostert leads the NFL in rushing touchdowns. An older running back, but gets 18 rushing touchdowns. Then we see Devon HN the last two years, 170 combined targets. Very much involved in the passing game, obviously explosive as a rusher. So I think Hampton's sort of a good combination of both of those guys. Can work at the goal line, can obviously be involved in the passing game. We'll see what Keaton Mitchell and Kamani Vidal do and how much they use those guys. But McDaniel has shown us that he's, you know, very comfortable using one guy and featuring one guy. So I think Hampton, had he stayed healthy last year, he'd be an easy guy to rank in this range, because had he done what we expected him to do first round, you know, pedigree coming into the NFL. So just love this setup for him. So somebody I'm going to be, you know, probably aggressive drafting.

[Adam]

All right, here's the best ball. ADP Genty is RB6, Achan 7, Hampton 8. Jeremiah Love, 9. Barkley 10. We haven't been drafting Love in our drafts, but Genti A Chan, Hampton, Love Barkley. Thoughts?

[Dave]

Barkley too high. But the other guys, I. I think fine. And we'll see where Love ends up.

[Adam]

Barkley too high at RB10. Okay.

[Dave]

For me.

[Adam]

Ken Walker at RB11. Derrick Henry 12. Chase Brown 13.

[Dave]

Come on.

[Heath]

That's the one who's too low. Brown has earned it. He's the head of all these guys.

[Adam]

Yeah, baby. I'm Echo Buka.

[Dave]

Yeah. I mean, we spent a lot of time talking about this yesterday, and just remember. Yeah. In just the opportunities that, you know, Dave and I did fantasy football to express, talking about, you know, free agents and the movement. But I think just in the case of Abuka, the opportunity is there, you know, no Mike Evans. And now you're seeing the chance to hopefully build off what the start of the season was. And I think, Adam, you know, you can chime in because Heath has a little bit of a pessimistic view. Right on Baker Mayfield. Not. Not Baker Mayfield. Yes. Not a booker.

[Heath]

Yeah.

[Dave]

But Baker Mayfield. You know, Dave was making the case that maybe we see more of a prolific passing attack, because suspect defense, run game, maybe not as Good. And Baker having to throw the ball more. And that opens up things for not just Abuka, but also Godwin and maybe Jalen McMillan. I regretted take. Not taking McMillan. I did at the end. Took two. Two wide receivers. Jacob was funny in the draft. He said, I kept sniping him, and then I took Darnell Mooney and Christian Kirk, as we discussed with Dan Mooney went way too soon in. In that draft, but I thought. So I got him at the draft. It was like my last two picks. I took Christian Kirk and. And Donna Mooney, and then right afterwards, Jacob took Jalen McMillan. I was like, oh, I really would have taken him over, probably Kirk for sure, but. But I. I like the opportunity for all three of these receivers to take a step forward without Evans there. And I kind of agree with both these guys. I want to see what Baker looks like because it's now another offense coordinator and another system that he's got to learn. And hopefully, you know, last year was more about injuries for him and the offensive line, more so than maybe what we saw 20, 23, 2024. But I think when you look at Abuka, you know, this was their plan, you know, draft him in the first round last year. If Evans or Godwin are gone, he gets the chance now to be the superstar. He probably accelerated that expectations, those expectations last year when he got off to such a hot start and then really cooled off. I think we'll see a sort of a mixture of that, you know, somewhere in between, but easy guy for me to target in round three, you know. So Dave was saying he would have taken Waddle Abuka, where he took Waddle in that discussion, and I agree. I think that's the spot for me, the top 15 wide receiver, you know, coming in this year.

[Adam]

Would you take a Buka or Devonte Adams?

[Dave]

A book. A book?

[Jamie]

Yeah.

[Adam]

Zay Flowers. We'll talk about Zay a little bit later. T. Higgins.

[Dave]

Higgins.

[Jamie]

For now, I'll take a buca.

[Adam]

Oh, okay. Okay. Anything else? Let's see. Oh, yeah, I want to mention this. I don't know if anyone cares. ESPN analytics, they have the. The open score. They rate players on how open they get. He was 104th out of 110 wide receivers. This was something that was talked about all year, basically, because he was low in this metric all year, and he's putting up these big numbers, and he's still, like, very low. I don't know, man. I mean, I think it gets open. I. I don't get Nico Collins, by the way, more so in the first

[Heath]

five games of the year than toward the end of the year, it seemed

[Jamie]

like a lot of the times he got open was just like. And it was kind of the way Baker had success early in the year, too. Yeah, like we'd get to the fourth quarter and things weren't going great. And then there's one broken play and

[Dave]

all of a sudden, Eagles game, for example.

