Fantasy Football - Fantasy Time Machine + Rashee Rice Suspended! - Podcast for 8/27

Summary

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Fantasy Footballers Podcast: “Fantasy Time Machine + Rashee Rice Suspended!”

Date: August 27, 2025
Hosts: Andy Holloway, Jason Moore, Mike "The Fantasy Hitman" Wright

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Episode Overview

This episode dives into the latest fantasy football news—most notably Rashee Rice’s six-game suspension—and launches into a “Fantasy Time Machine” segment. The hosts look for 2025’s breakout stars by comparing potential risers to players who broke out unexpectedly last year, analyzing scenarios like which late-round WR could mirror last year’s Terry McLaurin or which rookie RB might become the next Bucky Irving. The trio also reacts to breaking NFL news, discusses draft strategies, answers key positional questions, and provides actionable draft advice.

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Key Discussions & Insights

1. Rashee Rice Suspension: Immediate Reaction & Implications

Timestamps: [05:30] – [10:58]

• Rice suspended six games to start 2025.
  • “Rice is accepting and will serve a six-game suspension to start the 2025 regular season.” — Jason ([05:32])
  • Mike attempted to “big brain” a guillotine league strategy by drafting Rice, expecting four games before trial, but news broke extending the suspension ([05:44]).
• Fantasy Impact:
  • “This is better for fantasy players... if you draft him, you know what you’re getting into.” — Andy ([07:35])
  • Bench clog vs. available talent: Consensus is the risk pushes Rice’s fantasy draft value down.
  • Draft Range Debate: Andy: 6th–7th round, Jason: 8th–9th, Mike: around 9th–10th.
  • Discussion of who benefits—Travis Kelsey likely to absorb more targets and have a fast start ([06:16]).

Quote:
“Six weeks is a long time to miss... for me, it’s ninth round. For you, it’s even later.”
— Mike ([11:00])

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2. News & Notes: Rapid Rundown

Timestamps: [18:00] – [27:46]

• Adam Thielen traded to the Vikings; Hunter Renfrow cut by Carolina:
  • Jalen Coker is “one to watch” for deep leagues ([18:36]).
  • “I think he is a better player than Xavier Leggett.” — Jason ([18:54])
• Tim Patrick to Jacksonville; Isaac Teslaw’s Lions Opportunity:
  • “If one more shoe drops... Tesla is not just kind of relevant, he might be really good.” — Jason ([20:24])
• Other Notables:
  • Devon Achane will be ready Week 1 ([22:10]).
  • Najee Harris activated; Kamani Vidal and Audric Estime cut ([22:55]).
  • Darnell Mooney, Isaiah Likely avoid IR; Chris Godwin clears as well ([24:14]).
  • Kate Otten set to miss time: Bucky Irving’s stock rises ([24:35]).

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3. Quick Question: Player Most Likely to “Flip the Script” from Consensus Negativity

Timestamps: [12:04] – [17:47]

• Jalen Waddle (Mike)
  • “He really didn’t suck last year... I think at the end of this year it will be clear Waddle is the number one wide receiver for Tua.” ([13:33])
• Breece Hall (Jason)
  • “You can subvert negativity just by catching the ball a bunch... that’s Hall’s secret weapon.” ([15:09])
• Jaden Reed (Andy)
  • “He is a good player. Produces when he’s on the field but the team limits his snaps. If he truly becomes the WR1, he’ll be a steal.” ([16:39])

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4. Fantasy Time Machine: Finding the Next Breakout at Each Position

Timestamps: [28:43] – [51:41]

4.1. 2025’s Terry McLaurin (Late-WR, Big Touchdown Year)

• Calvin Ridley (Mike)
  • Tied to rookie QB Cam Ward ascending — strongly mirrors last year’s McLaurin situation ([29:26])
• Keenan Allen / Deebo Samuel (Jason)
  • Allen’s reliability and extremely late draft price
  • “Keenan Allen—he’s entering his Jesus year.” — Jason ([33:00])
• Jauan Jennings (Andy)
  • Injury risk but could emerge due to SF’s depleted WR corps ([32:31])

4.2. 2025’s Bucky Irving (Day 3 RB Jumping into Fantasy Stardom)

• Cam Skattebo (Mike)
  • Versatile, high after-contact production — “talented enough to just come onto the scene” ([36:02])
• Jaden Blue (Jason)
  • Wait for Dallas to play its “juicier” back over less dynamic options ([37:17])
• Kyle Monangai (Andy)
  • Bears RB, betting against DeAndre Swift pays off ([38:12])

4.3. 2025’s Jonnu Smith (Late/Undrafted TE Cracks Top 5)

• Dalton Kincaid (Mike)
  • “He just didn’t look that good last year...but the opportunity is there and tight ends take time.” ([39:37])
• Kyle Pitts (Jason)
  • “Five of seven weeks to start last year he was a TE1...They don’t have other options.” ([41:17])
• Jake Ferguson (Andy)
  • “Got a big extension, seeing key targets from Dak. Finishing as TE8–10 wouldn’t shock me at all.” ([44:37])

4.4. 2025’s Sam Darnold (Undrafted QB, New Offense, Surprise Top 10 Finish)

• Sam Darnold (Seattle) (Jason/Andy)
  • “I think this year, Sam Darnold is going to be last year’s Sam Darnold...4,300 yards is in view.” ([45:32])
• Trevor Lawrence (Jacksonville) (Mike)
  • Rebound with improved weapons, easier schedule, top-10 finish within reach ([47:13])
• Daniel Jones (Indianapolis) (Andy)
  • “If Daniel Jones is still running and this Colts offense is better than expected, stream him!” ([51:11])

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

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• On the Rashee Rice suspension and strategy fallout:

  “You got chop bound to get chop sueyed. We finally have an answer.”
  — Andy ([06:23])

• On the value of banking on consensus-negative players:

  “It might be gross, you might hold your nose, but sometimes, like with Breece Hall—shoot, why do we do that?”
  — Jason ([16:14])

• On ‘Jesus Year’ for Keenan Allen:

  “Now he’s 33 years old, which to some...he’s entering his Jesus year.”
  — Jason ([33:00])

• On deep league watchlist:

  “Please, please, please pay attention to Jalen Coker.”
  — Andy ([18:36])

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Important Timestamps & Segments

| Segment | Timestamp | |---------------------------------------|------------| | Rashee Rice Suspension News & Fallout | 05:30–10:58| | Draft Round Debate on Rice | 7:54–11:09 | | Quick Question – Script-Flippers | 12:04–17:47| | News & Notes Rundown | 18:00–27:46| | Fantasy Time Machine Segment Start | 28:43 | | WR: Terry McLaurin Comparison | 29:26–35:31| | RB: Bucky Irving Comparison | 36:02–39:11| | TE: Jonnu Smith Comparison | 39:24–44:43| | QB: Sam Darnold Comparison | 44:37–51:41|

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Takeaways & Actionable Advice

• Rice’s suspension impacts draft boards: Drop 2+ rounds relative to pre-news. Value increases for Travis Kelsey and Xavier Worthy—especially in early weeks.
• Deep WR, RB, TE breakouts: Watch Calvin Ridley, Keenan Allen, Cam Skattebo, Jaden Reed, Jake Ferguson for late-round upside.
• Fade or stash consensus-disliked names: Monitor Jalen Waddle and Breece Hall as strong script-flip candidates due to talent and opportunity.
• Stash late-round/undrafted TEs: Don’t ignore Dalton Kincaid, Kyle Pitts, Jake Ferguson—late bloomers can pay off at scarce positions.
• Be flexible with preseason narratives: Don’t overreact to off-season rumors or noise (e.g., about player health or role).

