
Fantasy Football Podcast for July 18th, 2017. The Fantasy Footballers are back again and ready to get divisional by discussing the AFC North. Which Steelers, Bengals, Ravens, and Browns will be fantasy relevant? Which team additions and subtractions will
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Andy Holloway
What happens when the best athletes in the world lose? The Secret to Victory is a new podcast from Gatorade and Gimlet Creative about how the best athletes in the world use defeat to fuel a win. Episodes feature Serena Williams, Peyton Manning, Eli Manning, Matt Ryan, J.J. watt, Karl Anthony Towns, Kyle Schwaber, and the people who know them best. Visit gatorade.compodcast to listen now or subscribe wherever you get your podcasts. This is hall of Fame and Marshall Falk, and you're listening to the Fantasy Footballers.
Jason Moore
Welcome to the Fantasy Footballers Podcast coming to you from the Play Draft Studios with your hosts, Andy Holloway, Jason Moore and Mike Wright.
Andy Holloway
Oh, let's get down to business what.
Mike Wright
A day to be alive.
Andy Holloway
Let's get down to business Fell get.
Jason Moore
A little divisional up in here.
Andy Holloway
It's business time Got on my business socks Business, business, business. Welcome into the podcast. Andy Holloway, Jason Moore, Mike the fantasy Hitman Wright back again bringing you fantasy goodness. And it is. Well, it's Tuesday, fellas. You excited for the week?
Mike Wright
It's my favorite day that starts with twos.
Andy Holloway
Okay. All right. It's gonna be one of those weeks. All right, July 18, 2017. Great show today. As Jason alluded to, we are getting divisional. We're going to start breaking down divisions for the next few shows. AFC North, NFC north. Get you caught up on not only our predictions for the players in fantasy for those divisions, but also we'll break down the movers, who's. Who's jumped teams, who's changed, you know, which quarterback that we really think can make a big difference with new receivers, new offensive weapons. Let's go and jump into the quick question real quick. This one comes in from Kev White.
Jason Moore
Is this Kevin White of the Chicago Bears?
Andy Holloway
Probably not doing much.
Mike Wright
He's getting into fantasy these days. Just. Just in case.
Andy Holloway
All right, who's your favorite post hype sleeper for this season?
Jason Moore
Sounds like it sounds like he's fishing here.
Mike Wright
Hey.
Jason Moore
Hey, guys. My name is Kev White. Who's your.
Mike Wright
If you had to pick a wide.
Jason Moore
Receiver from was hyped coming out of.
Andy Holloway
College, the north is he still considered post hype? Isn't he just like post hype?
Mike Wright
Yeah.
Jason Moore
Post post. Sorry, Kevin, you're not.
Andy Holloway
So a post hype sleeper, as was explained to me, was a player that last year was built up and this year you're thinking bounces back.
Mike Wright
Yes. They didn't perform to your expectations.
Jason Moore
The hype was a year early. Yes.
Andy Holloway
Okay, so who's yours, Jason?
Jason Moore
Mine? I'm going back to one of My guys last year that I really liked, really liked his opportunity and his talent. It's Lamar Miller. Last year, everyone who drafted him was disappointed because he was a first round draft pick. He cost you a lot. And you know, even though. So when he went out and you know, up through week 15 in the NFL, he was actually the running back 12. But people who owned him weren't happy with him. He was consistent, but he never brought you those weak winning weeks, you know, where a running back just goes out, gets that two touchdown game, 120 yards on the ground.
Andy Holloway
I remember before the season being more and more and more jealous of you having him in your dynasty roster and thinking he could be that guy.
Jason Moore
Well, and that's part of it. He's only 26 years old. We look at it like, oh, maybe he got over there, can't handle the workload. He's broken down. They get Deonta Foreman, who obviously the news coming out. We'll talk about that in a minute. Seemingly better for Lamar Miller, but the reason that I like Lamar Miller is right now he's almost a third round draft pick. Depending on if you know where you're at in the turn, he can fall to you in the third, at the top of the third. That's his floor. This is a guy who's guaranteed 250 carries and 30 receptions. If he sucks this year, he's going to pay about that value. He's going to return, you know, basically do what he did last year, which if he's your RB2 and you've got another great wide receiver on your roster already, I think you're going to be really happy with him. His upside is tremendous because it's funny, everyone thinks DeAndre Hopkins is going to bounce back now that Brock Osweiler is gone. You know that Deshaun Watson is going to come in and fix it. I don't see that. But a running quarterback like DeSean Watson can open things up much more for the running game. I mean, we saw that like with Robert Griffin III coming in, you know, that running quarterback, and all of a sudden Alfred Morris was a beast in his rookie year. So Lamar Miller, to me, he's got a safe floor, a good price in drafts, and he still has upside.
Andy Holloway
Can I just like copy paste that argument almost in its entirety? I mean, you basically made Todd Gurley's argument for me. Todd Gurley is my post type sleeper. Other than your discussion about Watson and the threat of the run from the quarterback position, basically guaranteed 250 plus carries, basically guaranteed 30 receptions being moved around the formation for Todd gurley. You have McVeigh that comes in, Sean McVeigh. Who knows what Gurley can bring. We've talked about this before. The fact that Gurley was so extremely hyped really, really hurts him in his perception this year. Number 15 in PPR leagues, number 20 in standard leagues on probably the worst season you could have ever imagined or predicted for a player still played 16 games. Todd Gurley right now is a value to me. I think the upside is tremendous. Much like Jason said about Lamar Miller. Upside being tremendous. That's my post type sleeper.
Mike Wright
I will complete the trifecta of running backs, except mine is not a yawner. Talking about floors over there, I'm talking about a man who can bust through the ceiling, Amir Abdullah, as long as his foot's not still busted. Dave Burkett, the Detroit Free Press. He just came out saying he's setting his over under on Amir's rushing yards at 850. You think, well, that's not that great. Except he has added on to that his over under for his receiving yards at 450 yards. You give me 1200 yards from scrimmage. That's absolutely fantastic. The Lions did nothing, nothing to address the running back position except announce over the off season that Amir Abdullah is looking at a featured role.
Andy Holloway
Does it concern you, though? I mean, maybe we're going to. Maybe I'm going to hold off. We're talking. We're talking north today. So we'll talk about Abdul in the running game, the changes made in Detroit and get into all of that. A reminder. Jason, you have a horn. Do you want to.
Jason Moore
Oh, I do.
Andy Holloway
You brought a horn in. All right, Foot Clan, assemble.
Jason Moore
All right.
Andy Holloway
Footclanvote.com if you haven't voted for us for the 2017 Podcast Awards, encourage you to head over there. I have to share this story. I know we have a long show today. I don't really care. We have to share this story.
Jason Moore
Whoa.
Mike Wright
This must be a good story if dad doesn't care.
Jason Moore
Midlife crisis here.
Andy Holloway
All right. We got off the show last week. I think it was the Saturday show.
Mike Wright
Is this a back in my day story?
Andy Holloway
And Jason had. We had done the Foot Clan horn on the show and I went back to the desk and when we should have been getting some good, hard work done on the udk. Jason is lost. He is obsessed now with locating and finding the Horn of Gondor.
Jason Moore
Should be easy.
