← Fantasy Footballers - Fantasy Football Podcast
Fantasy Footballers - Fantasy Football Podcast
Free Agent Frenzy! + Austin Ekeler Joins the Show
01:02:41
Free Agency is here! Lots of new faces in new places, and The Fantasy Footballers are here to break down the fantasy football implications. Tom Brady, Amari Cooper, Philip Rivers, and many more free agent signings discussed on today’s show! Plus, Stefon
Loading summary
Transcript249 lines
- [00:00]
Mike Wright
Foreign.
- [00:06]
Jason Moore
To the Fantasy Footballers Podcast with your hosts, Andy Holloway, Jason Moore and Mike Wright.
- [00:22]
Andy Holloway
Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the podcast the Fantasy Footballers Podcast. If you're nasty, we are bringing you the quarantine content that you need on your. And you deserve your right. I'm your host, Mike the fantasy hitman, Right. Joined by my best friend who is not near me. He is very far away from me, Jason Moore. What's up, dude?
- [00:50]
Jason Moore
You know, to be fair, we're like a mile and a half apart. I mean, you know, that's not. In terms of long distance relationships. Go. I feel like we're still. We're still very close.
- [01:01]
Andy Holloway
I can't talk to you through a tin can tied to. With a string that, like, we can't pull that move.
- [01:08]
Jason Moore
That's. That's fair. And, you know, I don't know, maybe world record for another video. Maybe we get this done.
- [01:15]
Andy Holloway
Longest tin can string challenge. Has anybody done this?
- [01:19]
Jason Moore
Someone's about to. It's gonna. It's gonna light the Internet on fire.
- [01:24]
Andy Holloway
Welcome to the podcast. Maybe we'll do it. People are gonna be getting bored these days. But we're here to try and help keep you entertained. Fantasy football, it's happening. Well, sort of. The news is coming in. It's hot and heavy. It is free agency. Last show. Something pretty awesome happened. I just want to remind everybody.
- [01:49]
Jason Moore
I remember the Arizona Cardinals got DeAndre Hopkins for Jack.
- [01:55]
Andy Holloway
DeAndre Hopkins.
- [01:58]
Jason Moore
All right.
- [01:58]
Andy Holloway
But back to serious business. So someone else acquired a superstar wide receiver. The Buffalo Bills, they traded for Stefan Diggs. Now, did they trade or did the Vikings get like a, you know, just a low pick or something? No, they opened up the vault. The Buffalo Bills sent over Stefan or acquired Stefan Diggs for a first, a fifth, a sixth, and a next year's fourth.
- [02:29]
Jason Moore
Yeah, 1, 4, 5, and 6. Compared to DeAndre Hopkins. 2. Right. A bad contract. Oh, man, that was good times. But, yes, this is huge news because the Bills, if you remember, not everybody out there, will have been around for the specific day where Antonio Brown was a Buffalo Bill.
- [02:56]
Andy Holloway
I had forgotten about it.
- [02:58]
Jason Moore
I mean, there was one day where it was reported. It was done. It was traded. He was going from the Steelers to the Bills, and then that fell apart. But it did show that the Bills were serious inquirers to get Josh Allen, a legitimate one. You know, they go out and they get John Brown last year and, you know, much has been made about the height of their wide receivers, which I believe averaged before this trade. 5 foot 2, they were very short wide Receivers don't look that up, don't fact check anything here that might be hyperbole. But the point remains that they didn't really have a true one and they knew they needed to get one and now they have one. So we're here to break down the fantasy implications.
- [03:47]
Andy Holloway
That, and that is the quick question of the day. What's the fantasy impact from the Stefan Diggs trade? You have a lot of angles to look at it. You have Stefan Diggs himself, you have Josh Allen.
- [03:59]
Jason Moore
Oh, excellent.
- [04:01]
Andy Holloway
Joss Stallion. Then you have John Brown on that team, on over in Buffalo. Then you have Adam Thielen back in Minnesota, left by his lonesome, currently with Kirk Cousins. Jay. What? I have some numbers that you may find shocking. You actually you won't. You'll just hear them and go, oh yeah, I already knew that. But what's your initial takeaway for, for these guys?
- [04:29]
Jason Moore
Well, there's a lot of takeaways. I mean I think the ancillary pieces are easiest to deal with. Like John Brown, who was actually pretty consistent last year. He wasn't a superstar but, but week in, week out, you could rely on him is dead to me. John Brown is worthless now because this is still. I know they just paid up to get a wide receiver and they've got a young canon quarterback, but this is still a run first team, a defensive minded run first team. That's how they want to play. And so if you're telling me that Stefan Diggs comes in, takes the largest market share, I don't want. I'm fine with the second wide receiver on a team for fantasy when it's a high flying, high scoring team. Oftentimes we've seen historically there's usually anywhere from three to five teams every year that have two multiple wide receivers on their team that finish in fantasy, either in the top 12 or the top 24. And this isn't going to be one of those teams. So John Brown, I loved him, loved him as an Arizona Cardinal Smoke. You're great. He will have his big games, but he won't be on my fantasy roster in any way, shape or form because I think the consistency will be gone. But the consistency that he did show this last year, I think that that's, that builds the confidence. You might not love Josh Stallion as far as accuracy, as far as fantasy production for wide receivers. I see you grimacing already, Mike, and I get it. Yes. But what John Brown's consistency already proved is that a year older Josh Allen will be able to sustain Stefan Diggs. I'M in on Stefan Diggs. I believe he will have, I believe he will be a top 15 wide receiver pretty easily. So, I mean, I, you know, I'm okay.
