Early Top 15 WR Rankings + Team Draft Hype - Fantasy Football Podcast for 4/17

Summary

Fantasy Footballers Podcast Summary Episode: Early Top 15 WR Rankings + Team Draft Hype Release Date: April 17, 2025

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Introduction and Episode Overview

In this episode of the Fantasy Footballers Podcast, hosts Andy Holloway, Jason Moore, and Mike Wright delve into the early rankings of the top 15 wide receivers (WRs) for the upcoming fantasy football season. Following their recent discussion on running backs, the trio transitions their focus to the WR position, providing in-depth analysis, strategic insights, and draft recommendations to help listeners secure a competitive edge in their leagues.

Top 15 Wide Receiver Rankings

1. Ja'Marr Chase

Ja'Marr Chase tops the list unanimously among the hosts, solidifying his position as the premier fantasy WR. Mike Wright highlights Chase's exceptional performance last season, stating, “Jamar Chase has as good a chance as anybody to finish as the wide receiver one overall now” (16:03). His consistent high usage and chemistry with quarterback Joe Burrow make him an indispensable asset.

2. CeeDee Lamb

CeeDee Lamb secures the second spot, though Mike Wright places him slightly higher at number two compared to Jason Moore and Andy Holloway who have him at three. The confidence stems from Lamb’s pivotal role in Dallas’s offense. Andy remarks, “Dak should be very good. Has provided a number one season for CD Lamb” (18:32), emphasizing the stability Lamb brings alongside Dak Prescott.

3. Justin Jefferson

Justin Jefferson is ranked third, recognized for his remarkable consistency and explosive playmaking ability. Mike Wright notes, “Justin Jefferson was averaging the most receiving yards per game in the history of the NFL” (21:43), underscoring his potential to remain at the top despite varying quarterback performances.

4. Puka Nacua

Puka Nacua maintains a strong position at number four. Andy Holloway defends his ranking by stating, “He is still to this day getting like anti draft capital” (26:44), highlighting Nacua’s high floor in PPR (Points Per Reception) leagues due to his reliability and target volume.

5. Amon-Ra St. Brown

Amon-Ra St. Brown is placed fifth, with Mike Wright praising his versatility and red-zone usage. Jason Moore adds, “He was the first receiver in his draft class minted in fantasy” (30:04), recognizing his potential to be a consistent fantasy contributor.

6. Malik "Bijan" O'Neal

Malik "Bijan" O'Neal enters the rankings at number six. Andy Holloway and Jason Moore debate his potential, with Jason stating, “I would say his range of outcomes to me is one” (34:50), illustrating the high ceilings associated with his playmaking abilities when paired with a strong offensive unit.

7. Nico Collins

Nico Collins is ranked seventh, acknowledged for his explosive play potential and chemistry with his quarterback. Mike Wright notes, “Nico Collins comes in at seven... He's first read on 154 of 170 targets” (33:29), indicating his integral role in the offense.

8. Brian Thomas Jr.

Brian Thomas Jr. secures the eighth spot, with the hosts commending his yards after catch (YAC) prowess. Mike Wright mentions, “Brian Thomas Jr. is the fifth best in the NFL in yards after the catch” (40:02), highlighting his ability to generate significant yardage post-reception.

9. Deebo Samuel

Deebo Samuel ranks ninth, recognized for his dual-threat capability as both a receiver and a running back. The hosts discuss his versatility and consistent target volume, making him a valuable fantasy asset.

10. Drake London

Drake London enters the top ten, with Jason Moore expressing optimism about his upside. Mike Wright states, “He is a down the field 12.7 yards per catch and falls down like his yards after the catch was DeAndre Hopkins level” (45:14), emphasizing his potential for big plays.

11. Tyreek Hill

Tyreek Hill is placed at number eleven, amidst discussions about his inconsistent performance last season. Jason Moore critiques, “He was being drafted almost outside the top 12 wide receivers, it's hard to find anybody that you could say oh yeah, we should have seen that wide receiver three season coming” (51:43).

12. JSN Jackson

JSN Jackson ranks twelfth, with the hosts weighing his potential against offensive line improvements and new quarterback dynamics. Andy Holloway notes, “He was the wide receiver 10 in fantasy points last season and he was so much better over the second half” (55:59).

13. T. Higgins

T. Higgins sits at number thirteen, praised for his touchdown efficiency and reliable target share. Jason Moore observes, “He's averaged a touchdown every 7.7 receptions” (61:02), highlighting his high touchdown percentage.

14. Ladd McConkey

Ladd McConkey is ranked fourteenth, appreciated for his consistent target volume and emerging role in the offense. Mike Wright remarks, “He's being drafted at wide receiver 13... he is very much the opposite of Brian Thomas Jr.” (65:38).

15. Terry McLaurin

Terry McLaurin concludes the top 15, with the trio acknowledging his steady performance and potential for increased touchdown opportunities. Mike Wright points out, “His average depth of target is four yards better” (68:20), stressing his involvement in critical offensive plays.

Team Draft Hype and Strategic Insights

The hosts transition into discussing draft strategies, emphasizing the importance of understanding team needs and player roles. Andy Holloway underscores the significance of target volume and offensive stability, stating, “You want to have a guy who's going to be in this spot. He's going to catch the ball when I put it catchable ball on him” (68:20).

Mike Wright and Jason Moore engage in a dynamic exchange about balancing high-risk, high-reward players against consistent performers. They debate the merits of selecting players like Drake London, who offer explosive potential, versus more stable options like T. Higgins and Terry McLaurin.

News and Notes

The episode also covers the latest NFL news, including trade rumors, injury updates, and team dynamics affecting WR performance. Key points include:

• Mark Andrews: Concerns about his potential trade from the Ravens were discussed, with Mike Wright speculating, “I think this is definitely the last year in Baltimore” (11:35).

• Cortland Sutton: Deliberations on his trade potential and contract status with the Broncos highlight Aaron Moore pointing out the flexibility around Sutton, though Mike remains skeptical about the trade's viability.

• Tyreek Hill’s Performance: Analyzing Tyreek Hill’s dip in production last season, Mike Wright and Jason Moore explore the impact of quarterback changes and offensive schemes on his fantasy value.

• Injury Updates: Updates on key players like Nakua, JSN Jackson, and Chris Godwin provide listeners with actionable information for their fantasy drafts.

Conclusion and Final Thoughts

Wrapping up the episode, the hosts reiterate the importance of early preparation and understanding player roles within their respective teams. They encourage listeners to leverage their rankings and insights to make informed draft decisions, ensuring a competitive edge in their fantasy leagues.

Andy Holloway emphasizes, “We can nitpick. Obviously, Justin Jefferson's the reason he's three versus two is because the quarterback situation” (21:43), reinforcing the interplay between player performance and team dynamics.

Jason Moore concludes with a strategic takeaway, stating, “If you were to literally trade those two players in the NFL, Malik Neighbors should be the number one wide receiver drafted and Jamar Chase should be, you know, the number six wide receiver drafted” (42:04), highlighting the nuanced considerations in player valuation.

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Notable Quotes:

• Mike Wright: “Jamar Chase has as good a chance as anybody to finish as the wide receiver one overall now.” (16:03)
• Andy Holloway: “He is still to this day getting like anti draft capital.” (26:44)
• Jason Moore: “If you were to literally trade those two players in the NFL, Malik Neighbors should be the number one wide receiver drafted and Jamar Chase should be, you know, the number six wide receiver drafted.” (42:04)
• Mike Wright: “He's the picture you should draw for quarterback's best friend.” (64:07)

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Connect with the Fantasy Footballers: Join the community at jointhefoot.com and follow them on Twitter @FFballers for more insights, updates, and exclusive content to elevate your fantasy football game.

Transcript

[Andy Holloway]

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[Mike Wright]

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[Andy Holloway]

Welcome to the Fantasy Footballers podcast with your hosts Andy Holloway, Jason Moore and Mike Wright.

[Mike Wright]

Welcome in Thursday, April 17th. Mike the fantasy hitman Jason Moore. I'm Andy Holloway. The fantasy footballers. Back with you. Top 15 Wide Receiver Episode early rankings. We'll take a look at the wide receiver position. We just covered running backs on Tuesday. We'll talk news, we'll talk draft, which is, oh, I mean it's a week away. It's a week away. So, you know, for those wondering right after the draft we're going to be digging in. I mean that's, that's our go time. All the statistical projections, every offensive player, every team going into the udk, forming our opinions based on, you know, the nitty gritty, all the numbers, digging in.

[Jason Moore]

Getting the rookie rankings, the dynasty startup rankings, getting those up as soon as possible after the NFL draft concludes. Because that would be in the dynasty pass. Because we know as soon as the NFL draft is over, people want to do their rookie drafts. We know because that is us as well.

[Andy Holloway]

We're doing it.

[Jason Moore]

Yeah.

[Andy Holloway]

The real, if we're going to be honest with people, the real reason that we get right to heavy lifting work after the NFL draft is because it's for ourself.

[Jason Moore]

Yes.

[Andy Holloway]

It's to have.

[Mike Wright]

Well, not me. I don't do rookie drafts. But everybody, I get it, I get it. Other people, they do those. I'm doing it, you know, just purely for the people.

