Ballers Mock Draft + Forgiving Fantasy Failures

Summary

Episode Summary: "Ballers Mock Draft + Forgiving Fantasy Failures"

Release Date: June 21, 2018
Podcast: Fantasy Footballers - Fantasy Football Podcast
Hosts: Andy Holloway, Jason Moore, Mike "The Fantasy Hitman" Wright

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1. Introduction to the Episode

In this engaging episode of Fantasy Footballers, hosts Andy Holloway, Jason Moore, and Mike Wright delve into two primary topics: the art of forgiving fantasy football failures and conducting a comprehensive mock draft. The discussion is rich with insightful analysis, strategic advice, and lively banter, making it a must-listen for fantasy football enthusiasts aiming to optimize their league performance.

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2. Forgiving Fantasy Football Failures

A. Concept of Forgiveness in Fantasy Football

Andy Holloway initiates the conversation by addressing a critical high-level principle in fantasy football: the necessity to forgive past player underperformances to maintain a winning strategy. He emphasizes that holding onto grudges against players who had disappointing seasons can hinder future success.

Andy Holloway [10:24]: “You cannot let all past mistakes of a player...tear you down for the future.”

B. Player Discussions: DeSean Jackson and Dak Prescott

DeSean Jackson:

Jason Moore introduces the discussion by advocating for forgiving DeSean Jackson despite his rocky last season. He highlights that Jackson's underlying metrics, such as air yards, remained impressive even when his receptions and total yards declined.

Jason Moore [04:30]: “Desean Jackson, if you watch the Tampa Bay Buccaneers...I think we need to forgive DeSean Jackson.”

Dak Prescott:

Mike Wright counters by expressing reluctance to forgive Dak Prescott due to his inconsistent performance in the latter half of the previous season. However, he acknowledges Prescott's potential and past achievements, suggesting a balanced approach to his future prospects.

Mike Wright [06:00]: “I do see some of the reasons for it. For me, this isn't a guy that I want to forgive.”

The hosts collectively discuss Prescott's potential rebound and the importance of not letting a single bad stretch define a player's value in future drafts.

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3. Mock Draft Execution

A. Draft Strategy Overview

The trio embarks on a collaborative mock draft for a 10-team half-point PPR league, emphasizing tier-based drafting and balanced roster construction. They discuss various strategies, including the timing of drafting key positions like running backs and wide receivers, and the value of waiting on quarterbacks.

Andy Holloway [14:33]: “We are going to draft from the three spot today and I'm excited.”

B. First Round Selections

First Pick: Le'Veon Bell

They unanimously decide to draft Le'Veon Bell as the first overall pick, valuing his consistent performance and role as a primary running back.

Jason Moore [20:28]: “I mean, I've talked to...they want all running backs in those first early rounds.”

Second Pick: Christian McCaffrey

Andy selects Christian McCaffrey, acknowledging his elite talent and reliability as a cornerstone for any fantasy team.

Andy Holloway [20:05]: “McCaffrey or Howard came back to us.”

Third Pick: A.J. Green

The team opts for A.J. Green, considering him a high-upside wide receiver who can anchor their receiving corps.

Jason Moore [22:19]: “I don't think I agree with the Adams...but I don't think he is going to rebound.”

C. Mid-Round Highlights

As the draft progresses, the hosts focus on building depth in both the running back and wide receiver positions, selecting players like Keenan Allen, Larry Fitzgerald, Marvin Jones, and Robbie Anderson. They deliberate on the balance between proven stars and players with high upside, ensuring a robust and flexible roster.

Mike Wright [25:38]: “All right. You comfortable with that, Mike?”

D. Late-Round Strategies and Final Picks

In the later rounds, the hosts prioritize reliable quarterbacks and strategic picks to fill remaining roster spots. They discuss the merits of selecting players like Kirk Cousins, balancing the need for depth with potential breakout performances.

Andy Holloway [50:37]: “Cousins, Stafford, Ryan, Luck, Rivers, Roethlisberger...is Kirk Cousins sitting there on the board so attractive that we should grab him right here?”

E. Draft Completion and Team Evaluation

The mock draft concludes with a well-rounded team comprising key running backs, wide receivers, a solid quarterback, and depth across all positions. The hosts reflect on their selections, acknowledging the strengths and potential vulnerabilities of their roster.

Mike Wright [54:40]: “At running back we've got Lev Bell, Jerick McKinnon, Rashad Penny, Rex Burkhead, and Duke Johnson with wide receiver core Keenan Allen, Larry Fitzgerald, Marvin Jones, Robbie Anderson, and Cooper Cup.”

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4. Key Takeaways and Strategic Insights

• Forgiveness is Crucial: Holding onto past disappointments can impede future successes. Evaluating players based on underlying metrics rather than just past performances provides a more balanced perspective.

• Tier-Based Drafting: Organizing players into tiers helps in making informed decisions during the draft, ensuring balanced team construction.

• Balanced Roster Construction: Prioritizing depth in running backs and wide receivers while waiting on quarterbacks can maximize team potential and adaptability.

• Late-Round Value: Identifying value in later rounds, especially for quarterbacks and tight ends, can provide significant advantages without overcommitting early picks.

• Flexibility and Upside: Building a roster with a mix of proven stars and high-upside players allows for adaptability throughout the season, catering to both consistency and explosive performance potential.

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5. Conclusion

This episode of Fantasy Footballers offers a blend of strategic forgiveness and meticulous mock drafting, providing listeners with actionable insights to enhance their fantasy football strategies. The hosts' dynamic interaction and expert analysis underscore the importance of adaptability, balance, and forward-thinking in building a championship-contending fantasy team.

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Notable Quotes with Timestamps:

• Andy Holloway [03:28]: “We need to forgive. We need to be forgiving people.”

• Jason Moore [04:30]: “Desean Jackson...I think we need to forgive DeSean Jackson.”

• Mike Wright [06:00]: “I don't want to forgive him. I think we need to forgive him.”

• Jason Moore [22:19]: “I don't think I agree with the Adams...but I don't think he is going to rebound.”

• Mike Wright [25:38]: “All right. You comfortable with that, Mike?”

• Andy Holloway [50:37]: “Cousins, Stafford, Ryan, Luck, Rivers, Roethlisberger...is Kirk Cousins sitting there on the board so attractive that we should grab him right here?”

• Mike Wright [54:40]: “At running back we've got Lev Bell, Jerick McKinnon, Rashad Penny, Rex Burkhead, and Duke Johnson with wide receiver core Keenan Allen, Larry Fitzgerald, Marvin Jones, Robbie Anderson, and Cooper Cup.”

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This detailed summary encapsulates the essence of the podcast episode, highlighting the hosts' strategies, player evaluations, and the overarching theme of forgiveness in fantasy football. Whether you're strategizing for your next draft or looking to refine your team’s dynamics, this episode offers valuable perspectives to elevate your fantasy game.

Transcript

[Andy Holloway]

Hey, Foot Clan. Before we start today's show, I want to remind you, tune in tonight on YouTube for our live event in Minneapolis, Minnesota. It's gonna be awesome. It's gonna be great. Make sure you subscribe on YouTube and check it out.

[Mike Wright]

Welcome to the Fantasy Footballers Podcast coming to you from Draft.com Studios with your hosts, Andy Holloway, Jason and Mike Wright.

[Andy Holloway]

Ah, it's mock draft time. We got a mock draft today and I'm excited. Welcome into the Fantasy Footballers. How you boys doing?

[Jason Moore]

Jason is stretching.

[Mike Wright]

I gotta get prepared, you know, prepare my body, my mind, my soul to mock draft. I am ready.

[Andy Holloway]

No. Little known fact, no one on this earth is less flexible than I am, except for Jason.

[Mike Wright]

Yeah. They say, like, okay, I want you to keep your legs straight and bend over and just grab your ankles. I'm like, dude, I could barely get my knees.

[Jason Moore]

Number one. Who's asking you to do these types of things?

[Mike Wright]

My personal trainer. As we're working out. Wink, wink.

