Fantasy Football Podcast 2017 - Shocking Stats from 2016!

Summary

Fantasy Footballers Podcast: 2017 - Shocking Stats from 2016!

Release Date: January 31, 2017

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Overview

In this episode of the Fantasy Footballers Podcast, hosts Andy Holloway, Jason Moore, and Mike Wright delve into the most surprising and impactful statistics from the 2016 NFL season. They analyze how these statistics influence fantasy football strategies for the upcoming 2017 season, providing listeners with actionable insights and expert opinions.

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News and Updates

Before diving into the statistics, the hosts touch upon several significant news items that shape the NFL landscape:

• Colts' Leadership Stability ([04:54]): ESPN's Adam Schefter reports that Chuck Pagano will remain the head coach for the Indianapolis Colts in 2017, signaling stability after Ryan Grigson's departure. Jason Moore remarks, "I don't think Pagano is a great coach," sparking a discussion on the Colts' future.

• Chargers' Running Back Situation ([06:10]): The team looks to retain free agent Danny Woodhead, though Jason notes, "I do not adjust him due to Danny Woodhead." The focus remains on maintaining Melvin Gordon's fantasy value despite Woodhead's potential return.

• Carson Palmer's Uncertain Future ([08:27]): Arizona Cardinals' QB Carson Palmer expresses uncertainty about his participation in the 2017 season, leading to speculation about possible replacements like Tony Romo or Mike Glennon.

• 49ers' GM Hire ([09:29]): The San Francisco 49ers have hired John Lynch as their new GM with a six-year contract, raising questions about future team direction and player evaluations.

• Steelers' Defensive Concerns ([10:52]): Discussions about Ladarius Green's potential release due to injury concerns and the Steelers' broader defensive strategy.

• Martavis Bryant's Return ([12:29]): Wide receiver Martavis Bryant officially applies for NFL reinstatement, with hopes for a comeback despite past off-field issues.

• Bengals and Ravens Updates ([21:24] - [25:00]): Various updates on players like Tyler Boyd and Marcus Mariota, along with team strategies moving forward.

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Shocking Statistics from 2016

The core of the episode revolves around dissecting unexpected stats from the previous season and their implications for fantasy football.

Quarterbacks

1. Dak Prescott's Rookie Surge ([27:30])

   • Highlight: Dak Prescott achieved 10 QB1 weekly performances, the highest by a rookie since Cam Newton in 2011.
   • Quote: Jason Moore states, “He never finished lower than QB13 in that span.”
   • Implication: Despite being a late-round pick, Prescott's consistency makes him a valuable fantasy asset for 2017.

2. Marcus Mariota's Consistency ([32:30])

   • Highlight: Mariota maintained QB1 status for eight consecutive weeks, averaging a league-leading 24.6 fantasy points per game during that stretch.
   • Quote: Andy Holloway comments, “I have trust in Marcus Mariota.”
   • Implication: Mariota emerges as a high-upside, late-round quarterback option worth considering in drafts.

3. Philip Rivers' Decline ([33:47])

   • Highlight: Rivers failed to register another top-12 performance after week five, leading the NFL with 21 interceptions.
   • Quote: Jason Moore questions, “Which way do you bend for next year, Mike?”
   • Implication: Rivers presents a risk-reward scenario, with potential volatility affecting his fantasy value.

Running Backs

1. Kenneth Dixon's Limited Opportunity ([35:41])

   • Highlight: Dixon, despite averaging 12.9 fantasy points over six weeks, struggled with limited backfield trust from the Ravens.
   • Quote: Andy Holloway notes, “We need a better back.”
   • Implication: Dixon may be undervalued if he secures a primary role in the Ravens' offense for 2017.

2. LeGarrett Blount's Touchdown Efficiency ([35:57])

   • Highlight: Blount led the league with 25 carries inside the five-yard line, converting 12 into touchdowns.
   • Quote: Jason Moore remarks, “LeGarrett Blount finishes eighth in six-point leagues.”
   • Implication: High touchdown potential makes Blount a tempting but potentially risky fantasy RB pick.

3. Matt Forte's Regression ([39:00])

   • Highlight: Forte dropped from RB6 in the first 10 weeks to RB59 by season's end.
   • Quote: Jason Moore asserts, “If you're going to feed the ball to Matt Forte, he belongs on your roster.”
   • Implication: Forte might be undervalued in drafts due to unexpected regression, presenting a buy-low opportunity.

Wide Receivers

1. Tyreek Hill's Potential ([17:20])

   • Highlight: Andy Reid suggests Hill could double his snaps, potentially making him the highest-scoring WR in fantasy history.
   • Quote: Jason Moore declares, “He is one of the most weaponized players in the NFL.”
   • Implication: Hill's explosive potential makes him a high-upside pick, especially if his snap count increases.

2. Amari Cooper's Inconsistency ([45:49])

   • Highlight: Cooper failed to crack the top 24 in PPR leagues after a strong start, resembling Ted Ginn Jr.'s fantasy performance.
   • Quote: Amir Abdullah states, “People are drafting him like he's an every week, very consistent type of guy.”
   • Implication: Cooper's fluctuating performance poses a risk, urging caution in draft selections.

3. Brandon Cooks' Record-Setting Play ([47:54])

   • Highlight: Cooks secured the longest touchdown reception of 2016 at 98 yards, earning more fantasy points than Demaryius Thomas in a single game.
   • Quote: Jason Moore notes, “Brandon Cooks' play says a lot about Luck's extended plays.”
   • Implication: Cooks showcases the ability for game-breaking plays, increasing his value as a flex or stash option.

Tight Ends

1. Zach Ertz's Breakout Potential ([49:08])

   • Highlight: Ertz led tight ends in receptions and showed the capability to be a top-tier fantasy option.
   • Quote: Jason Moore emphasizes, “Zach Ertz represents that guy who could be a top three tight end next year.”
   • Implication: Ertz's upward trajectory makes him a valuable TE target, particularly in later rounds.

2. Hunter Henry's Red Zone Efficiency ([50:07])

   • Highlight: Henry recorded eight red-zone touchdowns, tying for the most among tight ends.
   • Quote: Andy Holloway states, “I can't get him in our dynasty league.”
   • Implication: Henry's red-zone prowess enhances his appeal as a reliable TE starter.

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Kickers and Other Positions

• Kickers' Undervalued Performance ([51:33])
  • Highlight: Six of the top 12 kickers in 2016 were undrafted, challenging the notion of kickers being unreliable fantasy assets.
  • Quote: Jason Moore counters, “Contrary to Jason's opinion that the kicker is the most important fantasy football position…”
  • Implication: Identifying elite kickers in later rounds can provide significant weekly advantages without sacrificing valuable draft picks.

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Concluding Insights

The Fantasy Footballers hosts wrap up the episode by reiterating the importance of understanding past performance trends to inform future draft strategies. They encourage listeners to explore the detailed articles on their website for an exhaustive list of shocking stats and to remain engaged with the fantasy community for continuous updates.

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Notable Quotes

• Jason Moore ([27:30]): “He never finished lower than QB13 in that span.”
• Andy Holloway ([32:30]): “I have trust in Marcus Mariota.”
• Jason Moore ([31:04]): “He represents the value that Kirk Cousins does.”
• Amir Abdullah ([45:49]): “People are drafting him like he's an every week, very consistent type of guy.”
• Jason Moore ([47:54]): “That play was more than Demaryius Thomas.”