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Tone and Style

The hosts maintained their usual lively, banter-filled tone, blending advanced analysis with jokes (“you got chop bound to get chop sueyed”), catchy analogies (time machine/Biff/Almanac references), and a candid, debate-driven style that gives the episode both an entertaining and informative appeal.

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Summary

This episode is must-listen content for anyone drafting in late August/September. It cuts through noise with actionable reactions to real news (e.g., Rashee Rice), walks you through late-round stashes at every position using “time machine” forecasts, and delivers both expert takes and humor. If you missed the episode, this recap should leave you prepared to pivot smartly on draft day.

Transcript

[Andy Holloway]

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[Mike Wright]

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[Andy Holloway]

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[Jason Moore]

Greet Scott if my calculations are correct, you are listening to this before your fantasy football drafts have taken place. I have been to the future and those that followed the advice from the Fantasy Footballers Ultimate Draft Kit had a spectacular season. And with certain victories, it's almost as if Biff had given each of them a copy of Gray's Sports Almanac. I'd highly recommend heading over to www.ultimateraftkit.com without any further delay.

[Mike Wright]

The Fantasy Footballer studio is sponsored by Walmart. Welcome to the Fantasy Footballers Podcast with your hosts, Andy Holloway, Jason Moore and Mike WR.

[Andy Holloway]

Oh. Welcome in.

[Jason Moore]

The Fantasy Footballers. Wednesday, August 27th, Mike the Fantasy Hitman Jason Moore. I'm Andy Holloway. Great scotch we have. We've got a fantasy time Time machine. Fantasy Time machine episode.

[Mike Wright]

Speaking of a time machine, I had an awful experience last night.

[Jason Moore]

Okay.

[Mike Wright]

Last night with a time, with a time, with a time machine. It's Tuesday night and I realized, oh.

[Jason Moore]

I like story time.

[Mike Wright]

We are two days away from hearing it's football time. I was like, football's in, dude. The day after tomorrow. And then I quickly was like, wait, wait a minute. I'm a week early.

[Jason Moore]

We're week zero, Jason.

[Mike Wright]

I know. There's literally no football. It's opposite of football time. It's football break. That's not fun.

[Jason Moore]

Well, I wish we could put you in a time machine and bring you forward a week and you could have football, but you have to wait.

[Andy Holloway]

Yeah, then you'd miss the draft.

[Jason Moore]

That's true.

[Mike Wright]

Yeah, you guys would draft for Me, though.

[Andy Holloway]

No, you would wake up and have no players. It is. It's worse than the waking up or the dream. You're. I'm at high school. I didn't prepare for the test. I got no clothes on.

[Jason Moore]

Yeah.

[Andy Holloway]

Like, no. How about you? Your dream is you show up Thursday, you didn't draft, you have no players.

[Mike Wright]

I gotta. I gotta build a team off the wire.

[Andy Holloway]

Yeah.

[Mike Wright]

Oh, man, that's way worse. That's a nightmare.

[Jason Moore]

Oh, my goodness. So, yeah, our league of record draft coming up. Did I mention on the show that I unloaded Joe Mixon?

[Andy Holloway]

Yeah, I think we talked about it.

[Jason Moore]

I'm feeling really good about that right now. I'm feeling really good. We got more. More rumblings this morning. The general manager, I think, coming out.

[Andy Holloway]

And just saying, like, people were not trusting the vibes.

[Jason Moore]

Just basically, we'll see if he's back this season. I mean, some people saying that, like, let's see if I can find the exact quote, because I want to give credit for it, but John McClain was talking about. I don't think many will be surprised if Joe Mixon does not play at all this season. So much mystery about the injury, rehab situation, timetable. Never seen anything like it. I mean, it's getting to the point where, you know, I guess if you want to spend the final pick in your draft to put him on IR and then sign somebody, that makes sense. But, I don't know, you know, reevaluated in four weeks. You got to remember this guy has not been on a field.

[Mike Wright]

Yeah.

[Jason Moore]

This is not. It's not like he was on the field in training camp and then had a setback and got off the. Like, he could not run at all. And the feet. I'm hearing big things about feet and running backs this year, and I think you need them.

[Mike Wright]

Yeah, it's really sucky situation. I mean, see Isaiah Pacheco, we talked about this.

[Jason Moore]

Did you see him flying to the wall, by the way?

[Andy Holloway]

Yes.

[Mike Wright]

In preseason.

[Jason Moore]

Yeah.

[Mike Wright]

That guy practices hard.

[Jason Moore]

Yeah. The general manager, Nick Casario, once we get through four weeks, we'll evaluate it at that time, asked if he anticipates him playing. We'll see. We'll take it one day at a time. So there you go. Did we get an official? Is this breaking news?

[Andy Holloway]

Yeah, it is.

[Mike Wright]

Breaking news right now.

[Andy Holloway]

I didn't hit it because we are not into the news.

[Jason Moore]

No, we do what we want, Mike.

[Andy Holloway]

Okay.

[Jason Moore]

All right. We got there.

[Andy Holloway]

It's from Pelissero Rushi.

[Jason Moore]

Rice is accepting and will serve a six game suspension to start the 2025 regular season. Why did I chuckle? I chuckled because moments ago.

[Mike Wright]

Oh, it's so good.

[Jason Moore]

Mike the fantasy hitman in our. We started up an office chopped league. So it's a guillotine style league where the lowest score of the week gets chopped. And Mike was like, I'm going to just, I'm going to big brain this thing.

[Andy Holloway]

Yeah.

[Jason Moore]

I'm going to pick up some Rashi Rice.

[Mike Wright]

Well, because you get the first four weeks before his trial in the moment.

[Andy Holloway]

It was, it was an elite play of I don't care switch and I will get four weeks of rice production.

[Jason Moore]

And I'll be able to figure it. Yeah, well, so six games. Look, this is, this is out.

[Andy Holloway]

You got chop bound to get chop sueyed.

[Jason Moore]

We finally have an answer. It's been a long. Yeah, yeah, we got, we got an answer. Six weeks Rashi Rice off the field. I mean initial, immediate, in the moment reactions. How does that change your perspective on somebody like Travis Kelsey to start the year? On Xavier Worthy who has looked outstanding.

[Mike Wright]

They have talked a lot. I mean you know who I also.

[Andy Holloway]

Just bypassed talk is.

[Mike Wright]

But they've been talking about downfield passing is perfect for Xavier Worthy. I do believe. I mean I've, I've made this very clear that Travis Kelsey and Rushy Rice, they are fighting over those same area of the field. First read targets like where the play pre snap they go. Okay. I see the coverage. They're going to get open and just give them the little slant and Kelsey's going to get off to a much, much stronger start this year. He becomes someone that I think would be a much better pick. Mike in a chopped league.

[Andy Holloway]

Yeah. Yeah. No, he would. Overall.

[Jason Moore]

Overall, I guess tilting over here.

[Andy Holloway]

Yeah, yeah.

[Jason Moore]

Past the past. On Xavier Worthy drafted Rashi Rice.

[Mike Wright]

Boom. Suspended.

[Andy Holloway]

Yeah.

[Mike Wright]

Whoopsie doodles.

[Andy Holloway]

Overall, I think that this for fantasy players, this is better of. It's not, it's not the shadow monster way just to come and take Rice off of your roster. It's if you draft him, you know what if you now, if you draft him, you know what you're getting into, which is these first six games.

[Jason Moore]

Where does that put him in the draft? In your mind if you're missing six weeks, you know what it is? You don't get to put him on ir. You lose a bench spot. It's a bench deletion that you're drafting.