[Jason Moore]

Oh, my goodness gracious.

[Mike Wright]

Mike, welcome to the show.

[Andy Holloway]

What kind of a mood is Mike in today?

[Jason Moore]

I don't know what he's talking about, but he's. You are, you are correct about the flexibility that if. If I have time between the three of us, if someone's life depended that one of us touch our toes, I'm sorry. I hope you lived a good life because it's not happening.

[Andy Holloway]

I am convinced that what's happening is when I go to sleep at night, some of these pro sports surgeons, they take a little bit of my hamstring to repair ACLs around the league and I just. Because I can't move.

[Jason Moore]

Then you're doing the world of service.

[Andy Holloway]

That's right.

[Mike Wright]

We thank you.

[Andy Holloway]

That's probably why all the ACLs are going out.

[Jason Moore]

They're not flexible, very rigid.

[Andy Holloway]

Yeah, it's very illegal, too. Welcome into the.

[Jason Moore]

Stealing people's muscles while they sleep.

[Andy Holloway]

Correct it. It's not legal, is it?

[Jason Moore]

It's like the kidney story, much stranger.

[Andy Holloway]

Welcome to the Fantasy Footballers. Let's talk fantasy football. Here's a quick question of the day. Who is a player? And this is one I personally requested as a quick question. Who is a player that you don't want to forgive for a bad season that you probably should forgive? Because a lot of times we're talking about players and stats and specific projections, but a lot of times on this podcast, we are about high level principles of winning. You know, how do you navigate your league with the different league mates that you have and the format and the way you think about trades. And here's another high level principle. You cannot let all past mistakes of a player, players you've had on your team that left you with some third degree burns last year, you can't let them tear you down for the future. So I know that each of us at least has one, probably many players that we probably want to bury in our rankings and be sad about, never come back to. But we need to forgive. We need to be forgiving people.

[Jason Moore]

I'll jump in here first in my guy. I want to forgive him. And I can tell that the people have not because this guy is going in the 14th round of PPR mock drafts.

[Andy Holloway]

I can't believe that.

[Jason Moore]

And this guy has been a fantasy superstar for many years of his career and he was coming off of three straight years of over 17 yards per reception. But last year things took a turn for the worst with his free agent signing. And that is Desean Jackson. Now, despite his low output in yards, 50 receptions for 668 yards, according to airyards.com he was still 16th in air yards. That's more than Michael Thomas, Devin Funches, Ty Hilton, Tyreek Hill. His average depth of target was still 16 yards. He only had six fewer receptions than the previous year, but over 300 yards fewer total.

[Andy Holloway]

So the air yards did not translate to receptions.

[Jason Moore]

They just right, but the opportunity is there. The big plays were there. Desean Jackson, if you watch the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, was running free frequently. Jameis Winston just missed him and Winston's actually pretty good when it comes to the deep ball. Mike Evans gets all of his production through air yards. Just the sink was not there with desean Jackson. Another year of a full training camp doesn't have the distraction of coming off of the free agent, signing that contract, getting down to work. I think we need to forgive DeSean Jackson and remember that three of the previous four seasons before last year he had over 1,000 yards. And the year in 2015 when he only had barely over 500, he only played in 10 games.

[Andy Holloway]

When we talk about Chris Godwin and Adam Humphries, we talk about them competing for what? Wide receiver, three wide receiver spot? That's the discussion. This is not it debate. The starting wide receivers for Tampa Bay are locked and loaded as Mike Evans and desean Jackson. It's a worthwhile forgiveness that you have bestowed upon him.

[Mike Wright]

Yeah, okay. I mean, I have a little bit more worries. I think that if he caught a couple of those deep balls that were missed, he'd still be going late this year with fears of Age. I mean, he is, he's getting up there. And Godwin, because I actually think Godwin could compete for that. Number two by seasons in different role.

[Jason Moore]

Though, like desean Jackson.

[Mike Wright]

Yes. Still fast on the outside, still stretches the field. Yeah. Ted Gins been doing it at old age. If you're fast, you're fast. I. And I will grant you that. No, I don't hate it, but I do see some of the reasons for it. For me, this isn't a guy that I want to forgive. This is more like what Andy was saying, like, who's a guy you just don't want to forgive? And I'll be honest, man, I don't want to forgive him. I think in part because of how high I was. He was one of my three my guys last year. So hard, you know, I was telling everybody, draft him. And oh, man, did I feel good. Because the first.

[Jason Moore]

Let me, let me set this up. I feel like you bought two premium tickets for a cruise. You and this fella, you were going on a bromance, a voyage across.

[Andy Holloway]

Was this a fire fest?

[Jason Moore]

That's. That's where the boat ended up. Because he thought he was. Oh, I'm. I'm getting the balcony view. I'm on the top of the ship. I get first class service all day long. And he actually started there.

[Mike Wright]

Yeah.

[Jason Moore]

And then halfway through, he knocked you out. And you end up at the fyre festival, trapped on the island, fighting to survive.

[Mike Wright]

Yeah. And this, this person that pushed me off of the big boat is Dak Prescott. Dak Prescott, one of my three my guys. Last year, first half of last season, he was the quarterback number one on fire. Second half of last season, the quarterback. 34 out of 32 teams, nearly as high as. Not nearly as high. And here's the reason why I don't want to forgive him because of the film. Watching him, he looked lost. He missed throws left, right and center. I mean, he just looked like a bad quarterback. I would watch him and I'd watch Blake Bortles, and I'm going, okay, what's. Why is Blake Bortles not a better quarterback than Dak? If we're just taking that second half of the last.

[Andy Holloway]

Confidence melted.

[Mike Wright]

It did.

[Andy Holloway]

Like a popsicle in the Arizona sun.

[Mike Wright]

But I do think I need to forgive him because right now he's going about the quarterback 20. He's about quarterback 20 in my rankings. But this is, I have to remember, this is still a guy who has done what very few people have done his first two years in the league. He was a quarterback one. A top 12 guy both years, including last year when he sucked the second half to say, all of a sudden, okay, well, so this next year he's going to be quarterback 20. I think there's a little bit of, like, spite and vengeance in. I realize he lost Des, but honestly, that could have been better for him because he did not do well targeting Des.

[Andy Holloway]

You have to lock a quarterback in for the entire season today, and you have to lock in either Dak Prescott or Andrew Luck. Who do you lock in for this, ladies and gentlemen?

[Jason Moore]

He's putting the glasses on.

[Andy Holloway]

Oh, you brought them.

[Jason Moore]

They're making a triumphant return.

[Andy Holloway]

Oh, no.

[Mike Wright]

I'm taking Dak over Luck all day.

[Andy Holloway]

No.

[Mike Wright]

True story. Come on, deal with it.

[Andy Holloway]

Oh, my goodness. All right.

[Jason Moore]

Come on, man.

[Andy Holloway]

I realized the reason this segment came to mind is I realized there was a player I didn't want to forgive, I didn't want to talk about, I didn't want to pay attention to. And his name is jj now, this might make Brooks happy because I know Brooks. You are a JJI. Oh, he's OG Yeah. You're the original Ajayi gangster. But listen, let us not forget a couple of important facts since the Even though last year was very, very disappointing for JI owners because they were coming into the season with an expectation of greatness than the trade. He's 23 years old. Ji is 23. Coming back this season as the Bell Cow on a Super bowl champion. Now, maybe you disagree with the Bell cow comment.

[Jason Moore]

Yes.

[Mike Wright]

24, by the way, is that true?

[Andy Holloway]

Just turned 24.

[Mike Wright]

Yeah.

[Andy Holloway]

Okay. I still will allow the point to continue. With 24 years old, he was. He had eight top 24 weeks in 2016. He had only three bust weeks on the season. So even in the weeks when he wasn't top 24, he was sitting around 30, 31. So he had a very consistent nice RB1 RB2 year. Then he went and got traded last year. 173 carries. That's what's gone with Legarre Blunt. Add to that the fact that from the time he came over to Philadelphia, he still outpaced LeGarrett Blunt right when he came into the onto the team 104 to 93 from the time he was traded. The purpose of that trade was not to rent J. Ajayi for 104 carries and throw him away. Now, I don't think any of us think that's what they're going to do, but it seems like our rankings think that. And this is a team that ran the ball well. This is a team that needs to run the ball well. And this is the team that at least all indications pointing in camp are that JJ is going to bear the brunt of that responsibility. So I had to move him up. I need to forgive him.

