Fantasy Football Podcast 2016 - Ameer Abdullah Interview, "Bland" Players, News & Notes

Summary

Fantasy Footballers Podcast 2016 - Ameer Abdullah Interview, "Bland" Players, News & Notes

Release Date: June 30, 2016

---

Introduction

In this engaging episode of the Fantasy Footballers Podcast, hosts Andy Holloway, Jason Moore, and Mike "The Fantasy Hitman" Wright dive deep into the intricacies of the NFL offseason, featuring a special interview with Detroit Lions running back Ameer Abdullah. The trio breaks down various fantasy football topics, analyzes "bland" players, and offers valuable insights to help listeners dominate their leagues.

Quick Question Segment

The podcast kicks off with a fun Quick Question of the Day, challenging listeners to guess which wide receiver led the league with an average of 13.1 yards per touch on passes targeted between 1 and 5 yards. After some spirited guesses—including Larry Fitzgerald, Amari Cooper, and Antonio Brown—the correct answer is revealed as Ty Hilton at [07:42]. This segment not only entertains but also tests the hosts' and listeners' fantasy football knowledge.

News and Notes

Andrew Luck's Historic Contract

At [08:31], the hosts discuss Andrew Luck's new six-year, $140 million contract, making him the highest-paid player in NFL history at the time. Jason Moore highlights the significance of this deal, emphasizing the potential fantasy implications of Luck pairing with Ty Hilton for the next five years.

Quote:
Jason Moore [08:43]: "What's interesting is that now Ty Hilton and Andrew Luck are both locked up for the next five years. That combination is going to be something we need to invest in in the fantasy realm."

Doug Baldwin's Extension with the Seahawks

The Seahawks' decision to sign Doug Baldwin to a four-year, $46 million extension through 2020 is analyzed at [10:05]. The hosts view this move as a positive sign for the team's offensive stability and Baldwin's role as a key playmaker.

Quote:
Mike Wright [10:21]: "That's a good sign for Baldwin. It's something where the team, the coach, said they want to continue the momentum from the second half of the year."

Austin Seferian-Jenkins' Attitude Issues

At [11:52], the discussion shifts to Austin Seferian-Jenkins and the potential impact of his attitude on his career. The hosts express concerns about his conduct, particularly his behavior on social media, which could jeopardize his position with the team.

Marcus Mariota Emphasizes the Running Game

Marcus Mariota's commitment to a run-heavy offense is explored at [14:31]. The quarterback's statement about handing the ball off 40 times underscores a strategic shift that could influence fantasy football strategies, especially concerning running back workloads.

Quote:
Jason Moore [14:31]: "Marcus Mariota told Mike Malarkey he would be willing to hand the ball off 40 times if that's what it took to win."

Ezekiel Elliott's Potential Workload

At [15:37], Ezekiel Elliott is projected to receive between 280 to 300 carries this season. The hosts debate his draft position, with Mike Wright advocating for a top-three selection if the workload is guaranteed.

Quote:
Mike Wright [16:15]: "If you're going to get 300 carries, you're going to be the best running back in the league."

Robert Griffin III and Josh McCown Situation

The offseason moves of Robert Griffin III (RG3) and the Cleveland Browns' preference for Josh McCown over RG3 are dissected at [17:30]. The hosts discuss the potential improvements McCown could bring to the Browns' offense, impacting fantasy value.

Sponsor Highlights

Pristine Auction and Casper are prominently featured as sponsors. Mike Wright enthusiastically promotes Pristine Auction's authentic memorabilia, while Jason Moore introduces Casper's affordable, high-quality mattresses with a special discount code for listeners.

Ameer Abdullah Interview

A significant portion of the episode is dedicated to an insightful interview with Ameer Abdullah, who shares his experiences and perspectives as a rookie in the NFL.

Rookie Season Recap

Abdullah reflects on his first year, highlighting the challenges and learning experiences. He emphasizes the importance of seeking mentorship and continuous improvement.

Quote:
Ameer Abdullah [22:34]: "The thing I probably struggled with the most was just the lack of help at times. You got to find a mentor, you got to find someone who shares the same values."

Teammates' Work Ethic

The running back praises teammates like Quinnen Williams and Matthew Stafford for their exceptional work ethic, which has motivated him to elevate his own performance.

Quote:
Ameer Abdullah [25:55]: "Matthew Stafford... is the leader of our team and our offense, he definitely owns it now. He's always working on quick releases, always working on the playbook."

Fantasy Football Implications

Abdullah discusses the dynamic nature of the Lions' offense and the potential for multiple players to emerge as key contributors, offering fantasy managers diverse options.

Charity Football Camp

Committed to giving back, Abdullah announces his upcoming charity football camps for the Boys and Girls Clubs of Lincoln and Omaha, aiming to inspire young athletes.

Quote:
Ameer Abdullah [32:57]: "We have a youth charity football camp for the Boys and Girls Clubs of Lincoln in Omaha on July 9th and July 10th."

Historical Interests

Abdullah shares his fascination with the Roaring Twenties, citing it as a period of significant innovation and industrial growth.

Quote:
Ameer Abdullah [32:57]: "I would definitely say the Roaring Twenties just because there was a lot of innovation, a lot of new things being brought to the forefront."

Analyzing "Bland" Players

The hosts transition to evaluating players who may not immediately excite fantasy managers but hold potential value.

Larry Fitzgerald's Resurgence

Despite a dip in the Cardinals' performance, Larry Fitzgerald remains a reliable fantasy asset. The hosts argue against overlooking him, especially considering his playoff performance where he amassed 100 yards and two touchdowns.

Quote:
Mike Wright [36:05]: "There is no joy bell. There's no old busted bell trying to eat into his workload. So I just think Abdullah is being overlooked right now. And I would take him over Gordon."

Emmanuel Sanders' Consistency

Emmanuel Sanders is scrutinized for his dependency on quarterback play. While his production remains solid, the inconsistency of his quarterbacks raises concerns about his fantasy reliability.

Jordan Matthews' Potential

Jordan Matthews is highlighted as an enigma with consistent touchdown production but limited target depth. The hosts debate his value, considering his role in the Eagles' offense and potential target volume with improved quarterback play.

Quote:
Andy Holloway [35:36]: "Players that maybe don't get you too excited, they don't get you too down, but you're kind of hoping maybe someone else drafts them when you're hitting your middle rounds."

Jonathan Stewart's Value Amid Injuries

Jonathan Stewart is praised for his high usage and consistent performance when healthy. Despite injury concerns, his ability to rack up carries and touchdowns makes him a valuable asset in fantasy leagues.

Quote:
Mike Wright [59:36]: "Jonathan Stewart... has been limited throughout the team's off-season with lingering problems."

Closing Remarks

As the episode wraps up, the hosts briefly mention upcoming shows, increased podcast frequency in July, and express gratitude to their listeners and sponsors. They also highlight their awards, reinforcing their status as a leading fantasy football podcast community.

Notable Quotes

• Ameer Abdullah on Improvement:
  "[26:03] Amir Abdullah: 'You can always improve it. Always improving, no matter how hard of a worker you are.'”

• Jason Moore on Fantasy Strategy:
  "[53:53] Jason Moore: 'It's all about the carries to me. It's just about, does he get enough?'"

• Andy Holloway on Player Selection:
  "[51:27] Andy Holloway: 'I would take Jordan Matthews over those guys. He's done it for two years. He's on the upswing, not the downswing of his career.'"

Final Thoughts

This episode of the Fantasy Footballers Podcast offers a comprehensive exploration of key NFL offseason developments, player evaluations, and strategic fantasy football advice. The in-depth interview with Ameer Abdullah provides unique insights into the mindset and work ethic of a professional athlete, while the analysis of "bland" players equips fantasy managers with the knowledge to unearth hidden gems and avoid common drafting pitfalls.

---

Note: Timestamps correspond to the podcast's transcript for reference.

Transcript

[Andy Holloway]

Hey, Foot Clan, before we start today's episode, gotta make a public service announcement for all of you champions out there, which there are probably a lot of. Well, you've got your draft coming up soon, and you need to go to fantasyjocks.com and get yourself a championship ring or a championship belt like I have and bring it to your draft. Or you can even get a cool draft board for your draft. And fancy jocks is so awesome. They are giving you 10% off with the code BALLERS. Head over to fantasyjocks.com now and get your sweet stuff.

[Amir Abdullah]

Hey, this is Abdullah, running back from the Detroit Lions, and you listen to the Fantasy Footballers Podcast.

[Andy Holloway]

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

[Jason Moore]

Choo choo.

[Mike Wright]

I am hyped. I'm taking over the intro. That's how hyped I am. Hey, everybody. Hey, Foot Clan. This is Mike. I'm joined, as always, by Andy and Jason. We got Amir Abdullah on the show today, people.

[Andy Holloway]

All aboard.

[Jason Moore]

That's really the headline here. You wouldn't even let me speak. You're so excited.

[Mike Wright]

I am. I am hyped. And I will tell you, spoiler alert. He is a tremendous man.