- [06:15]
Andy Holloway
You're also completely looking off that Cole Beasley was there and Cole Beasley had over a 21% market share.
- [06:22]
Jason Moore
Like, like I said, five foot two, average wide receiver.
- [06:26]
Andy Holloway
But the Cole Beasley targets aren't just going to vanish. It's not now just John Brown and Stefan Diggs. It's. It's now the three of them.
- [06:34]
Jason Moore
So you think that the market share won't be there for Diggs within the offense?
- [06:38]
Andy Holloway
I think that he will have the highest market share in that offense, but it's. There's not enough to go around for three guys.
- [06:45]
Jason Moore
I agree. And that's why I think those other guys are dead to me because I do think Diggs comes in and, and you know, gets up near a 30% market share. He's too squeaky.
- [06:55]
Andy Holloway
No way. Stefan Diggs is not getting a 30% target share.
- [06:59]
Jason Moore
I say he's north of 25%.
- [07:03]
Andy Holloway
I would probably take that bet, but. So here's the numbers I wanted to bring up because you mentioned the accuracy for Josh Allen. You can't talk about him without highlighting those things. So here's just some numbers about overall accuracy. Last year, Josh Allen, 461 attempts, completed 58.8% of his passes. Kirk Cousins, 444 attempts, completed 69.1% of his passes.
- [07:32]
Jason Moore
Nice.
- [07:32]
Andy Holloway
That's. It is. That's very nice. I mean that's a, that's an 11 point advantage. Near 11 point advantage over Josh Allen. Since 2015 as a starter when Kirk Cousins became a starter, he is the third most accurate quarterback in the NFL since Josh Allen or since Josh Allen has been in the NFL. There is one passer with a lower completion percentage than him. That was Josh Rosen. So that's what we're talking about for accuracy. Okay, so let's look at deep passing. Josh Allen went deep on 14.6% of his attempts. He had an adjust adjusted completion percentage. So actual catchable passes when he goes deep and deep is 20 plus air yards. Adjusted completion percentage of 28.4. So just, just over 25% of his passes were catching.
- [08:30]
Jason Moore
That's so good.
- [08:32]
Andy Holloway
Meanwhile, Kirk Cousins, he went deep on 13.7. So like very close in terms of how often Kirk Cousins was going deep. Cousins adjusted completion percentage 47 point. I mean this is a drastic difference when someone is going deep. And my point of saying all this is Stefan Diggs was a bit of a malcontent. I guess you could put it lightly.
- [09:02]
Jason Moore
Certainly he's the squeakiest wheel in the league now that Antonio Brown is out.
- [09:07]
Andy Holloway
He was vague, booking every other day, sending out cryptic messages on his social media and it's okay, Stefan, here's what you get now, man. You're going to Buffalo with, with this, this quarterback. Yeah, he can throw the ball a mile. But you've been playing with one of the most accurate quarterbacks in football since he became a starter. So I just, I am concerned for Stefan Diggs. And when you add, add in the accuracy problems, add in the fact that Cole Beasley is not going away and John, John Brown and Cole Beasley will still be involved. Josh Allen's pass attempts, I can't see them going up drastically from 461. Like maybe, maybe he gets to 480. Where, where do you think his passing attempts will land next year?
- [09:56]
Jason Moore
No, I think he will be in that 490 range. He'll be sub 500. That's what the team wants to do. So, you know, you add that with the, you know, completion percentage and you say, well, man, he's going to need to do a lot. But I actually think that there is an already existing comp that is fair, that's actually legitimate and makes a lot of sense. Where's McDermott from Carolina? Who is his quarterback? Cam Newton. Who is the person who is most comped to Josh Allen? It's Cam Newton. He's that big style, big bodied, poor accuracy, but a great running quarterback. Mobile picks up first downs, keeps the chains moving, good for the offense with a low total passing attempt number. And if you look back when he had Steve Smith, when he had Steve Smith, you know who, I think it's fair to say Stefan Diggs is in that tier of wide receiver. Not to say he's, you know, already, you know, Steve Smith to me is a Hall of Famer.
- [10:56]
Andy Holloway
It's a fine, it's a fine thing to compare those two. But when he had Steve Smith, he had Steve Smith like, my point is that John Brown is a really good football player. Cole Beasley is also a very good football player. He, Beasley won't be fantasy relevant, but he will, he will take enough away that Stefan Diggs, I don't, I don't know if I'll have him in my top 15 come rankings.
