Early WR Rankings: 11-24 + Andy's Stache, Buy/Sell - Fantasy Football Podcast

Summary

Fantasy Footballers Podcast Episode Summary

Title: Early WR Rankings: 11-24 + Andy's Stache, Buy/Sell
Release Date: April 14, 2020
Hosts: Andy Holloway, Jason Moore, Mike "The Fantasy Hitman" Wright

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Introduction and Lighthearted Banter ([00:00] - [05:00])

The episode kicks off with the hosts engaging in playful banter about Andy Holloway's newly acquired mustache. Mike Wright humorously attributes Andy's enhanced energy to his facial hair, stating, "Andy gets a fraction of energy when he loses beard" (00:38). The conversation shifts to the origins of the mustache, revealing that Andy grew it in support of a local charity initiative during the pandemic. Andy remarks, "It's kind of the whole thing I think we should all be doing now... and now I have a mustache for at least a month" (02:11).

NFL News and Trades ([05:00] - [16:23])

The trio delves into significant NFL news impacting fantasy football:

• Texans Acquire Brandon Cooks: The Houston Texans traded for wide receiver Brandon Cooks, sending a 2022 fourth-round pick to the Los Angeles Rams in exchange for a second-round pick. Andy expresses skepticism about Cooks' consistency, mentioning, "Brandon Cooks has managed to do mysterious things in the NFL, be seemingly consistently unliked by the team that he's on while producing thousand yard seasons regularly" (05:21). Jason counters by highlighting Cooks' potential with Deshaun Watson, stating, "I believe he is going to be super happy that he's going to have a 1000 yard wide receiver with Deshaun Watson as his quarterback" (10:04).

• Christian McCaffrey's Contract Extension: McCaffrey signs a four-year extension through 2024, making him the highest-paid running back in NFL history at a $16 million per year cap hit. Mike Wright questions the longevity of McCaffrey's production, comparing it to previous running backs like Todd Gurley and David Johnson.

• DeAndre Hopkins and DeAndre Washington Updates: Hopkins has passed his physical, easing some trade concerns. Additionally, the Chiefs signed DeAndre Washington to a one-year deal, bolstering their running back depth.

Jason Moore comments on the uncertainty surrounding the NFL Draft dates, humorously noting discrepancies in their internal calendars versus news outlets.

Buy/Sell Segment: Rams' Brandon Cooks Trade ([11:05] - [15:22])

Presented by Pristine Auction, the Buy/Sell segment focuses on the Rams' recent trade:

• Buy: Andy opts to buy Cooper Kupp and Robert Woods, believing both are top 20 fantasy wide receivers with significant talent. He states, "Cooper cup and Robert woods are two of the more talented wide receivers in football and a good offense" (11:12).

• Sell: The hosts agree that the Rams' shift to a two tight end set diminishes the snap shares for Kupp and Woods, making their top 20 status less likely. Mike Wright expresses doubts, saying, "their running game was better once they were moving to the two tight end sets, the offense just clicked better" (12:15).

Jason Moore adds, "Cooper cup could easily be a top 10 wide receiver with his prowess in the red zone" (14:27), emphasizing the potential upside despite their adjusted rankings.

Early Wide Receiver Rankings (11-24) ([23:12] - [59:56])

The core of the episode revolves around the hosts' early-season wide receiver rankings from 11 to 24, each providing in-depth analysis and differing opinions:

1. Odell Beckham Jr. (16:51 - 27:30)

   • Jason Moore: Moves Beckham up to #10, citing his immense talent despite last year's underperformance. "Odell could do it. He, you know, he could. He could explode, be healthy, and the excuses come off" (25:41).
   • Mike Wright: Highlights Beckham's low catch percentage and reduced yards, questioning consistency. "And there was nothing I could find to point me in a direction for the lack of production that we expected from Beckham" (26:13).
   • Andy Holloway: Acknowledges Beckham's potential to finish strong but remains cautious. "He's one of those guys that you could. He could do it." (28:50).

2. Ty Hilton (#12-16) (29:05 - 36:32)

   • Jason Moore & Mike Wright: Highly bullish on Hilton due to his talent and improved quarterback play under Philip Rivers. "Ty Hilton will have an enormous market share from a competent quarterback with a really good offensive line and a smart head coach." (30:04).
   • Andy Holloway: Agrees with the higher rankings, noting Hilton's underappreciation in the industry. "You have a very talented wide receiver who we bodied last year and parts of the year before because of quarterback play." (30:36).

3. Allen Robinson (#13-19) (32:42 - 36:55)

   • Jason Moore: Places Robinson at #19, questioning the Bears' offensive consistency and projection. "Alan Robinson's a great talent. It's no secret. I don't love the offense and I think his targets were inflated last year." (34:29).
   • Mike Wright: Sees Robinson as a safe top 12 pick, potentially rising if quarterback Nick Foles performs well. "He was giving you a safe PPR baseline with the opportunity to explode." (36:26).

4. Juju Smith Schuster (#14-17) (37:04 - 41:12)

   • Jason Moore: Ranks him at #13, recognizing his talent but concerned about lack of consistent production without Antonio Brown. "Juju could do it. He lies as a potential top 10 wide receiver, but there's risk there." (39:03).
   • Mike Wright: Places Schuster at #14, citing his injuries and inconsistent performance. "He was doing a lot, but he missed four games and was injured, which drastically reduced his impact." (38:38).

5. A.J. Brown (#15-20) (41:12 - 46:40)

   • Jason Moore: Assigns Brown to #15, acknowledging his explosive potential but wary of sustaining high output. "A.J. brown would have to break out in year two and makes year one not look like a breakout." (44:54).
   • Mike Wright: Positions Brown at #17, emphasizing the difficulty in maintaining his rookie year surge. "He had five receptions once and then eight receptions for these big games. Is that really sustainable?" (46:29).

6. Adam Thielen (#16-22) (46:40 - 55:38)

   • Jason Moore: Ranks Thielen at #13, believing in his recovery and target volume despite last year's injuries. "Adam Thielen can return a top 15 wide receiver. I think he's going to be a really good value this year." (49:16).
   • Mike Wright: Also high on Thielen, supporting his potential without needing massive output from Kirk Cousins. "I have him at 13. Adam Thielen was on his way to having a very productive season before his injury." (50:40).
   • Andy Holloway: Slightly less bullish, placing him at #18 due to lingering injuries and past performance issues. "Cousins is a good quarterback. But tell me why I should be more excited about Thielen's potential this year." (47:38).

7. Cortland Sutton (#17-21) (55:38 - 57:07)

   • Jason Moore: Keeps Sutton at #17, valuing his talent but cautious about quarterback play influencing his targets. "If you could tell me that Fitzpatrick was going to play 16 games, I'd probably have Devonte Parker up at wide receiver 12 or so." (56:32).
   • Mike Wright: Supports Sutton’s inclusion based on his past performance and potential with a stable quarterback. "I 100% buy into the talent of Cortland Sutton and now that Drew Locke is pointed at to be the guy." (55:55).
   • Andy Holloway: Positions Sutton at #17, acknowledging his productivity but wary of inconsistent quarterback performance. "Cortland Sutton is getting the respect due there. He's got Drew Locke waiting." (55:38).

8. Stefan Diggs, Keenan Allen, Calvin Ridley, and Julio Jones (#21-24) (57:07 - 59:56)

   • Stefan Diggs: Andy and Mike rank him lower than Jason, who holds him at #14. The hosts discuss the disparity in rankings based on performance expectations versus individual evaluations.
   • Keenan Allen: Positioned at #22, the trio anticipates fluctuating performance influenced by team dynamics and player usage.
   • Calvin Ridley: Consistently ranked at #24 by all hosts, with Mike expressing excitement about Ridley's potential, especially after roster changes. "Calvin Ridley could easily end up much higher with Austin Hooper gone." (58:54).
   • Julio Jones: Discussed alongside Ridley as a top-tier Arizona receiver with high potential for fantasy production.