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Final Thoughts

This episode serves as a comprehensive guide for fantasy football enthusiasts aiming to navigate the complexities of player performances and team dynamics. By highlighting unexpected statistics and providing expert analysis, the Fantasy Footballers equip listeners with the knowledge to make informed decisions and gain a competitive edge in their leagues.

Transcript

[Amir Abdullah]

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

[Andy Holloway]

Welcome to the Fantasy Footballers Podcast coming to you from the fantasyjocks.com studios with your hosts, Andy Holloway, Jason Moore and Mike Wright.

[Jason Moore]

We're back in business.

[Amir Abdullah]

We were out of business for a little.

[Jason Moore]

Doors are open. Come on inside. Incredible sale prices today only back in.

[Andy Holloway]

Sunny Arizona where flip flops can be worn.

[Jason Moore]

You wear flip flops everywhere, so it doesn't matter. Welcome in. Welcome to the Fantasy Footballers Podcast. Andy, Mike and Jason. I say we're back, even though from the outside. We may never have left because we had shows last week, but we were. We were out of town. We were in Nashville, Tennessee.

[Andy Holloway]

Honky Tonkin.

[Jason Moore]

Honky Tonka.

[Amir Abdullah]

That's true. They have a actual act of. There's a particular. What was the name of the street?

[Andy Holloway]

Broadway.

[Jason Moore]

Broadway.

[Amir Abdullah]

Was it Broadway? Broadway, yeah.

[Jason Moore]

It's not that one.

[Amir Abdullah]

Well, you go up and down Broadway and there are some delightful. There's live music everywhere. There's restaurants and bars and they call it Honky Tonkin.

[Jason Moore]

Yeah, they've. They call it that a lot of places.

[Amir Abdullah]

They do, yeah.

[Andy Holloway]

Yeah, I'm with Mike. I did not know.

[Amir Abdullah]

Where else do you Honky Tonk?

[Jason Moore]

I don't know, anywhere you. Any country oriented place. Any place that likes the country, you know?

[Andy Holloway]

Yeah, that makes sense. Mike and I both don't really like country.

[Jason Moore]

I'm just saying that's like a country phrase for bar hopping.

[Amir Abdullah]

Yeah. All right.

[Jason Moore]

You learn, you learn new things. We were at the Fantasy Sports Trade Association. We didn't just drive to Nashville to honky tonk or fly there. We were at the trade association conference where I'm proud to say we brought home a. An industry award for the best podcast, best fantasy podcast or online audio.

[Andy Holloway]

So under 20 employees, with.

[Jason Moore]

With any company under 20 employees, they.

[Amir Abdullah]

Had to put that on.

[Jason Moore]

I know, I know.

[Amir Abdullah]

Come on, man.

[Jason Moore]

It's pretty cool. It's pretty, pretty cool. So great show for you today. We have shocking statistics from 2016, some shocking facts that we dug up that came out of some of our articles. It's always fun when the season is over to break down some of the interesting splits, you know, over the course of the season, highlight some players and the things that they did and then talk about the implications of those shocking stats and what they mean for the 2017 fantasy football season. So we will be breaking those down. We will also be jumping into a whole bunch of news. The two shows last week, we didn't have news in Them because we had prerecorded those because we're out of town. So we've got a lot of news to discuss.

[Amir Abdullah]

We smashed our. Our game analysis where we travel Tuesday. We went into the future and looked at the games.

[Andy Holloway]

Nailed it, man, that play.

[Jason Moore]

That play was unbelievable with the. Yeah, the yardage on that. All right, the yardage. Yeah, that's. I say that all the time, right?

[Amir Abdullah]

Boy, look at that yardage.

[Jason Moore]

Massive yardage. All right, if you want to follow the show on Twitter, you can do so at the FF Ballers. You can follow me at Andy Holloway, Jason at Jason ffl, and Mike is at FF Hitman. Just checking in.

[Amir Abdullah]

We're back to this.

[Jason Moore]

I don't know. Every time you get freshly not verified, I like, we got to fsta and some people are bringing that up.

[Amir Abdullah]

Yeah, there were some colleagues who thought, guys, that's a great bit. Our friend Matt Kelly.

[Jason Moore]

Matt Kelly said, you guys are genius.

[Amir Abdullah]

He's like, that's. It's so funny, man. I love it. We're like, it's not a joke, Matt.

[Jason Moore]

It's not a bit.

[Andy Holloway]

Mike starts crying.

[Jason Moore]

Mike's like, it's my life.

[Amir Abdullah]

And the answer is no. There is someone at Twitter who does not like me.

[Jason Moore]

Apparently. It's the beard, man. I saw another person every once in a while on YouTube. You get that person that just. They really opposed to your. Your hair. And I got. I saw another one. They're like, mike, you got to get rid of that man bun. That man buzz. Gotta go. Like, they feel so strongly in this political climate, the man bun is the biggest issue we have. So. All right, follow us on Twitter @ the FF Ballers. Like I said, check out the website, the fantasy footballers Calm. A lot of those are awesome articles going up right now. Check out our fantasy [e-mail] where you can also join awesome leagues for 2017. I see dynasty leagues already forming [e-mail] and obviously subscribe. We love your reviews on itunes. They help the show out. Let's jump into the news.

[Andy Holloway]

News and notes from around the league.

[Jason Moore]

Oh. ESPN's Adam Schefter reports. The Colts are still expected to retain Chuck Pagano for 2017.

[Amir Abdullah]

Congratulations, Chuck.

[Andy Holloway]

Yeah, congratulations, Colts, because Ryan Grigson is gone, who might be. I don't know if he was the worst gm, but he was always. He was always competing for it.

[Jason Moore]

Yeah, he was always in the running. So Chris Ballard's the GM now. He spent four years with the Chiefs. I don't think Pagano is a Great coach. No disrespect intended, just. I just don't think he's a great football coach. I think he's a middle of the road football coach.

[Amir Abdullah]

It's, I think it's, it's interesting how you have these coaches where maybe Chuck, he could be a good coach, but you get put in these situations by your GM where you have Andrew Locke, I mean, that was a no brainer pick. How can you can't be praised for having the first overall pick and going, oh, well, here's a franchise quarterback that everyone thinks is a franchise quarterback. So I'm going to draft him and then you give him no offensive line for years and years. You just let him get punished back there. So let's see what Chuck can do with a guy who, who hopefully will get him some protection.

[Jason Moore]

Yeah, you're right. I mean, it's probably fair to say he deserves a shot with a different GM and an opportunity to get different players in there.

[Amir Abdullah]

It will be a one year shot though.

[Jason Moore]

You know, Bill Belichick's a great football coach.

[Andy Holloway]

Right.

[Jason Moore]

But he also has the structure and the organization around him. He didn't have that in Cleveland, so.

[Andy Holloway]

And Chris Ballard coming in from Kansas City. He is over the last four years risen up the ranks quickly for Kansas City, who has been known to have good drafts, good talent evaluation. So I think this is a very good hire for the Colts. It's good news for Andrew Luck and the wide receivers going forward because there's just no way he's as.

[Amir Abdullah]

Hopefully there won't be more wide receivers coming in.

[Andy Holloway]

Yeah. And if they are, hopefully they're not 5, 10 and they run fast because that's all. The Colts have been drafted.

[Jason Moore]

The Chargers hope to resign. Free agent Danny Woodhead. Hope is in quotes here. Melvin Gordon, you know, he had a great year. Obviously the sprained PCL Danny Woodhead's getting up there. He's 32, I believe. Look, he has a role to play. To me, it's not a role that's going to impact Melvin Gordon's fantasy value outside of injury to Gordon.