[Mike Wright]

I have.

[Jason Moore]

I have Even worse for you.

[Mike Wright]

Yeah.

[Jason Moore]

Because he's 25.

[Mike Wright]

I was just going to bring that up too. We're pre recording this episode because we're going to many. His birthday was. Happy birthday. His birthday was tomorrow when he was actually last week now and he aged two years.

[Jason Moore]

Oh yes, these things happen. But yeah, here is like I said.

[Andy Holloway]

At 25 he's got a young 23 year old body. That's ridiculous that his birthday took place between this recording and yes.

[Jason Moore]

My concern for J is that he is 20.

[Andy Holloway]

He just turned 26. It just happened.

[Mike Wright]

He ages fast. Those knees.

[Andy Holloway]

Oh man.

[Jason Moore]

Okay, so here's my concerns. Let me lay him out.

[Andy Holloway]

Yes.

[Jason Moore]

That I don't believe he'll be a bell cow. We've. We've already seen Doug Peterson a few years of using a very heavy running back by committee. They like Corey Clement in the red zone as they used him last year. Jay Ajayi, even though he has the chops to be the passing game running back. Why would you go with him when you have Corey Clement and you resigned Darren Sproul's passing down special.

[Andy Holloway]

So what is the carry count for Jay Ajayi then? What do you think it is?

[Mike Wright]

I would guess it's around 200.

[Andy Holloway]

I. Yeah, I have him at like 220.

[Jason Moore]

But here's the thing. If he's getting 220 carries, he's really not getting receptions and he's losing out on goal line work. If that's a then what are you really getting?

[Andy Holloway]

You have. You do have to project now. We like Clement as a sleeper because you have those abandoned carries by Legara Blunt, the timeshare of Doug Peterson. But it has to be better for Ajayi this season than last season.

[Jason Moore]

Certainly. Okay, so I would say that.

[Andy Holloway]

So he's not the 40th best running back. He's. He's somebody that I think you need to look at as what. What's his upside?

[Jason Moore]

That's the problem is his variance. I see his ceiling being pretty strong. You know, a mid level running back too. But I also see his downside.

[Andy Holloway]

Do you know what he averaged per carry last year without looking?

[Jason Moore]

No, it's. He came in and he had some monster runs to start his Philadelphia career. I remember that well.

[Andy Holloway]

He had 70 carries with the Eagles last year. 5.8 per carry with the Eagles last year.

[Jason Moore]

Sure.

[Andy Holloway]

So I don't think all goal line work goes Corey Clements way and I think we're underestimating the value. And that's why I think I don't want to. I don't want to say any of this. Let's be clear. I want to throw him away, but I can't. I have to forgive him because I see too many opportunities for a team that I think could be a top five team in this league next year, if not the best. They're the team that I actually think is the best team in football next year. Really, they are. My return to the super bowl with Carson Wentz, best team in football next season.

[Mike Wright]

Yeah. And he is the clear starting running back. Whether even if it's a heavy timeshare, he is their primary, you know, first guy up running back, which is great. I just worry about how quickly he's aging.

[Andy Holloway]

Literally. Literally edgy. All right.

[Jason Moore]

He's just turned 28.

[Andy Holloway]

We have a 10 team half point perception mock draft on today's show. Stay tuned for that momentarily. It's going to be great. It gives you insight on how to draft, how to think during the different rounds. Today we're going to be drafting as one group. Mike calls it a three headed team.

[Jason Moore]

Yes.

[Andy Holloway]

So we are going to give that a shot today. Like I said, 10 team half point. But a couple of reminders again, that live stream, the Minneapolis show is tonight.

[Jason Moore]

At 8pm Central and it's going to be great. Do your own Central.

[Mike Wright]

We're getting out of central time now.

[Jason Moore]

Because we are in central time. Jason. The rest of the country can figure out their own time zone issues.

[Mike Wright]

They must be smarter than I am.

[Jason Moore]

It's 9pm Eastern. I can give you that.

[Mike Wright]

Thank you.

[Andy Holloway]

You don't even need to know the time. If you've gone to YouTube and subscribed and clicked the bell.

[Jason Moore]

Well, you don't want to be in the middle of a movie.

[Andy Holloway]

You stop what you're doing no matter what you're doing.

[Mike Wright]

Right. You leave that movie.

[Andy Holloway]

You're in the middle of a hamstring surgery. You. Yeah, you get up and so that's tonight. And I also want to congratulate our giveaway winners. We've been talking about the signed Alvin Camara football and the signed Le'Veon Bell jersey. Thank you to everybody who entered that contest. We do these all the time. Jeremy and Frederick have won those.

[Jason Moore]

Congratulations.

[Andy Holloway]

Those beautiful pieces of Memorabilia. So congratulations to them. Is there anything I'm forgetting if you want to go to a live show? By the way, we are giving away tickets to the remaining four [e-mail] Dallas, Philadelphia, New York, Phoenix. And along with those come autograph memorabilia. If you win those contests.

[Mike Wright]

Sure. If you win the tickets, like, let's say you go. You want to go to the Dallas show and you win the tickets, you're getting a Dak Prescott signed helmet.

[Andy Holloway]

And if you win the Dallas show tickets, you get tickets to the National Fantasy Football Convention as well. Oh, you get NFFC tickets.

[Mike Wright]

We're going to be kicking off the nffc. It's going to be great. If you're planning on going see us there.

[Andy Holloway]

Anything. Is there anything else that we want to.

[Jason Moore]

Just wanted to once again thank Draft for presenting the Fantasy for the People tour. Because without them, we may not have been able to do it.

[Andy Holloway]

Yeah, absolutely. So enjoy the show tonight. Enjoy the show right now. Enjoy the show all the time.

[Jason Moore]

So much enjoyment.

[Andy Holloway]

So much. Jijay just turned 30. He just.

[Mike Wright]

Oh, man, that's the age where I start to get a little worried, you.

[Andy Holloway]

Know, how old will he be by the time the season starts?

[Mike Wright]

How old are his knees now? Those must be like 44.

[Andy Holloway]

All right, let's. You guys ready to mock draft?

[Jason Moore]

Yep.

[Mike Wright]

The Fantasy footballers mock draft.

[Andy Holloway]

All right, let's do it. We're going to draft from the three spot today and I'm excited. Last time we drafted, we went head to head. I obviously won that going away and I want to do one together so that we can all feel confident about this franchise.

[Jason Moore]

Thank you.

[Mike Wright]

You're too kind.

[Andy Holloway]

I also believe we're going to do a mock draft episode in the coming months where we each draft via a different strategy. Right. There are different thought processes and we want to give you the outcome of those. Like an example of a 0 RB draft strategy, an example of a late round versus an early quarterback. What the team looks like.

[Mike Wright]

Yeah, I think those will be very helpful. A lot of times, people Mike's going.

[Andy Holloway]

To go all tight ends. That's a new strategy he just invented.

[Mike Wright]

A lot of times people want to try those strategies out and they don't hear enough about, you know, we go tier based and try to be, you know, loading up on wide receivers, running backs, later quarterbacks, usually later tight ends. And so, yeah, I think getting other perspectives. There's many ways that you can win at fantasy football and that's. That's something you should be aware of and not think that, you know, oh, if you zig when everyone's zagging, you're an idiot.

[Andy Holloway]

Not always, no.

[Mike Wright]

Unless you draft a quarterback early before.

[Jason Moore]

Because we're just about to hit into the mock draft. Am I correct?

[Andy Holloway]

Yeah. I was just about to tell you who went off the board. Number one.