[Jamie]

Hey, there's. There's a Booker running 30 yards downfield and he's like, I don't know how much it factors into the open score when you're 30 yards open on one play, but he had several of those early in the year and then that kind of went away.

[Adam]

Yeah. All right, how about Luther Burden? All right, so here's my question for you on Luther Burden. 60 targets, that's not a lot, obviously, to go off like he, he was very encouraging. But only 60 targets in 15 games for him. Is that enough to justify somebody in the fourth round?

[Dave]

I mean, this is where we have to justify our jobs, essentially. Right? You know, so we're projecting him to take a step forward. We're telling people that this is going to be a big year for him. We're excited about the opportunity for him to, you know, take advantage of no DJ Moore. And then you look at what he did when Odunze was hurt at the end of the season and kind of right before Loveland became this uber targeted, you know, player, not just tight end, but obviously focal point of the offense, and then buying into Caleb Williams and buying into, you know, Ben Johnson. So I think when you look at it, we had this discussion last year and Burden was, I think, kind of the afterthought. Correct me if I'm wrong, but it was, who's going to be the Amanra St. Brown in Ben Johnson's offense? Is it going to be Loveland because he was the guy drafted first of this regime? Is it going to be burdened because of his chance? I think we were more looking at it maybe DJ Moore, because he's had some success in. In that type of role, or Romo Dunze, you know, sort of being the bigger option and maybe being the slot guy there. But now you see what's available to them. You know, assuming they don't make some sort of splash with the NFL draft or sign a Joanne Jennings or Stefan Diggs or Tyree Kill, which doesn't seem likely to any of those guys. But you're looking at 85 targets available because DJ Moore's gone. You're seeing what this kid has an opportunity to do. He was open all the time. You know, Caleb Williams missed him quite a bit toward the end of the season when sort of everybody was getting healthy. And so for me it's, you know, and I think he is probably the most excited about him. So I probably stole Burden from him And Dave still Watson 100. But I, I think you look at it as. You don't want to get like over excited. Yeah, at least I don't want to get over excited. And Heath, you like Burden more than a booker, right?

[Jamie]

I've got him just ahead of Abu.

[Dave]

Yeah. So I, I'm not there yet. And I think we're probably all not where Jacob is. Jacob Gibbs, you know, who seems to love Luther Burton the most. But when you're talking about breakout potential and opportunity and everything that sort of. You got glimpses up as a rookie. Like I can't wait honestly to see what he does this year when I write about 30 year wide receivers because I feel like he's going to be one of those guys that tracks in that direction. You know, not a huge rookie season. Should have a very good sophomore season and then maybe we see that huge breakout year in year three. But he may accelerate that even in year two just because of what he's capable of doing.

[Adam]

I hope so. I, I looked at the last 10 years and have there been any wide receivers who had 60 or fewer targets as a rookie and then averaged 13 or more PPR fantasy points in their second season with a minimum of eight games? I had to make it 61 to get Michael Pittman. Well otherwise. Yeah. So there have been five, five wide receivers over the last 10 years. The most recent was Michael Pittman. So again, 61 or fewer targets as rookies and then 13 or more PPR fantasy points as second year players. They were Tyrell Williams, Cameron Meredith, Kenny Golladay, DJ Chark and Michael Pittman. So these are guys who really we didn't have much to go off as rookies and they had very good second seasons, but most of them were 14 or fewer. Only one guy, only DJ Chark, averaged like he averaged 15.1. He was only one, had a great seconds.

[Heath]

I don't think any of those receivers are similar stylistically to Luther Burden at all, which makes it a little bit more interesting. But honestly, like Jamie said it best, we're projecting.

[Adam]

Yeah.

[Heath]

You can't just say, oh, he had 60 targets, let's see what he can do. It's not like he had six. Of course his year was very Different. There's a lot of context that has to come into play.

[Jamie]

The other thing is we're focusing so much on the targets that I think if Jacob Gibbs was here, he'd be like, just his face would be bursting from wanting to spew like he was elite.

[Adam]

Yeah.

[Jamie]

When they threw him the ball, he was elite. When he was on the field like half the year, Lamade Zacchaeus is on the field and Luther Burton isn't even playing. I don't know if it was because he was still learning the playbook or what the reason was, but it was. The reason I think we project the big leap in targets is because when he was on the field, he was so awesome.

[Heath]

It's a great town.

[Adam]

He never had one game where he played where he ran 70 of the routes.