Conclusion and Wrap-Up ([59:56] - [60:47])

The hosts conclude the episode by reiterating their rankings and encouraging listeners to engage with their content on YouTube and social media. They briefly mention upcoming topics, including quarterbacks and tight ends, and thank their sponsors for supporting the show.

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Notable Quotes:

• Andy Holloway on Mustache: "I feel a little bit smarter. I feel a little bit sharper. I feel a little bit more dangerous. I feel a little bit more creepy." (00:46)

• Jason Moore on Brandon Cooks Trade: "I can't see him not being 1000 yard wide receiver with Deshaun Watson as his quarterback." (10:04)

• Mike Wright on Christian McCaffrey: "The odds are against him, but the odds have probably been against him forever." (17:42)

• Jason Moore on Ty Hilton: "Ty Hilton will have an enormous market share from a competent quarterback with a really good offensive line and a smart head coach." (30:04)

• Jason Moore on Odell Beckham Jr.: "He could explode, be healthy, and the excuses come off." (25:41)

• Mike Wright on Adam Thielen: "Adam Thielen can return a top 15 wide receiver. I think he's going to be a really good value this year." (49:16)

• Jason Moore on A.J. Brown: "It's hard for me to put him there. I mean, you're projecting a lot and you're saying, well, Ryan Tannehill is the savior and that's the reason why the Titans were that good." (44:54)

Final Thoughts

This episode of the Fantasy Footballers podcast provides a comprehensive analysis of early wide receiver rankings, enriched by the hosts' expert opinions and engaging discussions. Whether you're a seasoned fantasy football manager or a newcomer, the insights shared by Andy Holloway, Jason Moore, and Mike Wright offer valuable guidance for enhancing your fantasy roster.

For more detailed discussions and the latest updates, be sure to listen to the full episode and follow the Fantasy Footballers across their various platforms.

Transcript

[Andy Holloway]

Foreign.

[Jason Moore]

Footballers Podcast with your hosts, Andy Holloway, Jason Moore and Mike Wright.

[Andy Holloway]

Welcome in.

[Jason Moore]

Oh, yeah.

[Andy Holloway]

Little extra energy.

[Mike Wright]

Yeah, he's fueled by the mustache.

[Jason Moore]

Beard was slowing you down, man.

[Mike Wright]

Well, it's extra weight. You know, it's like a swimmer, how they get that fraction of a second. Andy gets a fraction of energy when he loses beard.

[Andy Holloway]

I feel. I feel a little bit smarter. I feel a little bit sharper. I feel a little bit more dangerous. I feel a little bit more creepy.

[Jason Moore]

Yeah. I would focus on the last one I have. I've told my children that they can no longer watch spitballers or the footballers because they will fear you.

[Andy Holloway]

Well, yeah. The reaction from your household in particular has been the most creepy focused. Your. Your wife. Jason has texted many times with my wife to let her know how bad it looks.

[Jason Moore]

Yes.

[Andy Holloway]

So I know that not everybody has received this mustache the way I received it. I was joy.

[Jason Moore]

I will say this.

[Mike Wright]

Why would you go out of the.

[Jason Moore]

Way a great mustache like you are truly rocking a mustache.

[Andy Holloway]

Well, I will give a shout out to the foot clan that backed me into this corner I wanted to be in by supporting a charity I put out there on Twitter that was helping in some local communities due to the pandemic. It's kind of the whole thing I think we should all be doing now, which is kind of people always want to know, how do you help? And I'm always like, hey, look to your left and to your right. Look at your local community, the people around you, how you can help them. And so they came out in droves and donated a bunch of money. And now I have a mustache for at least a month.

[Mike Wright]

Oh, a month.

[Andy Holloway]

I mean, at least a month.

[Jason Moore]

A month.

[Andy Holloway]

I think it's going to grow a mustache. Yes, exactly. We have a jam packed, incredible episode of the Fantasy Footballers for you today. You can find us on Twitter @ the FF Ballers. The NFL Draft is like 10 days away from now.

[Mike Wright]

That makes no sense. We had a company meeting this morning and we were talking about the draft because we're planning some stuff, which we will. We'll reveal that when the time is right. But I could not fathom that the draft is next week. Like, I'm. If you ask me what date it is, I would say it's March 25th.

[Andy Holloway]

I agree.

[Mike Wright]

That's where my body calendar is.

[Andy Holloway]

I saw a news station is helping out with a new segment each day called what Day is It?

[Mike Wright]

Yes. Perfect.

[Andy Holloway]

And all they do is tell you what day it is.

[Jason Moore]

March 92nd is today.

[Andy Holloway]

I know it's a weird time, but we have a second wide receiver rankings episode for you today. Some news that took place in the fantasy football world, in the NFL world that we're going to discuss as well. So it's going to be jam packed. Very excited to be with you. Appreciate everybody that supports the show. Reviews over on Apple podcasts, listening on Spotify, Google Podcasts ad free on Stitcher Premium, YouTube, wherever you're listening. Jason, your new incredible segment debuted on our YouTube channel, which is YouTube.com thefantasy footballers to great applause. It is wonderful. It is wonderful. It is five minutes of pure hilarity. And I am so thrilled to have someone as a proxy to eat things I don't want to eat and let me know how they taste.

[Jason Moore]

Yeah, well, I'm the guinea pig. I'm the taste tester. I feel like if we were still in royal times, I would be the one that dies from the poison.

[Andy Holloway]

You would be the one that eats the poison and is fine anyways.

[Jason Moore]

Yeah. And then the king dies. Yeah, I'm king now.

[Andy Holloway]

Yeah.

[Mike Wright]

The poison person gets to be the.

[Jason Moore]

King if they live through the poison. Absolutely.

[Andy Holloway]

That's survival of the fittest. The people would raise him up as the strongest. Oh, that tasted delicious.

[Mike Wright]

Now, have you recorded episode two or is that that's.

[Jason Moore]

I am recording episode two. Hopefully tomorrow it will be as disgusting, if not more so than the first. So we'll see. But yeah, you can subscribe on YouTube and check out Jason eats.

[Andy Holloway]

Yes, absolutely. You need to do that. You will smile, I promise you. The Texans have traded for wide receiver Brandon Cooks. That was the big news over the last few days. They got Brandon Cooks and a 2022 fourth round pick and the Rams get a second round pick. Now, this was not the pick picked up by the Cardinals. Right. This was their pick a little bit further down in the second round. So in the past couple of weeks, they've turned DeAndre Hopkins into Brandon Cooks.

[Jason Moore]

And David Johnson and that slightly upgraded second round because there's been fourth rounders going kind of all over the place. So, you know, you could say what you want about the deal as a total, whether or not it's worth it or not, you know, to trade a superstar for two former really good players. But, you know, the question for fantasy is what does this do for Brandon Cooks? What does this do for Deshaun Watson?

[Andy Holloway]

Yeah, let's start there and then we'll do a buy sell with the RAM side of this equation. But Brandon Cooks, this is his fourth franchise and we didn't see, I mean anybody who had him in fantasy last year was disappointed. Cooks dealt with concussion issues, didn't seem to be a part of the offense when he was on the field. The offense itself had struggled, but Brandon Cooks has managed to do mysterious things in the NFL, be seemingly consistently unliked by the team that he's on while producing thousand yard seasons regularly. So, you know, I can't step back and look at this deal and appropriate the previous value of Brandon Cooks onto the Texans. Too much risk for me. There was a time when I was defending Brandon Cooks because of the production levels, but at this point I am concerned that you're only one year away though.

