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Training Camp News: What Matters, What Doesn't (Fantasy Football Dynasty Podcast)
01:01:20
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- [00:02]
Brett Podolski
Hey, I'm Brett Podolski, co founder of the farmer's dog. We make fresh food for dogs. We started the company when we saw what a huge difference it made in my own dog, Jada, when she stopped eating ultra processed kibble and started eating fresh whole food. The farmer's dog food isn't fancy. It's just real food delivered to your door in pre portioned packs.
- [00:22]
Heath Cummings
It's better for them and easier for you.
- [00:24]
Kristen Bell
Get 50% off your first box at the farmersdog.com trial50. That's thefarmersdog.com trial50. Hi, I'm Kristen Bell and if you know my husband Dax, then you also know he loves shopping for a car. Selling a car, not so much.
- [00:39]
Brett Podolski
We're really doing this, huh?
- [00:41]
Kristen Bell
Thankfully, Carvana makes it easy. Answer a few questions, put in your van or license and done. We sold ours in minutes this morning and they'll come pick it up and pay us this afternoon.
- [00:52]
Heath Cummings
Bye bye Truckee.
- [00:53]
Kristen Bell
Of course, we kept the favorite.
- [00:56]
Brett Podolski
Hello other Truckee.
- [00:58]
Kristen Bell
Sell your car with Carvana today. Terms and conditions apply. Out here, we feel things. The sore calves that lead to epic views, the cool waterfall mist during a hot hike, and the breeze that hits just right at the summit. But hey, don't just listen to us. Experience it for yourself. Alltrails makes it easy to discover the best of the outdoors. With more than 450,000 trails around the world, points of interest along the trail and offline maps for always on navigation. Download the free app today and find your next outdoor adventure.
- [01:38]
Heath Cummings
Welcome to Fantasy Football Today Dynasty. I am your host, Heath Cummings, joined today by my good friend, Sigmund Bloom. And I use the term good friend a lot on this show. But I always like to remind people at the start of the show, it was about 15 years ago, maybe 16, that Sigmund Bloom opened the door to this wonderful adventure we're on now to me. And without this man, I, I cannot imagine that this show as you're listening to it would exist in its current form. So thank you very much, Sigmund Bloom, for that and thank you for being here today.
- [02:12]
Brett Podolski
Yeah, hey, I'm just passing it forward. You know, we all get that tap on the shoulder sometimes and you just, when the opportunity knocks, you answer the door. And I'm certainly happy to answer the door and hang out with you and hang out with your great listeners and viewers and, and just the fantasy football community because this is such an exciting time. You know, opening the presents is nice, but isn't it counting down the days to Christmas. That really makes us the happiest.
- [02:36]
Heath Cummings
Well said, well said. You know, I. You are the perfect person to have on this show today because we're talking about training camp news and I always ask people, tell people where they can find your work. Tell people what you've been working on. Everybody knows where they can find you. But I do want you to tell them about what the, the training camp coverage.
- [02:56]
Brett Podolski
Yeah, yeah, we do something. Bob Henry, who's a legend, absolute legend, a projections champion year over year. Like when some people listen to the show might have still been a gleam in their dad's eye. You know, he marshals everybody and we have one person for each team. I actually do the kickers because, you know, I, I throw, I throw my weight around. Everybody wants to do kickers, Heath, but I'm like, no, no, no, no. The only. The great sigma bloom gets to do kickers. But close attention as we can to every report and distill out of that what you need to know each week with the training camp reports. And I like to say it's a fire hose, you know, and we just bottle it and make it so that you can actually drink it and not get drowned by it.
- [03:42]
Heath Cummings
You know, I, more than a decade ago, I was a part of that project. And I will tell you, it's you guys, it's an invaluable resource. Go check out the training camp reports. Well, on today's show, we're, we're mostly talking about training camp news now. We'll talk about some specific players like Travis Hunter, like Braylon Allen, like Matthew Golden. We're also at the, especially at the very top. I want to talk about kind of how we process the information we get this time of year. And that's where we'll start with our three questions for our guest. How do you determine between the signal and the noise this time of year?
- [04:18]
Brett Podolski
Yeah, Matt Waldman had a really great post about this that I should have just had up and read basically. But I think that first of all we can distinguish between opinions and objective facts like injuries, playing with the first team, playing in certain packages as opposed to just a clip, a specific play, a coach opining about something or saying he had a great day of practice or we're starting to see what we want out of him and things like that. But I think the other thing is we're looking for agreement, right? Multiple beat writers, multiple pieces saying this player obviously has shown up ready to seize a news new role. The coaches are giving him more in practice than we saw last Year or in the negative direction. You know, this player looks like he's fading into the background, but when you start to hear that. And Cecil Lammy coined the term drum beat for this. My co host over at the Audible. When you start to hear that drum beat, you start to hear it building. We can look back Heath and a lot of the biggest stories in fantasy football that swing leagues, we. The clues were always there leading up to it in training camp and preseason.
- [05:26]
Heath Cummings
Exactly. We're going to talk more about drum beats after our first break. I, I do want to now clarify something that I think I've said on this show or at least maybe on the. On the main fft that I stole that phrase from you. I stole it from Cecilami.
- [05:39]
Brett Podolski
Yeah.
- [05:40]
Heath Cummings
Thank you for that. One of many contributions from him to my understanding of the game of football. We've got a lot of guys, especially this first week, that get dinged up. We've got a few big names who are in the middle of contract disputes and holding out or holding in. It's August 1st. Now on one hand I hear that and I think how in the world is it already August? On the other hand, we've still got almost six weeks for a lot of these guys until they play a real football game. Is there a certain date that you start actually worrying about some of these holdouts hold ins or minor injuries?