[Jason Moore]

I agree with that.

[Andy Holloway]

It was great.

[Jason Moore]

Yeah. We got a special guest on the show, NFL running back, Detroit Lion Amir Abdullah. The Abdullah Express himself joining the fantasy footballers on the podcast today. Today is Thursday, June 30th. We are almost at July, which will mean three shows a week for this podcast. So buckle up, get ready. That means people can go to work three days a week now. Before, they were just driving in twice. Now they can go in three days because they have, you know, three podcasts to listen to. So that's the headline story here. We got Amir Abdullah on the show. We're going to talk to him, ask his opinion about one of the most kind of confusing teams to evaluate from a fantasy perspective this offseason. The Detroit Lions bringing in Marvin Jones, losing Calvin Johnson, losing Joy Bell, Jim Bob Cooter changing offensive systems to the Jim Bob Cooter system. So we'll talk about that. I've got a good quick question. I want to see if these guys can deduce the answer to this question. And they don't know the answer.

[Mike Wright]

I need my Sherlock cap.

[Jason Moore]

I'm looking. You got to do that. And what else? We're talking about some. What we're calling bland options. Bland options in the draft. Players that you know, when you hear their name, you're not saying, ooh, you're not saying, ah, you're saying, yeah, maybe you just don't know. Maybe you just don't want to draft them. They're just bland, you know, but they got to be on your plate because everybody needs a few bland options on the plate, don't they?

[Mike Wright]

Yeah. Well, we're gonna bring them up and we'll see. We'll talk through them and see if.

[Jason Moore]

That normally means something's healthy, if it's bland, if it's bland.

[Mike Wright]

And we'll just. We'll talk through them, see if maybe you need. Maybe we talk you into that person, maybe we talk you out of them. We'll see how it goes.

[Andy Holloway]

The truth is, this is a really difficult episode. The reason these guys are bland is because it's hard to know, but this is a super important episode. These guys are those guys that you've gotta. You got to kind of get right at your draft and nobody knows for sure. So the more information you can grab, the better. You are off on draft day. Super important.

[Jason Moore]

Yeah. I think these are some of those players where we can push through some myths that exist out there about these type of guys. I think that's the key to this show. And like I said, we're talking to Amir Abdullah here very shortly. I want to remind everybody about what's coming up on jointhefoot.com our community of listeners. You guys, we've got a giveaway that is coming up. We do this every month. If you are a supporter of this podcast, we're an independent show. You guys out there are the absolute best listeners in the world. And we have a number of things that we give away each and every month to those that Support us on jointhefoot.com we do it at the beginning of the month. So you want to get in right now so that you have a chance to win some of this stuff. We've got an autographed tie, Rod Taylor jersey from Pristine Auction. We have got a bunch of gear from fantasy jocks, so you don't want to miss that. We're talking trophies, live draft boards, rings, all of that type of thing. We've got a Ladarius Green autographed photo. Right. We've got photo.

[Mike Wright]

Yes.

[Jason Moore]

We have a Jeff Fisher photo. We are giving away. That is a giveaway slash punishment.

[Andy Holloway]

Yeah, sorry, you won the Jeff Fisher.

[Jason Moore]

Sorry, you won the Jeff Fisher signed picture. We've got an Antonio Brown McFarlane that we're giving away. We've got a pin it set. We've got pictures and stickers and foot clan gear.

[Mike Wright]

Oh, My.

[Jason Moore]

Yeah, I'm just saying there's a lot of great stuff and we're trying to add to that every month so that more and more people win. So we had a lot of winners last week. Make sure you follow us on Twitter @ the FF Ballers. Check us out on YouTube. Subscribe to the channel on there. If you do that right now, you can see the Jordan Reed jersey we have now up in the office, which is very cool, very nice. Got that from Pristine Auction. And check out the website, the fantasy footballers.com. we are putting up new articles almost daily now, talking fantasy football as we lead up to the season. It's great. Free resources. It doesn't cost you a thing. You just go to the website and we've got those coming in every day. You can get all the podcasts you can find, all the places that were distributed. It's really easy. It's called a website.

[Mike Wright]

You may have heard of it.

[Jason Moore]

You may have heard of it. So what else do we have going on? Is there anything else you guys want to mention before we get into it?

[Mike Wright]

No. Let's go to the quick question.

[Jason Moore]

Oh, that's right. I almost skipped it. Quick question of the day, guys. You have to try to guess this player. All right, this player averaged. And I think this is perfect because this. Well, I won't say anything else. This player averaged 13.1 yards per touch when they were targeted between 1 and 5 yards.

[Mike Wright]

Okay, so a short pass.

[Jason Moore]

So short passes. That became an average of 13.1 yards. This is number one in the league numbers. Okay, this is the. The wide receiver that averaged 13.1 yards per touch when targeted between 1 and 5 yards. I think the answer will surprise you, therefore, I think you will get it wrong. But we'll see. Well, maybe that sets you up for a better guess.

[Andy Holloway]

It's.

[Mike Wright]

It has set me up that I'm gonna go with an educated guess because it's a guy we were talking about earlier around the studio, and we were kind of surprised at his numbers of yards after the catch. That's old man Strength himself. Larry Fitzgerald had a monster year. Over 1200 yards, was tremendous with his yards after the catch. So that's going to be my guess.

[Jason Moore]

Your guess is Larry.

[Andy Holloway]

Larry Fitzgerald is, I think, a good guess. I like it. You know, my brain goes to like, of course, the Julio Jones type that had great yards after catch, gets involved in the screen game. But since you say that, it's somebody I'm going to be surprised about. I'm going to go focused on Guys that were in the screen game and succeeded there. I'm debating between Amari Cooper and Golden Tate. Trying to feel out those names as I say them to see if you have any reactions. I don't think I got either of them.

[Jason Moore]

So I'm going to.

[Andy Holloway]

Final answer. Final answer. Then I'm going to go Antonio Brown.

[Jason Moore]

You're both wrong. Now let me say this, Larry, we looked this up. He had I think the fifth most yards after the catch. That might surprise some people.

[Mike Wright]

Was it or seven? It was top ten, that's for sure.

[Jason Moore]

Yeah, I think we would have to. Fifth in the league. Seventh somewhere around there. You're wrong. It's not Larry and it's not any of the three names that Jason threw out there. Who's a guy that you think is more of a deep threat?

[Mike Wright]

Tori Smith.

[Jason Moore]

That's a good guess.

[Mike Wright]

Desean Jackson.

[Jason Moore]

That's a good guess. I'm gonna give you the answer here. If you're guessing out there, it's Ty Hilton. What? Ty Hilton is the answer.

[Mike Wright]

That makes so much sense. With Matt Hasselback being the noodle man.

[Andy Holloway]

Every pass had to be under five yards.

[Jason Moore]

Well, I illustrate this.

[Mike Wright]

That was him gunning it.

[Jason Moore]

You talk about some of the myths that everything you got that you pushed through. Yeah, that was his bomb, his deep bomb. He had a five yarder out of the gate there. Well, it's hard to throw when you're multiple getting beat up but I think that's interesting. You know, Ty Hilton is a guy who can get it done.

[Mike Wright]

Yeah.

[Jason Moore]

That he was up there in yards after the catch because of this number right here as well. So Ty Hilton, somebody that I am rising on. I'm going to throw that out there. And so we're going to get into the news here and talk about some of. Well, we'll talk about his, his quarterback.

[Andy Holloway]

News and notes from around the league.

[Jason Moore]

So let's start there. Let's get into the news about Andrew Luck. He just signed a new six year, 140 million dollar contract which makes him the highest paid player in NFL history.

[Mike Wright]

That's a lot of keys.

[Jason Moore]

$87 million guaranteed I believe. I believe Joe Flacco was setting the mark before Luck signed that deal at 22 million a year, something like that. What's interesting is that now Ty Hilton and Andrew Luck are both locked up for the next five years. That combination is going to be something we need to I think invest in in the fantasy realm. We need to believe in Ty. I gave you reasons to believe he's not just a field stretcher. He's an all around guy. I still think the touchdowns are going to be the hard thing to count on from a week to week basis. But I think Ty Hilton is one of those guys that is underrated.

[Andy Holloway]

Ty Hilton is underrated. And you know where I find he is the most underrated right now for any of our dynasty players out there? He's 26 and there is this, this influx of 22 and 23 year old wide receivers that make Ty Hilton to the dynasty community seem like an old man. But Ty Hilton is not old. At 26 as a wide receiver locked up for five years with Andrew Luck, I think that he presents a value for where he's going right now because people see, I mean, it's just crazy to me that Ty Hilton would be considered old to the point where he's dropped in dynasty drafts.

[Jason Moore]

People do not consider Antonio Brown too old in Dynasty drafts. People do not consider Julio Jones too old in Dynasty drafts.

[Andy Holloway]

Right. So Ty Hilton a good value right now, I think, in all formats. Really.