[Mike Wright]

One year removed from him being a 1200 yard receiver.

[Andy Holloway]

Correct. But it's the, I mean it's the NFL. One year can be a long time for what, what you see of a player on the field. I am just concerned. The Texans have three wide receiver twos and no ones and the ball is going to get distributed all over the place. Where are you guys with Brandon Cooks and where will he be drafted? Will people anoint him as the clear, unadulterated fantasy number one for that team over Will Fuller? Over Stills? Obviously, yeah.

[Jason Moore]

I mean, I think his history as a fantasy wide receiver one will anoint him. You know, Will Fuller has a long history of never, you know, finishing a season and playing a full game, whereas Brandon Cooks has been, you know, a top wide receiver many, many times. The issue here is actually ironically, injury for Brandon Cooks. If you look at last season through those first five games, he was on pace for over 1,000 yards again. And then what happened is he ended up a couple games later getting a concussion, you know, again had, you know, some injury issues when he got back out on the field. And if you look at his snap percentages for the Rams over the last, you know, two years, he was always up in the 90s, 97%, 98, 96. He's just on the field every play. When he got back from injury over the last part of the year, he was on the field 38%, 72%, 59%, 60%. They just said they're basically moving on from him as an every down player. Now, whether that was worry about health.

[Andy Holloway]

But why do that? Yeah, that's what I want to know. Why would you do that?

[Mike Wright]

It was a change in offensive philosophy. They were using two tight end sets. You could look at those. Was that the final five games, Jay?

[Jason Moore]

The final five games? Snap percentages?

[Mike Wright]

Yeah. Yes, because you look at Cooper cup and this the exact same thing. You have Cooper cup who was a 90% snap player. And then those final five games like aka the Tyler Higby explosion, that's when the offense completely changed and even Cooper cup wasn't being used all the time for Brandon. Looking at specifically Brandon Cooks, we're doing our wide receiver two shows. You'll notice that he is not on this show in the rankings, but I have him, you know, at wide receiver 22. Now granted these are not our full projection rankings where we crank those out once the NFL draft has happened. So this is kind of like a. These rankings are confident, a bit of confidence. Looking at, I would rather have this guy over this guy. And it's hard for me to not see Brandon Cooks turning into a top 24 wide receiver. If you want to say the risk of his, of the concussions of the injury situation, that's fine. But I believe they traded a second round pick because they felt like the, they felt like their wide receiver. Obviously they traded away Hopkins, but they felt like Brandon Cooks could fill most of that production. So he will be their de facto number one wide receiver. And I think Brandon Cooks still has something to offer and I can't, I can't see him not being 1000 yard wide receiver with Desean Watson as his quarterback.

[Jason Moore]

Yeah, if you play 16 games, you're probably right.

[Andy Holloway]

If you look at wide receivers since 2015, he's the wide receiver 10 in that span. Basically the same output as Devonte Adams in that span. Obviously Cooks with the bad, you know, 60, number 62 finish this past year. But his track record is good. It just hasn't been with the same team. And anytime you move that move, weirdest move teams, it's tough wide thousand yard.

[Mike Wright]

Wide receivers don't just get traded around the NFL teams. Teams seem very, very willing to trade Brandon Cooks away. And to the point, no one knows why.

[Jason Moore]

He is the second most traded player in NFL history.

[Mike Wright]

And what was that? It was still young Dickerson. Is that what I had read?

[Jason Moore]

Yes. Eric Dickerson is the only player with more career trades. Just, just wait.

[Andy Holloway]

There's still plenty of time. Let's do some buy sell, foreign.

[Jason Moore]

Buy or sell presented by Pristine Auction.

[Andy Holloway]

All right, we're gonna buy, sell. The ram side of this transaction after the Brandon Cooks trade. Buy sell. Both Cooper cup and Robert woods as top 20 fantasy wide receivers in 2020. This trade is in many ways a gift to fantasy owners in terms of projecting and predicting the output on the RAM side of the equation. So I have, I'm buying. I think Cooper cup and Robert woods are both top 20 fantasy wide receivers heading into the new year. I have no idea how the tight end situation is actually going to break down in terms of production for Higby or Everett and what they get out of the backfield. But the one thing I know is that Cooper cup and Robert woods are two of the more talented wide receivers in football and a good offense.

[Mike Wright]

It's. I have them ranked that way. I have Cup 19, Robert woods at 20. But like I said, those Cooper cup snap percentages at the end of the year where he was a 90% guy, but then it was 72, 28, 92, 61, 61 like it. It's seemingly all over the place. And these are in wins and losses too. This is not. You feel like you can figure out what was going on. Except we know that Tyler Higby went from a 54% player to a 91% snapshare player over those final five games. And I believe that the trading of Brandon Cooks kind of solidifies in that this is going to be their plan. They're, they're no LONGER the, the three wide receiver spread it out 90 plus percent of snaps. We're always going to have three wide receivers on the field. We're going to go more to this set. Their running game was, was better once they, when they were moving to the two tight end sets, the offense just clicked better. So I believe it's. Even though I have these guys at 19, 20, I would, I would say the odds are much lower that both of them end the year both in the top 20.

[Jason Moore]

So you know, my rankings would sell this because right now I've got Robert woods at wide receiver 22, which of course I hate because I love Robert woods and he's great. It's sometimes it's not a matter of the player himself, but all the other players out there, some guys that I think are going to have a big year. You know, if you're projecting good things for Cortland Sutton that moves, you know, everybody behind him down a spot. But the, you know, speaking to what you're talking about, Mike, you look at the last five games of the year when that major change happened for the Rams, Robert woods was on the field all the time, you know, 99% of steps. He was basically the one. And then Cooper cup and Brandon Cooks were splitting that spot when it came time for, you know, too wide. And I think this is great news for Cooper cup and I hate my current ranking. I've got him at 20 which we'll get at. And Cooper cup could easily be, you know, a top 10 wide receiver with his prowess in the red zone. I am a huge Cooper cup fan and believer. So you know, I can't wait to stat these guys out and actually see how I think that the entire NFL's projections lay and find where they lay. Right now I've got to sell it based on my, my rankings.

[Andy Holloway]

I'm sure we're going to talk about it exhaustively throughout the summer, but I'm having the hardest time taking that little five game stretch and appropriating it towards the future for the Rams. I mean they three and two in that span. They did what they had to do, but it's hard for me to take that five games. You know, Cooper cup was a 90 plus yard receiver. Robert woods was a 90 plus or sorry, 90 plus reception guy. Both, both players over 90 receptions. I saw going full tight end direction. I'm just, I'm not sold that that five games is going to be a projectable trend for all of 2020.

[Jason Moore]

I think my point is traded a guy away. But even if it is, these two wide receivers will be excellent. I think they're, you know, this says that to me. This, this is indicative that they do want to do that, but they've got the tools to do it with, with woods and Cup. They, they should both eat.

[Andy Holloway]

All right, Any, any thoughts about what Josh Reynolds?

[Jason Moore]

None.

[Andy Holloway]

Okay, that was buy or sell from Pristine auction. Remember pristine auction.com use a registration code Ballers to get a $10 credit. They sell. They have hundreds of daily sports auctions, sports memorabilia auctions. Get some sweet autograph gear from a bunch of different places and use that code ballers to get a $10 credit when you sign up for free at pristineauction.com some news right before we jump back into the early wide receiver rankings. I don't want to linger too long on the news because I want to get through as many wide receivers as we can today. But there was a couple of bits worth mentioning. First, Christian McCaffrey signs a four year contract extension through 2024. That is a $16 million per year cap hit. Highest paid running back in NFL history. I don't think any of us doubt that he's deserving of that kind of money. But are we going to see four years worth of this production level at running back?

