Draft Value Picks + Trade Talk - Fantasy Football Podcast for 8/21

Summary

Fantasy Footballers Podcast Summary

Episode Title: Draft Value Picks + Trade Talk

Release Date: August 21, 2025
Hosts: Andy Holloway, Jason Moore, Mike “The Fantasy Hitman” Wright

Overview

This episode arrives just before the busiest fantasy football draft weekends of the year. The Fantasy Footballers focus on the art of identifying draft-day value picks, offering actionable insights into who’s undervalued heading into the 2025 season and why. They also dive into trade strategies post-draft, break down key NFL news (including wide receiver trades and significant injuries), and dig into listener questions covering roster-building and dynasty league dilemmas. Throughout, there's the irreverent, candid banter fans expect from the trio.

---

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. NFL News & Player Moves

• Skyy Moore to 49ers, Devon Vélay to Saints

  • Skyy Moore traded from KC to SF for a swap of late-round picks; the 49ers' wide receiver room is extremely thin due to injuries and suspensions.
  • Devon Vélay traded to the Saints for a 4th and a 7th; at 27.7 years old, he’s an older rookie but could see opportunity in a needy WR corps.
  • “It feels like a key card that was meant to be blocked at the door, but it keeps working and he just keeps going… trying not to get caught in the facilities.” – Andy on Skyy Moore [03:41]

• Implications for Remaining Players

  • 49ers have almost no WR depth; Russell Gage has a sprained MCL, Jalen Royal among many out.
  • Saints’ trade is an endorsement for Pat Bryant in Denver, possibly raising him to a prominent slot role.
  • Evan Engram (Broncos) gets a value bump with less target competition.

• Injury Updates

  • Chris Godwin (Bucs) and Tristan Wirfs are expected on the active roster, but Godwin may miss some early games.
  • Vikings down WRs (Addison and Felton arm injuries out ~3 weeks); Dolphins rookie RB Jalen Wright also hurt – possible Brian Robinson landing spot.

---

2. Trade Strategy: Post-Draft

• Trading right after the draft is fair game and often a way to optimize roster construction before Week 1; sometimes both sides feel they ended up with the wrong position.
  • “There’s that perfect match right after a draft where it’s like… I gambled on my tight end and lost… you want to swap?” – Jason [07:35]
• Caveat: Don't draft “for trade bait” (e.g., hoarding TEs or defenses) – it rarely works and others will just use the waiver wire.
  • “Nobody’s interested. Waiver wire. Enjoy. Call your bluff with five defenses.” – Andy [08:36]
• Two-for-one trades are useful for freeing up a roster slot and consolidating talent.

---

3. Value Picks for 2025

Andy’s Value: Deebo Samuel (Washington Commanders, WR)

• Current Draft Value: WR38, late 7th round
• Case: Despite being called “washed” after a slow 2024 season, Deebo was 2nd in YAC last year and is thriving in training camp, per beat reports.
• Scheme Fit: Cliff Kingsbury’s offense is built for screen targets – something Deebo excels at.
• Upside Scenario: McLaurin’s injury absence further unlocks alpha volume opportunity.
  • “If you literally dropped Deebo Samuel into the best possible offense for Deebo Samuel, there is no better situation than Deebo with Cliff Kingsbury.” – Andy [18:00]
• Risk: Durability; never played a full season.
• “Debo could be their one. The real question is, is he washed?” – Jason [21:06]
• Draft Strategy Take: Even if skeptical, at cost, the upside overshadows the risk.

---

Jason’s Value: DK Metcalf (Pittsburgh Steelers, WR)

• Current ADP: 5th round, WR22
• Narrative: Last year’s second-half dud due to playing through a knee injury is causing an ADP overreaction. Before injury, Metcalf was on a 150-target pace.
• Situation: Now paired with Aaron Rodgers, who “hyper-targets” his WR1s; expect a 28–31% target share.
  • “There’s no question from any human on the planet who leads this team in targets. None.” – Jason [25:29]
• Floor/Ceiling: Even if TDs are unlucky, floor is WR18–20; at median/ceiling, top-12 is realistic.
• “I think he is probably the best pick in fantasy or close to it.” – Andy [27:43]

---

Mike’s Value: Jordan Mason (Minnesota Vikings, RB)

• Current ADP: RB40, ~11th round
• Summary: Vikings traded for Mason, gave him significant guaranteed money (2 years, $7M). They view him as a true backfield partner to Aaron Jones (age 30+).
• Projected Role: Short-yardage/goal line back, strong efficiency (41% of carries for 5+ yards in first 7 weeks last year).
• Usage Quote: “We feel like we’ve got one of the best combinations of A1A1B running back in the NFL. The goal is to keep them both fresh.” – Kevin O’Connell, via Mike [35:08]
• Best case: Mason is a regular flex with strong TD upside; massive value if Jones misses time.
• “Flex with benefits.” [36:49] – Mike’s term for RBs playable but with league-winning upside if injury hits ahead of them.

---

4. Listener Mailbag & Draft Strategy Q&A

Zero/Delayed WR Builds

• When is “too late” to draft WR1?
  • Waiting until the 4th/5th for your WR1 is okay if you’re still in a tier where guys like DK Metcalf, Devante Adams, or Marvin Harrison Jr. are available.
  • “If your league is going crazy wide receiver…don’t just be like, ‘oh, I can wait till the 4th’…it’s more about tiers.” – Jason [41:44]
• WR is always deepest for “lottery ticket” types and later risers.
  • “Wide receivers are always the place I can find the most value later in drafts.” – Andy [39:11]
• But don’t let positional runs pass you by; tiers and league settings matter.

Quarterbacks: Baker Mayfield as a Bust?

• Baker is ranked as QB10 but still a regression candidate (finished QB3 last year with 41 TDs).
  • Stat: Only 22 quarterbacks have thrown 40+ TDs in NFL history; tough to repeat.
  • “If you draft the QB7 and he ends up as QB10…then you’re wrecked for fantasy.” – Jason [44:15]

---

Dynasty League Etiquette

• If a manager drops mid-season, do your best to maintain team (set lineups via platform projections). Use places like Footclanleagues.com to recruit passionate replacements.
  • “Footclanleagues…is a great place to meet people…and find someone to take over your orphaned dynasty roster.” – Mike [48:22]
• If multiple managers drop, sometimes better to reduce league size if no solid replacements.

Who Would Be the Worst Fantasy Football Manager Among NFL Coaches?

• Dan Quinn and Tomlin (with their chill vibes) get roasted as least likely to maintain their lineups.
  • “He’d set it and let it ride…no transactions. You did nothing, why are you in the playoffs?” – Jason, on Mike Tomlin [50:39]

Quick Hitters

• Gibbs vs. Jefferson at 1.04 (half-PPR): Both are fine, slight lean toward Gibbs due to RB scarcity.
• Kyle Pitts vs. Troy Franklin: Go with Pitts for tight end positional advantage. [51:06]
• “Flex with benefits” RBs: Favor players like Mason or Zach Charbonnet as backup/flexes with upside.