[Jason Moore]

All right. The Seahawks have signed Doug Baldwin to a four year, $46 million extension through 2020 because we're apparently near the 20s in the, in the 2000s.

[Mike Wright]

Yeah, that's good. We get eye to eye.

[Jason Moore]

It's impressive. 2020. Barbara Walters.

[Mike Wright]

Yeah, I was going to go with.

[Jason Moore]

Connie Chung, but you could also go with Hugh Downs.

[Mike Wright]

We've lost all the young people listening to the show.

[Jason Moore]

We do dominate the 2020 trivia questions, apparently.

[Andy Holloway]

I have never once watched 2020 in my life.

[Mike Wright]

I don't think I've watched it either.

[Jason Moore]

Sure, sure. Mr. Connie Chung.

[Mike Wright]

Oh, that was actually. Oh, I don't know, move on. I'm very confused.

[Jason Moore]

Doug Baldwin signs a contract, they're committing to him. I think we said this on the Join the Foot mailbag show. It's got to be a good sign for Baldwin. It's, it's something where the team, the coach, you said they want to continue the momentum from the second half of the year. That was a passing offense. That was an efficient offense. That was the Doug Baldwin on fire offense.

[Andy Holloway]

You paid him a long term deal here to be your number one. You paid him like one. Not necessarily. Not.

[Mike Wright]

That's a tier two contract.

[Jason Moore]

That is a same money Larry Fitzgerald's making right now.

[Andy Holloway]

Right?

[Mike Wright]

Well, but Larry Fitzgerald is coming to the end of his career. I mean, Baldwin's in his prime.

[Jason Moore]

I think if you polled people, they'd say that that is more money, not less than what they expected Baldwin to Sign for.

[Andy Holloway]

Right, Exactly.

[Jason Moore]

They paid him to be a bad deal.

[Andy Holloway]

Used not to just be, you know, an average slot receiver that he had been for most of his career. He got paid certainly not, you know, to the level of a Julio Jones. Obviously not because he doesn't deserve that, you know. But this shows that he is an integral part of what they want to do. Not just now, but over the next few years. They locked it up. I think it's a good sign and I think people are getting a little crazy with Tyler Lockett Love.

[Jason Moore]

Roy Cummings of today's big skin believes Austin Sevierian Jenkins attitude has potentially cost. Has the potential to cost him his job.

[Mike Wright]

Really?

[Jason Moore]

So.

[Mike Wright]

Yeah, really.

[Jason Moore]

That's just a little.

[Mike Wright]

You go and you start insulting people's mothers on Twitter and you think you got an attitude problem.

[Andy Holloway]

That was after you got cut from practice.

[Jason Moore]

I'm just adding to the flames that.

[Mike Wright]

Oh yeah, you know. Yep.

[Jason Moore]

We need to stay away.

[Mike Wright]

Come on asj.

[Andy Holloway]

Too many tight end options to put any value to me in a draft. On asj.

[Jason Moore]

A lot of hype around CJ pro size running back, third round running back for the Seahawks. He has missed most of the offseason with a hip issue.

[Andy Holloway]

That's something you have to monitor, right? I mean when a rookie misses kick camp and misses, you know, you've seen it before with either rookies or new guys that come in as you know, signed as a free agent when they miss like say training camp on that first year. Look, you got to move on with your game plan. Make sure that your team is ready. They drafted enough running backs there. So look, Pete Carroll came out, he said that they envisioned good things for him. I still think he is going to be the third down guy, no problem. But if he doesn't get back, you gotta pay attention to it. You can't ignore these.

[Mike Wright]

Yeah, I still love pro sis concerning or should I call them as some in the community of already referring to CJ goat size.

[Andy Holloway]

Really?

[Jason Moore]

Really. Why do they say that?

[Mike Wright]

Because it's funny, man. I saw better funny.

[Jason Moore]

Some things aren't so funny.

[Mike Wright]

Oh, I think it's incredible.

[Jason Moore]

Like goat as in like greatest.

[Mike Wright]

Yes.

[Jason Moore]

Yeah. It's gonna take me six to eight weeks that maybe appreciate that because he's a rookie.

[Andy Holloway]

The New York CJ pros hype which I thought was much better than Ghost.

[Mike Wright]

That's fair.

[Jason Moore]

All right. The New York Post Paul Schwartz believes Giants running back Andre Williams is complete competing with Orleans Darkwa for one roster spot. What does the back foot look like in New York City.

[Andy Holloway]

I just love this because Orleans Darkwell has been injured.

[Jason Moore]

Yeah, he's got an acl.

[Andy Holloway]

He's got an ACL injury. He's not in camp and he's competing right now as he should be. I mean this, that is a fair competition. Now that's pretty sad.

[Jason Moore]

Andre.

[Mike Wright]

I think they're. I think we opened the season and it's very possible that neither of them are on the roster. And they roll with with Jennings another old man strength version and Perkins.

[Jason Moore]

Marcus Mariota told Mike Malarkey he would be willing to hand the ball off 40 times if that's what it took to win. We've talked a lot about the opportunities for the wide receivers in Tennessee and the problems with, well, maybe Mariota's consistency from a attempts standpoint. What does this say about the running backs?

[Mike Wright]

Well, I love it. I appreciate that. Mario, to being a team player. Good, strong team leader. Not good for my fantasy team.

[Jason Moore]

So good for demarco Murray.

[Mike Wright]

Yeah. And for the exotic smash mouth system. Maybe we get a huge rushing attempt from Murray and Henry.

[Andy Holloway]

Is Mariota saying, hey, if we're going to win we got to hand it off a lot? Look, I would hand it off a lot if it meant we actually won.

[Mike Wright]

I think he's a good guy.

[Jason Moore]

No, I think you were just bringing up the point of hey, are you okay? If you run an offense that's based around the running game.

[Andy Holloway]

Yeah, I guess it's just not news though because what quarterback would say like.

[Jason Moore]

No, it's news to me. It's news to me because it confirms that they're going to maintain a run first. This is exactly the situation you had in Seattle where it was the Marshawn lynch smash mouth offense, limited opportunities for Russell Wilson to throw the ball. You're, you're.

[Andy Holloway]

What's funny is that Malarkey, if you go back and look at his history, he's actually been a passing heavy play caller which is so weird because you don't associate that with him. But the stats don't lie and that's. So I'm curious to see what the running versus passing splits gonna be with Malarkey this season.

[Jason Moore]

All right. David Hellman of the Dallas Cowboys website says Ezekiel Elliott might feel with 280 to 300 carries if you could guarantee 300 carries. Where does he belong in the draft?

[Mike Wright]

Top, probably top three.

[Andy Holloway]

Yeah, absolutely.

[Mike Wright]

If you're going to get 300 carries, you're going to be the best running back in the league.

[Jason Moore]

Do you remember off the top of your Head. The amount of carries that DeMarco Murray.

[Mike Wright]

Had, I'm going to go 326 carries.

[Jason Moore]

During his big year.

[Andy Holloway]

I know he was almost at 400 touches.

[Mike Wright]

He was. If you include the playoffs, he was over 400. I'm trying, but I think he was just over 300.

[Jason Moore]

Now you're making me second guess it, because the. The number I had was 394.

[Mike Wright]

Was it?

[Jason Moore]

Yeah. That might have been total.

[Andy Holloway]

I think that's total touch.

[Jason Moore]

That might have been total judges, but the willingness for that team to put the ball into the hands of the running back, run the offense that they want to run. No, he had 392 attempts on the ground.

[Mike Wright]

Oh, I didn't know I was right. Wow.

[Jason Moore]

I was Samsonite.392, and he averaged 4.7. That's a good year.

[Mike Wright]

So still, 300 carries would be fantastic, and I would take that every month.

[Andy Holloway]

You know, honestly, I think if he gets up to 250, I view him differently right now, and I think DMC being injured helps that because it's going to give, you know, pretty much all the first team reps to Ezekiel Elliott, which we weren't seeing originally in their OTAs. So I think I need to bump Elliott up a little bit. I have him much lower than most people, and I've only got him listed with 200 carries. We have to keep in mind that this news is not saying, oh, this is gonna happen. This is, you know, this is a.

[Mike Wright]

Beat writer trying stoking the flames.

[Andy Holloway]

Yeah. So, I mean, what. What do you. How many carries do you think he's gonna get, Andy?

[Jason Moore]

275 carries.

[Andy Holloway]

All right, Mike.

[Mike Wright]

I think I have him around the 250 area. I have him as a top six running back. I love him.

[Andy Holloway]

Probably gonna put him right under the 250.

[Jason Moore]

Quite the reason this is worth talking about is because he's a rookie and he's coming into the league, and you want to know what the workload is going to be for a guy like that? There's a lot of people drafting him with that expectation. All right, last bit of news here. I want to talk about. Not a lot of people talking about it, but a lot of people not impressed with Robert Griffin III's offseason. Not doing. Not having any flashy plays. Not, you know, this. This writer said, underwhelming. You had the Cleveland Browns former general manager Ray Farmer say that Josh McCown's a much better fit. Josh McCown's had a good off season. What do we make of this, because I think the offense is better with Josh McCown. I think Duke Johnson's better with Josh McCown.