[Heath]

I bet that changes next year.

[Adam]

I hope so. That's the first thing that you, I

[Heath]

just hope it's going to be more consistent. Target.

[Adam]

Yeah, I just hope they don't, you know, sign some. Did he still have it? Zacchaeus?

[Heath]

No, he's on a different team.

[Adam]

Oh, I hope they don't sign someone like that.

[Heath]

And they actually have a very.

[Jamie]

Midway through the season though, they stopped. I mean, he didn't get to say.

[Adam]

Yeah, but he never, he never, they never use him as a full time receiver. I don't know why they're gonna have this year though. And they, if they do, you're right. Like elite. Per route metrics, he should be drafted

[Heath]

as a number two fantasy.

[Dave]

I, I don't think anybody's drafting him as number one and I don't think he's. No.

[Heath]

Well, Jacob might draft him.

[Dave]

No, I don't think Jacob would based on what we've seen. But I, I think that the interesting part of this is because we say this all the time. Can he be first or second on the team in targets? I, I, I, I think that's easily in the conversation, but it wouldn't surprise me if he's third. I mean, based on what we saw

[Adam]

from between the three of them, it's going to be.

[Dave]

Oh, I, I would think so. But, but what I'm getting at is like, it's not a guarantee that he's, he's going to be first. It's not a guarantee that he's going to be second. I mean, they, they have three very talented options here, plus they'll throw to their backs and then we may see the Cole Comet still be a part of this. You know, I mean, like there's going to be some other wrinkles to this offense just because that's what Ben Johnson does. So the other, the other thing is like, we're all excited about these three players. You, I think you said when we talked about this between D.J. moore and the two receivers, you have them five spots apart, right? Yeah, they're all very close. Similar, right? Similar for me. Yeah, they're all in a similar range. And Loveland's gonna go in this spot. We're hoping that we see a 4,000-yard season for the first time ever for the Bears. We're hoping for that. So that has to happen. Also, like, Caleb Williams has to take this leap for all of these guys to be successful. So unfortunately, if he doesn't and they're in a similar range just around 4, 000, one of these guys is probably gonna be a bust. And you hope it's not burden, you hope it's not Loveland, you hope it's not Odunse, but it's just the nature of how this is all going to go.

[Adam]

All right, so we're going to take a break. We got one more guy for Jamie Isaiah Likely, and then four more for Heath. So let's get to that. We'll be right back after this. On fantasy Football today, what if sports were traded like markets? Now you can put your sports IQ to work in real time. With Robinhood Prediction Markets, it's not you against the house. It's you participating in a live market. You can buy or sell your positions live all game long. You use your sports knowledge in the moments that matter. Robinhood Prediction Markets changes the game. It's people moving the action so when

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[Heath]

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[Dave]

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Wayfair Every style, Every Home all right, we are back. Isaiah Likely, Quick thoughts on why you love him?

[Dave]

Just opportunity, you know, I mean, going to a situation where the head coach clearly is familiar with him. Jackson Dart we spent some time talking about this in the last couple days. I think just looking at Dart, what he did with Theo Johnson. We're hoping that Malik Neighbors is right, but you know, still an if and maybe get off to a slow start. And then Darnell Mooney I don't think is the most ideal. I know Dan is very excited about it, but I don't think he's the most ideal number two option in a passing game. I think he's a good third option. So if Likely can show what he showed in glimpses in Baltimore, I think we're looking at a guy that could push to be a top five tight end but an easy guy to draft as a top 10 10.

[Adam]

All right, Heath, you're up. Jalen Hurt, I like what you've done here. You've gone with these veterans that people seem to be just kind of forgetting about. Jalen Hurts. We Already talked about LaPorta, Jonathan Taylor and Zay Flowers, but Jalen Hurts was QB7 per game last year. It was his first season averaging fewer than 23.4 fantasy points per game in the A.J. brown era. Yeah. What do you like about Hertz?

[Jamie]

Well, first off, it was his first season averaging fewer than 23 fantasy points per game. Jalen Hurts, I think people have been questioning or doubting him since before he was drafted. And what he does almost every year is give you 30 plus total touchdowns, finish as a top five fantasy quarterback. He just had his big down year and he was QB7.

[Adam]

Yeah.

[Jamie]

Like, and now he's being drafted. I think round seven and round eight is the two times that I've drafted him. I took him just before Dave took Joe Burrow in our most recent draft. Like he is the most likely guy maybe to finish above where he's being drafted at the quarterback position. It's just free money.