---

Notable Quotes & Moments

• “Debo Samuel…he feels like the Cooper Kupp pick. He feels like old, dusted. But we love Washington, we love Jaden Daniels, we love what the offense did. Who in the world is going to catch passes for this team?” – Andy [19:56]
• “There’s no question from any human on the planet who leads this [Steelers] team in targets. None…Aaron Rodgers is going to put that ball where DK Metcalf can catch it.” – Jason [25:29, 31:09]
• “I call these guys…flex with benefits. You can play him on a weekly basis…and if the starter goes out, you’ve got a top 12 RB.” – Mike, on Jordan Mason [36:49]
• “If your risk is built into ADP, then you aren’t risking anything in the 8th round.” – Mike, on Debo [23:56]
• “Nobody’s interested. Waiver wire. Enjoy. Call your bluff with five defenses.” – Andy, on not drafting for trade bait [08:36]

---

Timestamps for Important Segments

• [02:21] Intro & Largest Draft Weekends Incoming
• [03:14] Skyy Moore & 49ers WR situation
• [05:43] Megalobowl & Community Announcements
• [09:12] News & Notes: Godwin update, Skyy Moore trade, injury rundown
• [14:42] Miami RB Situation: Jalen Wright, Devon Achane
• [15:44] Main Topic: Draft Value Picks
• [16:46] Andy’s Pick: Debo Samuel deep dive
• [24:57] Jason’s Pick: DK Metcalf breakdown
• [32:16] Mike’s Pick: Jordan Mason upside
• [38:18] Mailbag: When’s too late for WR1?
• [44:15] Baker Mayfield: Regression/Bust case
• [46:41] Gibbs vs. Jefferson at 1.04
• [47:28] Dynasty dropouts & Foot Clan leagues
• [49:40] Best/Worst NFL coaches for fantasy
• [51:04] Kyle Pitts or Troy Franklin?
• [52:34] Ultimate Draft Kit pitch and sign-off

---

Final Thoughts

• The hosts reinforce that value is all about context, league trends, and risk built into ADP.
• This season’s breakouts may come from perceived “dusty” or overlooked veterans and RBs in ambiguous situations.
• Always prioritize tiers, target share, and late-round upside over drafting for trade bait or hype.
• The vibe is energetic, irreverent, and loaded with in-jokes (“Bill Crosky counted to infinity”), but the analysis is on-point for helping listeners win drafts and pre-season trades.

---

For more rankings, tools, and deeper dives, check out the Ultimate Draft Kit at ultimatedraftkit.com, or join the conversation and find league mates on footclanleagues.com.

Transcript

[Andy Holloway]

Morning.

[Jason Moore]

One sausage McMuffin with egg, please.

[McDonald's Cashier]

Okay, your total is.

[Jason Moore]

Wait. Let's negotiate. How's about you throw in hash browns for a dollar?

[McDonald's Cashier]

Well, yes, sir, that price is already a dollar.

[Jason Moore]

Take it or leave it.

[Andy Holloway]

Take it, I guess.

[McDonald's Cashier]

Buy one, add one for a dollar on sausage McMuffin with egg, hash browns, and more with McValue. Most locations open 5am or earlier. Price and participation may vary. Limited time only. Valid for item of equal or lesser value.

[Andy Holloway]

Ba da ba ba ba.

[McDonald's Cashier]

Meeting new people just got more fun with Tinder's new double date feature. You and your bestie can match together. Tap the double date icon to see profiles built for two. When two pairs match, the group chat kicks off. Scope the profiles and keep the chat fun. Hype each other up, flirt a little, maybe plan a hang. It's better when you're in it together. Try the new Tinder double date. Explore all the possibilities. Tinder. It starts with a swipe. Download Tinder today.

[Mike Wright]

All right, all right, all right. It's almost that time of year. The time when I set the foundation for supreme and total dominance at my fantasy football draft. How can I be so confident? Because I used the ultimate draft kit from the Fantasy Footballers man. It updates all off season, so I never worry about using old busted information. Consistency charts, auction values, full projections. Oh, baby, this thing's got it all. You want to keep it 100 for your draft? Head to ultimatedraftkit.com and get your copy. Today.

[Jason Moore]

The Fantasy Footballer Studio is sponsored by Walmart. Welcome to the Fantasy Footballers Podcast with your hosts, Andy Holloway, Jason Moore and Mike Wright.

[Andy Holloway]

Welcome in Thursday, August 21, the fantasy footballers Podcast. Andy, Mike, and Jason, back with you. Another episode talking values today, NFL news breaking every microsecond, it seems. Yeah, it's been fun. Yeah, you've been just. It's nice to know when you open up the, you know, Twitter. Mm, it's so something. There's a video to watch, there's a headline, there's a puff piece about a player. There's an injury.

[Mike Wright]

Yeah, that part's not fun.

[Andy Holloway]

That part's not, as it depends on.

[Jason Moore]

Who you got on Dynasty. Yeah, I'm kidding. I'm joking.

[Mike Wright]

When. When you open it up the Twitter machine and you see a trade that, like, benefited one of the rookies you got, you're like, oh, okay, okay.

[Andy Holloway]

You would be referring to what happened yesterday with Devon Vader, Sky Moore. Oh, yes, I kid.

[Jason Moore]

You got him.

[Andy Holloway]

The second I saw that Sky Moore was involved in a trade, I literally was like, Breaking news. Sky Moore's in the NFL. I had no idea that this man was still on a roster. I mean, we have spent the entire offset.

[Mike Wright]

He didn't know he was on a roster.

[Andy Holloway]

We talk about Jalen Royals. Right. You can go down the depth chart on the Chiefs wide receivers. Never did Skymore like it feels like a key card that was meant to be blocked at the door, but it keeps working and he just keeps going, trying not to get caught in the facilities.

[Mike Wright]

You're talking about last year. Three targets.

[Jason Moore]

Three.

[Andy Holloway]

Not three receptions?

[Mike Wright]

No.

[Jason Moore]

How many receptions?

[Mike Wright]

Oh, zero.

[Jason Moore]

Okay. That's why we forgot he plays football.

[Andy Holloway]

So sky is the limit is. It's three. That's the sky. Okay.

[Jason Moore]

But he did score a touch ahead of ourselves. He did score a touchdown in the super bowl against the team that traded for him.

[Andy Holloway]

Is that he might have. I know he scored in a Super bowl before. There's a 49er boy we'll talk about.

[Mike Wright]

Did he.

[Andy Holloway]

All of the. It was me, Cole Hardman.

[Mike Wright]

Okay.

[Andy Holloway]

It was my Cole Hardman. I thought sky more did too.

[Jason Moore]

I thought they both.

[Andy Holloway]

I bet you Skymore scored in the Super Bowl. Might not have been about the 49ers. Yeah. So, yeah, that's.

[Mike Wright]

I can't keep track of all those Skymore touchdowns.

[Andy Holloway]

Yeah, it's hard to keep track of. But we welcome you in. We're happy to have you here. We're heading into the biggest draft weekend of the entire off season coming up this Saturday. Sunday is the majority or the at least a lot of the drafts are happening this weekend and then the weekend after as well into Labor Day. But make sure you're prepared. The Ultimate Draft Kit available right now. Ultimate Draft Kit.com. we made the announcement earlier this week. I want to remind you the Megalobol. A lot of you had been asking, is it going to come back this year? Of course it's coming back. In fact over. What's the number now?

[Jason Moore]

We're over 8,000 signed up ready to join a league. The leagues will be drafting here in a couple of weeks right before the kickoff of the NFL season. And so yeah, you can go to megalobol.com join your league, pick which time slot you want, play with other Foot Clan members. And the winner will get not only a udk for life, but even better than that incredible reward, they will be in next year's listener league with us.

[Andy Holloway]

Yeah. So megalobol.com for there all foot Clan supporters get a free entry into the Megalobol. It's going to be Super Fun this year and we're looking forward to it. What else is going on? I did just find out that the first NFL touchdown of Skymore's career was.

[Mike Wright]

In the super bowl against Philadelphia against the Eagles.

[Andy Holloway]

All right, now, is that also the last one in his career or does he.

[Mike Wright]

Has he had any going with the three targets? Zero receptions. Yeah, I think that's a strong possibility.