[Mike Wright]

I think this is a really interesting. That the. It was the assumption. Every assumption was that Griffin would be the starter. And I think that's the assumption almost every single time when Josh McCown is the other option. Everyone just, oh, well, it's not going to be a McCown. It's going to be Manziel. It won't be. You can't go to McCown. And McCown for the last few years has been steady. I mean, he's been good. Not great, but he's been good. He's been fine. And we actually. We talk about this with Brandon. Marianne Lee from Pro Football Focus and her fantasy football. We're talking to her on Tuesday's show, and she digs into this and has a really good take on it. But I think this is something that people need to track. It improves the skill players. I actually like Coleman more if I know that Josh McCown is the guy.

[Jason Moore]

Okay.

[Andy Holloway]

McCown would actually be a great streamer at that point.

[Jason Moore]

Yeah, well, McCown likes to throw the ball. I mean, he likes to go deep. So is he a better fit for Hugh Jackson? That's the question. Will he throw the ball? As much as we've seen him in the past with Hugh Jackson, that'll depend on the proficiency of Isaiah Crowell and Duke Johnson in that game.

[Mike Wright]

And so we're going to talk to my man, the Abdullah Express. I am so excited for this. But before we do, we want to talk again to the Foot Clan about Pristine Oxford because they are the best memorabilia site on the Web. Look, Foot Clan. I'm not ashamed to admit it. I check every single day to see what they have. I'm looking at the deals I can get, the auctions I can get in the other day. I am now the proud owner of a Mike Evans, a signed Mike Evans, and a signed AJ Green autograph jersey. They're about to go up on the wall in my office at home. And I worry never about things being authentic because they work with only the best authenticators on the web. And look, this is a place where you can go and you can put your bid in. If you don't win, you lose. Nothing you can get in there. It's all free to sign up for a new account.

[Jason Moore]

You're a sniper.

[Mike Wright]

I am a sniper.

[Jason Moore]

You try to be.

[Mike Wright]

I'm very deadly.

[Andy Holloway]

It's on there every day.

[Mike Wright]

Look, so what we need you to do, Foot Clan, go To Pristine Auction. Make a new account, tell them the fantasy footballer sent you. Check it out. I promise, I promise you will find something that you need to have for your office. So that's pristineauction.com P R I S T I N E auction.com and we.

[Jason Moore]

Also want to thank another sponsor of today's show, Casper. Thank you for supporting the show, Casper. Casper is a sleep brand that created one perfect mattress sold directly to consumers. They eliminate that commission driven inflated price mattress that you've been stuck with before. And I can tell you from like traveling this past week, man, does your sleep matter? You spend so much time sleeping and so little time thinking about the way that you sleep. Because mattresses, you know, they can cost well over $1,500, but Casper mattresses cost 500 bucks. For a twin size mattress.

[Andy Holloway]

For a good one.

[Jason Moore]

For a good mattress. This is an obsessively engineered mattress at a shockingly fair price. It combines springy latex and supportive memory foam to create an award winning sleep surface with just the right sink and just the right bounce. You have to have the right bounce. Time magazine actually named it one of the best inventions of 2015, which makes you assured of its quality. It's now the most awarded mattress of the decade and you get free shipping and returns to US and Canada. You get to try it for 100 nights. If you don't like it, they just come and pick it up. Made in America, high quality mattress. And you can get $50 towards any mattress purchased on the website by visiting www.casper.com footballers and use the offer code Footballers today. So check that out. Your sleep matters, my friends. It matters.

[Andy Holloway]

You talking to me?

[Mike Wright]

The fantasy footballers are extremely pleased to bring up on one of the favorites of the show, Amir Abdullah, running back from the Detroit Lions. He's got a charity football camp that he's running for the boys and girls club up in Lincoln and omaha, Nebraska on July 9th and July. And there's also one on July 10th. How are you doing today, Amir?

[Amir Abdullah]

I'm doing well. How are you guys doing?

[Mike Wright]

Oh, we're doing great, man. Thank you so much for sharing some time with us. You are, like I said, you are a favorite of the show. Loved you coming out of college. Loved the landing spot. And so how was the off season? Been treating you? What have you been working on?

[Amir Abdullah]

The off season's been pretty good, man. It's been all right. Can't complain too much. Had a little shoulder surgeon off season, so I've been bouncing back from that. But I'M almost back to full health, so that's good news. So what I've been working on is just explosive movements, flexibility, and overall, just trying to make myself the best athlete as possible.

[Mike Wright]

That's great, man. And we. What we love hearing from athletes. We love to hear that draft day story. So did you have one? You know what, where were you? Who were you with? What was going on? What do you remember about that day.

[Amir Abdullah]

Other than the whirlwind of emotions that were going on throughout the house? What I remember was I was in Birmingham, Alabama, with all my family. I'm the youngest of nine. I have six sisters, two brothers. So I was with them, so they were able to share their moment with me. So that was definitely special for me. But it was kind of stressful, you know, watching the draft going on, not knowing exactly where I was going to be picked. You know, you always come in with an idea of maybe where you may land, but only God knows the faith, really. So when my name was finally called, I was just relieved, really relieved because I knew how hard I'd worked to get to that point and all the sacrifices I made to get me to that day. So all the emotions came out clearly. What's happening for me? My loved ones were with me and no better way to share, in my opinion.

[Mike Wright]

Oh, man, it's unbelievable that you got to share that moment. That must have been just incredible. So speaking incredible, so speaking for your rookie season, can you give us. Give us, like, your high, what was the best moment of your rookie year? And then follow that up with what was the most difficult thing about transitioning into the NFL?

[Amir Abdullah]

The best moments of my rookie season, I mean, I enjoyed it all, really. I enjoyed the whole season. Was just learning, just learning so much. And even the bad things that I learned were ended up being good things for me in the long run. You know, just learning with each game, every game felt like a season for me.

[Mike Wright]

Right.

[Amir Abdullah]

That's probably the best thing for me in my rookie year, which is learning so much. And now I feel so much more confident in myself as a player heading into this next year. And the thing I probably struggled with the most was just the lack of help at times. Unless you go out to seek it, you know, a lot of guys won't just. You can't just sit back and expect someone to help you. You know, of course you have your great teammates like Clover Quinn and Calvin Johnson and Matthew Stanford will come to you if they see you struggling. But if you want help, you got to find out you got to find a mentor, you got to find someone who you feel like shares the same values as you and shares the same work ethic and the same passion for the game and ask them for help, you know, and kind of humble yourself. So that's something that I learned really quick.

[Andy Holloway]

Yeah, I think that's super important. This is Jason, by the way. Who would you say? So you've been. You've been there now in the NFL for a year with the Lions. Who are the guys that are still on the team right now that you say, man, these guys are the best work ethic in, you know, for your offense? Who are those guys with the best work ethic for the Lions?

[Amir Abdullah]

No doubt off the top, not even offensively. I'm going to start off a little defensively. Is Glover. Quinn McQuin, for sure. He's an absolute pro. He approaches every day to compete at the very best because that's how it is in the National Football League. It's probably the most competitive job market there is. Every day, someone new is coming in. They're working guys out constantly. And if you're not at your best, it could be the day that that next guy passes you up and not Golden. Excuse me, Golden. Quinn definitely takes that to heart with each and every day that comes. Even in his. I think it's his seventh or eighth year. Let us know. He approaches every day. He's still with that same attitude offensively, no doubt. Matthew Stafford, you know, obviously, he's the leader of our team and our offense, and he definitely owns it now. Every day. He's the first one at the facilities. He's always working on quick releases, always working on the playbook and suggesting little things to Jim Bob, the officer coordinator, that may make our offense run even more efficiently than it is right now. That's the true mark of a great quarterback, in my opinion. Someone who's innovative, someone who's going to lead the team, someone who takes the game with a. Seriously.

[Andy Holloway]

Yeah, for sure. Has your work ethic changed at all? Did you come in just thinking, you know, look, I've already got it. Has it improved or does it need to improve? What do you think about yours through your first year?

[Amir Abdullah]

I feel like you can always improve it. Always improving, no matter how hard of a worker you are. And I've always been a hard worker. But the standard has definitely risen when you're in the same huddle with people like Riley Reef, who really work at their craft, honestly, like I said, Matthew Stafford, people like Theo Reddick, who's really good at what he does, and he constantly works at what he does. It's not just a natural thing with him. He works at that stuff. And I could just go on and on. Even Marvin Jones, he just gathered. But you can see what kind of work ethic he is and why he just got that nice contract because how diligent of a worker he is. So then sharing the same huddle with those guys, your attitude and your motor has to kind of shift to meet that standard.

[Jason Moore]

Yeah, that's the great thing about having teammates that can drive you to do that. This is Andy, by the way. We're a fantasy football show. Is that something that you guys are aware of in Detroit? Is that something that you've followed or know guys that play fantasy football?