[Andy Holloway]

I'm still good with him in like the sixth or the seventh because I think he will be.

[Jason Moore]

So Jason had A reaction.

[Mike Wright]

Yeah. I would not be taking him in the sixth or seventh personally. And I believe that he has the true impact potential. Six weeks is a long time to miss.

[Andy Holloway]

Let me go. Let me go make sure. Let me go look at names.

[Jason Moore]

So when does playoff start?

[Mike Wright]

Playoff would be 14, 15, 16, 17. So week 15.

[Jason Moore]

Okay, so you would get minus a bye week in there. You get Rashi rice from weeks seven to 14.

[Mike Wright]

Correct.

[Jason Moore]

So six weeks.

[Mike Wright]

Right. But you. Six weeks of rice if you start. Oh, and six is going to be tough sledding. I don't think you're going to start.

[Andy Holloway]

You're not going to start. Oh, and six.

[Mike Wright]

But my point is if you're taking him as one of your primary starting spots and then clogging a bench spot additionally, it's going to be tough sledding.

[Jason Moore]

I'd probably be more eighth. Ninth.

[Mike Wright]

Yeah, that's exactly.

[Jason Moore]

Maybe later than that.

[Andy Holloway]

I'm looking right now. Sixth. Sixth. No, because you got George is. George and Jameson are in the. And Travis Hunter.

[Jason Moore]

Where's Worthy going right now?

[Andy Holloway]

Fifth. Let me double check.

[Jason Moore]

Yeah, because he's got to be over.

[Andy Holloway]

He's at the back of the fifth.

[Jason Moore]

People need to understand. Rashi Rice is great. I'm not, I'm not saying he's not a great player, but. But the little sample size of excitement was three games last year and it was really one big game.

[Andy Holloway]

Sure.

[Jason Moore]

And.

[Andy Holloway]

But that was just last year that. I mean, you saw it the year before too. Like the end of the season. Rice was really.

[Jason Moore]

Let me finish thought here. Xavier Worthy was a brand new rookie who came on in a huge way over the back half of the season. Hollywood Brown was not healthy or active on this roster either.

[Andy Holloway]

Sure.

[Jason Moore]

I'm just saying, like, let me not solidify him into the hall of fame of product producers.

[Mike Wright]

Let me put that to the test then. And I'm going to. I'm going to go down and say, would you take this wide receiver? And then we'll know where we land round wise.

[Jason Moore]

All right, Mike, you and I, here we go.

[Mike Wright]

Would you rather have Chris Olave or Rushy Rice?

[Jason Moore]

I'll take Olave.

[Andy Holloway]

That's already really close to me.

[Mike Wright]

I would take Olave as well.

[Andy Holloway]

Because we're talking seventh round.

[Mike Wright]

That would be in the seventh. Yeah.

[Andy Holloway]

There's a world where I take Rice.

[Mike Wright]

Over Olave, but what about Calvin Ridley?

[Jason Moore]

I'll take Ridley.

[Andy Holloway]

Same. I get like when we're at this.

[Mike Wright]

Point, like, okay, let's go deeper. Let's go deeper and see. Would you rather Have Debo Samuel.

[Andy Holloway]

No, for sure. Not Andy.

[Jason Moore]

Yes.

[Mike Wright]

Yeah, I would as well.

[Jason Moore]

So you and I are lockstep right now, Mike. Looking at Rice with more league winning potential in mind.

[Mike Wright]

Ricky Pearsall.

[Jason Moore]

Oh, Pearsall.

[Andy Holloway]

Pure. Okay. I like.

[Mike Wright]

Ironically, he is later than all those other guys that I, that I named. Matthew Golden. Rookie.

[Andy Holloway]

I'll take receiver Golden.

[Mike Wright]

I think I'm still on the golden side there. Igbuka. He'll be higher than this.

[Andy Holloway]

Yes.

[Mike Wright]

In your drafts, but I would definitely.

[Jason Moore]

Name somebody where I can choose.

[Mike Wright]

Right. What about Khalil Shakir?

[Jason Moore]

I think it's Shakir.

[Mike Wright]

See, that's where I would go. Right. Because I don't think Shakir is a difference maker for your roster. I'm fine missing out on a Khalil Shakir. So for me it's. It looks like for Mike it's seventh round. For me it's ninth round. For you it's even later.

[Jason Moore]

Ninth or tenth. Yeah. All right. We'll have all these updates into the ultimate draft kit immediately after the show. Tier based rankings, premium stat projections, 100 plus player profile videos, including some updates. We're going to add a Tyler Warren video, custom cheat sheets, sleepers, breakouts, bus values, and all of the new features this year like the value scout, custom player marking. If you're drafting this weekend, you need the udk. I've been getting a lot of the screenshots of the teams that people have been drafting with the UDK lately from friends and family. It's working out. So you want to check that out. Ultimate Draft Kit.com and one of your final invitations to the Meglable as well, which is our 20,000 plus person league. It's very. All the details [e-mail], but it's going to be very, very fun this year. Draft times are coming up soon. All right, I'm going to detour us into a quick question and then we'll head back to some other news.

[Mike Wright]

Okay.

[Jason Moore]

But I've been wanting to ask this question because we talk about staying water, about reacting to what's in front of you, not just your preconceived notions and ideas about players and situations. You need to. Sometimes you do need to have a quick trigger, right? You gotta, you gotta adjust. Maybe, maybe that's Javante Williams, for example, in Dallas where it's like Jaden Blues banged up and Miles Sanders is nothing. And you just have to accept here's a starter, whatever, what player right now that everybody else is really down on. So you're talking about a consensus, negative opinion about a player has the best chance in your mind to just completely flip the script, just be the opposite of what everybody expects.

[Mike Wright]

I think I've been more and more realizing that Jalen Waddle is a good pick. He's fallen down from a disappointing year last year. Wide receiver, 46. Oh, he sucked. No, he didn't. He really. I mean, it's shocking, but he really didn't suck last year. He comes out week one, he's 5 for 109 with Tua. And then Tua gets injured. And then when Tua gets back, he's got like five games together with him before Waddle gets injured. And in those five games, he was on pace for 1300 yards. It was like he didn't suck. It just Tua got injured. The injuries were a catastrophe for the Dolphins and for Waddle, but he's a good player. And honestly, another year older, another, you know, Tyree kill. Maybe he's back to his old self.

[Jason Moore]

Probably not.

[Mike Wright]

Maybe he's even worse. And I think at the end of this year, it will be clear that Jalen Waddle is the number one wide receiver for Tua. And if you look even dynasty wise, I just talked about this on the Dynasty show, contract wise, like, they can get out of Tyreek at the end of this year, even if the whole regime changes coaches, you know, if the. If the Dolphins collapse and it's all new. Waddle is under contract, big boy contract for many years. So I think he's the wide receiver one going forward.

[Andy Holloway]

I have said that monologue into the mirror. Yeah, you're not allowed many times, you know, Jalen Waddle was the my guy. And I'm like, it wasn't that bad. It wasn't as bad.

[Jason Moore]

There, there is I. From what I understand, when Ken Walker misses time for Seattle, first person he calls to see if they're available to hang out, Jalen Waddle. They are the mirror of each other. None of us on the planet doubt the extra special ability of either player. Availability has not been an ability either of them have had, but when they're on the field, they're elite. I mean, Waddle mixes his unavailability with also limping off the field regularly.

[Mike Wright]

Waddle plays in the games. He just leaves each game 12 times.

[Jason Moore]

How many games did he play in?

[Andy Holloway]

Because this.