[Jason Moore]

Well, I mean you're like, you're still, you're still in the draft. Like you're hanging out. You just don't have picks.

[Mike Wright]

Well, I mean, I got some big news. I'm trying to get my team a little younger. No, in Dynasty.

[Jason Moore]

No, you're not.

[Andy Holloway]

That is, that would be the first time in a decade.

[Mike Wright]

Well, I mean, I just made a couple offers and then I was informed and I'm really excited about this. It's going to be great. I Was informed that I could, if I, if I made an appropriate offer, I could have a shot at Jonathan Brooks.

[Andy Holloway]

Wow.

[Mike Wright]

Yeah. Somebody said running back somebody, somebody I.

[Jason Moore]

Know former double ACL tear.

[Mike Wright]

When push comes to show I might have a shot at him because I need to get younger. I was told by this individual who's sitting in the middle seat over there.

[Andy Holloway]

Yeah, that sounds exactly like a Papa Josh thing. Yeah.

[Jason Moore]

And I know what Papa Josh is asking for. For double torn acl, Jonathan Brooks, everything. The price. The price is full price, healthy Jonathan Brooks.

[Mike Wright]

That's the price. I mean, you have a microphone, Josh. Do you want to weigh in? I feel like you want to defend yourself.

[Andy Holloway]

This all started because you sent us a trade offer and I started looking at your team and your team is older than me. So we thought a young guy that maybe won't be playing this year, they might play again.

[Mike Wright]

Maybe.

[Andy Holloway]

Maybe has some value to a team that is ancient.

[Jason Moore]

Yeah, maybe.

[Mike Wright]

I don't think we're going to get anywhere on that one, but I appreciate it. I mean, you did engage. You engaged? I was, I was coming after Roma Dunes a little bit, but no dice. No dice. Thought maybe.

[Andy Holloway]

Yeah, he plays football.

[Mike Wright]

Right.

[Andy Holloway]

So Josh isn't going to give that up.

[Mike Wright]

The first offer I was sending Sutton for Rome. The second offer was Kyler and Sutton for McCarthy and Rome. Okay, so those were the two offers. Sutton getting ready to sign a contract.

[Jason Moore]

Sutton and Rome. That's an interesting one because I think it's very interesting. Well, I bet on the surface, if you say, hey, older Cortland Sutton for second year Roma Dunes, a top 10 wide receiver pick, you'd be like, obviously it's Rome, but I don't know that it's obviously Rome.

[Mike Wright]

There are a lot of people that it's obviously Rome.

[Jason Moore]

Yeah, I disagree that it's obvious.

[Mike Wright]

Well, that's one of those trades where Roma Dunes a wide range of opinions on his future. I am in the camp. I said it on the show, which probably hurt the trade offer, that the Waldron list, Roman Dunes, they will blossom like jsn.

[Jason Moore]

I think it will bear the Waldron down.

[Mike Wright]

I think it will be Mr. Gorbachev. Yeah. So I mean, nice. Anyways, we do have a lot coming with the draft and we have the ultimate draft kit, which is where you get the Dynasty pass. There are two ways that you can get the UDK. You can go to ultimate draft kit.com and you can buy the UDK or UDK plus pre order pricing, get it at a discount, help you during draft Season. The other way is to become an ultimate Foot Clan supporter. That gets you access to not just the UDK but everything. We offer all of our premium content. We have two apps for those that are new to the show. We have an in season app with a lot of features like a lineup optimizer and we also have our UDK app. And so you get access to all the premium content if you're an ultimate member, including every release of the UDK Dynasty Pass and all the premium in season content. So those are both ways. You can go to jointhefoot.com or ultimate draft kit.com to get access. We'll jump right into the quick question. It is related to the draft comes from YouTube Britain writes in. In the NFL Draft, which team are you most excited to see pick and why? So no teams have multiple firsts. As of right now, there isn't, you know, necessarily, you know, one team that's going to ammo up completely, but they have higher picks. And what are the names of some of the teams you're most interested in?

[Andy Holloway]

Yeah, I've got a three pack of teams. It's really just the running back destinations. To me, I really want to know. Chicago, Dallas and Denver. Those spots seem like teams that are very interested in adding a running back. They seem valuable for that landing spot. You can throw the Raiders in there as well. I think right now that is like a kind of penciled in Gen T destination. Yeah. Like oh, at six they're going to take Gentee and then, and then the rest of the running backs we're going to find out. But obviously if they don't, I think a lot of people's predictions and draft boards and expectations, everything is going to shuffle around a lot. So I'll throw them. I'm just wanting to know where these running backs land. We have about a dozen really talented human beings at that position this year. There are not that many spots for a dozen to come in and be top 25 running backs. Like that just can't happen no matter how talented they are. So where they land and which teams decide on which guys is going to completely change our rankings. Like when we get to work after the NFL draft, our rookie rankings will look very, very different than they do today.

[Mike Wright]

Mike.

[Jason Moore]

I was going to say Andy. Which team?

[Mike Wright]

Yeah, I mean he just, he just took my team.

[Andy Holloway]

So tell us more about the pick six.

[Mike Wright]

For me it was the Raiders because it is Genti. I'm excited. There's a rebrand happening in Las Vegas. There is a coming back from under the rock of irrelevance there. There is Brock Bowers who everyone loves watching play. You got Geno Smith in the backfield. You have bubblegum Pete Carroll on the sidelines.

[Andy Holloway]

You got Tom Brady up in the top.

[Mike Wright]

Yeah. There's a rebirth happening in Las Vegas and I think if they pick Genty and you have these players that we're excited for for fantasy and could actually perform on the field, there's just. It's a renewal for that city, it's a renewal for that team and I think that's exciting. I think it's fun. I want to care about them again. And the pieces are in place.

[Andy Holloway]

You're hoping they take Gentee?

[Mike Wright]

I am, yeah. Because I just think it's perfect. You're going to be putting your team in such a strong position to have elite talent at two thirds of the offensive, you know, and Geno Smith, I mean, very capable, signed to a contract extension. There's just competence there. And we've watched a lot of games over the last two years with rotating quarterback shuffle and an unhappy Devonte Adams and you know, we got this amazing Brock Bowers performance last year. So it's time for the Raiders to return to relevance for both fantasy and the NFL.

[Andy Holloway]

I can't wait for the Giants to genty. Oh my gosh, take their next sake 1.

[Jason Moore]

Speaking of the Giants, that is the team that I'm most excited to watch because I think that's where the Shador Sanders watch really begins. I think Cam will go one and I think that the Browns will go probably Travis Hunter. And so like now we're open. The Giants need a quarterback and the saga of Sanders being locked in, he's easily the number two overall pick. Oh, he's, he's could fall in the first round. It's like the opinions are so all over the place. So it will be very fascinating for me to see what happens there. Does that trigger a fall because the Giants don't take him? No one moves up and I mean, guy just got his jersey retired for all the great seasons. And in Colorado, let's see if he gets to be a number three overall pick.

[Mike Wright]

Yeah. Yeah. I mean there are a lot of possibilities in the draft that should be pretty interesting.

[Andy Holloway]

News and notes from around the league.

[Mike Wright]

We have been peppered with ambiguous Mark Andrews related sound bites.

[Jason Moore]

This is full Shanahan.

[Mike Wright]

So the Ravens general manager Eric Dacosta came out and said, quote, I never know what's going to happen when asked if he expects Mark Andrews to be with the team.

[Jason Moore]

We don't even know if we're going to be live on Sunday.

[Mike Wright]

I mean, the implication, Right. The implication is maybe they're shopping Mark Andrews.

[Jason Moore]

Maybe.

[Mike Wright]

And it wasn't. I mean, there was in free agency, period, we were worried about the return of Mark Andrews. So.

[Jason Moore]

Yeah, I mean, they, they had a bonus date, right? Yeah, they had a date.

[Andy Holloway]

His contract kicked in a lot of money. So I think the expectation is for him to be on the roster. And this is just the GM saying, you know the press release type of verbiage where I will tell you nothing, but I don't know, maybe. Maybe trade bait.

[Mike Wright]

Look, when a player's been this integral to your team, they probably expect to hear something better than this.

[Andy Holloway]

That's fair. Yeah.

[Mike Wright]

So at least it could be the beginning of the end. I said, is this the last year in Baltimore? I think it. I think this is definitely the last year in Baltimore. I think if he plays, this will be it. Cortland Sutton, let's say real quick. Yeah, go ahead.

[Jason Moore]

If you were a gm, how would. How could you not just at this point of the year, troll the pants off of every media member?

[Andy Holloway]

I would be.

[Jason Moore]

I would be leaking the stupidest crap like things like this about you're like, Mark Andrews, is he gonna be on the team? Oh, I don't. I don't know.

[Andy Holloway]

I have no idea.

[Jason Moore]

I have no idea. And just like, what? Why not? That would be the most fun of your job.

[Mike Wright]

Cortland Sutton said extension talks at the Browns or. Sorry, the Broncos are working in the right direction. And so there have been pretty positive talks about him signing a longer term deal with Denver.

[Andy Holloway]

He's in a really good position because I feel like last year they saw that they're a team that needs build for the future. He's an older veteran. Probably doesn't make sense to have a long term extension. And then they hit on a rookie quarterback contract that says, okay, well now let's maybe, let's just lock in the next two years while we can afford a wide receiver.