- [11:20]
Jason Moore
Sure, I mean, maybe he won't, but you know, I mean, you saw Cam's rookie year. Steve smith had what, 1407. So I, my point is, I believe he. Look, John Brown and Cole Beasley, they were fine this year. They were the 1A and 1B or the 3A and 3B with no 1 and 2 on that roster. But I think at the end of next year, you'll look back and say, well, yeah, but it was Stefan Diggs and nobody. Sorry, I know everybody's got. You've got the bezels, but, you know, Diggs is a special talent and he better be. He better be. They paid out the nose. Here's the thing. Well, they did. I was going to say, did they really pay out the nose or did the Hopkins trade just make it look like they paid? I mean, a 1, a 4, 5 and 6. That's basically saying I'm going to keep my 2 and 3 and 7 and trade the rest of my draft class. That's, that's a lot of money. All right, so, okay, so we've, we've dug into digs. Boom. Did it. John Brown. I think we can both agree that, that John Brown and Cole Beasley are not going to be relevant fantasy options next year.
- [12:32]
Andy Holloway
I would agree. Yes.
- [12:33]
Jason Moore
Okay, so now the last question, or I guess there's two. One, what does this do for Josh Allen and also Adam Thielen. Adam Thielen is now left as the last man standing. And to me, he has shown on the field that he can be a one. He's a good enough route runner. He's. I think he's a great wide receiver. So sometimes when the counterpart on the other side of the field leaves, it can hurt you. I don't think this is the case in a low volume offense as well in Minnesota. I think Thielen is going to be an excellent draft pick this year, assuming he could stay on the field. And that's, that's a worthy question. Is his injury history?
- [13:11]
Andy Holloway
And he won't be alone. The Vikings just picked up another first round pick. There's, there's still free agent wide receivers who are out there. Robbie Anderson is still out there as of this recording. So it's, they aren't going into next year with the wide receiver core that's on the team.
- [13:28]
Jason Moore
This is such a good trade for the Vikings and I think not everyone will agree.
- [13:32]
Andy Holloway
I agree. No, I agree. He didn't want to be there.
- [13:35]
Jason Moore
He didn't want to be there. And this is a team that doesn't pass the ball as much as, you know, like, do they really need. Are they capitalizing on having Thielen and Diggs? Not really. And they were a cap strapped team that really needed. I mean they, they've been very good so you don't think of them as a rebuild but roster wise like they needed some more pieces. Now they go and get four more picks and free up cap space. I think this was really good for them. So what do you think about Thielen's outlook?
- [14:03]
Andy Holloway
I'll still be bullish on Thielen. I want to see who else is on the field. I mean we. It's at least similar. You can, you can fairly say last year Juju was going to be all alone. We've thought ju and coming into last year everyone was very hyped for juju. He's a great wide receiver but what happens when he's alone? What happens when there's not another Alpha on the field? What happens. I think that Thielen will be fine. The but I want to see who else they put on the field to know if I can buy into Thielen really being like a top end wide receiver. One kind of like how he has been when he's. When he was actually on the field last. Last year was. Was pretty rough. If you want to follow along with the show, if you want to check out what we are doing on the YouTubes because we're not in the same place.
- [14:59]
Jason Moore
No, you got to check it out. We've got new setups.
- [15:02]
Andy Holloway
Yeah. You want to see my room? You want to see where I work when I'm at home. YouTube.com the fantasy footballers. You want to see Jason's fancy shutters.
- [15:11]
Jason Moore
Mike, you have a much cooler recording space in your home. I think we can all agree with that. You've got like the guitars hanging up behind you. The. The Foot Clan and fancy football or swag all around. You're looking awesome. I'm like welcome to my fancy pants home that I am right next to shutters.
- [15:30]
Andy Holloway
And I will say this along the way. So the podcast is obviously here because you're listening to it right now. We're going to be trying to help bring some entertainment, help bring some levity to these serious times with some live streams, ways to engage with people more. And one of those things is I am working with our producers. I'm going to live stream working on drops. People have asked me the entire time that the show has gone on, how do you make. How do you make the drops? The transition music for. For the footballers podcast and I'm gonna, I'll just show people.
- [16:10]
Jason Moore
That's gonna be so, so cool. I think people are gonna Love that. Do you want me to be there for the. Because I do the voices. I do.
- [16:16]
Andy Holloway
Yes, you do the voiceover.
- [16:22]
Jason Moore
Welcome to the fantasy football. So I do that, and I think people might want. People ask all the time who does. Who does the voice of the drops? And they might want to see me do that magic on video. So just let me know. Hit me up and, you know, I'll be like, it's time for the mailbag.
- [16:41]
Andy Holloway
It's not even what the drop says.
- [16:43]
Jason Moore
I couldn't think of one. I literally was like, oh, man. What's. What's a drop?