[Mike Wright]

He played in 15. He only missed six games.

[Jason Moore]

No, he didn't. Liar.

[Mike Wright]

Exactly.

[Jason Moore]

He put the ad.

[Mike Wright]

Saban put the jersey on 15, 14, 17 and 16. And I believe the 16 was a full.

[Jason Moore]

What are the snap counts?

[Mike Wright]

Oh, we would have. Don't, don't worry about whether it was on the field.

[Jason Moore]

No, that's a good pick.

[Andy Holloway]

Miami needs a plan just like they.

[Jason Moore]

Need the rest plan, right? Oh, a plan.

[Mike Wright]

Yeah, like Ken Walker, because that's working for Kin Bone.

[Andy Holloway]

They've never had a plan until this year. Jason. We'll find out.

[Jason Moore]

I'm going to say Breece Hall. I think Breece hall is the answer to the question. And you can, you can subvert a lot of negativity, you can work around a lot of opportunity issues, team issues, by just catching the ball a bunch. Like you just catch the ball a ton of times on a bad team, even if they are bad and it works out. I mean, that is Breeze Hall's secret weapon. That's where Breeze hall has been relevant with bad quarterbacks for his entire career when he's had them. So when I look at an easy way to flip the script, you know, it's not like people weren't talking about Braylon Allen last year. They were, they were excited about him. Braylon Allen came out, had a couple splash games, then kind of faded away. So if you, if you want to say, look, everybody in the world, which I know nobody wants to drop, Breeze hall, he drops in every draft until somebody finally goes, oh, I guess I got to do it. But there's, there's a world where Breeze hall just catches a bunch of passes. We joke about the fact Garrett Wilson will have a million targets and there's no one around him. Right. So you know what happens when you have abandoned targets at wide receiver.

[Andy Holloway]

A lot of the times I go.

[Jason Moore]

To the running back position, historically that's been the case. So, you know, he's one of a very few select running backs that have average 5 plus targets and 13 plus rush attempts per game. It might be gross, you know, you might hold your nose when you make the pick, but I can see that flipping to the point where somebody's like, oh, gosh, shoot, why do we do that?

[Andy Holloway]

Yeah, I just need him to drop a little bit. I'm going to go with a late 9th round pick, Jaden Reed of the Green Bay packers. Who is good. Yeah, he is a good player. Produces when he's on the field, generally speaking, but the team decides to keep him off of the field when they go into two wide receiver sets. And it's just, you know, Matthew golden, very exciting first round rookie pick. But do we make anything of the, you know, the meetings that Jaden Reed had with the Brass of like, hey, I'm still the number one wide receiver for this team. And just, you know, I like Jordan Love and the passing attack to rebound from what it was last year. And there's a chance that Jaden Reed in the ninth. We're all just, we're all. We're also upset by how it started compared to how it finished. Like a nuclear beginning. Here we. Two of the first four weeks, he was over 23 points. And I'm just saying, you know, maybe I'll leave a little space for him being to or for him to be truly the number one guy and actually get more snaps.

[Jason Moore]

It makes sense. I mean, I do love that offense. Like you said, bouncing back. Josh Jacobs is the, is the muscle, but they're going to get the passing game going. All right, let's circle back into some news.

[Mike Wright]

News and notes from around the league, presented by Progressive Insurance.

[Jason Moore]

In case you skipped ahead to this news segment, we did talk about the entire Rashi Rice suspension at the top of the show. If you want to listen to the analysis there, here we go. We got it. Adam Thielen. We tried hard. We worked hard. Purple. The background was purple.

[Andy Holloway]

Mike, I'm going home.

[Jason Moore]

Adam Thielen traded to the Vikings from the Panthers. We did it. The Panthers also cut Hunter Renfro. So their situation, I think Jalen Coker. Please, please, please pay attention to Jalen Coker.

[Andy Holloway]

Well, it's interesting that they, they cut Renfro yesterday only to do the Adam Feeling trade today. I wonder if they, like, we're slimming down. I mean, it's possible they do the whole waiver process and then they bring Renfro. But yes, as of right now, Jalen Coker for deep leagues is someone to pay attention to.

[Jason Moore]

I think he is a better player than Xavier Leggett.

[Andy Holloway]

He could be.

[Jason Moore]

And I think.

[Mike Wright]

Would you draft him over Leggett?

[Jason Moore]

I would absolutely draft Coker because that.

[Mike Wright]

Just happened in one of my leagues.

[Jason Moore]

I would also draft him over like Cedric Tillman, like people like Cedric Tillman this year with a couple other wide receiver situations there. I, I think Jalen Coker is very interesting. If you like, if you like Bryce Young. I mean, and it's also like wheels up for Tetero and McMillan. Not that we weren't already all in.

[Mike Wright]

Yeah.

[Jason Moore]

But you take a target hog like Adam Feeling off a roster.

[Mike Wright]

It sounds funny to say, but Adam Thielen was probably my biggest worry in.

[Jason Moore]

The receiving core for all off season.

[Mike Wright]

For Ted Rock McMillan. They had a really good sync between Adam Thielen and Bryce Young. You saw it in the second half of last year. And it's one of those things where it's just like. I don't want that to be the first read. I want it to be tet. So this is great news for Tetra.

[Jason Moore]

All right. Tim Patrick jettisoned away from the Lions for a six round pick. He heads to Jacksonville. And what does that mean? That means that Isaac. Mike is.

[Andy Holloway]

Oh.

[Jason Moore]

Oh.

[Mike Wright]

Tesla.

[Jason Moore]

Isaac Tesla.

[Mike Wright]

We got a new. That's a. That is electrical.

[Jason Moore]

I'm gonna be honest. That's on par with the. With the train. The original train.

[Mike Wright]

Oh.

[Andy Holloway]

Did that startle you?

[Jason Moore]

The volume level?

[Andy Holloway]

It was a little bit loud. Let me check it again. That's so loud.

[Mike Wright]

That's way too. I love it.

[Andy Holloway]

Brooks said. I thought my computer.

[Mike Wright]

Don't you freak. Don't you touch a thing.

[Jason Moore]

That is. Yeah. If you're in the car, you thought like an EMP just hit or something. Isaac to slaw. Tesla is ready to rumble for the Lions. And the big thing there, too, is if an injury were to happen. Amanra has been banged up before. Jameson Williams has been suspended before. If something happens. And there's one more. That's what I think it is to me. One shoe drops, right? Laporta or Gibbs or Amon Ra or Jameson. One of those guys goes down to. Sly is not just kind of relevant. He might be really good.

[Andy Holloway]

Right?

[Mike Wright]

I.

[Andy Holloway]

Both of these pieces of news, like my confidence in J.J. mcCarthy.

[Jason Moore]

I'm scared of that sound effect, man.

[Andy Holloway]

What? This one. The.

[Jason Moore]

It's in my brain. It's in my brain.

[Andy Holloway]

I talked about J.J. mcCarthy. I made a bold proclamation about him yesterday. The Adam Thielen news just makes me a little bit more confident and secure of that crazy thing happening. And this is. This is great news for Jared Goff, Tim Patrick, AKA Fireball Jones. I think he's like. He's back to being like. He's a fine wide receiver.

[Jason Moore]

Three solid. Yeah.

[Andy Holloway]

Tesla is like upside.

[Jason Moore]

Yep. Yeah. No. And can really, you know, win at the goal line. Deep passes, competitive catches. You love it. Spencer Rattler was named the week one starter. Go ahead. Go ahead. Al just hit me with another sound effect on our funky DJ radio DJ morning. But Spencer. Spencer Rattler is the week one starter. Tyler Schuck. Oh, my gosh.