[Mike Wright]

It's a two year window. Cortland Sutton stable for your team? Because what they haven't hit on is, you know, Franklin and Mims being like, they're not at Sutton's level. They're not a game changer, a first down guy, a red zone guy.

[Andy Holloway]

Yet Franklin is clearly on his way ever. I got to play him when I can, man. There's not a lot of career left.

[Jason Moore]

Oh, no.

[Mike Wright]

Dolphins general manager Chris Greer also said the team is not currently considering trading Tyree kill. Yada, yada, yada, yada. I talk whiteouts.

[Jason Moore]

What is this verbiage? Not currently considering.

[Mike Wright]

See, that's the, that's what I would be doing. Yeah. We're not currently considering trading Lamar Jackson.

[Jason Moore]

Right.

[Mike Wright]

We're not currently considering trading Jameer Gibbs.

[Andy Holloway]

I would maybe go a little lighter than that. Like, I don't think, I don't think we're considering, considering.

[Mike Wright]

You know what, Papa? Josh, I'm not currently considering trading you Cortland Sutton anymore.

[Andy Holloway]

Good.

[Jason Moore]

I'm not currently considering firing him.

[Mike Wright]

Josh.

[Jason Moore]

Yeah.

[Mike Wright]

Okay, that's good.

[Jason Moore]

Not currently.

[Mike Wright]

Not currently.

[Andy Holloway]

I'm currently considering whether to fire Josh. So, I mean, you know, we'll figure this out.

[Mike Wright]

All right, let's talk whiteouts.

[Andy Holloway]

Wide receivers.

[Mike Wright]

All right, we just did this with running backs. Going through our consensus early rankings before we get into all of our deep team projections post draft, we did put together a list, each of us probably the top 40 or so whiteouts. And we grabbed our consensus top 15. We're going to share those with you. Today we talked about what makes a top 15 running back on the Tuesday show for a top 15 wide receiver. Here's the averages, 97 receptions, 1200 yards, nine touchdowns, 144 targets, 14 and a half fantasy points per game. So over the last four years, 82% of top 15 wideouts have averaged at least seven and a half targets a game. So they're generally. That's a high number. 67% of them had at least eight receiving touchdowns. We'll be talking about Terry McClaurin today.

[Jason Moore]

Yeah.

[Mike Wright]

And so another number just related to wins and losses, the top 15 wide receivers were on NFL teams that averaged 9.7 wins. The same number as the top 15 running backs. You're always. I like how Jason put it. It's the same way I view it in the draft. If you are really close on a player, maybe they're both in the same tier. If you need a difference maker pick the team you think is going to be better, going to win more games, it's just going to help you. So let's take a look here at number one. It's not a surprise. Jamar Chase, number one for all of us, certainly lapped the field last year. Finally did it, right? Yes. We've been coming into drafts.

[Jason Moore]

It all came together.

[Mike Wright]

Had been coming into drafts for years. Just saying what was true, that, oh, you know, Jamar Chase has as good a chance as anybody to finish as the wide receiver one overall now.

[Andy Holloway]

Crazy that it took four years.

[Mike Wright]

Yeah, yeah. He was 20 fantasy points a game. Jefferson was 15.6. That's the largest gap between wide receiver one and two in seven years. Another stat that I found. He was targeted 17 times on passes inside the tin. That's dreamy.

[Jason Moore]

Yeah, no, it's. It's sensational of the way that they utilize him. And going back, you know, the Cincinnati Bengals running back discussion, like, if they keep Chase Brown, you know, like, Brown is not the gigantic quadd up running back that, hey, when we get inside the five, that's. That's the plan. They know we're going to three downs. We're just going to run this ball. That's not who the Bengals are. The Bengals offense is. All of the money is Jamar Burrow and T. Higgins. And they're going to keep throwing. Their defense is going to be porous. Guys, it's the scent. The situation is beautiful. It's so great.

[Mike Wright]

Yeah. I mean, we talked. One of the reasons I liked Evans and we liked Godwin and we liked Baker was stability last year for Tampa's offense. You've just got stability in Cincinnati with even higher upside players at every position. So Burrow, Chase, T. Higgins getting the extension. There's no real concern here. No, I mean, at this juncture.

[Andy Holloway]

No. What quarterback, like, forget who the wide receiver is. What quarterback would you pick of the entire league right now to throw to your number one wide receiver for fantasy points? You don't want a mobile quarterback quite as much. They're not going to throw as much. You want someone who's a touchdown machine in passing touchdowns.

[Mike Wright]

Yeah. Other than maybe Josh Allen. I mean, I feel like.

[Andy Holloway]

Yeah. I mean, even then, it's like Josh Allen's going to get a lot of those rushing touchdowns, probably. You know, it's like this might be the best quarterback to pick for your wide receiver in the entire league. And then you go, okay, well, take the quarterback away. Who's the best wide receiver that you'd pick out of all of them?

[Mike Wright]

Oh, certainly.

[Andy Holloway]

Maybe Justin Jefferson, maybe Chase. It's probably between those two, but it's like they've got each other. It's not fair.

[Mike Wright]

It feels. It feels a lot like Stafford and Calvin Johnson and the fact you got the rapport, you've got the history, they played together in college, it's just perfect. CD Lamb comes in at number two on our early wide receiver rankings. I have him at three. I've got Jefferson ahead of him.

[Jason Moore]

That's fine.

[Mike Wright]

Jason and Mike have him at 2. So, CD Lamb, I think when you look at Dallas's offense, he's the piece you like, right? It's not something where you feel incredibly confident everywhere else in the backfield. Okay, we'll see what we're going to get. Dak should be very good. Has provided a number one season for CD Lamb, but beyond that combo, you don't feel great about the rest of the offensive pieces. But that's fine. That's good.

[Andy Holloway]

You can argue that that is a feather in the cap. I mean, if T. Higgins comes out and ends up with 14 or 15 touchdowns, you know, receiving this year, that just unfortunately might come at the expense of Jamar Chase. CD Lamb is alone there, and he was excellent last year. He missed a game. He was still the wide receiver eight. And he was playing without his quarterback and without his shoulder. So, you know, you might feel like it was a down year because he was the wide receiver one prior to that. But I think you've got to wash a lot of that injury away, whether it's Dax injury or CD Lamb's injury.

[Mike Wright]

It was a pretty big point per game differential. Yeah, 19. 19.7 down to 14.2. And that was touchdowns. I mean, you. Your touchdowns were in half from the year before. But there are a lot of reasons why, you know, he kind of did the best he could do.

[Andy Holloway]

We watched him game after game, play really well in the first half until the inevitable hit that, you know, every. Every single game, it was like around halftime, third quarter, he would take some amazing catch and fall to the ground and that shoulder would be re. Aggravated. I don't know why they kept letting him play. I would have shut him down to make sure that your superstar wide receiver.

[Jason Moore]

They did. He was. He only played 15 games last year.

[Mike Wright]

He. Yeah, but there were games that you were just like, yeah, why are you out there?

[Jason Moore]

But yes, very much.

[Mike Wright]

But maybe he was embellishing. Who knows? I got to look like a warrior. By the way, he broke more tackles than any other wide receiver in football last year. Year number one in tackle breaking. So always a big play threat. You guys got him at two. My number two is our consensus number three. It's Justin Jefferson. These three guys, we know what, you know, what you're getting in fantasy football.

[Andy Holloway]

I don't think you have a ton of discussion with all these three guys. We can nitpick. Obviously, Justin Jefferson's the reason he's three versus two is because the quarterback situation, you know, I like J.J. mcCarthy, but we don't know how he'll throw touchdowns. There's just more question marks. There Versus we know what CD can do with Dak. All three guys are great. All three guys are tier one wide receivers. These are foundational pieces for fantasy championships and you expect them to be great. What Jefferson just did with Sam Darnold, a career washout until this last year, proved that. Like, okay, I'm not too afraid of McCarthy.

[Mike Wright]

Yeah, he's averaged the most receiving yards per game in the history of the NFL.

[Andy Holloway]

That's pretty good.

[Mike Wright]

As the most receiving yards through the first five years of his career. And, and it's. It's by a lot, by the way. He averages 96.5 yards a game, the next highest in history. Calvin Johnson at 86.1. So pretty wild. He could. Apparently he could average under 40 yards a game or just above 40 yards a game and he'd still be number one all time. If he did that all season long, he would still be above Calvin Johnson. All right, we'll take a break and we'll. We'll get to some more interesting games.

[Jason Moore]

The easy ones.

[Mike Wright]

Those guys were easy. Back in a minute. What's going on? Foot Clan. Springtime is here and baseball season is officially underway. You know that there's a reason myself, Andy Holloway is the only one talking about baseball season. Look, I appreciate the game. I love the game. Been a fan my whole life. Do not miss your chance to add your favorite players from the diamond into your prize picks lineups. The prize picks app, absolutely great, easy to use, very fun. And baseball season's going, so for me personally, maybe I'm going in there and I'm making some. I'm taking some shots on Corbin Burns of the Diamondbacks to deliver on a very promising and surprising signing this offseason. I'm making them Diamondback picks every night when they play. That's the great thing about baseball is there's games going on every single night. So you can go make your picks in less than 60 seconds and turn your sports takes into real money all season long. On prize picks, you can sign up today. You get $50 instantly when you play $5. You don't even need to win to receive that $50 bonus. It's absolutely guaranteed. So download the app today and use the code footballers to get 50 $50 instantly after you play your first $5 lineup. Again, download the app today and use the code footballers to get $50 instantly after you play your first $5 lineup. Prize picks run your game.