- [06:17]
Brett Podolski
I would say it's the second week of the preseason. We used to be the third week of the preseason. So about two weeks from now, maybe three weeks from now. Somewhere in that, you know, conveniently the week that leads up to the two biggest fantasy football draft weeks. And I think that we have to treat everything on a case by case basis. You know, we have to look at the difference between maintenance or precaution. And we tried something and it didn't work so we're going to try something else. So we have to sift through these things. And I think two of the biggest situations that come to mind right away, Obviously the Terry McLaurin thing and we, I think we should still be like 95% they're going to figure something out just because that's how these things go. And often publicly we hear they're really far apart. We hear that it's irreparable, but it is reparable. And then, you know, the injuries, I would say that four come to mind that I, I think we need to grapple with. I would say that Chris Godwin and Brandon Ayuk, we should just expect to be on the PUP to open the season, and anything less than that is a win. And so we're talking like mid season until they're close to full speed. Joe Mixon is kind of like, I don't know. I don't know if they know. Okay. I. I think another one that doesn't fall in either one of these categories. It's kind of a hold album. Not really. Is Quinton. Sean Judkins. Yeah. And I would say with Quinton Judkins, if you listen to the tone from the Browns, they're like, whatever, we're ready to go forward without him. I'm not saying they're not going to sign him eventually. He's not going to be part of the team. But. But as far as your fantasy football draft plans for this year, I would project the backfield without him until we hear otherwise. And then the other injury that I think is more interesting just because it ripples through to more player values. Matthew Stafford. Right. And that one is, you know, it was interesting to see Ryan Fitzpatrick say, oh, good job getting out of camp. Old crusty vet, you know, so it was just interesting to see a fellow former quarterback say, oh, this is just like, hey, I don't feel like practicing, you know, but we did hear Sean McVeigh say he's going to practice after a week. And then like, well, we were a little too aggressive. They consulted with the spinal surgeon specialist that works with the team. Probably a disc issue, if I had to guess. Now we know that Matthew Stafford can grit his teeth and play through anything, but we also hear Devonte Adams saying, like, hey, Jimmy Garoppolo and I got along in Vegas. It wasn't him. So. Right. And maybe the bottom line is, like, if we're talking about a backup quarterback, drop off, the Rams have this. The least steep of any team because Jimmy Garoppolo is very experienced, accomplished, and he's a good fit in a highly structured offense. Right. But at the same time, I think we have to at least be open to Matthew Stafford not being himself this year completely or missing time or maybe just week one comes and they say, remember how it went with the Peyton Manning thing? He where, you know, right up to, like, week one, they were like, we'll see, we'll see, we'll see. Oh, yeah, by the way, he has to have spinal, like, fusion surgery, so that's something to watch. I don't have any really good actionable advice on it. I've seen Pukinakua and Devonte Adams drop down a few spots, which I think is about the most pessimistic. We should treat it because again, I would expect Jimmy Garoppolo to preserve a lot of the value in that pass offense. He's just not going to add the plays outside of structure that Matthew Stafford creates.
- [09:51]
Heath Cummings
Excellent. Well said. And I'll just to reiterate what you said on Terry McClure and I, I actually, I just tweeted this this morning. I actually think the trade request could provide the path to reconciliation here because finding the team that's going to give Patriots capital and the contract that Terry McLaurin reportedly wants right now, he may find out, you know what, the commanders aren't the only team that won't pay me $30 million a year. I should be happy with 27 or something like that. So hopefully they end up back together. Be great for Jaden Daniels. One more question because we got a couple of guys that were in a holding pattern. We're waiting on news. Rashi Rice, Jordan Addison both recently had their criminal proceedings kind of come to a head and now we just wait and see. Is there going to be a suspension? How long is the suspension is going to be? So how, how are you viewing those two guys? More for the. I mean, this is a Dynasty show, but yeah, value in Dynasty is at least somewhat dependent on what they're going to do this year. How are you viewing Rice and Addison at this point?
- [10:52]
Brett Podolski
The NFL disciplinary process is very unpredictable, you know, but I would say based on the amount of coverage, remember that part of the NFL equation here is tarnishing the shield or something like that. Right. And just the fact that we're talking about on the show right now is this, you know, this is part of it. I'm not saying the NFL is watching this, but I'm just saying that perceptions are important too. The Roshi Rice thing, you know, there's a lot of bad perceptions. When that came out, Jordan Addison was a repeat offender. So I would say two, three games. Jordan Addison maybe four or six games for Rishi Rice. I don't know when it's going to come down. The league is very weird about when they decide to announce these things. The team probably knows before we know. You know, notice in Kansas City how much we're hearing about Jalen Royals. Yeah. You know, so, you know, I'd say that for, for redraft, you drop them down to the bottom of their tier. So maybe Roshi Rice more like a 5th round pick. Jordan Addison more like a 9th round pick for Dynasty. I think that with Jordan Addison, this happened far enough in the past and the team really was disappointed. He's like your parents, Heath, when they were very disappointed in you. That's almost worse than when they're yelling at you. Right. And it seems like Jordan Addison has gotten it together and there hasn't really been personnel moves that indicate to me that, that the Vikings are worried about Jordan Addison being a part of their future. You know, they did draft, who was it? Ty Felton. But I think they have Jalen Naylor going to free agency next year. Jalen Naylor's probably like a 10 billion dollar player a year in free agency. So maybe that, you know, now the Chiefs are more interesting though, because you remember, of course, now granted, they drafted Nicole Hardman, we thought, well, that's it for Tyree Kill. That isn't how it worked out. But they draft Jalen Royals, they bring back Marquis Brown for another year. So I think they were kind of preparing for this. And I do think that with Roshi Rice and the nature of the issue now, again, I haven't heard anything that makes me think like, oh, we should be on the lookout for other instances like this. But I would say between the two of them, I'm a little more worried about Rice than Addison.
- [13:05]
Heath Cummings
But.
- [13:05]
Brett Podolski
But I'm probably not factoring in heavily for either. Right.
- [13:08]
Heath Cummings
Yeah. I think that the numbers you gave as of right now, in my projections, I basically took two games away from Addison and four games away from Rice. And then I'll adjust based on when we get the real numbers. Had a couple of comments from the chat I wanted to highlight before our first break. Spencer says it's his first time here. Good to catch you, Mr. Bloom. Good to have you here, Spencer. Thank you very much. He also, I didn't realize it was the same guy. He also says he's going to steal your hat. And if there, if there's any opportunity to purchase that hat, there may be many people that want to do that. It's a fantastic hat. Let's take our first break. When we come back, we'll get into some of the news.
- [13:45]
Kristen Bell
On WhatsApp. No one can see or hear your personal messages. Whether it's a voice call message or sending a password to WhatsApp, it's all just this. So whether you're sharing the streaming password in the family chat or trading those late night voice messages that could basically become a podcast, your personal messages stay between you, your friends and your family. No one else, not even us. WhatsApp message privately with everyone. This episode is brought to you by State Farm. Checking off the boxes on your to do list is a great feeling. And when it comes to checking off coverage, Estate Farm Farm agent can help you choose an option that's right for you. Whether you prefer talking in person on the phone or using the award winning app, it's nice knowing you have help finding coverage that best fits your needs. Like a good neighbor, State Farm is there.
- [14:40]
Heath Cummings
Quick programming note. You guys know you've heard it Every show. Our St. Jude draft a thon is in full swing. And on Monday there were the auction spots for the FFT Dynasty show league will open up. We've got two spots that will be available for auction. Of course that money all goes to St. Jude. You guys done a fantastic job supporting that cause already. But I just want to let you know the auction spots open up on Monday. I've got Adam Azer, Jamie Eisenberg, Dan Schneier, Theo Griminger just agreed to be a part of the league as well. So that, that should, that should draw some, some donations. People want to play with Theo. And for those of you got a couple spots also if you don't, if you can't make a donation just for anybody who emails. I've received some of those emails. I'm probably not going to make a decision until the auction's over. In case one of you who's emailing is also bidding on a spot. But expect that to go down probably in mid August. Still time to send your email in. Tell us about your favorite moments from the show. But the first time Sig was on and my face hurt from smiling so much. Just let's, let's go back to those times. So you mentioned the drum beats, those, those things. We get consistent reports either throughout the off season or throughout, throughout training camp. What are some of the loudest drum beats in your opinion of this off season?
