Bounce Back Players + Mahomes Extension, Hang Gliding - Fantasy Football Podcast

Summary

Fantasy Footballers Podcast Summary Episode: Bounce Back Players + Mahomes Extension, Hang Gliding
Release Date: July 7, 2020

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1. Quick Question: Favorite Fantasy Football League Type

The hosts delved into the various types of fantasy football leagues, sharing their preferences and reasoning.

• Andy Holloway expressed a strong preference for keeper leagues, stating, “Keeper leagues are... that's our league of record. That's my favorite” (05:02).

• Mike Wright echoed this sentiment, highlighting the dynamic nature of keeper leagues where managers remain active throughout the year: “Keeper format being my favorite because there's the downtime in that league is very short” (07:05).

• Eric Dickinson added that both keeper and dynasty leagues keep managers engaged year-round, which he finds more appealing than redraft leagues (06:23).

2. News and Notes

a. Patrick Mahomes’ 10-Year Contract Extension

A significant highlight was Patrick Mahomes' monumental 10-year contract extension with the Kansas City Chiefs, valued at over $400 million.

• Andy Holloway commented on the unprecedented nature of the deal: “On paper now, north of $400 million is absolutely incredible” (07:44).

• Mike Wright speculated on the structure, suggesting it might be a percentage of the salary cap, which would set a new standard in the NFL: “If Mahomes is doing this like this, this changes the game for franchise players” (08:57).

b. David Njoku Requests Trade from Browns

David Njoku, the tight end for the Cleveland Browns, formally requested a trade.

• Andy Holloway discussed the Browns' reluctance to move Njoku despite his limited playing time: “He is their clear number one wide receiver” (11:20).

• The conversation touched on the potential fit for Njoku with teams like the Cowboys, emphasizing his athleticism and the strategic fit (11:24).

c. NFL Preseason and COVID-19 Impact

The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the NFL preseason was a crucial topic.

• Eric Dickinson reported that the NFLPA unanimously recommended skipping the entire 2020 preseason: “The NFLPA has voted unanimously to recommend skipping the entire 2020 preseason” (12:35).

• Mike Wright highlighted the implications for players and teams, noting, “The players need the preseason like the fringe players... how they play their way onto those, onto the team” (12:35).

3. Feature Topic: Bounce Back Players

The core of the episode focused on identifying bounce back players—players who underperformed in the previous season but are poised to return to form.

a. Andy Holloway’s Bounce Back Player: Adam Thielen

• Andy Holloway identified Adam Thielen as his top bounce back candidate, emphasizing his consistent performance and role as the primary target: “Adam Thielen was a top 10 receiver three years ago, two years ago and last year until he got injured” (33:28).

• Thielen’s injury in the previous season was seen as a temporary setback, with expectations for a strong return: “He is the primary target for his team... so I think he's in prime for a bounce back” (35:09).

b. Mike Wright’s Bounce Back Player: James Conner

• Mike Wright spotlighted James Conner of the Pittsburgh Steelers, highlighting his impressive performance before injuries sidelined him: “Before he got his first injury, he was still a top 10 running back who was getting it done” (37:11).

• Conner’s value in fantasy drafts was emphasized, noting his potential as a high-upside pick at a reasonable draft position: “He's going as the RB20 right now in best ball drafts. It's a matter of health” (39:33).

c. Additional Bounce Back Candidates

• A.J. Green was discussed extensively as a high-risk, high-reward bounce back player. Eric Dickinson advocated for taking a chance on him due to his proven talent: “He is a talent that is far greater than the 29th overall wide receiver” (27:01).

• Andy Holloway remained skeptical, projecting conservative statistics: “I have him with 100 targets, 66 receptions, 925 yards” (29:01), while recognizing the potential upside if Green returns to form.

• Ty Hilton was another receiver mentioned as undervalued in drafts, with strong prospects in his new offensive setup: “Ty Hilton excels with a good offensive line” (43:37).

• David Johnson and Le'Veon Bell were identified as running backs with significant upside if they can stay healthy and secure their roles. Andy Holloway appreciated Johnson’s potential volume: “If he rushes for 1,000 yards... that's hard to find” (49:37). Meanwhile, Mike Wright saw Le'Veon Bell as a valuable asset given his skill set and the Jets' offensive line improvements: “Le'Veon Bell’s vision is second to none... they have put so much money and capital into the offensive line” (50:24).

4. Strategic Insights and Conclusions

The hosts shared strategic advice for fantasy managers considering bounce back players:

• Risk vs. Reward: Balancing the potential upside of high-profile players like A.J. Green against their injury histories and uncertain roles.

• Draft Positioning: Identifying undervalued players who can outperform their draft positions if given the opportunity, such as James Conner and Ty Hilton.

• Team Dynamics: Evaluating the impact of team improvements and quarterback play on a player's performance, emphasizing the importance of offensive schemes and supporting cast.

Notable Quotes

• Andy Holloway on Mahomes’ deal: “On paper now, north of $400 million is absolutely incredible” (07:44).

• Eric Dickinson on AJ Green’s potential: “He is a talent that is far greater than the 29th overall wide receiver” (27:01).

• Mike Wright on James Conner: “He's going as the RB20 right now in best ball drafts. It's a matter of health” (39:33).

• Andy Holloway on Adam Thielen: “He is the primary target for his team in the National Football League” (35:09).

Final Thoughts

The episode provided in-depth analysis of potential bounce back players, offering listeners valuable insights into draft strategies and player evaluations. The discussion around Patrick Mahomes' contract extension underscored the evolving landscape of NFL player contracts, while the identification of bounce back players like Adam Thielen and James Conner offered actionable advice for fantasy managers looking to optimize their teams for the upcoming season.

Note: Advertisements and non-content sections were omitted to focus on the core discussions and analyses.

Transcript

[Eric Dickinson]

Hi, this is Eric Dickinson, NFL hall of Famer, and you're listening to the fantasy footballers Podcast.

[Andy Holloway]

Welcome to the fantasy footballers Podcast with your hosts, Andy Holloway, Jason Moore and Mike Wright.

[Eric Dickinson]

Welcome in, Andy. Mike and Jason, the fantasy footballers. Back with you. Tuesday, July 7th. Believe it or not, this is Show 900.

[Andy Holloway]

Oh, yeah.

[Eric Dickinson]

900. That's a lot. That is more than you thought.

[Andy Holloway]

That is more than I thought we would do when we were doing show number one.

[Eric Dickinson]

Feels like 9,000, am I right?

[Andy Holloway]

It does.

[Eric Dickinson]

Mike is in his house. Not in the house. He's in his house. How you doing, Mike?

[Mike Wright]

I'm always in the house. That's. That's part of my personality. But we call it the. He's out.

[Eric Dickinson]

I. I am curious. I have a question before. We have a great show today. We've got bounce back players, a good quick question. Lots to talk about, lots of news to talk about. But I am curious how each of you enjoyed the holiday weekend in a city that is a bit of a hot spot for the old Covid. And then also 400 degrees outside. Did you guys do anything? Anything special for the.

