Toughest Players to Rank: Cardinals and Jaguars WRs, Emeka Egbuka, Jeremiyah Love and More (05/14 Fantasy Football Podcast)

Summary

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Fantasy Football Today Podcast Summary

Episode Title: Toughest Players to Rank: Cardinals and Jaguars WRs, Emeka Egbuka, Jeremiyah Love and More
Date: May 14, 2026
Hosts/Analysts: Adam Aizer, Dave Richard, Jamey Eisenberg, Heath Cummings

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Episode Overview

This episode dives deep into the most challenging players to rank for the 2026 fantasy football season, focusing on ambiguous wide receiver groups (Arizona Cardinals, Jacksonville Jaguars), injury update complexities, and the shifting fantasy landscape for numerous high-upside but high-variance players. The crew also shares insights drawn from recent fan mock drafts, highlighting players’ ADPs and what’s fueling the toughest debates in early rankings.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Malik Nabers’ Injury and Risk (New York Giants WR)

[06:09–08:01]

• Nabers underwent a 2nd knee surgery (removal of scar tissue) after ACL/meniscus repair.
  • Team maintains hope for Week 1 return, but timeline is unclear.
• Jamie: “Taking Nabers in round two is a little bit too tough to buy into right now for me. He’s a back end of round three, early round four selection.” (06:41)
• Panel consensus: Too much risk to draft him at WR11/25th overall—prefer him after Pickens/Nico Collins and behind more stable veterans.
• Backup Giants WRs (if Nabers is delayed): Darius Slayton is also injured; Darnell Mooney is top fallback, though likely a committee approach.

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2. Chase Brown: First-Round Talent or Not? (CIN RB)

[08:04–10:28]

• Brown excelled with Joe Burrow in the lineup but struggles with justification as a round 1 pick.
• Jamie: RB6, 13th overall. “He’s right on the cusp.” (09:21)
• Heath: “I’m just kind of done doubting Chase Brown.” (09:57)
• Room consensus: Early round two is fair, monitored by positional scarcity and other RBs’ outlooks.

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3. Bucky Irving Trap or Upside? (TB RB)

[10:28–16:45]

• ADP Drift: Seen as 3rd or 4th rounder, heavy debate on injury risks and workshare concerns.
• Jamie: “If Gainwell is going to eat into his passing down production and Tucker’s going to eat into his touchdown production, [Irving] is a trap back.” (11:38)
• Dave: “If Bucky’s healthy… he’s still gonna get a ton of touches. I kind of want to bet on his upside.” (13:04)
• Heath: Cites concerning splits and compares Irving to classic “trap back” archetypes, suggesting caution especially if his role diminishes.
• Notable stat: In his first 4 games (pre-injury), Bucky was on pace for 81 catches, 820 yards, 8 TDs—no 3rd-down catches—all targets on early downs (14:44).

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4. DK Metcalf: Post-Hype, New Environment (NYJ WR)

[18:11–24:35]

• ADP: 85th overall (early round 8).
• Jamie: “Just don’t want to overvalue him… he’s in the 30s [in WR ranks], not even a top three WR in terms of fantasy.” (19:01)
• Heath: Points to Mike McCarthy’s history of higher wide receiver target shares (~60%) as a reason for optimism but remains lukewarm.
• Dave: “The Pittman addition hurts… back-to-back years with ~12.5 PPR points per game—not exciting unless his target volume bounces back.” (21:16)
• Memorable moment (22:35): “With 12.5 PPR, … WR36, not WR24. Last year’s mid-WR2 finish unlikely to repeat.”
• Team split: No one enthusiastic, most view him as boring but possibly undervalued.

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5. Jaguars WRs: Brian Thomas Jr., Jacoby Myers, Parker Washington (JAX)

[24:35–29:46]

• All outside the top 36 at WR for Jamie, with Thomas as the only high-upside swing.
• Jacoby Myers: Safe floor, especially strong if the target competition is weak.
• Parker Washington: Small sample, strong rapport with Trevor Lawrence.
• Travis Hunter: Uncertainty about two-way usage clouds the WR picture further.
• “It comes down to what you’re looking for… Thomas is the one that I’m going to swing for the fences on, [Myers/Washington] for the floor.” (28:09 – Jamie)
• ADPs are all clustered: Myers (85), Thomas (88), Washington (90) – indicates drafter indecision.

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6. Cardinals’ WRs & Jeremiah Love: Projecting the Unknown (ARI)

[36:04–44:33]

• Heavy pass volume in 2025 (most attempts in NFL); offense could change dramatically.
• RB Jeremiah Love: “This could be a disastrously bad offense… and splitting with Wilson and Harrison. It’s tough.” (Heath, 36:32)
• WRs (Marvin Harrison Jr., Michael Wilson, Trey McBride): Small sample splits late-season suggest heavy target split (21% Harrison/McBride, 19% Wilson), making all three risky picks if target tree narrows.
• ADP: FantasyPros—Harrison WR31 (70th), Wilson WR38 (85th); CBS drafts (both ~end of round 5), which is seen as potentially rich.
• Dave: “Throw out last year… This offense is going to be run-heavy with Jeremiah Love. Target volume comes down across the board.” (42:44)

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7. Christian McCaffrey: Aging Star, Touch Concerns (SF RB)

[29:56–34:46]

• ADP: 7th or 8th overall.
• Heath: “He’s the best player in fantasy if he plays 17 games… but 413 touches last year. I’m too scared to pass up the upside, but he’s not in my top 5.” (30:34)
• Dave: “Ninth [overall] for me… If you take him, draft Jordan James late for insurance.”
• Jamie: “If you guarantee 17 games, he’s the No. 1 overall pick. But you’re not.” (33:10)
• Consensus: Draft at value, but recognize workload/injury red flags and plan for contingency.

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8. George Kittle: Post-Achilles Purgatory (SF TE)

[45:34–48:44]

• Torn Achilles, advanced age, and declining YAC/target metrics (YAC/reception fell from 6+ career to 4.4 last year).
• Heath: “I don’t even want to draft him as anything other than … last-round, stash on IR.” (45:44)
• Dave: “I put him exactly at 100th overall, a luxury pick if you love your team through eight rounds.” (48:10)
• Strategy tip: If drafting Kittle, consider also rostering backup TEs like Tanner Tounjés.

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9. Rookie WRs Dilemmas: Emeka Egbuka, Tetairoa McMillan, Alec Pierce, Casey Concepcion

[49:39–66:57]

• Emeka Egbuka (TB)/Tetairoa McMillan (CAR): Both have round 3-4 ADPs, high ceilings, but QB/offensive environment questions.
  • Dave: “McMillan should be a beast, but will he see enough targets? I can’t quite trust it.” (50:25)
  • Jamie: “Abuka’s ceiling is higher, but McMillan’s floor is safer.” (54:04)
• Alec Pierce (IND):
  • New contract, presumed lead WR, but exclusively a deep threat so far (“A.DOT over 18… only one screen target all year”—61:58). Needs to prove he can win on intermediate routes.
• Casey Concepcion (CLE):
  • Dave: “Could lead Browns in targets. Love the traits—question is QB situation. He’s a worthy upside pick at/after 100th overall.” (65:22–66:48)

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Notable Quotes & Moments

• Malik Nabers Risk:
  • “I just think there’s enough risk built into Malik Nabers right now that I’d rather get him at a good price as opposed to maybe buying him at a ceiling.” – Jamie (06:44)
• Bucky Irving “Trap Back”:
  • “If Gainwell is going to eat into his passing down production and Tucker’s going to eat into his touchdown production, [Irving] is a trap back.” – Jamie (11:38)
• DK Metcalf Outlook:
  • “He’s in the 30s, he’s not even a top three wide receiver…” – Jamie (19:01)
• Jaguars WRs Ambiguity:
  • “If you want the floor, it’s Myers or Washington. For upside, it’s Thomas.” – Jamie (28:09)
• Christian McCaffrey Caution:
  • “If you say he’s playing 17 games, he’s probably the number one overall pick.” – Jamie (33:10)
• George Kittle Hesitation:
  • “I don’t really even want to draft him as anything other than … last round… in my IR spot.” – Heath (45:44)
• Alec Pierce Projection:
  • “He’s never done it [as an intermediate WR]. Can you win in those situations? … He hasn’t been given the opportunity.” – Dave/Heath (63:44)

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Timestamps for Key Segments

• Malik Nabers knee update and Giants WRs: [06:09–08:01]
• Chase Brown ADP/ranking debate: [08:04–10:28]
• Bucky Irving “trap back” breakdown: [10:28–16:45]
• DK Metcalf (Jets) value & pits: [18:11–24:35]
• Jaguars WRs tiering (Thomas, Myers, Washington): [24:35–29:46]
• Cardinals WRs/Love (McBride, Wilson, Harrison): [36:04–44:33]
• Christian McCaffrey’s diminishing returns: [29:56–34:46]
• George Kittle risk-reward calculus: [45:34–48:44]
• Rookie WRs (McMillan, Egbuka, Pierce, Concepcion): [49:39–66:48]

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Conclusion

The FFT crew delivers a must-listen thought experiment on the most volatile draft picks in 2026, reinforcing the importance of adjusting for injury context, evolving depth charts, risk tolerance, and weighing recent ADPs against a backdrop of uncertainty.
From the injury-riddled upside of Malik Nabers and George Kittle, to ambiguous WR groups in Arizona and Jacksonville, to the optimism and fear surrounding new lead receivers like Alec Pierce and Emeka Egbuka, this episode is a goldmine for anyone looking to get an early edge in fantasy football drafts.