[Andy Holloway]

Yeah. Really? Really, man.

[Mike Wright]

I mean, if you played that many years of college and you come in and can't beat Spencer Rattler, really? They are. They are playing for that number one pick.

[Jason Moore]

Maybe I'll change My Trish Olave choice with Rashi Rice. I don't know. Devon Hn will be ready for week one against the Colts. Took a shot on him in a late second round yesterday. Just betting that he'd be back. I kind of felt like, you know.

[Mike Wright]

You brought it up on the. On the show earlier, that there was reports going on that he might miss the first three weeks, but it was literally just one person's really opinion. It wasn't an insider with specific knowledge. And so that was overblown a little bit. And I just give massive credit to that guy because I assume he's drafting a Chan everywhere. You know what I mean? I got to start. I got to start this method.

[Andy Holloway]

Little market manipulation.

[Mike Wright]

Yes. Yeah.

[Jason Moore]

All right. The Chargers.

[Mike Wright]

There's no regulation here. The Wild West.

[Jason Moore]

Yeah. The SEC ain't coming after you. Najee Harris, activated from the reserve non football injury list. The team waived Kamani Vidal Sassoon. Oh, yeah, I noted. Videl Sassoon and Audric estimate. Lauder both cut this weekend.

[Mike Wright]

They got shaved.

[Andy Holloway]

Okay.

[Jason Moore]

All right. Yeah.

[Andy Holloway]

Estimate. Did you guys see the little blurb on estimate of.

[Jason Moore]

Is he practice squad?

[Andy Holloway]

No, they're saying he's not expected. He will not be expected to be back to Denver. Like, if this isn't the cut, it's. He. I'm not saying he's a special player, but he could go wreck a couple situations. Like, he could go to Dallas. Yeah. In terms of like, a goal line. Like, he could go to Dallas, he could go to Chicago and make things a little messier.

[Mike Wright]

I believe so. I don't think estimate. You always liked estimate more than I did. I didn't love his. His college film, but I will say that some of the reports from Never, basically, he was, like, pouting, you know, like his. His workload, his opportunity. He was just kind of a bad attitude about it.

[Andy Holloway]

Right.

[Mike Wright]

But more than just, he's so untalented that we won't even bring him back to the practice squad. And so, yeah, maybe he does find another spot and vulture some goal lines.

[Jason Moore]

Isaiah likely avoided opening the season on IR.

[Mike Wright]

That doesn't mean he'll play Week 1, but it means he doesn't have to miss four weeks.

[Jason Moore]

Like Godwin.

[Mike Wright]

Yeah, exactly.

[Jason Moore]

Darnell Mooney also avoided the starting. Starting the season on ir, that's like, likely.

[Andy Holloway]

Yeah.

[Jason Moore]

Thank you.

[Andy Holloway]

Yeah. Yeah.

[Jason Moore]

No, we're gonna have more of those, aren't we? Chris Godwin avoided being on.

[Mike Wright]

Oh, just like Mooney.

[Jason Moore]

Hey, this is news right here. Kate Otten's gonna Miss time with a leg injury after we had the discussion about him. They are hurting.

[Mike Wright]

Yeah.

[Jason Moore]

You know, Godwin, Otten, McMillan not going to be available to this team. I don't know how you feel about Baker to start the season, but it gives me some hesitation. I think he needs another piece back because I think the team can succeed running the football and I think there's going to be a heavy dose of Bucky Irving, maybe even in the passing game. I loved what I saw in the preseason from Bucky in the passing game in training camp. That's the magic way that Bucky becomes a top five running back. Like that's the path is he becomes a pass catcher.

[Mike Wright]

Do you have any interest in Tez Johnson? I mean, at this point, Tess, Johnson's looked pretty good. As you know he will have a.

[Jason Moore]

Role to start the season. No question.

[Mike Wright]

You know what? I. You know what? I did not. I did not know this until like a week or so ago, which apparently Tez Johnson says a lot of people are unaware of this in his. Did you know he is Bo Nix's brother?

[Andy Holloway]

Yes, I did, actually.

[Mike Wright]

He is Bo Nix's brother. They adopted him. Their family adopted Tez Johnson, I think when he was 14 or. And so they grew up together.

[Jason Moore]

I did not know that his younger adopted brother. Fun fact.

[Mike Wright]

Yeah.

[Jason Moore]

All right. Christian Watson is on the reserve PUP list, as was Marshawn Lloyd.

[Andy Holloway]

Goodness gracious.

[Jason Moore]

Because he lives there. He has a whole setup. The couch, the chair. Brandon Iuk also on the pup and MVS was released by the Seahawks. Red alert. Tori Horton has won the wide receiver 3 job and only has the AG Cooper cup to compete with. So MVS is gone, which was kind of a big deal. Tori Horton been on the nasty. Been a nasty boy in the Dynasty show, but also mentioned here. And MBS ends up signing with the depleted 49ers, who literally have nobody but Peircel and Sky Moore right now. So mbs joins the 49ers. So CMC George Kittle probably going to be pretty good to start the year.

[Mike Wright]

Hopefully they don't like really exciting for both of their opportunities and really scary for both of their workloads because they will be inundated with targets.

[Jason Moore]

I made the joke on X the other day that people don't know but they want Christian McCaffrey to be the RB5. That's what you really want. That's what you want because that means he's not overworked and injured. If you have. If he'd go out and he's got 30 plus touches in week one. You may be singing in the streets, Mike, but I know in the back of your head you know what that's going to mean.

[Mike Wright]

Now we want the running back one. We want him overworked and uninjured.

[Andy Holloway]

It can happen. It's very low odds on any play. Any play.

[Mike Wright]

I would say it's about being injured. 40% odds. That's what I would put it at.

[Jason Moore]

Yeah.

[Mike Wright]

Two of the last five years.

[Jason Moore]

No, two of the last five years. He's been good.

[Mike Wright]

Yeah.

[Jason Moore]

Oh, okay. I thought you were saying to get hurt because that would be 60%.

[Mike Wright]

No, I'm a glass half full kind of guy.

[Jason Moore]

I'm curious. I wonder if Brian Robinson sees more time. I'd be blown away. At this age with that history that Christian McCaffrey is getting, the workload that he used to get. But we'll find out very soon. But not this week, Jason. That was news and notes sponsored by Progressive Insurance. Quote [e-mail] Progressive Casualty Insurance Company affiliates and third party insurers not available in all states or situations. Coverage subject to policy terms, limits and conditions. We're taking a break and we're jumping in the time machine. All right. It's time.

[Andy Holloway]

Marty.

[Jason Moore]

You've got to come back with me.

[Andy Holloway]

Where?

[Mike Wright]

Back to the future.

[Jason Moore]

All right, welcome in one and all. We're entering the time machine. We're looking to travel forward in time and talk about who we think will be this year's version of of a player we saw on the field last year. So we are starting with journeying to find the 2025 Terry McLaurin. Obviously, Terry McClaurin was a revelation. He was drafted after the top 30 wideouts last year, finished at wide receiver five on the back of 13 touchdowns. So we are traveling forward in time, looking to find an older wide receiver drafted later who could have an outlier season thanks to a new offensive system or quarterback. What do you got?

[Mike Wright]

I'll go first because this to me seems so similar. You have a brand new top of the NFL draft quarterback rookie coming in. And we've talked about over the years, a rookie quarterback doesn't usually support a ton of touchdowns and high end fantasy finishes. But also over the more recent history, things have been changing with that. These rookies are coming in better. And Cam Ward, the number one overall pick in the NFL draft could just very well make Calvin Ridley a great fantasy asset. Calvin Ridley hasn't really lost anything. I mean he, he was disappointing last year, but he had over 1,000 yards. He just Had Will Levis targets. You know, he had really, really bad. He had 24% target shape.