[Jason Moore]

Probably not. You don't see it from any great second contract for running backs and they're obviously the guys getting the best contracts are the Best players out there. Didn't happen for Gurley. Didn't happen for David Johnson, Devonta Freeman. They get their big contracts, and that means that about halfway through, they'll probably end. But what is great about this is there's a lot of question, you know, Ja Rule coming in as head coach, is he going to still utilize him as the true workhorse, or is he going to start putting in more? You know, when you pay a guy the most in NFL history, that guy gets the ball the most. I mean.

[Andy Holloway]

Well, I don't think any of us are. What's interesting when you pay a guy is that you face a value proposition two years into the deal of, yes, he, like Gurley. I mean, we said this might be a situation where Gurley is better off and the Rams are better off, but that's all because of financial. I mean, if Gurley was affordable, the Rams probably hold on to Gurley for this year. Right. And get some production out of him. The. The Falcons signed him immediately. So that's where it gets interesting is can he produce at a value of $16 million a couple years into the deal? We'll see. He's a special player. No doubt about it. But it's always the very special players getting these kind of monster deals, and they just don't last very often.

[Mike Wright]

Yeah, yeah, the odds are against him, but the odds have probably been against him forever. But, I mean, back at Stanford, when he was just an absolute workhorse stud, and he's done the exact same thing in the NFL. Every once in a while, you just get a guy and his. Something about the DNA and his body, it just. It just holds up into the NFL grind. I mean, like Emmett Smith, his body just held up more than other guys do. So hopefully that's the guy because they paid him to be that guy.

[Andy Holloway]

Did. Does this contract do anything in a redraft league for you? Does it make any difference whatsoever in the way that you view McCaffrey this year? I mean, we all.

[Mike Wright]

Number one solidifies him at number one.

[Jason Moore]

Yeah, I was gonna say I'd take him at one before the contract, but this just gives me more confidence now.

[Andy Holloway]

You take him at zero.

[Jason Moore]

I start the draft with Christian McCaffrey.

[Andy Holloway]

That's a good plan. I hadn't even thought about that.

[Jason Moore]

Highly recommend.

[Andy Holloway]

DeAndre Hopkins has officially passed his physical.

[Jason Moore]

But he wasn't the one we're worried about. Right?

[Andy Holloway]

Like, no, he's not. David Johnson hasn't passed his physical yet, but we're closer to an actual transaction. Gurley's contracts official. And then the Chiefs did sign DeAndre Washington to a one year deal. Formerly of the Raiders. He is a depth piece. This is a move that to me, once again we're in the same old boat with Damian Williams. So far where you're looking at it like, okay, Washington's going to compete with, you know, the people behind Damian Williams, the running backs behind Damian Williams, not for the starting job.

[Jason Moore]

What's exciting to me about that is Darwin has nothing to do with the Chiefs. It's actually on the Raiders side. You forget, DeAndre Washington had 36 receptions last year. And you know, there's all this talk about getting Josh Jacobs more involved, but then they resign their main pass catching back, Jalen Rashard. Well, look, you know, if Washington's 30 plus receptions were to just migrate over to Josh Jacobs and Jalen Rashard stays every bit as involved in the passing game, then Josh Jacobs is probably a top six back.

[Andy Holloway]

Yeah, yeah. It'll be very interesting having to ride the Damian Williams hype train all the way into.

[Mike Wright]

It's very exciting.

[Andy Holloway]

All right. Before we get into the rest of the wide receiver rankings, very excited to discuss those players. I want to thank today's sponsor. We're talking about simply Safe home security. With all the uncertainty going on in this world, feeling safe at home has never been more important. Which is why I want to talk to you about Simplisafe home security. Longtime friends of the show for very good reason. We've got them at our studio and I can tell you we have been fortunate. We have not had somebody break in and try to steal anything. We have, however, put a picture up on the wall that has fallen down and shattered glass everywhere in the middle of the night. Promise you that the glass break sensor worked from Simplisafe and notified us right away when we when I didn't give al the opportunity to hang it on the wall, I did it myself and that's why it fell. But Simply safe has made it easy to get comprehensive protection for your home. And the cool thing here, you know, look at the times we're in. No technician or salesperson that needs to come and disrupt your house or be a part of this. You don't need to pay any outrageous monthly fees or sign a two year deal. You just order it online and then you get the product sent to you. You can set it up and they're the best. We've been with them forever. So head to simplisafe.com footballers get free shipping and a 60 day money back guarantee that is simply safe.com footballers to make sure and make sure that they know that our show sent you from simply safe. And all of us here, we wish you a very safe season of life in good health.

[Jason Moore]

And we want to thank Omaha Steaks for being so awesome, supporting our show forever and making supporting our stomachs the best way that can be supported by giving us the world's best steaks in a huge variety of of family favorites. You know, without all the franks.

[Andy Holloway]

Give me the franks.

[Jason Moore]

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[Andy Holloway]

Receivers, I assume you'd recommend sending directly to those friends and family as opposed to letting it arrive at your house and you if it arrives at your.

[Mike Wright]

House, it will not.

[Andy Holloway]

That's my make it to their place. It's not going to get there.

[Jason Moore]

Yeah, I think that would be the common sense approach. Or alternatively, you can send it to my house and let me know their address.

[Andy Holloway]

You'll appropriate it.

[Jason Moore]

Yeah, I'm sure I'll take care of it.

[Andy Holloway]

All right, the top 10 from our last episode, Michael Thomas, Julio Jones, Devonte Adams, Tyreek Hill, Deandre Hopkins, Chris Godwin, Kenny Golladay, Mike Evans, amari Cooper and D.J. moore. Rounding out the top 10, number 11, Odell Beckham Jr. 11 on my ranks, 11 on Jason's and 14 on Mike's early season rankings. Odell Beckham Jr. We are years removed from that. Wide receiver 6 wide receiver 5 wide receiver 4 finish 2014 through 2016. Last three years four games played, finished wide receiver 8312 games played. Wide receiver 16. And then last year, played the whole season. Was he banged up? How banged up was he finished at wide receiver 26 on the Browns. So here we are, staring down the great potential. What we know of Odell Beckham Jr. But the circumstances he's in on the Browns last year was a huge disappointment. 74 catches. I feel like we talked about him a lot, but where are you with Odell right now? I mean, it's a surprising thing to not have him in the top 10 at the wide receiver position.

[Jason Moore]

He's. He's the hardest player. You know, we talk a lot about the difference between linear ranking and stating guys out right after the NFL draft, we'll start out every single player in the NFL. He's. He's the biggest mover to me because I have a hard time with him this low. In fact, I moved him today up to 10 over. Over my. My number 11 player because I just. I thought, if I'm going to draft, I'm going to take Odell. It's my confidence in who he is, in his talent. But the reality is he played 16 games last year. Sure, there was an excuse, Maybe he wasn't 100%, but that's part of who Odell is. You know, his injury history. And so, you know, okay, it was a new team, but how many excuses are you going to make? He was there. He had the most targets. He played 16 games, and he was the wide receiver 26. But his name is so big that it's in. His talent is so great. That is really difficult to have him outside of that top 10 at wide receiver. Because when you start talking about the guys we're talking about today, you have to say, well, what is their chance of finishing as, like, the wide receiver one? And pretty much most of them are none. But Odell could do it. He, you know, he could. He could explode, be healthy, and the excuses come off and Baker takes a step forward, and all of a sudden he's a monster. So that's why right now I've, you know, I've got him at number 10.

[Mike Wright]

Yeah, it was the lowest catch percentage of his career. Yards dropped from 88 yards a game down to 65. And a number that I thought was quite gross, you know, looking at real scoring opportunity. Those targets inside the 10 you had Odell Beckham, he had five of them. Here are his teammates. Demetrius Harris had four. Ricky Seals Jones had four. Damien Ratley had four targets inside the 10.