[Amir Abdullah]

So you think even if Danny Woodhead's back, Melvin Gordon will be worth that? Where do you think he's going to go? He's going to be like a second round pick, I would imagine.

[Jason Moore]

Yeah, I think he's, I don't adjust him due to Danny Woodhead. I do not. I think he proved himself last year in a lot of ways.

[Andy Holloway]

My original temptation was to look at the perfect storm that caused Melvin Gordon to get the ball and to say that that's going to be different next year. But I don't think that is true. When Andy brought it up a couple of weeks ago and we looked at the stats of the percentage of his volume compared to other teams, I think Gordon is going to have the repeat of the opportunity now, whether or not he happens to score as many touchdowns.

[Amir Abdullah]

Or they use Woodhead a lot in the Reds. At least they historically have.

[Andy Holloway]

Yeah.

[Amir Abdullah]

So was it Hunt is still there.

[Andy Holloway]

But I do believe in Melvin Gordon next year and I think a second round pick will be a wise pick.

[Jason Moore]

Yeah. Carson Palmer. Look, there's a lot of news circling around Arizona about the future of Carson Palmer as well as Larry Fitzgerald. Palmer's basically come out and said he is hopeful but not committed to playing football in 2017. The last thing I heard was Palmer said he was going to wait and see how his body responded this offseason to see because he got beat up last year. It was a tough year for Palmer.

[Amir Abdullah]

He better make a decision in like three weeks.

[Andy Holloway]

You darn right. Because free agency is going to open and the only thing as a, you know, we live in Arizona, so we root for the Cardinals. We make no mistake about that. I do not want him retiring in two and a half months after Mr. Romo has maybe gone somewhere. Yeah.

[Jason Moore]

The two names associated with the Cardinals if Palmer was to retire have been Tony Romo and Mike Glennon. So, you know, kind of two different directions there for me with a guy like Larry Fitzgerald still led the league in receptions. If Fitzgerald was to come back, I'd prefer Romo than the rebuild because you have a team that can win now. This is a team one year removed from the NFC Championship game. Had a lot of injuries. Tyron Matthews, you know, got a year under his belt coming back from that injury. We'll see what happens. I do believe that we'll know within a couple of weeks in a more definite sense.

[Andy Holloway]

So I still think he'll be back. Just gut feeling and reading the tea leaves. I expect Carson to be back and Fitz to be back.

[Jason Moore]

That would be good. 49ers have hired John lynch as their GM and so he takes over in San Francisco. It also is reported he personally called Kyle Shanahan to volunteer for that job. We know Kyle Shanahan is not the official new head coach, Buddy. Pretty much the new head coach. So that'll, you know, a different looking.

[Andy Holloway]

How is this not organization hampering? Like, you know, you're not. They're not allowed to contact him Right.

[Amir Abdullah]

They're allowed to have it.

[Jason Moore]

There's rules. They already interviewed him.

[Amir Abdullah]

There's rules about interview. There's a rule about when you can do the second interview. You just can't officially hire someone because he is hired by the Atlanta Falcons.

[Andy Holloway]

Right. Except he's already got the job. The interesting thing about. There's two interesting things about this GM hire. One is that this is a guy without any, you know, former experience, experience of player evaluation. And two, they gave him a six year contract, which is. That's big, basically unheard of. I like the six year contract idea in that it, you know, that team is set up to fail right now. They don't have the talent. You bring in Kyle Shanahan and you don't want them to be like, okay, two years from now when they've had two bad seasons, Kyle Shanahan, you're out. Long contract. I like that. But it's scary to do that with a guy who has virtually no player evaluation experience at the gm.

[Jason Moore]

All right. Being reported that the Steelers could possibly move on from Ladarius Green this offseason. Look, he struggled with an ankle and a brain injury in the beginning of last season. Had the concussion, was off the field. This could be a risk reward type of thing for the Steelers. We saw briefly how Ladarius Green could impact that offense in a positive way.

[Amir Abdullah]

Very positive. And.

[Jason Moore]

But it might not matter. It might not matter how positive that was. If the cost versus one more concussion, he's probably done.

[Amir Abdullah]

So they owe him. His cap hit next year will be six. A little bit over six million dollars. And his dead cap would be three and a half. So they can save, you know, about two and a half million dollars if they cut him. And also I'll throw in here because we were gone when the nonsense happened. But if you did not hear, you had Big Ben also saying he does not commit to 2017 football.

[Jason Moore]

Sure.

[Amir Abdullah]

Just said you were just reporting the news.

[Jason Moore]

Yeah, yeah. But it's almost like some things you just don't even want to like. It makes too many swirling. There were reports, too. They're very unhappy with the antics of Antonio Brown. And you know, they say maybe it's posturing for a contract extension. But Big Ben came out and said how pouty he was. Tomlin was really upset about the antics in the locker room.

[Andy Holloway]

I'll have him pout on the Cardinals. That's fine with me.

[Jason Moore]

Yeah. Chiefs could save $6.1 million if they release Jamal Charles this offseason. Do we expect Jamal Charles to become.

[Amir Abdullah]

A free agent, I feel like they have to.

[Andy Holloway]

I do. It's just, I don't. It's hard. He's.

[Amir Abdullah]

He's 30, an aging running back coming off of multiple ACL injuries. Now, for 6 million bucks, you can't pay him that.

[Jason Moore]

You don't think he'll be there.

[Amir Abdullah]

If he is, they have to restructure. You can't pay him that.

[Jason Moore]

All right. Martavis Bryant has officially, it's official this time officially applied for reinstatement into the National Football League.

[Amir Abdullah]

That doesn't mean he'll be back.

[Jason Moore]

No, but he could be.

[Amir Abdullah]

Yeah, hopefully.

[Andy Holloway]

I made a couple of trade offers for him in our dynasty League. I did. I couldn't get him, but I thought about it. But yeah, it is one of those things where it's difficult. You know, recency bias always happens. And if you look at the last line of Justin Blackman's and Josh Gordon.

[Amir Abdullah]

This was the Josh Gordon situation last year.

[Andy Holloway]

It's really hard to trust that Martavis Bryant will come back and stay clean because we have a history here of players in his situation not being able to. But the talent is certainly unquestionable. And the wide receiver, free agents, you know, that are in Pittsburgh, the opportunity is there for Martavis to have a big year if he comes back.

[Jason Moore]

Marvin Lewis, Bengals head coach, has reported or has said that he wants Tyler Boyd to contribute more in 2017.

[Andy Holloway]

That's my boy.

[Amir Abdullah]

Yeah, this is more of a, you know, just if you're playing dynasty, you know, you got to keep these things in mind. You got to remember to make moves in the off season like Jason's talking about with Mark Davis. But maybe, maybe there's some feelers out there for Tyler Boyd.

[Jason Moore]

Yeah, I agree.

[Amir Abdullah]

Great situation next year.

[Jason Moore]

Yeah, he has an opportunity as a not a rookie to contribute more. The Vikings have not, according to at least espn, has been ghostly. They have not ruled out the possibility that Bridgewater could return in 2017. It was originally reported last week that he was out for the entirety of 2017.

[Amir Abdullah]

I think he's out.

[Jason Moore]

Yeah, I think he's out too. Look, he still represents the future at quarterback for that team. They need to. Maybe they have a stop gap there.