[Jason Moore]

Before we do that, I want to thank today's sponsor, fantasy champs. This is the place you need to go for all of your fantasy football memorabilia. Their rings are dynamic.

[Andy Holloway]

Oh, my goodness.

[Jason Moore]

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[Andy Holloway]

Egads.

[Jason Moore]

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[Andy Holloway]

Goodness gracious.

[Jason Moore]

Fantasychamps.com you got to go check it out. And of course, my personal favorite, the customized personal fantasy football jersey. Rep your team in a style that has never been before seen. Whatever. Never before seen. In your draft, you will be the talk of the room. You will shame them. You will shame with your team pride.

[Mike Wright]

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[Jason Moore]

The code is ballers.

[Andy Holloway]

That's pretty easy to remember.

[Jason Moore]

So check out fantasychamps.com all right, Todd.

[Andy Holloway]

Gurley, off the board. Number one, David Johnson. Number two. Ooh, we're on the clock.

[Mike Wright]

Well, that makes it easy.

[Jason Moore]

Yep.

[Andy Holloway]

This is a no brainer for us. I believe we all want to go. Le'Veon Bell here.

[Jason Moore]

That is correct.

[Mike Wright]

100%. He's my running back. 1. I thought we were going to have the David Johnson, Ezekiel Elliott debate.

[Andy Holloway]

Yeah, I thought we would too.

[Jason Moore]

But look, not today.

[Andy Holloway]

Not today. David Johnson coming back off the injury was the number one running back in fantasy football the year prior to his injury. So I think you will see this in some leagues, especially with the Le'Veon bell waiting until camp. Some thought processes like that going through owner's heads, certainly.

[Mike Wright]

I mean, I've talked to, you know, friends that are. They play fantasy football. They're casual and, you know, when they get around me, they're wanting to talk fantasy football. And you know, when they're so who's the number one running back? And I'm always like, oh, Le'Veon Bell to me is clear cut. And they're always just shocked. They're like, what, he's going to miss games, he's going to miss camp, and I don't care.

[Andy Holloway]

Yeah, well, we took him. So Le'Veon Bell is the number one draft pick for our. For our team. Zeke went four, Barkley went five. Do you believe you're going to see a lot of that? Yes, I do, too.

[Jason Moore]

And we Talked about on last week's foot cast the the pendulum swinging in the favor of the running backs. And while I'm fine with these top five picks, I think these are really great foundational running backs. Don't be afraid of wide receivers because scoring as a whole for wide receivers and quarterbacks was down this past year, which is having everyone scramble. Okay, I want all running backs in those first early rounds. Just think back to a couple years ago when this exact same thing happened and the wide receivers disappointed. Everyone went running back and then we had some running back disappointment. So just, just be careful, all right?

[Andy Holloway]

Sacon went 5. Antonio Brown, first wide receiver off the board at 6. The first round ends with Alvin Camara, Kareem Hunt, Deandre Hopkins and Leonard Fournette. Again, a half point per reception. League Snake draft. So coming back around, Gordon, Beckham, Cook, Dalvin Cook going ahead of some of the other running backs that I think I expected to go there. Julio Jones, I think it's a bigger him.

[Jason Moore]

Going in front of Julio Jones is more interesting to me.

[Andy Holloway]

Julio went at 204. DeVonta Freeman at 205. Michael Thomas. Michael Thomas. And then Lashawn McCoy.

[Mike Wright]

Oh, yes. Oh, baby, what a great pick right before us.

[Andy Holloway]

Well, we don't have to debate LaShawn McCoy and listen to our bust episode. Jason boldly put on the hate blockers and declared Lashawn McCoy's demise. I think what you threw off all.

[Mike Wright]

Since and I just laid the amount of flags.

[Andy Holloway]

No, you had a lot of people that agreed with you on Twitter, on YouTube.

[Mike Wright]

The amount of hurdles that are in front of him to succeed. I just was putting it. I was showing them to you.

[Jason Moore]

And if clearly you jump, that's great.

[Andy Holloway]

So we don't have to worry about it now we're sitting here at 208. We have a quick turn because we're going to only wait four picks until our next draft pick. Does that change the way you're thinking about this pick? And you know some of the big names on the board, Keenan Allen, Devonte Adams, and then running backs McCaffrey, Howard, McKinnon, Mixon.

[Mike Wright]

The proximity to the turn here, something I really love when I'm a couple picks from the turn so that I can take a look between this pick and my next pick and get a gauge for what they're taking. But this early in the draft, the two teams that are before us, they have one running back. They could go any direction. So I'm not. I'm taking the best running back or wide receiver Available to me. I feel like there is a tear break after Keenan Allen. Keenan Allen at wide receiver. I see him as a potential to be, you know, a top three wide receiver again this year. Then you drop to Devonte Adams, AJ Green, Mike Evans, good options.

[Andy Holloway]

I'm surprised that you're not. Are you not willing to put A.J. green in that tier?

[Mike Wright]

No, I don't think I agree with the Adams. I'm close, but I'm not down on AJ Green from last year. But I don't think he is going to rebound to what he was three, four, five years ago where he was just one of those dominant fantasy players.

[Andy Holloway]

Keenan Allen, I think is a strong pick here. I think Allen will be gone if we let him go here. And Keenan Allen, as opposed to Devonte Adams, who, by the way, Devonte Adams is great. Still hasn't had a thousand yard season. Still hasn't had a season with more than 75 receptions.

[Jason Moore]

Also has the most touchdowns in the past two years. Don't you don't even think you might.

[Andy Holloway]

You don't even get to speak like that because of the way you used to disparage Melvin Gordon for his 9,000 yard season despite the fact that he was a fan. I said, did I not start this sentence with he's great but he's not had 1,000 yards? He's not had more than 75 receptions.

[Jason Moore]

Whenever I said that was in Jazz.

[Andy Holloway]

Has Keenan Allen had more than 75 receptions or more than 1,000 yards?

[Mike Wright]

Yes, sir. Okay, so. So you take a look here.

[Andy Holloway]

He's a different talent to me.

[Mike Wright]

How many running backs were left that I would be happy with? Between Christian McCaffrey, Jordan Howard, Jerick McKinnon, Joe Mixon, those four guys, I'm not going to be like, oh man, I really wanted just one of those, but not the other three. And since we're four picks away from our next pick, I feel like I would rather go Keenan Allen and take the last running back available there.

[Andy Holloway]

All right. You comfortable with that, Mike?

[Jason Moore]

Yes.

[Andy Holloway]

Keenan Allen off the board. Our second pick, Christian McCaffrey goes next. A.J. green with the final pick of the second round. So Allen and Green, I think you're going to see this all off season into draft season. I think Allen and Green are going to go around each other. Jordan Howard starts off the third round, then Mike Evans. I think Mike Evans is sitting there at 302 and looking back at last year longingly remembering where he used to go. And we're back on the clock, Mike. So let's get Some of your perspective on what you want to do here now. Devonte Adams, aforementioned did not go but I'd like to take a running back here before we have to wait another what, 14 picks.

[Jason Moore]

Right. We have a long way to go in my opinion. We have an elite player at both positions now. So it's nice to be firmly balanced. And looking at the way that my running back tears do shake out, Jerick McKinnon would be my next pick. I'm okay with the Joe Mixon pick but I've, I would.

[Andy Holloway]

I really hoped McCaffrey or Howard came back to us.

[Jason Moore]

That's what I really want to have Howard over McKinnon.

[Andy Holloway]

Yeah, I think with Le'Veon Bell I would, I think I'd rather just lock down a guarantee there versus the kind of the roll the dice with McKinnon. I love McKinnon, don't get me wrong. I just for a balance there, I.

[Jason Moore]

Would say that, that the industry. I know he's going in the third round, but the industry at large is very opposed to Jordan Howard early. They don't want him. Look, so just getting your thoughts on it.

[Andy Holloway]

So you're laning McKinnon here. Any thought to Gronk at 303?