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Transcript

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[C]

This is fantasy football today from CBS Sports.

[A]

What a play.

[D]

Can you believe this?

[C]

No, I can't.

[A]

It's time to dominate your fantasy league. This is gonna go the distance.

[C]

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

[B]

Welcome to the show everybody. Thursday, May 14th this is Fantasy football today and we are man having trouble ranking some players having trouble ranking the Jaguars wide receivers, the Arizona wide receivers, George Kittle coming off a torn Achilles or talk about him maybe being ready for week one. Having trouble ranking Malik neighbors. We have news on him having a second surgery, a couple of rookies that were having trouble ranking. We'll talk about it right now. We're also going to give you just an early peek just for fun. For funsies. For funsies. Three mock Drafts done by our fans, our fans only, mock draft or whatever you want to call it. We have ADP from those three drafts, so we'll refer to that throughout the show. What's up, Dave?

[A]

White Sox baseball is back, ladies and gentlemen.

[B]

I don't. They are good.

[A]

They are 500. Are they good? Are you kidding? They're amazing. They're.500 on May 14th. They've got two wins in a row over Heath's Royals. This is the latest that they've. Latest in the season that they've been at.500 or better since 2022. It is pathetic that I am this excited about it. It's pathetic that I'm excited about baseball at all. But here I am going crazy for the Chicago White Sox. It's all I can think about.

[C]

Adam, do you want the Cavs or the Pistons?

[B]

Pistons.

[A]

Yeah, I would have said that a couple of games ago. And now I. I don't know if you want either one for the Knicks.

[D]

You're saying, yeah, we have a choice.

[B]

Yeah. Right. I don't have a choice.

[C]

You have to take one.

[B]

What am I supposed to.

[A]

If you wanted one.

[B]

They just don't have any score. They just don't have enough scoring. I think he got fouled last night at the end of regulation. Right. Okay. I was listening with my phone off with my. On the phone with the sound off. So I don't know what they were saying, but he should have. Was he. Were they in the penalty. So they've shot free throws there.

[D]

Yeah. Yeah.

[B]

They got screwed.

[D]

I think you'd rather face James Harden just because you know he'll screw up.

[B]

He scares me, though.

[A]

It's the beard.

[B]

I also think Tobias Harris looks like the Weeknd. What do you think? Yeah, he does. Anyway, I got. We got an email from Todd who. Who just. And I meant to bring this up during our whole Derek Henry conversation yesterday, and I totally forgot, but I think it's something really important. We don't have to spend a lot of time on it, but just to throw it out there. Todd said one possible concern for Derrick Henry this year, other than his age, is that his fullback, Ricard, is gone. It's on the Giants now. He seemed to have more success running behind Ricard. I don't know if. If he did have more success. Ricard's good. They all. I never mentioned Tyler Linderbaum's name and that I regret that. So it's just something to keep in mind with. With Baltimore is they don't really have a starting center right now and they lost their fullback. So, you know, probably a couple of strikes against Derrick Henry. Are they big strikes? I'm not sure, but felt like it was important to at least bring it up if we're going to talk comprehensively about Derrick Henry. I should have mentioned Linderbaum especially. There we go. Now it's mentioned. Schedule comes out tonight. Our reaction to it comes out tomorrow on CBS sports network at 1pm Eastern. So we're going to tell you teams that we think have maybe easy schedules, easy paths, difficult schedules, good Week 1 matchups, difficult Week 17 matchups. The types of things that you might want to consider. All right, news and notes. Jamie, you originally sent a list of players that are tough to rank and included Malik Neighbors. We'll talk about him here. He had a second surgery on his knee to remove scar tissue. The scar tissue was causing stiffness. The Giants are still hopeful that he can be ready for week one. Neighbors tore his ACL and had a meniscus repair as well. His ADP in the three mock drafts that our fans have done on CBS is wide receiver 11, 25th overall. Neighbors is going in between George Pickens or just after Pickens and Nico Collins, just before A.J. brown, Chris Olave and T. Higgins. But the second surgery, it was a second spitter. Second surgery, Jamie, for Malik Neighbors.

[D]

Yeah. Look, it could obviously be a good thing in the fact that, you know, getting scar tissue cleaned up and hopefully doesn't have any lingering effects. But you are talking about week four is when he got hurt and still dealing with complications from the knee situation, hearing different timelines, we don't know a firm date about when he'll return or when he'll be ready to go or if he'll be on the field for, you know, starter training camp or even week one at this point. So I think when you start to stack them up against some of the receivers you mentioned, I'd rather have those guys. I think taking Neighbors in round two is, is a little bit too tough to buy into right now for me. He's a back end of round three, early round four selection. I just think there's enough risk built into Malik Neighbors right now that I'd rather get him at a good price as opposed to maybe buying him at a ceiling. And I'm just concerned that we're, we're maybe dealing with a little bit of a slow start coming off of this injury and coming off multiple surgeries now.

[B]

Okay, back of round three, beginning of round four for Jamie. Anybody higher or lower than that right around what Do I think round three?

[A]

Yeah, I'm around three, but not the

[D]

back end of round three.

[B]

Okay. And then if you're going to take a shot on a Giants wide receiver, I mean, I, I still like Darius. Let's. Let's just say he starts the season on the PUP list or something. I know nobody likes Darius Slayton, but

[D]

Slayton's also injured too.

[B]

Yeah, Slayton is coming off core surgery. The report was he's expected to be available for training camp. But would it be Mooney for you guys?

[D]

If it's a receiver, it would be likely. Or it was pass catcher? It'd be likely. But receiver? Yeah, I'd probably go Mooney, but I mean, you got Fields now in the mix too, so I would guess that it's probably just mix and match. Kind of like what Dart did, aside from Wanda Robinson last year.

[B]

Is anybody gonna move Jackson Dart down in their rankings with this news?

[D]

Not unless neighbors is going to miss significant time.

[A]

Correct.

[D]

Okay.

[B]

All right, next news item. Devon Achan. He signed a four year, 64 million dollar extension with 32 million dollars guaranteed. Devon HN is currently 12th in CBS ADP from those three mock drafts. And the jets signed wide receiver Tim Patrick who is now a fifth round pick in. No, not, not going to be drafted in fantasy. Toughest players to rank Jamie, go with Jamie's list. First, Chase Brown. I was a little surprised to see him on the list here. Jamie's just like, man, he's probably going to be RB1, but I can't justify ranking him there. So what do you think about Chase? 22.3 points per game in the last six games of the year.

[D]

With Joe Burrow back, he's incredible. I, and I kind of go back and forth. This is just my, I guess my own personal struggle with this is like, you know, should he be a first round pick or should he be going in early round two? And it comes down to how many running backs should be in front of, you know, a handful of receivers. Right now I have him, I think at 13th overall, he is RB6, I believe. It's just how, how good can he be? Once again we saw what he was when Samaj P. Ryan was on the field versus off the field and just, you know, a little bit of a dip in production and, and certainly a little bit of a dip in usage. I, I mean, I love him. I, I think he's got so much, so much upside potential. Like he's been as high as 8th overall and, and again right now 13. So it's just kind of shuffling him back and forth between a handful of wide receivers behind him versus, you know, should he go in. In round one. So it's just kind of a struggle of basically, is Chase Brown a first round pick? And right now I don't think he is, but he's. He's right on the cusp.

[B]

What scares you guys about Chase Brown? Heath, I'll go to you, you know, because we, we've seen two years in a row with Burrow becoming the starter two years ago after Zach Moss got hurt. Elite production last year, final six games, elite production. What scares you about Zach Chase Brown?

[D]

I think.