[Amir Abdullah]

Maybe. I mean, just also remember what they paid for Sam Bradford. It would be shocking to me that a team, even though they were, they felt like they were contenders, playoff contenders, super bowl contenders. You don't give up a first round pick for a one year quarterback replacement. You do that because you think there is some serious problems with Teddy Bridgewater and he may never be back to the player that they drafted.

[Andy Holloway]

Sam Bradford's 29 years old.

[Amir Abdullah]

Yeah, he can be, he can still be a franchise guy.

[Jason Moore]

He set the shoulder pads are 75 years old.

[Andy Holloway]

Man, those things are out of this world.

[Amir Abdullah]

He set the NFL record for completion percentage. And I understand they were short passes, but it's, it's something, right?

[Jason Moore]

Sure. Like, yeah, that turned that into. Right.

[Amir Abdullah]

Chad Pennington says it's something.

[Jason Moore]

Yeah, yeah, we'll get him on the phone. The Giants would save two and a half million dollars in salary cap space by releasing Rashad Jennings.

[Amir Abdullah]

I expect that.

[Jason Moore]

You know, Rashad Jennings came alongside Perkins last year and really he said, look, you're going to be taking over this backfield. This was not an, you know, they weren't opposed to one another. Rashad Jennings basically said, be ready to take this over. This is going to be your backfield. Could be as early as next year.

[Amir Abdullah]

It was. We saw it happening. I mean Perkins was played pretty well down the stretch.

[Jason Moore]

I would not be surprised if they drafted someone though as well.

[Amir Abdullah]

Just a compliment.

[Jason Moore]

A compliment.

[Amir Abdullah]

Yeah.

[Jason Moore]

Yeah. I don't know if we saw enough from Perkins to say, okay, we want to hand him the keys. You know, you obviously had the injuries to Shane Vereen and you had.

[Amir Abdullah]

There's very, very little three down guys anymore. So.

[Andy Holloway]

And it's certainly not going to be for the New York Giants.

[Amir Abdullah]

Right.

[Andy Holloway]

They over the last few years.

[Jason Moore]

No.

[Amir Abdullah]

They're going to draft like four running.

[Andy Holloway]

Yeah. They've run so many running backs out of there. I thought about making offers for Perkins in our own dynasty league. And you know, if you look back at the McAdoo era, the new York Giants running game hasn't really been something that's really been a difference maker for fantasy. So let's say Perkins does take over that starting role. Great. His value goes up. But how high? I don't think.

[Amir Abdullah]

I think he'd be running. I think he will be a running back to. Yeah. Which that's. You want him but if you can get him cheaper, sure, grab him.

[Jason Moore]

All right. Andy Reid. I had not seen this report. I completely missed this report.

[Andy Holloway]

Oh.

[Jason Moore]

Which obviously you'll love this. I'm vested in this guy. Andy Reid says Tyreek Hale could double his snaps in 2017, which will make him the highest scoring wide receiver in the history of fantasy football. I'm going to just say that's a fact. Right. If you give him double the snaps is double the production. There's nothing else to figure out.

[Andy Holloway]

No.

[Jason Moore]

But look, that would be big news obviously for Tyreek Hill to be on the field more and more. I think we saw even though they didn't win in the playoffs. Right. There were some other things that they didn't do. Right. You saw the impact that Tyree Kill and faking the ball to Tyree Kill and put him on the field had on the Steeler defense. I think they want to replicate that. I mean, he is obviously one of the, the most weapon. He's one of the best weapons in the National Football League. You can use him at running back on, on end arounds. You can throw him the ball. He's powerful in the return game.

[Andy Holloway]

He's scary fast. And I mean that literally. Like, if I was a, I would be scared. I would be like, oh no, he's got the ball because I'm not going to be able to catch them. Somebody else get them. That, that would be me, which is why I don't play in the NFL.

[Amir Abdullah]

But I wanted to bring this up because in Dynasty, Andy and I have differing opinions on what to do with Tyreek Hill. I think that Hill is at absolute peak value right now. And I'm not saying he can't produce next year. Doubling his snaps would be tremendous. I don't know if that will actually happen. It's just, you know, historically of a wide receiver on the Kansas City Chiefs with Alex Smith, the game manager with. Everyone was super excited for Jeremy Macklin and it just never happens. Travis Kelsey kind of took over the mantle this year, but as we've talked about, while he was the tight end one, he was not the. In other seasons he would have been the number six or so. But for. And so for me, I think people are very excited for Tyreek Hill. And if I had scooped him up late in drafts or off the waiver wire, I would be trying to trade him.

[Jason Moore]

And I understand that temptation because it's still. When you started talking to that to me, I went out there and put a few offers out there. I offered Jason a trade to get Sammy Watkins with Tyree Kill. The reason that Temptation exists is plain and simple. He is not prototypical. And you are kind of thinking about your team and you're thinking about getting those standardized number sets of 80 plus receptions and this amount of touchdowns. I mean, Tyree Kill, he doesn't fit that mold. He's an enigma.

[Amir Abdullah]

Well, he was.

[Jason Moore]

He had two games where he had no receptions and he was a wide receiver one where he was receptions. Yeah, I mean he was. He finished the year as the 13th best wide receiver in fantasy in half point leagues. He had eight of ten of his last. Eight of his last ten games were double digit and the two that weren't eight and nine. So this wasn't a guy who just because he didn't have reception totals that always matched those numbers somehow had dud games. So he was very consistent and he was a rookie. So you talk about, look at what happens to wide receivers, the Corey Coleman's of the world, right? I have hopes for Corey Coleman coming into his own in the next two years. Why wouldn't Tyree Kill have that capability? Especially a guy that could have been a first round talent if it wasn't for off the field concerns. So all that being said, I think I am resisting the temptation to say I need to replace him with a prototypical player because I don't know, next year Tyree Kill could compete with Michael Thomas on fantasy production. Maybe you'd rather have statement. Yeah, he could because he already did.

[Andy Holloway]

I find myself leaning more towards Mike's viewpoints on this. You make a strong argument and he was consistent. But some of those numbers, I mean they took him breaking very large plays for touchdowns and he has the talent to. I mean it's not like, oh, it's just a crazy play call. And that's what you need in that role for Kansas City. You need to have this freak ability to. Where you don't get a lot of touches. I mean think about Jamal Charles. The knock was always on him, that he didn't get enough volume, but he had the freak ability to just break things off. So maybe Tyreek does do that. But I don't love the offense. I don't love that he's not a number one, maybe even the number two option for an offense that doesn't move the ball a lot. And that in order to replicate what he did this year he's going to need those breakaway touchdowns, those return game touchdowns. So it goes both ways. Take all that information, make your own decision.

[Jason Moore]

Yeah, no, I mean that's absolutely true. I mean there are certain players like D. Jack so where he had to eventually accept that he's going to be a big play guy his whole career. Is that Tyreek? I don't know. With Jamal Charles, if he left, that puts more on the shoulders of Tyreek Hill, I think to be a game breaking player. So we'll see. Before we jump into, I guess we have a couple bits of news. I'll get through these real quick. Mike McCarthy said Time Montgomery will remain a running back moving forward. I think my opinion is he will be a complimentary running back on that team. I don't think they're going to hand him, you know, a Bell Cal type of role.

[Amir Abdullah]

But that is Lacey's back on a one year deal.

[Jason Moore]

It's possible. I think it's possible. I do. I don't know if anybody's going to be coming out of the woodwork to give him a contract.

[Amir Abdullah]

So I don't think they. Yeah.