Andy Holloway
It should be easy to find a fictional horn.
Jason Moore
Well, no. Yeah, you can find Anything from Lord of the Rings. You want to replica anything, you can find it easily. Unless it is the horn of Gondor. Impossible. Doesn't exist to the point where.
Andy Holloway
Well, I get one. Yeah. Jason finally found one, and it was incredible. Couldn't believe it. Giant horn of Gondor. And it was made to be, like, put on a child's bike as a horn. And Jason's just $30. Oh, my gosh. It was only $30. Let's get. We have to get this for the show. It looks authentic. We're like, whatever. Go get it. Yeah. He got pranked.
Mike Wright
Yeah.
Jason Moore
Yeah.
Andy Holloway
He ended up trying to buy something from what? Thinkgeek. That was an April Fool's joke. And he was distraught.
Jason Moore
Very disappointed.
Mike Wright
But before we move on real quick, Jason, how does this make you feel about April Fools?
Jason Moore
I love April Fools. I'm happy to have been had.
Mike Wright
You look like an idiot.
Andy Holloway
We're gonna get into the news.
Jason Moore
Really do.
Andy Holloway
Gonna get into the news. Before we do that, just reminder, check us out on twitter @the ff ballers.
Mike Wright
Did we tell them why we're assembling? I got lost in the story.
Andy Holloway
Footclaim, vote.com. i said we were nominated for the 2017 Podcast Awards, Mike.
Mike Wright
Thank you.
Andy Holloway
And by we, I mean the verified ones.
Jason Moore
Yeah.
Andy Holloway
Sorry about that.
Jason Moore
Just you and I. Andy. News and notes from around the league.
Andy Holloway
I need to get Kleenex as a sponsor for Mike on that one.
Mike Wright
Yeah.
Andy Holloway
Very depressing. All right. Big news. And I was just. These things bother me so much, guys, you know, they do. All right. Ezekiel Elliott evolved, involved in a late night incident at a Dallas bar on Sunday. This source confirmed this to ESPN's Adam Schefter. This is a multiple report thing. Obviously, something happened. And then Deonta Foreman reports that he had been arrested for marijuana possession and unlawful carrying of a weapon. Now, his attorney released a statement regarding the arrest saying he's disputing charges. But again, for both of these, they could both be mostly innocent of whatever's gone on. I'm not saying they can't, but you put yourself in a position as a player to either be accused of marijuana possession and an unlawful carrying of a weapon or being accused of punching out a guy in a Dallas nightclub bar. Or you don't.
Jason Moore
Yeah. I'll be honest. I had no idea that there was a way you could have unlawful carrying of a weapon in Texas. I was completely unaware that that that was. I thought you could just grab them.
Andy Holloway
That is the attorney dispute is this is a completely lawful gun. Regardless, let's focus first on Ezekiel Elliott because that's the headline news this morning. And we had a report last week Dak Prescott had came out and it was kind of odd. He criticized Ezekiel Elliott for being in the ESPN body issue, which tons of athletes have done. And Mike was like, Mike, you were upset with Dak Prescott?
Mike Wright
Yeah, maybe you are. I've also criticized ESPN for not having me in the body issue though.
Andy Holloway
Right. They want to sell some.
Jason Moore
No, no, no, no. That is a wise.
Andy Holloway
I've sent them praise. Plus, you're not verified.
Jason Moore
All right.
Andy Holloway
And Ezekiel Elliott, he shows up in that issue and you're wondering why Dak Prescott criticizes him. And my theory then was, look, Dak has shown a propensity or, I'm sorry, Zeke has shown this almost like Gronk without the long term performance and proven, you know, situation where he's distracted. It looks like Zeke has been distracted this offseason. You had the weird incident with the woman on the, on the boat. You've had different things that come up to me. It was kind of behind the curtains. Why would Dak criticize Zeke for that? Maybe Zeke's not around enough. Maybe Zeke's not doing enough with the team. And so it's getting under the skin. And then you have this report breaking out. We already know domestic issue potentially could cause a game or two or more suspension. How, I mean, how did this hit you when you saw the news?
Mike Wright
It's really bad timing for Zeke and he. The NFL, it was being reported that they're about to, you know, rule on the domestic situation. It was also being reported that Zeke is going to release a statement maybe trying to sway the NFL in one way or the other. But before he can do that, he's in this incident. Now we're just reporting news here. Nothing has been filed against Ezekiel Elliott. He was not in a police report, but now there's talks of eyewitness situation. Whatever it is, it's just a.
Jason Moore
It's.
Mike Wright
It's really unfortunate. This weekend was just a crapper of bad news of guys getting in trouble. And I mean, I'm with you, Andy. It sucks seeing all this stuff, but at the same time, it's like.
Jason Moore
What.
Mike Wright
Do these guys do as far as in the. You're a target. I have no idea what the life of an NFL player is like. You're a young man. You have basically unlimited assets. You can go have fun however you want, but you are a target for the public, which. So I'm not giving any answers here. So I apologize. If I'm just asking questions. But it's just like it's everything. Everything in here is just sucks.
Andy Holloway
It's too broad sweeping and impossible to just say here's the answer to the problem. Because the problem is it's far reaching. I mean, like you said, these players, they come up, they have tons of friends and influences around them and they're very young and we know the NFL does.
Mike Wright
And let's be honest, like think about 22 year old self.
Andy Holloway
Absolutely.
Mike Wright
You now have $2 million.
Andy Holloway
Yep. What are you gonna do?
Jason Moore
You're a celebrity and you get everything you want.
Andy Holloway
It's more about can you get people around them early.
Mike Wright
Sure.
Andy Holloway
To let them know the impact. Look, Zeke might have done nothing wrong, but he still was in a position where he wasn't above reproach as an NFL celebrity, role model, athlete, and puts himself in the spotlight for the third time for a bad reason.
Jason Moore
Well, the craziest part is just it's while he's under investigation that he would do this. I mean, you're waiting for tension to come down. Yeah. While you're asking people to trust you and then you say, well, but I'm not really trustworthy in my opinion. I think this is something that the NFL will take into consideration. When, you know, I didn't think he was going to be suspended. I said that last show for whatever happened now, I would say, you know, there's a better chance that the NFL says we need to, you know, help this 21 year old and say, you, you gotta, you gotta act by the rules or you're gonna lose games.
Andy Holloway
Yeah. We need to digress, I guess, into the fantasy implications here of the Zeke and the Foreman, potential legal issues. You know, Jason, you talked about Lamar Miller. Obviously it's not good for Foreman to be in this situation if he was ever going to take over a backup role.
Jason Moore
Yeah, I mean, there's a lot of backups there, you know, Alfred, Blue and Hunt. And Foreman, I think, is still probably the favorite for that backup role. The first few weeks of their schedule is a little rough anyway, so if he does miss that, I don't think this really affects anything. Fantasy football wise. I wouldn't have expected Foreman to come in the first few weeks and really be any kind of startable fantasy asset at all. The only reason it would change things is if, you know, if Lamar Miller got injured in the first week or something like that.
Andy Holloway
All right. Michael Floyd has been suspended four games for violating the league's substance abuse policy. Mike Zimmer said he'd be released if the team determines he's lying about his kombucha T defense.