[C]

No, I think the thing that used to scare me about Chase Brown was just not knowing if he was actually as good as his fantasy production had been. Worrying that either the Bengals offensive line or the fact that The Bengals threw 700 passes in a season would kind of cap his upside. I've pretty much moved past those concerns. I don't have him as a first round pick. I've got him 13th overall. He's my, I think RB, 6 or 7 right now. I'm, I'm just kind of done doubting Chase Brown.

[B]

Okay, let's go to our next guy here. It's Bucky Irving. Bucky irving went from 5.4 yards per carry and as a rookie to 3.4 yards per carry as a sophomore. He did deal with injury and been seeing him go in the, in the third round or so. Checking the CBS ADP. Bucky Irving is going in the fourth round. 45th. Wow.

[C]

Still higher than I have him. Wow.

[B]

Okay, Jamie, he's on your tough to rank list. Where do you have Bucky Irving?

[D]

Yeah, just outside of round four. So 49th overall, you know, similar to, I guess where he's going. But the fact that he's not healthy is, is concerning. The fact that, you know, Zach Robinson was glowing about Kenneth Gainwell, comparing him to Tony Pollard. The fact that. Or maybe it wasn't Robinson doing that, but a member of the Bucks. I think it was a running backs coach who was with him in Dallas, with Dallas, Sean Tucker being there and we saw what happened last year with taking away goal line opportunities. So, you know, I, I'm still a Bucky Irving believer. I still think there's plenty to love about his talent, but can he overcome his situation and now injury? And we saw what that was like after he came back from the shoulder and foot injuries last year. Like it was. It was tough. It was tough to watch. It was tough to deal with. It was certainly Tough to start him. And so you're looking at a Bucks offense that, you know, may, I don't think, go in a completely different direction, but has other options to choose from. And so if Gainwell is going to eat into his passing down production and Tucker's going to eat into his touchdown production, we are talking about the definition of a trap back. And so that's the type of player that you typically want to avoid. We've seen him go in our drafts in round three. I don't think that should be the case at all. Round four is getting a little dicey at this point. And when you start to compare him to Tony Pollard and Chuba Hubbard and you know, Jadarian Price and you know, Facial Tootin, you know that the list of guys that we talked about in that range Last yesterday's show, DeAndre Swift, you know, I, I mean, you can make an argument all those guys have a better opportunity than he does right now, just given the fact that the timeshare could be absolutely awful. So still, again, hopeful that Bucky Irving can. Can be that guy that we saw in his rookie season, can be that guy that we saw in the first four games last year before the injuries became a problem for him and he missed time. It just feels like we may not see that guy unless there's another injury in Tampa Bay's backup.

[B]

Dave, your thoughts on Bucky Irving? Do you like this ADP at 45th overall?

[A]

I actually do. I, I have him ranked higher. This is actually the second running back in a row that we've talked about that I'm higher on than both the other guys. And it's, it's. It. I do have him ranked as a round three pick. It's before the shoulder injury came out or the, the fact that it's lingering. Kind of want to see what it looks like by the time we get to training camp and whether or not he's still suffering from it. Totally agree that Kenneth Gainwell is a problem. He's going to be in the problem in the exact same way that Rashad White was the problem last year. I can't get out of my mind how good Bucky Irving was despite not having great efficiency those first four games before he got hurt, it was 18 PPR points per game. So, yeah, you can make the case that DeAndre Swift is going to be better than him. Trevion Henderson is going to be better than him. Breece hall is going to be better than him. I don't know if those guys have the same type of Upside. Henderson does. Can't say that. But those other running backs, I kind of feel like Irving is a little bit more upside. I still believe in this offense as a whole. And if Bucky's healthy and he stays healthy and he's still going to get a ton of touches. He had 22 and a half touches per game in his first four. There were five games all last year where he played 60 plus percent of the snaps. He had 18 plus touches in all five of those games. If he's still going to get that kind of a workload, I kind of want to bet on his upside.

[D]

I'd be shocked if he got that workload.

[A]

He had it last year and he had the exact same type of crowded running back group.

[D]

Yes, but he also had a guy on an expiring contract, not a guy that they went out and targeted. He has a new offensive coordinator who likes to throw to his running backs a lot. And Irving may not be in that role given what game was pedigree is. And as we saw at the end of last season when Tucker was getting involved, certainly at the goal line, that was at the expense of Bucky Irving. I think it's also a little hard to say that Breece hall does not have as much upside as Bucky Irving. When Bruce Hall's had a better career

[A]

than Bucky Irving, it's a longer career than Bucky Irving.

[C]

The, the first four games that Dave mentioned, Bucky Irving was on pace for 81 catches for 820 yards and 10 receiving or, and eight receiving touchdowns. I, I don't think if they planned on using him in that role, they would have gone and gotten Kenneth Gainwell and I just, I, I.

[A]

How many of those catches came on third downs to begin with? Because I think that's the role Gainwell's gonna have. Just because Gainwell is going to be there in passing downs is, I mean, we've talked about this ad nauseam. Running backs will catch passes on first and second.

[B]

The answer, zero. He did not have a single third down catch in those first four games.

[A]

Right. And he still averaged 4.8 targets per game.

[B]

I don't, yeah, that's the thing. I don't really know how to, how to reconcile that. He had a 21.3% target per out run rate. That. That's really, really high. Not. No, it's not really, really high. It's high.

[A]

Good.

[B]

It's good. Yeah. Can you do that again? I don't know.

[C]

This was one of the guys in my bus column that came out this week. I just, I think right now he looks like, remember the Ben Gretch trap back? I don't know if anybody has ever looked more like a trap back going into the season with with Kenneth Gainwell playing third downs and Sean Tucker handling goal line work.

[B]

Yeah, well, right. I think, I think we can safely say Kenneth Gainwell will probably be handling third down.

[A]

Yeah, he's in the Rashad White.

[B]

Less certain, less certain though that Sean Tucker will be the goal line back. Right. That that could be a coin flip. But, but at least, at least we have to consider it a possibility, if not a strong possibility because it happened

[C]

last year and then I don't know how much of the fact that Bucky Irving was the third best rusher on Tampa Bay after he came back from injury was injury related. He wasn't like, he just wasn't good.

[A]

He wasn't. That's very fair. But there was a different situation and circumstance that I don't think. I mean, look, he could always get hurt again, but I don't know. I have the same type of problems. Yeah, sure.

[B]

Yeah, he is. All right. We're going to take a break here. Talk about DK Metcalf and the Jaguars wide receivers when we come back on Fantasy football today. We'll be right back.

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[B]

Welcome back, folks. DK Metcalf is going 85th overall. I'm so rusty right now. Like 85 divided by 12. That's round eight, the beginning of round eight. Seven, eight, turn. Okay, so Jamie, you have DK Metcalf on your hard to rank list. He's, you know, just been kind of blessed since that second year breakout for him. But his target per route run rate the last three years, 21.9%, 19.7%, 21.4%. Not good enough. Might be good enough for an eighth round pick though. Jamie. DK Metcalf.

[D]

Yeah, I, I think just obviously was. Was tough to watch and perform last year. Was tough to watch this offense perform last year. You bring in Michael Pittman, who could easily be the number one receiver from a target standpoint with Aaron Rodgers. But you also bring in Mike McCarthy. And Mike McCarthy's passing attack has been very successful. Obviously Aaron Rodgers has done well with McCarthy. You're still talking about a guy that's 42. You're talking about a guy in McCarthy that took a year off last year. And again the, the target competition is a little bit different because Mecca freely didn't have that problem last year with, you know, gameo being the second best receiver on the team. So I just wonder if like, does DK Metcalf have one last season of maybe quality production, not standout production, not great production, not must start wide receiver production, but good enough that you justify where he's going. Like you said, round eight for what still should be, at least on paper, the number one receiver for this team again. We'll see how that all shakes out. We'll see what. You know, this, this team looks like they still haven't even brought back Aaron Rodgers yet. So it could be a disaster of epic proportions given the quarterback room and what it looks like right now. But I'm expecting Rogers to be there. I'm expecting him to obviously acclimate well, you know, being reunited with, with McCarthy. And I think Metcalf can end up being a nice surprise. I just don't want to overvalue him and certainly overrank him. So he's, he's in the 30s, he's not even a top three wide receiver in terms of, you know, number three receivers. I just, it feels like at times when I look at the rank, he's like it's too low for what his production could be.

[B]

Yeah, teeth.

[C]

If I was going, I think I'm the high guy on DK Metcalf and I Am not sure that I love that, but if I was going to make the optimistic case for him, it would be that last year the Steelers threw 555, 550 passes and only 42% of those passes went to wide receivers. That's an Arthur Smith statistic. Yeah, Kyle Shanahan's offenses have been really low in terms of like the wide receiver share of targets, and they've been right around 50%. Mike McCarthy's wide receiver target rate has been 60% of their past attempts and the last couple of years he's been calling plays. His teams have averaged about 585 pass attempts per game. So I think there are more passes in this new offense and I think a higher percentage of those passes go to wide receivers.