[Jason Moore]

And then Hugh Jackson said he has not come to any conclusions about Robert Griffin the Third's future, even though the rest of the world has come to many conclusions around his future. Yeah. Well, you know, thanks, Hugh. I'm sure he's happy with you. All right, before we move on, we're going to jump into 10 to 12 shocking stats. Stats Stolts, I think I was going to say statistics. Shocking stats from 2016. Some interesting numbers. We're going to break them down. Before we do that, we obviously want to thank the sponsors of today's show that support this podcast as it moves forward into the offseason. We want to thank pristine auction.com I was on the website today and I'm thinking if I was a Broncos fan, how in love with what I saw in there. Right now the auction price is at about $249 for a throwback, full size Bronco helmet, the two autographs, John Elway, Peyton Manning, what? Yeah. So you've got the entire universe did.

[Amir Abdullah]

Not implode when they did that.

[Jason Moore]

Championship history right on that trophy. And there are hundreds and hundreds of daily auctions for your favorite team, your favorite situation, even other sports. Right under that was a signed Cremio dual Jabbar shoe. I mean if you're a sports fan, there's just, it's just fun to browse and you'll find that perfect item that just defines your fandom in the NFL or beyond. And so we encourage you to check them out. Let them know the fantasy footballers sent you. If you go on there and you bid, you sign up an account. Head over to pristineauction.com that's P R I S T I N E auction.com.

[Amir Abdullah]

We want to thank Blue Apron for sponsoring the show. Blue Apron is making cooking easier than ever. They're sending you a box of delicious, delicious ingredients and recipes. Everything is pre portioned.

[Jason Moore]

So good.

[Amir Abdullah]

Cooking has never been easier or more delicious at home than with Blue Apron. Check out these are a couple of the things that you can get right now. Spicy shrimp and Korean rice cakes with Cabbage and fur cake. I believe we have that nailed down now. We do with the pronunciation. Pork chops and. And garlic piccata with scallion rice and spinach. Mushroom and chipotle pepper enchiladas with lime sour cream.

[Jason Moore]

I was just gonna say I had the best this peanut curry chicken the other night. It was honestly the best I've ever had in my life.

[Andy Holloway]

I was talking about it all week.

[Jason Moore]

I was blown away. It was that good. This is the future, people.

[Amir Abdullah]

We love Blue Apron. It's spectacular. We have all used it. So check out this week's menu. Get your first three meals free with free shipping by going to blueapron.comballers. you will love how good it feels and tastes to create incredible home cooked meals with Blue Apron. So don't wait. That's blueapron.com ballersblue apron a better way to cook.

[Jason Moore]

All right, now we. We love lists. If you've been on the Internet in the last five years, you know, people love lists. Top 10 lists.

[Amir Abdullah]

Number five is gonna shock you.

[Jason Moore]

Number five is gonna shock you. We love lists because we like. It's just easily. It's a little, you know, little bites, right? Just little bites of information. Jason loves bites. Speaking of which, we didn't even bring up the Goo Goos.

[Amir Abdullah]

Oh, at the top of the show?

[Jason Moore]

Yeah, at the top of the show. We come from Arizona. There are no Goo Goos in Arizona. We went out to Tennessee. We actually had a listener stop by. We were at a barbecue place, Tennessee, Chris Howell. And he stopped by and he felt like he should bring us something from Nashville. So he brought us.

[Amir Abdullah]

And he was correct.

[Jason Moore]

And he was obviously correct. And he gave us each this, you know, a little gift bag full of Goo Goos.

[Andy Holloway]

Goo Goo clusters.

[Jason Moore]

And there are some, like my brother in law grew up in Louisiana in the Midwest. They knew what Goo Goos were and he quickly ate them. But we did not. And they are these delicious, like, almost like they're candy. They're candy bars, but they have like a Cadbury cream nougat inside with peanuts and peanut butter.

[Andy Holloway]

Yeah, Google. If you're out there and you want to sponsor a show, just Google the Goo Goo.

[Jason Moore]

All right? Google the Goo Goo.

[Andy Holloway]

You can get them on Amazon.

[Jason Moore]

We are not sponsored by them, but we would love to be. Also, that would be bad for the year of health. But anyway, I was talking about lists and how much we love lists. There are four articles on the website with shocking statistics, 25 per position. We're breaking down some of the more interesting ones on the show today. But if you want to check out the full articles, they're great. Go to the fantasy footballers.com and you can see even more. You know, some of us can't get enough lists, so you've got enough over there.

[Andy Holloway]

We even have a top 25 shocking stats for kickers. Boom, boom. Kickers.

[Jason Moore]

Do we really?

[Andy Holloway]

We really do.

[Jason Moore]

I had no idea. Oh, yeah, I have. I have a kicker filter on my browser. It filters out all those. Yeah, it returns every kicker into Chandler Canton. Zara, that's a weird. It's a weird thing. All right, Dak Prescott. I'm start with some shocking stats at the quarterback position. And why not start with Dak? He was one of the biggest stories of the year. Dak Prescott finished with an unprecedented 10 QB1 weeks over the course of the season in standard scoring leagues. That is the highest total by a rookie QB since. Do you have a guess?

[Andy Holloway]

Oh, well, the monstrosity year of Cam Newton was.

[Jason Moore]

Yeah, 2011.

[Andy Holloway]

Cam Newton, 14 rushing touchdowns.

[Jason Moore]

I remember everybody doubted Cam Newton. I went to Cam Newton's first game in the NFL, played the Cardinals.

[Amir Abdullah]

I was there too.

[Jason Moore]

Through for like 300,000 yards. I mean, it was insane. So, yeah, biggest year, most top 10 finishes since Cam Newton's 2011 campaign. Which man thinking that's like six, six, seven years ago. He. In that campaign, Newton had ran for 700 yards or five. What do you mean?

[Amir Abdullah]

2011 to 2016.

[Jason Moore]

Yeah. Okay, what did I say?

[Amir Abdullah]

Six or seven?

[Jason Moore]

Six or seven. Prescott was a QB3. Was the QB3 from weeks three through 12. That is shocking to me. I knew the top 10 finishes. But if you told me you could ride him to a QB3 finish from weeks three through 12, which is the meat of the whole season. He never finished lower than QB13 in that span.

[Amir Abdullah]

No, it was, it was great.

[Jason Moore]

I mean, is he a top? This is the question for you. Is Dak Prescott a top six quarterback next year?

[Amir Abdullah]

I believe I have him in my early rankings right around that 6, 7 range. I love Dak. We talked about this on the quarterback show that as of right now, very early end of January, but I will be targeting both Kirk Cousins and Dak Prescott in my drafts because I think that they are excellent fantasy options and I think that the public will be a little bit. They'll be off of them. Maybe more on Dak for. Just because people love, you know, the big sexy finish in the guys showing up in the playoffs. But our writers, our writers are doing a mock draft right now, and I believe that Dak went in about the 11th round for a guy that. I mean, that consistency is extremely important for your quarterback.

[Jason Moore]

When you think about it. Rogers, Ryan, Brady, Brees, those guys are all going ahead of Dak. No matter what, Luck is going to go ahead for sure.

[Andy Holloway]

I love Michael Keaton.

[Jason Moore]

Well done.

[Andy Holloway]

We did it.