[Amir Abdullah]

Yeah, I played a little bit in college every other year being a guy that's going to have a team. But since I've joined the NFL, it's something I've kind of removed myself from a little bit just because I'm playing now and it's hard to keep up with it.

[Jason Moore]

Yeah, that makes a lot of sense. One of the things that, you know, our listeners, they have their fantasy team, so that's how a lot of players know you when you came out of college. One of the things that fantasy owners fear a lot of the times is change. And, and I think we can both admit there's been a lot of change in Detroit over the last year with Calvin's retirement, with the new offensive coordinator, with Marvin Jones, like you just mentioned, coming in to join the team. What types of things should fantasy owners be excited about from this new offense? From you specifically and from some of your teammates.

[Amir Abdullah]

Everyone on the team is a playmaker in my opinion. You know, so definitely anyone who's available to be picked place for Detroit Lions offense is a dynamic player, obviously. Golden Tate, Mama Jones, myself, Theo Matthew, Ebron Pepper, even our line man. It's like T.J. jones. There's a lot of guys who can make a lot of plays just with the ball in their hands. And right now we're all just working to be that guy. Everybody's working to be the guy, you know, so who will come out and prove themselves to be that go to guy, which Calvin was. But you know, the good thing, the good problem we are right now is everyone can be that guy right now. So.

[Jason Moore]

So go.

[Amir Abdullah]

All players could be looking for all.

[Jason Moore]

Lions in the first round. All Lions all the time. So let me ask you this one quick question on that with your backfield mate, Steven Ridley, Zach Zinner, what's it like working with those guys? What have you seen from them so far and what are you looking forward to?

[Amir Abdullah]

Looking forward to a fun running back room. Everybody's fairly young, everyone's real vibrant. Everyone likes to joke and have fun and lighten the mood. So that's the first thing I'm looking forward to this season is a stress free running back room. You know, sometimes it's more stressful. Last time, last year points and this year the game comes easier if you're less stressed. So that's the first thing. Obviously guys are just going to hold up days at the moment. You know, when is your time to go in to shine, go in to make plays? You know, I don't feel like it should ever be any drop off anytime soon. Else is in the game. We should come in obviously knowing what we need to do and execute at a high level.

[Andy Holloway]

So with four backs there, you know, you've all got different talents. Who's the best goal line back there? Who do you think? That third down guy. Is it you? Is it? Who is it?

[Amir Abdullah]

I mean, I feel like all of them are too. I mean we haven't even put on pass yet, so I can't say best go line back. And we just went through OTAs and minicamp. But I mean all of us are capable of doing it and at some point this season, all of us want to be asked to do it.

[Mike Wright]

Yeah, well, we, we affectionately refer to you as the Abdullah Express on this show. So our listeners and, and us in particular, we want to see you get fueled up with a bunch of touches. So let him know that that's what the people want. The people want Abdullah getting the ball in his hands. So we'll get you out of here. We'll get you out of here on this one. You're a, you were a history major when you were in college. I'm a little bit of a buff. I love the era of the 60s. Andy, over here, our host, he loves the west. The Wild west was there. Do you have a particular time in history that you just are fascinated by?

[Amir Abdullah]

Yeah, I would definitely say the Roaring twenties just because there was a time, there was a lot of innovation, A lot of new things were being brought to the forefront. Just before the 20s you had the conveyor belt which led to the Model T and a lot of things cars on the road. And it all happened so quickly. You know, a lot of stuff this morning, our military advancements and if you just look through a decade of time, of America's history That probably was the most industrial, innovative time in American history, in my opinion. So I thought it was really interesting looking at how far we've come now, but where it started, which is in my opinion, in the roaring 20s.

[Mike Wright]

Oh, that's great.

[Jason Moore]

No fantasy football in the 20s, though.

[Andy Holloway]

Hey, we're almost to the new roaring 20s, so.

[Jason Moore]

That's right.

[Andy Holloway]

We'll see what happens.

[Amir Abdullah]

All right, so that's crazy.

[Mike Wright]

So, Amir, tell the, tell the people about this charity football camp that you got going on.

[Amir Abdullah]

Yeah, we have a youth charity football camp for the boys and Girls Clubs of Lincoln in Omaha on the dates of July 9th and July 10th. But we're going to be at Lincoln Titus High school on the July 9th and we're going to be at Bryant High School in Omaha on July 10th and from the time of 10am to 3pm come through. To register, go to my, my Twitter page. You can find me at Twitter Amir Guapo. And the link is in my bio. You can also find my Instagram, same username, Adamir Guapo. That's the pro camp series. He's putting it on for us. It's going to be a great time from the ages of 7 to 18. Boys and girls are welcome. Going to be a great camp charity event for the youth once again. Can't wait to see everyone out there.

[Mike Wright]

Oh, man, we love it. Thank you again so much, Amir. Big, big fans. We're looking forward for a monster season from you. So good luck, my friend.

[Amir Abdullah]

Thank you.

[Andy Holloway]

You know, my favorite part of that interview with Amir Abdullah was basically when you, Andy, you asked him and you said, hey, you know, what should we expect from the offense? And he named these offensive players and he said, myself, Theo. And that was it from the backfield. He just said me and Theo. He see, you know, maybe I'm reading in too much, but it sounded like a two man group there, which would be great.

[Mike Wright]

That's. Yeah, that's very interesting with all the reports coming out saying, you know, Abdullah, they, they want him to succeed. Look, the Lions spent a second round pick on Amir Abdullah. I know that it, the, it seemed a little cold there at the beginning. We're actually going to be talking about Abdullah a little bit later in our, these players where we're just not sure what to think about him. So I'll save that for that time.

[Jason Moore]

All right, we're going to talk about him later. You're saying yes. So I'll get to share my opinions on him.

[Mike Wright]

You, you will be able to share your opinions.

[Jason Moore]

Great guy. Thankfully, he came on the show, think he's a really talented player. And I'm very curious. He's a fun guy to talk about. In the fantasy world, there's, there's not many guys, you know, it was like C.J. spiller. Right, right. Many days ago, where you just see electric. What they. Electric. That's a good word for it. So, all right, let's go ahead and talk about some, what we're calling them bland players. You could describe them a number of different ways. Players that maybe don't get you too excited, they don't get you too down, but you're kind of hoping maybe someone else drafts them when you're hitting your middle rounds, when you're hitting the fourth, fifth and sixth rounds in the draft. But maybe you shouldn't think that way.

[Andy Holloway]

You could also describe it as confusing players, players you just don't know what to do with. I think that that is almost more accurate. It's like, I just don't know. Well, here we are.

[Jason Moore]

Here we are. Let's, let's figure it out. And we talked about him briefly earlier when Mike horribly, unsuccessfully guessed the quick question answer. That's Larry Fitzgerald of the Arizona Cardinals, longtime elite wide receiving option over there, Somebody who came back from the dead, so to speak, last year with 145 targets, 109 catches. Really surprising the fantasy world, especially in the first half of the season. So talk to me about Larry Fitzgerald because there's so much hype. I mean, we've said it on the show. We're guilty.

[Mike Wright]

We are a part of it.

[Jason Moore]

Yes, we're a guilty of it. Because we. Here's the question. We ask about Arizona. Is it John Brown or Michael Floyd? Right.

[Andy Holloway]

Yeah.

[Mike Wright]

And it's what about Larry?

[Jason Moore]

What is Larry out there saying, hey, what about me?

[Mike Wright]

Yeah, and look, here's what Larry did last year. So he was 11th in the league in targets. He tied for fifth in receptions.

[Jason Moore]

That's pretty good.

[Mike Wright]

Yeah, I mean, that's a very high efficiency rate. Ninth in yards, seventh in the league in yards after catch. There's the number we were talking about and tied for 12th in touchdowns. And like Andy said, people, we feel like he was just a monster for the beginning of the season. And then it really fell off and I started diving into this a little bit more and trying to remember, you know, what happened to the Cardinals season. Well, 10 of the first 12 games he was at eight plus targets. Then in the final four games, it dropped to under six. You know, you saw this huge drop off, but you have to remember what did the final three games of Arizona's season look like. You had the Philadelphia game. That was the David Johnson explosion where the team did nothing but said, hey, David Johnson, you know, take us there, we're going to ride your back. And when he had over 200 yards on 200 total yards, the next game, Green Bay, that was the defensive domination where the defense scored twice and the offense had to do very, very little inside of that game. Then next week, Seattle, and that was the. Where the Cardinals didn't have to do anything. The game didn't have to.

[Jason Moore]

They chose not to. It seemed like.

[Mike Wright]

Well, when I say they didn't have to, I'm talking about their overall record. The, it was locked up what was going to happen there. They're two seed and the game, they got behind quickly so they just said they pulled the plug and they said we're not going to play. So it seems like Larry just completely disappeared. But then week one of the playoffs, oh yeah, their first game against Green Bay, Larry erupted, erupted and we remember the 75 yard catch and the touchdown in overtime, you can even take that away. And he still had 100 yards and two touchdowns in that game. So he was fully involved and a monster. So what I'm, what I'm saying and proposing is the final three games were bad for Larry Fitzgerald, but maybe that was just a matter of circumstance and we should stop overlooking Larry.