[B]

Dave, in the fans draft you're seeing the ADP on the screen here. DK Metcalf, 85th overall. Then it's Jacoby Myers, Ricky Piersoll, Jordan Tyson. First of all, would you take Myers pure Sal Tyson ahead of Metcalf?

[A]

I would take Tyson and Pearsall ahead of Metcalf and I can be coerced into taking Myers too, just because I think Myers is safe. I'm, I'm not big on Metcalf. I'm okay with him going early round eight, but I think the, the Pittman edition hurts and I, even though there's this great track record of, of Mike McCarthy playing at a fast pace, I don't know if they can get away with that with Rogers. I don't know if Rogers wants to do that. And I don't know if Rogers is going to attack downfield even as much as he did last year. I do really like the point Heath made about the tight end involvement in Pittsburgh in 2025 and how that's probably going to go away. That helps DK Metcalf. That could open the door for me to be interested in him at this adp. But it's back to back years where he's seen around 12 to 12.8 PPR points per game and his target volume was 7.2 in 2024. Different offense, different team, different quarterback. 2025 it dipped to 6.5. Maybe it gets closer to 7 again, but I bet he's still in that middle of like 12 and a half PPR points per game.

[B]

Okay, so that's DK Metcalf. And then I just wonder, guys, looking

[A]

at last year, that actually wasn't terrible.

[B]

It was about wide receiver 24 per game last year, DK Metcalf, which sucks.

[A]

I hope that's not the case this year and.

[B]

Right. But you know, with 12 and a half PPR fantasy points per game, if he had done that in 2023 or 2024, that's wide receiver 36 per game, not wide receiver 24. But last thing here, looking at the CBS ADP, looking at fantasy pros ADP about 25 picks earlier than. Than Michael Pittman. So would you guys rather have Metcalf or take a 25 pick discount and take and get Pitman discount? Come on, Heath.

[C]

I, I am so like Michael Pitman was already one of the most boring wide receivers in the NFL and now he's going to play with Aaron Rodgers and I just, I can't. I have a hard time caring. He.

[B]

I think he's a better fit than Metcalf with Rogers. Rogers does not throw down field. He's one of the lowest adot quarterbacks in football. That's. That's. Yeah.

[C]

I just think like.

[A]

Right. Does that continue under McCarthy?

[C]

Maybe. Michael Pittman has a 20 target share and catches a bunch of passes eight yards downfield.

[A]

But yeah, I'm worried they cannibalize each other.

[B]

Well, I think, I think what you're seeing is that nobody's excited about either of these guys. DK Metcalf, this has to be his lowest ADP since his rookie year. I would think maybe his second year. I don't know what he was, where he was drafted. All right, let's go to the last one and this is a Jamie one. But it's really for everyone. It's all three Jaguars wide receivers. Brian Thomas Jr. Came back for the last six games of the season. In those six games, Jacoby Myers had 46 targets. Parker Washington had 35 targets, but he missed a game and he played less than 56% of the snaps. In three of the five games, Breton Strange had 31 targets and Brian Thomas Jr. Also had 31. That's a 16.6 target share for Strange and Thomas. So Jamie, with some trouble ranking the Jaguars wide receivers. Where are you on right now?

[D]

All outside the top 36. It's really just a matter of, I think what you're looking for with your build because you still have to view Brian Thomas as having the most upside because if he hits, he hits big, as we saw in his rookie season. If he fails, we saw what the failures look like, but you're not spending a high draft pick on them. I don't think anybody should. Then it comes down to you want to talk about boring wide receivers? If we're calling Michael Pittman boring. Jacoby Myers is almost the same definition, has more upside than Michael Pittman and could be the best wide receiver in Jacksonville. But again, when we've seen Myers at his best, it's been in the most depleted receiving cores that he's played in. You know, New England without anybody else there, Las Vegas without anybody else there. His numbers took off when they got rid of devonte Adams. So I think Myers is safe, but I just don't think has a huge upside. Then you see what Parker Washington did last year and it's hard to overlook that knowing that this is a guy Trevor Lawrence likes, this is clearly a guy Liam Cohen likes and how do they keep him off the field? Then there's the wrinkle that, you know, you didn't mention Adam, which is obviously Travis Hunter, as the Post just showed on the in the chat. How much will Travis Hunter play? What role will he have? Who is he taking off the field? Bren Strange obviously is a factor. The back feels different now without Travis ETN there. So we'll see, you know, if they do decide to use the quint Alan Moore, you know, in, in a pass catching role as opposed to maybe Basil Tootin or Chris Rodriguez. Rodriguez doesn't have a pass catching pedigree so would make some sense maybe add somebody else there. But looking at just the receivers like to me it's Thomas is the one that I'm going to swing for the fences on and if I need somebody more as a floor it's either going to be Washington or Myers. And that's why I haven't ranked right now Washington for

[C]

Did we talk about what James Gladstone said?

[A]

No.

[C]

He was on the I think Rich Eisen show last week and was like we are absolutely not done with Travis Hunter playing both ways.

[B]

Yeah.

[C]

And even went so far as because Eisen kind of said well like this defensive snaps go up, the offensive snaps have to go down. And he kind of pushed back against that. He said all we're saying is the defensive snaps are going to go up.

[B]

Wouldn't be good, would it? You know who I'm not drafting? I'm not drafting Brenton Strange. But if we take a let's take a look at ADP right now. So it's really interesting because on cbs I think they're back to back to back among wide receivers or they're very close. Jacoby Myers is going 85th overall like right after DK Metcalf. They're not back to back to back. There's like Jordan Tysons in there, But Jacoby Myers 85th, Brian Thomas Jr. 88th, Parker Washington 90th. It's yeah, there's Ricky Pierce all and Jordan Tyson in there, but they're essentially going in the same exact range. Myers, then Thomas, then Parker Washington. Fantasy pros is a little more, a little more spread out at least with one of them as Brian Thomas Jr. At wide receiver 34, 76 overall. Parker Washington is next, wide receiver 35. And then Jacoby Myers is I think wide receiver 40. He's going 94th overall. So it's close amongst the, the early drafters. I mean Parker Washington was so good down the stretch including 26.5 fantasy points at Denver his last four games including the playoffs. 19 or more PPR fantasy points. It is tough, I guess. Do you even want to get one of these guys or you just like, I'm gonna skip them again?

[D]

I think it comes down to what you're looking for, you know. So if you're set with your three or four wide receivers and you're talking about bench plays, bench players who could turn into something for me, that would be Thomas because again like if he can regain something close to his rookie season or maybe there's a mid season trade still, but obviously just looking at if he stays on Jacksonville, I still think he has the most upside then if you're talking about, okay, I took a chance on some. So let's say you know, you, you, you draft a Luther Burden who's got so much upside but unproven or I'm trying to think of somebody else that, that may fall into that category. Whatever the case may be with your, you know, first two or three wide receivers and you're like, okay, I need somebody that's a little bit safer. Then I think you look at Washington or, or Myers, you know, just based on what Washington, last year, Myers career history. Travis Hunter to me is a, is a late round flyer at best. I think you're just looking at it. What is the GM who traded his draft picks supposed to say exactly about a guy that they drafted that high to play both ways? If he was just drafting a cornerback, they're not making that trade. If he's just drafting a receiver, they're not taking him. So it, it, it's more I think him trying to clearly make sense of why they did it and, and still try to fit it on the field as much as you can. But they also don't go and trade for Jacoby Myers last year if they feel like they still have this potential. Stud wide receiver or player who could play that side of the ball to the extent of maybe what he's saying. So it just feels like it's too crowded for Travis Hunter to really matter for fantasy.

[B]

Okay, let's go to Heath's list. We got, I guess, three Cardinals on here and we've got two 49ers. I like the AFC west flavor.

[A]

Christian McAfee, NFC West.

[B]

No, they're in the AFC now. I was right. Christian McCaffrey going seventh overall, eighth overall is the. He's the. Has the seventh highest. ADP was going eighth overall in our CBS ADP. Whoops. Let's get those menus out of there. And he is in between Amanra St. Brown and Jonathan Taylor. He's tough to rank for Heath Cummings.

[D]

Go ahead.

[C]

Christian McCaffrey, well, I mean, he had 413 touches in the regular season, which as Jamie talked a lot with Saquon Barkley last year, is generally a very bad thing. He's also undeniably the best player in fantasy, probably if he plays 17 games.