[Mike Wright]

That was the only name I was going to bring up because he's not gone yet. In a 10 team league, at the end of the day, everyone has good rosters. These are the leagues where I do look for the difference maker. You know, a Gronk and Aaron Rodgers, they, they separate yourself at a position.

[Andy Holloway]

But especially in eight and 10 team leagues, which is what you're bringing up, we always get asked that question, how do you approach it differently when you're in a smaller league? And it has to do with the fact your rosters, they all look a lot better in 10 team leagues than they do in 12 and 14 team leagues.

[Mike Wright]

Right.

[Andy Holloway]

So how do you differentiate exactly? We've already got the best running back in football.

[Mike Wright]

I love Jerick McKinnon here. I would be thrilled with McKinnon, but it's between McKinnon and Gronk. For me, those are the only two options at wide receiver.

[Jason Moore]

We'll give Mike Gronk, Eileen, Jerick McKinnon just because I want to see how that plays out. We had Andy take Gronk in our last mock draft, so I just, I want to see what our team shapes up to be.

[Andy Holloway]

Gronk ended up dropping all the way to 309, by the way, and Kelsey went directly after him because that's a Pretty far drop for Gronk.

[Jason Moore]

Yes.

[Andy Holloway]

And so after McKinnon went mixing Adams, Baldwin, Thielen, he, Henry at 308, Gronkowski, Kelsey to finish round three. And then we come into round four with Josh Gordon, Tyree Kill, Alex Collins, and our first quarterback off the board, Aaron Rodgers at 404. Do you get, do you, if you were sitting there at 404, do you think about Aaron Rodgers, Jason 404?

[Mike Wright]

I still think that there are a lot of really good, talented running backs and wide receivers. And that's, you know, when we talk about tier base, it's not so much what round is it? Round four is. It's, it's basically, are there any players left that I think are super good running backs and wide receivers? I'm happy to have playing every week? If there are, I'm not taking a quarterback, but if I'm kind of going, I don't, you know, Aaron Rodgers has dropped to a place where I'm picking, you know, I'm looking at, okay, do I take Aaron Rodgers or Lamar Miller, Mark Ingram? I'm going to take Aaron Rodgers.

[Andy Holloway]

Ty Hilton, Amari Cooper, Stefan Diggs. Three wide receivers right after Aaron Rodgers. Yeah, we saw eight wide receivers go off the board since we picked Jerick McKinnon. I do want to remind our listeners that if you want to come alongside this show as an independent podcast, check out jointhefoot.com because you can get into really, really good leagues with good people. That's what we try to do with our community of listeners, is facilitate great leagues that you can play together, whether it's online, whether it's local. We've had people that have built long lasting friendships in these leagues and, you know, they carry them on year after year. You get an extra episode every week. You get to support the podcast. So check that out. Jointhefoot.com we're sitting here with Lev Bell, Kenan Allen, Jerick McKinnon, and our fourth pick and an opportunity here to make a decision. Do we want to, in a half point league, turn to the wide receiver position? I see names that I like. I see names like Larry Fitzgerald, who I think is great. I, I see options.

[Mike Wright]

Schuster.

[Andy Holloway]

I see Schuster. Yeah. Ajayi, Penny Geiss. The running backs have thinned out. I will say that I don't like this tear break at the running back position at all. Yeah, I mean, you're choosing at this point, you're drafting a rookie if you want somebody that has upside. So, Penny, Sonny, Michelle. But otherwise I'm not excited about What I see there, whereas I beat.

[Mike Wright]

Well, you were just talking about Jai. Don't. Don't hate on J. Put your body where your mouth is.

[Andy Holloway]

I didn't mention his name right then, so I didn't, I didn't ignore him because I figured you guys wouldn't be on board. I'd be fine with, with jj, but I'd rather have Larry Fitzgerald.

[Mike Wright]

Yeah, I would much rather have Larry Fitzgerald. Juju Smith Schuster. We should bring up the fact Zachary is still on the board. And you go, man, if you were considering Gronk last round, he's, he is the end of a tier. But the, the quality of having that Gronk separates you. Zach Ertz gives you a quality tight end, and that's not worth subtracting. One of these running backs wider series. To me, the pick would be Penny because what you said, the running backs are so thinned out. If we lose Larry, we can get juju. If we lose juju, we can get Larry. Now we might lose both those guys, but I feel like there's a little bit more depth there.

[Andy Holloway]

Yeah, we only have to wait for picks. I actually agree. I think Rashad Penny's the better pick here.

[Jason Moore]

And just some interesting notes on Rashad Penny. Rich Rebar Lord Reeves. Incredible. Follow on Twitter if you're, if you're not from ROTOR World. I heard him talking about Rashad Penny and the touchdowns of the passing touchdowns for Jimmy Graham. You know, where do we go? And I completely agree with him that they go to Rashad Penny. But just to illustrate that more, do you happen to recall how many rushing touchdowns Seattle running backs had last year?

[Andy Holloway]

Oh, no, I want to say 43011.

[Mike Wright]

Wow.

[Andy Holloway]

Not a lot.

[Jason Moore]

1. J.D. mcKissick had the only running back rushing touchdown. Meanwhile, Jimmy Graham had seven touchdowns from the four or closer. And they want to run the ball. Those touchdowns, I think, are going to Rashad Penny.

[Andy Holloway]

It's funny because I hear that and I'm like, Ed Dick said. No, I'm just saying, like, the absence of them doesn't give me great encouragement. If they're going to. If Carson's going to have an opportunity, if Penny's going to have an opportunity. And they got one last year.

[Jason Moore]

They got one last year.

[Andy Holloway]

Are you trying to talk me into him or out of him?

[Jason Moore]

No, I'm saying talking into him. They went and they got him. Because of the absence of talent at the running back position and the absence of talent at the offensive line, they're hoping that, that Mr. Yards after contact can Handle that.

[Andy Holloway]

Interesting. Let's take Rashad, Penny.

[Mike Wright]

Love it.

[Andy Holloway]

Deshaun Watson goes next. Alshon, Jeffrey, Kenyan, Drake and Jai. And so our, you get both your guys. Our risk of, you know, having Larry Fitzgerald and juju, Alan Robinson, Brandon Cooks available, they're all there. I think it's, I see no reason to take the risk of combining Le'Veon Bell with JuJu Smith Schuster on this roster. Oh, completely leaning too heavily on Pittsburgh's offense. It's not, it's not something I have a problem with if it represented a tear break. But I like Larry more than Juju independently and I like him a lot more than Juju right here when I already have Le'Veon.

[Mike Wright]

Yeah, I don't. Yeah, I agree with the second part of what you're saying where it doesn't matter. I'm not saying don't take juju because they're both Steelers. I don't have a problem if two great players are on the same team. They're on the same team. But Larry Fitzgerald is so consistent and valuable. Over 100 receptions the last two years. It needs what, 92, 93 receptions to become second all time. That's happening this year. So Larry Fitzgerald being here at half point PPR in round five.

[Jason Moore]

You had talked about Zach Ertz in the fourth round. Do you have any inklings inside to go with him? Just, I mean, you would be missing out on a high level wide receiver because Robinson still on the board. Demarius Thomas, if you like Cooks, he's still available.

[Mike Wright]

If, if we were at a point where Larry wasn't on the board, I would consider, because it's really about that, you know, what are, where is, where am I in my tear breaks. Then I might consider. Okay, that's, that's the last of the kind of tier two tight ends left. But I don't think we can ignore such a solid every week contributor in a half point PPR league like Larry.

[Andy Holloway]

Right now on our half point scoring projections on the cheat sheet from the ultimate draft kit, Larry Fitzgerald is the Last remaining Tier 3, Tier 3 Wide Receiver and there's not a ton of the tier fours left. Zachary is a tier two tight end. I think it's a tough decision for me because I do see guys down the list like, I don't know, Jarvis Landry, who I'm not uncomfortable having as my wide receiver too. If I think Ertz represents a difference maker now generally, I've been waiting and going after a Trey Burton later in the draft, going with upside of Jordan Reed later in the draft. Even if we got stuck with Jason's favorite player of all time, Jared Cook, it wouldn't even kill me.