[Heath]

It's been late season swoons that's actually cost some fantasy points in each of the last three years. Jalen Hurts has averaged at least 25 fantasy points per game in at least his first eight games. There's a lot of at least in there, but he gets off to such Good starts for fantasy managers. And then either it's injuries or something else that happens where his average is just plummet toward the end of the season.

[Dave]

Do you. Do you like Heath? That I do like Heath, Yes. It seems like they're. They're running it back. Assuming AJ Brown stays. Dallas Gotter comes back. Lane Johnson comes back, new office coordinator. Clearly.

[Jamie]

I, I like that they're not running it back on that part. And that's been the theme for Jalen Hurts is a new offensive coordinator every single year. And sometimes it's been worked better than it has been others. I can't imagine it's going to be worse than it was last year. Let's hope. But yes, I like A.J. brown, Devonte Smith, Dallas Goddard back.

[Dave]

I, I just wonder like based on how things went last year, could the bottom fall out?

[Heath]

I'm a little worried about that.

[Dave]

And like, you know, we're looking at every like cleaning house. Not, not, not Roseman, but you know, head coach on down like, but in round seven.

[Jamie]

No, no, no.

[Adam]

You're.

[Dave]

You're taking it. There's no, there's no question. And, and again, I don't think we should use rounds for our drafts. But. Right.

[Jamie]

QB8.

[Adam]

Right.

[Heath]

But you would take Hertz over Burrow.

[Jamie]

Yeah.

[Dave]

All right.

[Heath]

That's interesting. I'd rather have Burrow.

[Dave]

Me too. But I, I mean I certainly see the appeal for both. And, and again, that'd be one like you know, you just wait to take whichever one later.

[Adam]

Only 105 rush attempts for Jalen Hurts. So usually he's 140 or more. So I'd like to see him.

[Dave]

Yeah.

[Heath]

But 100 of them were at the goal line.

[Jamie]

He actually was his. They were not as successful with the tush push last year and they didn't do it as much. Josh Allen was the tush push merchant.

[Adam]

About that Jonathan Taylor number. Actually number. Believe it or not, number four per game in PPR. Even coming off this amazing year with 20 total touchdowns, number one per game and non PPR, number two per game and half PPR. And this. You know, what's the concept here that people might be just forgetting about how great he's been?

[Jamie]

Every draft I think we've done so far, I've. For some reason every draft I've done, Jamie gives me one of the last three picks in the draft. I think I need to complain. I remember one time somebody complained about that and so Jamie redid the draft order so they could draft higher.

[Adam]

It wasn't me.

[Jamie]

No, it wasn't it wasn't one of our frequent guests. I don't really care. But every draft it seems like at the end of round one, Jonathan Taylor's still there. I draft him at the end of round one and I absolutely love it. When you look at my projections, there's four guys that I have projected to definitely score more fantasy points than Jonathan Taylor next year. He was RB5 last year, so that makes sense. It's McCaffrey, Gibbs, HN and Bijan Robinson.

[Heath]

Yep.

[Jamie]

And then there is a huge gap in my projections behind Jonathan Taylor. Jonathan Taylor is still up there around 19 fantasy points per game. There's a big drop off after him for me. So if you can get that guy that's closer to me for me, to the elite running backs in production and get him at the end of round one, that feels fantastic.

[Heath]

He averaged almost 25 PPR points per game in the 12 full games with Daniel Jones last year. Yeah, that's like QB1, top half, a QB1 type production.

[Jamie]

I don't think people recognize him as this as much as they should, but he is in the discussion for like the best running back in football.

[Dave]

Yeah.

[Adam]

Yeah. He's.

[Heath]

No, absolutely.

[Adam]

He's phenomenal.

[Dave]

I think when you, when you there, to me, there's two guys in the first round that like after you get the top four or five picks, like, it just feels so safe. And it's Monroe, St. Brown and Jonathan. Yeah, like you just.

[Heath]

Yep.

[Dave]

It's like you feel like you're settling it in some cases, you know, because you may say, oh, Malik neighbors could be better than. Than St. Brown or if CD Lamb gets back to what he is, he's better than Saint Brown or you know, maybe James Cook gets better or HN is better. You know, those type of scenarios. Like Taylor just feels as safe as it comes.

[Adam]

All right. Zay Flowers. So interesting that last year, I think I feel like during our draft process we were looking at AEP and Zay Flowers. I feel like he was in the about 5, 6 turn range and I feel like we didn't really like him that much there.

[Jamie]

No, I think what if, if I remember this correctly, it was about this time of year and we were looking at it and Zay Flowers, when we were looking at certain ADP was in the round three, four range.