[Andy Holloway]

You can go to YouTube, watch the show. YouTube. Kyle the fantasy footballers two in his career. Yeah, there was.

[Mike Wright]

Hey, that's two more than us, guys.

[Andy Holloway]

That's true. That's true. Yeah. I have zero, actually. Yeah, you can follow us on Axe at the FF Ballers. Make sure you follow us on your podcasting app, Spotify, Apple. Leave us a review. A lot of you jumped in there, left a review for Al Borland. It left him in tears, really. Of gratitude. Right? I mean, absolutely.

[Mike Wright]

I appreciate you.

[Andy Holloway]

You were bawling, but thank you for those reviews. You're welcome.

[Jason Moore]

Wait, what? I thought you were thanking. All right, quick question I just agree to. I was looking up sky more touchdowns because I'm only seeing one. One was in the Super Bowl. One was in the regular season.

[Andy Holloway]

Ah, gotcha. Yeah. Yep, that's it. All right. Quick question of the day comes in on x d money 24. Writing in, what are your thoughts on making trades after your draft before week one begins?

[Jason Moore]

Sounds fun to me. I mean, anytime you're making a trade, you hope it's a good move for you. I don't think there's.

[Andy Holloway]

It is the funniest trade to make because a lot of the time it is. You know, you're making a bet with no new information from the draft. Right. It's like everybody got drafted in specific spots and teams.

[Jason Moore]

I've done it before. We've done it before. We've done it on draft day. Like post draft. You're like, ah, shoot, I really wish I had gone. You know, sometimes there's that perfect match right after a draft where it's like, oh, you know, I gambled on my tight end and lost. And then I wished I got this guy. And the other guy's like, oh, I wish I did the opposite. And they're like right in the middle. You want to swap? Ski those. I've done that before.

[Andy Holloway]

But nothing wrong with it.

[Jason Moore]

Nothing wrong with it. What is wrong? And you see, players do. And we get the question asked, is it a good strategy?

[Andy Holloway]

And it is tax fraud.

[Jason Moore]

It is not a good idea. Not a good idea to participate in tax fraud. Ask Mr. Snipes. You can go to jail, but I would not draft the players that are like, oh, I'm going to get.

[Mike Wright]

Don't, don't do that.

[Jason Moore]

I'm going to draft both of the big tight ends and trade one of them. Or I'm going to get. You know, they. People did this in the past with defenses. I remember being in a league where it's like, I'm going to hoard all the defenses and trade them and then.

[Andy Holloway]

The draft is over and you're like, nobody's interested.

[Jason Moore]

Right. Nobody's a waiver wire. Enjoy. Call your bluff with five defenses.

[Andy Holloway]

Yeah, so. So no, nothing wrong with it. If you. I guess there'd be the advantage of like if, like if you have somebody on free agency that you also want and you think you can, two for one, consolidate your roster with a trade and then add a free agent player. That's a way to do it. So just don't draft a trade.

[Jason Moore]

News and notes from around the league presented by Progressive Insurance.

[Andy Holloway]

Adam Schefter reporting. The Bucks are expected to activate Chris Godwin off the PUP list and have him on the 53 man roster. This is exactly what they're doing with Tristan Wurfs, their left tackle.

[Mike Wright]

It's weird.

[Andy Holloway]

So he is not expected to play until October, per Schefter.

[Jason Moore]

So basically they don't want him to miss four. If you put someone on the pup, then they've got to miss the minimum of four games. So I think they're thinking maybe he'll miss two.

[Mike Wright]

And then there's rules about like practicing. Yes, as well. So this keeps them available to practice.

[Andy Holloway]

Yeah, we had two trades you mentioned. One of them, Sky Moore, went to the 49ers from the Chiefs. A 6, 7 pick swap for Sky Moore.

[Jason Moore]

Too much.

[Andy Holloway]

The 49ers have no wide receivers.

[Jason Moore]

I mean, that shows you how bad the 49ers receiving room is. You know, yesterday I think we had Ricky Pearsall as a sleepers because there's. There's no one to throw the ball to there.

[Andy Holloway]

We had news in the receiver room for the 49ers yesterday. Jacob cowing re aggravated a hamstring injury. Looks longer term. DeMarcus Robinson officially getting suspended three games. Shanahan came out and said, we're expecting three, but they're going to appeal it. So it could get cut down from three. It is why I mentioned Robinson will be relevant at some point. I think Russell Gage apparently on that team as well, he's going to miss 7 to 10. Is that days with a sprained MCL.

[Jason Moore]

Yeah.

[Andy Holloway]

OK. His quick heel. So they've got Sky Moore.

[Mike Wright]

We've seen it back quick from that.

[Andy Holloway]

We had a big move. The Broncos, they got a fourth and a seventh which was. That's a lot. Now it, it was for Devon Vale who was a rookie big slot wide receiver that played for them last year. He played well. He seems like a good player, but this is a real.

[Jason Moore]

Andy.

[Andy Holloway]

Yes.

[Jason Moore]

Do you know how old Devon Bailey, last year's rookie?

[Andy Holloway]

I do, actually.

[Jason Moore]

Oh, you do, Mike, do you?

[Mike Wright]

I know that he is much older.

[Jason Moore]

Much older. He's not a 21 year old.

[Mike Wright]

No, he. There's something like.

[Jason Moore]

So how old do you think he is?

[Mike Wright]

I believe he is going to be 30 before the end of his rookie contract. So I will put him at 20, 27.7 years old. That is wild.

[Jason Moore]

Now what did my guy.

[Mike Wright]

Guys, he's in his prime.

[Jason Moore]

What. What did my guy George receive for a trade?

[Mike Wright]

George.

[Jason Moore]

George Pickens? Yeah.

[Mike Wright]

Oh, I don't remember.

[Jason Moore]

I think it was a third. So a fourth and a seventh for a 27 year old Vale or George Pickens who's 24 years old.

[Andy Holloway]

You don't pay your valet that.

[Mike Wright]

Yeah, you're going to have money.

[Andy Holloway]

But he goes to the Saints. Saints need help at wide receiver beyond Olave and you know Vale is going to provide that some help over there. But this is also a huge endorsement. I think of Pat Bryant in particular.

[Mike Wright]

And then obviously there's two possibilities here of it. Like.

[Andy Holloway]

Well, from a, from a. I'm talking about the Broncos. Yeah. Yeah. I mean obviously Troy Franklin is going to have a role.

[Mike Wright]

No, but it's, it's either this because this is opening up the slot.

[Andy Holloway]

Yeah.

[Mike Wright]

So this is either Pat Bryant or Evan Angram's about to get a bajillion targets.

[Andy Holloway]

Yeah. No, I, I don't think it's Troy Franklin.

[Mike Wright]

Franklin's a what?

[Andy Holloway]

Franklin will have like they have more confidence in Franklin to go play on the outside and catch some deep, deep passes. But from a week to week standpoint, it puts Pat Brian on the map as a wide receiver too.

[Mike Wright]

It does.

[Andy Holloway]

Like to me that's the player that they, they went out, they aggressively pursued him in the draft.

[Mike Wright]

You mean the new Michael Thomas, right?

[Jason Moore]

Oh, yeah.

[Mike Wright]

As those are not my words.

[Andy Holloway]

This is the number one thing we do in fantasy too is we rebuild great teams with the coach when they move around, we just rebuild their good teams.

[Mike Wright]

Sean Payton comped him. Said it reminds me of.

[Andy Holloway]

We know you can't rebuild what Darren Sprols and, and Reggie Bush and those players with Javante Williams and Tyler Bidet.

[Mike Wright]

So does it, do you move Evan Ingram up at all?

[Jason Moore]

I bumped him up a little bit.