[Mike Wright]

Jared Cook. I mean, in a 10 league, we won't even be needing to take Cook. So I like Fitz here and I'm sure Zachary will go immediately after.

[Jason Moore]

Two picks.

[Andy Holloway]

Yeah, two picks. Two picks after Fitzgerald went, we took him. And then it was Geiss Ertz, Sonny Michelle, Mark Ingram off the board at 509. Do you expect that to be the location of Mark Ingram?

[Jason Moore]

I think he will go right around that five, six turn.

[Andy Holloway]

Alan Robinson at 510 and Brandon Cooks at 601. Those scream of upside values to me. Potential, upside potential.

[Jason Moore]

Which I'm sorry, I was thinking about.

[Andy Holloway]

Alan Robinson and Brandon Cooks going at the end of the 5th, early 6th. I like those guys. Now when I look at the board and what's come back around to us. Let's play the what if game. If we had taken Hertz, we'd be staring down Marvin Jones as wide receiver to Jarvis Landry. Michael Crabtree, it's thinning out significantly. Yeah, I feel pretty good about it.

[Mike Wright]

Yeah, I like grabbing Larry. There's still plenty of tight ends left that should be valuable contributors. I mean, Greg Olson, I was just going to say, very well outscore Zach Ertz blindfolded this.

[Andy Holloway]

Greg Olson or Evan Ingram?

[Jason Moore]

Yeah, you have Larry Fitz. The combo of Larry Fitz and Greg Olson or Zach Ertz and Jarvis Landry.

[Mike Wright]

Which would definitely be Larry and Greg Olson, without a doubt.

[Andy Holloway]

If you guys are thinking about Olson or Ingram, I suggest we wait on this pick and see if they're there at 7:03.

[Mike Wright]

Now, that being said, the two teams that are. The two teams that are between us have not yet drafted a tight end. And so that's four picks.

[Andy Holloway]

If I'm willing to roll the dice though, I'm willing. That'd be my vote. The good news there, I'd rather draft Marvin Jones right here.

[Mike Wright]

If we don't get Greg Olson or Evan Ingram, which is the gamble, then we might end up with a better option in Kyle Rudolph. So that's great news.

[Andy Holloway]

Yeah, if you want.

[Mike Wright]

The jersey's been replaced.

[Andy Holloway]

If you want to finish the draft alone, that's fine. Other options I want to throw out there for our listeners. Marshawn lynch is still on the board. Potential starter in Oakland, Tevin Coleman, Tom Brady. I think some people sitting here at 6:08 might think about Tom Brady.

[Mike Wright]

Yeah, I think a lot of people will be thinking about Tom Brady. And this is where we say he might, he might be pretty good. But if you look at what you're going to lose versus what you can grab later, the difference between Tom Brady and what we will find in a Matthew Stafford and a Philip Rivers and a Jameis Winston on a per game basis is not going to be as drastic as what you're going to experience with running backs and wide receivers.

[Andy Holloway]

All right, who do we want to make the pick?

[Jason Moore]

Speaking of Matthew Stafford, we. We recommend. Don't overemphasize the strength of schedule. You can look at the season beginning, though, and those first four games, I'm looking at the strength of schedule here. The second easiest first four games for Detroit at the quarterback position and they're number three at the wide receiver position.

[Mike Wright]

So I see where you're going.

[Jason Moore]

I would personally take Marvin Jones not only because of the potential for the very hot start for my team, but.

[Mike Wright]

We might end up stacking what we.

[Jason Moore]

May end up stacking him. We may end up with a guy that we can flip then in the. In week three or week four. Flip for a player who is disappointed. But you know that the ceiling is so massive that they should not be trading you that player for Marvin Jones.

[Andy Holloway]

Sure. And ironically. So let's go with Marvin Jones, the next two off the board with the two names I brought up, which was Greg Olson and Tom Brady. And then I held my breath and Landry went Chris Hogan. And now we sit here and you've got Evan Ingram on the board at 7:03. Do you want Evan Ingram here? Do you want to take your shot at another running back? You know, you do have the unproven nature of both McKinnon and Penny in the lead dog role. Both of them are taking over a role they have not done in the NFL.

[Jason Moore]

Right.

[Andy Holloway]

And you could draft a very stalwart type of player like Marshawn Lynch. You could draft a player like Carlos side. Now I think that there's a chance one of those comes back around to us.

[Jason Moore]

What about Burkhead?

[Mike Wright]

I put him in the tier with all those other guys. This is where I think if we.

[Andy Holloway]

Had taken Sonny, Michelle maybe.

[Mike Wright]

I believe that Sammy Watkins. Right now we've got Evan Ingram in that tier with Greg Olson. And when I look at the running backs and wide receivers that are left, there's plenty that I like. There are. But they're all kind of grouped together. To me, where it's like, yeah, you know, we could take our pick of them. And I realize it's a little ways until our next Pick, but I think we'll be okay. And Evan Ingram really helps solidify our roster.

[Jason Moore]

Well, an executive decision was made while you were babbling on, Jason, while I was waxing poetic.

[Andy Holloway]

Evan Ingram, I took Ricky Seals, Jones, J. We took Evan Ingram and then we saw a run on quarterback, which is to be expected, right? You get delightful. You get a rent. This is why drafting quarterbacks late offers you incredible value in the 6th, 7th, 8th round. With Watson, Rogers, Brady and Wilson off the board in the top six rounds, the rest of the teams in your league are going to start sweating who gets what at the quarterback position. So Wentz, Newton, Breeze and Garoppolo, which I think you're going to see a ton of Garoppolo off the board at this point. They all went in this round. We actually saw only, you know, one more wide receiver go in the rest of the seventh round. And then the eighth round started out with Nelson, Mack, Coleman, Fuller, Edelman, Sanders and Funches. So now we're back on the board with the beautiful. You know, we got some running back options here, which is where I'm leaning at this pick. Burkhead, who you brought up last round. Ronald Jones still on the board. Isaiah Cruell, starter. I don't think I'd. I think I'd like to go someone like. I think I would go Isaiah Crowell myself.

[Jason Moore]

I would take Rex Burkhead. I was considering him last round. The upside is there. We saw it last year. I understand and believe that Sony Michelle will be the primary guy for this team, but I think there's enough value to go around for two running backs.

[Mike Wright]

There is enough value to go around, but I tend to lean with Andy here. I'd rather have the guy that I know is the starter. Yes, it's a less glamorous offense, but I think that Isaiah Crowell has less.

[Jason Moore]

Less glamorous.

[Mike Wright]

It is. Yes.

[Jason Moore]

The jets offense is less glamorous than the Patriots. That's about the nicest thing you could have possibly said.

[Andy Holloway]

We have Crowell, Burkhead, Cohen and Ronald Jones all in the same tier. Tier 5 list.

[Mike Wright]

I mean, if this was my team, I'm taking carry on Johnson. But I know you guys. You guys probably not as my third.

[Andy Holloway]

Oh, he would be the fourth one.

[Mike Wright]

Yeah, it was be a great pick.

[Andy Holloway]

All right, I'll let you take Burkhead, Mike.

[Jason Moore]

Thank you.

[Andy Holloway]

Corey Davis next. Kyle Rudolph. Thank goodness. Terry Cohen and Sammy Watkins. And that makes me sad. That's who I really wanted as well. Watkins off the board. We still have options here Most of those running backs are still available.

[Jason Moore]

You should have brought up Watkins because I think at that point you would have taken. I would have gone Watkins and and gambled for Burkhead to come back.

[Andy Holloway]

Burke had probably here Garcon Randall Cobb still on the board.

[Mike Wright]

So here's our team so far.

[Andy Holloway]

Yeah, go for it.

[Mike Wright]

At running back we've got Levy on Bell, Jerick McKinnon, Rashad Penny and Rex Burkhead. Very happy with that. Solid wide receiver. Keenan Allen, Larry Fitzgerald, Marvin Jones. So we've got some consistency and some upside. And then Evan Ingram at tight end. You know I think you could go running back or wide receiver here. There's still so many.