[Jason Moore]

He stank targets.

[Mike Wright]

But it's like, how much of that was catchable Right now we still have him projected for a 24% market share, which is a great number. But you're going from Will Levis targets up to Cam Ward targets. And he's looked really good through camp, through preseason. I think Cam Ward will work. And so to me, Calvin Ridley, he's an older guy being drafted outside the wide receiver. You know, he's right now the wide receiver. 32.

[Jason Moore]

That's exactly where McLaurin was drafted last year. The exact same wide receiver number.

[Mike Wright]

Yeah, they're. They're both good wide receivers who dealt with bad quarterback play who are alone. Like last year, the biggest target competition for Terry McLaurin was, like, Zach Ertz and, yeah, Calvin Ridley. The Titans drafted a bajillion, you know.

[Jason Moore]

Rookie, one of them yesterday.

[Mike Wright]

Right. But Calvin Ridley is the clear primary target in this offense. So if Cam Ward comes out and has a good season and throws enough touchdowns as a rookie, it will be Calvin Ridley having a great fantasy finish.

[Jason Moore]

All right, this year's Terry McLaurin. Mike, who do you have?

[Andy Holloway]

So I will start by. I missed our note of change of offensive system or quarterback. I just went with an older wide receiver who I think could finally have that year, you know, and things are stacked against him right now because of the calf injury, but the ADP is going down. And Juan Jennings, they just signed MVS. I mean, like, that they signed MVS. That tells you where the San Francisco 49ers are currently with their wide receiver room. We did get news that the Patriots have let Kendrick Bourne go, so I am curious if he ends up back with the 49ers. That would certainly put a damper in this. But Juan Jennings, look, he's. He's older. He's 28. But among wide receivers with 75 or more targets, he was 12th in yards per route run, in 14th and fantasy points per route run. What's your face? What's your face? What?

[Mike Wright]

I'm sitting here so excited for Andy's answer, and he just goes and deletes it in the doc. He just removes it and changes it.

[Andy Holloway]

I saw you.

[Mike Wright]

I saw you change, you coward. But that's fine. That's fine. I was like.

[Andy Holloway]

I'm like, John Jennings is like a 10th, 11th round pick. What are we so upset about over here?

[Jason Moore]

I. I just made a decision between two names, which is my right.

[Mike Wright]

Yes, you're right. Just a bad call. We go on Mike.

[Jason Moore]

Mike was talking.

[Andy Holloway]

Joanne Jennings hate the calf injury, but as things kick off, I think there's a chance that he still has to be very important to the wide receiver room. All right, Eddie, which answer are you going with?

[Jason Moore]

Look, I'll go with two. But what's great is Kyle. So my original answer was Keenan Allen, because I do wonder, like, I find myself passing on lad McConkey a little bit, because what Keenan does great, what they replaced Keenan with was lad McConkey. And Keenan was still great last year. Now he's 33 years old, which to some. Now to Kyle, his quote was, he's entering his Jesus year. Which is a different perspective on 33. But I do think Keenan, lad McConkey, Keenan, entirely undrafted, not cared about wide receiver, whatever, wherever he was. Where was he? Where's his current ADP wide receiver?

[Mike Wright]

56.

[Jason Moore]

But the other. The other name I wanted to throw out that fits the mold is a player on the same exact team being drafted in the same exact spot as last year's Terry McClaurin. So that's why I was going to pivot to Debo Samuel. Now, we've talked about him, you know, I believe in him, but he's the wide receiver, 36 off the board. He's playing for the same quarterback that did it for Terry McClure McLaren last year. And I don't think he's lost a step. So those would be two answers. I think Keenan is definitely worth a flyer. We've talked about that. I just wonder how much he does negatively impact. Glad McConkey. I think people just want to. Just want to say, well, McConkey's good, so he can't impact him. I just don't find that to be true. I don't think that that makes sense to me with the amount of targets and the fact that lad McConkey had to be there, everything for the entire year. I don't know if he has to be that anymore.

[Mike Wright]

Harbaugh is a good coach who wins NFL football games. He is not exactly the guy that you want necessarily for fantasy purposes, because he's going to want the ball spread around, he's going to want to run it well, he's going to want to play good defense. So I think Keenan will be very relevant. And I love Keenan as a pick. He's being.

[Jason Moore]

Oh, it's why it was my pick. I totally.

[Mike Wright]

He's just so absurdly late, and the ADP can't really update quick enough for him. Because he spent the whole off season not on a roster.

[Andy Holloway]

But I. So where are you going to take him? Because he. The ADP won't update. He is going to be a wild card that there's going to be a handful of people in the league who have starred Keenan Allen and realize I have to. If I want Keenan, I have to find my place and where I just take him and it's no matter when you take him, it will be multiple rounds ahead of ADP. So are you like the 9th? The 10th?

[Mike Wright]

I'm looking. So I. So this is a super flex league. But I just took him in an experts league in the 12th.

[Andy Holloway]

Okay.

[Mike Wright]

And he got there. I was thrilled.

[Andy Holloway]

It's interesting.

[Jason Moore]

What do we do with finding the 2025 version of Bucky Irving? He was undrafted last year. He finished his RB15. So we're looking for a day three running back. So Bucky was a late draft pick as well. A day three running back that could overtake an inefficient incumbent starting running back. The names will not sound good because Bucky did not sound good last year. Anybody but Mike.

[Mike Wright]

Well, Bucky was. Bucky was talented. I think that there were. The issues were obviously first and foremost is draft capital. Right. When you're a day three pick, you just pretty much presume failure from a fantasy football perspective. But he was a talented player, you know, in Oregon and that's what I'm focused on here. I'm focused on who's the Most talented. Day 3 Running back and to me, that's Cam Scatterboo. We brought him up through the off season. He's outstanding. Fourth round pick, went 105th overall. He's in third in yards after contact behind only Genty and Omarion Hampton in this draft class. And this is an excellent draft class. The only running backs drafted with 50 plus targets and 1.75 yards per route run in their final collegiate season over the last decade. This is Curtis Samuel, Saquon Barkley, Cam Scatterboo, Jameer Gibbs, Tony Pollard. The list of these guys is really, really good players. I believe Cam Scatter Boo is talented enough to just come onto the scene and say, wow, I can catch the ball, I can break tackles, I can do this in the NFL.

[Jason Moore]

I hope he says that actually like, wow, I can catch the ball.

[Mike Wright]

I think he has to. I think he's got to look in the mirror and hype himself up.

[Jason Moore]

Wow.

[Mike Wright]

Because nobody believes it.

[Jason Moore]

All right, I'm going to go with Jaden Blue, Dallas Cowboy running back. You know he was very productive in terms of efficiency and at Texas Big 12 SEC football can catch the football. I do think we're going to get stuck in the similar Zeke Dowdle situation in Dallas where you kind of persist with Javante.

[Andy Holloway]

They keep playing the worst option until.

[Jason Moore]

Halfway through for a little while until you give in and say, wow, I would like some juice versus no juice. And like Dowdle compared to Zeke looks like Adrian Peterson. So I think Javante is not far off of that comparison and I think Jaden Blue is somebody to pay attention to. You could tuck them on your bench. You could just wait in the waiver wire to see what you know if you get a bad week from Javante. Start to start to circle Jaden Blue on the, on the waiver wire.

[Andy Holloway]

I went the opposite direction you went Jason, because you went like you went best. Day three running back. I went. I just want to bet against DeAndre Swift.