[Andy Holloway]

Not much. So when you have a wife that is part of a family of 900.

[Eric Dickinson]

Oh, yeah.

[Andy Holloway]

In honor of this episode, it's kind of nice when these holidays are like, oh, we can't really have a big get together. Oh, no. And so I did a whole lot of sleeping. I'm fresh right now.

[Eric Dickinson]

Did you do any barbecuing?

[Andy Holloway]

Oh, I have done so much grilling. That is pretty much my secondary occupation. I'm a fantasy football analyst and professional griller.

[Eric Dickinson]

Yeah. I have made the comment to my wife about. I know, Jason, you have a very famous tradition of being dragged along to four to nine children's birthday parties a weekend.

[Andy Holloway]

That is correct.

[Eric Dickinson]

And those have all gone away.

[Andy Holloway]

It's been fantastic.

[Eric Dickinson]

Did you do anything special, Mike?

[Mike Wright]

Let's see. We did some sparklers. We had those little poppy things on our.

[Eric Dickinson]

The little snappers or.

[Mike Wright]

Snappers. Yeah. Like just a little tiny bag of gunpowder. And so we did those. And then I made spaghetti and meatballs for dinner.

[Andy Holloway]

We. The more household we. I made. I made a mistake.

[Eric Dickinson]

I'm enjoying this so much to hear what life has become. We are really living, living wild.

[Andy Holloway]

So your story here, Mike, reminds me of the truth of what the Moore family did for their fireworks. And here's what I did. I was like, last year, I was too late to get. Or it might have been the year before, I was too late to get the fireworks. They were all Sold out. And so I thought I did the same mistake again this year. But when I found the stand and was like oh, I could still get them, I went too far. I went way too far. And instead of like grabbing a couple fireworks and some poppy things, I might have spent a couple hundred dollars on fireworks. Yes. And annoyed my neighbors for far too long. And we still have so many fireworks left over. You better hide those.

[Mike Wright]

Those are contraband now it was funny.

[Eric Dickinson]

Because there's no like public fireworks this year with everything going on. So the neighbors definitely made up for it. Like the hopes and dreams of my kids ever sleeping that night they were gone.

[Mike Wright]

It was also the Disney fireworks on Disney plus.

[Eric Dickinson]

They, they have the, the television fireworks I never really got.

[Andy Holloway]

That's not really the same.

[Eric Dickinson]

No, it doesn't feel the same.

[Mike Wright]

Just saying it's there if you want it.

[Eric Dickinson]

It is available to you. Check out the ultimate Draft kit@ultimate draftkit.com youm can get access right away available right now. We did a big website update so you can see the new website atthe fantasy footballers.com and we're still giving away signed Devonte Adams jersey@folklan giveaway.com so you can check that out. Quick question of the day comes in from Lance. Lance wants to know, well he says maybe I have missed this along the way over the last few hundred shows. 900 to be exact.

[Mike Wright]

Well, he hadn't missed this show yet.

[Eric Dickinson]

Not this one. But what is your guys favorite fantasy football league type? Is it redraft? Is, is it keeper? Is it auction? Dynasty? What do you, what do you think?

[Andy Holloway]

I know for me it is without a doubt it's a keeper league. Keeper leagues are. That's our league of record. That's my favorite. Then redraft, then dynasty. But don't hear what I'm not saying.

[Mike Wright]

Wow, really?

[Andy Holloway]

I love dynasty leagues. I play in them. This is like saying rank. You know, burgers, pizza.

[Eric Dickinson]

Yeah. From different restaurants.

[Andy Holloway]

Cereal and steak. Yeah.

[Mike Wright]

Cereals in there. What?

[Andy Holloway]

Well that's probably fourth. My point here is all of these things these days burgers and cereal are near the same tier. I'm a big cereal connoisseur but I like keepers because he. So the reason Dynasty is the lowest for me is because there is not quite as much action in season which is great because it pairs nicely with your redraft and your keep. But the waivers aren't as active. Keeper is that nice middle ground where it's pretty much you get a draft, a big important draft every year. But there's assets in the off season that your team and your league has that you can trade, you can work, you know, trade keepers for picks, picks for picks. I think it just keeps the action higher at a higher level throughout the year.

[Eric Dickinson]

Yeah, I will put Keeper at number one, dynasty at number two. They're very close. Both of them have the attribute that you just said where you get to be active and play the entire year, which is why I like them more than Redraft. You know, we're playing fantasy football and my mind just wants to take it to the nth degree all the time, which is like build the legacy, which is what a dynasty team does. If you can build a historical legacy with a team, that's pretty fun for me. Mike, do you have a favorite?

[Mike Wright]

Yeah, I'm Keeper, Dynasty, Redraft, and with Keeper, our league of record keeper format being my favorite because it's. There's the downtime in that league is very short.

[Andy Holloway]

It's like a week.

[Mike Wright]

Yeah, it's the end of the season through the NFL draft and then as soon as that time period is over, then it's. It could be as much as you want.

[Eric Dickinson]

But we like them all. Yes, without question. All right, let's do some news.

[Andy Holloway]

News and notes from around the league.

[Eric Dickinson]

All right, this just broke pretty much right before we started recording this episode of the show. And that is, well, Patrick Mahomes 10 year contract extension through 2031, he was.

[Andy Holloway]

Due to make $2.8 million this year.

[Eric Dickinson]

He is now due to receive 400 million plus.

[Andy Holloway]

I would like that very much.

[Eric Dickinson]

So well deserved. Obviously it is a, you know, it's a gamble in the National Football League because injuries happen to anyone, but it's the kind of gamble I wish my team could make. So I really like it. And if you're the Cowboys now, I mean, Judge Giamatti, you're sitting here without a long term deal for Dak.

[Andy Holloway]

At least we got Amari Cooper paid, right?

[Eric Dickinson]

Took care of that. Oh, feeling good.

[Andy Holloway]

Feisty.

[Eric Dickinson]

Brooks, man, you know, I don't think any of us expected Patrick Mahomes to be leaving Kansas City. So from a fantasy perspective, from an expectation, I mean, he was going to be their long term quarterback, but he's.

[Andy Holloway]

On paper now, north of $400 million is absolutely incredible. I believe, as one of your astute Twitter followers mentioned, Andy, that means Pat Mahomes could have Uber eats for a month.

[Eric Dickinson]

That's right. That's right. He could live incredible. High on the hog with some. Yeah, it's very nice.

[Mike Wright]

We're still missing some details like they're, they're leaking out by the time you hear the show. Maybe we've got it all figured out, but there's talk that it, it is a percentage of the salary cap. Like this is not even just here's he's going to make 35 million. It's no. Whatever the salary cap is, he's going to make X percent, which this would be revolutionary if that's what's happening. That's never happened with an NFL contract. That's setting a new standard. I mean Cousins, Kirk Cousins kind of changed the mold at least a little bit because he came through with the fully guaranteed contract. But if Mahomes is doing this like this, this changes the game for franchise players. Probably just franchise quarterbacks. I can't see another player getting a 10 year, 10 year deal. But this is wild stuff, man.