[Jason Moore]

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[Mike Wright]

All right, well, at number four in our early wide receiver rankings, you guys both have them at four. I have him at five. It's Puka Nakua. So what's the story with Puka from last year? No more Cooper cup going into this year. He only trailed Chase and Neighbors in receptions per game last year. What, what case is there for, you know, moving him down on this list? Where's your confidence come from keeping him here?

[Andy Holloway]

The only reason to move him down to me, I think some people can make an argument that Devonte Adams is worse than Cooper cup was for him. I don't, I do not see it that way. I don't necessarily see that as an upgrade either. He had Cooper cup for his career so far. He's taking a great receiver that's gone and putting another great receiver there. I just see it as like it's even so his injury history this last year and dating back to college combined with Matthew Stafford's, you know, age and injury history, I think those are the reasons if you want to get negative on Puka. But what we have seen is a guy who, when he is on the field and he played his entire rookie year and you know, got banged up a little bit this time has just been world class. You know, on a points per game basis you're talking about a top three wide receiver. And he's going into year three. He's young, he dominates everywhere on the field. So I Don't think there's a lot to criticize personally with Puka at all.

[Mike Wright]

Yeah, his role should be safe. Production when he's on the field is safe. I would say he's still getting.

[Andy Holloway]

He is still to this day getting like anti draft capital.

[Jason Moore]

So he's getting. Is it a Rams thing because Kyren has that problem too?

[Andy Holloway]

Well, I think it's a NFL draft prospect time. He was not supposed to be great, he just really wasn't.

[Mike Wright]

Yeah. So some people were waiting for the shoe to drop. Hopefully that part of them is gone. But you also have. I mean, on this offense you need to be the alpha. He's probably the alpha, but from a personality standpoint, Cooper cup is far less vocal and demanding than maybe devonte Adams would be. Whether that's red zone opportunities. Not that. Again, I'm not discounting that because nobody was better in the red zone than Cooper cup, whether he was loud about it or not. I just think of how devonte Adams views himself. What happened to Garrett Wilson when devonte Adams arrived. Those would just be back of the mind things. But he should be coming into this Rams organization with the expectation that Puka is their majority wide receiver. You would think, but again, that's a variable.

[Andy Holloway]

Yeah, I think that if Puka had been drafted in the first round of the NFL draft, everybody would have him at three. What he's done on the field at three.

[Jason Moore]

Over who?

[Andy Holloway]

Well, we've got him at three, but.

[Mike Wright]

I think you have him at four.

[Jason Moore]

We have him at four or.

[Andy Holloway]

Yeah, I'm sorry, at four. He is. I've seen him in a lot of drafts and in other ADPs, drop several spots. People are concerned with Puka and I just don't think they should be. I don't think he has ever given a single reason to be concerned with him.

[Mike Wright]

So last year, 16.1 point per game average in the games he was active, high target volume player. The touchdowns weren't there. That would be something. I mean, three touchdowns on the year in those games.

[Andy Holloway]

Like you said, 16.1 fantasy points per game on average in those games that he played last year, Justin Jefferson was 15.6. So if, you know, you think about like how, okay, Jamar Chase was 20, but that's not normal. He lapped the field. It's just like he is, you know, he's great like Nico Collins last year, 14.7 points per game. He's great. 16.1 for Puka. And it's like, I don't know.

[Jason Moore]

The Stafford is confusing to me of He's a great quarterback. I mean his first year in Los Angeles he threw 4,800 yards and 41 touchdowns. But the three years since that were. The touchdown percentages are very pedestrian and like how did you have, you know, seasons with Puka and Cooper cup and you're just. And the touchdowns aren't there so Kyren thing. Yeah, it could definitely be that and just are the. Do you. So you guys have the full confidence still in Stafford. Like can we get more than. What is the. Where did the touchdown. Can we get more last year was 20 touchdowns in 16 games.

[Andy Holloway]

Well, we know we can get more than that because.

[Jason Moore]

But the year before that it was 24. I mean you have three years in a row here with the Rams where his average touchdown percent is at 4. So it's under league average. That's very confusing.

[Mike Wright]

Almond Ross St. Brown is number five. He is number four for me. Jason's got him at five, Mike at six. Amon Rai is such a, he's been such a strange player since coming into the league because he definitely has that dog in him.

[Jason Moore]

Oh, he is the dog.

[Mike Wright]

And one of the things when you look at him and the role he plays in the offense sometimes it's easy to dismiss players like that as though they are not as relevant in the red zone or in the end zone. The touchdown numbers. I was looking this up. He has the most red zone receptions of anybody in football, even more than Jamar Chase. So when they get down into that area of the field, you don't need to worry or think that they're going to target somebody else. Like you know, you have bigger bodied players like Hawkinson, even Jameson Williams. And yet Amon Ra is kind of a go to player that finds space in the defense in the red zone. Maybe more like how Julian Edelman executed the offense with Tom Brady in New England where Edelman wasn't prototypical from a touchdown perspective but he was a go to guy. So you know he is, he is a very, very dynamic player. He was a majority slot percentage player early in his career. It has changed a lot. Last year was his highest percentage out wide. Basically 50. 50 out wide and in the slot.

[Andy Holloway]

Yeah.

[Jason Moore]

And for Amon Ra losing Ben Johnson, you have to assume they will be running the offense as close to what they had is before. But we have, we've seen teams before where a new guy comes in and they're saying okay, this is the system and they mismanage it. So if you're talking downsides of Amon Ra, that's what it would be.

[Andy Holloway]

The nice thing is he's really established himself as like the leader of that offense. He is, you know, at least the passing game, obviously the offensive line and running game is a big portion of the Lions, but there's a great offense with a ton of continuity everywhere but coaching. He's a guy that's always going to have more than 140 targets. And him and Jared Goff, the way that they play, you know, this is not a, this is not a guy who's going to catch 66% of his passes. It's just such high floor PPR. And then the fact that he has utilized the last two years in the red zone the way he has been.

[Mike Wright]

If you're a person who may be put off by the puka injury since he had him in college and he had him last year, the non puka from a durability perspective is Amon Rod. He plays basically every game, every year. He's been the wide receiver eight, three and three the last two years, three years. So in that respect, very, very, very safe. And the target totals will be in the 140s, so we're still in the safe category. Now a more interesting name. He actually comes in at six in our consensus. Mike's got him at five, Jason at six, I've got him at eight. We don't know who his quarterback's going to be. Well, it's with certainty. Yeah, because I mean, you brought him up in the draft. The fact that they could take Shador Sanders, but it's Malik Neighbors. Neighbors comes in at number six and you know, we know the potential 166 targets on a bad offense. Still put up 1200 yards, still put up seven touchdowns. He was the entire Giants offense as a rookie. So I mean, he was first read on 154 of 170 targets, which was, I think he's the third most first rate targets in the NFL.

[Andy Holloway]

Yeah, I mean he's Jamar Chase. So this is like to me, if you were to literally trade those two players in the NFL, if you were to trade Malik Neighbors and Jamar Chase and Whip swap them teams. Malik Neighbors should be the number one wide receiver drafted and Jamar Chase should be, you know, the number six wide receiver drafted. This is a quarterback offense problem, not a Malik Neighbors problem. I'm going to buy in completely to what he showed on the field last year and I hate doing the whole like, well, he should have a quarterback upgrade thing. When you go from bad to mediocre because we have Enough years of doing this where it's like Russell Wilson is not a fix. Now James comes in if Jameis comes in. I mean you do have that at least like Russell gets injured and they don't draft should do or then James.

[Mike Wright]

Is not a fix either for the team but he is a really, really nice four game stretch from a league neighbors where he'll be targeted 38 times per game.

[Jason Moore]

Yeah, the Giants were tied or trailing on 90% of the routes from a league neighbors and I don't think that things are going to change drastically for the New York Giants like they. I think they'll improve but this is still a team that's going to be.

[Mike Wright]

Range of outcomes for Malik neighbors. How high could he finish if things went right this year? Is it number one? Because I think it is.

[Jason Moore]

I would say yes. I would say his range of outcomes to me is one. I just.

[Mike Wright]

I think you can finish number one overall.

[Jason Moore]

Number one and then as low as 12 would be. Oh, we had a bad year.

[Andy Holloway]

Yeah, he's a wide receiver one. He could definitely finish as the wide receiver one. I don't think he could finish as the wide receiver one. If Russell Wilson is the quarterback the entire way.

[Mike Wright]

Nico Collins comes in at seven right now I have him at six, Mike at seven, Jason at eight and you know Nico got off to a smoking hot start last year before the injury average 19 fantasy points per game. What was Chase at 20? Yeah, so they were neck and neck. His 17 game pace last year would have put him over 2,000 receiving yards. The injuries derailed it. The offensive struggles towards the end of.

[Jason Moore]

The year falling apart which I mean you can have. The question was that was Nico still not great?