Jason Moore
The old kombucha T defense.
Andy Holloway
He probably is. David Gettleman.
Mike Wright
That's. This is big news.
Andy Holloway
General manager of the Panthers has been fired despite three or four playoff appearances during his tenure. Reports said that he was not on board with a Greg Olson extension. He's also the GM that is not that. That chose to let Josh Norman go.
Mike Wright
And then you have Smith. Yeah, Steve Smith.
Jason Moore
D'Angelo Williams.
Mike Wright
D'Angelo Williams.
Andy Holloway
Loyalty is not built into his DNA.
Mike Wright
D'Angelo Williams tweeted out, essentially calling him a snake. Snake.
Andy Holloway
Yeah. Not nice words.
Jason Moore
He's not a player's gm. But the reality is for fantasy football, for Carolina Panthers fans, you don't have to be a player's gm. In fact, a lot of times when you're not a player's GM, you, you might be a better GM.
Andy Holloway
I didn't know there were players GMs.
Jason Moore
Well, I mean, Steve, I thought there were owners GMs. I'm just saying, you know, like a player's coach. When you're, when you're one of those guys that the players love the gm, they know you got your back. This has never been one of those guys. But a lot of times, I mean, you look at the Patriots shipping guys out when they're in their prime or not resigning guys to long term deals. It's not necessarily unwise. And he came in to a situation with the Panthers with a very bad cap. You know, a bad cap situation. He fixed it. He drafted well. So long term. I'm not saying this is bad because we don't know who they're replacing him with yet, but they are letting go a good gm, in my opinion.
Andy Holloway
All right. The Bears plan to start Mike Glennon for the whole season. Last bit of news that makes me honestly, sounds strange. Makes me more excited for the receiving options in Chicago. Mike Glennon can be Brian Hoyer. Mike Glennon can throw the ball around the field enough, I think, to, you know, when the wide receivers eventually get sifted out.
Mike Wright
Yeah. Check in on, check back with me in like week six.
Jason Moore
Yes.
Andy Holloway
Okay. All right, that's it. Let's get into the divisions.
Jason Moore
Let's get divisional.
Andy Holloway
All right. We're going to start in the AFC North. We're going to break down the Pittsburgh Steelers last year 11 and 5. Talk about the players of note in the fantasy football sphere for the Pittsburgh Steelers. Talk about some additions and subtractions to this roster and what we expect from Mike is. Mike is pointing at me.
Mike Wright
We also forgot to throw in. We were in the news and we didn't mention it. Kirk Cousins levy on Bell not extended. They will play the year on their franchise tag, which means they can only play on that. The team cannot extend them until the end of the year.
Andy Holloway
That's right. We were waiting for that news to break right before the show started, and nobody signed. Apparently, Kirk cousins turned down 53 million guaranteed. He's a better man than I because.
Jason Moore
He cannot sign that deal yet with the San Francisco 49ers where he will end up.
Mike Wright
Yeah, Washington's rebuttal to Kirk Cousins was they basically came out, showed all their cards, and said, this is what Kirk Cousins turned down in, you know, putting all blame, pointing all fingers at Cousins. Meanwhile, I mean, you had those years before where Kirk Cousins wanted to get something done and the team pretty much devalued him.
Jason Moore
He does not want to play for Washington. Yeah, I'll bet he'd want to play for the Steelers next year when Big Ben leaves.
Andy Holloway
All right, let's talk about Big Ben. Let's talk about Lev Bell, Antonio Brown, Martavis Bryant. In terms of addition subtractions this offseason, you really saw the drafting of Juju Smith, Schuster, and the handcuff. Not the handcuff that D'Angelo Williams was, who is now gone, as well as Ladarius Green. But James Conner sounds drafted in the third round. Jason A big fan of James Conner.
Mike Wright
He's a good player.
Andy Holloway
So let's talk about what we expect to see from this offense in this team this year. One of the more interesting facts that I saw about the Steelers in general, you know, obviously a very, very good offensive line. The ball's in love Bell's hands frequently. But this is a team that also went for two points, by far more than anybody else in football. 32% of the time, they were going for two. That's good for you. Extra points for Big Ben, Antonio Brown, opportunities for Lev Bell. I think the next closest team was 5% less is Tampa. So interesting aspect to that offense, but what are the headlines here for you, Mike?
Mike Wright
The headlines it was James Conner was one. Because that's what reminded me was thinking about Le'Veon Bell and a possible holdout situation. He has not signed his tender, which means he's not under obligation to report to camp. He could show up at the end of August. What that does while he's, you know, trying to play the leverage card on the other side of that is now the team gets A really good look at James Conner and gets to decide, well, maybe at the end of the year we're going to let you go and you can get your money somewhere else. Levy and Bell, because we like James Conner.
Andy Holloway
How do you feel about, you know, you could argue that Lev Bell's making the right decision not showing up to football activities until late because you're going into a franchise year. You have no guaranteed money beyond that and you don't want to get yourself hurt.
Mike Wright
I'm not blaming him.
Jason Moore
Rest your body. Love Bell. I just.
Mike Wright
It's the thing of running backs skipping preseason or skipping training camp and they come back and they get hurt because their body has not been re acclimated to getting hit.
Jason Moore
Yeah, that it's possible. I mean, obviously we've got a history of that with Le'Veon Bell already. The story to me from the Steelers is the wide receiving core. Okay, throw Antonio Brown out of the conversation. We don't need to discuss him. He's great. He's, you know, the best wide receiver in the game. But from there, Martavis Bryant wasn't there last year. So does he just come in and inherit that role the way that most everyone expects him to do or calling for? The battle between Sammy Coates and Marcus Wheaton was lost by both parties last year. They both knocked each other out and.
Mike Wright
They lost the job last year to Martavis, who wasn't even playing right.
Jason Moore
But now Eli Rogers, who looked great for a rookie, and juju, Smith, Schuster. I'm just curious how outside of Antonio Brown, there are plenty of targets and value to go around here. Do you guys see any value in either Eli or juju this year?
Andy Holloway
I've said I think juju is kind of a deep sleeper candidate. To me, I think he's very, very talented. This was a guy that was projected to go at the very top of the NFL draft if he had come out a year earlier, passing yards per game, like Jason said, fifth in the league. There's a lot of yardage to go around. It's not all going to Antonio Brown. It took me a while to get on the Martavis train because I wanted to see him come into camp or basically OTAs and show that he's ready to play football. All indications are that's the case. So I'm definitely looking at Martavis Bryant as a very high upside play for fantasy owners. And like Mike said, you know, D'Angelo Williams last two years when he's had the opportunity to start, he's been a headline guy. So if that means that James Conner is that guy. How high do you handcuff your left?
Mike Wright
I don't know if I handcuff him in the draft at all. It's. But if we are getting further and further into August, I mean we're approaching the beginning of the season and we still haven't even seen Le'Veon Bell in some drafts. I may hedge that of my feeling that running backs need some form of training camp to get their body ready. And the last thing I'll say about the receiving core is there's been talk about them going four wide as they should. I mean that's that passing attack Brown. And then you have, you have freak athletes and Martavis Brighton, Sammy Coates and juju Smith who can be the big slot guy. That's been reported. How are you possibly going to stop this?