[Andy Holloway]

There's not many that can. It has to be a quarterback to get that kind of a length of deal. And they've got to be young enough or love Bell.

[Eric Dickinson]

He would like that too.

[Andy Holloway]

I'm sure he would. He would like. I would like. Everybody would like it. I'm curious what the guaranteed part is going to be because when you sign a 10 year contract, you don't know what is possibly going to happen. Year seven, eight, nine.

[Mike Wright]

Right.

[Andy Holloway]

And so how much of that is guaranteed?

[Eric Dickinson]

Well, and it's funny because he'll be 34, I think when the contract's over. Which means he could sign another one.

[Mike Wright]

Yes, another very, very long one. Yeah, I would wager that it'll be like the first five years or so are fully guaranteed.

[Eric Dickinson]

Worth it.

[Mike Wright]

All right.

[Eric Dickinson]

Brown's tight end David Njoku has requested. Requested.

[Andy Holloway]

That is a word.

[Eric Dickinson]

Requested. A trade, I hope. Demanded. Requested.

[Andy Holloway]

Yeah. He, the team came back and said, well, we do not want to trade you. And then they basically demanded, they said, no, we actively want to trade. We don't want to be a part of this. Which makes sense. Right? I mean they brought in Austin Hooper, they drafted, I believe a fourth round rookie tight end in Joku has not been able to get into any kind of serviceable playing time with the Browns. And you know, I think it would make sense for them to move him. I don't think they're relying on him. And I believe other teams, you know, Cowboys type of team could benefit from the athleticism that.

[Mike Wright]

David, you stop it right now. You stop it with the Cowboys talk.

[Andy Holloway]

Get to Blake Jarwin.

[Mike Wright]

They've already invested in the position.

[Eric Dickinson]

Hmm, is that so?

[Andy Holloway]

Blake Jarwin's the investment according to Mike the fantasy hitman. Right.

[Eric Dickinson]

Isn't this the same Blake Jarwin that was on the team when they chose to bring back the corpse of Jason Wynn?

[Andy Holloway]

Yes.

[Eric Dickinson]

Okay. Because. All right, we'll see what happens. David and Joku requested a trade. The team has come out and said that he's still part of the plans. We'll see. This is interesting. And, you know, we'll be probably talking more and more about how the COVID pandemic effects the season and the way that things go down. And we're going to try to bring you, you know, all the relevant information that we have on that front. You know, if you read reports right now, you know, NFL GMs don't feel like they're getting a lot of transparency from the league in terms of even what's the game plan going to be. But we do have a report. The NFLPA has voted unanimously to recommend skipping the entire 2020 preseason. So the annual player gets knocked out for the season in the preseason could not happen.

[Mike Wright]

Well, yeah, that's nice. I mean, it's, I don't blame the players at all for wanting to move forward. What's interesting is to me, yes, this affects the ownership because this knocks out two games of money, you know, four games of the preseason. But the, the players need the preseason like the, the fringe players, that, that's how they play their way onto those, onto the team, those guys who show up in, in game two and game four and actually make a few plays and secure that roster spot. So I've, it's, it's unfortunate for them, but I think it is the right move to just go no preseason, get right into it.

[Eric Dickinson]

Yeah. And there have been talks of the 90 man rosters being 80 man, which would take 320 jobs away, right away. But these are not normal times. So the league is trying to find a way to make it work. There's also been some reports about the way that they're going to view, you know, positive tests that are asymptomatic versus positive tests that have symptoms, guaranteed amount of time away from the team requirements for testing. More of that stuff's going to come out. And we'll bring you that information because, look, it's almost an inevitability at this point to say that if there's a season, there will be players that test positive for Covid.

[Andy Holloway]

Yes.

[Eric Dickinson]

And then if that happens, what are the implications for their availability? Is it going to be, you know, 10 days? Is it going to be a month? That you lose a player and you're probably going to have a variance there and you're going to need to be able to adjust your league and adjust your team and think differently about this season than you have any other season.

[Andy Holloway]

Depth is going to matter in 2020. Not only depth in your fantasy football leagues, but depth in the NFL. I mean, I look at a team like the Falcons who are pretty solid across their starting positions, but they have no depth. You know, they lose any major piece there and all of a sudden I think the wheels could fall off.

[Eric Dickinson]

All right. The Bill's official website confirms the team wants rookie Zach Moss to, quote, play a similar role to Frank Gore.

[Andy Holloway]

Which Frank Gore.

[Eric Dickinson]

Yeah, I was going to say, I looked at the game splits on this. Frank Gore over the back half of the year was 300 yards rushing.

[Mike Wright]

Yeah. Very, very little.

[Eric Dickinson]

So that's the pace for the back half of the year with eight carries a game. That's the role that I would more expect is the 8 to 10 carries a game for Zach Moss. That'll be great news. Over under of 10 carries per game. Over per game for Zach Moss.

[Andy Holloway]

I would probably take the. That's. That's a perfect line. I think I would take the over. I think Zach Moss will get 10 to 11 carries a game. You know, in the beginning of the year, you saw Frank Gore. Obviously this is part of that was when Devin Singletary was gone, but he was averaging. You know, he went 11 carries, 19, 14, 17, 14, 11, 9, 11. You know, for most of his games when he was out there, he was 10 carries or more.

[Eric Dickinson]

What's going to be interesting is a player like Frank Gore demands a lot of respect from an organization and from a coaching staff which might have backed them into some of those goal line carries earlier in the year. Will those opportunities be given to Zach Moss or will you see Devin Singletary with a chance around the goal line? What do you guys think? Are they always going to just default to that bigger back or do you think. Because that'll make the difference. You know, much like, you know, the Philip Lindsay type of season, where do you get a chance to score?

[Andy Holloway]

I think Devin Singletary will be used around the goal line. Again, we've talked about this. I think Josh Allen will end up vulturing some of those the same way that Cam does, historically speaking. But I think they, they won't just rely on Zach Moss every time at the goal line. But that means that if those two guys are splitting those duties and getting vultured, it's probably Low upside for any Buffalo Bill running back.

[Mike Wright]

It's a duty. If they split the duties, we get a duty for fantasy.

[Eric Dickinson]

And a duty is bad is what he's saying.

[Andy Holloway]

Yeah, you don't want to play with your duty.

[Mike Wright]

That's very true, but. So I'm looking at. Devin Singletary had three carries inside the 10 and that was game eight. So this was a few games after his return. And then they went to Frank Gore. We've, we've talked about the cartoonishly bad numbers of Frank Gore. So if they didn't give Devin Singletary a try last year when Frank Gore was not getting the job done, I would imagine Zach Moss will have a goal line role.

[Eric Dickinson]

I don't think fantasy owners know how to think about Devin Singletary.

[Mike Wright]

No, it's very, very tough because there.

[Eric Dickinson]

Were some hype pieces last week about him getting more heavily involved in the passing game. If that happens. Oh, that could be good. And we like Buffalo. I don't think anybody knows where to draft Devin Singletary.