- [16:02]
Brett Podolski
I think the loudest is Tank Bigsby. Okay. And again, context, okay, because we can take the drum beat in a vacuum. But then we also have to say when should we be paying the closest attention to these drum beats? And the top of the list, he has to be teams with new coaches. Right. Because everything's up for grabs. Right. So we already should have been going into Jags cam thinking, well, everything's up for grabs. And you see multiple reports. John Shipley, who I love, longtime friend, saying hey, Tank Bigsby just had a day where he took over camp. And now I'm talking out of both sides of my mouth when I say that day I think he had five, he had five first team reps. And Travis ETN had like three. Right. But then you had Gus Logue from Big Cat country. A lot of great alumni from that site too. I love Jags Twitter a lot. Maybe something about like rooting for the Jags that brings out like the best football minds because I know this is a Pirates fan. A lot of us love baseball and enjoy Bailey Falter.
- [17:09]
Heath Cummings
Anyway, with them this long, you probably really love this game.
- [17:13]
Brett Podolski
Yeah, exactly. And he said when he. Gus Logue had said. When I first heard that Tank Bigsby was outshining ETN and gonna be the running back one for this team, I was skeptical. And then when I went to practice, I realized like, no, I shouldn't be skeptical. Right. So you know that framing is important. And the other thing is sometimes we also. Confirmation bias isn't bad. He. I mean, if you're right, confirmation biases is good.
- [17:39]
Heath Cummings
I'm glad you addressed that. Yes.
- [17:41]
Brett Podolski
Yeah. And if you watch Tank Bigsby and Travis ETN last year, you saw that Biggsby's just better between the tackles. And you already even heard when Liam Cohen dispelled the rumors about ETN not really liking him. At the same time there were reports they were using more on Jet sweeps screens touches out in space, which makes sense, but also is a sign like, hey, this is what we think this guy's good at because he's looked miscast going all the way back to, you know, Urban Meyer pick. Right? So this is ghost of the Urban Meyer era where I think people see etn, they remember the hype. He was a first round pick then that has no bearing at all with James Gladstone and Liam Cohen. They're going to play the best players or play them the way they think they're going to get the most out of them. And I think Bashful Tootin when he was drafted also overshadowed this whole situation because of the Bucky Irving or for the next Bucky Irving and Bashful Tutin, it looks like they would like to bring along slow maybe. Maybe more like a red shirt year if possible. Now, I'm not saying Tank Bigsby is going to win your league for you, but when you're projecting the Jags backfield now he has to be the one you project to lead and carries and rushing touchdowns.
- [18:48]
Heath Cummings
100 and another one I wanted to ask you about is not on the list, but I thought when I thought drum beat, especially for the entire off season, it was Jameson Williams. Seems like anybody talking about the Lions offense is talking about how he's going to be more involved and run different Routes. And it sounds like we're seeing a little bit in camp.
- [19:05]
Brett Podolski
Yeah, the sequel. And it's interesting too, because John Morton, new offensive coordinator, former wide receiver, really focused in on Jameson Williams talking about more explosive plays, talking about Jameson Williams mastering the route tree. And other people been talking about this too, that, you know, what does this mean for Ammon Ross St. Brown? Should their ADPs be closer or their Dynasty values actually be closer? You know, I think there's an argument, Heath, that is the Dynasty show. So let's talk about. We think about values of players changing this incremental way. Right. That it goes. No, no, it's whiplash. It's inflection points. Right. It's. It's a, a certain week where all of a sudden everyone realizes like, oh, right. So would it be shocking if, say by week three or week four, Heath, we have Jameson Williams with more Dynasty value than Amar Ross St. Brown? I mean, maybe. Should we already speculatively be open to that? Go ahead.
- [20:02]
Heath Cummings
No, I think, I think open to it, certainly. I, I've, I've. Williams has been a steady riser for me this off season. He's my wide receiver, 23 right now in Dynasty. He's still just 24 years old. It would not take very much at all for him to jump into the top 15. St. Brown is still my wide receiver seven for dynasty purposes. But I, my, my thought has been more. Does this just turn into more of a wide receiver centric passing game? And is this bad news for Sam Laporta, who's been pretty reliant on touchdowns and does he see his target share shrink A little bit? But I think any of those things are possibilities and we should remain open. Yeah.
- [20:40]
Brett Podolski
And Laporta was also mentioned specifically by Morton. Laporta's difficult because his first, you know, so when a player struggles, especially when we had such high expectations for Laporta in year two, he was banged up at the beginning of the year. From week 12 on, he was basically the fantasy player we expected him to be. So we'll see. And I mean, there's also a larger thing here where sounds like things are on track for the Bears, like parenting. Parenting always comes back to coaching. You're doing, you know this all too well, Heath, that they wanted structure, right. They craved structure. They crave somebody to ride them and push them to get more out of them. Now, I don't think the lines are going to lose that culture, you know, but I don't know, like tactically, what they might lose with Ben Johnson, you hear John Morton saying, and Scotty Montgomery and the receiver saying, like, they just let us do, like, whatever, man. Like, we can just get. We can just get open where Ben Johnson's like, you have to be at this landmark at this point. The whole play falls apart. Do it again. So we'll see if the Lions drop off a little bit. I think we have to. You know, Jared Goff's an interesting variable in this equation. You know, if he's having to react in the moment instead of just do something that he's practiced a thousand times. So that's. This is just all stuff to be open to. I think that's one of the most important things, too. We're taking stands in our drafts. But more than anything, we need to massage our brains to be ready to accept the new reality and understand where the range of outcomes is and take those first few data points from week one, week two, week three, and say, okay, this is where we're headed in that range of outcomes instead of just rejecting stuff that disagrees with our takes. And. And that's where confirmation bias gets into trouble. Like, well, I didn't expect this, so it must not be valid.
- [22:22]
Heath Cummings
Yes. Now, you talked about confirmation bias twice already, and I don't know if I've seen it more evident than in the response to Travis Hunter so far, because people who believed in Travis Hunter's ability to come in and do something that nobody's ever done before see him splitting days between wide receiver and corner and say, see, I told you. He's just going to be the guy that plays all the snaps and is sh otani of football. And let's do. And the people who were skeptical of Travis Hunter being a great fantasy wide receiver while also playing defense say, see, he's going to be a halftime player on both. So has. Has these reports of him, like, taking full days at wide receiver, full days at corner. Has it changed your mind at all? And are you more optimistic or pessimistic about Hunter?