[Andy Holloway]

He was mad. He was mad about it too constantly.

[Mike Wright]

And Jarvis had 11 with like 11. That's the number I expect for. For Odell Beckham. And honestly, my. My analysis right now of Odell Beckham is like, it's a welp. It's a whelp emoji. Like, what happened? I. I don't know. I don't know what happened because I still believe that Odo Beckham is one of the best wide receivers in the NFL. But it's. And I was diving into everything like on. On Baker Mayfield. I'm looking at. Okay, how much time in. In the. In the pocket did. What did Baker have? Was. How accurate was Baker when he was getting the ball out in two and a half seconds or if he was holding on to the ball? I was looking at all of these things and there just was. There was nothing I could find to point me in a direction for the lack of production that we expected from Beckham. He still had 74 and 1,000 yards. But that's not what you were expecting.

[Andy Holloway]

Well, in the disappearing from to week, I mean, he had four games in the, you know, where he was outside the top 12, but in that top 24, two games inside the top 12. And then it was like, you would have been better off starting Ratley. I mean, you just would have been in a better situation.

[Mike Wright]

Right.

[Andy Holloway]

It was so, you know, polar extremes. I think that's what was so shocking is there were games when he would. You'd see them try to force him the ball to start the game. It'd be an end around or a screen and then he'd be gone. And great players just don't disappear like that. Do.

[Jason Moore]

Yeah, no, they don't. And. And here's the problem. Is it.

[Andy Holloway]

Or Coop.

[Mike Wright]

I said Coop.

[Andy Holloway]

Okay. Because Coop is. Yeah, that makes sense.

[Jason Moore]

But here's. Here's the issue is great players don't just disappear. And there's another great player on this team in Jarvis Landry, who has not finished outside the top 20 at wide receiver in the last five years. His finishes are 10, 15, 8, 19 and 13. Last year on the same team with the same Baker with the same getting it out early or holding on to the ball late. So, you know, last year I was constantly making the joke that Odell Beckham is the wide receiver two for the Browns and Jarvis is the wide receiver one. It was a fact in fantasy by the end of the year, you know, and when I look at the linear rankings, that's why I'm saying I can't wait to set these guys out because when I look at linear rankings, I can't get myself to put Jarvis Landry up in this range, and I can't get myself to put Odell Beckham down. But at the same time, that seems statistically foolish.

[Andy Holloway]

Yeah, I mean, I think what you said is the main point with Beckham is there are only a handful of players that you won't be surprised if they somehow finished in the top three. And Beckham's one of those guys that you could. He could do it. I mean, you wouldn't be shocked.

[Jason Moore]

No, no, you'd say. People would say, see, It's Odell Beckham Jr.

[Andy Holloway]

But that can be so deceiving for fantasy owners. And now you have Austin Hooper coming into the equation, too. You don't want to buy anything that hurts Landry more, but, yeah, you don't want to just get sold. The name Ty Hilton comes in at number 12.

[Mike Wright]

We are. We are hot and bothered for Ty.

[Andy Holloway]

I feel like I have somehow betrayed him. Suddenly. I have. We, the three of us are so much higher on Ty Hilton than the industry because I had him up at 16 and I thought I was going to get bias accusations because of the fact he's like one of my favorite players. He's on my Dynasty team. And you guys have him at 11 and 12. You have him in the top 12. And I am. I am tickled. I am enjoying that very, very much. So tell me why you are so bullish, even more bullish than I am.

[Jason Moore]

I mean, it's a simple case, right? You have a very talented wide receiver who we bodied last year and parts of the year before because of quarterback play. And that is what his issue was. He didn't have a quarterback that I felt could get him the ball with regularity, with consistency. But you still saw the flashes of his brilliance on the field. And so Philip Rivers coming over. Yes. Is Philip going to throw some interceptions? You're darn right he is. But at the same time, at the.

[Andy Holloway]

Same time, that's my promise to you.

[Jason Moore]

He can hyper target his wide receiver. One, he made Keenan Allen, you know, a fantasy superstar for several years. And there's not another great option here. You've got, you know, okay, he's going to dump it off to the running backs and Jack Doyle's good. Maybe Paris Campbell will step up. But to me, there is such an enormous gap between all those players and Ty Hilton that Ty Hilton will have an enormous market share from a competent quarterback with a really good offensive line and a smart head coach. That's an offensive, you know, designer extraordinaire. So there's a lot to love here in Ty Hilton. He's not over any kind of age gap or. Or issue where I think, oh, he's, you know, he's 33 years old and he's going to lose it. So to me, he's going to be a value in the draft.

[Andy Holloway]

I was going to say, Mike does that position. Hilton is one of our very early wide receiver values.

[Mike Wright]

Yeah, 100%. And to me, this is last year for Ty Hilton. You have to crumple that thing up and throw it in the garbage, man. Quarterback play that massive injuries wasn't enough. Massive injuries. Just. Just men in black. Flash this thing away from your memory. Ty Hilton is still a good player, and it's. I have the same arguments as Jason. It comes down to Philip Rivers and Philip Rivers, very accurate quarterback. Philip Rivers also willing to go down the field. He went down the field 4% more than Jacoby Brissette. And his adjusted completion percentage down the field is about 6.6percentage points higher than Jacoby. Like Rivers can still get it done. Despite Jason's laments of fantasy crushing him last year, Philip Rivers, I think, still has enough. And Ty Hilton will be the biggest benefactor of the wide receiver core for the Colts.

[Andy Holloway]

Just to give you perspective on our rank compared to the consensus Right now, the ADP for Ty Hilton is the 21st wide receiver off the board. Debo Samuel, Calvin Ridley, DJ Chark, Stefan Diggs, these are all players going ahead.

[Jason Moore]

Debo.

[Andy Holloway]

Debo, yes.

[Jason Moore]

Oh, people are hot and bothered for Debo for sure. But, yeah, I mean, you're naming a bunch of people that you're not sure if they're the one other than Diggs on their team.

[Andy Holloway]

Correct.

[Jason Moore]

Ty Hilton is the clear number one.

[Andy Holloway]

All right. Allen Robinson comes in at 13 on our early consensus wide receiver rankings. Alan Robinson, 19.

[Jason Moore]

Jason 19.

[Andy Holloway]

I've got him at 10. Mike has him at 11. Jason has him at 19. Last year he finished at wide receiver 11. And this is in many ways a similar argument to the Hilton argument. He is the bona fide certifiable target monster once again for these Bears. And last year, 98 receptions, 1147 yards, seven touchdowns on 154 targets. And I don't really see that part of the offense. So Nick Foles, he may be the quarterback. More power to him. Alan Robinson, to me, as a top 10 wide receiver. Again, we've highlighted it. Linear rankings are tough. I mean, you're having to make a decision between multiple players. They're not 19 tough in the same tier. But Jason, Mike has taken issue with your ranking. He's shaking his head at you. He is. I think he's grimacing a little bit.

[Mike Wright]

I can barely contain myself right now. You're going to throw Alan Robinson almost out of the top 20.

[Jason Moore]

Yeah. I mean, look, I think Allen Robinson's great. It's no secret. I think the quarterback play there is terrible. Obviously you had the quarterback play last year and finished well. But remember, there were so many games where the Bears wide receiver core, the tight ends were demolished. Taylor Gabriel was gone. And in those games, Alan Robins had stepped up and just had a monster number of targets.

[Mike Wright]

Is Taylor Gabriel gone?

[Jason Moore]

Yeah, Taylor Gabriel's gone. But Ridley, Ridley's coming into year two. We'll see what they do in the draft. Trey Burton is healthy, so. Yeah.