[Andy Holloway]

No. He is curious because you expect him to split time. But I do think that he himself is very, very talented. When I watch him, he always makes the first guy miss. So I think he could be valuable for fantasy. But I see him very similar to the last two years. Philip Lindsay, a guy who is going to split some of the, you know, the carry count, is very, very talented. But if you don't punch the ball into the end zone, you're going to be in, you know, oh, great. He had 70 yards.

[Eric Dickinson]

He's being drafted as the RB23 right now.

[Andy Holloway]

That's about where I've got him.

[Eric Dickinson]

All right, one more bit of news before we move on. We got bounce back players we're going to talk about. All right. The Chiefs running back coach has come out and said he, quote, expects a big jump from Damian Williams this season. Now I read his story. The big jump was more about his maturation in the offense. When you read the story, understanding the offense. But he did say Damian's a competitor, he's going to come out and he's going to fight for this job. When the draft pick happened, he said his maturation in the offense is going to be a big jump this year. Was the full quote from their running back coach. I just mentioned to Mike and to Jason earlier today that in best ball leagues, you know, I'm taking my shots on Damian Williams and Marlon Mack late in drafts.

[Mike Wright]

Sure.

[Eric Dickinson]

Because nobody, I mean, just the gap. I mean, we just did a mock draft episode. The gap between Jonathan Taylor And Marlon Mack is immense. It's four or five rounds.

[Mike Wright]

Yeah. It's like the Tevin Coleman Raheem Mostert gap where it's.

[Eric Dickinson]

That's true. That's true. Where you ended up with Tevin Coleman in the last mock draft because you just kind of couldn't pass on him anymore.

[Andy Holloway]

Right.

[Mike Wright]

The gap is so large, like, you got to leave margin for you to be wrong about a few of these things. And we're all very excited for the rookies. I think they're going to be great once they have the role. But when running backs like Taylor and Edwards Allaire going in those early rounds, I mean, like, you have to ask that question when you're drafting someone like Damian of what. What if we're all projecting this wrong because that would be an incredible draft steal.

[Eric Dickinson]

Yeah. You're not talking about like getting it wrong on a really big bad offense where it doesn't matter that much. We're talking about getting it wrong where a player could be a top five running back. And it was interesting. Jason, you took Miles sanders in our 12 team mock draft on the last episode of the show.

[Andy Holloway]

Yes, sir.

[Eric Dickinson]

And I saw some Twitter feedback, shocked that you didn't take Clyde Edwards Allaire over Miles Sanders at that pick. So if you want to know where the hype can get to, it can get to a very.

[Andy Holloway]

Yeah. Clyde Edwards Allaire would not be in consideration for me there because what you saw from Miles Sanders last year was him somewhat get the role early, kind of lose the role. Get it, you know, due to injury with Jordan Howard and then he took over. And now in year two, you're expecting really, really big things from Miles Sanders. I think that's going to be similar to what you see with Clyde Edwards Allaire. You're going to see some flashes. He's going to get some work early, but it's going to be late in the season when he's dominant and coming into year two. Then let's talk about Clyde Edwards Allaire. I don't want to pay and this is in redraft and keeper leagues when I have to pay for a player at the draft that takes too long to get going, I start, you know, I don't want to start 1 and 3 in my first and then make tilt trades and tilt waiver expenses. I want guys who get off to a hot start. If you're in a redraft or keeper.

[Eric Dickinson]

League and you got to remember, like when Kareem Hunt had his explosive rookie year, it was because Spencer Ware was injured Right. That he had the opportunity so soon in that week one. I still remember those explosive plays. Alex Smith hitting him in stride. So he had the chance because Spencer Ware got hurt. And you'd need something like that to happen for Clyde to probably dominate from week one.

[Andy Holloway]

Yeah. If Damian Williams, you know, tore his ACL right now, Clyde Edwards, a lair, would be in my first round. I mean, I think the talent is there for him to be a top 10 back, but it's just not going to happen, especially at the beginning of the year. Do you want to know what is going to happen, Andy?

[Eric Dickinson]

Oh, no more grilling.

[Andy Holloway]

I'm going to be eating steaks. I'm going to eat them today. I'm going to eat them tomorrow. I don't know if there's a limit to how much steak you can eat.

[Eric Dickinson]

But no one's going to arrest you. Jason.

[Andy Holloway]

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[Mike Wright]

Hello, everybody. I am back.

[Eric Dickinson]

All right, we're talking bounce back players. Now, a little peek behind the curtain for the listeners out there. Mike is recording from his home today. And while we have the best producers in the business, I mean, judge Giamatti, Al Borland, bar none the best.

[Andy Holloway]

Two different people.

[Eric Dickinson]

If you didn't know that some people think they're the same, they are not. There are two individuals, each with different skills and abilities. Judge Giamatti loves apple salads. Al Borland, he can fix things, but they're. And they're great. But a peek behind the curtain. Every time I hit a drop, Mike's ears explode a little bit. Just a little bit.

[Mike Wright]

Just a little bit. Well, by the end of the show, they'll be exploded.

[Eric Dickinson]

But like, if I hit like Josh Staley in this, that was okay.

[Mike Wright]

It's the Internet does funny things to audio sometimes.

[Eric Dickinson]

So I just wanted you to know that I might be able to, like, if you see him jump in the corner of the screen.

[Andy Holloway]

I remember when I was remote a couple weeks ago and piped in when you would hit a drop, my ears bled.

[Mike Wright]

Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah.

[Eric Dickinson]

Is that one a little worse? Mike feeling.

[Mike Wright]

Now I'm awake.

[Eric Dickinson]

All right, we are talking about bounce back players for 2020. Now, Jason may want the opposite. He may want to close his ears when we talk about one of my guys. It's almost become a joke around the office to bring his name up. But I will not let your kind of oppressive, wet blanket takes on this player over the last two years bring me down.

[Andy Holloway]

Oh, they, they brought everyone comfort last year.

[Eric Dickinson]

I know they, they really did. But you were.

[Mike Wright]

This is double bounce.

[Eric Dickinson]

Okay. Can I give you partial credit?

[Andy Holloway]

No, I only accept full credit for telling people that you should be out on AJ Green last year and then he didn't play a game.

[Eric Dickinson]

All right. The reason I brought it up as partial credit was only that a lot of our discussion and argument in the off season about A.J. green was about whether he would perform when he's on the field. We didn't get to see that part play out. And so certainly Your advice was 100%. The end result was what you wanted. You were off of AJ Green and he never played. He wasn't worth the investment. He is my bounce back player, one of my two for today's show. And you know, you can read the resume of AJ Green. Everybody knows the resume of AJ Green. You know, at top talent wise, when he's at his best, when he's healthy, he's a dominant player. He's had three different seasons with 1200 plus and 10 plus touchdowns. So when he. And he's done that with, you know, Andy Dalton in the National Football League.

[Mike Wright]

I've, I've heard that Andy Dalton is very good, especially compared to Dak Prescott from. Yeah, you said people in my ment.

[Eric Dickinson]

You were really getting. You were talking about Dak not getting paid yet.