- [23:12]
Brett Podolski
Heath, you know me.
- [23:13]
Heath Cummings
You're always optimistic. I'm optimistic, too.
- [23:15]
Brett Podolski
I'm a dreamer, baby. I'm a dreamer, you know, And I think we cannot let our imagination limit the possibilities in this situation. Okay. And you mentioned Shoehe Ohtani, and I think it's not crazy to bring up Ohtani. And now maybe if people want to look at Ohtani as an instructive, he got hurt. Well, and it took a few years for him to really hit that. Okay. But much in the same way where the idea is doing something that nobody could imagine was possible before they did it. If you're looking for signs of that, I think don't focus on how many snaps you can play on offense, how many sounds are going to play on defense. Okay, here's what you want to focus on. The Jags are clearly preparing him to play both sides, right? Okay. And I don't think they're preparing him to play both sides, just in passing down situations. The other thing that if you're reading the reports, you're seeing two things. Number one, whether he's on offense or defense, everybody watching is saying he did something today that was just wow, right? Okay. Like, like everybody watching is like, Travis Hunter did something today. Like, almost. He. They're almost saying it like it's routine, right? Like it's routine. He did something extraordinary, by the way. Travis Hunter did something else extraordinary in practice today. But the other thing that you're seeing is people saying, like, here I am, I'm watching Travis Hunter, and sure enough, in the Jacksonville heat, he just does not seem to lose any stamina.
- [24:51]
Heath Cummings
Right.
- [24:51]
Brett Podolski
At all. You know, we're watching the other players and we're watching Travis Hunter, and the dude is just built different, and part of that's his disposition and personality. I want to point out while we're on the trap, his Hunter topic that he said he's teaching Trevor Lawrence dance moves. You know, is that a perfect metaphor for what Trevor Lawrence needs right now? Right. So it isn't just Travis Hunter and he can play offensive defense and he's this outstanding player. It's also, his energy is just so big. Right. And. And he's so. He's another one of my favorite kind of player to take a fantasy football, which is the joyful warrior. You know, this is a dreadful, dreadful sport where your career is on the line every single time you get on the field, even the practice, you know, you have someone like Jerry Rice at his hall of Fame speech saying he was miserable during his career. You know, that's part of what drove him. But when you see Travis Hunter and you see that what the wind has sails is just joy. I don't. You know, again, it's. It's. It's your one time around, maybe here on earth. Like, don't let your imagination be limited by pessimism or by what has happened before. We've seen a lot of things maybe, that we didn't contemplate what happened before that are negative. Let's really lean into this positive one.
- [26:05]
Heath Cummings
I want to stay with Hunter for a second because I've gotten Some pushback from Brian Thomas Jr. Backers. And I am one. He was one of my most drafted players last year. I love Brian Thomas. But speaking of that, being open to possibilities and you talked about it with a Manoa St. Brown and Jameson Williams. I think it's even more possible in this case. Am I crazy to think that not because I'm doubting what Thomas did last year, just because I'm so enamored with what Hunter could be, that it is within the realm of possibilities that Travis Hunter is the best dynasty wide receiver on the Jacksonville Jaguars. And not maybe in the long term, but relatively soon.
- [26:47]
Brett Podolski
Yeah, I think that we got it. I was talking to Matt Harmon on my show this week and I asked him, like, just from a movement perspective. Okay. Just from an athleticism perspective. Movement perspective. Who have you watched that is on the level of Travis Hunter and you know the name that was the first name he thought of, Odell Beckham.
- [27:07]
Heath Cummings
Okay. Yeah.
- [27:09]
Brett Podolski
And I don't think in Matt Harmon is always measured in his tape. Right, Right. Okay. You know, so we're starting with that. And don't get me wrong, Brian Thomas is probably in the galaxy at this point of almost like a Julio Jones, you know, so don't get me wrong. I'm not trying, but I'm. I mean, it's like get excited, Jaguars fans after we were just saying, boy, what they've endured. I mean, maybe isn't that. But, you know, can Liam Cohen support two wide receiver ones or really, can Trevor Lawrence support two wide receiver ones? And hey, Diami. Diami Brown. Also, there's a drum beat about him too. So you may be with his all leading back to like Trevor Lawrence. And then maybe that can open up things for the running game because the offensive line is the other potential weak link here. You know, they don't have Tampa Bay's offensive line, so it might not happen as fast, but absolutely. And you could also have a symbiotic thing here with Thomas and Hunter where they open things up for each other, like Higgins and Chase. Right. I think we may see something similar with Pig Pickens and Lamb this year where they both increase each other's efficiency and we don't, you know, we can do the tomato, tomato thing, but the important thing is, like, they can both exceed expectations. Now, the one caveat I would say for Thomas is that at the time he broke out last year, the Jags didn't have a Travis Hunter or a Diami Brown on the field. So. Right. Or Trevor Lawrence, which is true. You know, so so that's so you hope those things balance out. But bottom line is like be excited to take Travis Hunter at adp, be excited to take Trevor Lawrence and and be excited to watch this Jags offense this year.
- [28:41]
Heath Cummings
So we have had a lot of positive reports on Braylon Allen and I believe this is the second training camp in a row that we've had a lot of positive reports on Braylon Allen and the response to this has been very mixed. Either it's lol. No. You guys forgot how good Breeze hall is. There's no chance that Braylon Allen matters or it's man, Breeze hall is a bust. And I've kind of viewed this from the perspective that this is a Lions offensive system or adjacent at least coming to the jets and their number two wide receivers, Josh Reynolds. So there's no reason, no shade to Josh Reynolds. Other fact that I drafted him in all of my rookie drafts way too long ago and it didn't work out. But I, I think both of these guys could be good values. What's your reaction to the positive Allen.
- [29:27]
Brett Podolski
Reports you have to take it seriously first of all. And again, why? Because we're starting off at a point where Aaron Glenn said we're going to use all three running backs. Right. You also had Breeze Hall, I think hoping for a trade going into. I mean it was kind of cryptic because of social media and Breeze hall saying recently I'm not going to get an extension, which is new. But so we already had going into this. They're not going to treat Breeze hall as an incumbent starter, which he wasn't really treated like last year under the previous staff. He wasn't this clear feature back. You know, it's I think you had to be moving a Braylon Allen down. Now Breeze hall is already hanging around the late third round or in your dynasty perspective, you know, he was already a player that was well down from his value a year ago, but there's enough belief in just his pure wattage talent that people aren't going to just move on from him. I think this is the only put it this way, if you've always wanted Breeze hall on your dynasty team, this is the moment or, or perhaps maybe after week one or week two when they have close to an even split. So you have potentially a second stop at that point. I don't think his value would get much lower unless he got like released or something. But he's still going to stay around the third, fourth round of redraft leagues because there's going to be somebody in Your league. That's like the lll. No, Breeze hall is that good. But you did mention that the Josh Reynolds thing is interesting. I don't know if it was you, maybe it was you, Heath. That said, both of these guys can outperform adp because if Josh Reynolds is the wide receiver too, then Breeze hall can still catch like 60, 70 balls in this offense and be one of the main receiving options and Braylon Allen can be that guy. The last thing I'll add to this is that brain. Braylon Allen is like now an athletic wonder, you know, so for. So he should stand out in a practice setting. We didn't quite see him stand out as much during games. So I think going into the season they might be thinking Braylon Allen 1B, but we'll see if it carries over into the season because we saw him start kind of hot last year and then by the end of the season he was considered level with Isaiah Davis.