[B]

He.

[C]

His rushing efficiency was really not very good last year at 3.9 yards per carry. And there are other metrics that didn't look good either, but he averaged over 7 yards per target once again and caught 100 passes. Like it's, it's. How scared are you to give up on the chance at the upside? And I was too scared last year. And how much do you let that influence your position this year?

[B]

So where do you have him? Where do you have McCaffrey?

[C]

Probably like right where he's being drafted. I think seventh or eighth down, I've got him eighth. So perfect. Because if I just, if I just don't have a take, it's hard to be wrong.

[B]

Jonathan Taylor or McCaffrey?

[C]

Taylor for me.

[B]

Dave, what do you have McCaffrey?

[A]

Ninth. Not only does he have this concern about having so many touches, he talked about it. It's 450 touches if you include the postseason. He's also 30. And he's also had coaches already come out this off season and say, yeah, we've got to find ways to take work off of him. So it, I think they know that they can't overwork Christian McCaffrey all season long. What does that look like? Does that mean that Jordan James is going to get 8 touches per game and McAffrey is going to get 18 touches per game? Well, I still would love to have Christian McAffrey if that's the case, but the last time that he had A lot of work in a season. Well, he came back last year and he was awesome. But earlier in his career, he had a lot of work and he came back and he started to suffer some serious injuries, and it harpooned two of his fantasy years. So I. I don't want to necessarily be totally out on Christian McCaffrey. So I get where Heath is coming from by saying, well, if I don't have a take, I can't be wrong. I just. I don't know if I can say, okay, give me Chase Brown. Okay, give me Drake London. Okay, give me Rashi Rice instead of Christian McCaffrey, because you know what McCaffrey is capable of. I think the way you feel better about it on draft day is if you take Christian McCaffrey in round one and then you get another 49ers running back, it should be Jordan James probably in round nine. I don't think anybody's going to look for him before that point

[B]

just to. He didn't have big workload, though, in 2024.

[A]

What did he have in 2024?

[D]

He played four games.

[B]

He played four games. It furthers your point that.

[A]

Right. Okay, that's fair. I'm sorry. What was it? 2023 that he had the big season?

[D]

23. He was amazing. Best player in fantasy. Injury. Came back, had the knee injury, missed the rest.

[A]

Yes. Yeah.

[D]

2025 was.

[A]

How could I forget that? Goodness gracious.

[D]

I think the. The thing with. With McAffrey right now, and I'm sure we would all agree, if you say he's playing 17 games, he's probably the number one overall pick. And so it's like, do you. Do you want to risk that potential by passing on him in round one? Nobody's going to take him over Gibbs or Robinson, whatever order, because of where those guys are in their careers. And what the upside is, is for those two guys, it's a question of, does McCaffrey seem better to anyone than Jonathan Taylor or James Cook or Chase Brown or all the receivers that go after the top three guys, you know, starting with Amara Saint Brown? So, you know, just going back to, you know, and. And I don't want to speak for anybody because I'm sure their opinions may have changed. But if I remember correctly, when we did the early rankings in January, I think Jacob and Dan were very. Still very high on McCaffrey. I'm pretty sure Dan had him as a number one running back. So, you know, we're. We're five months removed from that. I'm sure something has changed. You know, Lions backfield change, Falcons backfill change, coaches have changed. So. But still, you know what he's going to do when he plays. Now, to Dave's point, will they change some of that? Sure, it could happen. You know, they drafted another running back that they probably have to justify taking because they reach for him and Kaylin Black. But how do you take McCaffrey off the field when he is their offense? And now you have Kittle coming back from injury, a receiving core that's very different, you know, maybe better, but different. And so he's still the catalyst of what they want to do and probably need to do. So hopefully he stays healthy. And if he does, you're going to be rewarded by taking him in the back half. Round one.

[B]

Okay, we're going to take a break and we're going to come back and talk about the Arizona Cardinals, who have moved from the AFC west to the NFC West. And we'll be right back on fantasy football today.

[C]

You don't wash your jersey during a win streak. You don't switch seats when your team's

[A]

up big, and you definitely don't shave during the playoffs.

[C]

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[A]

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[D]

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[A]

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[D]

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[A]

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[B]

Heath. Should we lump together the Arizona Cardinals wide receivers and Jeremiah Love? Are they related?

[D]

In.

[B]

In a sense?

[C]

No.

[B]

Okay. Because my theory was like, like they had no run game last year. And they had, if not during the Brissette run, which I think started in week six. I think they led the NFL and pass attempts. If they didn't, they were very close.

[C]

They led the NFL and pass attempts for the season.

[B]

Okay. So, yeah, that's why I thought having trouble ranking the Cardinals wide receivers might be related to the fact that they drafted Jeremiah Love, which might not might hurt them.

[C]

I think it's more that with Jeremiah Love, it's Ashton Genti trauma. This could be a disastrously bad offense and something that's different than the Ashton Genti situation is they've also still for some reason brought back James Connor and went out and added Tyler Algier. So the one thing that saved Ashton Genti and kept him as a must start running back was the fact that he touched the ball all the time and handled all those passing downs and caught a bunch of passes. We, we can't even say the first couple weeks of the season that's going to be the case for Jeremiah Love, but at the same time I think he's awesome and generally it's a pretty good bet to take a running back drafted in the top 10 of the NFL draft earlier than where I have Jeremiah Love ranked, which I think is round three. So it's just with Love, it's, it's the situation in terms of how bad the offense could be and the potential that he's splitting with Wilson and Harrison. It's the fact that like first off, I don't think they're going to throw the ball Trey McBride as much as they did last year. But that's just what I think. If they do, then only one of these guys can really be relevant. They can't both matter. And Wilson was so awesome with Brissette when Harrison was unavailable. And Harrison's so much better of a prospect in terms of what we think he could be and the upside we think he possesses, even though Wilson showed so much upside last year that it's just really hard to rank those guys.

[B]

The Cardinals were last in running back rush attempts, first in pass attempts. They did throw to their running backs quite a bit. Third most running back targets, seventh highest running back target rate. But yeah, I mean it was a, it was a perfect environment for the past catchers to do. Well, yes, they were trailing a lot, they were throwing a lot and, and, and then, you know, Marvin Harrison couldn't stay healthy. So there was just basically one guy. The first half of the season was mostly Harrison doing okay and second half of the season was Michael Wilson. But let me give you this stat real quick and tell me your thoughts and if you're watching, I'll try to get Jeremiah Love off the screen and get to the wide receiver ADP. Very, very few routes here. We're talking 82 snaps for Marvin Harrison Jr. In his last three games, weeks 13, 16 and 17 and he was playing hurt. And he was playing hurt. But here's the target shares for the big three for Arizona when Marvin Harrison was on the field. So this is after Michael Wilson broke out and established himself as something. So 82 snaps, about 60 routes for these guys. McBride and Harrison had a 21% target share. Michael Wilson had a 19% target share. And I think it's such a small sample size, but he thought. So it's you. Since that you said they were tough to rank, but that's gotta. That's on my mind with these guys. That would be a scary scenario if it's sort of somewhat evenly split three ways.

[C]

That's the. And I did put Trey McBride in the bust column.

[D]

I think that's the.

[C]

That's the Trey McBride bust case right there. If he has a 21 target share, he is an awful pick in round two and probably in round three. And really kind of like just what I was saying, if, if both Harrison and Wilson are around 20, then they're both maybe borderline wide receiver threes.

[B]

Yeah. And let's see. Let's see where they're going. Marvin Harrison Jr. Can I Spell? Is going 59th overall, and Michael Wilson is going ahead of him in the early ADP, 57th overall. Jamie, those guys, that's that you're not going to see both of them going in the end of round five. Look at fantasy pros. Michael Wilson is going 85th overall as wide receiver 38. Marvin Harrison Jr. 70th overall as wide receiver, 31. That's better. What do you think about Harrison and Wilson?