[Mike Wright]

Right.

[Eric Dickinson]

And you're surprised at how many people have come out of the woodwork to support Andy Dalton, well, they're just very. Or be anti dak.

[Mike Wright]

Anti Dak.

[Andy Holloway]

People need to understand Dak Prescott is a very good quarterback.

[Mike Wright]

Yes, he is.

[Andy Holloway]

Andy Dalton is a quarterback.

[Mike Wright]

He's now a backup.

[Eric Dickinson]

Yeah, without question. And so you know my logic for the AJ Green bounce back risk, like I'm not saying everybody out there has to go and take that chance. He's, he's being drafted in the late sixth round, sometimes in the seventh round. Last time we saw him on a football field for through eight games he was averaging 85 yards a game, which is a 1300 plus yard pace. He had six touchdowns in eight games. That's the last we've seen him. Now it's been a long time and I'm not saying everybody has to take the chance. I mean, you know, not everybody wants to go hang gliding. Is that fair?

[Andy Holloway]

That's fair.

[Eric Dickinson]

They think risky, right? Would you go hang gliding? It's really not risky.

[Mike Wright]

It just sounds exhilarating.

[Eric Dickinson]

It appears risky. But you, I looked this up. You got the same odds of dying in a car crash as you do hang gliding, but some people are going to stay away from it because of what it appears.

[Mike Wright]

You looked up hang gliding style.

[Eric Dickinson]

I really did. I wanted to say argument. It was a curiosity thing. Mike.

[Mike Wright]

Love it.

[Andy Holloway]

Look, you know what, prove that AJ Green is a great bounce back player.

[Eric Dickinson]

I didn't quite put it like that. But here's what we know going into the year. Like I said, you don't have to go hang gliding. I might go hang gliding. Zach Taylor came out and said everything's been positive, he's fully healthy. So Zach Taylor's come out and said he's healthy. In my opinion he could be playing with the best quarterback he's had. I mean he hasn't had a tremendous quarterback. He's had a quarterback in Andy Dalton, but he has 6,000 plus seasons and he's got these double digit touchdowns. We all know, we've all seen AJ Green at his best. He's being drafted right now. And this is where the kind of the crux of the argument is with a bounce back chance on A.J. green. He's being drafted right next to Tyler Boyd, the 29th wide receiver off the board. Look, there are 32 teams that have a wide receiver one on them. A.J. green's being drafted as the 29th wide receiver off the board. He's their clear number one wide receiver. So if you want to steer clear, you don't want to go hang gliding, that's cool. But he is A talent that is far greater than the 29th overall wide receiver. And in my opinion, again, it's that risk reward of you could have an every week starter at wide receiver. If your draft goes a certain way, you lean heavy on, maybe you take an early tight end, early quarterback, you go RB heavy. I just think a guy like AJ Green who could be a starter from day one if he's healthy, putting up prolific numbers like what's his, what's his stat line if he plays 16.

[Andy Holloway]

Jason, I can tell you exactly what I said.

[Eric Dickinson]

You projected him for 16 games, did.

[Andy Holloway]

Project him for 16 games. I have him with 100 going hang gliding. I have him with 112 targets for 66 receptions, 925 yards and 66. What?

[Eric Dickinson]

That's 16. That's hogwash.

[Mike Wright]

What are you doing?

[Andy Holloway]

What I am doing is you should.

[Eric Dickinson]

Say you didn't sat him for 16 because there's no way that that's 16.

[Andy Holloway]

What I am doing is taking the fact that there is a rookie quarterback who historically do not throw a ton of yards. And you know, I've got Joe burrow at over 4,000, just barely over 4,000 yards, which is great. And that puts AJ Green just under a thousand. I, you know, it's one of those things where whether or not this is out with the old and with the new, which it seems that way, you're bringing in obviously the number one overall draft pick. You draft T. Higgins, you're, you know, you're, you're going youth and future or whether this is, we are trying to be the absolute best team we can be. AJ Green, being the veteran, is healthy and out here able to dominate. That's just the tale. One of those two things are going to happen and if the latter happens, you'll be right here. Andy, I just don't see that as my outlook on the Bengals.

[Mike Wright]

Now are you considering that his rookie year in 15 games with a rookie quarterback who was a second round pick, not the first overall pick, he was 65 for over 1007.

[Andy Holloway]

How old was AJ Green then? How he was a rookie, was he 30?

[Eric Dickinson]

Is he currently the age of Julio Jones, whom I believe you have projected in your top five and was he.

[Andy Holloway]

Coming off of a really bad injury where he missed a whole season where he's perfectly healthy? Combination thing. Look, I could be wrong on A.J. green, I could. But I, you know, I've said this in the past and we know this, we know this from history. A lot of times when the big body wide receivers, when it falls off it's done, it's gone. No matter how great they were before Andre Johnson was, which is all bad.

[Eric Dickinson]

Which is a perfect way to bring you back to day, the beginning of this argument, which is I give you credit last year for keeping people away from him. It benefited their team. But what you just said you cannot prove on the field yet because A.J. green on the field is a 13:12 touchdown pace. The last time we saw him and we didn't get to see it last year, we didn't get to see that part of the argument because you said the same thing last year. You said when it falls off, it falls off big. And I expect it to fall off. But we haven't got to see it. So that's the gamble, right?

[Andy Holloway]

Sure.

[Eric Dickinson]

The gamble is, is he the same player? And I would think like I never really buy into the rebuild mentality in the NFL because if Zach Taylor tries to rebuild this team with youth, he's just gone, he's just fired. They just get rid of him. So they could have let A.J. green go, they could have traded him last year. They kept him around. I'm taking my shot on him as a bounce back.

[Andy Holloway]

I agree with your premise in rebuild for the majority of the NFL teams, people are trying to obviously win. But I do think when you have the one on one and you draft a quarterback with first, you know that you're looking towards the future of your for your organization and it buys you a little bit more time. All right. And here's the thing about bounce back players, right? We're talking, we each have two bounce back players, all of them disappointed last year. That's you can't bounce back off of an amazing season.

[Eric Dickinson]

And we could easily have a show that says, you know, what do I always say? Certain players are du in, they're done. You could easily have a show where we're all taking players that we don't think are going to bounce back and their careers are over. So there are two narratives for all of these players.

[Andy Holloway]

Yes, I am going. The two players that I picked both have what I think is the exact same situation. You are asking yourself if they are dun. Because if they're not, I mean we talk about this, look at, look at how fantasy football works. You need a talented player with opportunity. Those two things if you have, I think opportunity is first is primary and then if they're talented, that's where fantasy stardom comes in. That's where the counting stats are flowing and your points are great. Both of these players that I have picked are clearly talented players. They've succeeded before and obviously have the opportunity in front of them. The question is, do they have it or is it dun. My first player is Adam Thielen.

[Eric Dickinson]

Yeah.

[Andy Holloway]

Is he done? Is he.

[Mike Wright]

Is he finished?

[Andy Holloway]

No, I don't think he's finished at all. He's 30 years old. So this isn't. He hasn't reached an age point that's, you know, a breaking point for wide receivers. Usually that happens closer to the 32nd birthday.