[Mike Wright]

Right worst starting right now.

[Andy Holloway]

Whenever I can bet against Swift, I'm going to do it. So I will take Kyle Manangai or as Jason calls him, a guy. He was a seventh rounder. We like Bears head coach Ben Johnson, quote, I'm very pleased with where he's at. I think he's a guy we're going to be able to trust this fall. He had Manangai had back to back 1200 plus rushing yards at Rutgers, the same school as Pacheco. Ooh, seventh round, seventh rounder. If these trends continue. Like I said, this literally is not a bet on Manangai. This is a bet on Ben Johnson and the Bears and a bet against DeAndre Swift and I rest my case.

[Jason Moore]

Okay, what about finding 2025's Johnny Smith? So basically undrafted last year, ends up tied in four seven top five finishes. Basically a tight end left for dead.

[Andy Holloway]

It's not Andy, you can pivot your pick. I've seen you do it already.

[Jason Moore]

No, yeah, I can't. I could do what I want, but I'm not pivoting here. Tight end left for dead. Who could be top five? That's a high bar.

[Mike Wright]

It is a high bar.

[Jason Moore]

You got to get up into top five.

[Mike Wright]

I think all three of ours actually could happen. Dalton Kincaid is my pick. A guy who is so. I mean this. You want to talk about a disappointment? There was so much excitement for second year Dalton Kincaid. They needed him so bad. His opportunity was great and in truth he just didn't look that good. Like to me. I talked about it throughout the season last year. I don't think he's Got it. However, there were reports of injuries and all these things that hampered him. His opportunity is still there. You know, tight ends take several years sometimes to develop. So he's a young guy entering year three, a former first round pick, and he's still on a team where, okay, Keon Coleman, maybe he steps up, but if he doesn't, Khalil Shakir, you know who's really going to take over? There's no one. So the ball's going to spread around unless someone steps up, levels up. And I think that his opportunity to do so still exists. You want a guy on a good offense who has touchdown scoring opportunities. So Dalton Kincaid, I mean, right now he's undrafted. He's the tight end. 14.

[Andy Holloway]

We have bailed like, oh, yeah, this was. Every eject button on Dalton Kincaid was pressed.

[Mike Wright]

You want to know why Kyle Pitts? Because some people didn't eject after. After year two. They were like.

[Jason Moore]

Is an unkind setup to my answer?

[Mike Wright]

Yeah. Anyways, go on, Andy.

[Jason Moore]

What's.

[Andy Holloway]

Yeah, who's your guy? That's definitely going to be a top five tight end.

[Jason Moore]

It's Kyle Pitts. Do you realize he was five of seven weeks in the top 12 last year to start the year before the quarterback changes happened?

[Andy Holloway]

I did not.

[Jason Moore]

Five of seven weeks. He was actually relevant last year.

[Mike Wright]

Wait, the quarterback changes? Like, oh, he got the quarterback that he's going to play with all year now? No.

[Jason Moore]

Oh, no, Because, I mean, obviously Kirk Cousins started. He changed. Right, he changed to Kirk Cousins. RIP version.

[Mike Wright]

Right.

[Jason Moore]

And so Kyle Pitts, they don't have options there. You just picked him. See, you're attacking me. On yesterday's show, you picked him as a top 10 tight end.

[Mike Wright]

I actually genuinely.

[Jason Moore]

You're like, don't remember that?

[Mike Wright]

No, no, no. I am wanting to dunk on you or Mike or anyone I can, whenever I can, and it's not popular. But I actually do think Kyle Pitts is going to be very involved this year and has as good a chance to be a top 10 tight end as anyone.

[Andy Holloway]

Hey, does this help if I say, hey, that's Kyle Pitts senior.

[Jason Moore]

His dad's playing.

[Mike Wright]

He. Well, he had a baby, so now he is Kyle Pitts senior. And I'll just say, has he growed up? Well, he's looked like Kyle Pitt Sr. For a couple years. I'm going to be honest.

[Jason Moore]

He's still like 20 years old.

[Mike Wright]

Yeah, yeah, he's 24 years old right now.

[Jason Moore]

The problem, by the way, you brought up Dalton Kincaid. What's the problem? With Dalton Kincaid, two touchdowns each year. I mean that is not going to get it done. Kyle Pitts, you need red zone touchdowns, you need that to change. But you do have the opportunity for that to happen and to build that rapport that he's been building with Michael Penn.

[Mike Wright]

He should get five touchdowns this year. If I'm looking at his career, you know, one touchdown rookie season, two sophomore, three the next year, for the next year. It's funny because he plays a decade.

[Jason Moore]

Kincaid was the tight end 11 with two touchdowns in his rookie season. Kyle Pitts was the tight end seven with one with one touchdown in his rookie season. They really are parallel to one another. But you look at talent like athleticism, snap count like all the both of those guys, if they get, if things go the right way, I could see being, you know, a surprise to show up. I mean Johnny Smith late in his career, got it done. Mike, your answer.

[Andy Holloway]

I'm going with the tight end who just got paid a big bag of money. A four Comet, four year. No recently four year, $50 million extension, 28 million guaranteed. It's the sixth highest average salary. Among the tight end position is Jake Ferguson of the Dallas Cowboys and he is like he's being drafted as the tight end 16. He is being completely left off of people's boards. And got to remember what happened last year. Week one, he comes out, he gets hurt, he misses week two and then after that he only has six games with Dak Prescott, which he is. He hits the 10 point threshold in three of those six games, all without a touchdown. He literally had zero touchdowns last year. And I'm saying that as a good thing of if you can get 10 points in a half point scoring format at the tight end position without a touchdown, that's great. It means that like you're primed. Dak Prescott historically loves throwing seam routes to the tight end position. Jake Ferguson is a good player. He was rewarded and he is being completely forgotten by people. If we get a full season of Dak, it would shock me if Jake is not in a, in the top 10. Not always the most helpful position to have, you know, tight end 8 through 10.

[Jason Moore]

You need somebody though, like he will.

[Andy Holloway]

To me he easily beats his adp.

[Jason Moore]

All right, let's take another quick break and we'll come back and find 2025 Sam Darnold. All right, hopping into the time machine. We're looking at the at discovering the 2025 version of SAM Darnold. What are we talking about? A player undrafted new offense could finish inside the top 10. I will say this. Sam Darnold qualifies.

[Mike Wright]

Yeah, it could be Sam.

[Jason Moore]

This year, Sam Darnold could. That might be the best answer. Legit. Like, I think this year Sam Darnold could be last year's Sam Darnold.

[Mike Wright]

Do you want to know why it could be the best answers? Because last year the answer would never have been like, we didn't want Sam Donald. We didn't believe in Sam Darnold because he's Sam Darnold. And this year, none of us took him as the answer. This is like, no way.

[Jason Moore]

You know what? I'm pivoting to Sam Darnold.

[Andy Holloway]

Are you really?

[Jason Moore]

Yeah, I am.

[Andy Holloway]

I think it's Sam. I like it.

[Jason Moore]

I think Sam Darnold's the answer. You have a team that people don't know for sure if this offensive line is going to hold up. You like the running game. Tori Horton, Cooper Cup, Jackson Smith and Jigba. That could be a very powerful wide receiver room.

[Andy Holloway]

Could be.

[Jason Moore]

You've got Arroyo and you've got A.J. barner at tight end. And then he's looked good. So I think this year Sam Darnold is going to be also last year's Sam Darnold.

[Andy Holloway]

He will definitely need to be efficient.

[Jason Moore]

4,335. Last year, people, he was excellent. People are.