Andy Holloway
Is Jesse James underrated?
Mike Wright
Nope.
Andy Holloway
Okay, enough.
Mike Wright
Not for me.
Andy Holloway
Yeah, you're not a big Jesse James.
Jason Moore
Fan if you're in a PPR league. I think Jesse James could. If they go four wide and that becomes like their standard set then. No, because that would come at the expense of Jesse James. But I do think if they keep with the same offense they've had over the last few years and you could argue why not. Jesse James should be know there and utilize. Obviously Ladarius Green is gone and Heath Miller always made a good chunk of fantasy points in that role.
Andy Holloway
He made them just put them in.
Jason Moore
A stew, put a little bit of butter.
Andy Holloway
I wondered where you were going to go. I just wanted to let it keep coming. We're going to move on to the Ravens.
Jason Moore
Before we get to the Ravens, I want to thank today's sponsor Indochino and this is a genuine thank you because I've never ever put on a piece of clothing that fit me better than my Indochino suit, specifically because it's tailored to you. I mean they've got a really easy process where you measure yourself according to this video. You send them your numbers. Four weeks later you've got a custom tailored suit that fits you like nothing else. I wear it to. You know, if you got weddings out there, every man needs a suit. You know, whether it's, you know, church events, weddings, you know, wear drafts.
Andy Holloway
Some people wear them to the office. Jason.
Jason Moore
Yeah. So this week any Foot clan listener can get a premium Indochino suit for just 379 bucks. With the promo code FOOTBALLERS, that's 50% off the regular price for a made to measure premium suit. Plus shipping is free. So that's Indochino.com, promo code footballers for any premium suit. Just $379 and free shipping. You'll never have to worry about badly fitting suits or expensive trips to the tailor again. Get ready to look like a million bucks, people.
Mike Wright
Foot Glam. We want to thank Pristine Auction. Great.
Andy Holloway
Always great.
Mike Wright
Friends of the show, the best memorabilia site of all time.
Andy Holloway
We are giving away three jerseys that we got off of Pristine Auction.
Mike Wright
We are. And you so that you can check out that. That's Foot clangiveaway.com but you got to check out Pristine Auction. All the jerseys you've ever seen hanging up on the wall. All the autographed merchandise we have here at Foot Glen headquarters. We get it from Pristine Auction. The other day I saw a signed Conor McGregor. I mean, delightful. I wish I would have gotten in.
Andy Holloway
Surprise you didn't buy it.
Mike Wright
Yeah, I'm very surprised at myself that I did. Not as well. But the signatures are always 100% authenticated. They only work with the best. Pristine Auction is all about bringing the best to you. Check it out. P R I S T I n e auction.com youm make a completely free account. When you do that, let them know that the fantasy footballer sent you. You will not believe some of the prices on these guaranteed authentic signatures on these jerseys.
Andy Holloway
Falkland, don't embarrass yourself. Invite your friends over to your man cave and have a bunch of Pristine Auction gear on the wall.
Mike Wright
Yes.
Andy Holloway
All right, let's talk about the Ravens. We're going to stay in the North. Talking about the Ravens.
Mike Wright
Oh, the North.
Andy Holloway
The North. All right. I'm very excited to talk about this team. I think that this is one of those, you know, you're gonna find a diamond or two in the fantasy world on this roster. They threw the ball 61% of the time last year. That is number one in football. Wow. Okay, so Danny Woodhead arrives. Jeremy Macklin arrives to this offense. Obviously they lost a lot. Steve Smith right in the offseason. Dennis Pitta is gone. Kyle Jus check is gone. And we have some turnover at on the offensive line, right tackle, offensive guard, center. So there's some shake up there. And we know they want to be able to run the ball, but wanting to run the ball like the Cardinals did for years without David Johnson. They wanted to run the ball. We did like Detroit last year. They want to run the ball, but what happens is push comes to shove on the field. Can they run the ball with the offense they have? Can they run the ball with Terrence west and Kenneth Dixon, who doesn't come back until four game suspension. Or is this pie in this guy thinking and we're expecting 60% of the time they're throwing the ball.
Mike Wright
I think the throwing percentage comes down, they become more balanced. Terrence west is a great late round flyer. We've talked about him. He's essentially free for a running back that's guaranteed to be the starter for at least four weeks, if not more. Danny Woodhead just showed up in the news again. Joe Flacco praising Danny Woodhead's passing a game passing game chop, saying, we haven't had a back like this since Ray Rice, who had spectacular pass catching ability. He's also very cheap. I mean, that's kind of the, the, the overarching theme of the Baltimore Ravens is fantasy value because for whatever reason, fantasy players just don't want to go in on this offense when they should.
Jason Moore
Oh, I get it.
Mike Wright
Late in the. Why do you get. Explain this to me.
Jason Moore
Yeah, the reason why all of their values are very low is because you've got a combination of question marks with a, with a low scoring team. I don't think anybody is expecting the Ravens to be, you know, a high power. A lot of touchdowns to be shared and you go, well, who's going to be the starting running back? How will it break down? And that's why I think instead of just saying it's going to be this guy or it's going to be that guy and getting it right or getting it wrong, you have to kind of look at the range of outcomes. So like Terrence west, great value because he's super late in drafts, but he has no upside. Right. I mean, he's got no chance to be an RB1.
Mike Wright
Okay. I would say he's got RB2 upside.
Jason Moore
Oh, absolutely. I'm just saying, like on a weekly basis, he's going to be a guy that you're going to get late in your draft. He will be a value for where you get him, but he's not necessarily a championship winner. So do you want to, you know, take your capital and use it on that or do you want to swing more for the fences? Danny Woodhead, if you're in a PPR league, could inch closer to that RB one.
Andy Holloway
The guy that I'm afraid of ending up like a Tennessee situation a couple years ago when you had Bishop Sankey and Antonio Andrews and an offense that just can't produce one guy to give you any kind of consistent performance. And west doesn't make me go, oh wow, that's the guy. Even though he had a pretty decent year last year, they still, when Kenneth Dixon was available, started sharing the work.
Jason Moore
Yeah, and I think Kenneth Dixon might be the most talented back. That's why his ADP is actually ahead of Terrence West. But with, with a four game suspension, I mean you're, you're, if you're in a redraft league, you're wasting a lot of time and a lot of bench. You, you have to roster him for five weeks before you get anything. And then at that point are you going to start him in week five not having a clue who he is?
Andy Holloway
The 30th ranked offensive line doesn't help either.
Jason Moore
And this is why all of that leads me to say Jeremy Macklin player I want here. I think he is locked and loaded into a wide receiver two role. I don't, I don't see him being a wide receiver one, but if he falls into the wide receiver three category, I will be equally surprised. The amount of passing volume and the quality of player that he is, I think just puts him at a place where he's going to come into that Steve Smith role where Joe Flacco's number one target always has a pace of over 130 targets. If he gets that, Macklin's going to be just fine. And his value right now, because of those question marks and all the reasons we described, he's cheap.
Mike Wright
And you got to throw out of course, Ben Watson.
Andy Holloway
Well, I was going to say they, they threw the ball 9.9 times per game to the tight end, third in the league. So is Watson the flyer?