- [31:36]
Heath Cummings
And I do think that Allen is one of those players that while his value has definitely increased in the last month in terms of dynasty, he still is somebody that somebody maybe had on their bench and thought, you know what, I'm going to sell high here. I can get a future second for him and I'll feel great about it. And if I was a contender and a running back needy team, that's probably the type of deal I'd be looking to make because there is some, some real opportunity for a pop. When you talk about training camp reports and specifically off season reports, Luther Burden's off season has been such a roller coaster. He got like two practices in and he was playing the slot in Ben Johnson's offense and everybody loved him. Then he missed way too much time. Ben Johnson complained about it. He got back to practice, he gets yelled at and pulled out of a drill. Everybody says he's done. And then apparently yesterday he was the star of training camp. How are you riding this Luther Burton roller coaster? Are we just to the moon now?
- [32:29]
Brett Podolski
Maybe not the moon, but we're on the launch pad. You know, Matt Harmon again, I'll invoke saying that, hey, we were happy when he landed in Chicago, Luther Burton, because we thought he needed a coach that was going to focus on the details and really bring out the best in. And that's what we're getting now. So don't be surprised that Ben Johnson is riding him. By the way, as an aside, I've said this before. I think this is hilarious that Ben Johnson's like this offensive whiz, right? He like you know, he's, he's figured out like math equations and no one else has figured out what's his special secret sauce. He's a hard ass. He rides them.
- [33:03]
Heath Cummings
Right.
- [33:04]
Brett Podolski
Like the most old school football thing. Like, that's the big secret, you know. But anyway, so I think there's still something that you wonder, like this offense with Caleb Williams and I think the pie can get bigger. And it sounds like Caleb Williams has bought in. It's not like everyone's buying in, but you wonder, you know, how can you. Out of DJ Moore and Luther Burden and Colston Loveland and, And Roma Dunes A, you know, they can't all exceed adp, right. So you have to kind of pick and choose. And I still think that Roma Dunes is the one that is likely emerging as the one. Roma Dunes is the one that Ben Johnson, I think points out says, like, that's the way we want you to practice. That's the way we want you to play. So I think he's the guy that has the most chance to increase his value out of the gate and I think the guy that has the chance for us to go, oh, and all of a sudden we're seeing him like five, ten spots lower in Dynasty than we are before week one is DJ Moore. Yep. Where you can say, oh, they're lining up on the backfield. If you watched him in Maryland, he actually had like some running back to his game. But that almost seems to me like, well, you're not going to be seeing as many targets, so how can we keep you involved? So I do think if you like Luther Burden, like, like everything's back on track like we talked about. But this is an interesting puzzle as optimism abounds. But not everybody can hit their optimistic peak.
- [34:27]
Heath Cummings
Yeah, more is definitely the one I'm most concerned about and has been sliding a little bit over the last couple of months for me. Another rookie wide receiver getting a lot of buzz. Matthew Golden. This was a guy I like coming into the draft. Coming out of the draft, I kind of took the view that the packers finally took a wide receiver in round one. They had a roster full of wide receiver twos. They'd like for Matthew golden to go be a wide receiver one on this team. And I get a lot of pushback that Matt lafor just doesn't do that. Do they finally have a wide receiver one?
- [35:02]
Brett Podolski
I think they do. Tactically, I think they do in the sense that defense, he can distort defenses. And I'm really excited. By the way, one of the other Things under the radar is they're saying it looks like Christian Watson's ahead of schedule.
- [35:15]
Heath Cummings
Yeah.
- [35:15]
Brett Podolski
So you know, we may get this is if you're in on Jordan. Love. This should make you excited because we make it maybe like half of a season where Christian Watson is close to full speed and they can deploy Watson and Golden outside. And, and really, I mean are we, here's the bottom line. Are we looking at the NFC north becoming offensive shootout division? When you look at the changes all these teams are making in the direction all these offenses are heading. So. But I think that you remember Sammy Watkins sometimes where his value to the team wasn't the targets that he got, but it was how he opened things up for everybody else. I wonder if Matthew golden is going to be like that and I feel contractually obligated to myself. I make contracts with myself. I'm that kind of person that anytime we're talking about the packers passing him, I have to mention Tucker Kraft. Yes. I think that Tucker Kraft, we may be considering him in the galaxy of George Kittle within a couple of weeks. So your Dynasty folks out there overpay for Tucker Kraft right now. One of the things I'm going to say is one of those adages like in Dynasty leagues and dynasty trades, something that looks like an overpay once they start to play looks like a massive value. And something looks like, oh, I got this great value trade within a couple of weeks of the season starting. You will wish you never made it.
- [36:27]
Heath Cummings
You'll be happy to know that that was not the first time in the last month that Tucker Kraft and George Kittle's name have been said in the same sentence on this very program. So we are definitely in lockstep on that one. He's my tight end. Eight in Dynasty and I agree go overpay for Tucker Kraft. There's one more team whose wide receivers I want to talk about. And I will admit you're the optimist. Yeah, yeah, I am sometimes an optimist. I've had a really hard time getting optimistic about the Patriots passing game and specifically the Patriots wide receivers. Demario Douglas is somebody I like a lot and have been above consensus on for a long time and he seems to have claimed that coveted Josh McDaniels slot rule, which is great. Stefan Diggs way ahead in his recovery from the ACL of what we expected. Kyle Williams is in a battle with a couple of guys for that X spot, but he at least flashes occasionally. Is there anybody like 31 year old wide receiver coming off of an ACL generally in dynasty like there may be, there's two teams in the whole league who should want to have them on their team.
- [37:28]
Brett Podolski
Yeah.
- [37:29]
Heath Cummings
And Douglas has not shown the actual fantasy upside other than he can help a team. Kind of like you talked about, maybe with Matthew golden in a different type of way. Is there anybody in Dynasty on this Patriots wide receiver core that you're actually excited about?