[Jason Moore]

That was a good one, by the way, because we hear this too much. People don't understand the Michael Keaton thing. That was even asked the other day. They're like. Because that happened on the show after the show. There was a show after the show we did where we were talking about movies. And it just so happened that Mike and I simultaneously said, I love Michael Keaton. Whoa. And it was in perfect unison. And so now every time, it's like our jinx.

[Amir Abdullah]

Brooks. Brooks.

[Jason Moore]

If you're confused and you're like, what in the world? And just so you know, Michael Keaton, when he says something, at the same time, when he has a jinx. When he has a jinx, he says, I love the fantasy footballers.

[Amir Abdullah]

Oh, we appreciate that, Michael.

[Jason Moore]

It kind of goes both ways. All right. But Dak Prescott, I just named five guys that are definitely going to go ahead of him. I also can think of several that people will be tempted to take ahead of him. Right? I mean, Matthew Stafford is one of them.

[Andy Holloway]

Russell Wilson.

[Jason Moore]

Russell Wilson will go ahead of him.

[Amir Abdullah]

And these, these are, if you look at, you know, what DEZ did. I mean, Des had a weird year. It was. It was not awful, but it wasn't what you expect from dez dealing with some injury, dealing with chemistry, connections with Dak. So here's what 50 for 796 is Dez Bryant. And I expect him to be over 1,000 yards again, near double in 10 touchdowns.

[Jason Moore]

And here's what it really boils down to. I'm taking every name I just said ahead of Dak Prescott, because I take Russell Wilson over Dak Prescott every day of the week because they've done it for more than one year. But when you have a guy who had this kind of a season and so the potential is up there, it's already built in, right? You already have the upside built in. He represents the value that a Kirk Cousins does. He represents the value of a high, high, high upside.

[Andy Holloway]

And what you're saying, Russell Wilson will be drafted ahead of him because he should be, because he's done it before. But the difference between Russell Wilson and Dak Prescott might not be that big. However, the difference in rounds where they're drafted that's where you know you're taking Russell Wilson in the fifth or sixth round, you're taking Dak in the 10th or 11th round and the difference might not be that big. Give me those other players ahead.

[Amir Abdullah]

And I'm not worried about Dak Prescott getting demolished on every third drop back because of his offensive line.

[Jason Moore]

Very good point. Yeah, Marcus Mariota. Here's stat number two. Marcus Mariota was a QB1 eight consecutive weeks from weeks five through 12. He averaged a league leading 24.6 fantasy points per contest in that span. Aaron Rodgers was the only other quarterback to have a streak of eight on the season. And so from a consistency standpoint, Mariota another late round QB with high upside. If he can return healthy. And this team did a lot of.

[Amir Abdullah]

Good this year, man. And even, even reading these, this stat back of Mariota, I still feel like I can't trust him.

[Andy Holloway]

I have trust in Marcus Mario. He did enough as a rookie, came back this year and did enough where I think his efficiency, they've got a good running game, they've got a good offensive line and he's developing relationships now with Rashad Matthews. And I expect they'll get another wide receiver this year. I do trust Marcus Mariota coming into this next season. I think he's done enough for two straight seasons. I couldn't ask for him to have done more than he did with what his options. So if he, if he's healthy and you know, is back in the off season program from the injury, I think Marcus Mariota might be one of those quarterbacks that I am personally targeting.

[Jason Moore]

Stringing together eight consecutive games at that level says a lot to me because the knock on Mariota before that point in time has been okay, here's a game where he throws a bunch of touchdowns. Here's a game where he does nothing behind center. So stringing eight together, that says a lot to me. Very interesting. Let's talk about one more quarterback. After week five, this is not so good. After week five, Philip Rivers of the Los Angeles Chargers.

[Andy Holloway]

Weird.

[Jason Moore]

Failed to register another top 12 performance in standard leagues. Although he led the NFL with 21 interceptions.

[Andy Holloway]

That is crazy. Top 12. There were over 40 quarterbacks basically every single year that have a top 12 performance. And for him to not get one top 12 after week five says something was off. And when you watch the games, you see something was off. His interceptions that he led the league with, they weren't all, oh, it's a tip up from some of those were just downright bortles.

[Jason Moore]

Downright Bortles.

[Amir Abdullah]

You didn't let him.

[Jason Moore]

Allen.

[Amir Abdullah]

You didn't let him finish the stat though.

[Andy Holloway]

No.

[Jason Moore]

Woodhead. He made a lot of hay out of the backfield with Woodhead and underneath the violin.

[Amir Abdullah]

And although he led with 21 interceptions, he still finished eighth in six point pass or six point per touchdown league.

[Jason Moore]

So which way do you bend for next year, Mike?

[Amir Abdullah]

You know I love Philip Rivers. You know I love Keenan Allen. I assume that Allen is back. He went down week two with his acl.

[Jason Moore]

Rivers will be free. Yeah, he'll be borderline free.

[Amir Abdullah]

He very well could be back to that. Back to free Philip Rivers and.

[Jason Moore]

Well, Jason, would you rather draft Mariota or would you rather draft Philip Rivers.

[Andy Holloway]

If they're in the exact same spot? I would rather draft Mariota.

[Jason Moore]

Okay. That's. That's why he'll be borderline free. That's what I'm saying.

[Amir Abdullah]

I'll take Rivers.

[Jason Moore]

Let's move on to some running back stats. Get your thoughts on these in PPR formats. Kenneth Dixon was the RB14 over the final six weeks, despite splitting the workload with west, who is RB18. In that span, Dixon averaged 12.9 fantasy points per game. What do you make of Dixon? How much of this backfield will belong to Kenneth Dixon next year? We've heard Harbaugh come out and talk about the need to run the ball.

[Amir Abdullah]

Not there's.

[Andy Holloway]

He's not going to have as much of the backfield as he should have. We liked him coming out of college. When I watched the film, I like what I see him do. I think he was extremely productive with all of his opportunity. And yet it's clear to me that the Ravens do not trust him, to give him the keys to the kingdom. Based on what John Harbaugh has said this off season, basically, they. They need a better back. They said we're going to go get a better back. I mean, even if that could be.

[Jason Moore]

A motivational tool for Dixon to stay. I mean, having competition in the backfield, too.

[Andy Holloway]

Sure. But what it says to me is even, Even if you're trying to motivate him with, with disparaging remarks, if that's your tactic.

[Jason Moore]

That's not what I'm saying.

[Amir Abdullah]

Well, it is.

[Jason Moore]

No, I'm saying saying we're not getting enough is a motivating tactic. I mean, they. Look, Bruce Arians has said that about David Johnson, so whatever. Yeah, go on, go on.

[Andy Holloway]

I guess what, what I'm saying is he doesn't see Kenneth Dixon as the future. If you're saying Those type of things.

[Amir Abdullah]

He doesn't see him as a bell cow. I think he, I think he sees him as part of the Bruce Arians.

[Andy Holloway]

Comes out and says David Johnson had a bad game, he could do better. You know, when he has a great game, he says he can do better. It's always I want more out of David Johnson. It's not, we need to look for someone else because we're missing something. And so I feel like Kenneth Dixon should be given the role and the opportunity and they would succeed with him. But he is completely at the mercy of free agency in the draft right now. I don't know if Terrence west will be back. He's, he's, is he unrestricted?

[Amir Abdullah]

I don't, that part I don't remember. But he's contract is.

[Andy Holloway]

Yeah. So he's a free agent. They'll look in the draft if it comes to next season and Kenneth Dixon is the clear cut starter. They don't sign Terrence west and they bring in a fourth or fifth round running back. I'll really like Kenneth Dixon.