Mike Wright
Yes, absolutely. Dennis Pitta is gone.
Andy Holloway
He had the most 9.9 targets. My apologies, 9.9 targets, not receptions.
Mike Wright
He had the most tight end receptions in the league last year. We're talking more than Travis Kelce. Talking about Dennis Pitta was Dennis Pitta. He suffered another injury unfortunately and he's out. Crockett Gilmore is recovering from injury. Max Williams is looking to start the season on the pup.
Andy Holloway
He's done.
Mike Wright
I mean it is, there's no one left. Is Ben Watson who. He's recovering himself from an Achilles injury, but by all reports he should be ready to go. And if he becomes that Joe Flacco best friend, that's a complete, completely free tight end that as Andy said 10 times a game they were targeting the tight end.
Andy Holloway
Did you consider last year, Jason, did you consider Pitta that number one target you talked about with Flacco?
Jason Moore
No, because his, his, you know what he, his fantasy points Per target. And I'm just coming at it from a fantasy perspective. His fantasy points per target were so low he wasn't.
Andy Holloway
Was he the leader? Do you know if he was the leader in targets on that Baltimore offense?
Jason Moore
I believe he was. I'll bet that.
Andy Holloway
So he fits. That's what I meant. When you're talking about Flacco's number one target having X amount of targets last year you would have said that's the tight end.
Jason Moore
Yes.
Andy Holloway
Okay, the Bengals. Let's talk about the Cincinnati Bengals turnover at the running back position. Joe Mixon brought aboard. Giovanni Bernard may start on pup. Jeremy Hill is still there. Andy Dalton gets some weapons back, a healthy A.J. green. They went into the draft and they brought in John Ross very early pick, ninth pick of the draft. And then Tyler Ifert, at least for now, is healthy. The big headline for the offseason was losing Andrew Whitworth and Kevin Zeitler on the offensive line. Very high grading offensive lineman that you have heading out the door. So a lot of concern from people at the running for the running backs, for Dalton being able to be protected and be efficient. I still think that this team has a very good defense. I think they have an underrated defense and they're going to be competing with the weapons that are currently healthy on that roster. What are the fantasy headlines for you guys? Where are you turning your attention?
Jason Moore
My attention is squarely on Andy Dalton. I believe he is. He has always been as good as his weapons allow him to be. He's not one of those guys. You know, it reminds me a lot of Matt Ryan, who has always been a good quarterback when his weapons were good enough. But he's not going to take, you know, mediocrity and make them great the way that a Tom Brady can do.
Andy Holloway
Yeah, Aaron Rodgers.
Jason Moore
Right. But if Dalton has a group of great receivers, which right now it looks like he sure does, maybe his best he's ever had, then he was already without that, a prime candidate to regress towards the mean on his, you know, percentage of touchdown percentage. Yeah, they go for touchdowns.
Andy Holloway
That means that you're talking positively positive, positive regression.
Jason Moore
Positive.
Andy Holloway
When you just bring up the word regression, I think most people are going to hear that as sure he's going down.
Jason Moore
No, but what happened is if you look at, you know, the pass attempts per touchdown of his career and then you look at that on a chart, last year was just astronomically low for him. It was an outlier season. And you know, part of that is the fact that he was, he was under pressure and he had no targets to throw to in 2015 when he was under pressure, he was a great quarterback. 2016, he was terrible. Well, that's. He had no Mohamed Sanu. He had, you know, no Marvin Jones. A lot of the times he had no A.J. green or Tyler IFRT.
Mike Wright
He's basically a career mid 5% touchdown for some, you know, every 5% of his throws were our score. He went down all the way to 3.2 last year.
Andy Holloway
All three of us have Andy Dalton currently ranked in our top 12.
Jason Moore
We do.
Andy Holloway
We do.
Jason Moore
Good for us. There you go.
Andy Holloway
Jason and Mike, you have him at 12. I've got him an 8.
Jason Moore
Yep.
Mike Wright
I don't have a problem with it. Tyler Iford is.
Andy Holloway
We can't forget the season this guy was having before he went down. The year before.
Mike Wright
Yeah, when he. When he broke his thumb two years ago, he was a legitimate MVP candidate. And Tyler Iford is the name I want to highlight. Going currently in the seventh round of standard drafts, I should say non PPR drafts, as the sixth tight end off the board. That's fantastic. If I miss out on the Gronk value, if Gronk is dropping Jordan Reed, then my eyes are set on Tyler Iford. If I can get him in the seventh or even the eighth round, I think that's incredible.
Andy Holloway
Willing to overlook Kelsey or Olson and get the value on Ifrt.
Jason Moore
Now, let me. Let me ask you this. With Eifert, let's say it's third week of August and he's not back yet, I expect he's going to be a close call for a week one start. And we won't know for sure. I'm guessing when most people's fantasy drafts are going. Are you willing to take him at a value if it means you've got to draft two tight ends?
Mike Wright
Depends on that value. So if you're saying it's, I'm getting Tyler Ifer in the seventh round, there's.
Andy Holloway
No way you're drafting two tight ends.
Mike Wright
And he's not going to start week one. I'm not going to spend the seventh round pick on him.
Jason Moore
But if he drops to the 10th, then you can go.
Mike Wright
I would do that.
Jason Moore
Sure. The real question here is the running backs, though. For the Bengals, you have two running backs who have been fantasy relevant for the last few years in Gio Bernard and Jeremy Hill. But in comes the new hotness.
Andy Holloway
Yeah. And it makes sense because Jeremy Hill has been regressing in the downward sense for years. This every, every hope that you had for him to be this breakout, elite super talent that he was that year one. It's gone down every year now. He's still an elite goal line back, and that's going to cause problems for Joe Mixon and his ability to break in and be a dominant top 12 type of guy. If he's sharing goal line work with Jeremy Hill, who can get into the end zone. And Jeremy Hill runs angry down there at the goal line. Even last year with a bad year, what he lead the league in or he had what, 10, 11, what was his home double digits again? I think he's had it for two consecutive years. Jeremy Hill is somebody that I think everybody wants to write off and fantasy owners want the Bengals to write off for the sake of Joe Mixon. I'm just worried about how soon that will happen. I think Mixon's talent will show itself early and often. But what will that mean for Jeremy Hill, being on or off the field?
Jason Moore
Jeremy Hill had nine touchdowns, but he also was.
Andy Holloway
What's his last three years?
Mike Wright
I don't have that, but I'm saying he was 9th in 10 zone attempts. I mean, which are. Those are incredibly valuable.
Jason Moore
Last three years was nine touchdowns, 11 touchdowns, nine touchdowns. If he's.
Mike Wright
If those are the only touches he's getting, you're not going to want him on your fantasy team. But he is absolutely siphoning away what Joe Mixon can do.
Andy Holloway
All right, we're going to talk about the Browns now, guys. The Cleveland Browns. And it's an interesting thing to talk fantasy with Cleveland, because you can make the jokes right? How many quarterbacks did they have throw a pass last year?
Mike Wright
12.