[Andy Holloway]

Any chance you want to just take Stafford?

[Jason Moore]

No.

[Mike Wright]

Yeah, not really.

[Andy Holloway]

Because now with Cousins still available, not with luck, not with Rivers receivers.

[Jason Moore]

Yeah, I'm taking a wide receiver personally.

[Andy Holloway]

So choose between and it's what Garcon.

[Jason Moore]

What archetype do you want? Do you want Garcon the ppr? You have to assume that the touchdowns are going to be low. So not you're not going to get huge burst weeks but you will get a consistent performance from what I project to be Jimmy Handsome's number one target. Randall Cobb.

[Andy Holloway]

That's.

[Mike Wright]

That's the guy. I mean the sleeper of Randall Cobb. Randall Cobb could be a 90 reception type of player. So he could have the volume. He could also be a double digit touchdown guy. Now maybe he's super disappoints and pulls a, you know, Randall Cobb of two years ago, three years ago and he's really disappointing. But whatever, he's your ninth round pick.

[Andy Holloway]

I don't see many Jameson Crowder, Robbie Anderson. Robbie Anderson is in good shape. Now he'd be my vote.

[Jason Moore]

Robbie Anderson, it would be between Anderson Cooper cup and Pierre Garcon. For me it's just which, which type of wide receiver do you want?

[Andy Holloway]

At this point I don't think I've made a pick. I'm going to take Robbie Anderson.

[Jason Moore]

I love it.

[Mike Wright]

All right.

[Jason Moore]

I love it.

[Andy Holloway]

I think he's turning the right direction. I think people, I think my rankings are going to reflect it. I think Robbie Anderson is supremely talented. He makes ridiculous catches with that frame and he finds a way to get open.

[Mike Wright]

He's got speed.

[Andy Holloway]

I think if you told me that he's, I mean now he may have a one or two game suspension coming.

[Mike Wright]

Good.

[Andy Holloway]

I think that's very possible. I would expect if I had to predict right now one game suspension and this.

[Jason Moore]

It's not that he is without Risk? No, the suspension and quarterbacks Quincy and Noonwa was on IR the entire season last year and it's, it's. He's looking healthy and ready to play this year so that there's still risk with Robbie Anderson. But granted, we're in the ninth round.

[Andy Holloway]

All right, other highlights on that round. Jason, I'm sorry, carry on. Johnson's gone.

[Mike Wright]

Oh, man.

[Andy Holloway]

Garcon went two picks later. We also saw Robert Woods, Randall Cobb go. And then Trey Burton, Jordan Reed. In the next round. Ronald Jones is gone. I think if I was. Push came to shove, if I was sitting on the clock. Robbie Anderson, Ronald Jones. I probably draft Ronald Jones to see what I could get in a 10 league to see if I had a trade chip or something valuable. Now we're staring down options like Jameson Crowner, some upside, some opportunity at the running back position.

[Mike Wright]

Running back.

[Andy Holloway]

I'm not excited.

[Mike Wright]

No, it's.

[Andy Holloway]

It's very thin, sparse. Jamal Williams, LeGarrett Blunt, Corey Clement, Deonta Foreman.

[Mike Wright]

That is the one guy here that I. Foreman to me. Now, I don't know that you have to take him here because you might be able to get him later. But out of the group of players, when I look at our team, I say okay with lev Bell, Jerick McKinnon, Rashad Penny, Rex Burkhead. I think we're solid there. So Deontiforman is the type of player to me where he could end up being something that I don't. You know, maybe Jamal Williams has that same level of. Maybe he becomes the guy Ty Montgomery, you could, you could take your shot on the Green Bay backfield. But like Corey Clement we have as a sleeper. I don't think the ceiling is anywhere near as high as it is with.

[Andy Holloway]

Deonta Foreman, Duke Johnson on the, on the board as well. Deonta Foreman as a point for the listener, whether you take him here or later, you can keep in mind that if you draft a player that's going to end up on pop, which we don't know, but he's injured very well. Could you can put him in your ir?

[Jason Moore]

I mean, depending on your. Where you are playing, depending on your platform. So make sure you know if you can do it or not.

[Mike Wright]

Which platform does not allow you.

[Andy Holloway]

Yeah. A player that's injured will be able to be on IR just. Just as opposed to a suspension or.

[Mike Wright]

Yeah, right, right.

[Jason Moore]

But I'm just, just throwing it out there. Make sure you can do that. But if, if you can, I 100% agree you should be stashing Him I wanted to lay things out real quick because we have, you know, our five remaining picks and assuming we take a kicker, defense and quarterback, that means we really only have two flex picks here. Good thing to learn for the rest of the draft. And also a reminder if your league does not require you to draft a defense or a kicker. I like to load up. I like to load up a more flex guys that I can hold just, just a couple lotto tickets we can watch through the preseason. Perhaps an injury moves them up the depth chart. Perhaps they show enough that they turn into a starter and I'll worry about the defense and kicker later.

[Mike Wright]

Right.

[Jason Moore]

But you take a league settings, you.

[Mike Wright]

Take a Peyton Barber type guy instead of. Instead of a defense because if an injury happened to Ronald Jones or something.

[Jason Moore]

Or he just looks like the starter.

[Mike Wright]

Takes the rollover and then you grab. I love that strategy. I think for purposes of most leagues we should probably force ourselves to take a kicker and a defense.

[Andy Holloway]

I also set up a league that is going to force us to take.

[Mike Wright]

Right.

[Jason Moore]

Your league may force you, but if your league does not force it, I tend to not draft those positions.

[Andy Holloway]

All right, some names I want to bring up. Paul Richardson is out there with upside as is Jameson Crowder. So to this point no pass catching option in Washington has been drafted in terms of wide receivers that is, you know that somebody's going to produce for Alex Smith there other options things people to think about who's in your mind.

[Mike Wright]

The guy on my mind and it's because both you and I, Andy have him as the eventual winner in the Green Bay offense. Ty Montgomery is the guy for me who I think he has enormous upside and if he is the starter or if he's involved more in the passing game with the loss of Jordy I like, you know, taking the gamble on one of those guys. That's where I would lean.

[Andy Holloway]

Well, since we're running towards the end of this draft and I want to make sure we are all in on the quarterback.

[Jason Moore]

Yeah, I was just going to mention the quarterback.

[Andy Holloway]

Cousins, Stafford, Ryan, luck, Rivers Roethlisberger. 10 team league. All the more reason to wait by the way in a 10 team league than even a 12 or 14 is, you know the talent that you're going to get late in the draft. Is Kirk Cousins sitting there on the board so attractive that we should grab him right here?

[Jason Moore]

He is for me.

[Mike Wright]

Yeah, I think so.

[Andy Holloway]

I mean I. Kirk, he's normally he's about an 8th round pick on average in this situation and we're sitting here, the eighth pick of the 10th round.

[Mike Wright]

Now, now, real quick, I will say this.

[Andy Holloway]

Almost clicked the button.

[Mike Wright]

Both of the teams that are about to pick the few picks, they both have a quarterback right now. And I like Stafford and Cousins enough where if there was a player, if there was one of the guys, you know, if it was like, man, I don't want to lose Montgomery or I don't want to lose one of those guys, then I would take them. But since there isn't, there doesn't seem to be a consistent guy. We're afraid to lose at running back or wide receiver. That's kind of the barometer test for me where I go, okay, I would be sad to lose Kirk. So you can go ahead and click that button.

[Andy Holloway]

Yeah, I did a double thought there and said, hey, is it worth waiting to see if they snag Cousins? I. I think we had to grab them. So we did.

[Jason Moore]

I agree.

[Andy Holloway]

Jamal Williams, Jameson Crowder, CG Anderson Deontiforman. Now we're back around. We have, I believe one more pick before we have to take two. Two more picks. Corey Clement, Duke Johnson. I mean, Duke Johnson, RB1 last year in PPR. We're in a half point league. He's by far the, you know, highest reception option at the running back position that we have left time. Montgomery, as you mentioned, could still take him. Devonte Booker could still end up the starter in Denver. A lot of options, a lot of choices.