[Mike Wright]

Over the last year he's had the fourth most 20 plus yard receptions. You're getting big plays from Nico. You're getting long touchdowns. There were what was it two weeks in a row when he returned from injury he had long touchdowns called back on penalty. Oh, you remember that? The screen pass. I remember it. He was starting.

[Jason Moore]

I had forgotten but you are correct.

[Mike Wright]

So you got a new offensive coordinator. You're looking for C.J. stuart.

[Jason Moore]

That was the first play of the game, Matt.

[Mike Wright]

Yeah, first play of the game. On his first game back was a screen pass and he ran it to the house and it didn't count. And you're like all you wanted him to do is protect his hamstring and he does a wind sprint for no points. But yeah, the injury, it sucked. It derailed the season. It hurt the team quite a bit and Then they made a change at offensive coordinator. So do I like C.J. stroud? Yeah, I still have confidence in him. Offensive line, we got to get that figured out so that you can target Nico because his average depth of target is in the higher range compared to other wideouts.

[Andy Holloway]

Yeah, I mean that's the issue to me is the offensive line, the Nico we saw after he came back from injury versus the Nico that we saw to start the season on fire. I think the truth is in between those two. I don't believe that, you know, the second half pace, he would have been only on pace for 87 receptions, 1100 yards, eight touchdowns. Those are good numbers, but those aren't like elite wide receiver, you know, top three numbers by any means. The beginning of the year, like you said Andy, he was averaging 19 fantasy points per game and a lot of the big plays were just hitting. So I mean I think we've got him about. I would, I would be very excited to have Nico Collins. I look at him bullishly as an alpha wide receiver one as definitely a wide receiver one in fantasy. But I do shave off the very beginning of the season when it was like, oh, is this the new wide receiver one in fantasy football? I don't actually think that that's who Nico is.

[Mike Wright]

I do think he's a top three. Like that's his range of outcomes. I think he could, he could get into the top three, he could score double digits. I mean he hasn't had a season yet with double digit touchdowns. Probably would have done it last year without the injury. Was on pace to improve his yardage mark from the year before where he was 1300 receiving yards 1297 and he was on pace for 1425. So yeah, a true alpha target competition.

[Jason Moore]

Will be a bit different this year of they brought Christian Kirk in who is a good, competent slot player. But like Tank Dell after that injury, you can't imagine that he's going to be ready to go in week one.

[Mike Wright]

No digs.

[Jason Moore]

So yeah, and Stefan Diggs is gone. So it's who, like who's playing the other outside position for them, you know, depth chart wise, maybe John Mechi, I think Nico, maybe Justin Watson who they just brought in.

[Mike Wright]

I mean I guess his ADP is wide receiver six. So he's not, he's not being discounted at all. No, but I think if we had come into last year with no digs, Tank Dale question marks, we would have looked at Nico and drafted him appropriately. There was doubts about whether he would be the not from Mike For Mike was very definitive that there was a tier difference. But let's move on. Number eight, Brian Thomas Jr. We actually all have them ranked very similarly, a little bit ahead of ADP right now. One of the more interesting things when I looked into the season for Brian Thomas Jr. That I wasn't as aware of was how incredibly good he was after the catch. He was the fifth best in the NFL in yards after the catch. When you think of Yak players, you think of Debo, right. You think of Rashi Rice because he was near the top of the list. Brian Thomas Jr. Is right there. And so he was doing so much with the football wherever he caught it around the field. 1200 yards, 87 receptions, 10 touchdowns. This is a young, ascending player, the face of the franchise on offense alongside Trevor Lawrence. I don't really think that this season can go poorly for him. I don't.

[Andy Holloway]

No, you really don't want to overthink the. This was a guy who in his rookie season came out and was a top five fantasy wide receiver playing for part of it with Mac Jones as a backup quarterback. And you, you know, you'll hear some. Yeah, that's the thing. You'll hear some people say, well, was that why Mac Jones just hyper target him? He was better with Mac Jones than he was with Trevor Lawrence. And now Trevor Lawrence is coming back. But that's. You got to look deeper and remember the context. This was when he was breaking out in his rookie season. Towards the end of the season, when Christian Kirk got injured, you know, Evan Ingram missed some games and it was like, okay, now they were kind of forced to make him the true one.

[Mike Wright]

Who does Ingram play for now, exactly?

[Andy Holloway]

Who does Christian Kirk play for exactly?

[Mike Wright]

Yeah, they're gone permanently.

[Andy Holloway]

So they have. If you, if you, you know, listen to Liam Cohen talk, every comment, it's it. This is. And you, you just said it. It's the face of the. Like Trevor Lawrence is obviously the quarterback's always going to be the face of the franchise, but in Jacksonville, it is. Brian Thomas is our star now.

[Mike Wright]

It's his. He's the Jefferson.

[Andy Holloway]

Yes.

[Mike Wright]

For that team.

[Andy Holloway]

And so he's. His target market share is going to be incredible. And when you have someone with that kind of physical talent, the breakaway yak ability, that young and ascending, who's going to have that target market share. Very. There's a reason why we're all three above ADP on Brian Thomas Jr because you've got a guy who, I don't think he can fail this year, but we certainly have not seen. I don't think we believe we've seen his best football of his career yet.

[Mike Wright]

What's. What's wild is, you know, we had the debate on the show about Brian Thomas Jr. Malik neighbors. Who would you take if you think about which team you think is going to win more games? I would pick Jacksonville fair. So depending on where you have them.

[Jason Moore]

Not by much.

[Mike Wright]

Depending on where you have them tiered. I mean New York 90% of the time was trailing last year. Russell Wilson is not an answer. Their answer may be a couple years away. It's just an interesting thought experiment.

[Andy Holloway]

Yeah. No. And similar to my complaints about Puka sometimes not being respected as a one because of his NFL draft capital, I wonder if the exact same careers had happened for both neighbors and Brian Thomas Jr. But you just flop. Which one got drafted first in the NFL draft?

[Mike Wright]

Yep.

[Andy Holloway]

Would we be seeing them in the opposite? Because it feels we would be. Yeah, it feels like.

[Mike Wright]

So Mike, A.J. brown has had a fantasy finish of number five in 2022 with Philly. Then he goes to seven. Then last year 16, he did miss four games.

[Jason Moore]

Yeah. He was actually a higher points per game than 23 somehow.

[Mike Wright]

And you have him the lowest. He comes in at 9 in our consensus. Talk to me about is there AJ Brown fatigue setting in in the fantasy community?

[Jason Moore]

There is. I think that we're on the downside of the career still still ranked as a wide receiver one. But I am, I am personally to the point with A.J. brown of like oh there's, there's some of the, the risers the guy like Drake London. I'd prefer Drake London. I'd rather take the shot on on the upside of Drake London hitting than AJ Brown just the way that the offense is more Saquon Barkley is such a humongous deal to AJ Brown where like I know the, you know that he missed games but in just terms of what the offense is, I don't think we're going to see another almost 1500 yard and 11 touchdown season for A.J. brown when you have Barkley because that's. That it's not what they want to do.

[Andy Holloway]

Yeah. No, you can put it this way. Here is a game where last year A.J. brown had 36 yards and they won the game with 41 points. There's a game where he had 43 yards and they won the game. There's a game where he had 36 yards and they won the game. They don't need him on this offense to go out and put up 90 yards every game to be successful. But he is still an alpha, dominates in one on ones and should still finish the season as a wide receiver. 1 But I do think the ceiling is capped because of the fact that he's not as necessary as pretty much everyone else we talked about.

[Jason Moore]

Your floor is not nearly as stable. I mean you have week nine he scored 4.6 points. Week 13 he's under 10. Week 14 is at just above six points. Like those are not normal things for AJ Brown but there are things that in this range of where we want, like your draft capital, I need greatness. And knowing that A.J. brown's probably going to have four to five of those games this year, I just have them a little bit lower.

[Mike Wright]

Well, I don't, I don't want to go to break quite yet because I want to put your comments about AJ Brown in context with number 10 on our list which is Drake London. Mike, you said you'd prefer him.

[Jason Moore]

I do.

[Mike Wright]

You know one, one of these guys has Jalen Hertz super bowl winning quarterback. The other guy has a brand new face, Michael Pinnicks. And I know the numbers are really good for Pinnicks. With Drake London at the very end of the year, you know he was hyper targeted. It's also two games, right? It's a two game sample drink I think three. Well I guess I'm looking at the final two games. He was. He had the most receiving yards in the league. Drake London did with Michael Pinnicks. He had the second most first read targets. He had a 42% target per route run like Drake London. Was it for Michael Pinnicks?

[Jason Moore]

Yes.

[Mike Wright]

You also had nine touchdowns last year. Twelve hundred yards for Drake London. He finished at wide receiver six. He is very much the the opposite of Brian Thomas Jr. When it comes to yards after the catch. That's not his game. He is a down the field 12.7 13 yards per catch and fall down like his yards after the catch was DeAndre Hopkins level last year, 58th in football. So that's not his game. His game is go up and get it. Be a competitive catch player. I guess I wonder, you know, with some of the doubts we have around certain quarterback play, how much does that factor in? And it seems like in the Bijon discussion which looked really good for you know, the Michael Panicks Bijon combination seems like people are in the same camp here. Like I think the range of outcomes for London is a little bit.

[Jason Moore]

There's a lower variance.