Andy Holloway
Yeah, that was one game. But I mean, Cody Kessler is there now, desean Kaiser, the draft pick. But this is a team that, you know, when you look at the stats, they could run the ball number one in the league in terms of yards from scrimmage per touch. For the running back position, 5.9 in the top three at 4.8 yards per carry from the running back position, they ran the ball often and they ran it well between two different running backs, Isaiah Crowell and Duke Johnson. So how does that break down this year? Do they continue to turn to the running game in a volume perspective? Because that's the problem, right? You have those metrics, but those metrics aren't volume dependent. Well, they're performance dependent. Maybe they wouldn't keep up if they were able to hand the ball off.
Mike Wright
Say, I have to correct you as far as running back touches. They were at the bottom well, no.
Andy Holloway
What I was saying is there efficiency, yards per touch, not total touch.
Mike Wright
Yeah, because I have them down. I have the running backs at a combined 279 attempts, which is 32nd in the league, because they don't have the opportunity.
Jason Moore
Well, and it all comes down to the fourth quarter. Right? I mean, this is kind of what Andy's saying. The efficiency was there, but the opportunity wasn't. Can that opportunity turn around? And this year it definitely can for a multitude of reasons. You know, you've got a team that is projected by Vegas to be three and a half games better in the win column than they were last year. I mean, I'm just saying that.
Mike Wright
What did they win last year? Was it one?
Jason Moore
Yeah, they're four and a half this year. So I'm just.
Mike Wright
You did it, Cleveland.
Jason Moore
You got up to being an under five win team, Cleveland. But that's just saying game script should be a little better. You have Hugh Jackson, who has always been near the lead leaders in rushing attempts. And that to me is far more important than the quality of the team. He knows he made a mistake last year in the fourth quarter. Sometimes it's out of your hands. I mean, when you're the Browns and you're down by more than two scores, you're just not able to keep running the ball. You've got a clock problem.
Andy Holloway
You have an improved offensive line again.
Jason Moore
Yes. And that was.
Andy Holloway
You bring in JC Treader, you bring in the aforementioned Zeitler from Cincinnati, and you bring in a guard, and you bring in David and Joku in the draft. I mean, this offensive line was good last year. I think they're better.
Mike Wright
Pro Football Focus is very excited.
Andy Holloway
Where do they have them? Number two.
Mike Wright
Second.
Andy Holloway
Number two in the league.
Mike Wright
Check in with me in six weeks.
Andy Holloway
Yeah, but. But no to the point. 31st in the league in points per game last year. It's a problem. They were in the shotgun 69% of the time. That's all you need to know. If you want to know how often they were coming back in games, you can't be 1 in 50. This is the problem with the Carlos Hydes, Joe Williams. We talk about Crowell and Duke Johnson. These teams that the game script are. Todd Gurley, too. The negative game scripts, the losing teams. It puts you in a tough position to have monster games as a running back. Because what is a monster game for a fantasy running back? We've seen this time and time again.
Mike Wright
It's 102.
Andy Holloway
Get out ahead and then wear the defense down, hand the ball Off. And your second half, you're just salivating because I remember this Aaron Foster all the time. Get in, get out to a lead, let your defense do some work and just hand the ball off over and over and over again. That's a rarity for Cleveland.
Jason Moore
I'm glad you brought up Aaron Foster because to go back to my quick question, Lamar Miller, how about this? Last year in the fourth, the fourth quarter running attempts, Lamar Miller was second of qualified running backs. I mean, he gets the ball in the fourth and Isaiah Crowell won't. I don't like where Crowell's going in drafts. He's inching closer and closer to the, you know, middle upper question mark of that second round.
Andy Holloway
It's really annoying because his ADP prevents. Well, for me, I'm okay taking him there.
Jason Moore
I feel like you're just saying he has to perform though. I mean, if you're at the top of the second, you're at the ceiling.
Andy Holloway
We're agreeing. I'm saying it's annoying to me because the ADP is going to talk most people out of Isaiah Cruel and put that negative spin on his potential. Where I'm seeing last season, his current age, the improved offensive line and Hugh Jackson and the way this team look, you're not. I know technically you can be worse than 1 in 15, but your odds of, okay, let's say you win four games is that three. Four more game scripts that flip for Isaiah Cruel, who already had a very efficient year with a better offensive line, with a better commitment to the run, maybe a better quarterback in place. I just see that. Look, the ADP may screw that up for me. I'm very high on Crowell rankings wise. But I understand what you're saying.
Jason Moore
Yeah. When it comes to the passing game that will, you know, dictate a lot of whether, you know, early in the games is their passing game good enough to keep them, you know, in a one score game come the fourth quarter, that's going to come down to Kenny Brett and to Corey Coleman and whoever the quarterback is. I know among the three of us, we all have very similar thoughts, but we disagree as to who will actually be the starter. Cody Kessler was, you know, surprisingly good last year. I don't think a lot of people realize because they were on a one team, you know, a one win team. Here's a tweet from Evan Silva, just talking about the Browns quarterback Cody Kessler over the last two decades. When he looks at over 60% completion rate on a 7 yards or more adjusted Per pass attempt. The list is very small. All great quarterbacks. Russell Wilson, Matt Ryan, Ben Roethlisberger, Dak Prescott, Marcus Mariota, and at number six, Cody Kessler.
Andy Holloway
So he wasn't competent, and he was a rookie and he was put into a tough position last year.
Jason Moore
Yeah, Quarterback of the Browns is a very tough position.
Andy Holloway
The only guy only for the past couple decades looking at the list of guys.
Mike Wright
Glad you brought him up, but I just want to highlight Kenny Britt. He got a thousand yards on a bad team last year. I don't. I'm not projecting a thousand yards this year, but he's likely the only guy from Cleveland that I'll be targeting.
Andy Holloway
You're targeting Brett over Coleman?
Jason Moore
Yes.
Andy Holloway
Like, at the end of the year, you think Britt's gonna have a better fantasy season than Corey Coleman?
Mike Wright
Yes, I feel very strongly about that.
Andy Holloway
How strongly are you talking a waterbed?
Jason Moore
Because if it's a water.
Andy Holloway
Problem is I can't. I want to make the water bed. But I also want to know that Corey Coleman's gonna play week one. And so if Corey Coleman's healthy week one, that waterbed.
Mike Wright
It's so convoluted.
Jason Moore
Waterbed. Here's the reality.
Andy Holloway
No, I only did that because I. To have a bet where you're depending on Kenny Britt.
Mike Wright
I will.
Andy Holloway
I want him in your pocket. I want him. I want to tag you with his name forever.
Jason Moore
Thankfully, Kenny Britt is no stranger to finding success with bad quarterbacks. It's all he's known his entire career is bad quarterbacks. Corey Coleman has the upside, though. To me, if Corey Coleman comes out and shows the potential that he showed, you know, in week two last year and gets something going. He was drafted to be that. He was drafted to be that, you know, crazy burner, Odell Beckham style guy. He's got great hands in theory, and then last year in his rookie year.
Mike Wright
Theory.
Jason Moore
Well, no, I'm just saying in college, looks like he's got great hands. And then he caught 42% of his balls last year. Something like that. I mean, that's great.
Andy Holloway
Welcome to Cleveland.
Jason Moore
And a lot of that is, you know, with Cody Kessler. He was much worse with Cody Kessler than he was with other quarterbacks. So if Kaiser is the week one starter, as you think is possible, Andy, then that could be good for the deep ball, for Corey Coleman's speed and what he's able to do.