[Jason Moore]

So where is his current draft position?

[Mike Wright]

As of today he is currently going at 6:03 and that is 6:03. That is after Michael Floyd, but before John Brown.

[Jason Moore]

Okay, so would you take Larry Fitzgerald over Emmanuel Sanders?

[Mike Wright]

Oh man, we're going to talk about.

[Jason Moore]

Him today too, aren't we?

[Mike Wright]

Yeah, we are because Sanders is right in that category of like I would.

[Andy Holloway]

Take Sanders over Fitz personally.

[Jason Moore]

So after all saying all that, does it change the order of the wide receivers in Arizona though for you? Because right now you know, Michael Floyd, Brown, they're both going ahead of him, aren't they? John Brown's going just behind him.

[Mike Wright]

So yeah, in average draft position, Brown is going behind him.

[Jason Moore]

Does that make Arizona like a great fantasy destination for wide receivers but you don't know which one to take?

[Mike Wright]

Yeah, I think that's what it is. And, and maybe we all too badly as fantasy players want there to be the guy and maybe perhaps it will just be an equal dispersion of you will have three solid options, but maybe you don't get a wide receiver one out of the team and you just end up with A bunch of guys in that two range.

[Jason Moore]

Interesting. Where do we have Larry?

[Mike Wright]

I don't have my rankings up. If someone has those up, wants to.

[Jason Moore]

Pull them up, I'll pull them up. I'm just curious where we have him today. In light of those things, I think it's interesting. Sometimes we don't pay attention to the end of the season in both directions. Sometimes a guy plays better at the end, sometimes he plays worse. We have him at 28, 30 and 27, so he's our consensus 27. So I think we've given him the respect maybe more than at large.

[Mike Wright]

Right.

[Jason Moore]

The at large adp.

[Mike Wright]

And even before I dug in and I was trying to really remember and see what happened for his entire season, I just felt like I don't know if I want Larry on my team. But after really, really looking at the numbers and what happened, I do. If I'm in that 6, 7 range and Fitzgerald is on the board, I would have no problem drafting into my team.

[Jason Moore]

Would you take him over Decker? Either of you?

[Andy Holloway]

No.

[Mike Wright]

Well, depends on the quarterback. That's always the answer, right?

[Jason Moore]

They're back to back, which is funny because the name popped into my head before I even looked. Right now they're back to back.

[Mike Wright]

If it's Geno Smith, I will take.

[Jason Moore]

Larry Fitzgerald for 28 and 29.

[Andy Holloway]

You know, the reason that I'm not going to take them is just because there are three guys versus two guys. You bring up the Decker and the Emanuel Sanders. Those guys don't have to share the wealth as much. That's why I like Fitz. But I. Or that's why I prefer the other guys over Fitz. Yes, I'm very greedy. But I will say this just to go to Mike's point, that Fitz is probably being overlooked a little bit during those last three games. You know, I was one of those, look, everybody was a little down in the Arizona Cardinals wide receiver offense or so that's the question. So I went and I looked and said, well, you know, how did the other guys do? The narrative can't just hold true for Larry Fitzgerald, but yet Michael Floyd had a fine game or John Brown had a fine game. But during even those three games. You're exactly right, Mike. I mean, Larry Fitzgerald was ahead of John Brown, who was ahead of Michael Floyd in those games. So it was really just the passing offense and the game flow didn't matter for those games hurt their fantasy seasons. And those were genuinely fluky type games.

[Jason Moore]

The thing about Arizona is they averaged 30.6 points a game. Last season, New York averaged 24. So you're talking about an extra touchdown of availability in an extra 600 something yards to go around. So that's the real gamble that you take with picking a guy in Arizona. You've got the upside and you've got the risk of. Okay, there's three guys in the mix, plus David Johnson.

[Mike Wright]

Oh, all right.

[Jason Moore]

Emmanuel Sanders, I brought him up. We're going to talk about him as well. He's one of those guys right now that is going in those middle rounds like Larry Fitzgerald. And I, I'm the first to admit it. I look at Emmanuel Sanders, I see regression in like total numbers last year. Obviously, when Peyton Manning fails from a fantasy perspective like he did last season, it's easy to do that. But I look at Emmanuel Sanders right now and I say, I don't care if it's Paxton lynch or it's Mark Sanchez or it's some other quarterback that I don't know. Right. I'm just worried about the production level because of the quarterback. Should I be?

[Mike Wright]

And this is what I'll say. So Sanders, 137 targets. That was good for 12th. He was 19th in receptions with. He had 76. He had over 1100 yards and six touchdowns. I mean, he had a good season, but it just didn't feel like it. And I already asked you, I got you guys with this question yesterday. So I'm going to set up the foot clan with this. How many passing touchdowns did Peyton Manning, the great Peyton Manning have last year?

[Andy Holloway]

I will say this. I aimed very, very, very low in my guess because I knew it was terrible.

[Mike Wright]

What was your guess?

[Andy Holloway]

I think it was in the teens.

[Mike Wright]

Yeah, I think you guessed 19.

[Andy Holloway]

I think it was 17.

[Mike Wright]

17 or 19. And the answer is nine. Peyton Manning. That's how bad he was, we think. Oh, man. Yeah, he was really bad. Oh, no, he was the worst. He had nine touchdowns. He was throwing at less than a 60% completion rate. His average is over 65.

[Jason Moore]

You were talking about super bowl champion Peyton Manning.

[Mike Wright]

Yeah, I guess. Sure, that's fine. I'm talking with fantasy numbers here.

[Andy Holloway]

Give me Robert Griffin throwing the ball.

[Mike Wright]

And it was just not good. And there was a lot of Brock Osweiler as well. And. And he had 10 touchdowns and just over 60%. Now, look, if they go with butt fumble Mark Sanchez. The previous two seasons, Sanchez has played in 13 games. In those 13 games, he threw 18 touchdowns and over 64% completion rate. I understand it's a different, completely different offensive scheme, but my point is Sanders still had a great year with awful, awful quarterback play.

[Jason Moore]

So one of the questions I asked around the studio today was are there guys like Emmanuel Sanders this year? Were there guys last year where we looked at them and we had the same kind of bland feelings about them because we didn't. You couldn't see and forecast the upside because you didn't know what the production was actually going to be like at the, at the quarterback position.

[Andy Holloway]

And the answer was yes. And we've already talked about him a little bit, but Eric Decker is a great case study for Emmanuel Sanders coming into last year. Look now with, with kind of our hindsight bias, we think Ryan Fitzpatrick was, was pretty good because he was top 12 quarterback in fantasy. And but coming into last year, it wasn't even supposed to be Ryan Fitzpatrick. It was supposed to be Geno Smith. And that wasn't viewed the way it's viewed now, where it's like, oh, yuck, that was, you know, that was one of the players.

[Jason Moore]

They're sitting out.

[Mike Wright]

They're sitting out because they want Ryan Fitzpatrick back.

[Andy Holloway]

Yeah, exactly. And so Ryan Fitzpatrick was just one of two bad options. Exactly the way right now Mark Sanchez is just one of two bad options. But if Gary Kubiak gets that offense going, you've got that. You've got two wide receivers. You've got really no tight end. Gary Kubiak has always used a pass catching tight end. I know there's some sleeper love out there for some of the guys, but I just don't think they've got the talent there. So it could go to the second wide receiver. My main worry here is just the fact that the history of Gary Kubiak's offenses really do target that number one. I love Demarious Thomas, a guy that's being completely overlooked, but he hasn't always produced a great wide receiver too. That to me is the question with Emmanuel Sanders is will there be enough passing weapons there? Hopefully there's no tight end taken away from Emmanuel Sanders and you can, you can get some good value. He's a great wide receiver.

[Jason Moore]

And that leads into what I was about to say, which is that when you watch the film, Emmanuel Sanders is always open.

[Andy Holloway]

Catches.

[Jason Moore]

He's always open. He's a very, very good wide receiver. It's a matter of are these quarterbacks going to be accurate enough to give him the ball? Because if they are, you'll get the consistency you need from them. If they aren't, you're going to be up and down with Sanders is the way I View it.

[Mike Wright]

And the last thing I was going to say on Sanders is he's going after these guys. Michael Floyd, who. Yes, we like Floyd. We're projecting high, but the best season he's ever had, 65 catches, a little bit over a thousand yard, five touchdowns. He's going behind Allen Hearns, who was 64, barely over 1,010 touchdowns. Emmanuel Sanders has been crushing it the past couple years.

[Jason Moore]

I would take both those guys probably ahead of him.

[Mike Wright]

Would you?

[Andy Holloway]

Oh, I would take Emmanuel Sanders over either.

[Jason Moore]

Okay.