[Andy Holloway]

Argument.

[Jason Moore]

Yeah. Well, look, they had no tight ends and they want to pass the ball to tight ends. Look, you just brought up the people who got red zone targets right in. You know, for the Browns. Those people still get targets that take it away from Alan Robinson. I think what you saw last year was peak Allen Robinson at 11 because he was exactly what you hope for. 154 targets. If that comes down, you know, and you know, and then midway through the season there's quarterback controversy and Nick Foles comes in. Does he do the same targeting? I think there's risk here. And so to me, I think Alan Robinson's a great talent. I don't love the offense and I think his targets were inflated last year. So that's why I've got him at Mike.

[Andy Holloway]

Are you comfortable with Alan Robinson as your wide receiver one if you went running back early?

[Mike Wright]

Yes.

[Jason Moore]

Yeah.

[Mike Wright]

Assuming that I made those decisions earlier. Yeah, I would. I mean, I don't think Alan Robinson has top five because of the quarterback play, but I think he will make it into the wide receiver one category because he is a great wide receiver. Last year, the third highest target share for all wide receivers. I don't think that's going away. 13 of the 16 games he had five or more receptions. So he was giving you a safe PPR baseline with the opportunity to explode. I'm assuming this is. And this is just me. I'm assuming that Nick Foles will be the quarterback for the Chicago Bears. I. And I also believe that's an upgrade over Trubisky. I'm not going to say it's a leaps and bounds better, but we have seen Nick Foles have electric seasons. So maybe. Look, if A Nick Foles electric season hits on and Alan Robinson is still the number one. Then I guess top five is in the realm of possibilities.

[Andy Holloway]

But he feels just like a safe.

[Mike Wright]

He is. He feels very, very safe to be a top 12 guy. To me.

[Jason Moore]

Yeah. This isn't an anti Alan Robinson take on.

[Mike Wright]

Yes it is, Jason.

[Jason Moore]

I would be super happy to have him as my wide receiver two on a team. I don't. I don't want him as a wide receiver one. I just don't think the offense is going to be prolific enough to make him stand out. You know, you've got Anthony Miller. They paid a lot of money to Jimmy Graham as well. I know that we scoff at that but they obviously don't. They want him involved and they think is an important part.

[Mike Wright]

So did the packers and I scoffed then.

[Jason Moore]

Yeah, well. And he got a lot of targets so you know, he shouldn't have but it happened.

[Andy Holloway]

Juju Smith Schuster comes in at 14.

[Jason Moore]

Yeah.

[Andy Holloway]

With you know, a cloud. A cloud over juju and this offense right now we all have them about the same spot. It was. It was not good. I do not feel as though, you know, we've discussed this quite a bit. I can hear the grimaces. You can. Or the deep size. I didn't think you were going to get a great year out of juju last year without Antonio Brown. That, that viewpoint, that opinion did not have an opportunity to be validated due to the quarterback play or at least I don't think it did. You're. I'm welcome. Okay. Just in case you wanted to give it to me. I was just going to take.

[Mike Wright]

But.

[Andy Holloway]

But it didn't. Between the quarterback play and, you know, the struggles that we saw, his injuries. That being said, we still haven't seen juju Smith Schuster go put up a monster season without Antonio Brown. That fact remains. We haven't seen it. He's young. Last year only played 12 games. Wasn't pretty. I'm not willing to give him the complete, you know, throw the whole season away, but pretty close to it for an opportunity at that age when he had 166 targets in 2018 finishes the wide receiver nine. I feel so comfortable with him at 14. That feels like the right number for juju.

[Jason Moore]

Yeah, it does. I mean I've got him at 13. I hate it because I think he's got the talent to be, you know, Certainly a top 10 wide receiver in the league. But while. While I agree with you, Andy, you throw last season away, I mean you lose Big Ben and The backups weren't serviceable. The backups were horrific. They, you know, they went to the backup of the backup because the backup was that bad, and then they went.

[Mike Wright]

To the backup, but then, and then they had to go back to the backup, to the backup.

[Jason Moore]

Yeah, it was, it was a, it was a mess situation that you throw out. But here's the parts of it that you can't. You know, you've got the strainer on the bathtub that's not letting everything go away. You drain most of it out. But left in that strainer is an old rubber ducky injured Big Ben with still no backup quarterback behind him. And that's risk that has to be factored in because here's what I'm confident in. If Big Ben goes down, juju sucks, because that's what happened.

[Andy Holloway]

It's a fact, my friend.

[Jason Moore]

Yeah. So I look, Big Ben's out there, he's slinging the ball. I think juju is going to be a great wide receiver. If you get him around wide receiver 14, where we've got him ranked, I think you're going to be super happy. But there's risk there. I was a believer last year, Andy, you weren't. I was a believer he could do it without Antonio Brown and that he would, you know, his talent on the field. I don't think any of the three of us have ever watched him and felt like he wasn't a great player. I mean, I, I think about comparing him to how we look at AJ Brown this last year and you just watch him on the field and you say as a man among boys and he, he's, he's dominant out there. That's how I saw juju until this last year. And, you know, and if we're throwing this last year out, then, you know, I think he's a good.

[Mike Wright]

See him that way.

[Andy Holloway]

Yeah, I just never, I didn't see, I didn't see a world where, going into last year where juju is going to somehow beat those target totals in the production that he had. I thought we had seen kind of the ceiling type of numbers from juju that season. That was my concern. And he obviously does a lot. You know, he was doing a lot that first year from the slot, short distance, take it and take it and go. He's a burner, though. I mean, he, he does get loose for big plays. I think 14 is the right spot for him because of the inherent risk and the fact that, you know, what does this team want to do? Yes, there's stupid Rumors about whether he walks or wants too much money. But Deontay Johnson's a pretty good player. They brought an Eric Ebron to compete in the goal line arena. So, you know, juju is not the only option down there. It's going to be a very interesting season for that offense.

[Mike Wright]

Yeah, I don't have much to contribute. That's. That's different. Other than saying I think Deontay Johnson really helps Juju. Smith Schuster. I think that Johnson will emerge as a. As a very, very good wide receiver in the NFL and maybe JuJu is just one of those players. Maybe he has to have someone on the other side of the field and can't. Can't really become that number one that it looked like he was trending to become. So I'm very happy that Deontay is there. I think that helps next year.

[Jason Moore]

Well, Juju ran, you know, 66% of the routes from the slot, which was up from the previous two years. So if there is a solid outside receiver, that speaks to your point of helping Juju.

[Andy Holloway]

Sorry, go ahead.

[Jason Moore]

No, I mean, that was it. Take, you know, take the top off the defense to open things up underneath juju.

[Andy Holloway]

Deontay Johnson had four weeks last year inside the top 10 at the wide receiver position. So it'll be very interesting to see his emergence. And what it does, that's the most.

[Mike Wright]

Disappointing thing for Juju is it wasn't that Deontay was great for fantasy.

[Andy Holloway]

Juju had one and they both had the same quarterback issues on the year. And I know juju got hurt late, but, you know, that's something that's very. Juju did not demand the targets from bad quarterbacks that we thought he might because they're sure. But Deontay Johnson could.

[Jason Moore]

Well, when you're stupid, you do dumb things. They were bad and they should have thrown it to juju more. But juju missed four games and was injured on, you know, coming back and left the game in week 11. So, you know, it's really hard to know in the beginning of the year, first eight weeks he had, several of his games were absolutely fine.