[D]

It's almost exactly where I have him ranked. You know, I, I think you look at Harrison and what he did when healthy with Brissette, which wasn't very much three games he may have had. The Michael Wilson production that we saw, you know, probably not the same heights because Wilson was, you know, dominating targets. But, you know, you look at what he was doing finally with a pocket passer and not a guy that was playing off script, and maybe that's what he needs, you know, because he just didn't seem to mesh well with Kyler Murray, you know, something that was obviously working for him. So I'm hopeful that the guy that we saw for flashes in his first, you know, couple of seasons and the guy that we saw at Ohio State can, you know, hopefully show up or at least close to that. So I, I mean, I, you know, we, we've referenced this time and time again the, the five or six drafts that we've done already. I think I've taken him in four or five of them. So it just ends up being to me a number three receiver that I kind of gravitate toward because I still believe in the player and I think the situation is much better for him. I just wish we would have seen it last year, but if we had seen it last year, he's not going this late. And obviously in the case of Wilson, he did things that Marvin Harrison has yet to do and he did it in the same offense. And so the hope is that he can still do that, but obviously do that as the third option as opposed to in some cases being the first option. I hear everybody say the second option last year because of how many Bradford performed, but obviously Michael Wilson was playing at a level that we just keep waiting for Marvin Harrison to get to. So I like the ADP that fantasy pros has. I hate the adp. So far in the early drafts in cbs we haven't seen that reflect so far in the drafts that we've done with our other analysts, but they have gone close together. So you know the people that are anti Marvin Harrison are going to try, probably try and get Michael Wilson. The people are pro Marvin Harrison will probably just hopefully get him at the right cost. I don't want to reach for either one, but so far I think where Marvin Harrison is going is a very good value for what he can still be.

[B]

And Dave, last thing I'll let you weigh on this. I know you spent some time this morning watching this offense, but in that small sample size, those roughly 60 routes where all three were on the field late in the season, I absolutely hate this. Marvin Harrison Jr. Had a 15.7 yard a dot. He is not going to be successful in fantasy, I don't think with that kind of a dot. But give me your take real quick on the, on the Cardinals offense.

[A]

So throw out a lot of what you know about last year from Arizona because two things are changing. Number one, it's going to be a much better offense. We're talking about Michael Floor taking over. This is somebody who has been seven years, the right hand man of Kyle Shanahan. Three years the right hand man of Sean McVeigh. Yeah, I've talked about that as a reason to love Jeremiah Love. It's also a reason to buy into what this team can be like as a passing offense. But that being said is could either of these guys be Puka Nakua or even Devonte Adams? I struggle with it and I know that there was such a great profile for Marvin Harrison coming out of Ohio State, man, we. We really haven't seen it. There have been flashes, but otherwise we just have not seen him be that guy. And you can blame it on the quarterbacks, you can blame it on injuries. We just haven't seen it. And Michael Wilson, when he got an opportunity and it came last year, he actually looked pretty good. He's actually like one of these kind of freaky size speed guys who can change direction. Not bad for a dude who's as big as he is. And I'm kind of interested in them, but I don't know if I really want to target either one. And I'm especially certain that they will not have the same type of passing environment that they did last year. There were two games last year where an Arizona Cardinals running back had 15 or more PPR points and there were seven games where a running back had 13. They played 17 games. That running game sucked. We talked about it. It's going to change under Jeremiah Love. He's just such a good talent that I buy into him changing the tenor of that offense. That means they don't throw nearly as much as they did last year, which means the target volume goes down across the board. I'm running out of breath. McBride is the one that I'm mildly interested in. I think I might end up passing on Harrison and probably end up passing on Wilson, too.

[B]

The funny thing is if. If they just have competent quarterback play, I mean, they could be a really good offense. And we're talking about, oh, could this be this bad offense? Or Jeremiah Love is going to be held back, but they've got the pieces to be a great offense here. Lines a little bit of a concern. I get that. But a little bit better. It's better.

[D]

They're the Jets. Same thing.

[A]

Yeah, they're better than that.

[B]

Yeah. No, I mean, I think. Well, yeah, there's similarities. I think probably Garrett Wilson is probably better than Marvin Harrison Jr. But I don't know. I don't know. It certainly wasn't.

[A]

Yes. That's a yes.

[B]

Okay.

[A]

Is Jacoby better than Gino?

[D]

I mean, a lot of similarities.

[C]

I mean, which. Which year is it? But I don't think of the last five years or five off seasons. I think this is the first one where we would be asking that question.

[D]

Yeah.

[B]

Yeah.

[C]

Like nobody thought it was really much of a competition.

[B]

Well, Heath, George Kittle was amazing last year. He was the number two tight end per game behind Trey McBride. Coming off a torn Achilles, you're having trouble ranking George Kittle Yeah.

[C]

I don't know where to rank a guy that I think could be a top five tight end and could start the season on PUP and As and is old and wasn't as good last year as he's been in the past. Particularly in the one thing that he's always been incredible at and that is yards after the catch per reception. He is over 6 Yak per reception every year of his career until last year when it fell to 4.4. And a lot of times that's because the ADOT went up and you lose some yak. His ADOT of 6.7 was the lowest since 2019. He is 32 years old to turn 33 during the season and coming off of an Achilles, I don't really even want to draft him as anything other than like, okay, it's the last round. I'll put him in my, in my IR spot.

[B]

Yeah. Right now. 90th for George Kittle in the three CBS drafts and I certainly am not

[C]

taking them in the first eight rounds.

[B]

119 on fantasy pros.

[D]

That's closer.

[B]

What if you knew he was going to be back? Let's say, you know, week three avoiding pup.

[C]

When is he back though?

[A]

Right. There's a difference between he's, he's back practicing in week one for a week three return or he's practicing during training camp and they just hold him out for the first couple of games.

[B]

I don't really know.

[A]

Right. He needs that. He needs a month of ramp up time before I'd feel really good about starting him as anything more than a touchdown or bust tight end.

[C]

And then the other thing is that the tight end position is not the wasteland that it used to be.

[A]

There it is.

[C]

And so like is he going to move ahead of Harold Fannin?

[D]

No.

[C]

Tucker Kraft?

[A]

As long as Kraft is on track to play, he'll, he'll go ahead of Kittle.

[C]

I'm not going to move him ahead of laporta or Pitts either.

[A]

No chance. You know how I have it. I've. I put him exactly at 100th overall and I think he's a luxury pick. If I get to that point in the drive and that's round nine. I love my team. Rounds one through eight. I don't care if I have a tight end or not. If I love my team, I'll, I'll go for it with Kittle at that point.

[B]

I think maybe a strategy we haven't talked much about is drafting Kittle late, you know, 100th let's say, and then drafting Tonjas as he was certainly good enough to be a starter, you know, when Kittle was out.

[A]

No one will draft him unless it's tight end premium.

[C]

I'd rather draft Kelsey over time.

[A]

So would you go into your season with Kelsey and Kittle as your tight ends? Yeah.

[C]

I mean, you could do that. I'm just saying that better too. I'd rather draft kelsey than use two. Two picks on the 49ers tight end.

[A]

Oh. So, yeah, yeah, that doesn't suck either.

[D]

I mean, again, unless the thing about Ton just especially if, you know, Kittle's timeline is early but may not play. You know, if you just draft Kittle and then you could probably pick up Ton, just up waivers after the draft starts.

[B]

Yeah. What if you're. What if you ask your commissioner nicely? You're like, listen, I want to take. I'm going to take Kittle, but can you also just give me Ton just after the draft and I can only use one roster spot? I would allow that.

[A]

Yeah, that'll work in your league.

[D]

What if you don't set any rules about making off season transition transactions and somebody adds tonsis and then you reverse it?

[B]

I did set the rule. I just didn't implement it.

[D]

Oh, gotcha.

[B]

Okay, Dave, you can go ahead and

[C]

change that back, by the way, so I can drop some players so I'm gonna be able to make my draft picks at some point.

[B]

You know, you're not drafting for a while. I wouldn't worry about it.

[A]

The best thing I was get married to my wife. The second best thing was not get into the big burger dynasty league.

[B]

It's a fun league. Just being commissioner is not fun. All right, Te McMillan is on Dave's list of players who are tough to rank. It's McMillan, Abuka, Alec Pierce and Casey Concepcion. Dave is having wide receiver ranking nightmares. Tel McMillan. Well, first of all, who would you take first, McMillan or a Buka?

[A]

I currently have a buka head of McMillan.

[B]

Okay. And.

[A]

And I don't know if I even love it. I don't even know. I. I'll have a decision come late July, but for now, I don't even know how much I love it.

[B]

Look at that, Dave. Back to back 30 at the 3, 4 turn. Ameca Buka and Tetero McMillan right in between T. Higgins and Devontae Smith in the early CBS ADP. So what's difficult about these guys?

[A]

McMillan should be a fantasy football beast. He's big, he's quick. He's clearly, the number one target. The Panthers offense, I think, is ascending. Maybe not necessarily ascending like, like the top half of a K shape type of deal, but it's. It's still ascending. And I, I don't understand why they didn't feed him more targets per game last year, because I don't think it's because of things he did. And I'm still not sure that the run game has been addressed to the point where we should be worried about them running a lot. I don't think the other receivers and tight ends that they have warrant worry. There's a. There, There should be Nothing stopping Tedro McMullen from getting to eight targets per game, but I, I think he should be seeing 8 and a half to 9 and a half targets per game. He's that good. And he's shown it in flashes as a rookie. Maybe that's what it is. He was just a rookie last year. I don't know. But I, I want to love him, I want to trust him. I want to rank him like right next to George Pickens. I just can't do it because I know who the quarterback is and I'm worried about that team just being maybe a little too conservative offensively, so. Right.