[Jason Moore]

I should add, we will have an episode focused on free agency and the free agency preview period. That'll come soon. We, you know, when the season gets wrapped up. Here's a stat for you. LeGarrett Blunt led the league with 25 carries inside the five yard line, converting those carries into 12 touchdowns. So half of those carries inside the five yard line basically were touchdowns. His 18 rushing TDs are the most since 2009 when AP had 18 of them. I know he's a regression candidate for all of us because that's hard. Look, it was the most since 2009. It's been a long time. That's like what, 30, 40 years ago?

[Amir Abdullah]

But that's. You're staying consistent with your math. Yes, but I mean there's a lot of things, there's a lot of red flags for legarre Blunt right now.

[Jason Moore]

Dion.

[Amir Abdullah]

What's that?

[Jason Moore]

Dion?

[Amir Abdullah]

Well, number one, he's not scheduled to be on the Patriots next year.

[Andy Holloway]

That's hurdle number one for sure.

[Amir Abdullah]

They may bring him back. I mean, they like him a lot. He is, he's on the wrong side of 30 for a running back. I know it was a spectacular year, but we know that the Mr. Mr. Father Time is always undefeated and so there's just. He's probably going to go too high in a draft. I'm making the assumption that he's back with the Patriots. People are going to want LeGarrett blunts.

[Jason Moore]

And buy sell and dynasty.

[Andy Holloway]

A dynasty. I would sell him.

[Amir Abdullah]

Yeah, I don't, I don't know that you could get.

[Andy Holloway]

You might have another year left of good value.

[Amir Abdullah]

What can you get for Garrett Blunt like we with a third round pick at the most. But I don't even think you'll get that.

[Andy Holloway]

Oh, someone, someone would be willing to buy Leger Blunt for another year long rental. And they'd give up more money.

[Amir Abdullah]

I doubt it.

[Jason Moore]

Matt. Here's another one. Matt Forte was the RB6 in standard scoring for the first 10 weeks. Making us look bad by the way because we did not expect that that good of a start for Matt Forte. But he was the RB59 from weeks 11 to 17.

[Amir Abdullah]

Yeah, take that.

[Jason Moore]

Forte, his teammate below Powell was the RB9 from week 10 on and finished the year at five and a half yards of carry, second best in the league. Because that's what Bilal Powell will do when you give him half of a season of workload. So Matt Forte undervalued next year. Overvalued. Probably undervalued. And it's so bizarre.

[Amir Abdullah]

Like how, how does Bilal Powell keep doing this? And his team continually says no, you're going to your second string.

[Jason Moore]

I mean that, that's not a hard question for me to answer is not no. Because you can make metric comparisons with Andre Ellington and everybody under the sun knew Andre Ellington is not a bell cow. But every statistical metric for multiple years showed him as the greatest yard per.

[Andy Holloway]

Carry player given the opportunity.

[Jason Moore]

But I don't even care about yard per carry.

[Amir Abdullah]

I'm saying no. Watching Bilal Powell is a lot different than watching Andre Allen.

[Jason Moore]

When I watch Matt Forte or Balal Pal, I'd rather have Forte play the football play on the field. That's how I feel so interesting. I think Bilal Pal is good, but I don't think he's better than Matt Forte.

[Amir Abdullah]

It's not necessarily that he's better or worse than Matt Forte. It's that I think they're, they're close in skill and they just beginning of the season when, when Forte was, you know, that high up, what was running back six. It's because they were feeding him the ball. Bilal Powell was not getting any touches on the field which is a reason.

[Jason Moore]

Why you need Matt Forte.

[Andy Holloway]

Yeah.

[Jason Moore]

If they're going to feed the ball to Matt Forte, he belongs on your roster. He could pull a Frank Goyer out.

[Andy Holloway]

He's got a. He's got a. They're going to be paying him a decent amount next year. I think they will give him the ball and I think he will be underdrafted and I'm not going to make the same mistake. He didn't look even though he got injured the second half of the year, he didn't look much different than Matt Forte has looked the previous three seasons. Very Frank Gore esque. And so I will, I will certainly when, when he's dropping to, you know, if he gets down to the fourth round, I'm going to take Matt Forte.

[Amir Abdullah]

Huh.

[Jason Moore]

But it won't be a fun click of the mouse.

[Andy Holloway]

I'm not going to be like I'm not going to name my team the young guns.

[Jason Moore]

Matt Forte. 362 yards after contact this past year, which is pretty good.

[Amir Abdullah]

Yeah, it's top.

[Jason Moore]

It's tops. Not tops but it's. It's in the top tier. Wide receivers. Let's talk about a couple questions here. Ty Hilton became the first Colts player since Reggie Wayne to lead the league in receiving yards. 14:48. Don't know if people know that. Also registered the most receptions of 20 plus yards in the NFL this season. 28 of those finished in the top 10 fantasy points for the first time in his career. And he is, you know, he's connected to Andrew Luck. I mean this is a combination that has five more years.

[Amir Abdullah]

He is an enigma to me. That is the last stat, the last fact from, from that blurb of this is the first time he's been in the top 10 and he ty Hilton. You talk about the ultimate boom bus guy. Ty Hilton would all he'd finish with fine production, over a thousand yards, you know, six, seven touchdowns. But he would get 50% of his production in two games. So as a fantasy asset, he was actually not very helpful for your team except for those two weeks the other times you're getting, you know, 30 yards and it's just absolutely crushing you. So has Hilton turned that corner as an NFL or as an NFL player as a wide receiver? Because we know that the talent is immense. But he was also a situation for the Colts this year where I loved Moncrief. A lot of people out there did. They saw it as this is the possibility for Moncrief to break out. But the only thing that broke for Moncrief was his shoulder over and over. It gave Hilton a huge opportunity share of that offense because it says Dorset did not get it done.

[Jason Moore]

It says a lot to me that, that Hilton can have this kind of season average 15.9 per reception which is third highest in the league with the duress that Luck is under. Because if Luck has more protection, which is almost. I mean it's hard to have less so if he has more protection. You know, I look at Hilton and I watch Hilton play. When he catches the ball, he is open. He is so open. He has the ability to get separation with that speed. His route running and finding a spot where when Luck extends the play. I don't see any reason that I wouldn't trust Ty Hilton.

[Andy Holloway]

I think.

[Jason Moore]

I don't.

[Andy Holloway]

I think he can repeat what he did last year. He was a beneficial injury.

[Jason Moore]

He is a little bit injury prone.

[Andy Holloway]

Historic, some of the Moncrief injuries, but it's not like. So this is the first time in his career he's finished top 10.

[Jason Moore]

Right.

[Andy Holloway]

I mean that's. That seems surprising. He only scored six more points than himself two years prior in 2014. But in 2014, we didn't have all those top wide receivers magically disappear the way this year that top tier of wide receivers disappeared. That number one, number two, number three, number four, number five guy. They didn't score what they have been over the last few years. Ty Hilton, what he did this year is replicatable. But that is going to be that, that wide receiver, 12, 13, you know, that, that bottom wide receiver one, that, that top end wide receiver two. I don't think he's going to be a top 10 guy next year.

[Jason Moore]

All right, I want to do a little rapid round response to some of these stats right now because I'm going to go through a few kind of quicker. I just want one of you guys to kind of contribute some thoughts on them and then I'll move on to the next one. Let's go here. After week six, Amari Cooper failed to crack the top 24 in PPR leagues eight of the last 10 weeks. He was a wide receiver, 27 in that span. Also known as scoring the same amount of fantasy points as Ted Ginn Jr. Mike. Mike, what do you say about Amari Cooper?