- [37:44]
Brett Podolski
I mean, I think Douglas is still a really interesting guy and I debated between Bigsby and Douglas as the loudest drum beat because Douglas also had the drum beat all through the off season. And also it's chemistry with Drake May. Now I do think that Douglas, you're probably won't lead the team in targets, but he'll be close to Stefan Diggs and he'll probably get more short, intermediate targets and he may be rivaling him for the lead in receptions. So I do think that Demario Douglas is the guy that is just, I, I don't understand why, but he's just being pushed aside, written off. I think in fantasy circles, like in redraft leagues, he should be a 10th, 11th round pick. You know, I mean he's I think 70, 80 catches, 85 catches. And in some games you may have some eight, nine catch games and swing your weeks for you. And it's that Josh McDaniel slot roll. And also you're just hearing about things like he's more physical at the catch point and we already knew he could separate. We already knew that he, he was good at being in that classic Wes Welker, Danny Amendola, Julian Edelman role in the Josh McDaniels offense. But now he's up to the physical part of it too. I do think with Kyle Williams, if you missed on him in your rookie draft and you want to get him weight because what we're hearing is that Keisha Boute is more consistent.
- [39:07]
Heath Cummings
Yeah.
- [39:07]
Brett Podolski
And I think Keisha on Booty will have the largest part of that role. But Kyle Williams ability to separate his speed, his long speed is something they're not going to just keep on the sidelines. So I think that Kyle Williams is a guy that it might be more of a slow burn for him to get going. But Demario Douglas is someone I'm glad I got a chance to talk about on the show.
- [39:28]
Heath Cummings
I, I wish I had talked to you before you talked to Harmon because one of the things that I've been really fascinated with with Diggs and Douglas together is this idea that Douglas has claimed the slot role and a lot of Dig's success. The last time we saw him before the ACL was playing the slot role. And I wonder what, looking at Diggs tape, somebody who's even more of an expert at this would say about what's, what's Diggs current skill set going to look like going up against number one corners on the outside.
- [40:00]
Brett Podolski
Yeah, I wonder, you know, is his name Bobby Peters? I can't remember. I think it's Bobby Peters. You know, there's so many good football, football theoreticians, I'm making up words now. You know, people that are looking at football from a different level that we can all apply whether it's fantasy football or enjoying football. And the, the term that came up that's really interesting to me he is cluster formations. You know, so we're used to the idea of bunch formations but a cluster formation is a little more amorphous where the, the receivers are maybe within four or five yards from each other. They might be motioning into it. And what it presents to the defense is if you're playing man, you're not quite exactly sure how to stick to your guy. If you're playing zone, you're not really sure how the pattern matching is going to go. So it's hard to diagnose for the defense and it creates a little more chaos. So I, because I think the key this is me just making stuff up. But that's what we're doing, right? I think the key with like slot versus some of these more static wide receiver roles is the slot gets the two way go. You know, the slot gets to operate often against a smaller corner and you know, can even get into mismatches with like a nickel back kind of. But if we're doing these cluster formations, doesn't that kind of create more than one receiver who has that freedom at the line and almost an interchangeable sense of. Because it also creates more opportunities for picks and rubs and things like that. So I wonder and I think Josh McDaniels is going to be on the forefront of stuff like this. I wonder if we're going to see a new era and wide receiver where the role isn't going to be as rigid as we thought because offenses are going to try to create these formations where the way the wide receivers line up don't. Doesn't really declare anything to the defense.
- [42:08]
Heath Cummings
I think for, for digs people rostering digs, that that certainly has to be the hope. We're going to take our second break. I've got a couple rapid fire questions for Sigma Bloom and Then, as we generally try to do, I will get to some of your questions about guys that we haven't talked about and what their training camps have looked like and any, any thoughts we may have. We'll be right back after this.
- [42:31]
Brett Podolski
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- [43:02]
Heath Cummings
So we've got a couple of quarterback battles that could have far reaching implications for the players on their teams, but also one in Indianapolis where if one guy wins it, he might be a fantasy starter half the time. So Anthony Richardson, I had kind of given up on him mid summer when they were talking about wanting consistency out of their quarterback. But now it seems like he may be back in the driver's seat. Just real quick, how many games does he start this year? You ought to know this.
- [43:30]
Brett Podolski
Let's see. All right, let's see. More fake fortune tellers. So why not like 14 or 15? You know, I think he's showing enough improvement. Daniel Jones is still Daniel Jones and he's a layup in redraft leagues until he starts to move up until it's exactly the upside you're looking for. And in dynasty leagues, he's a guy you could overpay for right now. And again, if we actually see his development get back on track and if you were thinking his development is going to get back on track, what you've been hearing this summer is what you wanted to hear.
- [43:54]
Heath Cummings
Yes. And I will say that I think both Richardson and Justin Fields, although I prefer Fields, both of those guys, much better risks to take in a 1 QB dynasty league than a super flex dynasty league because in one QB you've usually got two or three other guys that might be low end starters. Take the shot on the guy who could be a star in Super Flex. If you make six, you may, you may overpay. Does it even matter who wins the Saints quarterback competition?
- [44:22]
Brett Podolski
It matters in so much as you want to just hear that the one or the one. The one or I'm hearing that I need more coffee. The winner won the job. Right? Right. You don't want to hear that. Well, Spencer Rattler was up and down. Tyler Chuck was up and down and well, there's one. Tyler Chuck has more upside. So they're just gonna see, but they're ready to go Rattler at any time. You know, if you, if you hear Chuck sees this competition or Rattler sees this competition and listen to what the players say too. Because there's also leadership, there's also confidence. That's the most important thing about this competition.
- [44:56]
Heath Cummings
Who you mentioned this, this battle earlier in the year and I think you're right. A lot of people acting like, well, quinch on judgment is going to miss six games to start of the year, then it'll be fine. I have no idea when he's going to sign, whether he'll be on the exempt list or when he's going to play football in the NFL. So who leads the Browns in Russia temp this year?
- [45:15]
Brett Podolski
Probably Dylan Sampson. Just because I think as the season goes on they know what they have in Jerome Ford. He took a pay cut. I think Jerome Ford's more like the we know he's assignment sound. We know he can play passing downs, we know he can block on passing plays. But Dylan Sampson is it back eight. Hey, you know, I know that RJ Harvey was the guy that crashed that top tier in Dynasty leagues via the draft, but before the draft, Dylan Sampson was a guy that was at the top of the odds to do that. So maybe the thing that we're missing with this Judkins kerfuffle is that Samson, if here's I'll put it Heath, imagine if you would for a second that the Browns didn't draft Judkins. How would we feel about Samson and Dynasty leagues? Right? Maybe that's how we should feel.
- [45:59]
Heath Cummings
I that that is exactly right. We've got a couple of questions here. I love this one. This is not a question, it's an assertion. Bill Merritt knew has to matter. And for those of you who don't know who he's talking about, Jacori Crosby, Merritt on the Washington commanders getting all kinds of positive buzz. Does he matter?