[Andy Holloway]

Okay, it makes sense that you would move him up a little because the confidence level I think was maybe not there that he could put up the big PPR numbers, but taking a target away.

[Jason Moore]

Yeah, I think PPR numbers are where I have more confidence. I think he'll be involved. My lack of confidence in Evan Ingram is more what he's going to do with the targets, whether they're going to be efficient, whether he's going to score touchdowns, et cetera. But I, you know, you look at this team, he's the joker. Yeah. I mean, he already has his wings joke according to Sean Payton and the reports recently have been that he is very, very involved in the passing game. This move of Vale is the same area of the field that Evan Ingram is going to work. So, yeah, I mean, Pat Bryant, massive endorsement and Evan Ingram, more targets to come his way.

[Andy Holloway]

So what else do we have? We got Jordan Addison.

[Mike Wright]

The Vikings need wide receivers.

[Andy Holloway]

Yeah, the Vikings are in need of wide receivers because Addison and Ty Felton arm injuries in Wednesday's practice. Not supposed to be severe, but Addison's out for three weeks.

[Mike Wright]

Yeah, well, we'll see.

[Andy Holloway]

Jalen Wright exited practice today with an apparent injury. Dolphins running back, they were already the leader in terms of the rumor mill for Brian Robinson. With Devon Hn injured, with Madison out for the season, with Jalen Wright, you know, now hurt, it looks like they're going to be a landing spot for some running back at some point because otherwise you're going. I mean otherwise Ollie Gordon is your starter in week one. Potentially.

[Jason Moore]

Yeah, Achan might not be available week one. So that's something you need to pay attention to in your, in your drafts for sure.

[Mike Wright]

Like Ollie Gordon becomes a pretty high priority, high priority late target should they not go get Robinson? Of course.

[Andy Holloway]

He manned almost all of the Dolphins running back reps in practice today after the injury. A chan's not out there. So Ollie Gordon looking sneaky as the season gets ready to begin. That was news and notes sponsored by Progressive Insurance. Quote [e-mail] Progressive Casualty Insurance Company affiliates and third party insurers not available in all states or situations. Coverage subject to policy terms, limits and conditions. We'll take a quick break and we'll come back with some values for the 2025 fantasy football season.

[Jason Moore]

Value.

[Andy Holloway]

All right, gentlemen, it is time for some individual value picks. Good draft Day values is what we're looking at. Players that, you know, we're not necessarily saying you go reach for them, but guys that will drop to places that we don't think they belong. This is kind of, you know, one of the big features we added to the UDK this year was the value scout tool where we take our projections and rankings for players and we compare them to a platform's average draft position. So you can go into the udk, you can open the tool and you'll see where we believe a player's true value is in a draft versus where they're going. And then you can use that information to kind of adjust your strategy and drafts on your platform. Today we picked out some, you know, individual value picks. My name that I'm going to bring up, this is a player that I briefly talked about, I think a couple days ago, maybe in passing, that I thought was being undervalued, but it's time to talk about him.

[Mike Wright]

Wow.

[Andy Holloway]

It is Debo.

[Mike Wright]

Going right to the drop is bold.

[Andy Holloway]

It is Debo Samuel, wide receiver, one for the Washington Commanders.

[Jason Moore]

That is currently true.

[Andy Holloway]

I think it might be true all the times. All the times. Even if the player comes back, even if Terry McClaurin comes back. Debo Samuel. There was a little bit of the off season goofball fantasy analysis. And if we associate being slow in the off season with fantasy success, so far it is a very good hit rate because last year's off season was Keenan Ellen. Oh, fat Keenan looks like he can't run.

[Jason Moore]

That was fun. That was really fun.

[Andy Holloway]

And then he had a great season in Chicago. Debo, obviously.

[Jason Moore]

Fat Debo.

[Andy Holloway]

Fat Debo.

[Mike Wright]

He was real slow on the field last year, though.

[Andy Holloway]

Well, let's talk about that.

[Mike Wright]

All right.

[Andy Holloway]

That's what we're talking about. Debo Samuel, I think we would all agree, isn't the same Debo necessarily that we saw years ago. Always dealt with some injuries, had prolific. What? Number two overall fantasy finish in San Francisco, one season, he's 29 years old. They traded a fifth round pick for him. Again, there's another example. You traded a fifth for Debo. You traded a four and seven for Vale. Okay.

[Jason Moore]

Yeah.

[Andy Holloway]

But the biggest question that we have is, does he still have it now? If you. I mean, just yesterday, I think all the beat writers in Washington were pulled to say who was the most impressive player in camp for the Washington Commanders. No, no.

[Mike Wright]

What?

[Andy Holloway]

It wasn't Bill.

[Jason Moore]

It wasn't Bill Crosby.

[Andy Holloway]

It wasn't Bill Crosby.

[Jason Moore]

Bill Crosky can unscramble scrambled eggs.

[Andy Holloway]

I should have known that if I brought up a commander player I was in deep trouble trying to get through.

[Mike Wright]

Well, I'm just shocked that that the Washington beat reporters are not also in.

[Andy Holloway]

On no the the most impressive player in training camp was Debo Samuel. That is the number one player named and Debo, we saw him briefly. We saw the jet sweep. We saw classic Debo in the preseason game on Monday. He looked very fast once again. But this is about scheme, right? If you get past the hey, is Debo? Maybe he's not the same Debo. But the question is, is Debo done? And I don't think Debo is done from what we've seen on the practice field in training camp or in the preseason. And if he's not done, then you literally dropped Debo Samuel into the best possible offense for Debo Samuel. There is no better situation than Debo with Cliff Kingsbury behind the line of scrimmage targets is what Talk about the route Bush. It's what Cliff does. 20% of Jaden Daniels targets were behind the line of scrimmage, fifth highest in the NFL. Kingsbury's wide receivers rank. Here's their ranks on screen targets over the last three years. First, second, third. That's what they do. And Debo averages two plus fantasy points per target on the screen passes. This is a match made in heaven. And we don't even have Terry McLaurin in camp and we already know Terry McLaurin's regressing in touchdowns anyways. He was not a volume. He's not 120 catch guy. And so then you ask well Debo, what's the does he still have it when it comes to yards after the catch? Because that's the, you know, this was a player that led the NFL in yards after the catch for four of the previous five years before 2024. Guess what he was last year. Second, second in the NFL in yards after the catch. Debo Samuel Mims was the only one ahead of him, believe it or not. Marvin Mintz of the aforementioned Denver Broncos so you know Debo last year tied Garrett Wilson most evaded tackles at the wide receiver position. Nobody wants to draft him. He feels like the Cooper cup pick. He feels like old dusted. But we love Washington, we love Jaden Daniels, we love what the offense did. Who in the world is going to catch passes for this team? Are you? Is it Zach Ertz? Mike, you want to go with Zach Ertz?

[Mike Wright]

Oh, he'll catch passes. He will not have yards after catch.

[Andy Holloway]

Though I just think that, and this is. Obviously value is correlated to draft cost. Right now, Debo Samuel is way down the board. 38 at wide receiver, late seventh round pick. He is literally next to Cooper Cup. So he's next to Jacoby Myers. He's next to Diggs. Like, if you're old, you get drafted at 38, 39 and 40. Apparently, that's where the retirement festivities are happening. So look, the upside is tremendous because you have so much confidence in the team. Like, Debo could be their one.