- [16:48]
Andy Holloway
It just says mailbag.
- [16:49]
Jason Moore
Where? I. I know, but he. Does he say mailbag or do you know you sing mailbag?
- [16:54]
Andy Holloway
He drops this mailbag.
- [16:57]
Jason Moore
Well, when you say he, you mean.
- [16:58]
Andy Holloway
Yes. I mean, of course I mean you mailbag. So make sure you're following us over on YouTube or you can follow us on Twitter at the ffballers, @Jason FFL. @ff Hitman youn, of course, have noticed that Andy is not here. He's. He's getting tested. We're trying to figure out what is going on exactly with him. So we are still wishing well for Andy to make a speedy recovery. Hopefully we can get him on the show next week. Jason, are you ready to get into these free agent frenzy?
- [17:32]
Jason Moore
Let's do it. Free agent frenzy.
- [17:41]
Andy Holloway
All right. So we already knew it was going to happen, but the Saints have resigned Drew Brees. That's kind of a. Just a formality at this point. We already knew it was going to happen. Who ho hump? Status quo. Let's get into the big stuff. Tom freaking Brady has left the New England Patriots. I was steadfast in my belief that it was a near impossibility that Tom Brady would actually leave the team. The egg is on my face. He goes to the Bucks. There are major, major, major fantasy implications from the team transitioning from Jameis Winston.
- [18:21]
Jason Moore
Yolo.
- [18:22]
Andy Holloway
Throw the ball deep all the time. Turn the ball over a bunch to Tom Brady. Jason, what's your initial reaction?
- [18:29]
Jason Moore
Yeah, I mean, I as. So this is just crazy news, and I don't know what's going to be weirder. I genuinely don't. Watching Tom Brady as a buccaneer or watching the Patriots without Tom Brady, whoever.
- [18:42]
Andy Holloway
And we have no idea who it's going to be yet.
- [18:44]
Jason Moore
Yeah. So fantasy implications here. I don't think they're going to push the ball as much. Vegas kind of has the line at about 4,500 passing yards, and I believe 32 passing touchdowns. Right now for Tom Brady, I think those are fair numbers. He's not going to be up near the 5,000 that Jameis was at. James had to throw for 5,000 to get back in some of these games. But it does make sense. They had several games this year where they lost by, you know, a one score game. And in those games that was that they finished one score behind or less or fewer. I believe Jameis had 18 of his interceptions in those games. So Tom Brady I think does make them. I mean, so this is something can't confirm here other than Mike saying so, but prior to the signing of Tom Brady, I was saying I believe the Buccaneers are a playoff team this year. So Tom Brady, I don't know that he brings them to the level of contender, but they're going to be in the running. I think they're going to win more games than not from a fantasy standpoint.
- [19:45]
Andy Holloway
Yeah, that's what people care about. Jason, we don't care if the Bucks are going to make the playoffs.
- [19:48]
Jason Moore
Get out of here. I love Jameis Woodson for fantasy. Don't care that he sucks. But I think, and maybe this is, maybe this is foolish of me. You tell me if it is or not. But I actually think that some of the rumors about Tom Brady wanting the Buccaneers to sign Antonio Brown.
- [20:10]
Andy Holloway
Oh, gross.
- [20:11]
Jason Moore
Might have legs to it. And if that happens, then every opinion we share here changes. You know, Chris Godwin to me is phenomenal here. I would much rather have Chris Godwin the Mike Evans at this point because the slot wide receiver, the guy that's going to go across the middle, catch the timing routes from Tom Brady, he's going to do great. Whereas Mike Evans, the deep field stretcher. You brought it up when we were talking about the possibility of this and I believe you're right that look, Brady didn't have a weapon like Mike Evans and he will utilize him. I don't think Mike Evans dies or falls off a cliff here, but if you just look at where he throws more often, Chris Godwin is clearly the fantasy option I want to have. And as a dynasty owner of Chris Godwin, I'm pretty happy.
- [21:00]
Andy Holloway
Pretty happy.
- [21:01]
Jason Moore
As long as AB doesn't come to town, I think Chris Godwin is going to repeat what he did last year despite fewer offensive yardage and touchdowns as a whole for the Buccaneers.
- [21:13]
Andy Holloway
Now, last year, James Winston essentially threw deep at the fourth highest rate of starting quarterbacks. Tom Brady was down at about 26th and completion percentage. James was in fact better than Tom Brady was this completely Related to the weapons around Tom Brady? I'm not sure. My biggest question as I was trying to look around and you know, like, what marks could I use to get an edge here to gain a different perspective on this? And it's. Tom Brady was really bad under pressure. We all know this. The secret to beating Tom Brady is you hit him. And once he starts getting hit, bad things start to happen. He had a 36 completion. 36 points. That, that was his completion percentage when he was under pressure. Worst. The worst for all starters.
- [22:06]
Jason Moore
36%.