[B]

Carolina was 27th in points per game. They were 23rd in pass rate, 27th in gross passing yards per game. It wasn't a very good offense. His target per out run rate, Tedro McMillan, was 22.3%, which is okay. It ranked 30th out of 78 wide receivers with 50 or more targets better than DK Metcalf. But it's not great. But it's fine. But they just didn't throw that much. And Jamie, we were talking about McMillan in the superlative show as the next Marvin Harrison Jr. The guy who we expect to break out and it just doesn't happen. And we thought maybe because of his offense, but I. Maybe in contrast to you, I think the Rico Dowdle loss. I don't want to speak for you, I'm sorry, but I think the Rico Douda loss could help McMillan because I do think they used him in a. In a ground and pound way. They just smashed him up the middle over and over again. I don't think they're going to be able to do that with Chuba Hubbard, maybe with Brooks, but probably not. So I do. I. I'm optimistic that they won't run the ball as much because they don't have the personnel to do it and they'll have to throw more and that will help McMillan. I don't know. How do you feel about that?

[D]

It certainly could be the case, you know, and again, you know, Canal is giving up play calling duties, if in fact that does come to fruition throughout the entirety of the season, could certainly help that, that, that theory. I just, to me, McMillan feels like he's going to be very good. I just don't know if Bryce Young as his quarterback gets him to the level we're hoping for. Whereas we've seen that with Abuka, you know, in the start of the season last year. We've seen the level that he can get to and it's impressive. We also saw the fall off. But, you know, that comes with what happened to this team last year where everybody started to get healthy. Well, you don't have Mike Evans right now. You know, you're hearing positive reports about Ted Hurst, their rookie. Obviously Godwin is hopefully back at 100%, but he's 30 years old, so we'll see, you know, which version of God when we get because he's got several versions of Chris Godwin and then Jalen McMillan who, you know, didn't really get the most glowing report with the conversation earlier this week with Zach Robinson. So for me, Abuka's got a higher ceiling in his current situation. I think the floor is safer for McMillan because I don't think he gets worse than what he did last year.

[A]

I'm.

[D]

At least, I'm hoping. But I, I think if you're just talking about like who can be better than the other right now, for me, I would lean toward a book. I think just the ceiling's higher in his current situation.

[B]

I wonder why he'd be tough to. Ranka was the number three wide receiver per game in his first five games and the number 58 wide receiver per game in his last 12 games. He's tough to write. Anything else you want to say about Abuka, Dave, or should we move on?

[A]

I, I believe that the combination of him getting hurt last year, Mike Evans coming back last year, Baker was hurt last year, all led to Abuka not performing, not being nearly as good as he was in the first few games of the season. He's obviously going to be healthy this year. Same thing with Baker. Mike Evans is gone. I, I love what I'm reading about Ted Hurst. I don't think he's going to have a huge impact on what a Buka could be. I agree that Abuka has more upside than Tedro McMillan, but I think both these guys have huge upside. I don't think, I don't think any One of the four of us would be shocked if both finish 2026 as top 10 wide receivers. As far as PPR points per game,

[C]

I think a book of versus McMillan may just come down to how optimistic you are about a Baker bounce back. Yeah, I'm, I'm not. And So I have McMillan higher. But if Baker bounces back, then Igbuka is the answer.

[D]

So I, I kind of toe the line with that because I don't think Baker bounces back. But I also don't think Bryce Young takes a step forward. So I think Baker in his regressed state, if that's how you want to define it, you know, from where he was at his heights, I still think is better as a fantasy, better as a quarterback for his fantasy assets than Bryce Young.

[B]

All right, Alec Pierce is next on Dave's list of players who are difficult to rank. Alec Pierce, you know, he was a second round pick in 2022 and took him four years. He had his four fourth four his year, four breakout, 1,000 yards, six touchdowns on only 84 targets. He's a really fascinating player. I think if I were going to sum him up, you guys feel free to disagree. Arguably the best deep ball receiver in the NFL. So we don't love high adot guys for fantasy, like really high eight out guys, but he is maybe better at it than anyone else. Dave, where do you have him ranked and what's the difficulty with Alec Pierce?

[A]

I have him outside of my top 24. He's one of the wide receiver threes that I'm targeting. I don't think the adot stays that high. They just paid him a ton of money. Michael Pittman just hit the door. I imagine that that adot will come down, his role will change, but his target volume will increase. Last year he averaged 5.6 targets per game over the course of the whole season. In 10 games with Daniel Jones, 5.9 targets per game, but 11.4 full PPR points per game. I went back and I just looked over his entire career. It doesn't matter who the quarterback is. 19 games we had at least six targets. So kind of a low bar. 10 games with at least 15 plus PPR. So about half. That's, that's not bad. Four of the five came in 2025. That makes me a little bit encouraged for the coming year. And it's, it's just the taking the chance on a wide receiver who's shown us flashes of him as a big play guy and hoping that he can contribute even More in the small and intermediate ranges in the Colts offense.

[C]

Can he be like a real wide receiver?

[B]

Yeah, well, I'm terrified of the Colts offense though. You know, it's. They were so good last year. Best in the league with Daniel Jones. I can't wrap my head around that. And then he's coming off a torn Achilles.

[A]

So Jones is. Yes. Yeah.

[B]

Alec Pierce is going to 56th overall.

[A]

Yeah, that's a little too rich for my blood.

[B]

Let me see where he is in fantasy pros because I doubt it's that high. Alec Pierce is 77th overall wide receiver, 35.

[D]

That's good value.

[C]

I like that better.

[B]

Would you take the funniest that you're

[D]

terrified of the Colts? I mean, you're right about Jones and the Achilles, but like, this is the type of offense that we love because it's going to be concentrated targets to three guys.

[B]

But that's not all that concentrated though. A concentrated to me is like two guys concentrated.

[D]

I mean, that's like the most pristine situation. But like, you know, when you look at it, I don't. First off, you know, when we're talking like concentrated two guys, like, that's the Bengals because you know what you're getting from chasing Higgins and they're amazing.

[B]

It's all. Yeah, it's the, it's the Cowboys to a degree because like Ferguson doesn't get much right.

[D]

But I think just in the case of like where you're drafting these guys, like, if you're taking Pierce at 56, he's a bus. If you're taking him in 77s, it's great. If you're taking Josh Downs where his ADP is on fantasy pros, that's great. If you're taking Tyler Warren, who is, you know, my guess is going to be, you know, adp, a top five tight end, like, I think that's worth it based on what we saw last year when Jones was healthy. So for where these guys are going and what you should be getting from them, especially if Pierce does take this step forward, which is what the Colts are counting on, clearly, you know, bye, bye Michael Pittman. Here's this big contract. It should be okay. Now the biggest thing obviously is, is Jones healthy and will he be healthy early in the season or will there be a ramp up period until he gets back to what he was looking like at the start of the season, which was great for these guys. I mean, you know, most. It's funny because Pierce did a lot of his. A lot, Not a lot of, but several of his big games came after Jones was injured, you know, so he actually still benefited from the, the Philip Rivers, Riley Leonard games that we saw or even, you know, if you, if you throw in the Daniel Jones games with the broken leg before the Achilles injury. So I'm just hopeful that we see 20, 24 Josh Downs, if not better. I think we see a better version to Heath's point. You know, a, A full route tree or at least a, A more complete route tree for Alec Pierce, and that helps his fantasy production across the board. Tyler Warren continues to produce like he did, and you're just getting the Colts at, at. At the right cost again. 56 for Alec Pierce. That puts him in, In. In a range where you have to really guarantee yourself that he's taking a step forward. And that's just, I think.

[A]

But if he does it, if he does it, then 56 is too low. What. What would that look like? It would be averaging maybe two more catches a game, maybe less than that, and he'd still be pretty good for 56.

[B]

Yeah, but if we're expecting to become a different receiver now that he's got all this money, I don't even know how to project him. Right. Because he's not going to have the same yards per catch right. In the same yards per target. He's going to be. He's going to be different Alec Pierce. I think what scares me is, like, is obviously coming off the torn Achilles for Daniel Jones pretty fairly late in the season. But also, I think Daniel Jones was among the leaders in first read rate last year, and he just did what the offense told him to do, which was great. But that's exactly what happened with the Giants. That one, you know, good year for him wasn't nearly as good, but that one successful year for him and then the defenses caught on, you know, and I just don't know that Daniel Jones can make adjustments and whenever he's had a moment, moments of being good, he comes back the next year and he's arguably the worst starting quarterback in the NFL. It has to be on the table right now, which I think factors into why Alec Pierce is tough to rank.