- [46:20]
Brett Podolski
Yeah, sure. And this is another drum beat. I think Rashard Smith, this also applies to him. It's not a drum beat, although Damian Martinez, with Kenny McIntosh going down, has a much easier path to a roster spot. He also had a great day in pass pro. Some of the regardless of some of the best pass pro they've seen in training camp from any running back anytime they've been covering Seattle. So all these seventh round running backs, you know, there's all this hype about this running back class and it kind of got drafted like a regular running back class. But what you did see is the quality of running backs in the seventh round were equal to a lot of years quality running backs in the fourth round. And then you have a situation like Washington, a situation like Kansas City where nobody has. They don't really have a true incumbent starter. They don't have somebody that has year after year been the guy for their team. So why not Jacori Cross camera. Why not Burchard Smith as players that at the very least exceed expectations to start? And then again, it isn't like Kansas City or Washington is going to just say like, well, little by little we're going to change the shift in the backfield. It might just be that Prichard Smith busts off a 70 yard touchdown run and they say, whoa. Or Corey Crosby Merritt has 90 yards on eight carries and they look at Brian Robinson and say like, yeah, next week we're gonna flip that. Right?
- [47:37]
Heath Cummings
So this I think is a question that answered still itself from Richard Huffman. But it brings up a good topic anyway. Why so much hype about CMC when he's a year older coming off of an injury? And it's because that when he's not been hurt, he's destroyed fantasy leagues over and over and over again. But I still think like, how much hype and the reports have been positive so far. How much hype should we care about or do we just look at this as you have to decide whether you want to wager your first round pick on a guy that could either win you the league or destroy your team.
- [48:11]
Brett Podolski
Yeah. And just make sure you take Isaac Arando and we have a little more clarity. Maybe it's small, but Jordan James is banged up. So I do think and Isaac Rando isn't yet, knock on wood. So that makes it a little bit easier if you're willing to say like I'll take Isaac rando in the 10th or 11th round, you know, that can help. And but yeah, I think that's it. Heath. I think that you are looking at McCaffrey in the back half of the first round and if he plays 17 games at the very least he's going to equal that value. Even if we look at him and he doesn't hit the top speeds that he's been hitting in the past, he's still going to catch 70 or 80 balls, he's still going to lead the backfield touches, he's still going to lead the team in rushing touchdowns. But it and I did finally see a lot of clips this summer. He's back and I was like, and I and I saw one where he ran that wheel and I was like, okay, that looks more like Christian McCaffrey, you know, separating from a linebacker. Yeah. Third or fourth string linebacker, but whatever. Separating from a linebacker, having a little extra burst and then making that sprawling catch. So I think that's why, you know, in the players in the back half of the first round, Ashton Genti would probably be the other one that qualifies that. You know, we could look back and say he should have been number one overall.
- [49:21]
Heath Cummings
So we, we do need some sort of parameters for what type of video we show when we get the he's back. Because I saw one yesterday or the day before of Nick Chubb claiming that he was back. And I said, I don't know who that is, but that's not Nick Chubb or the Nick job that I remember. So hopefully, hopefully he is all the way back because the Texans may need him. We had one, we've already talked about a couple of these guys, but Rashad Smith, Taj Brooks, jcm, Thornton all moving up. I we talked about Smith and Brooke and Crossy Merit. I we talked about Taj Brooks on this show in early April when Matt Walden was on because he loved him before the draft. 100 agree with that. The Raiders wide receiver two conversation kind of. I don't care because I think Brock Bowers is going to see 25 of the targets and Jacoby Myers is going to see 20 to 25 national. Genti's gonna have 300 touches. But also we've seen two or three names come up in that mix. Is Thornton the one you're the most excited about? I saw some Trey Tucker yesterday.
- [50:26]
Brett Podolski
Yeah, I think Thornton's the one you have to if you're going to take a late round flyer or at least in dynasty leagues, you know, if we could redraft our rookie drafts, Thornton should be higher than he was in your rookie draft back in May. Part of it was and you know, I want to shout out Greg Branos of Coach Peak Index. If you're not checking out Coach Peak Index, you're missing a lot. Again, those that breadcrumb trail to the biggest stories of fantasy football through Coach Speak. But also I think someone should start Player Speak Index because when Dante Thornton showed up with the Raiders, some of the Raiders were like, whoa, check this dude out. You know, because it's one thing to say 640 runs a four. Four. It's another thing for players to see that in person and say, oh, okay, yeah. And I think the bottom line here is like, you're right. I mean Thornton, Tucker, Jack Besh, I Mean there's not going to be somebody that really emerges for fantasy. It's Jacoby Myers and it's Brock Bowers. I think Jacoby Myers is one of those guys, I could say like close to the like write his name in your draft plan and pen if he's there in the seventh round. I mean I just, you know, if they keep letting him fall, keep taking him. But there's a new feeling around this team now, right? Pete Carroll, Chip Kelly, Geno Smith. You saw Cold Miller just sign a team friendly extension as a left tackle and that this is a good competition where you're hearing Tucker has a good day, Thornton has a good day. Remember, Jack Besh is somebody that they're challenging to play. Me play a little more outside because Bowers and Myers can play in the slot. You have so much more formidable offense than the last time we saw this. And for Ashton Genti, folks, if you want a reason to take him in the first round, you know, get excited. Thornton and Besh both love to get after it as blockers. Right. So that's the difference between a 25 or 30 yard run and a 70 yard touchdown.
- [52:14]
Heath Cummings
I want to stay on Besh for a second because he was a guy that I liked quite a bit coming into the the summer. It hasn't gone great. But he's a rookie wide receiver and he was probably a second round rookie draft pick. Thornton's moving up. I think Besh for almost everybody has dropped off just a little bit. But would you still pretty strongly prefer Bachelor Thornton?
- [52:33]
Brett Podolski
I mean the amount of strong I, I liked Besh a lot. I have Bash on most of my dynasty teams. I saw him fall into like the early second. Yeah. And I had him on a par with the guys going in the late first. So I was often even trading out of the late first into the early second and just taking Jack Bash at like 23 or 24 because I think he's the kind of player that easily projects as a 70, 80, 85 catch guy, you know, just so good at all the little things and underrated after the catch. But it's. But where the gap is getting smaller is Thornton moving up, you know, and Thornton also with that big play profile. But yeah, I'm not moving on from Jack Besh. And again, what's the real background story here? The Raiders could be the most improved offense in the league.