- [22:07]
Andy Holloway
Yes. So when, when he is under pressure last year he was absolute trash. Now that's.
- [22:14]
Jason Moore
That is really not good.
- [22:16]
Andy Holloway
Yeah, that's in fact four points lower than the second worst percentage for being under pressure. And then it's. The bigger question then is, okay, what's going on with the offensive line and football outsiders? They have Tampa Bay last year ranked as the 22nd best, 22nd in pass blocking with New England at fifth. So that could be a concern. Now places like Pro Football Focus, they have a much higher opinion of Tampa Bay's path blocking. So that's, that's just something that we need to keep our eye on.
- [22:48]
Jason Moore
Yeah, when you look at a lot of those stats, I mean, it is very true that a quarterback makes an offensive line the same way that an offensive line makes quarterback. Quarterbacks that hold on to the ball too much, cause more sacks to happen, cause the ratings and grades to falter for offensive linemen. I think Brady is part of the reason why. Not the entire reason, obviously, but part of the reason why New England has had a good offensive line.
- [23:13]
Andy Holloway
Like the grayed out high.
- [23:15]
Jason Moore
Exactly. The grade out high. Because Brady, he's going to get the ball, he's going to get it out of his hands extremely quickly. And that's why I say it bodes well to the guy in the slot taking the shorter routes in Godwin than it does for him. Holding the ball, waiting for a play to develop and airing it out to Mike Evans. I'm interested to see whose system is this. Is Bruce Arians trying to get right. Look, he had, he had Kurt Warner play, you know, his system and Carson Palmer playing his system. And you know, is Tom Brady going to play in his system or is this going to be. No, we're installing New England's offense. Tom Brady is going to be the guy the way that Peyton Manning came in and took over and Adam Gates was just like, yeah, you go be great and I will ride your coattails forever.
- [24:02]
Andy Holloway
Right.
- [24:03]
Jason Moore
So. And I don't think there's an answer to that. One thing that's interesting with OTAs being this is a little bit of news, OTAs being indefinitely suspended for these quarterbacks that are changing teams, you know, regardless of whose system, whether it's Brady's system or Arian's system, a lot of players have to learn something new and they're not going to have or possibly not going to have OTAs together. So that could really be a drag on the beginning of the season. You know, fantasy output for Buccaneers, possibly for the Colts. Although Philip Rivers is at least going to a system that was with him in back when it was San Diego.
- [24:50]
Andy Holloway
Now before we get into Philip Rivers, want to thank today's sponsor, Omaha Steaks, America's original butcher. Right now, Omaha Steaks has an amazing limited time offer to help your family stock up and save big while doing it. Omaha steaks.com you enter the code footballers in the search bar and you're going to get 68% off off the Ultimate Grillers package. That's $186 value for just $59.99. Here is what you're gonna pack your freezer with. Two butchers cut filet mignons trimmed twice to remove all exterior fat. Two bold and beefy top sirloins, four premium pork chops, four Omaha Steak burgers, four gourmet jumbo franks, four potatoes au gratin, four caramel apple tartlets. Omaha Steak seasoning packet. Plus you're gonna get four more burgers and four more franks for free. Omaha Steaks are the most tender, most flavorful and you can only get steaks of this quality from America's original butcher. You get this limited time stock up special and get the free burgers and franks for just 59.99. That's a savings of 68%. Go to omahasteaks.com type footballers in the search bar and add the ultimate grillers package to your cart today. Jason, I am going to be making some burgers tonight and they will be Omaha Steak Burgers.
- [26:15]
Jason Moore
I think there is a legitimate chance that I do identical to that. And now that you've spoken it, because that was in the dinner tonight.
- [26:23]
Andy Holloway
Where's the.
- [26:24]
Jason Moore
Oh yeah.
- [26:25]
Andy Holloway
All right. Well, let's see if this guy could become your burger bro. You didn't. He didn't really have happy thoughts about him last year. Philip Rivers, a one year deal. He's going to the Indianapolis Colts. Jason, your reaction is why?
- [26:44]
Jason Moore
Why is he that much better than Kobe Brissette?
- [26:48]
Andy Holloway
Yes, and stop it. It's so ridiculous.
- [26:51]
Jason Moore
I don't think he's that much better than Jacoby Brissette at this stage. I'm not saying Philip Rivers isn't an infinitely better quarterback than Jacoby Brissette and at the end of their careers they won't even be in the same breath. Of course not. But a 38 year old Philip Rivers who looked bad on film last year threw picks like he was trying to compete with Jameis Winston and now a lot of interceptions. And now coming over to a team where you forget Jacoby Brissette was off to a smoking hot start last year until injuries to both him and his wide receiving core kind of derailed it. Second half, Jacoby Brissette sucked, but the.
- [27:27]
Andy Holloway
First half was off to a unsustainable touchdown pace.
- [27:31]
Jason Moore
Sure. Which is really good though, right? Like Lamar Jackson last year, unsustainable touchdown rate also synonymous with good performance.