[Mike Wright]

Right now our team is balanced. Four wide receivers, four running backs.

[Andy Holloway]

So where do you want to go, Mike? You make the pick here. As we move on towards the end.

[Jason Moore]

Of this draft, I was debating between what type of player do I want here where I love Corey Clement, but his ceiling is not the starter. As long as Jay Ajayi is there, man, I haven't had a chance to peruse the wide receivers, but as I do, there are players that I like there more. I love Cooper Cup. I talked about him on our. On our sleeper episode. Paul Richardson is also in strong position.

[Andy Holloway]

Make the pick, Mike, for me. Oh, there's so much you got to pick.

[Jason Moore]

There's so much pressure.

[Mike Wright]

So many good.

[Andy Holloway]

You got to pick or I'm taking Albert Wilson.

[Mike Wright]

You can give me the pick. I know exactly how to do here.

[Jason Moore]

I'm going to select two Cooper Cup.

[Andy Holloway]

I figured you would.

[Mike Wright]

I would have. I would have taken the aforementioned time Montgomery because like you said, the upside is there.

[Jason Moore]

Yeah.

[Mike Wright]

And then I would have hoped that DJ Moore made it back around to me, that's the wide receiver that I'm aiming to target.

[Andy Holloway]

He may still come back around to us. I'm watching it go off the board.

[Jason Moore]

Time Montgomery.

[Andy Holloway]

Time Montgomery or D.J. moore? Jason? Well, Time Montgomery just went.

[Mike Wright]

And the problem with DJ Moore here is now that we took Cooper Cup. I don't usually like leaving drafts with more wide receivers than I do running backs. That's why I was going to go tie and then hope for DJ Moore. Now, I like DJ Moore better than some of the running backs here. But there are still, you know, Devontae.

[Andy Holloway]

Booker and Duke Johnson. I would take devontae Booker myself.

[Jason Moore]

I would take Duke Johnson.

[Andy Holloway]

You don't want to take the guy with a chance to be the number one where you know with certainty that Duke Johnson isn't and with the last positional pick that you have in your draft because you're going to drop somebody, right? You know what Duke Johnson is going to be. You're not going to start in week one or two with this roster. You might end up wanting to start devonte Booker if he's going to be the guy. That's just my thought.

[Mike Wright]

It's a very logical argument. It really is. I just, I feel like I already know that devonte Booker is not good enough.

[Andy Holloway]

Jason, make the pick.

[Mike Wright]

Okay. Duke Johnson.

[Andy Holloway]

All right. Terrible pick. No, not really. All right, so why don't you guys read back the team and I'll go ahead and draft this one of those beautiful picks.

[Mike Wright]

Our quarterback Kirk Cousins will be rolling out there with running backs Le'Veon Bell, Jerick McKinnon, Rashad Penny, Rex Burkhead and Duke Johnson with wide receiver core Keenan Allen, Larry Fitzgerald, Marvin Jones, Robbie Anderson and Cooper Cup. Really happy with that roster. It seems like we've got some high upside guys, some safe, consistent guys. I've got great value on quarterback in the double digit rounds on Kirk Cousins. What do we end up with with.

[Andy Holloway]

Defensive kicker Andy the Broncos and Chris Boswell.

[Jason Moore]

Yes.

[Mike Wright]

Oh, baby.

[Jason Moore]

Yes.

[Mike Wright]

Boswell. Oh, man. Yeah. So we did it.

[Andy Holloway]

So kickers, give me one thing you like. One thing you Boswell.

[Jason Moore]

Are you kidding?

[Andy Holloway]

One thing you like. One thing you don't like about this.

[Jason Moore]

The Cherry.

[Andy Holloway]

I know what I don't like about the team. I have my one. I look, what I like is the top end, obviously. I mean, I'm really, really happy with the what I view as stability at the wide receiver position with Alan Fitzgerald Jones, Robbie Anderson with the upside. Cooper cup with stability. I love the wide receiver position. I think we've got a great value on Kirk cousins in the 10th round. And I'm pretty happy all the way around. The thing that I think stands out to me, and this is just the way I play, right where three people picking one team. When I see McKinnon, Penny, Burkhead, Johnson, I'm not. I wish one of those guys was a Crowell. I wish one of those guys was a Lynch. I wish one of those guys was a guaranteed carry guy. There are weeks where Burkhead and Johnson.

[Jason Moore]

You feel like Penny is not a guaranteed carry guy.

[Andy Holloway]

I just don't know. I don't know yet. I think he probably is. I mean, we took him in the fourth round. I'm just saying we haven't seen it in the NFL yet. And I would love to have, like, Burkhead and Johnson could have a week where they combine for zero carries.

[Jason Moore]

That's. Yeah, that's possible.

[Andy Holloway]

So I would have been nice to me when I look at the guys that went around that range. Crowell, Ronald Jones, even Tom Montgomery.

[Jason Moore]

Ronald Jones is not a guaranteed carry guy. If you're saying.

[Mike Wright]

Right.

[Jason Moore]

If you're worried about Penny.

[Andy Holloway]

I'm not worried about Penny. I just think that I like having one more proven day. One thing I like, one thing I didn't like. That's what I didn't like.

[Mike Wright]

One thing I like about this roster is I think that it is extremely balanced. I like that there is upside, there is safety, there is depth. It's. It's well rounded. Chris Boswell. Oh, Chris. Yes. Oh, we did it. Kick those field goals, man. The one regret that I would have when you named. When you. Yeah, no, that's. That's when you named all those running backs. Jerick, McKinnon, Rashad Penny, Rex Burkhead, Duke Johnson. We missed on some other guys we chose not to draft later that, you know, Isaiah Crowell, we could have had. When I recap that, I wish we took Gronk, I would have rather had a pool of one fewer of those guys. And we probably would have drafted a little differently later, loaded up a little bit more on safer running backs. But that, to me, would have really a top end chain.

[Andy Holloway]

Mike, other than liking Boswell, is there one thing you don't like about this team or is this. Do you just take the Mike Wright approach? This is the best team that's ever been.

[Jason Moore]

It's not the best team that's ever been. It's probably the.

[Mike Wright]

Best team.

[Jason Moore]

It's. I'll give it a third place because I'm only responsible for a third bit. So it just can't be the best.

[Mike Wright]

So what would you have improved here, Mike?

[Jason Moore]

Honestly, I really, really like this roster. Thinking back of the the pick as much as I believe in Evan Ingram and the unknown that is Trey Burton. If there was a situation where we had Sammy Watkins and Trey Burton instead of Ingram and Robbie Anderson, which we could have done. Which we could have done, I think I would have liked that a little bit more. But okay, it's fair. But that's really my only negative going into the season with this lineup.

[Andy Holloway]

That's not bad. And I want to remind you one last time before we close out today's show. Obviously, share your thoughts and opinions about the mock draft on Twitter @ the FF Ballers. You can follow us on YouTube and that's where you'll get.

[Jason Moore]

Live stream.

[Andy Holloway]

Yeah, the live stream.

[Mike Wright]

Oh, we're doing it in a few hours, guys. Really.

[Andy Holloway]

But by the way, if you don't tune into the live stream, you won't get a chance to to hear that content until it comes out because this is a live podcast taping. So if you see it live, you'll have early access. Yeah, you'll have transferred yourself through time briefly.

[Mike Wright]

Yeah. And don't forget to get your Ultimate Draft Kit. This is what we spend our time building and using. This is what we use every time we're talking about what tier a guy is. That's from our Ultimate Draft Kit @ultimate draft kit.com and hey, we're in Minneapolis right now. That means I am playing the heck out of best ball while I'm at a [e-mail] ballers. Get in it with me.

[Jason Moore]

Jay just turned 55.

[Mike Wright]

Thank you for listening to another episode of the Fantasy Footballers Podcast. Join our fantasy football community on jointhefoot.com and follow us on Twitter the FFballers.