[Andy Holloway]

Definitely over Hearns. Michael Floyd is a question. You're going for upside. The upside is higher with Michael Floyd than it is with Emmanuel Sanders.

[Jason Moore]

But if you're going for upside, that's why Hearns would be the choice. To me.

[Andy Holloway]

No, to me, Hearns.

[Jason Moore]

Because he's young and he's produced at that level, especially from the as in a standard league format.

[Andy Holloway]

Yeah, I guess my view of Hearns is very down. I just don't think he can get that near 10 touchdowns. I think, you know, he might have six touchdowns this year. And if you give him the same numbers he had last year with six, he's not even in our conversation on a regular basis.

[Jason Moore]

All right, let's talk about Jordan Matthews, wide receiver for the Philadelphia Eagles. There were reports of him being on the outside, being worked out in camp. He may still get opportunities there, but he looks like a big slot receiver who basically, here's the number that I pulled up earlier. He was basically targeted at the lowest average depth of target in the league, almost dead last out of all eligible wide receivers. 6.5 yards was the average depth that he was at when he was targeted with. With a pass last year. He's an enigma to me. You talk about a confusing player. Jordan Matthews has, what, eight touchdowns in each of the past two years?

[Mike Wright]

Yeah. And that puts him at. Over the past 12 years or past two years since he's been in, that's tied for 12th most in the league for wide receivers.

[Jason Moore]

Yeah.

[Mike Wright]

Oh, you got me.

[Jason Moore]

He was the garbage.

[Mike Wright]

He got me.

[Jason Moore]

He was.

[Mike Wright]

Yeah. And. But as we always point out, garbage points do count.

[Jason Moore]

They do now.

[Mike Wright]

It's a completely different offensive system. So it's. And there's the talk of Matthews will stay on the inside and how many three wide receivers will Doug Peterson actually run up in Philadelphia? So there is cause for concern.

[Jason Moore]

Let me put it this way. Before you get into the numbers with him, when I say Jordan Matthews name, does your mouth begin to smirk with a smile or begin to frown? What is your Natural reaction to Jordan Matthews. Right now, when you think about him.

[Mike Wright]

In fantasy drafts, my mouth actually stays completely horizontal.

[Jason Moore]

So your normal resting, angry face.

[Mike Wright]

No, the rest. My face is usually a bit droopy and appears to be angry.

[Jason Moore]

But we didn't want to tell you. We were embarrassed to tell you.

[Mike Wright]

I am well aware of my angry face. But Matthews, I just. Hmm.

[Jason Moore]

And that's so sad for me because last offseason you were so.

[Mike Wright]

Oh, man, I was. Yeah, I was all in. And he still was a wide receiver too. It. So he fell short of my expectations of what I thought he could do in the Chip Kelly offense. But. But it's. It's hard to know what to do with Jordan Matthews because. And I was thinking back, you know, Andy Reid is kind of the mentor for Doug Peterson. And what we think about now, Andy Reid is Alex Smith safe, football, handing it off. And think back, Andy Reid had Donovan McNabb and Michael Vick and they aired it out. So it's not like Andy Reid has only been this, this run heavy coach his entire career.

[Jason Moore]

I don't think of him as run heavy. I think of. I think of Alex Smith as a conservative quarterback. And so he works the offense around him. But I agree with you is what I'm saying.

[Mike Wright]

Like Chiefs Andy Reid, that's how I think of him now, is just very safe.

[Andy Holloway]

Yeah. Jordan Matthews, the player I still believe is great. I actually think he is a great player. My whole issue comes with will the slot receiver for a Doug Peterson offense be valuable enough? Because if you look historically, his first two years of production in the NFL, Jordan Matthews is up with the best of them, period. His athleticism, his body type, his ability as a receiver is all great, all things that point up, generally speaking, from fantasy. But he did this under that Chip Kelly quick pass system in the slot.

[Jason Moore]

I'll tell you, my opinion on Jordan Matthews changes the second Sam Bradford is declared the starter. If Sam Bradford starting and you have some continuity there between those two, I think it means a lot because I don't see the talent on the outside to usurp Jordan Matthews from a target and a red zone target standpoint.

[Andy Holloway]

Ruben Randall on blast.

[Jason Moore]

Ruben Randall. Come on, Rubes.

[Mike Wright]

He's my guy.

[Jason Moore]

Like I said.

[Andy Holloway]

No, I agree.

[Jason Moore]

Generally a free agent, middling wide receiver like Reuben Randle.

[Andy Holloway]

How dare you.

[Jason Moore]

Doesn't deserve the respect. But I mean, I'm just saying I don't want that extra piece of a different quarterback.

[Mike Wright]

Sure.

[Jason Moore]

And from a fantasy perspective, and to go with maybe fans of Philly do the Bradford talk.

[Mike Wright]

Because we talk about Bradford improved. He was three points better in the second half per game. So for a quarterback, that's a pretty substantial uptick in your numbers.

[Jason Moore]

That didn't make me stop cursing his name from the first half.

[Mike Wright]

No, I have. It was completely worth it.

[Jason Moore]

I bought a dartboard and threw his picture up there.

[Andy Holloway]

So. So Jordan Matthews or Larry Fitzgerald?

[Jason Moore]

Biscuits on it. I would take. Whoo. That is a superb question.

[Mike Wright]

I'm gonna go with Fitz in that one.

[Andy Holloway]

I would probably go Jordan Matthews in that.

[Jason Moore]

I think I have them super close in my rankings and I think I would take Jordan Matthews.

[Andy Holloway]

And last one, I'll ask you guys, Jordan Matthews.

[Jason Moore]

Oh, this is much more fun when I'm asking him. I don't have to think.

[Andy Holloway]

Or devonte Parker.

[Jason Moore]

Oh, I'll take. I'll take Jordan Matthews. I have them back to back. You're cruel. You're a cruel man.

[Andy Holloway]

Well, they're also back to back in average draft position. This is why I'm asking the questions. You know, I have kind of been not excited about Jordan Matthews, but when I compare those three, I'm going to take Jordan Matthews over those guys. He's done it for two years. He's on the upswing, not the downswing of his career. We still. Devonte Parker's, I think, has a higher theoretical ceiling, but we just haven't seen it yet. Fitz, like I said, is split in three ways. So I'm probably gonna take theoretical feel.

[Jason Moore]

That's a different type of ceiling. And it leads into.

[Mike Wright]

We're gonna have to look at master of the transition.

[Jason Moore]

You're gonna have to speak swiftly on these two. We're.

[Mike Wright]

Are we pushing the clock?

[Jason Moore]

We're pushing the clock a little bit. And I want to talk. We want to talk some running backs that fit into this confusing and enigmatic not sure what to do category. And so we want to talk about Amir Abdullah.

[Mike Wright]

Yeah, my man.

[Jason Moore]

You heard the train coming in. We talked to him earlier. Great guy, well spoken guy, committed to the team. You like a guy who's. Whose first thing he says about a team is the guys that are hard working on that team that want to make you better. You like a guy that's going out and looking for that. That's what I like about Tyler Lockett, to be honest with you. Tyler Lockett is a hardworking guy. There's a reason, you know, we need to work, you know, if the NFL draft, that general managers and the teams have interviews at the NFL draft. We need to have invisible Pretend interviews with these players sometimes and say, okay, a guy that wants to get better versus a guy that's dripping with talent. But you don't see it. You know, Austin, Severian, Jenkins.

[Andy Holloway]

Right? No, that's right. That's why I asked all the questions about work ethic, because it matters. It matters big time for these guys.

[Jason Moore]

So Abdullah, I've been arguing with Mike a lot about the fact that he is biased, in my opinion, towards Amir Abdullah. Whereas if you really compare him and Melvin Gordon and their disappointment levels, they're on an equal playing field. They both are coming off an injury issue. They both fumbled a lot. They both made you sad.

[Mike Wright]

Yes.

[Jason Moore]

They both had high upside.

[Mike Wright]

And this is what I.

[Jason Moore]

And I like Gordon more than Abdullah going to the season, and I like.

[Mike Wright]

Abdullah more than Gordon because this is what I will say. Melvin Gordon had a nice baseline, a nice consistent level of disappointment for Amir Abdullah. There was actually a glimmer of hope. We've talked about the Jim Bob Cooter effect before with Golden Tate. We saw a massive, massive spike in his production. The same can also be said for Amir Abdullah. Look, in his first nine games, he had 68 carries. He was rocking a three and a half yards per carry average. The final seven, Jib Gub, Jim Bob Cooter comes into town, he kicks the offense in the butt. He says, let's go. Amir Abdullah gets 75 carries and he's up to 4.8 yards per carry. Massive jump. Even more work, a 1.3 yard per carry jump. The first 54 carries. Like we said, the fumble problem, four fumbles in 54 carries. Final 89 carries, only one. So there was a very improvement. There was a very visible improvement. And there's no joy bell. There's no old busted bell trying to eat into his workload. So I just, I think that Abdullah is being overlooked right now. And I would take him over Gordon.

[Jason Moore]

You know, it's all about the carries to me. It's just about, does he get enough?