[Eric Dickinson]

Like A.J. green's birthday.

[Andy Holloway]

Yeah. How old is A.J. green right now?

[Eric Dickinson]

No, he's 32.

[Andy Holloway]

Okay.

[Eric Dickinson]

Well, no, I was making the joke. I was making the like. Yes.

[Andy Holloway]

I didn't think you would be adding to my argument. Yes. So ADAM Thielen is 30 years old. Obviously the opportunity is there for him. He is the clear wide receiver, one for his team and you can have whatever argument you want, whether he needs to be in the slot or whether he's going to be outside or whether Diggs not being there means the coverage is going to be more diff. Yada, yada, yada. It doesn't matter. He is the primary target for this team in the National Football League. Kirk Cousins is going to throw for 4,000 yards and, you know, or close to it, and he is going to get a huge target market share. Here's the thing about Adam Thielen is you think last year we saw so much struggle with injury, right? He injured himself in week seven, and from that point on, if you had Adam Thielen last year, you remember, he would come back a little quicker than they expected. He missed a couple of weeks, came back and you're like, oh, man, do I start him right back? Do I not? And a lot of people chose to start him. And then he got injured immediately in that game. And the rest of the time, the rest of that season until the very end, he was basically injured. So how was he the first six weeks of the season? Did you. Do you remember?

[Eric Dickinson]

I'm staring at it. He's a little up and down.

[Andy Holloway]

Yeah, well, up and down. But over the first six weeks, he was the wide receiver. Nine, he was a top 10 wide receiver through the first six weeks.

[Mike Wright]

Sure.

[Andy Holloway]

He got a lot of touchdowns. I mean, you can say whatever you want about, oh, they want to run the ball more. Well, if you run the ball more, you might be more efficient in the passing game. All I know is this, Adam Thielen was a top 10 receiver three years ago, two years ago and last year until he got injured. And then he was out now he's the clear wide receiver one for his team. So I think he's in prime for a bounce back.

[Eric Dickinson]

I got two questions because I was going to kind of try to define what bounce back means for Adam Thielen. He's being drafted as the wide receiver 15 right now. So I would tend to think that people. More people agree with you than don't.

[Andy Holloway]

Good.

[Eric Dickinson]

Because smart people. Wide receiver 15 is almost crediting him with that bounce back.

[Andy Holloway]

Yeah, I would say that's exactly the line that I would say is a bounce back. If he's a top 15 wide receiver this year, then he bounced back into supreme relevance.

[Eric Dickinson]

Yeah. And I think that that's probably a fair. Like I, I like that place for him.

[Andy Holloway]

I have him right now as my wide receiver 11. So I have him finishing as a wide receiver one this season and that would be a great bounce back from his injury of the second half last year.

[Eric Dickinson]

I've really been thinking about Justin Jefferson in that offense too. And whether we, you know, when you're staring down the Jalen Ragers or the Jerry Judy's, whether Jefferson needs to start inching his way into those conversations with that offense. With Stefan Diggs leaving and what Jefferson.

[Andy Holloway]

Brings, he has a lot of opportunity. You know, just there have been players who have broken the mold and they've been really valuable for fantasy from the slot Adam Thielen has before Julian Edelman. But generally speaking, the better fantasy production comes from the outside. And I don't think, I don't think that's where Jefferson's going to live. But yeah, he should be in that conversation.

[Eric Dickinson]

All right, Mike, who's your first bounce back candidate we should discuss.

[Mike Wright]

Well, it's very interesting because you're going to feel like, wait, did I just rewind the podcast? Because this sounds just like Jason's argument for a player.

[Andy Holloway]

Oh, it's going to be a good argument.

[Mike Wright]

So this player, he's a running back through week eight, before his first injury, he was the RB10 overall and he was the RB10 in points per game. I'm talking about James Conner, running back for the Pittsburgh Steelers who 50% of his games he was a top 24 guy. And 30% of his injury Marge season, he was still a running back one. And that was on an absolute dumpster fire of an offense like Pittsburgh was so bad last year compared to what we are used to. So the previous five years, Pittsburgh top 10 in yards in points for five years straight, 2014 through 2018, Big Ben is gone. They dropped to 30th in yards and 27th in points because the quarterback play was so bad. And yet James Conner, before he got his first injury, was still a top 10 running back who was getting it done. You have the fact that just before the draft, Mike Tomlin again reiterated that he is a featured runner. Coach, he wants a featured runner. And he said, quote, james is a featured guy and proven runner when healthy. We're excited about him getting back to health and playing in 2020. And then so like the people who are. What about Benny Snell? Well, his. He had a quote about Benny Snell in that exact same conversation. He said, Benny Snell is a guy that is capable of being a featured runner who plays, you know, similar to James. He's capable if James is unavailable, meaning it's still James Conner. They didn't do anything of note in the draft. Look, I like Anthony McFarland. He's a fun player. Anthony McFarland is not someone who is going to replace James Conner as a featured running back. He just does not have the size. He'll be in there for some, some fun, explosive plays. But Connor is the main guy if, if the Steelers are jumping back up, which I imagine they're going to be vastly improved with Big Ben as the quarterback and James Conner is the featured running back. Like he's going as the RB20 right now in. In best ball drafts. It's a. It's a matter of health. I get it. His. It's. It's very hard to buy into James Connor being healthy because he was still a bit banged up even a couple years ago when he had the breakout season when he was a Pro bowl player. But the running back position, everybody has a huge chance of getting hurt. And I think that James Conner can easily bounce back and return. Massive value of being the 20th running back selected.

[Eric Dickinson]

Yeah, I mean, Connor is kind of like my AJ Green story of last year. Was I validated? I mean, I was off a Connor all off season. Was I validated in. I mean, people who didn't. Who drafted James Conner benefited or didn't draft and benefited from that advice. But I don't feel like I got to see what I should have been able to see with James Conner or juju last year, where on the field Connor was by far, in a way on film, the best running back on the team. Yeah, but the team had massive struggles and he had massive injuries and you had the general manager come out and give a different quote than his head coach talking about the disappointment in Connor and the health last year. So there are question marks and I don't know how to think about them. I'm just kind of talking about him in general.

[Mike Wright]

And on the last thing on top of that, Pro Football Focus just released their, their offensive line rankings heading into the season. They still have the Steelers. They have the Steelers as a top 10 line, like top 10 line, higher scoring team, featured running back, right? It's the same argument as last year, but now Instead of the first round, you're getting him as the 20th running back.

[Andy Holloway]

James Conner could easily be a top 12 running back. The whole question is, can he stay healthy? He has not proven that he can take that workload yet. And that I think is the issue. You know, he missed with the quadriceps contusion. He missed with the ankle. He's missed for a concussion. He has a big injury history. Like you said, running backs get injured more often. That makes sense. But if he is going to be a feature back, can he actually withstand that? Can he play 16? And that's my big worry with James Conner.