[Jason Moore]

Debo could be their one. I think the real question is, is he washed like that? That's the issue. The reason that he's, you know, dropped is because what we saw on the field last year looked bad. And, you know, efficiency wise was. Was not that great. And so as. As an older wide receiver, the question is just as, does he not have it anymore? Because if that's the case, then it'll be a wasted pick. But I don't think there's a world where it's just an average pick. Like, if Debo still has an. Honestly, I know it's one play and I don't want to overdo it. You know, I just talked about. You don't want to. One of the tips was don't overreact to preseason hype. But that's usually more about the young. That would be more about Bill than it would be about Debo. Debo was just. I saw physicality, that cut, you know, he basically got a jet sweep, looked fast, had a great cut. That was classic. Debo went down the field, you know, was hard to tackle, and it was like, oh, that was. That was what Debo always looked like when he dominated. So if he hasn't lost it and he's on this offense, then yeah, it was a great pick.

[Andy Holloway]

I just have a hard time, like, if you play out how a game, a game plan goes for a commander's offense, I have a hard time seeing them not put the ball in his hands a ton because of what Kingsbury does. And then you're like, well, did those metrics support that he was still good after the catch last year? They did. And so to be the most impressive player in camp as well, I think he is being undervalued because we're done with him and we want to take shots on other players. But, you know, Roma Dunes is going a few picks ahead of him. I would understand that one. But, you know, when you're talking about is Jacoby Myers upside, what Debo's is in Washington probably not the where it's.

[Mike Wright]

Difficult for me the eighth round is. That's fantastic. The speaking of scheme, that's where. It's where I don't know exactly what to do with Debo because he, I mean he was the bell of the ball, you know, for years with San Francisco and last year they really needed Debo Samuel with. With Brandon IUK suffering the season ending injury the after the bi week. So you're talking eight games where he's playing a full allotment of snaps. You're talking an average of 79% of the snaps. So he's playing that game in that time. In those eight games he was averaging three catches for 33 yards per game and he like Kyle Shanahan was done with him. So that, that's what scares me off of, of Debo. But again we, we do try to relate. Like if risk is built into adp, then you aren't, you aren't risking anything in the eighth round. Like I'm not nearly as bullish as Andy is. I'd like. I would probably say I'm more out like I consider myself more out on Debo. But in the eighth if he does still have something I like, even if Terry comes back, I don't love that Terry McLaurin is going to be missing the essentially the entire training camp and off season. I know he's a pros pro and he knows the office everything but you, you can't just walk onto a football field in week one and say I'm ready to play. So he is. I think he's interesting. Despite me, despite what I watched last year, was was a player who was not a part of the San Francisco offense.

[Andy Holloway]

Yeah. And I don't think he's ever played a full season. Maybe was it. Were they playing 16 in 2021? If so, that was his only full season in six years in the NFL. So that's always a risk. Debo takes a lot of punishment on the field, but I do think that maybe he's being undervalued, especially in light of the McLaren situation. So other value picks, I don't know which one of you guys want to take a shot first.

[Jason Moore]

I'll hop in here. My value pick is DK Metcalf for 2025. This is a player who. It makes no sense to me that he is being drafted where he's being drafted in the fifth round as the 22nd wide receiver off the board. I know why and it's because of the end of last year, the end of last year, DK McAfee disappeared. He was pretty irrelevant, but we don't remember the cause. Do you remember, do you guys remember the cause of what happened to DK Metcalf last year?

[Andy Holloway]

Eating too much candy maybe.

[Jason Moore]

He does love himself some Skittles, however, that wasn't it. He. He hurt his knee in the middle of the season, missed week eight, missed week nine, came back and wasn't very good. He had, he had a. I believe it was a MCL sprain. I'll look that up. But if you look at the splits between when he missed a chunk in the middle of the season and came back kind of injured and the beginning, you forget that he started the year on pace for 150 targets, 1400 receiving yards, seven touchdowns. Like he was. He was really good. He was. You know what? He's been his whole career, which is basically a top 15 wide receiver. Then he gets traded, becomes the guy for Aaron Rodgers. They ship out George, they give him a four year, $132 million contract. Like, there's no question from any human on the planet who leads this team in targets. None. There's, there's not even a possible debate. There's not even another player that could accidentally come to the same target share. And if you look at what Aaron Rodgers has done with his wide receiver ones, it doesn't matter whether it was Jordy Nelson or Randall Cobb or devonte Adams or Devonte Adams or Devonte Adams. You know, over and over, he hyper targets them. Last year, this version of Aaron Rodgers had Garrett Wilson as a top 10 fantasy wide receiver at the same time that he had Devonte Adams as a top 15 wide receiver. The target market shares for wide receivers, we just did. If you haven't seen the Just the Tips episode of the Fantasy Footballers, a little miniseries we're doing, I talked about wide receiver metrics that matter. And targets are the primary, most prescriptive, you know, stat that alludes to success and the target market share for a player, if they're about 30%, if they hit that number, they are almost a virtual lock to be a top 12 wide receiver. And you look at like, okay, Aaron Rodgers, number one wide receiver, you've got years of 31%, 32%, 34%, 31%, 29%, 28%. And there's no one else to throw the ball here to Pat Friarmuth and Roman Wilson.

[Andy Holloway]

And I cannot tell you how much I love DK Metcalf this year. I am in 100% agreement. I think he is probably the best pick in fantasy or close to it. There are players in the NFL that like, I never think like you talked about, like, why are you out on DK Metcalf? I don't even think, like he's not a player that I look at the box score and decide if he's a good player or not legitimately. Like there are. Do you guys like George Pickens this year?

[Jason Moore]

Yeah. Yeah.

[Andy Holloway]

He's been the wide receiver 36, 26, 41. Is he good? I think we all think George Pickens is good. You can watch the game and you can see certain players, the physicality, the skill and ability. And you don't, you know, you don't lay it all at their feet on whether they're productive. Sometimes you have to look at the quarterback situation, the offense, what's going on. And you mentioned the injury. Everybody knows DK Metcalf could be one of the most physically dominant receivers in the game of football. And it was proven with the paycheck. Yeah, the paycheck is the. It's the same as Josh Jacobs after the. The bad metrics in Las Vegas. It's like everybody on earth knows that that guy is better than everybody else on the field. It just takes a scheme and targets. So I could not agree with you more. It's an. It's a great value pick and you won't be moving.

[Jason Moore]

Yeah, he's not going to move up. People are kind of tired because he's going into his seventh season and it was a disappointing last year.

[Mike Wright]

He has disappointed his ADP for at least three straight years.

[Jason Moore]

Yeah, it feels like. But he's, you know, he's not old. He's 27. He's still in his prime. Obviously, based on the contract with the target share, I feel like his floor. If he doesn't get the touchdowns this year, which, which for him, sometimes they come, sometimes they don't. He has weird positive regression coming. He. He scored zero fantasy points inside the 10 last year, which based on his utilization was. Was strange. But his floor to me feels like higher than what he's being drafted as the wide receiver 22. I feel like his floor is like wide receiver 2018 if he ends the season with three or four touchdowns, but if he ends the season with eight or nine touchdowns, he's going to be a top 15 wide receiver easy.

[Andy Holloway]

And how does he not hit his target? I mean, is it. Is it a Arthur Smith problem? Like, is that the way he doesn't hit his target all time high because he's at 141 for an all time high. I can't imagine he's not above that.

[Jason Moore]

I mean it's injury, injuries how he doesn't hit it. There's just last year he was on pace to beat his all time high before he injured his knee. And this year, I mean, I know that the Steelers are going to run the ball a lot for sure. They're not going to throw the ball as much as Aaron Rodgers wants to throw the ball, but the percentage of the passes that will go to DK Metcalf will be 28 plus percent. And that's just one of those stats where it points to success almost always.