[Andy Holloway]

So you. You assume he's not going to get enough.

[Jason Moore]

Correct. I just think that they're going to distribute some of those first and second down carries across different guys. I think they want to use Abdullah in. In ways I don't think. I think if you use Abdullah as a first and second down running back and you bring theo ridicule on third down, that's just not the skill set of Amir Abdullah. He was the guy. He was the guy who had. I think he led the league in like average yards per all purpose. Touch because, you know, he returns kicks and he. And he takes swing passes and I just think they're going to use him in the slot sometimes. I think they're going to use him in different ways, sure. But not. You talk about a baseline of disappointment for Melvin Gordon. I think Gordon will give you a baseline of continued disappointment, consistency this season that is better than the consistency level of Abdullah. I think I would take Gordon in both PPR and standard formats. I leave the door open for Abdullah to impress me and maybe if. If no one else is really back there and they're just, here you go. Here are the keys to the castle. Okay. We're talking something different. There were a lot of things that changed in the second half of the season. Right. You saw Matthew Stafford become a much better quarterback. Does he maintain that to keep defenses honest, to give Abdullah the chance to succeed?

[Andy Holloway]

Man, that team was a dumpster fire the first half of the year. Everything went wrong for the Lions.

[Jason Moore]

I was surprised that Abdullah said he was. Every part of his rookie year was good because of that.

[Andy Holloway]

Really? Every part was good. So you think that Mike is a little biased, that he, his love, accept the bias. How do you view me on Amir Abdullah?

[Jason Moore]

I view you as perfectly unbiased.

[Andy Holloway]

So if that's the case, unless you.

[Jason Moore]

Agree with Mike, let me just say.

[Andy Holloway]

Researching into Abdullah today, researching into Abdullah today and trying to unbiasedly look and say, can he actually be the guy? Yes or no? I surprised myself. I surprised myself to come away that I do think he will have a good season. I really do. You know, looking at the numbers of all the rookie disappointments, I mean, look at this. This year. Yeah. Jay Ajayi, Melvin Gordon, Matt Jones, Jeremy Langford and Amir Abdullah, all high kind of draft picks that were touted and going to do good and they all stunk and they all were bad.

[Jason Moore]

But you say Tevin Coleman, too.

[Andy Holloway]

I didn't even say Tevin Coleman, but I don't. I don't. I didn't think he got enough carries to qualify, but looking at those, I found a comparable situation. Kind of like we talked about. Eric Decker versus Emmanuel Sanders, Ryan Matthews for his rookie year, he was so highly touted going into San Diego, and I realize they're, you know, different body style, but they actually were utilized in the. In a very similar way. And in his rookie year, his numbers are so close to Abdullah's, it's. It's crazy. You're talking 158 carries versus 143 4.3 yards per attempt 4.2, 22 receptions, 25 receptions. Very, very similar. And Ryan Matthews was a huge bust, a huge disappointment because he was the first one pick. He was too hyped in fantasy. But then the next year he came back out and he finishes the number eight running back in fantasy. And so Amir Abdullah, I believe, has the skill set. He's got a crazy high spark score. And my big worry with him, I'm realizing my big worry with Amir Abdullah is Steven Ridley and Zach Zinner. What? Like, I kind of like those guys, but that cannot be my big worry about Amir Abdullah.

[Jason Moore]

All right, we. It's a compelling argument. We got to move on to the last name here as we're running out of time.

[Andy Holloway]

Sure.

[Jason Moore]

On today's episode, that's Jonathan Stewart. Somebody who's not getting probably the respect in drafts that is proportional to the value he provided fantasy owners during the season. He was somebody who had eight straight games of 20 plus carries.

[Mike Wright]

That is outrageous.

[Jason Moore]

You know, the concerns with him have always been injury related, not necessarily talent related. He's certainly a bruiser, right? He's a. He's a yards per game. Okay. He's fifth in the league in yards per game. He's fifth in yards after contact. He takes the ball. He doesn't do anything extremely special with it. But he's playing on an offense that, you know, gives it to him around the goal line. Probably two thirds of the time, he gets a shot to get in when they're down around the goal line. If Cam's feeling like he doesn't want to Superman or jab, he has no.

[Mike Wright]

Fools to dab on.

[Jason Moore]

Yeah. So the attempts are there. He's a great running back, too.

[Mike Wright]

And, you know, this is. This is what I was digging into, the Jonathan Stewart numbers. I felt guilty to one of the fantasy football sins, Foot clan. I'm willing to admit this. I let the beginning of his season taint how I feel about Jonathan Stewart because in the first four games, he was bad. He was averaging six points a game.

[Andy Holloway]

Zero touchdowns in that stretch.

[Mike Wright]

This was not good. They hit their bye week. They hit their bye week in. We've seen this. We see this all the time. Teams make concerted adjustments during their bye week, and they changed things after that. From week 16 to 14, Jonathan Stewart averaged 13.6 points a game in a monster, monster spike. Fifth in yards per game, fifth in yards after contact. I mean, like, I cannot let the beginning destroy what he did for the meat of the season. So I need to go look at my Jonathan Stewart numbers. I think I might need to bump them up.

[Andy Holloway]

Six touchdowns in the seven games after that bye. Until he got injured. The real issue with Jonathan Stewart. You said it perfect, Andy. He is the best running back too. He's a guy that's going to be consistent, get the ball 20 times a.

[Jason Moore]

Game, have a surprise you here and there with multi touchdown potential.

[Andy Holloway]

Exactly. Have a chance at touchdowns. I really love him. The, the only worry with him to me is that health. You're not going to get Jonathan Stewart.

[Mike Wright]

Oh, you're not getting it for six.

[Jason Moore]

When you pull the book, open the dictionary and you look up Jonathan Stewart, it's pretty much this blurb I have here. Stewart has been limited throughout the team's off season work with lingering problems right.

[Andy Holloway]

In the Super Bowl.

[Jason Moore]

That's a current blurb.

[Andy Holloway]

Yeah. In the super bowl he hurt his foot and that was several.

[Jason Moore]

He hurt it well before the super bowl, sure.

[Andy Holloway]

But he re injured it in the super bowl and he's been struggling with that for months now. You're never going to get a perfectly fully healthy Jonathan Stewart, but he took a massive workload and did well with it through the season. I would rather have a guy like that who I know when he plays is fine. You know, in every league I play in, I've got an IR spot. So I'm fine with, I'm fine with the guy where it's like, okay, he's going to be out this week, I'll throw him on my r, pick someone up and be fine. But I want to know if he's out there, he's going to get the ball.

[Jason Moore]

I'm pre planning for that IR spot. I, you know, Stuart, the nice thing to me is that I think the team probably should go find somebody else.

[Andy Holloway]

But they didn't.

[Jason Moore]

They didn't because they went 15 and 1.

[Mike Wright]

Okay.

[Jason Moore]

When you go 15 and 1, you kind of want the blueprint to stay similar and he was productive. I really believe their best interest is to have somebody else carry the load that isn't named Fozzie Whitaker or Cameron Artist Payne. But hey, it doesn't look like that's going to happen. So if Stewart gets healthy, he should give you the same type of high carry numbers. And chances are, you know, the Panthers.

[Mike Wright]

Should give a call to our boy Arian Foster.

[Jason Moore]

Oh, I thought you were gonna say Joy Bell.

[Andy Holloway]

Gross.

[Mike Wright]

But seriously, give him a call. Give Aaron Foster a call. I just did your job, gm.

[Jason Moore]

No, they won't do it.

[Andy Holloway]

Last thing I will say we were going to get to Melvin Gordon. Don't have the time.

[Jason Moore]

We talked about Gordon.

[Andy Holloway]

Well, sure, but I was going to say you can find a lot of information. Marcus Meaney just wrote a great article on our website, fantasy footballers.com it goes in depth about a lot of pros and cons for Gordon. So if you got questions, check out the article.

[Jason Moore]

That's right. That's right. And look, next week we're getting into it three shows a week. Expect them to drop on Tuesday and Thursday and I believe Saturday.

[Andy Holloway]

Kia.

[Jason Moore]

So if you can't listen on the weekend, you can.

[Mike Wright]

That sounded really like the drop.

[Jason Moore]

Yeah, that was all live.

[Mike Wright]

Well done.

[Jason Moore]

Now, you know, sell tickets for that. We'll have Brandon Marian Lee from Pro Football Focus and her Fantasy football as well as Sirius XM on the show next week as well. We'll talk to her about Josh McKeown and a bunch of different this or that type of questions. It's gonna be a lot of Fun. Check out JoinTheFoot.com. get involved in the giveaways that we got going on. And, you know, I'd be remiss if I didn't say thank you once again to everybody who made us the People's Choice Award winner and Best Sports and Recreation Award winner. I'm still riding from the Podcast Awards. They're all official. There's no more controversy. We're the winners for one whole year.

[Mike Wright]

Thank you.

[Andy Holloway]

Goodbye. 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 at theffballers.