- [27:39]
Andy Holloway
But I'm saying like those things just happen. Like Nick Foles came into a situation and was awesome like for a small stretch of time. Like guys can do that. Philip Rivers has a, has hall of Fame credentials. I mean he probably won't get in, but if you just look at the longevity and his statistics, he is a Hall of Fame level quarterback. Last year threw for over 4,600 yards. He had a 66 completion percentage. Meanwhile Jacoby under 3,000 yards completing 61% of his passes. I mean to me this is a monstrous, a monstrous upgrade to the Colts offense. A monstrous upgrade to, to all fantasy options for this team.
- [28:23]
Jason Moore
I will say this. My opinion of whether or not the colts should have paid 25 million for Philip Rivers, which is negative, might be a little bit informed by the fact that I believe the fantasy implications for a lot of these offensive pieces go up. So you know, maybe I'm a little bit less, I'm unbiased when it comes to the actual analysis of what's going to happen and more biased to just the opinion of do I like it or not. Because I don't, I don't like Philip Rivers what he did to me and my team last year. But when it comes to so look at the past catching back, I'm curious how they might involve Marlon Mack, but really nice. Hines would project to be the more prototypical player to come into that Austin Eckler, Danny Woodhead role.
- [29:15]
Andy Holloway
Yeah, for that, for that role. But I don't think they're just gonna like Frank Reich is not going to copy the system for the charges. I mean he's going to put the personnel out that would. I think now is the. Now we get to see Kamarland Mack really catch the ball and make things happen. Like, yeah, he's gonna get targets.
- [29:33]
Jason Moore
I mean, this isn't about, like, installing some other system and trying to emulate teams of the past, but I think, look, we're going to talk to awesome Echler here.
- [29:45]
Andy Holloway
Oh, my goodness.
- [29:46]
Jason Moore
You started to forget, right?
- [29:48]
Andy Holloway
I honestly, I did that. This show is. It's so weird. I'm in a room, I'm alone. I mean, not virtually because Jason's here, our producers are here. It's just. It's so weird. Austin Eckler's on the freaking show today.
- [30:02]
Jason Moore
Yeah. And what am I.
- [30:04]
Andy Holloway
What am I doing?
- [30:05]
Jason Moore
We talked to him, but he brings up a great example. The way that he illustrates the difference in Philip Rivers passing to his running back versus, say, Tyrod Taylor, if that's who goes forward, is that Tyrod Taylor is mobile, can get out of issues on his own. A little bit better. And that's when.
- [30:24]
Andy Holloway
A little bit better.
- [30:25]
Jason Moore
A little. Just a little bit better than Philip. Just like, he can move a little better.
- [30:30]
Andy Holloway
Rivers has like a career 20 rushing yards.
- [30:33]
Jason Moore
Yeah, he's. I agree with you, Mike. Your words, not mine. He's the worst, but not.
- [30:39]
Andy Holloway
He's.
- [30:40]
Jason Moore
My. My point is, is that awesome Eckler states that, you know, that's his safety valve is when things are. Are breaking down, he dumps it off. That's not a system thing necessarily so much as a he's not going to escape the pocket when things break down. He's going to get the ball out of his hands to his safety valve at running back. And I'm curious to see if Marlon Mack can inherit that role or if Naim Hines kind of takes that over. But the point is, it certainly without a shadow, a shred of doubt, the pass catching to the running back position for the Colts will be greater than it was last year, and I think significantly so. It's. It'll be our job as the season progresses to determine how that divvies up.
- [31:27]
Andy Holloway
And Ty Hilton, he gets a huge bump. To me, Rivers went deep far more often and far more accurately than Jacoby Brissette like this. I think this is a really big move.
- [31:38]
Jason Moore
Yeah. For fantasy purposes, it's great for Ty Hilton, probably good for Marlon Mack, great for Naim Hines.
- [31:45]
Andy Holloway
I'm still not man Jack Baby Hands Doyle. Oh, or Gigantor, maybe.
- [31:52]
Jason Moore
I know. I was like, gigantor season, please. Because, look, they need a tight end here. Like, they really, really really need a tight end and there isn't one on the free agent market to get. There's not one in the draft that's going to.
- [32:03]
Andy Holloway
They don't need. When they have. They have one, they have two and a half. That's Mo Ali Cox counts as one and a half.
- [32:10]
Jason Moore
But that's, that's the point I'm getting to. I believe they need one. There isn't one to get. So they're going to use who's on the roster and maybe Mo Ali Cox can finally break through. It's hard for him to break into things because he's so big. You know, it's like you can't break down a whole house.
- [32:28]
Andy Holloway
Well, like if you break into a house and the whole house just shatters. Did you break into the house or did you.
- [32:33]
Jason Moore
I think you just broke the house.
- [32:34]
Andy Holloway
You broke the.