[Mike Wright]

So then my question comes in of like the confidence has to also then be coming from Aaron Rodgers because last year, Andy, you read through like, hey, George Pickens, this like he was the wide receiver, 41, averaging just under 10 fantasy points in 14 games last year. Talking about George Pickens, he was the number one of the offense for the Pittsburgh Steelers.

[Andy Holloway]

Yeah. It doesn't help that he's the example. Right. Because he played for the exact same team.

[Jason Moore]

But so it has to be 100% the quarterback switch. I mean, me talking about George as my, my guy this year was I brought up the fact that he's played with Kenny Pickett and Mason Rudolph and that shockingly the worst combo was last year in Fields and Ross as far as catchable target percentage. So I don't feel like it was his fault. Aaron Rodgers is going to put that ball where DK Metcalf can catch it.

[Andy Holloway]

Yeah. And he does go to one guy when he has confidence in one guy. Like there have been a lot of like they're still looking for a wide receiver potentially outside of Metcalf to help support dk. The nice thing is, is DK is not like this. Like he can go and take on a double team. He can get off the line of scrimmage and be physical. You know, it's not an undersized guy at least if you need to hyper target somebody. So yeah, I think he's going to be one of those interesting players for sure. We'll take a break and we'll come back with Mike's value pick and we'll jump into some mailbag. All right, Mike, you've brought this name up a lot this offseason. Your value pick today is Jordan Mason.

[Mike Wright]

Jordan Mason, running back for the Minnesota Vikings. And you got to remember the story of Jordan Mason. Of course, we all know Christian McCaffrey, the legendary. He's going to be okay. For week one. And then he is not. And it's Jordan Mason. He ends up being the guy. And it was not just a, you know, a attaboy. You're, you filled in for the running back position for our team. He was fantastic on, on the ground. Not so much catching the ball, but on the ground it was awesome. In the first seven weeks, he was averaging 95 rushing yards per game. And they put the offense on his back at that moment and he really delivered. You know, 41% of his carries went for five or more yards, which last year that would be a top five mark. You know, you're talking about the percentage of carries going for five. Those, those, those chunk plays. Who's the names in that list? Oh, Bucky Gibbs, Derek Henry, Bijan Robinson, and then there's Jordan Mason in there with that. And so it was, it was a great season before then unfortunately, Jordan Mason went down I think the same week as, as Christian McCaffrey to the point where like, okay, the season is over. We got to shut him down. Then the off season hits. What are they going to do here with Jordan Mason? Who was like, they had to figure out are they going to pay him? Are they not. They put a second round tender onto Jordan Mason saying, this guy's going to be a part of our plans. But then the Minnesota Vikings swooped in and said, no, we would like to trade for Jordan Mason. So we're going to. Let's upgrade your draft capital. It's not a huge draft pick swap or anything like that, but we know that veterans often go for cheaper than they should. Unless you're the New Orleans Saints. Then you pay A and A7 for Devon Valley. But the Minnesota Vikings trade for him and then they immediately give him a two year contract that has $7 million guaranteed. He's a part of their plan. Aaron Jones is coming off of a year that he saw the most work that he has ever seen. And Aaron Jones. Aaron Jones is 30. Right.

[Andy Holloway]

Let me tell you something that just happened in our point. Let me just confirm my experts league Mike, because Aaron Jones is going to.

[Mike Wright]

Be turning 31 this year. Okay, go ahead.

[Andy Holloway]

The last two picks in the X league draft, just so you know how things are going. 902, Jordan Mason. 903, Aaron Jones.

[Mike Wright]

Whoa.

[Andy Holloway]

Okay, so I was actually when I.

[Jason Moore]

Got into Aaron Jones is value at that point.

[Andy Holloway]

Well, look, I got into the ninth in the eighth round. I almost took Aaron Jones at 808.

[Mike Wright]

Yeah. Okay.

[Andy Holloway]

And then I was hoping he'd. I was like, everybody's out on Aaron Jones this much, maybe he'll slip around to 905. He didn't. He just went. But I. But Jordan Mason won pick ahead of Aaron Jones. That is now this is a best ball. So you're playing some upside and Aaron Jones does not seem to represent upside.

[Mike Wright]

In people's minds because when they you hear Kevin o' Connell talking about it, he says, quote, we feel like we've got one of the best combinations of A1A1B running back in the NFL. The goal is to keep them both fresh. The goal is to keep them both 10 of 10. And then it's been talked about of Jordan Mason will be our short area, short yardage guy and our goal line guy. So while you know this is not me me banging the drum saying Jordan Mason is for Jordan Mason is taking this job. He's going to be a three down back. No, it's. He is going to be in a timeshare for one of the most potent offenses in the league and he's going to be the goal line running back. Like would not shock me to see Jordan Mason at eight plus rushing touchdowns by the end of the year. And, and you're getting him in redraft, you know in not expert leagues but at home leagues running back 40 almost the 11th round for that amount of.

[Andy Holloway]

Touchdowns that people know for sure. So I, I do. I wonder if you put Jordan Mason up against would you rather have Jordan Mason or Caleb Johnson?

[Jason Moore]

Don't ask me. That is an easy Caleb Johnson.

[Mike Wright]

That is. That's tough. I think that's a really tough call between the two of those guys.

[Andy Holloway]

Scatter. Boo. Or Jordan Mason.

[Jason Moore]

Jordan Mason.

[Andy Holloway]

Mason Sharpene Or Jordan Mason Sharps.

[Jason Moore]

But they're very similar. Yeah, like they're in similar situations where they are the presumed backup. But you're probably going to be playable with the huge upside should the running back ahead of them that projects to not play a full season. Like Ken Walker doesn't ever play a full season and a 31 year old.

[Mike Wright]

Aaron Jones usually does not play a full season. I've jokingly on Twitter I call these guys it's a flex with benefits. Because this is this player, you can put him right in the flex. You can play him on a weekly basis and then because it's not, you know, oh, he's only the backup, you know. No, you literally play him and then those couple games where Aaron Jones is missing and it's just Jordan Mason then holy crap. You probably have a top 12 running back that week.

[Andy Holloway]

It is A bet that the Vikings offense stays successful.

[Mike Wright]

It is definitely a bet on that, but that's just, that's how I'm betting on the Vikings right now.

[Andy Holloway]

Some of the popular answers on the Foot Clan discord. So we got some value picks that they threw out there. Calvin Ridley completely agree on that one. Do you guys agree?

[Jason Moore]

Yeah, for sure. He's very undervalued.

[Andy Holloway]

They mentioned Jordan Mason, they mentioned Drake May as a value in their mind and they mentioned Dak Prescott as a value as well.

[Mike Wright]

I am so in on Dak. Yeah, where he's going.

[Jason Moore]

I took Dak so high above. I'm in a super flex league, near a turn in an expert league right now. And I took Dak way ahead of ADP where he is in quarterbacks because I just, I believed he was going to be better than a lot of the quarterbacks that were being drafted after him. And I, and you know, this was going to be a run so I had to pick the guy I wanted and I do think Dak is a good value this year.

[Andy Holloway]

We have more value picks in the Ultimate Draft Kit atultimatedraftkit.com. let's jump into some mailbag.

[Jason Moore]

Mailbag.

[Andy Holloway]

Welcome into the mailbag. You can submit your question to the show by going to the website the fantasy footballers.com. click that submit a question button or you can dial our voicemail hotline. 302464, TFFB. We'll begin today's mailbag with a voicemail.

[Jason Moore]

What's up, ballers? I was wondering what you guys think is too late to draft a wide receiver in a 12 team full PPR. Love the show. Thanks, guys.

[Andy Holloway]

I guess we're presuming two wide receiver spots here.

[Jason Moore]

That's a big difference.