[C]

Well, I was trying to think, like, I don't, I don't know that anybody has ever transitioned from what Alec Pierce has been the last couple of years into a guy that works in the intermediate. I just went and looked. Since 2018, there have been eight seasons where a guy. Guy had 60 targets and an eight out over 16. For reference, Alec Pierce is eight in his last two seasons. Is 18.9 and 21.5. The other, the other, the other six guys were Marquez, Valdez, Ging, Mike Williams, Rashad Perryman. There's a DeSean Jackson season in there. John Brown and Kenny Stills.

[A]

Yeah, like you know how many targets he had three yards or closer to the line of scrimmage last year. I gotta double check to make sure this is right because this is unbelievable.

[B]

If it's true, I'm gonna say.

[A]

I think it's true.

[B]

I'm gonna say zero.

[A]

He had one.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

He had six targets inside of five air yards. Let's see what it was.

[B]

But here's a great point. While you looked at 19.

[A]

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[B]

You know, someone said they agree with what I was saying about the concerns, but they're reflected in the current ADP. And that's true. Like, you're not if 50. Okay. He should not be around five pick Alec Pierce. But if you're getting him in the 70s or later, then. Yeah, like I don't have to have those types of fears. Then you. That's when you can take a chance on guys. I completely agree. Based on, based on how.

[D]

Here are the receivers going around him. So the, the five receivers before him are Brian Thomas, Jr. DK Metcalf, Jordan, Tyson, Marvin Harrison. I think Harrison and Tyson are well within the discussion. Metcalf. I'd rather have Pierce. Thomas. I'd rather have Pierce. The guys after Pierce, Parker, Washington. I'll take Pierce. Corton Sutton. I'll take Pierce. Michael Wilson. I'll take Pierce. Makai Lemon. Again, for me, that's close, but whatever. Like, that's, that's the, the range of guys. You could easily see why Pierce should be better than all of those guys.

[A]

Okay, I'll take Pierce ahead of every single one of them. 10 yards. 10 yards or closer to the line of scrimmage. In air yards last year, Pierce had 19 targets. Josh Downs had 69 targets. Michael Pittman at 80 targets.

[B]

Pittman's gone within 10, within 10 yards of the line.

[A]

Sure. So this is going to kill the A dot and it's going to kill his receiving average and all that stuff, but it's going to give him more targets and more opportunities. And I don't think it's asking him too much to catch a screen, run a dig, run a hitch.

[C]

But can you win in those situations?

[A]

Yes.

[C]

Like, he's never done it.

[A]

He hasn't. He hasn't done it or he hasn't been given the opportunity to do it?

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

Okay. He caught 12 of the 19 targets of inside 10 air yards.

[B]

Okay.

[D]

He's gonna get defended differently. I mean, that's part of it too. You know, it's. There's. There's clearly the target on his back. I. I go back to conversation I had, man, who was the coach? It was a Chargers coach when Keenan Allen was his rookie season.

[A]

Anthony Lynn?

[C]

No.

[A]

Don Coriel?

[B]

Mike McCoy.

[D]

Michael. Mike McCoy. The owner's meeting next year. The owners meeting the next year saying that. You good?

[B]

Yeah, I'm just. I'm just flexing, you know, after.

[D]

After King House rookie season, the targets on his back. Can he win now as the guy. And now Pierce has the target on his back because of the contract. Can he win as the guy. And Alan struggled in his sophomore season. We'll see if Pierce can, you know, have success now that he's got all the attention because of what he just got paid.

[B]

A very weird sophomore season for Keenan Allen. You know, just coming off at a brilliant detour as ACL that year. Or no.

[C]

I was just trying to think, is there a least a less comparable wide receiver in NFL history to Alex Pierce? The conversation makes sense.

[B]

All right, we got one more guy. Dave. Casey Concepcion. I certainly can see why he would be difficult to rank. Do you think he should be Brown's rookie wide receiver? Casey Concepcion? Do you think he should be a top 100 pick?

[A]

I kind of do, but it's what I. I don't know how Todd Mon can season. Does he see him the same way that he saw Zay Flowers? And if that's the case in, I mean, wheels up for KC Concepcion. But it's. It's a terrible passing offense. We all know this. But I do believe that he's got a shot to lead this team in target. Certainly the wide receivers, but maybe everybody. I love his route running. I love his speed. I do not quite love his hands. He had some really gross drops, but I think they were focus drops. Sometimes he left his feet when he didn't need to. I feel like that's fixable. And I wonder if he's just a guy that can really play with efficiency and get some good target volume. And those are two things that work really nicely when it comes to fantasy football. So, yeah, he's in that mix for me. Among those players when you're at pick 100 to think about. And I wonder if you can get him after pick 100. I know I have in a couple of drafts already, and I love it because he's somebody that I kind of want to Bet on because he's got good traits and there's a good opportunity to go along with it. Even though the quarterback situation in Cleveland is. Heath. Make a. Make a puking noise.

[C]

It's not good. But I'm a Browns fan right now, so I'm not gonna say anything bad about the Browns.

[B]

He should have said I was looking for my drop. Yeah. Okay.

[D]

Concepcion going 100, 122nd on fantasy pros. Like, that's, I think, the range you want to get him at.

[A]

Yeah, I would take him before then. I think he's got the upside to be worthy of it.

[D]

So is it him or Denzel Boston? That's the biggest question.

[A]

I think it's going to be him. I think he can do a lot more than Denzel Boston can do.

[D]

I agree.

[B]

Okay. Josh Downs or Casey Concepcion?

[D]

Downs.

[A]

I have conception Higher. I get it. I get why you'd be down for downs.

[B]

That's interesting. Xavier Worthy is going later than Casey Concepcion in the CBS adp. Who do you guys prefer? Worthy, Your conception.

[A]

I gotta get Brandon in these mocks and then that'll change. Sorry, Brandon. I couldn't help myself there. I'm worried about Worthy. So give me Concepcion.

[C]

I've got conception a couple spots higher. I do have downs ahead of conception.

[D]

Agree with Heath. I think they're close because Worthy's in a pretty good spot if Mahomes is healthy, given the state of the receiving core right now. But hopefully Concepcion is the guy for Clue.

[B]

Okay. Someone in the chat, Mike Wazowski, said, can't wait for Adam to whine about something. Did I miss it? Did I whine about anything today? I could about all the vowels in your last name. I mean, the consonants. Once you buy a vowel, Mike.

[C]

AFC West.

[B]

AFC West.

[A]

Why don't you ask him to buy an eyeball? Because he only has one.

[C]

It's amazing that in the same show that you call continent spells and the NFC West. The AFC west, you nailed the Mike McCoy thing.

[D]

Yeah.

[C]

I really tells us a lot about your brain.

[B]

I cannot believe I got that right. All right, listen, we've got.

[D]

I can't believe what you did yesterday to Jameer Gibbs. It's terrible what I do.

[A]

You wished a torn acl.

[B]

Oh, I said, come on. I gave him a low ankle sprain. He was gonna miss two to three weeks. He's fine.

[A]

Why couldn't he just, you know, go on vacation to Tahiti for two or three weeks?

[B]

Because he'd get fine for that. You're trying to take his money away. Come on, Dave.

[A]

He's got plenty of it.

[B]

Now I'm whining.

[A]

How about he just plays 17 games and we don't think about it?

[C]

Okay, speaking of money, how much money is Jameer Gibbs getting after the HN contract?

[D]

Oh, my God. Yeah.

[B]

Yeah. But I. I was like, yeah, Ken Walker and Travis, they're signing these deals worth, you know, $45 million, whatever. And it's like, that's Will Anderson gets that in a year. Running backs still don't get much. Okay, everybody, we're out of here. We'll see you tomorrow at CBS sports network at 1pm Eastern to talk about the schedule. Talk to you then. See ya. Paramount podcasts the greatest to ever play

[C]

the game, return to finish what they started.

[A]

Welcome to Survivor 50.

[B]

I want. I wanted one more shot to play the game that I fell in love

[A]

with 25 years ago. I want to win against the best of the best.

[B]

I chickened out at the final tribal.

[D]

Season 50.

[C]

It's an honor. Light your torch.

[B]

I've got some unfinished business.

[C]

Be part of history.

[B]

I have more to play for.

[A]

This time bigger than ever.

[B]

Survivor 50 new CBS, Wednesday at 8, 7 Central and streaming on Paramount.

[C]

Plus.