- [32:35]
Jason Moore
And so that's what Mo Ali Cox has been doing. Breaking the NFL fields because he's so big. But I agree with you. Jack Doyle, he has a massive bump up because he is going to be the primary receiving tight end. It won't around the red zone O'Ali Cox, but through the 20s and still in the red zone. I think Jack Doyle is. Eric Ebron is gone. This is great, great news for any Doyle owner in dynasty and in redraft leagues. Doyle will be very relevant. I was going to say I'm not a huge believer in Paris Campbell yet.
- [33:08]
Andy Holloway
Yeah, it remains to be seen. The secondary wide receiver for this team. I don't know. I liked Paris Campbell a lot coming out of college. So did the team. They spent a second round pick on him, but we didn't really get a chance to see him. Generally speaking, when you're talking about free agency, this would already be like. We would be way over the limit of quarterback information. Quarterback change. Except we aren't close to done.
- [33:33]
Jason Moore
Talking about the quarterbacks is unbelievable.
- [33:36]
Andy Holloway
The Carolina Panthers in a scenario that just went from wait, what now there's no wait.
- [33:45]
Jason Moore
Oh, oh.
- [33:45]
Andy Holloway
And it's done. They went from Cam Newton is our guy again to we're going to let Cam Newton try and get traded. Try and seek a trade partner.
- [33:56]
Jason Moore
And we're going to let him. We're allowing Cam Newton to seek a trade and Cam Newton tweets out what? Don't put those words out there. You're forcing them.
- [34:07]
Andy Holloway
How did he do all the weird letters? How long did that thing take?
- [34:11]
Jason Moore
I could barely read his tweet. I don't know if he's got some program where where every letter he types looks funky. But, yes, his tweet, if you haven't seen it, it's. It's basically in hieroglyphics, but also in English. So. But he, he came out and he said, no, no, no, don't. Don't say that. This is like some amicable thing. He wanted to be a Panther. You're forcing him out. And then they go sign a three year, $63 million contract with Teddy Bridgewater. This does. This isn't fantasy. And I know Andy disagrees with me a little bit. I don't know where you stand. I think the Panthers freaking hosed Cam Newton. Yes. I'm not like some Cam Newton apologist or truth or, you know, I've spoken poorly of him in the past. I've spoken well of him in the past. I thought he was going to be good for fantasy last year prior to the foot injury, but goodness gracious, he's. What option does he have, especially with the Corona world where he can't get tested by teams, doctors, he can't go and easily prove that he's ready to go. You've got.
- [35:09]
Andy Holloway
There's, there's one job. There's one job left, allegedly, and that would be the Patriots. Because the Chargers, at least they've come out and said the Chargers are moving forward with Tyrod Taylor. They're not going to spend big money on a veteran quarterback. They'll add someone in the draft. But I'm, I'm with you. Like, they, they absolutely hosed him. If you, like, you had to have known that you weren't going to move forward with Cam Newton and a while ago, just cut him. Let him, or Tray or try and trade him a couple months ago, let, Let him figure out what the market is. Don't take this player who has been the face of your franchise for so long and then like right before or like halfway through the free agency process, say, oh, yeah, figure it out, Cam. Good luck.
- [35:57]
Jason Moore
It was so greedy. They just wanted to get something in return. And when they've realized that they're not going to be able to do that because the doctors can't verify where he's at now, they're. They moved on and they're like, I'm going to get Teddy Bridgewater and tell me this. So, like, the Bears, The Bears should have got Cam Newton. They would have been phenomenal with Cam Newton.
- [36:14]
Andy Holloway
Sure.
- [36:15]
Jason Moore
They couldn't trust it. If you're the Bears and you see the Panthers who have access to how he is health, you know, physically they go out and sign Teddy Bridgewater. What does that say about Cam Newton? That says, oh, they can't rely on him, so we can't rely on him. And then they go and trade for Nick Foles. Right.
- [36:32]
Andy Holloway
And that's, that's another big piece, big potential piece. But hold on, let's say with the Panthers fantasy implications for, for the pieces, you know, DJ Moore, Curtis Samuel, Christian McCaffrey, how are you feeling about those three guys? Anyone going up? Anyone going down?
- [36:54]
Jason Moore
I think it's DJ Moore is on his own going up. In general, I wouldn't say he's up much higher than he was prior to the trade because Teddy Bridgewater is a very safe, great manager, but he's actually accurate.
- [37:14]
Andy Holloway
Kyle Allen was not good.
- [37:16]
Jason Moore
Yes. So, but I think DJ Moore, where he was already trending, was already kind of a low end wide receiver. One high end wide receiver too. So I just don't know that this move can bump him much higher than that. To me, I think it can move.
- [37:32]
Andy Holloway
It moves the ceiling up for me because he. When you have to deal with bad quarterback play the whole year, but you're still overcoming, you're still being great, get him an accurate quarterback, which Teddy Bridgewater is, then, I mean, I'm interested. It, it's, it's unfortunate for Curtis Samuel. Samuel was like the king of air yards last year, but the king of unrealized air yards. And the way that Teddy plays of being safer a game manager, at least he was for the Saints. We'll see if an entire off season. Well, then again, does he get an entire off season in this crazy world we're living in? But theoretically, if he had the whole off season, does that change how he plays the game? And I don't think it really will.