[Dave]

Yeah.

[Jamie]

And we all hated him. And then we got to July and he was in the 5, 6 range and I was like, yeah, that's okay.

[Adam]

All right. I feel like we. I feel like we like a lot of guys Better than him. And I think we were worried about target volume. Right. He had the same amount of targets, basically, like 2024.

[Heath]

Yep.

[Adam]

I. Okay. If you take out week 18, which doesn't really change much of 2024, he was on pace for 118 targets. He had 118 targets in 2025. And he went from wide receiver 36 per game in a year where the Ravens threw for 4, 200 yards and 41 touchdowns to wide receiver 12 per game in a year where they threw for 3, 300 yards and 23 touchdowns. He had a higher catch rate. He was a little bit more efficient, but really the same. Not that much changed for Zay Flowers, really. Right. What am I.

[Jamie]

Well, I think the big change was he had a 71. You said he had a higher catch rate and just kind of dismissed that. But he had a 71 catch rate as a rookie. Yeah, he had a 73% catch rate last year, the year that they threw for all the years he had a 64% catch rate. Well, that's. That's. That's a difference in 12 catches between the two years and that amount of yardage. Also, the fact that he could finish as high as he did at wide receiver last year on a team that threw the ball 490 times or whatever and still hasn't scored more than five touchdowns, but has given us that type of production. I think there's really sneaky upside with Zay Flowers. The fact that Isaiah likely is gone and they've not really made any significant additions in the passing game. He is the number one wide receiver with a bullet on this team. And if he just happens to have a season where he scores eight touchdowns, he's an easy top 10 wide receiver.

[Adam]

It's nice when the talent finally.

[Dave]

Yeah, production.

[Heath]

Yeah.

[Dave]

Right, right, right, right, right.

[Adam]

It's like he looks like Luther. Like Luther Burden. Right. I mean, you could see that. We didn't mention that, but you can watch Luther Burton go, this guy's so good. I think that's one of the reasons why forget about all the stats and all that. I mean, you watch football and you see a guy that looks like he's got it. I think we've all sort of felt that way about Zay Flowers. Finally, wide receiver, 12 per game.

[Dave]

Pretty good.

[Adam]

Yeah.

[Heath]

That was the biggest knock I had on him, was that he never really seemed to get those kinds of opportunities. And over the last two seasons, he started to 20, 24. The numbers didn't show it. Last year, they did. So now I'm more. I'm more interested in Zay Flowers than I've ever been before.

[Adam]

But 118 targets, though. If I, if I said you 118 targets. Just said what he's had two years in a row, basically. Do you still take him in the third round?

[Dave]

I wouldn't take him the third. I know. Fourth round.

[Adam]

Yep. I mean, because it's. You start running out of wide receiver. We start running out of wide receivers that, that look like they're going to be, you know, third round caliber players. So I get it. We're reaching a wide receiver this year based on last year's results, which is just such a bad year.

[Dave]

Right.

[Adam]

But it is two years in a row with 118 targets right around. So it's tough.

[Jamie]

I think if it's 108, if it's just guaranteed 118, I'd probably take him in round four.

[Dave]

Okay.

[Jamie]

But I, I think it's more likely that that number goes up than down. Assuming he's healthy.

[Adam]

Is there anything else you wanted to say about Laporta?

[Jamie]

I think we said enough about La Porta. He's a fantastic. I mean, for me and Jamie stole another one of mine. Would have been. Was like likely for. For me. It's just that with Laporta and likely and Pitts. You read the ADP going round 7, round 8, round 9, round 10. Even in one of our drafts, like it's just so easy to wait on tight end.

[Adam]

Tight end is so deep.

[Dave]

We were praising you that you're likely Kelsey pairing.

[Adam]

I felt good about it. I'm glad you guys liked it too because I was, I was thankful that likely got there. But then I just didn't realize how good Kelsey was with Mahomes. Man, that offense was terrible those last three games or four games, whatever it was, it made everything look so much worse. Six per game, you know, just got so many targets and now Rasheed Rice missed a lot of that. But it didn't really change when Rice came back and Xavier Worthy missed it too. It might again. Yeah, I know. So he's not perfect, but yeah, there's some good late round tight ends. All right, well, thank you guys. Good to. Good to be in person. Good to do this. Hope you all enjoyed it. Hope it looked good when we go to lunch. I'm not today next to Jamie. Thank you so much for watching and listening to fantasy football today. We will talk to you on Monday. Have a great weekend, everybody. Paramount podcasts, Toogood and company.

[Dave]

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