- [53:20]
Heath Cummings
Love it. We got a question about Jaden Higgins, another guy who was in that Jack Besh range in rookie drafts. And he's got Nico Collins there and I, I've had a couple, couple people on this show say, you know, he's kind of like a poor man's Nico Collins in terms of what he is as a prospect. Christian Kirk's also there in the slot. I haven't seen a lot of positive or negative reports on Jaden Higgins. It's been pretty quiet. But how, how, what are your feelings on Jaden Higgins?
- [53:49]
Brett Podolski
He is a player, I think, with a limited ceiling in fantasy. Like, you're right, I had Bash ahead of Higgins. I think he is a player that projects more as, you know, big yards per catch, maybe some touchdowns. Not that he. Now, Nico Collins didn't have this, well, refined skill set right when he came out of Michigan, but he had, I think, better athletic tools to work with. And the other thing is, at least for this year, so Higgins is going to play a player, I think that's not going to get out of the gate really hot because the Texans, I think they're still experiencing with offensive line combination. You know, they're saying, like, world, we'll see. You know, the, the combination will emerge as we go through training camp. I mean, that tells me September is going to be extended preseason for them. They start out with the Rams. That's your defense to take, by the way. Take the, that's your defense.
- [54:39]
Heath Cummings
Because I've been telling everybody the Cardinals, because they play the Saints in week.
- [54:42]
Brett Podolski
Well, that's a good. That one. Yeah, no, that's a good one too, you know, and we'll see. But the, the Texans, I think the offensive line woes are going to bleed over. And like you mentioned Christian Kirk, he's the interesting guy who I think is being overlooked because you're going to have to rely on more short passing. Also if there's not a credible running game. I mean, in general, it might just be like tough, tough, tough. And just hope that gets through the first month of the season without being too banged up.
- [55:07]
Heath Cummings
You know, hold that little thought because we had a couple of comments earlier when we were talking about a couple of the quarterback battles and the same guy, G says, avoid all cults. And then shortly after that he says, avoid all Saints. And I remember, I don't remember who used to write it and maybe it's going to be written this year also. But there was a, there was always an article at Football guys that was, I think it was titled eloquently Avoid the suck.
- [55:33]
Brett Podolski
Yeah.
- [55:33]
Heath Cummings
And just talked about like the worst offenses in the NFL. You might do well to just not draft any players from those teams. I couldn't get on board with that with the Saints except for a pass catching running back like Alvin Camara. I'm more optimistic about the Colts. But are there any teams that you just feel like man yeah these are. None of these guys are going to be worth it.
- [55:53]
Brett Podolski
Yeah. Well. And again really quickly on the Saints I think is it already priced in the potential? It is. I mean if Crystal Lobby is going in the sixth round and Alvin Camara who was worth about a second third round picks going in the fourth round and Rashid Shahid who maybe that's who you should be most optimistic. Yeah, he's falling to like the 12th, 13th round. He was gonna he was on his way to a breakout season last year before he got hurt and from all indications it's not affecting him at all this year. So it's already priced in right. The fantasy hive minds already saying we expect this to be one of the worst offenses. I think the Texans apply this conversation better because it's more like who comes in so far below expectations. And it was David Dodds who founded the company with Joe Bryant who's a true genius. I'm not going to throw that word around. He needed to put graphite on his Rubik's Cubes because the cube didn't turn as fast as his brain did. He could do Rubik's Cube in about like 22 seconds. A true, true genius.
- [56:49]
Heath Cummings
Dave, I've done a Rubik's cube myself.
- [56:51]
Brett Podolski
So.
- [56:54]
Heath Cummings
What I don't know if this one how much this one actually matters but I do have a super tight end premium league where I have both of them. So did they talk about the Cincy tight end room Noah Fantasy signing with the Bengals I Noah Fant is a perfect guy that Matt Waldman always talks about how traits don't always turn into good football players and they have not really for him. I think this is more of an insurance plan than somebody that's going to impact Mike Kosicki and I don't think Mike Kosicki is going to be a top 12 tight end whether fans there or not. But how do you do you think that this Noah Fant signing really matters that much for the target share in Cincinnati?
- [57:29]
Brett Podolski
Not really Max Toscano who does really great more that that talk about like just the big picture of football and then Matt Shelf who's an old timer from the fantasy circles like me Matt Shaw put it really was like they don't play the same position. You know Micah Sicki is more like an oversized slot fan can play in line but he can't block defensive ends so he's got a more narrow role. You know, Eric all going down I think hurt some of their plans for how the tight end position was going to develop. They still have Drew Sample who's a good blocking tight end. I think we still have Tanner Hudson who can do some stuff in the receiving game. So I think the bottom line is they're going to play a lot of two tight end. If you liked Mike Kazicki, why no, not really. If you like Mike Kasiki, I think that you shouldn't get off of him. But I think that Noah fan is going to play like 20 of the snaps.
- [58:18]
Heath Cummings
I know you had a tweet about this, so I'm going to pull this one up too. Any news on the Cowboys running back camp Buzz? I think you said there's only one player that you'd be drafting from this backup.
- [58:28]
Brett Podolski
Yeah, and I mean maybe I would soften that a little bit and say, well you know, Miles Sanders in deeper leagues might have some flex emergency value, but remember the bye weeks don't kick in. So I think you might see Miles San like okay, don't draft Gervontae Williams. Maybe that's the most actionable advice here. But Jalen Blue, you saw a pretty well placed item that they were disappointed with his approach to the game and now you're hearing like now they're not disappointed. And we all knew that he was going to be the one with the best quickness and burst. You saw Brian Schonheimer say he compared him to Darren Sprols. He didn't say that lightly. I don't think he's Darren Sprols, but I think that he can provide enough juice that he secures a role in the backfield. Miles Sanders is probably the best all around back that they have. I think Phil Moffat at this point is like practice squad material, maybe like goal line specialist or something. But to me this all spells out Heath. It's a Dak Prescott year, which means it's a CD Lamb year which means George Conjier, Jake Ferguson year.
- [59:21]
Heath Cummings
I I've come more and more around on that. You know it's funny, he's had some super high volume stretches in his career. Dak has as a passer, but he's never had 600 pass attempts. 596, 596, 590 in three seasons. I think if Dak plays 17 games we're going well over 600 pass attempts and I'm getting more excited about that. Passing game. Sigmund Bloom, thank you so much for being here today. It's always great to talk. Guys. Go, go check.
- [59:51]
Brett Podolski
Oh, man. I mean, this is what. Oh, just. I just want to say it's always I'm, I'm so happy to see everything that's happened for you and so many of the other football guys, alumni, and I just love being part of this scene and getting a chance to hang out with you.
- [60:06]
Heath Cummings
Thank you to everybody who was active in the chat. You guys always give us some really good questions. Thanks to Harry for making everything work. Guys, go check out Fall guys training camp reports. You will get smarter and you will learn more about what's going on. We will talk to you again on Tuesday.
- [60:31]
Kristen Bell
Paramount Podcasts.