[Mike Wright]

Yeah. Wider variance than other players.

[Andy Holloway]

Yeah. You can see it go Wrong. Much easier for the Falcons than you can for the super bowl champion Eagles who just have, they're just rolling back another great team. You had a very, very small example at the end of the season of what could go well for Michael Penix. And so yeah, the range of outcomes when you don't understand is Michael Pennix a great quarterback, is he a bad quarterback, is he an average quarterback? We don't know that yet. But that's also exciting. It's exciting to say, well, what if Michael Penix comes out and you know, at the end of this season we look back and say, wow, he's like a top five quarterback. Because we don't. That could, that could happen this season. He could level up in his first full season, his second year in the NFL. And if that happens, because Drake London is, you know, he's not dealing with Devonte Smith, he's dealing with Darnell Mooney as the wide receiver too. You know, Drake London could really have an outstanding season, but also the Falcons could collapse. So it's this, how do you want to play?

[Mike Wright]

Yeah, Pinnock's confidence.

[Andy Holloway]

Yeah, yeah, gotta be confident.

[Mike Wright]

You need to be confident in the, you know, 50 something percent completion percentage.

[Andy Holloway]

They say confidence is very important.

[Jason Moore]

58%. And so in his three starts you would. The average was still 58.

[Mike Wright]

I think he beat the Giants and then lost back to that games to finish the year. There's just.

[Jason Moore]

That is correct.

[Mike Wright]

There's just a little doubt there in the. But in the offense being successful.

[Jason Moore]

34 points, 24 points against Washington and 38.

[Mike Wright]

So yes, into the year, man, I don't know. I don't know. I'd love it to be true. Let's make it true. It's better for Bijan, it's better for London, it's better for fantasy players, it's better for Mooney, who's probably a sneaky player this year, to be honest. All right, we'll take a break. We'll cover the last five names. What's up, Foot Clan? Look, we have a lot of experience trying to hire the right people from our video game company before this podcast over the last 10 years as well. Hiring four. This business. Look, sometimes you realize your business needs to hire somebody yesterday, but you want to find the right person, the right candidate. You cannot make the mistake of hiring the wrong person. And we have always used indeed. It is easy. And with indeed sponsored jobs, your post jumps to the top of the page for your relevant candidates so you can stand out and reach the people you want faster. Indeed has helped us fill several positions. And look, you want to understand who you're hiring, the right qualifications and make sure you don't make those mistakes because it can really set your business back. There's no need to wait any longer. Speed up your hiring right now with Indeed and listeners of this Show. Get a $75 sponsored job credit to get your jobs more visibility at Indeed.com Footballers just go to Indeed.com Footballers right now and support our show by saying you heard about Indeed on this podcast. Indeed.com Footballers terms and conditions apply. Hiring Indeed is all you need. Ryan Reynolds here from Mint Mobile. I don't know if you knew this, but anyone can get the same Premium Wireless for $15 a month plan that I've been enjoying. It's not just for celebrities. So do like I did and have one of your assistant's assistants switch you to Mint Mobile today. I'm told it's super easy to [e-mail] Switch upfront payment of $45 for three equivalent to $15 per month required intro rate first three months only, then full price plan options available, taxes and fees, extra fee, full [e-mail] well Tyree kill. Yeah, weird, weird discussion. Tyreek. Not a good year for Tyreek Hill yet. He's being drafted at wide receiver 11. That's where we have him. I got, I got him at 12.

[Jason Moore]

Jason at 15 and I very much respect it.

[Mike Wright]

He had the most, he had nearly the most drops in the NFL last year. Maybe because of the stat numbers that Jason was putting up with.

[Jason Moore]

He did have a wrist injury all year too.

[Mike Wright]

Yes, yes. That's what you have to lean on to make the bowl case for Tyreek Hill now. I mean nobody is more explosive. Nobody has a higher percentage of 20 plus yard plays. Nobody is going to, you know, being drafted almost outside the top 12 wide receivers, it's hard to find anybody that you could say oh yeah, we should have seen that wide receiver three season coming. Like that's not all that stuff is possible with Tyreek Hill. But last year was rough. I mean Jason pointed out on Twitter, he tweeted about this a week ago. He had 906 snaps for 959 yards last year in 2023, 695 snaps turn into almost 1800 yards.

[Jason Moore]

That doesn't make sense.

[Andy Holloway]

It doesn't make any sense.

[Mike Wright]

211 more snaps, 840 fewer yards. The offense changed. John New Smith had a roll the short area targets and then the injury, which seems like it was real oh, yes. And yet. Really seems like it shouldn't have affected the amount of targets he was receiving.

[Andy Holloway]

Yeah. I mean, the offense morphed. You didn't see as much downfield anything. And downfield Tyree Kill is a pretty important, you know, superpower of his, and they just weren't pushing the ball down there. So there's worries. You know, you can excuse some of this. Oh, it's the wrist. I don't give a lot of credence to that. You know, he played 17 games. Okay, maybe he was a little banged up, but a lot of NFL players are banged up while they're playing games. I give much more credence to the fact that, well, you lost Tyree Kill for a portion of that. And so, you know, the total passing volume would shrink a little bit. Johnny Smith coming, you know, to get more involved. But, you know, when you look at a player who's going to be overdrafted, Tyreek Hill still has the promise of being the number one wide receiver.

[Jason Moore]

I mean, you're. You're just two years removed from it.

[Andy Holloway]

Yeah. Yeah. It's like, oh, if he had a down year this last year, and that's all it was, because Tyreek got injured, and we just go back to what it was the year before last. I mean, you're getting a steal when you're drafting him as the wide receiver. 11. You get him in the second round, that's fine. But I just want to make sure when you're doing that, that you realize he played the whole freaking season last year and sucked. He scored 10 fantasy points a game. Like he was. He was.

[Jason Moore]

He wasn't harmful for your team in the entire season.

[Andy Holloway]

And that's the most recent thing we have to go off of.

[Mike Wright]

When he had the slow start, a lot of people, myself included, acquired him cheaply because there wasn't a. You're, like, waiting for Tua to come back and fix it all. Because that was the case, right?

[Jason Moore]

Yes, it was.

[Mike Wright]

The argument was, Tyreek's not having the career year again, but it's because Tua's not there. So I'm going to get him before Tua comes back. Count on Tua playing. That's what I did. It never came. It never arrived. It was like. And then he was just in my lineup going, this week then, this week, then. So it didn't happen.

[Andy Holloway]

No. Let me ask you guys a question. Who had more yards or, I'm sorry, more points per game last year?

[Mike Wright]

I wonder.

[Andy Holloway]

Tyreek Hill or Adam Thielen? Per game Per game.

[Mike Wright]

That's. That's Thielen then.

[Andy Holloway]

It sure is, yeah. How many games was Thielen? Thielen played 10 games. I don't remember. He played 10 games. My point is on a points per game, like his season total looks not as bad as it was because he played the whole season. He played 17 games and so he accumulated stats, but on a per game basis he wasn't that. He was the wide receiver. 35. 35 in points per game. Basically tied with Josh Downs. And Josh Downs had a very successful season.

[Mike Wright]

But this will tell the whole truth, Jason. We have our consistency metric. It's a d for dreadful. 29.4% of the time above 10 and a half points.

[Andy Holloway]

Yeah, it was. It was bad. So could he bounce back? Sure. Am I going to bet? I mean it's very, very, very rare that towards the end of someone's career.

[Jason Moore]

He will be playing at the age of 31.

[Andy Holloway]

Exactly at the age of post 30 that you have a down year. And that's considered a down year because you come back, right?

[Mike Wright]

No, it's not common. So I'm out number 12, JSN. Jackson, Smith and Jigba. Jason at 10, Mike at 16. I'm at 14 in between. And what are your. What's the holistic thoughts on jsn? Because you've got a new quarterback.

[Jason Moore]

Yep.

[Mike Wright]

Got a new head coach. Yep.

[Andy Holloway]

Got a new Peck.

[Mike Wright]

I'm sorry, I. New offensive coordinator.

[Jason Moore]

Yeah.

[Mike Wright]

Because Ryan Grubb fired. DK Metcalf is gone.

[Andy Holloway]

Tyler Lockett is gone.

[Mike Wright]

Cooper Cup. Welcome to town. A lot of talk about. I mean Mike is confident in Kenneth Walker, maybe the running game gets going. But JSN was. He was just outstanding last year.

[Andy Holloway]

He was the wide receiver 10 in fantasy points last season and he was so much better over the second half. You know, JSN was a little disappointing his rookie year, but he's disappointing a lot of it. Sure. He was a lot of it disappointing his rookie year only because whole lot of it. He was supposed it was very. Marvin Harrison Jr. I talk about it all the time. Marvin Harrison Jr. Did not have a bad rookie season. Marvis and Harrison Jr. Had a terrible compared to expectations rookie season. But he was good. JSN had the same thing. And the reason is because you don't.

[Mike Wright]

I don't agree with that.

[Andy Holloway]

You don't agree with which part of that?

[Jason Moore]

630 yards and four touchdowns. I think that's what he's feeling.

[Mike Wright]

Yeah, I'm just feeling like I watched the games and this Was not an important player.