[Mike Wright]

He was really good. That system was great. And also Justin Jefferson is pretty good.

[Andy Holloway]

He.

[Jason Moore]

It's weird that we, like, we expect Gino to leave Seattle and be great in Las Vegas, but we don't expect Darnold to leave Minnesota and be able to be great in Seattle.

[Mike Wright]

I think we expect Gino to continue being what Gino was, but that is.

[Jason Moore]

An upgrade for Las Vegas.

[Andy Holloway]

And he's back with Pete.

[Mike Wright]

Yeah, he's back with Pete. You know, he's got Brock Bowers. If you really believe JSN is going to become elite, that's. That's helpful.

[Andy Holloway]

My pick throw real quick for that. Because you were talking about the run game, Andy and Seattle. Like, everyone's cutting down. Excuse me, everyone's cutting down to the 53. This team has four tight ends and two fullbacks. This team is going to be running the ball. So, like, Darnold could do it. He'll have to do it through efficiency because the volume, I think, goes the other way. But just like, if you're not in on Walker, you really should be drafting Charbonnet.

[Mike Wright]

Okay.

[Jason Moore]

That's my answer. Sam Darnold is the answer for the Sam Darnold. Jason 2025. Sam Darnold will be.

[Mike Wright]

I think it could be Trevor Lawrence. Trevor Lawrence, sophomore year comes out, was already a top 10 fantasy quarterback, so we know he could do it. Had a down year and then got injured last year. Gets the change at coordinator, gets the added piece of Travis Hunter, has year two, Brian Thomas. I think the weapons there.

[Jason Moore]

Tim Patrick.

[Mike Wright]

Yeah, I mean, Tim Patrick's a nice wide receiver.

[Jason Moore]

Three, so he's probably five. I mean, Diami Brown and Parker Washington will be above him.

[Mike Wright]

Sure. My point is he's not one of the top two wide receivers because you have two kind of stud wide receiving options here. And this is a guy, you know, this is surprising. 4th Most passing touchdowns over the last three seasons that traveled more than 20 yards in the air. And you put, you know, Travis Hunter and Brian Thomas Jr. With a good, you know, hopeful upgrade at coordinator and the system. I think they have a lot of weapons there. And if you look at Jacksonville as one of those teams that could take that leap forward, offensively speaking. Warren Sharp, sixth, easiest ranked strength of schedule for 2025, you could see how, like, it won't be shocking if the Jaguars come out and put up a boatload of points.

[Jason Moore]

Yeah, I think the story Trevor Lawrence has always been, can you become, you know, can you go from Jay Cutler to something consistent and reliable and week to week, because he's flashed, he's had big games. He can, you know, he's got talented receivers. But can you suddenly, you know, can you go Baker, can you resurrect? Can you be a big time passer without the turnovers every week?

[Mike Wright]

It's funny because, you know, obviously he got injured, missed, missed a chunk of this last season. But if you compare his consistency to like Mahomes, you know, who ranks like f inconsistency. He's a C inconsistency. He hasn't been great, but he's. He's shown enough where I do think he can average. Yeah, it's a passing grade, Mike.

[Andy Holloway]

So you say Trevor Lawrence, I'll raise you even nastier. I'm going Daniel Jones. It's Daniel Jones, the new starting quarterback for the Indianapolis Colts. He has averaged 31 rushing yards per per game in his career, which is actually the seventh most of any quarterback since 2000. And this, this is a tweet from Scott Barrett who said, daniel Jones, offensive line rank by year, 32nd, 30th, 28th, 32nd, 31st and now seventh. And the weapons. Wow. You're not like, oh, my gosh, just an abundance of riches. But he has players that by next year, like by next year, Tyler Warren could jump into being drafted as a top three tight end. Josh Downs, I think could be draft. He could make a jump to be a top 24 drafted wide receiver. And of course, checking it down to Johnny Taylor.

[Mike Wright]

Okay, okay, good legit philosophical question here.

[Andy Holloway]

For both of you.

[Mike Wright]

If you are the quarterback, you are a professional quarterback, would you rather have Malik Neighbors and nothing. Forget the other situation. Just as a wide receiver core, would you rather have a Malik neighbors with no other great options to throw the ball to or would you rather have a Pittman Downs, a Tyler Warren?

[Andy Holloway]

I lean that. I lean the way of having multiple good weapons over one.

[Jason Moore]

Just can I pick the offensive line.

[Andy Holloway]

And then throw in the throwing.

[Mike Wright]

The offensive line is average in both.

[Jason Moore]

Situations because I think Slayton Wondale are probably, you know, fine alongside Millie.

[Mike Wright]

I would definitely go the neighbors way because I'm. I'm going to be one read and get the ball out every time. So my second if I'm the quarterback.

[Andy Holloway]

We saw what happened. They did that last year with Neighbors and then Neighbors was gone.

[Mike Wright]

Yeah, I will murder Neighbors with my inaccuracy.

[Andy Holloway]

It's disgusting. But I honestly believe it will not shock me if in week two we're like, hey, stream of the week, guys. Daniel Jones, he's still running and the Colts offense is a little bit better than we thought.

[Jason Moore]

It will be interesting to watch in Indianapolis because that team could be surprising. They have the talent.

[Mike Wright]

But change a division that they could win.

[Jason Moore]

Sure. Yeah. The matchups or it could just go.

[Andy Holloway]

So Richardson is starting by week?

[Jason Moore]

Yeah. Yeah. It could go downhill fast. So there you go. That's the fantasy time machine for 2025. And we've got football in like a week and a day, so that's pretty exciting. We have fantasy MVP episode tomorrow. Is that right? Is that tomorrow? That is the fantasy MVP show. So not only will we bring for that one our fantasy MVP picks to the table, but we will have, I think, seven special guests on the show tomorrow. Is that the right number, Mike? Seven.

[Mike Wright]

Seven.

[Andy Holloway]

Anywhere from one to 15.

[Jason Moore]

We will have several special guests on the show tomorrow sharing their fantasy MVP picks and their perspective on how they're going to get it done. So that's tomorrow. We'll do another mock draft, the final mock draft before a big draft weekend so that you guys can see the lay of the land before you go. And draft Saturday, Sunday, Monday, as we head into the 2025 fantasy football season. So head over to ultimate draftkit.com if you still need the UDK, make sure you use the draft Analyzer. If you've already drafted, use the draft analyzer. We grade your team and your the rest of your league mates and their teams. We give you perspective on where you can improve on your team. Things to watch for, pay attention to and give you basically a game plan to go into the season with. Because you don't win your league at the draft, you set the foundation and then you head into the season and you've got to continue to make improvements and moves, which you know. That's why we give you the tools to do that throughout the season to equip you to make the best decisions for your league. So ultimate draft kit.com to check that out. Otherwise we will catch you tomorrow on the Fantasy MVP episode. Take care everybody.

[Andy Holloway]

Goodbye.

[Mike Wright]

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. I don't mean to interrupt your meal, but I saw you from across the cafe and you're the Geico Gecko, right?

[Jason Moore]

In the flesh. Oh my goodness. This is huge.

[Mike Wright]

To finally meet you. I love Geico's fast and friendly claim service.

[Jason Moore]

Well, that's how Geico gets 97% customer satisfaction. Anyway, that's all.

[Mike Wright]

Enjoy the rest of your food.

[Jason Moore]

No worries. So are you just gonna watch me eat?

[Mike Wright]

Oh, sorry, just a little starstruck. I'll be on my way.

[Jason Moore]

If you're gonna stick around, just pull up a chair. You're the best. Get more than just savings. Get more with Geico.