[Andy Holloway]

A.J. brown, number 15 on our list. 12 for me, 15 for Jason, 17 for Mike. Obviously a monster from week 12 on last year, 6th, 1st, 8th, 4th, 4 top 10 finishes in the last six weeks. He is a beast on the field. He has the inherent risk that we brought up in our running back episode about Derek Henry and the fact that if things go completely right for this team, sometimes that means Ryan Tannehill and Insulfacto his wide receiver options are going to have lower production games. They're going to disappear at times. Happened a little bit in the playoffs, low passing volume. But I don't think any of us are going to sit here and debate the talent of A.J. brown. It's just a matter of what are we going to get. What percentage of those last six weeks is going to be the normal for A.J. brown?

[Jason Moore]

Well, it's, it's certainly not going to be the same percentage that he was getting those last six weeks where every single, you know, game or 80% of them were just behemoth performances. I think what, you know, the reason I brought up AJ Brown when I was talking about juju is because it had had the same feel in their rookie years where you just look and you say, this guy is extremely talented. He's, he's a special player out there and his time is, is clearly going to come as a, as a superstar, you know, so A.J. brown, I think is going to be the clear number one coming into the year. He was not that. This season you had Corey Davis. I remember Mike and I constantly lamenting through the season about Tajie Sharp eating into the snap percentages of AJ Brown. He is gone now. And so I think the opportunity is there for A.J. brown to be a wide receiver. 1. I think in most drafts you're going to have to draft him there. You know, we've got him at 15. I don't think he will, I don't think he'll be there because I don't.

[Mike Wright]

Think he'll be there for the 15th wide receiver.

[Jason Moore]

I agree. I think there's going to be an owner in every league that's going to take the shot that this beast of a man in his rookie year breaks out in year two and makes year one not look like a breakout. But it's hard for me to put him there. You know, in his rookie year, he only had 52 receptions. So, you know, you're projecting a lot and you're saying, well, Ryan Tannehill is the savior and that's the reason why the Titans were that good. But we brought this up in the quarterback show. The efficiency of that Tennessee offense in the red zone was outlandish. You could say, oh, that's good. They showed that they're, they're good, but it's just impossible. You know, one field goal inside the red zone since Ryan Tannehill took over and everything else scoring wise was a touchdown.

[Mike Wright]

Yeah, I have him at 17 and this, because this is just a confidence thing. Of the reception total of when A.J. brown went on his tear. He had five receptions once and then eight receptions for these big games. And that's not to say those the other games weren't gigantic. He's just doing it on three and four receptions and over the course of a year. Is that really sustainable or was this. Did they just take everyone by surprise? Because when, when they made the change to Ryan Tannehill, how long did it take defenses to catch up? Like sometimes, like teams aren't prepared for this new quarterback and they. So they didn't know the tendencies of Tannehill on that team. I think defenses will be more prepared next year.

[Andy Holloway]

Yeah, it'll be, you know, if Henry runs the way he's run, play action passing and AJ Brown being able to go from nothing to the number three on the week is going to happen from time to time.

[Mike Wright]

Yeah, it will.

[Andy Holloway]

At 16, Adam Thielen. I'm so kind of meh about Adam Thielen that it just, he just feels like he's there in my rankings with, with very little confidence and conviction. I don't think I'm, I'm not bullish on this passing game. Diggs helps Thielen a lot, in my opinion. And losing him is going to be very interesting. You know, I believe they're going to continue to run the football, but I don't have Cousins very high. I don't have Thielen very high. I've got him down at 18. And that's more of just respect for what we saw in 2018 when he had 113 receptions, 1300 yards, nine touchdowns. But that feels like a long time ago. When you talk about the lingering injuries, last year's disappointing performances, I'm just kind of. He's there as the one because he's the one on the Vikings offense. And I think, you know, Cousins is a good quarterback. But tell me why I should be more excited about Thielen's potential this year.

[Mike Wright]

So I'll jump in because I am the highest. I have him at 13. Adam Thielen officially played in 10 games, but when you actually look at snaps and breaking things down, I mean, he played the first six weeks, then he got hurt right away in week seven. And I know he played. He forced his way back on the field after returning from the injury and just he was not Adam Thielen. You could see it including a goose egg in Week 16. But up until that point, so in those first five point, whatever, 5.2 games, he had nearly 400 yards and six touchdowns in that time. Like Adam Thielen was on his way to having a very, very productive season being a high level wide receiver too. And it's, it's completely evaporated because of the injury. And on top of that, trying to get back from injury and being very, very disappointing. So I still have faith that Adam Thielen can return a top 15 wide receiver. I don't need massive output from Kirk Cousins like Thielen will. I would project Thielen to be a good fantasy wide receiver and Kirk Cousins to be a below average fantasy quarterback. I agree that Diggs does help, but I don't think that Adam Thielen can't get it done without Stefan Diggs. Like you, when Adam Thielen was having those the two years ago when Adam Thielen's first half of the, of the year was just absolute bananas. Like that's not all just because of Stefan Diggs. That's because Adam Thielen's out there getting open and catching hard passes.

[Jason Moore]

Yeah, I love Adam Thielen this year for where he's going to be in the draft. People, you know, he got injured. You know, the Vikings don't want to throw the ball, they want to run the ball. All these things going to push him down. He's played, you know, he's been available for 16 games his entire career until this last year. So I don't think this is someone that you can look at and say, oh, he's, you know, is he going to be able to stay on the field? He always has until this last year. But he was injured and so that's going to, that's going to push him down. The reality is he's a great wide receiver.

[Andy Holloway]

Didn't you guys bring up though, like the back half of the year before when he had his super huge breakout. That was kind of the concern coming into last year.

[Mike Wright]

Sure.

[Andy Holloway]

Was what level of receiver you're really going to get.

[Jason Moore]

Yeah. And I guess the way that I see it is when you had both of those guys. Yeah, Diggs helps Thielen on an efficiency level. But I don't think that, you know, taking Diggs out, Thielen is going to get a ton of targets. You're talking about a player who with, with Diggs there had 142 targets. 153 targets. I can't imagine if he plays 16 games, him having fewer than 150 targets when he's like the only show in town. So if his efficiency drops but he gets 150 targets you're talking about a top wide receiver in fantasy, and this is a pretty good offense. So, you know, I'm, I'm, I'm all about the value on Adam Thielen this season.

[Andy Holloway]

Yeah, it'll be very interesting to see Thielen ended up. Yeah, I guess. I mean, those first five weeks, it was looking a lot better than we expected. From week nine of the year before, he only had like one top 10 finish, so it had been a while. But, yeah, I mean, he should be heavily targeted if he can stay healthy. It seems like he's very safe.

[Jason Moore]

He was a top 10 wide receiver in 2017, a top 10 wide receiver in 2018, injured last year, and now he's the only show in town. So to me, I think he's going to be a really good value this year.

[Andy Holloway]

And it's a bit more complicated. Hilton or Thielen is your one.

[Jason Moore]

I think the upside is juicier with Theon. It's more exciting, but actually more confidence in targets. I feel like it's the only. Those guys are really close to me, despite being five, you know, linear ranks apart.

[Mike Wright]

I'll say. And it's very looking at narrative, trying to get inside of someone's head. But they didn't have to trade Stefan Diggs like he was under contract for a very, very long time. They could have kept him there.

[Andy Holloway]

They were contractually obligated to trade him after he tweeted 50 anonymous tweets. That was part of his vague booking. If you book 50 times, you have to be traded.

[Mike Wright]

Was that the Antonio Brown that he set? That number? But my point being the team clearly felt comfortable moving ahead with Adam Thielen and then whoever they're going to add in during the draft as well.