Andy Holloway
All right. Last name is David Njoku. They draft him in the first round. They let Gary Barnage go. I'VE been somewhat pronounced with my adoration for David Njoku, and that is talent and opportunity. He's a starting tight end on an NFL franchise. He's a friend to young quarterbacks, and while he is currently sitting, I believe, 12 or 13 on my rankings, I do think that Njoku will have a very solid year in Cleveland.
Mike Wright
They did give him quite the vote of confidence of when they drafted him. On the phone they said, hold on.
Andy Holloway
David, let me switch line.
Mike Wright
They click the switch over to other line. Okay, Sorry, Gary. Gary Varnish. We the pick went in, we got to let you go.
Andy Holloway
Yeah, pretty much so. All right. Hey, we don't have time to get into the NFC North. We don't want to get into some mailbag.
Mike Wright
Okay.
Jason Moore
Mailbag. Mailbag.
Mike Wright
Yeah.
Andy Holloway
All right, let's start with some Here's a question that comes in from Diego in South Plainfield, New Jersey. That's how he wrote it. That's how he wrote it. By the way, if you have a question, not my words, go to the fantasy footballers.com click submit a question. You can also dial our voicemail hotline 302464, TFFB. His question is basically, look, how do you have Keenan Allen as a tier 5 guy in standard formats? I understand the injury concern. The presence of other targets in the offense as talent, though, is undeniable. The chemistry between himself and Rivers was apparent. It's a fair critique, and I think a lot of it is.
Mike Wright
Diego is a wise man.
Andy Holloway
Well, look, with a guy like Keenan Allen, I've been much like Martavis Bryant and other players this offseason. It's been a patience thing on my rankings. If you think my rankings in February need to look the exact same as they do in August, I really need a crystal ball. I mean, it's not going to happen. I'm being patient with the recovery of Keenan Allen, with the recovery of Mike Williams, with what we've seen from Tyrell Williams. Tyrell Williams last year, I think he ranked number one in the league on two different route types in terms of the post and the out. And so I'm being patient with Kenan Ellen. That's too low as a tier. So if that's what our standard tier is, that's too low.
Jason Moore
Tier 5 sounds a little too low. But in standard, you've got a guy that, you know, there's worries he hasn't, you know, over the last two years and his career average is under 11 yards of reception. It's very low for a wide receiver. That's a Guy that's playing the slot role or the, you know, the move the chains role. And he's not been a real touchdown guy. I mean, his rookie season, when he was needed to be in that role, he looked great at it. But, you know, he's had four touchdowns essentially since then. So it's just one of those.
Andy Holloway
I take back my apology. You want Keenan Allen or do you want Larry Fitzgerald?
Mike Wright
Keenan Allen.
Andy Holloway
Would you agree they're in the same tier?
Mike Wright
Sure, Yeah, I can.
Andy Holloway
What about Martavis Bryant?
Jason Moore
Oh, Bryant.
Mike Wright
Yeah. I think I want more Tavis Tyree Kill.
Jason Moore
We're just talking, Stan.
Mike Wright
I want Keenan Allen.
Andy Holloway
This is just the standardly. Keep Jeremy Macklin.
Mike Wright
Keenan Allen.
Jason Moore
Okay, Macklin.
Andy Holloway
So he's on. He's teetering the line between a 4 and 5 according to our rankings. He's, you know, fours are like Crabtree, the Marius, Thomas, Devonte, Adams. I think he's right around that range with the huge upside of if he can put together like a season similar to the first seven games of 2015, he will. Okay? He will. You and your injured players, my goodness. All right, what's the best way to join a dynasty league for free, if that is even possible? That's from Jake in Delaware. How do you join a dynasty league, Jake?
Mike Wright
Have you tried opening your front door and shouting, does anyone play dynasty fantasy football?
Jason Moore
Or since it's.
Mike Wright
I'm just asking if he's tried that.
Jason Moore
Since it's no longer the 80s where you can only be friends with people on your street, you pull out your cell phone and call friends. I mean, hopefully you've got a league that you're in right now with other players, see if they want to start a dynasty and if any of them have any friends that want to start a dynasty, if you want to go for free, if you know, if you're a member of the Foot Clan, we've got FootClanLeagues.com where dynasty leagues are starting up all the time. And you know that they're good people. They know what they're doing. They're going to have fun in the league. So that's another approach.
Andy Holloway
All right, so we're going to get into the NFC north on the next episode. The packers, the king of the North. The packers, the Lions, the Vikings and the Bears.
Mike Wright
There's a lot happening in the north these days.
Andy Holloway
There is a lot happening in the North. How did you like that first episode? I'm still recovering of Thrones.
Jason Moore
Well, we got to save that for the show.
Andy Holloway
After the show, gentlemen, what did you eat during. Did you get something special for the episode?
Mike Wright
I actually did a pizza party with the children before Game of Thrones. Not while watching.
Jason Moore
Carb them up so that they sleep. That's smart take, you know.
Mike Wright
Yeah, we'll tell that to my 3 year old who was up to like 10 o'clock.
Jason Moore
He's a monster. No good.
Andy Holloway
Yeah, well, you're the father of dragons, so. All right, that's it for today's episode. Thank you very much for tuning in. Definitely. Check out the Ultimate Draft Kit over atultimatedraftkit.com get you ready for the 2017 season. And don't forget, get hooked up with Play Draft. We play best ball leagues over there. Play draft.com ballers. It's a lot of fun. Mike will be doing a another live basketball draft this week.
Mike Wright
It might happen later today. Check the tweeter.
Andy Holloway
Really?
Jason Moore
I don't know.
Andy Holloway
Maybe. Goodbye.
Mike Wright
Goodbye.
Jason Moore
Thank you for listening to another edition of the Fantasy Footballers Podcast. Don't forget to visit us on the web at www.the fantasy footballers.com and follow us on Twitter @the ffballers.
Fantasy Footballers Podcast Summary: Episode - Post Hype Sleepers, AFC North Breakdown
Release Date: July 18, 2017
In this episode of the Fantasy Footballers Podcast, hosts Andy Holloway, Jason Moore, and Mike "The Fantasy Hitman" Wright dive deep into the intricacies of the AFC North division, explore post-hype sleepers for the upcoming fantasy football season, and discuss recent NFL news impacting fantasy rosters. The trio provides expert analysis, actionable advice, and engaging discussions tailored for both seasoned and novice fantasy football enthusiasts.
The hosts begin by addressing a listener question from Kev White, focusing on identifying "post hype sleepers"—players who were highly touted in the previous season but underperformed, presenting potential value in the upcoming drafts.
Jason Moore on Lamar Miller [03:15]:
"I'm going back to one of My guys last year that I really liked, really liked his opportunity and his talent. It's Lamar Miller... he's guaranteed 250 carries and 30 receptions."
Jason advocates for Lamar Miller, highlighting his consistent performance and potential rebound given his guaranteed workload. He emphasizes Miller's value as a third-round pick with substantial upside, especially considering the uncertainty surrounding Deonta Foreman.