[Andy Holloway]

Sure. I mean you're saying in his rookie year, correct? Yeah, yeah, yeah. His rookie year was a. Was a massive disappointment, but he still was, you know, 600 yards in his rookie season. It's not like, oh, this career is done. Last year he became the guy and he became the guy with DK Metcalf on the team and he became the guy with an older Tyler Lockett on the team. Finishes the wide receiver 10. It all got better as the season went on and then they got rid of these guys.

[Mike Wright]

So going into year three of Geno Smith.

[Andy Holloway]

Yes, yes, they got rid of Geno Smith and Jason should be good. Yeah. I mean I believe JSN will have a target volume that is, you know, 150 plus targets pretty much guaranteed.

[Mike Wright]

I hope they use them properly. So now there was a lot of excitement around grub last year and it didn't work out for the team. He was a first down machine. He had the six most first down receptions in the NFL. He just found a way to get open and they found him.

[Andy Holloway]

I think the question is how talented do you think he is? Like just the wide receiver. Put him anywhere else.

[Mike Wright]

What do you think of. I don't think that JSN is. I mean when you look at just NFL talent at wide receiver, I don't think he's the top 10 guy.

[Andy Holloway]

So I think that's the important distinction.

[Mike Wright]

I do not think so. No, I think he is more. I mean I don't want to insult the guy but like Deontay Johnson had some great fantasy years. He's closer to that than Jamar Chase for me.

[Jason Moore]

Okay, that's fine. My biggest concern for, I mean the shifting of the offense which projects to be run heavier than it was this past year and the fact that like is, is Sam Darnold like is what we saw last year more of a product of the Minnesota Vikings and the Kevin O'Connell offense or did Sam Darnold really figure something out?

[Mike Wright]

It's probably the Kevin O'Connell and I.

[Jason Moore]

Lean on the side of it being Kevin O'Connell up with giving Darnold credit for getting better than he was before that year. But if you go back and watch Gino, who again I think Geno is a very good quarterback. Watch a lot of what happens with that offensive line last year for Geno. That pocket is crumbling around him and Gino. Gino is managing to dance, not freak out. And he's. Then he's finding the guys. Jason can get him.

[Andy Holloway]

That's Donald Strength. That's Darnold loves.

[Jason Moore]

Which goes into. My larger point is we saw the end of the Minnesota Viking season last year when everything just crumbled into pieces. It was Sam Darnold got freaked out and didn't know what to do. Where Gino, I think, was making magical things happen last year under the circumstances.

[Andy Holloway]

I think that's the best anti JSN argument possible. Is the offensive line going to ruin Sam Darnold? Because there are certain quarterbacks like I would throw Jared Goff. Yeah, yeah.

[Jason Moore]

I would say we'll be seeing ghosts and ghouls.

[Andy Holloway]

There are goblins. Are certain quarterbacks where when things go right, they're really, really, really good. Jared Goff is an awesome quarterback behind an off an awesome offensive line. When things go wrong and pressure is there, he's not making plays on his own and doing those things. And so, yeah, I think that's a very valid anti JSN's fantasy value take to have.

[Jason Moore]

It's an anti JSN like ceiling dominator. Yeah. 16. That's not a bad ranking.

[Andy Holloway]

I'm going to. I'm going to commit. I'm going to go rewatch JSN's second half of the year and see how much was him, how much was Geno. Because my view of him as a talent, I think is just very high. I think, you know, coming into the draft, yeah, obviously he was the first NFL wide receiver taken in his draft class. So if he is that talented, I think he'll overcome.

[Mike Wright]

13 is T. Higgins, so makes our top 15. He was outstanding. Guys, this is.

[Jason Moore]

This is the stupidest thing.

[Mike Wright]

What is.

[Jason Moore]

We cannot all be in on T. Higgins. I mean, and it is going to go so terrible.

[Mike Wright]

Well, look, I think we're all.

[Jason Moore]

This is the. This is the boo ghost. We're all Mario. We're all very.

[Mike Wright]

We're all very comfortable with T. Higgins because his situation is very comfortable and he's played enough football. I mean, he averages a touchdown every 7.7 receptions. Beast that is like fifth best in football. You know, you're going to get scores with T. Higgins. You know how comfortable Joe Burrow is with it. He's not going to be the number one target. Jamar Chase will be better than him, but it's not. But it's not drastic. No, he and Chase helps Higgins so much. Well, so they're so much better when they're together.

[Andy Holloway]

Well, are you saying that because chase was averaging 20 points per game as the number one wide receiver while on a points per game Basis. T. Higgins was 15.5 as the fourth best wide receiver last year. In fantasy, on a points per game basis, obviously missed games. But yeah, when they're both out there together, they're both just freaking awesome.

[Mike Wright]

And to be clear, I mean this was, this is not the first rodeo for T. Higgins. He's played well when he's been healthy. He's played with Joe Burrow for many years. This was by far his best points for game performance. Yes, he has traditionally been 13, 11 and a half. So, you know, maybe, maybe the double digit touchdowns aren't coming back. I mean that's, that was his touchdown high by three in his career. So, so that would be the one thing you look at and say, okay, in 12 games. He just. Yeah, in 12 games. So maybe, maybe you don't get double digit touchdowns. That's certainly possible, but very safe. If he slips in drafts, I would put him on every one of my teams so that I can feel pain like Mike.

[Andy Holloway]

Yeah, I'm really sad to see that right now.

[Jason Moore]

Join me in the pit.

[Andy Holloway]

I'm really sad to see right now that he's like at the back of the second round. I don't think people are as low on him as I hoped they would be. I'm very bullish, very confident and I'm not scared at all about the games missed. I'm really not. Maybe it's because I haven't lived that experience with you, Mike.

[Mike Wright]

You should be a little scared of that. But he doesn't play 17. He'd rather be dead than play 17.

[Jason Moore]

Minor concern. I think you should have.

[Andy Holloway]

Yeah, okay.

[Mike Wright]

I mean, you are going to miss games.

[Andy Holloway]

I don't know.

[Mike Wright]

That's a guarantee.

[Andy Holloway]

You've seen that check bonus on his contract.

[Mike Wright]

It don't matter. Guess what? Let me tell you this. What was he playing for last year? Oh, yeah. Free agent contract. That's a lot of checks. Missed four games.

[Jason Moore]

Yeah. Nope.

[Mike Wright]

Sorry. Missed five games.

[Jason Moore]

He's quite good at starting games, which I think that the, that is the hard. I think if he is on the field for snap one, I think the check clears.

[Andy Holloway]

Good point. Oh man, he does that a lot.

[Mike Wright]

That will be a risk.

[Jason Moore]

What could go wrong for T. Higgins?

[Mike Wright]

He doesn't mind limping around in the first quarter. Lad McConaughey comes in at 14. Apparently I'm. I'm by far the lowest. It's not, it's not really embarrassing. Not on purpose.

[Andy Holloway]

I mean, I remember in the college scouting time last year, Andy was like this lad guy.

[Jason Moore]

That's what he called him last McConkey.

[Andy Holloway]

Yeah, last McConkey. He was always anti lad McConkey who.

[Jason Moore]

Chuckled at that because that one was not good. Is that you, Matt? No.

[Andy Holloway]

Yeah, yeah, it was Matt.

[Jason Moore]

Matt. As I was telling the joke, like this is not good but I'm going to finish.

[Mike Wright]

To be clear, I was a Lad guy and then you're like, man, I want to be like Andy. And then you got on the Lad bandwagon and he's outstanding. He's an incredible player. His catch percentage is outrageous. He was like the 10th best in football. He has, he broke a ton of tackles so you wouldn't think that that's who he is. Yeah, he is. He's the fourth highest tackle breaking wide receiver in football. He's just a complete wide receiver. He is literally the picture you should draw for quarterback's best friend. He is open sure handed, will catch the football on an important third down. And I think the question for everybody in fantasy is just what is he going to be for the team moving forward? Is there more upside to lad McConkey? And I don't, I don't think there's a lot more. I think you know, 82 for 11, 55 and 7. You can go up from there. You can catch 100 passes. Ladd can catch 100 passes.

[Andy Holloway]

Yeah, he could be 100 for 12, 50 and 8. Eight.

[Mike Wright]

Yeah, yeah. So I mean there is room. There's not number one overall that's not an outcome that's realistic for Ladd McConkey. But this is this super solid player that, you know he's being drafted at wide receiver 13. He's being respected in drafts.

[Andy Holloway]

Yeah, he is. He seems to me like a pretty much guaranteed top 15 wide receiver. He's playing that role that it's not the same system when Keenan Allen was there but that, that Justin Herbert to super reliable wide receiver role. Like I'm, you know, the. I've got to move the chains. I'm going to go to my guy who I know exactly on this step. He's going to be in this spot. He's going to catch the ball when I put it catchable ball on him. So Lad is very, very safe. But yeah, the upside case is is difficult. I think I have hope and I know it was like the Brandon Staley era. So you know, take shave of a few, fourth down, go for, it's off. But what we saw per game with Keenan was like surprisingly high. And we also saw in the second half of last year the new system with Harbaugh, we saw Justin Herbert kind of allowed to take more control and be the leader of this offense versus just like establish it in the run game. So I, you know, I don't think we've seen lads best, but he, but you're right, he doesn't have like wide receiver one after the, after the bye week, which.