[Amir Abdullah]

Man, it's interesting that you come to me as I'm the. I feel like I am the one on the show who's kind of been the lowest on Cooper. Not that I have. I hate him by any means. I think he's extremely talented. It just, it felt like this was what he was going to do. He's going to have these huge games, but he's going to disappear. But people are drafting him. People are valuing him like he's an every week, very consistent type of guy. Meanwhile, Michael Crabtree on the other side of the Field is the one that you actually want for your fantasy team. Could Cooper take that next step? Of course he can. But I think it's another situation where I'm not going to be willing to pay the price to get Amari Cooper because there's going to be guys in that same tier that I would prefer to have over him.

[Jason Moore]

All right. Rashard Matthews was the wide receiver, 71 in the first five weeks of the season. We know he did not start well rest of the way. Wide receiver. 10.

[Andy Holloway]

Yeah.

[Jason Moore]

After week five. Jason. Rashard Matthews next year is a wide receiver, too.

[Andy Holloway]

Okay. I think he is. We've said it before on the show. He is a talented wide receiver. I liked him when he was at the Dolphins. He's a good wide receiver. He's got a rapport now with. With Mariota. I think there's, you know, there's no reason. If they go out and they sign a great wide receiver as a rookie, he's still rookie. I think Rashad Matthews is going to be underdrafted next year. But Jason. Yes. Voice of public opinion.

[Amir Abdullah]

We don't talk very much, but you're forgetting about Tajie Sharp.

[Andy Holloway]

Nope. No, I'm not. No, I'm not. He'll be.

[Jason Moore]

Taj Sharp is good.

[Andy Holloway]

No, he was fine, but he was not the red zone guy. He was not the target number one. He was not the third down guy. That. That's Rashad Matthews.

[Jason Moore]

The longest touchdown reception of 2016 belonged to Brandon Cooks. A 98 yard reception that gave him 15.8 standard league points on one play. That was more than Demarys Thomas scored in a single game all season.

[Andy Holloway]

That play. That play was more than DT Mike.

[Jason Moore]

Demarius Thomas is so good. But. But is he going to.

[Amir Abdullah]

His quarterbacks are so bad.

[Jason Moore]

Is he going to be limited again this year?

[Amir Abdullah]

Nope. Because Tony Romo is going to end up on the Broncos.

[Jason Moore]

Really?

[Amir Abdullah]

Yep. I'm sticking with that.

[Andy Holloway]

Someone offered me a.

[Jason Moore]

They could win the Super Bowl.

[Andy Holloway]

A dynasty trade with DT was in it and it was. It was a bigger trade. And I said, I will accept when Tony Romo is their quarterback. Come back to me, he's like, all right, come back.

[Amir Abdullah]

You know, Brandon. Say Brandon Cooks. What? I was talking about Amari Cooper. I think Amari Cooper, I like him a little more than Brandon Cooks, but that's. That's how I see those guys. That's how I see Cooper. I see him as a Brandon Cooks type. And I don't know. Amari Cooper has to evolve. Right? He has to evolve. Into a more consistent player Year three next year. Yeah, that's what I mean. The breakout of year three.

[Jason Moore]

Yes. Yeah, he, he's been snake bit a little bit in the consistency factor. He's had those games where, you know, caught three, four touchdowns with a foot on the line and when he just.

[Amir Abdullah]

He doesn't. Carr doesn't target him in the red zone.

[Jason Moore]

No, he doesn't. He targets Roberts and he targets Crabtree and he targets someone homes.

[Amir Abdullah]

Someone talk to Derek Carr and find out what's going on here.

[Jason Moore]

Zach Ertz was the number one tight end over the back half of the season. Number one.

[Andy Holloway]

It's what he does.

[Amir Abdullah]

Hold on. I'm looking into the future. Zachary will be the number one tight end over the back half of 2017 and you will hate him.

[Andy Holloway]

That's a little bit not fair though, because he was, he was hurt and injured in like week one and had a stretch where he was.

[Amir Abdullah]

Had a stretch where he was really, really bad, didn't we?

[Jason Moore]

We had a show not long ago where we picked out a guy for next year and I, you know, Zach Ertz to me represents that guy. I mean, he could be a top three tight end next year.

[Andy Holloway]

Yeah.

[Amir Abdullah]

Where I think he's going to be. We've talked about our philosophy on drafting tight ends. I mean, I think that Zach Ertz is going to be that round six, round seven type of a tight end.

[Jason Moore]

He'll be Kelsey from two years ago.

[Amir Abdullah]

Yes. No, no, he won't.

[Andy Holloway]

Ertz is going to fall past that.

[Amir Abdullah]

Okay, well, I'm looking at a fantasy football calculator mock draft. Zach Ertz back of the sixth round.

[Andy Holloway]

Yeah, that's right now that's the pros. And the people that are, you know, the people drafting right now are not going to be the people drafting in August. I think in August he's going to be eighth round. Because what happens when you're snake bitten by someone in the draft? There was you. You had last year a lot of people saying Zach Ertz is going to have the breakout because I saw the back half of the year before and so they drafted him a little bit higher and they took their risk on Zach Ertz and then they, they were super disappointed because he stunk the first.

[Amir Abdullah]

That is one out of 12 people in that league.

[Andy Holloway]

But it was a lot of people as a whole. So I'm just saying average draft position. I think he falls.

[Jason Moore]

Another young tight end, Hunter Henry. 30% of his receptions were in the red zone. The highest mark in the league. He had eight touchdowns that tied Cameron Brait for the most among tight ends. Hunter Henry or Cameron Braight next year. Who'd you rather have Cameron Brait?

[Andy Holloway]

It depends on who would you rather.

[Jason Moore]

Have in a dynasty league?

[Andy Holloway]

Hunter Henry. I have made a play for him like 12 times in our dynasty league. I can't get him.

[Jason Moore]

And you're failing. You're failing. Very important kicker statistic for you. According to fantasy football calculator.com Six of the top 12 kickers in 2016 when undrafted. In other words, if you didn't pick up a Justin Tucker or a Matt Bryant, you'll find someone who works.

[Amir Abdullah]

Oh, man.

[Jason Moore]

So contrary to Jason's opinion that the kicker is the most important fantasy football.

[Andy Holloway]

Do that to me.

[Jason Moore]

No, you'll find a kicker.

[Andy Holloway]

Don't worry about it. Get rid of them.

[Jason Moore]

All right, that does it for today's podcast. I'm sure we'll be sharing some more stats and information with you from those articles on the show throughout the off season.

[Andy Holloway]

Some of the things that came up from this show reminded me. In fact, I took notes. We've been talking about making a show looking back of I don't want to forget this thing from 2016. There's some really good things in there that shows coming up. I'm excited for it.

[Jason Moore]

It should be Thursday. Yep, that should be Thursday show. So stay tuned for the show. After the show. Immediately following this episode, it'll be on YouTube. We're gonna talk about an interesting discovery we made in Tennessee.

[Andy Holloway]

Awkwardness in the restrooms.

[Jason Moore]

Yeah, that's. Make sure you go to YouTube Big Gulps, huh?

[Amir Abdullah]

Hey, thank you to fantasyjocks.com. that's where winners get their winner gear.

[Jason Moore]

That's right.

[Amir Abdullah]

And the promo code is footballers. See you on Thursday.

[Andy Holloway]

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