[Mike Wright]

But let's go to wide receiver. Was this a like a zero wide receiver type of a strategy?

[Jason Moore]

Yeah. I mean, imagine that like you start off and you get value and you go running back, running back, running back. Are you, are you wrecked? Are you ruined? Or you go running back, running back and the next pick, you know, McBride Falls and you take a tight end, is that too far?

[Andy Holloway]

Why? For me it's. Wide receivers are always the place that I can find the most value later in drafts. So like if I, if I, you know, there's so many guys going late, like Jacoby Myers could be a viable wide receiver too. He could end up that way. There are a lot of players in that category. We just talked about where Debo is going, so I always feel like I can get, I can pile up A handful. Right. It's also where you can take some mystery bags, the rookies, you know, maybe Pat Bryant, you know, you put them on your roster late in the draft. I can take more shots at wide receiver. There's more of them on the field. There's more of them with potential upside that we don't know how the situations are going to go. Whereas the running backs thin out so quickly that you really feel like you're in a tough situation. You know what, how late is too late. That's a tough question to ask. I would want one certifiably reliable known target commodity.

[Jason Moore]

Let me give you.

[Mike Wright]

I'll give you some hypotheticals of what could shake out. No, let's say you're in the back half of the first and you start, you know, McCaffrey for me. But let's. We'll put you in the middle. You get your Gibbs. Right. It's a ppr. So wide receivers are going to be.

[Andy Holloway]

Gibbs in the first.

[Mike Wright]

You're starting with Gibbs in the first. It comes back to you. You get either Bucky or Chase Brown.

[Andy Holloway]

Yep.

[Mike Wright]

And then you get McBride or George Kittle. That's how you have started.

[Andy Holloway]

Yeah. Give me a fourth round wide receiver.

[Mike Wright]

So then you go look at the. Where ADP is right now. You're talking devonte, Marv, maybe so.

[Andy Holloway]

So as your one, that would be.

[Mike Wright]

It would be considered your one. But you got. When you go zero of these guys in the first few picks, you're. You're Frankensteining. You're building a conglomerate of wide receivers to be it.

[Andy Holloway]

So you said Marvin who?

[Mike Wright]

So Adams and Marv could be your wide receiver. What's the next round then? The next round is DK Metcalf or.

[Andy Holloway]

See, I'm fine with that.

[Mike Wright]

I always became Metcalf. And then in the sixth round, it's like George Tet, McMillan if you end.

[Andy Holloway]

Up with Metcalf and McMillan, but you have five, four rounds of talent. Like what are the. What are the running backs by Marv and Devonte Adams?

[Mike Wright]

Let me go pull that up for.

[Andy Holloway]

You because that's what I'd love to know.

[Mike Wright]

So that would be in the fourth. That's the.

[Andy Holloway]

It could be a quarterback too.

[Mike Wright]

That's the Breeze Hall, Ken Bone Walker, Alvin Camara area.

[Andy Holloway]

But the quarterback there is who? It's Hertz or Daniels.

[Mike Wright]

In the fourth is Burrow. Hertz is the end of the third.

[Andy Holloway]

So do you want Burrow, Metcalf, Tet, or would you rather have Marv, you know, Metcalf and late round Quarterback Metcalf, go.

[Mike Wright]

I would probably go late. I would either take the tight end in the third or burrow in the fourth.

[Jason Moore]

Yeah.

[Mike Wright]

Not both.

[Jason Moore]

This is really. It's not necessarily what round. And this is what you got to pay attention to in your draft. Right. Because they don't always go according to adp. This is why the ultimate draft kit, we've got them broken down into tiers. What matters is like, you still have to have a certain tier, a certain caliber, a certain class of wide receiver as your first wide receiver. And I think we named some of those DK Metcalf. To me, I'm fine with him being my first wide receiver. And then you got to keep loading up and find that value and find that talent. But if your league is going crazy, wide receivers, let's say you are in a three. Wide receiver, full ppr, and wide receivers are going way earlier. Don't just be like, oh, I can wait till the 4th. The baller said, I can wait till the 4th.

[Mike Wright]

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[Andy Holloway]

It's a matter of DJ Moore, is he.

[Jason Moore]

I would not personally love him as my one.

[Mike Wright]

I'm getting spooked.

[Andy Holloway]

Okay. It's funny. DJ Moore, 96, 98 receptions last two years.

[Jason Moore]

Yeah. I mean, he. When I look at my rankings, it says I should be fine with DJ Moore as my one. My range of outcomes for him though, I think he's a little bit riskier with Odunze with a new coordinator. And you know, I still have DJ Moore as the clear cut leader of this offense at wide receiver.

[Andy Holloway]

41% consistency rating, but I can see.

[Jason Moore]

How it doesn't go well. You know, devonte Adams is someone that I think, you know, he's got the Stafford risk we've talked about, but he is fine to be your wide receiver one, you know, the volume will be when you got touchdowns will be there. Yeah, yeah. I mean, obviously that's not who you're hoping for, but if you've got true studs elsewhere, you know, so long as you're getting the best value in each round, you should, you should be fine.

[Andy Holloway]

Yeah, yeah. No, that makes sense. Let's jump into another mailbag question here. All right. Brent writes in on X in the udk, you have Laser Mayfield as a bust, but at quarterback 10. Why is that so Spoiler. No, what it is is Baker is in there as a regression candidate. So we do have some in the bust section. Sometimes there are some different things to pay attention to. Some. Yeah, some labels for players. James Cook is the same situation. It's just that Baker was up over 40 touchdowns. It's hard to repeat unless, you know you have another magical season right now. You've got multiple injuries at wide receiver. We love Baker. I think quarterback 10 is. It's a good ranking. It's not where he finished. Right. He was, he was what? Quarterback five last year.

[Jason Moore]

Yeah. So it's not where it's. He's being drafted as the Quarterback 7 as well. If you draft the Quarterback 7 and spin that six round pick where there are good players there, it's really. And then he ends up at quarterback 10 and throws, you know, 29 touchdowns, which is not a bad season, but is. Then you're. Then you're wrecked for fantasy.

[Andy Holloway]

Exactly. And if you, you know, it's a good example of how the numbers dictate the way you look at players, not just your affection for them. We love Baker. We would love to see Baker throw 50 touchdowns. I would love that. I'd love that for a mecca Buka. I think you'd love that.

[Mike Wright]

Oh yeah.

[Andy Holloway]

But we have to be intelligent about the way numbers. You know, even the Aaron Rodgers is of the world ping ponged from 40 touchdowns down to 25. You know that type of thing.

[Jason Moore]

Yeah. Two years ago Jordan Love was the quarterback five like Baker and threw a ton of touchdowns. It was awesome. And then last year it went down to nothing. And they profile pretty, pretty similarly Baker and Jordan Love. And one costs you a six round pick and the other is where's Love going? Double digits.

[Andy Holloway]

Yes.

[Mike Wright]

And just for some context here in NFL history we've seen 22 times where a quarterback has thrown over 40 or more touchdowns. Now it's 11 in the last decade.

[Andy Holloway]

Because obviously it's like one a year.

[Mike Wright]

11 shifting. We had three last year in 2023 we did not have one. In 2022 there was one. It was my homes in 21 there was two.

[Andy Holloway]

So it's like you know how you get there? You had a fifth quarter.

[Mike Wright]

Hey, I'll take it. But it's. Yeah, it's the, that's the. What we talk about the danger of the pocket passer is for them when they get boosted in adp. They have to do those types of things or they. Because where was. What did Baker finish as quarterback wise.

[Andy Holloway]

Thought he was a quarterback five. I can, I can double check it higher than that.

[Mike Wright]

But it could have been.