[Jason Moore]

That's not a, that is a common marker. When we look at wide rookie wide receivers, the bye week, you know, guys can take off. Theirs was early. Talking about the Chargers, there's what they had a week five buy. But after the bye week, the pace would have been 95 catches for almost 1400 yards.

[Andy Holloway]

Oh, my little lad.

[Jason Moore]

Like, I think that there is a lot of room.

[Mike Wright]

Who else were they throwing the football to? I mean, that's the big question for the offense is you're going to have.

[Jason Moore]

They were throwing it at huge.

[Mike Wright]

You're going to have a better running back situation. Potentially.

[Jason Moore]

I'd all go lateral.

[Mike Wright]

You're definitely going to have more wide receivers in the, in the picture this year.

[Andy Holloway]

I think invented Mike Williams and you.

[Mike Wright]

Got the draft which they've worked a lot of guys out. That would be the. He could be somebody that I think moves a lot based on draft selections.

[Jason Moore]

He could.

[Andy Holloway]

But if they draft a prominent, you know, if they draft a day two wide receiver or above day one or day two wide receiver, Ladd will fall.

[Mike Wright]

Or a tier one tight end even, potentially.

[Andy Holloway]

Sure, yeah, yeah, yeah, he'll fall a little bit, but I think that'll only help.

[Mike Wright]

Here's a wild. Because we got to close things out. We got to get to 15. You can still talk about Ladd, but Ladd and Terry McLaurin are the final two names. Terry McLaurin comes in at 15. Apparently I barely kept him there by ranking in the highest among the three of us. They almost have the same numbers. I mean, they both caught 82 passes. Lad and McLaurin, they both had 110 and 114 targets. They were very similar in the total yardage. Lad was a little bit above double the touchdowns from McLaurin, but that is, that is part of his arsenal.

[Andy Holloway]

Right.

[Mike Wright]

His average depth of target is four yards better. So you're, you're kind of. Despite ending up with the same numbers on a lot of areas, there are different types of players in the offense. 13 touchdowns is a lot. I feel like there hasn't been a single moment this off season where we're like giving Terry McLaurin credit for 13 touchdowns.

[Jason Moore]

Well, we're giving credit.

[Mike Wright]

It Only works against him. I feel like if we went out here and Terry McClure had nine or 10 touchdowns, we'd be like, okay, he can come back and do that. But because it's 13, it's like, oh, let's just throw that season away where you were the, you know, one of the best players in the game, which we've always known by film.

[Jason Moore]

It's. It's not throwing it away. It's just having what, six, no, five seasons before that where your high in touchdowns was seven.

[Mike Wright]

What's his average touchdowns per year?

[Jason Moore]

With Jaden Daniels, that would be. It's a clean 13.0. It's not even a decimal.

[Mike Wright]

Yeah, I feel. I don't think 13 is going to be there, but I think double digits is.

[Jason Moore]

And yeah, I wouldn't put him at double digits.

[Andy Holloway]

You also added, you also added Debo Samuel to the roster. So you know, they were desperately looking for a wide receiver too.

[Jason Moore]

They're talking about pass catching, running backs, like we need to. Was that them?

[Andy Holloway]

Yeah, yeah, that was them. Which I felt was a little disrespectful.

[Jason Moore]

For to Mr. Eckler.

[Andy Holloway]

Yes.

[Jason Moore]

Yeah. So they're like that position will be upgraded and used a bit more. Just, it's. Well then is he going to catch.

[Mike Wright]

Half of the ADP flex? I mean, he's not high. He's a third round pick.

[Jason Moore]

I think it's. I like it. Wide receiver 16. That. I'll take that.

[Mike Wright]

And he was the wide receiver five last year. So he comes in at 15 for us. 16 Evans 17.

[Andy Holloway]

D.J.

[Mike Wright]

Moore, 18. Devonte Adams tied with number 18, Marvin Harrison Jr. And Garrett Wilson at 20 to round that out. Just giving you some more names.

[Jason Moore]

Oh, real quick. My last point that I wanted to make on lad McConkey was, I'm sorry.

[Mike Wright]

Your time has expired.

[Jason Moore]

I do not yield.

[Mike Wright]

Okay, I'm not listening. Go on.

[Jason Moore]

Wide receivers who break out as a rookie and so in their first year they finished as a top 24 guy. Statistically speaking by ADP, those are like the best bets in fantasy football. And we have three of them. But the other two guys, their ADPs are absolutely juice because it's Malik Neighbors and Brian Thomas like he lads the only one sitting right there in that sweet spot of. I think that he can outproduce a top 24.

[Mike Wright]

Is that what you said?

[Jason Moore]

Yeah. If you finish as a top 24.

[Mike Wright]

As a rookie, Garrett Wilson says, watch this.

[Jason Moore]

Garrett Wilson, watch this. Garrett Wilson is one of the names that screwed it up.

[Mike Wright]

Of the other names that we didn't mention real briefly. Is there somebody that you can think you could finish in the top 15 for me? I'll throw Marvin Harrison out there. I think that's definitely within the realm of possibilities. Marvin Harrison has double digit touchdown potential. Every year. It should, it should happen.

[Andy Holloway]

He should be top 15. I would throw Rushy Rice out there. I don't want to forget. I know there's suspensions, there's Xavier Worthy. There's.

[Jason Moore]

There was a slight update, but you're.

[Mike Wright]

Keeping it a secret.

[Jason Moore]

No, no, no, no, no. There was a slight update. I can't remember the fella's name. He does all the law stuff on Twitter. I'm sorry, man, I can't remember your name right now. But he was talking about the Rice situation and how. Where the case is being pushed. And in his opinion, Davenport. Yes.

[Mike Wright]

Okay.

[Andy Holloway]

Yeah.

[Jason Moore]

Davenport was saying it's not impossible that this thing gets pushed all the way again through this season and no suspension actually takes place.

[Mike Wright]

If I were to this year, if I were to run into, let's say, a legal situation, how does one push it way off into the future? How might one.

[Jason Moore]

Well, how might want.

[Mike Wright]

Because I could.

[Andy Holloway]

I think you start by being famous.

[Mike Wright]

Yeah.

[Jason Moore]

Wealthy athlete. Okay, that's. That's a great place to start.

[Andy Holloway]

Yeah.

[Mike Wright]

I'm gonna have to play some sports.

[Andy Holloway]

Yeah.

[Mike Wright]

Because like, I think my strategy would be do some, do some bad stuff and then like push it until after I die.

[Andy Holloway]

Oh, nice.

[Mike Wright]

Get. Keep pushing the date.

[Andy Holloway]

Loophole.

[Mike Wright]

Loophole. Yeah, get the court date.

[Jason Moore]

Like just do that and just keep swiping credit cards.

[Andy Holloway]

Oh, so he's just gonna be a master crime machine.

[Jason Moore]

Well, it's not a crime machine. He's just didn't have time to pay it back.

[Mike Wright]

It's just delaying. Delaying.

[Andy Holloway]

I guess I see a swiping that credit card of. I can do it again.

[Mike Wright]

Yeah. I don't know. That's interesting. Mike, did you have a name you wanted to throw out real quick? Oh, maybe you already did and I didn't listen because I had been tuning you out.

[Jason Moore]

It would be Chris Godwin.

[Mike Wright]

You know what? Chris Godwin, wild numbers last year in his games. Probably going to be the most ignored, stupidly ignored player this year.

[Andy Holloway]

I'm just, I'm personally waiting on the injury updates. Obviously he got a bag of money.

[Mike Wright]

That's my update.

[Andy Holloway]

Yeah, yeah, yeah. That was good enough for me. I don't, you know, I don't know if he's ready for camp, ready for week one. So as soon as that happened. Like, if he goes to training camp and he's just healthy there, then he should be. He was the wide receiver, too, on a points per game basis last year. He wasn't good. He was great. So he was.

[Mike Wright]

I was just going to say he was better than Brian Thomas yards after the catch. Like Godwin was.

[Jason Moore]

He was. He was on an unbelievable tear. And before we close, Jason, I have to. Matt has called something out here.

[Mike Wright]

Oh, no. Okay.

[Jason Moore]

Because you were going on your tangent and swipe that card. You've been doing a lot of credit card swiping lately, old man.

[Andy Holloway]

You. You're the one that said swipe. I repeated you, old man.

[Mike Wright]

You know what fell into my dress?

[Jason Moore]

Did I say swipe?

[Andy Holloway]

Tap that card.

[Mike Wright]

I didn't think you were talking about the. The language at all. I thought you were talking about the one person in the studio who actually stole from the company via credit card.

[Andy Holloway]

Oh, man. Okay.

[Jason Moore]

What a great story.

[Andy Holloway]

No, no, no. Here's the thing. Here's the thing. Here's the thing. This story.

[Mike Wright]

Can we get a digital zoom?

[Andy Holloway]

This story is way too good for the end of an episode, so stay tuned. We're putting this in the show docs. Our next episode. He's batting leadoff and you're getting wrecked. You're getting wrecked.

[Mike Wright]

All right, well, I have a story for you. You're gonna have to wait till next week.

[Andy Holloway]

And you're showing up. You're not fired till after that episode. You understand me? Sure.

[Mike Wright]

Oh, man. Next episode. Don't miss it.

[Jason Moore]

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.