[Mike Wright]

I don't think you need 16 from him. Like back, his breakout year was 13 games. If you, if you're getting 13 games from a guy who's very, very often Giving you top 12 production, I think that you have, well, you're very happy with that draft pick.

[Eric Dickinson]

Counterpoint to that though is if James Connor can't stay healthy, the team's not going to give him the chance to make you happy in 13 games. Those 13 games won't be the kind of workload you want because James Conner will have proven that he can't hold up to the workload.

[Andy Holloway]

Like what we saw at the end of the year when he kept coming back. But they were, they were monitoring his workload because of the injuries.

[Eric Dickinson]

So I don't disagree with the bounce back pick. I'm curious when you compare him to a guy like Mark Ingram, like, who would you rather have on this team? Ingram's probably not going to get banged up, but he might not have the workload. But Connor might not get the workload because they don't want to get him banged up.

[Andy Holloway]

Right?

[Mike Wright]

I have, I have Mark Ingram. Let's see.

[Eric Dickinson]

They're back to. Back to me, which is why I brought it up. I have Connor one spot ahead of Ingram.

[Mike Wright]

I have, I have Connor one spot ahead of Ingram as well.

[Andy Holloway]

I'm two spots ahead of Ingram.

[Eric Dickinson]

So we all would take the shot on the bounce back.

[Andy Holloway]

He's riskier. He's riskier. But at this price, I mean, what Mike is saying is he still has the same exact everything that made him a back of the first round pick last year.

[Eric Dickinson]

Yeah, he was a high pick, but.

[Andy Holloway]

He doesn't cost a first rounder this year. You can get him much later in your drafts.

[Eric Dickinson]

All right. My second bounce back is another wide receiver with a very similar narrative to the AJ Green argument. So we don't have to linger too long because I think you guys believe in him. But it's Ty Hilton. Ty Hilton is being drafted in a very similar place to where A.J. green is. He's the wide receiver 27, off the board right now.

[Mike Wright]

That's wild to me.

[Eric Dickinson]

You know, you kind of have that, I don't know, just some sort of fatigue with Ty Hilton in the fantasy community because he's being drafted as wide receiver 27, but he's literally never finished at that spot. I mean, his entire career when he's played 24, 19, 11, 21 5, 25, 14 last year he missed six games and obviously finished outside of that rant of that range. But when he's played 14, 15, 16 games, he always finishes ahead of where his draft capital is. Right now, he's the number one on the team. Same argument I made for AJ Green being drafted super late last year. Philip Rivers, who's his new quarterback, fourth most deep balls in football. Something that I think Ty Hilton excels at receiving, and he's just 30 years old. So it's similar to your Adam Thielen story. You know, Hilton hasn't shown anything on the field to show that he's not the same talented, you know, capable wide receiver. He's just not being drafted anywhere near where I think he belongs.

[Andy Holloway]

Yeah, yeah. I think we've talked about Ty Hilton a lot this off season. The fact that he has a better quarterback and perceived health. I mean, he should be, he should definitely be better than the wide receiver 27, my bounce back player. This is a guy that I left the season pretty confident I would not believe in a bounce back because I questioned. I told you, I picked two guys that I'm wondering, are they D U n done? Adam Thielen, I don't think he's done. And David Johnson, oh, my goodness.

[Mike Wright]

Oh my.

[Andy Holloway]

I questioned whether he was done. We are Cardinals fans. We watch, you know, well, we watch every NFL game, but we're, we're watching those ones with a little bit more desire for that team to succeed. And so we're like, get them off the field. But, you know, everybody else was faster to the edge than David Johnson, it.

[Eric Dickinson]

Looked like we were playing him in slow motion, but it was actually full speed.

[Andy Holloway]

And so, you know, I thought I would go into the off season thinking he's du n. And the reality is I went back and I actually watched the last two healthy games of David Johnson last season because we've all seen the one clip of him trudging along, you know, barely. Yeah, he just looked like he was carrying a tuba while he was running. There it is. And so. But I went back and I watched and he didn't look bad. He did not look bad before that injury through the, you know, there were a couple of scheme things where he didn't seem to fit the system. But does David Johnson right now have at least what Carlos Hyde has? Yes, I think that right now David Johnson has at least what Carlos Hyde had and he was a thousand yard rusher for this team behind this offensive line. I think the scheme matches with David Johnson is good at doing. And they have one of the most vacated targets in the league because DeAndre Hopkins is gone or highest number of vacated targets, Highest number of vacated targets. They're among the tops. And we have a lot of proof that when a team loses a lot of targets, they start throwing the ball to the running back more. Now that's important for a team that hasn't usually thrown a ton to the running back, but they also didn't have great receiving options until Duke Johnson and they started throwing him the ball. I have David Johnson down for 55 targets and I think.

[Eric Dickinson]

Jason's playing the hits right now.

[Andy Holloway]

I believe that if David Johnson rushes for 1,000 yards, which if Carlos Hyde can do it, so could David Johnson. Bill O'Brien is going to want to prove that he was correct in making the trade. David Johnson is going to be a full bell cow in this system and I think he's going to get targets. He was really valuable for fantasy last season. You know, say whatever you want about how he looked and he was, you know, trudging along but before he got injured he was pretty great for fantasy almost every single week.

[Eric Dickinson]

Yeah, I mean he was on the pass catching. And I don't love the argument that Bill O'Brien wants to prove himself correct because he made the trade for Duke Johnson too. So he can prove himself that Duke Johnson was the right guy if David can't run. So it comes down to that first argument to me where you're looking at the film, you think he's got at least what Carlos Hyde has, if not better. If that plays out, then I think we all look at him as a volume guarantee right now. Of all the players in football, that's hard to find.

[Andy Holloway]

But what if he's still got it? He's a volume guarantee. And what if he's actually still got it? He was the running back six before he got injured in week seven. He was a running back six through.

[Eric Dickinson]

But if he, if he still had it, Jason, would you have been doing this dance?

[Andy Holloway]

Nope. And this was a good dance because The Cardinals got DeAndre Hopkins.

[Eric Dickinson]

Yes, sir, I think we all were. If David still got it, I think he can have it in a volume capacity. But he certainly isn't the guy from two, three years ago. Sure.

[Andy Holloway]

I have him right now as my running back. 14. So he's outside. He's outside the top 12, but he is.

[Eric Dickinson]

That feels a little spicy.

[Andy Holloway]

He is in that upper tier because of the volume I expect him to get.

[Eric Dickinson]

Yeah.

[Mike Wright]

Where do you have Mike?

[Eric Dickinson]

Are you in on that?

[Mike Wright]

16. I have DJ. I have DJ at 16. Where do you got it?

[Eric Dickinson]

Where do I have him? Half point fifteen. We're all together. We're all together. You know, it's funny because I have your next bounce back candidate right behind him.

[Mike Wright]

Oh, all right. Well, I have.

[Eric Dickinson]

Then you look at us. Sorry, hold on one sec. Let's look at the stat line real quick.

[Mike Wright]

All right.

[Eric Dickinson]

Because I want to see where you have him projected. I have David Johnson for 970 yards, 37 receptions, nine total touchdowns and that's what puts him at 15.