Andy Holloway on Todd Gurley [04:40]:
"Todd Gurley is my post type sleeper... he's already been in all these headlines, but number 15 in PPR leagues, number 20 in standard leagues on probably the worst season you could have ever imagined."
Andy mirrors Jason's sentiment by recommending Todd Gurley as a prime post-hype sleeper. Despite his underwhelming performance last season, Gurley's proven talent and continued opportunity make him a valuable pick with significant upside.
Mike Wright on Amir Abdullah [05:31]:
"Amir Abdullah... Detroit did nothing, nothing to address the running back position except announce over the off season that Amir Abdullah is looking at a featured role."
Mike highlights Amir Abdullah as a sleeper with the potential to exceed expectations, especially with the Lions' commitment to utilizing him in both rushing and receiving roles.
The conversation shifts to recent NFL developments that could influence fantasy football strategies:
Legal Issues Surrounding Ezekiel Elliott and Deonta Foreman [08:15 - 09:37]:
Andy Holloway: Reports Ezekiel Elliott's involvement in a late-night incident in Dallas, citing sources confirming the event (09:37).
Jason Moore: Expresses surprise and concern over legal implications for professional athletes ([09:49]).
Mike Wright: Discusses the timing and potential impact on Elliott's season, emphasizing the uncertainty surrounding legal outcomes ([11:19]).
The hosts deliberate the potential fantasy impact, noting that any suspension or legal trouble could significantly affect Elliott's availability and performance.
Michael Floyd's Suspension and Panthers GM Firing [14:15 - 15:41]:
Andy Holloway: Announces Michael Floyd's four-game suspension for substance abuse policy violations and the firing of Panthers GM David Gettleman ([15:02]).
Jason Moore: Analyzes the implications for fantasy players, noting that while Gettleman's departure may not directly impact fantasy, it signals potential organizational changes ([15:40]).
The discussion underscores the importance of keeping abreast of team management changes, as they can influence player roles and team dynamics.
Chicago Bears Starting Mike Glennon [16:29 - 17:01]:
The team considers how Glennon's playstyle could affect the distribution of receiving talent, potentially creating opportunities for wide receivers.
The core of the episode focuses on dissecting the AFC North teams, assessing player performances, roster changes, and fantasy implications.
Key Players and Changes [17:01 - 19:23]:
Jason Moore: Highlights the drafting of James Conner in the third round as a strategic move to secure depth at running back ([17:25]).
Andy Holloway: Discusses the Steelers' offensive strategy, noting their high rate of two-point conversions (32% of the time), which benefits players like Ben Roethlisberger and Antonio Brown ([18:13]).
Mike Wright: Points out the potential holdout situation with Le'Veon Bell and its effect on the running back committee ([19:57]).
The Steelers' offense remains robust with the addition of Juju Smith-Schuster and James Conner, while concerns linger over Bell's commitment and potential impact on the running game.
Emerging Talent and Offensive Adjustments [25:52 - 31:02]:
Andy Holloway: Emphasizes the Ravens' balanced offensive approach, with 61% of plays being passes, leading the league in passing frequency ([25:56]).
Jason Moore: Advocates for players like Jeremy Macklin and Terrence West, noting their value as late-round picks with potential upside ([28:28]).
Mike Wright: Highlights Danny Woodhead's versatile role in the Ravens' offense, praising Joe Flacco's utilization of Woodhead in the passing game ([27:46]).
The Ravens present several fantasy gems with their pass-heavy offense and the emergence of players like Macklin and Woodhead, who offer both rushing and receiving value.
Quarterback Play and Running Back Depth [31:02 - 37:05]:
Jason Moore: Focuses on Andy Dalton's potential as a reliable quarterback when paired with a strong receiving corps ([32:24]).
Andy Holloway: Analyzes the Bengals' running back situation, expressing concerns over Jeremy Hill's declining performance and the emergence of Joe Mixon ([35:42]).
Mike Wright: Discusses the strategic importance of tight ends like Tyler Ifert, advocating for their late-round value due to potential scarcity ([34:15]).
The Bengals' fantasy outlook hinges on Dalton's performance and the running back duo of Mixon and Hill, with Mixon poised to take a more prominent role despite Hill's inconsistencies.
Quarterback Efficiency and Running Back Potential [37:05 - 44:14]:
Andy Holloway: Highlights the Browns' efficient rushing game, despite a low volume of attempts, and discusses the potential escalation of Isaiah Crowell's role ([38:06]).
Jason Moore: Evaluates quarterback options, citing Cody Kessler's efficiency but recognizing the instability at the position ([43:07]).
Mike Wright: Recommends targeting wide receiver Kenny Britt for his consistent performance, despite the uncertainty at quarterback ([43:30]).
The Browns offer a mixed fantasy outlook, with strong rushing efficiency but limited opportunities. The quarterback situation remains fluid, making wide receivers like Britt more appealing in drafts.
Keenan Allen's Tier Ranking [46:35 - 48:08]:
Diego's Question: Concerns why Keenan Allen is ranked as a tier 5 player in standard formats despite his proven chemistry with quarterback Philip Rivers ([45:55]).
Andy Holloway: Defends his ranking, emphasizing patience and potential with Keenan Allen's recovery and team dynamics ([46:36]).
Jason Moore: Argues that Allen's lack of touchdowns and average reception yards justify a lower tier in standard scoring ([47:45]).
The hosts engage in a debate over Keenan Allen's value, balancing his consistent target share against his limited touchdown production in standard scoring leagues.
Joining a Dynasty League for Free [48:41 - 49:32]:
Jake's Question: Seeks advice on joining a dynasty league without incurring fees.
Jason Moore: Suggests leveraging existing friendships or joining FootClanLeagues.com for community-driven dynasty options ([48:52]).
The hosts provide practical solutions for listeners looking to enter dynasty leagues, emphasizing community and network-based approaches.
As the episode wraps up, the hosts preview the next installment, which will focus on the NFC North division, covering teams like the Packers, Lions, Vikings, and Bears. They also mention upcoming resources for listeners, including the Ultimate Draft Kit and Play Draft leagues.
Jason Moore on Lamar Miller [03:15]:
"He's guaranteed 250 carries and 30 receptions... He's got a safe floor, a good price in drafts, and he still has upside."
Andy Holloway on Todd Gurley [04:40]:
"Number 15 in PPR leagues, number 20 in standard leagues on probably the worst season you could have ever imagined or predicted for a player still played 16 games."
Mike Wright on Amir Abdullah [05:31]:
"You give me 1200 yards from scrimmage. That's absolutely fantastic."
Jason Moore on Ezekiel Elliott [11:58]:
"I think this is something that the NFL will take into consideration. When, you know, I didn't think he was going to be suspended."
Andy Holloway on Steelers' Two-Point Conversions [18:13]:
"32% of the time, they were going for two. That's good for you."
This episode provides a comprehensive analysis of the AFC North, offering valuable insights into player performances, team strategies, and emerging fantasy football opportunities. Whether you're looking to identify undervalued players or stay updated on NFL news that could impact your roster, the Fantasy Footballers deliver expert advice with engaging discussions to help you dominate your fantasy league.
For more detailed discussions and continuous updates, visit thefantasyfootballers.com and follow them on Twitter @the_ffballers.