[Andy Holloway]

Point is, could have been.

[Jason Moore]

It could have been three, could have been two.

[Andy Holloway]

It was the quarterback three.

[Jason Moore]

Okay.

[Mike Wright]

But the point being 4,500 passing yards, 41 passing touchdowns. He is not the number one quarterback. Like this is just how you got to play the game. You got to play fantasy football. You got to have rushing yards or you got a ball out like MVP level.

[Andy Holloway]

Brandon in Miami, Florida, would you rather draft Gibbs or Jefferson from the four spot and half ppr?

[Mike Wright]

Gibbs.

[Andy Holloway]

Yeah, I'll take the shot on Gibbs. There isn't a, like some years I think there have been a number one overall pick where you're just like that guy has to be it like Christian McCaffrey after a number one overall season. Had to be it.

[Mike Wright]

Right.

[Andy Holloway]

But I don't really, I don't look down on anybody taking like if Jefferson went number one. I do not think that's wrong.

[Mike Wright]

No, it's okay.

[Andy Holloway]

I think you Chase is kind of the name we throw out there. Chase, Bajan, Gibbs, Saquon, Jefferson. Those five are fine, right? Is there anybody else in that category you want to take? Henry? Number one?

[Jason Moore]

Yeah. I mean if you did, I wouldn't, I'd be like whoa, that's surprising. But that could work. I would throw CD Lamb into the same mix with Jefferson and Chase as far as range of outcome to finish as the number one.

[Andy Holloway]

All right, question from Taco Mark on X. How do you handle managers dropping out of dynasty leagues? And then also what if it's mid season?

[Jason Moore]

Oof, mid season.

[Mike Wright]

That's number one. Shame on that person.

[Jason Moore]

Mid season. Unless life event, right?

[Andy Holloway]

Yes.

[Mike Wright]

Better be a candid event like this better be a life changing. If you're going to bail, you are in jail.

[Jason Moore]

Yeah, right.

[Mike Wright]

Even then you probably still make calls that you get to make, right?

[Jason Moore]

For sure.

[Mike Wright]

Never been in jail so can't tell you. You get at least one right.

[Jason Moore]

Yeah.

[Mike Wright]

Lawyer schmoyer. I'm calling the phone call, I'm calling the commission to put the roster.

[Andy Holloway]

Yeah.

[Mike Wright]

Be like, oh dude, you got to set that thing up for me. I'm not going to make it this week.

[Andy Holloway]

Yeah. I mean so how do you handle it? Obviously some different thoughts. Mid season you're going to be forced to kind of play maybe a roster for a missing manager until you find a replacement.

[Mike Wright]

I think you just set by the. Take the projections of the, of the platform you're on and just do your best. As far as replacing someone like we, we have a passionate horde of supporters of the show. We call them the Foot Clan and we offer FootClan Leagues.com which is number one. We probably haven't mentioned it for a bit so it's a good time to bring it up of the. It's a great place to meet people because you're like, oh, I want to do this league. I want a dynasty league. Or I want another keeper league. Foot clan leagues. These people are passionate about fantasy football. It's also a good place to find someone to take over your orphaned dynasty roster.

[Andy Holloway]

Yeah. And you can go to footclanleagues.com. it'll connect you right with that Discord server that we have. It's easy to jump on there. I think there's about 5,000 people online right now. 60,000 are a member of that group. So, yeah, you want to find somebody that's going to kind of commit some time and make the league fun. And if you, you know, if you need to, like, if you have multiple people drop out, sometimes it's better to just play the league with two less managers. If you can't find two committed people to join. Okay. I don't know if Jason has an answer for this one. Joe writes in what NFL coach would be the worst fantasy football manager?

[Jason Moore]

What NFL coach would be the worst fantasy football manager?

[Andy Holloway]

What does it take to be a good fantasy football manager that a coach doesn't have? Because I think the OCD coaches would do great. I think Sean McVeigh would dominate a.

[Jason Moore]

Fantasy football for sure. I think it's just a matter of.

[Andy Holloway]

Dan Quinn with the backwards hat. You think he's taking care of fantasy.

[Jason Moore]

Yeah, he would crush.

[Andy Holloway]

Oh, really?

[Jason Moore]

Yeah, I think he'd be fine. I want to know.

[Andy Holloway]

Let me see you with the backwards hat. Let me confirm.

[Mike Wright]

Well, it's.

[Andy Holloway]

It's not just if you look like you could handle your roster.

[Mike Wright]

It's not just, oh, Colin Cowherd is.

[Andy Holloway]

Sure you maybe do a little Dan Quinn Halloween.

[Jason Moore]

You know what I heard? I'm going to tell you something I heard Dan Campbell, who would crush. Oh, now you know, Dan Quinn's a pretty good answer.

[Andy Holloway]

Oh.

[Jason Moore]

As a bad manager.

[Andy Holloway]

Yeah. You don't look like a guy right now that could handle the roster.

[Jason Moore]

It's.

[Mike Wright]

It's Arthur.

[Jason Moore]

Yeah. He's just not a head coach right now.

[Andy Holloway]

I don't think Tom. Tom and would freaking. He would. He wouldn't do nothing.

[Jason Moore]

No, he'd set it and let it ride.

[Mike Wright]

Yeah.

[Andy Holloway]

Yeah.

[Mike Wright]

He'd auto draft.

[Andy Holloway]

Yeah.

[Jason Moore]

But you know, he'd be fine at the end of the year. He's that guy. That guy that's like. He'd get in the playoffs, no transactions. You did nothing. Why are you in the playoffs?

[Mike Wright]

It would just be. He'd lose week one in the playoffs every time.

[Jason Moore]

Yes. As he does.

[Andy Holloway]

All right, Jason, maybe this is a good one for you. Alec wants to know you can only draft one Kyle Pitts or Troy Franklin.

[Jason Moore]

I mean, it's Kyle.

[Andy Holloway]

Come on.

[Jason Moore]

It's Kyle Pitts. But it also.

[Andy Holloway]

What if it was like Troy Franklin or Lil Bill?

[Jason Moore]

Oh, it's definitely Lil Bill.

[Mike Wright]

Who's Lil Bill Krosky. Thank you.

[Jason Moore]

Bill Crosky once counted to infinity.

[Andy Holloway]

I don't know if I enjoy the joke myself as much or just hearing Al Borland lose it every time you say one. Tomorrow we have a mock draft episode. Do not miss It Busts episode coming up next week. Bold predictions Time Machine MVP shows. So much going on, we want to wish you a lot of luck heading into the weekend as well. And make sure you have the ultimate draft kit. Make sure you join the Megalo Bowl. And one of the cool things that we do, I don't know if we mentioned it recently, but we do give you a dollar for dollar credit. So if you've bought the UDK and you want to be an Ultimate Foot Clan member, which is a year round subscription, one price for the entire year, it's less than 40 cents a day. It gives you every premium product that we have and we will credit your full UDK cost towards an ultimate subscription. So if you want to never worry about another separate purchase or what's in what premium package. We made this super easy last year.

[Jason Moore]

Autopilot forever and it's going to have all of our in season resources. You've got the ultimate dashbo which we keep adding to, we're adding trade stuff this year. Manage all your leagues. It's a really good platform. You get it all.

[Andy Holloway]

Yeah. So if you want to sign [e-mail] and as long as you're logged in on the website, it'll automatically apply the credit for your UDK if you want to do that. Otherwise, if you just want the UDK, that's ultimate draft kit.com that'll do it for today's show. Shout out to the cackling deucers over there. Thanks for holding it down today. We'll be back with another episode tomorrow. Thanks for tuning in.

[Mike Wright]

Goodbye.

[Jason Moore]

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.