[Andy Holloway]

Cortland Sutton is 17, Cooper Cup 18, Devonte Parker 19, Robert woods at 20. So two of those four names we've talked about at length, Cooper cup and Robert Woods 2. We have not. Devonte Parker. Everybody trying to, I believe, just hedge here like, you had a great season. You had a great season. You're not outing us. You're not willing to anoint and give a permanent place place in the upper echelon of wide receivers. So he sits here at 19 and look, that's the reasonable approach. If you get Devonte Parker from last year, this is the wrong spot for him. If you get the devonte Parker of the remainder of his career or anything close to that, you know, this is too generous. So last year, though, 72 for 1202 and 9 passed the film test, passed the eye test, looked like a great wide receiver. Will we have Fitzpatrick for the whole season? Will you have two up for part of the year? Will you have somebody else?

[Jason Moore]

Yeah, I mean the whole hedge here to me is the quarterback. If you, if you could tell, tell me that Fitzpatrick was going to play 16 games, I'd probably have Devonte Parker up at wide receiver 12 or so he was, he was dominant. And some of that there's questions. You know, Preston Williams went down and obviously Devonte Parker, Mike Kosicki, they, they had a lot more action coming their way once Preston Williams went down. But Ryan Fitzpatrick is going to sling the ball. You know, he's got an offensive coordinator now that he's been with on two different teams multiple years that has allowed Fitzpatrick to just go nuts. So in a draft, you know, I've got him ranked 17 on a season long viewpoint, but in a draft I would probably draft him higher than this ranking because I care far more about the beginning of years for players come draft day. My roster looks so different as the year goes on. And if Devonte Parker comes out with four or five hot fire games, I'm probably going to move them and capitalize on that. Assuming that there will be a quarterback change and obviously it's important to remember.

[Andy Holloway]

There'S no guarantee that Fitzpatrick getting the first five games does anything for you. Fantasy wise. We have been down this road with ryan Fitzpatrick Probably 10 actual times. We've been there where Decker and Marshall were drafted in the upper echelon of fantasy drafts and Fitzpatrick submarine their seasons. We've had. He's better when he surprises you. He's never seems to be the quarterback you need when you expect it. That's the way it seems. Fitzpatrick.

[Mike Wright]

Yeah, that's a fair assessment.

[Jason Moore]

He did multiple years in a row with Decker and B. Marsh.

[Andy Holloway]

Not really, no.

[Mike Wright]

Was it multiple?

[Andy Holloway]

It was one year. It was one good year. Yes, because it was so awesome.

[Mike Wright]

You remember it.

[Andy Holloway]

Fitzpatrick would not be on all these teams if he was the quarterback that he looked like during parts of last year.

[Jason Moore]

Well, and that's why we're saying we assume he's going to be replaced because he's like a more is replaced.

[Andy Holloway]

He's a more likable Jameis Winston. That's what he is.

[Jason Moore]

Yeah.

[Andy Holloway]

And he has carte blanche. I don't want to over. I mean Cortland Sutton at 17 getting the respect due there. He's got Drew Locke 72 for over 1106 last year on 125 targets going into year three finished at wide receiver 19 last year 17 feels pretty good. Going beyond. Go ahead.

[Mike Wright]

It's the this is buying into Cortland Sutton because you his production very, very small sample of course, but his production was actually down when Drew Locke was the was the quarterback and he was still getting eight targets a game. So he was and he was still seeing a very, very similar target share in the offense.

[Andy Holloway]

But that's an ugly finish of the season.

[Mike Wright]

Yeah, overall the production went way down and which is unfortunate but I 100% buy into the talent of Cortland Sutton and now that Drew Locke is pointed at to be the guy and could spend the off season and the training camp of being the main quarterback, will Drew Locke improve to the point that we get the early season?

[Jason Moore]

Sutton, I've got Cortland Sutton. I've loved the talent forever. He was my number one wide receiver when he came out and he's shown on the NFL that he's great. But looking at these rankings, go watch.

[Mike Wright]

If you want to have some fun right now while you're stuck at home, go watch Cortland Sutton highlights from last year because there are some preposterous catches in there.

[Jason Moore]

When you're a great wide receiver with bad quarterback play, your highlights are unbelievable because you're you now have the opportunity to make catches that should not be, you know what's thrown your way. So yes, I agree and I love Sutton. But looking at these rankings, you know I've got Cup feels a little behind me. Sutton, there's no way that I'm taking Cortland Sutton over Cooper cup in a draft in reality. So that that's got to change on my own rankings.

[Andy Holloway]

The only thing I got out of that whole narrative there was that Joe Flacco is elite because that's the games that don't forget Brandon Williams. Sutton was so valuable going beyond the top 20. I'm just going to read them to you as we close out today's show. 21 We've talked about him recently, Stefan Diggs. That is ridiculously due to Jason placed Diggs upon, I believe some sort of pedestal in his home. Mike and I both have him more in the mid-20s. Jason has him at 14, Keenan Allen at 22. We've all moved him down a peg with the Tyrod Taylor circumstance that he's going to be facing DJ Chark at 23. I would put the odds of, you know, when you look at Charcot 23 and Devonte Parker, both either of those guys could beat the other one out to me, this year chart showed so much over the first half of the year. But we'll see Calvin Ridley at 24. Calvin Ridley is at 24 on all three of our rankings.

[Mike Wright]

He, he is really tough. He's one of those players that I'm excited for the. When the actual statistics go in there. So I don't know which player I'm moving up and down. It's just the stats are there. Calvin Ridley could easily end up much higher with Austin Hooper gone.

[Andy Holloway]

Yeah.

[Mike Wright]

And Muhammad Sanu and Mohammed Sanu gone. Like, it's, it's Julio and Calvin Ridley now. Like Hayden Hurst. Yes. He'll fill a need. But those are the, those are the two main guys. And like, who. Is there a pass catching running back on that team right now?

[Jason Moore]

Yes.

[Mike Wright]

Oh, yeah, I forgot they picked up Gurley. My bad.

[Jason Moore]

Yeah. Todd Gurley.

[Andy Holloway]

I thought that was just a dig at Todd Gurley.

[Jason Moore]

That's what I thought too. I was trying to get you back. Like, don't be stupid.

[Mike Wright]

No, I completely had wiped that from my memory. But Ridley and Julio are the main two guys. So Ridley, it won't shock me if he moves up a ton in my rankings.

[Jason Moore]

Historically Speaking, there are four teams every year that have two wide receivers in the top 24 on average. That means, you know, like, both players ended up in the top 24. I can't imagine, you know, Julio and Calvin Ridley are as good a pair as what's out there in the NFL for a team that throws the ball a lot with a, you know, solid quarterback. Yeah, Dallas is there, but I do, I love Calvin ridley here at 24. If you can get him around there, I think he's going to be really.

[Andy Holloway]

Arizona.

[Jason Moore]

Sure. Yes.

[Mike Wright]

Arizona.

[Jason Moore]

I only said too deep though, not three deep.

[Andy Holloway]

I know, I know. All right, that'll do it. For today's episode of the show, I do encourage you. Check us out on YouTube. Check out Jason's new video, the Stash. YouTube.com the Fantasy Footballers. And we'll be back with judge. Are we doing quarterbacks and tight ends on the next episode? Is that right? Oh, yeah. That's an oh yeah from the judge, which means that's what's happening.

[Mike Wright]

He's. That's. He's very excited. That was peak excitement for Brooks.

[Andy Holloway]

Absolutely. So thanks for tuning in, supporting the show. Appreciate you. Thanks for making me have a mustache.

[Mike Wright]

See you next time. Goodbye.

[Jason Moore]

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

[Andy Holloway]

And Foot Clan. A reminder with all the uncertainty in the world, now is the time to protect your home. With Simplisafe there is no technician or salesperson that needs to come to your home. You just order online and set it up yourself. You don't need to pay any outrageous monthly fees or sign a two year contract and your home will be protected 247 with emergency dispatch all for just 50 cents a day. Head to simplisafe.com Footballers get free shipping and a 60 day money back [e-mail] Footballers.