[Mike Wright]

I have got him just over a thousand rushing yards. Funny enough, I also have him at 37 receptions.

[Andy Holloway]

Okay, got him at 41 receptions, 1060 yards and eight total touchdowns.

[Eric Dickinson]

It's going to be interesting because Duke Johnson, as always, you know, right around five a carry, no matter what team he's on, whenever he's playing DJ down at 3.7 last year, but obviously DJ is the guy.

[Mike Wright]

All right, well, I will jump in with my bounce back players. It is another running back and I honestly my rank between where his ADP is right now, that differential is not that high. But when you're in these higher rounds, these higher draft capital picks, it makes a difference. And I have Levy on Bell right now.

[Eric Dickinson]

Oh, man.

[Andy Holloway]

That ringing in your yard?

[Mike Wright]

No, but what that was.

[Eric Dickinson]

I was so happy that that drop.

[Andy Holloway]

Is still in the board.

[Mike Wright]

I love just outside of my running back ones. I think that he can bounce back in a pretty decent way. What's interesting about Le'Veon Bell is he was still the RB17 last year. So he finished as the running back 17 in 15 games. Being drafted as the running back 18. His, his biggest competition is. Is Frank Gore. Like, I mean, I, I don't really get why Le'Veon Bell would be off the field. Besides, a black hole could suck him away. Of course, that thing. You never know what a black hole is going to do these days. But the jets were just so bad last year. 17.2 points per game, 31st in the league. I think Sam Darnold is better than that. He had, he had mono. Mono just takes, it really takes it away from you. And at what point was Sam Darnold recovered? I don't know if he was ever recovered. Like can you recover from mono and go into an NFL season? That seems like something that I wouldn't guess you could. We don't really have a lot of data though on players getting mono. Do you guys have anybody else who.

[Andy Holloway]

You know, most of the players are over the age of 17, so we don't have a lot of data on Mono in the NFL.

[Mike Wright]

But, but Le'Veon Bell, he's. We knew it was going to be tough sledding for Levy on Bell moving from the Steelers to the jets. And I didn't like his draft price last year. Now he's at a point where I am perfectly happy to take him. If the jets improve at all as a team. Levy on Bell will feel the impact of that.

[Eric Dickinson]

Oh, but Mike.

[Mike Wright]

Yes, voice of public opinion.

[Andy Holloway]

What about Frank Gore, the Infinity Stone?

[Mike Wright]

Yeah, I know he's there. I know that Frank Gore is there. And Adam Gaze did decide that he would play Frank Gore like over Kenyan Drake at one point.

[Eric Dickinson]

When you say Adam Gaze's name, just let me put this out there. I. The hair on my arm stands up.

[Mike Wright]

It is, it's a little terrifying.

[Eric Dickinson]

Is there any team that like the jets are. The one thing that stands out to me is this could all explode. The Darnold plus Gaze plus Lev Bell situation.

[Mike Wright]

Look. And if it explodes, terrifying. If explodes. It is what it was last year, which was bad. And he was the running back 17 in 15 games. They spent a lot of the offseason trying to upgrade their offensive line. A first round pick, they, they grabbed a center in free agency who was a top 10 graded out center from Pro Football Focus last year. Like they have tried. I can't say for sure if it's going to be upgraded, but again, this is if everything is status quo for Love Bell. You got a guy who's going to return his adp. They in Regards to the vacated targets, like it's Jameson Crowder who's a pretty good wide receiver. Then you have the unknown of Denzel Mims. We like him, but he's still a rookie. And then Brashard Perryman who has like what, six good games to his NFL career. I mean, I think Le'Veon Bell has the same chance to have huge volume again. And things just went so terrible for him last year. His longest run on the year was 19 yards. Like he, like Leonard Fournette. You just didn't see touchdowns with 245 carries. The dude had three rushing touchdowns. I mean, there's. There are so many positive regression, positive regression markers for Levy on Bell that I can see just hitting. And then Le'Veon Bell is well worth the draft price.

[Eric Dickinson]

Can you promise me that he'll give me at least like one week in the top five or something?

[Mike Wright]

I can't do that. I cannot do that.

[Eric Dickinson]

He reminds me of the Clinton Portis days where each and every week Clinton Portis was. It was Washington. He would get you 10 points on the dot.

[Andy Holloway]

I liked having him on my roster.

[Eric Dickinson]

No, it's nice because he's not going.

[Andy Holloway]

To be your running back one. Right. He's somebody that you're filling in at your running back two or even your three where he's being drafted right now.

[Eric Dickinson]

Like on our Scotty Fishbowl, like on.

[Andy Holloway]

Our Scotty Fishbowl team. And we did, we ironically, we were, you know, we could have taken James Conner for the upside or Love Bell for safety. We went left Bell because he was our third. He's guaranteed the volume. We know he's able to handle that kind of a workload. And the thing about Love Bell that I will say, you know, because I do worry about the dun with Lev Bell. He's got a lot of mileage on his legs, but he is someone that excels with a good offensive line. And their offensive line was such trash. His vision is second to none. That was what always made Love Bell super special for fantasy. And they have put so much money and capital into the offensive line that if this ends up just a top 15 line, if they just end up better than average line, I think Lev Bell's going. He was already for a carry last year. If he gets back to 4, 5 with that kind of volume, 3.2 a carry. Oh, was he 3.2 last year?

[Mike Wright]

To guess.

[Andy Holloway]

Man, oh man, what was I looking at? Oh, that was gross. But I mean, if the offensive line gets better and he can use his style of running that is very unique. Then maybe we see I watched a.

[Eric Dickinson]

Lot of jets last year. The 3.2 doesn't really matter to me because I watched them hand him the ball and just smother over and over. I mean, Darnold would be out of games and it was just hand him, hand him, hand him, hand him right into the butts of his lineman or right into, you know, it was more of just the volume kind of situation where he didn't have a shot, you know, six touchdown or wait, four touchdowns on the year last year as well.

[Mike Wright]

Correct.

[Eric Dickinson]

So that's another one of those positive regression markers Mike's talking about. All right, that is it for today's episode. Want to thank Pristine Auction, the best place for autograph sports memorabilia. All autographed items are authenticated by the top authentication companies in the industry and they guarantee the authenticity, including one that sold yesterday, Kenny Golladay Signed lines mini helmet $61.42. Go to pristine auction.com use the code ballers to get a $10 credit. All right, that does it. We'll be back on Thursday and we are up to three shows a week now, so a Thursday and a Saturday episode coming this week. Don't miss it.

[Mike Wright]

Goodbye.

[Andy Holloway]

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 and Foot Gland. Don't forget that the glorious sizzle of Omaha Steaks on the Grill is the official soundtrack of summer. And Omaha Steaks isn't just steak. It's guaranteed perfection in every single bite. So order your grand Summer Grill out package today and get four free Omaha Steaks burgers and four free Gourmet Jumbo Franks. Don't wait. Visit OmahaSteaks.com and type footballers in the search bar to shop Summer Grill Packs today.