- [38:18]
Jason Moore
Yeah. I just don't know that I can bump DJ Moore up higher than he was already set to. But Curtis Samuel, on the other hand, he was.
- [38:25]
Andy Holloway
That's what I'm saying. Like, I think it's. I've. I got the arrow pointed down for Curtis Samuel.
- [38:30]
Jason Moore
What? Really?
- [38:31]
Andy Holloway
Yeah.
- [38:32]
Jason Moore
Oh, I see. This is interesting because I've got the arrow pointed up for Curtis Samuel because like you said, the deep ball targets were just atrocious. He couldn't catch them. And while Teddy isn't really a push it downfield, every quarterback in the NFL throws downfield from time to time. And when they do, if Curtis Samuel can catch the ball because it's just a catchable target, I think that goes up and where his average draft is, he was pretty much left for dead after this season and now gets a relevant player. I mean, look at Michael Thomas, right? Michael Thomas was unbelievable this year. He had five games with Teddy Bridgewater and if you look at the game splits between when he had Breeze and when he had Bridgewater, he had half a fantasy point more with Breeze. You know, average in PPR, 23 fantasy points without Breeze this year. So Teddy can get it done. I just don't think I could push DJ Moore above where he was. But Curtis Samuel because he was so low, I think the arrows up for him.
- [39:31]
Andy Holloway
We briefly mentioned it here. The Bears traded for Nick Foles. They gave a fourth round pick. There was some contract restructuring. It surely seems like the Bears want Nick Foles to take the job away from Mitch Trubisky or at the very least it lets Trubisky know that you, if you're not committing 100% to this program, then you're going to be out. So Jason, your takeaway. Is Nick Foles the starter at the beginning of the year? Is he the starter a couple games in, halfway through the season? How are you projecting the situation?
- [40:09]
Jason Moore
Yeah, I think this is still going to be Trubisky's team. They've said from the beginning they want to bring in a veteran to push him to compete. Their best case scenario is that they wasted money on Foals. I've seen that said on Twitter by inside sources and that's what they want and they're going to put themselves in a place to at least have the chance to realize that. The good news is Nick Foles, while not a great starter, has some kind of weird magic where when he comes in as the backup and takes over for a starter, then he's great. You know, he's a Super Bowl MVP type of great. So yeah, go ahead and start Trubisky and then a couple games in, bring in the superstar backup. I can't imagine how much money Foles will get because he restructured his deal where he can opt out. So if he comes in and is great, he's going to be like, okay.
- [40:55]
Andy Holloway
Get another starter deal, get another starter.
- [40:57]
Jason Moore
Deal for massive money as the cap goes up. He's going to be the new Matt Flynn and just his goal is just signing contracts. But I love Nick Foles the dude so I'm, I'm, I'm super happy for him.
- [41:09]
Andy Holloway
All right, I think we've exhausted the, the actual quarterback news. Some smaller stuff. Marcus Mariota go went to the Raiders. He could end up pushing Derek Carr out of a Job and the Browns grabbed Case Keenum as their backup, moving on to the running back position. The Dolphins signed Melvin Gordon. Oh no, they did not. They showed interest but they went with Jordan Howard.
- [41:34]
Jason Moore
I haven't heard. I know now is when I'm supposed to talk about Jordan Howard, but I haven't heard.
- [41:40]
Andy Holloway
But now I feature your interest.
- [41:42]
Jason Moore
Yes, because where is the interest for.
- [41:44]
Andy Holloway
I don't. I keep messaging our slack saying has anybody heard Melvin Gordon news?
- [41:49]
Jason Moore
There are rumors about everyone. High level, low level, mid level, it doesn't matter. Everyone has news except him. Is just like crickets. There is no, it seems like there's no market for Melvin Gordon. But yes, Jordan Howard signs with the Dolphins. Look, I said this before this signing and I believe it now. He will out produce his average draft position. Jordan Howard is not a guy people enjoy liking. They want to disparage him. They want to play the tuba sound effect and be like, oh, he's this non pass catching trod down the field and now he goes to. Which ensures his draft stock is not going to be high. Who wants the running game for the Dolphins?
- [42:33]
Andy Holloway
Not me.
- [42:33]
Jason Moore
Not me. But the point is where he's going to fall to. Look, he's been good.
- [42:39]
Andy Holloway
I mean Jordan Howard is good. I believe that. Yes, Jordan Howard is a good running back, but his situation, I mean this is grim. You're on the Dolphins. I mean.
- [42:56]
Jason Moore
Who knows?
- [42:56]
Andy Holloway
Who knows? I mean the reason why he was, he was becoming valuable last year because he was turned into this touchdown machine. He was getting all the touchdowns for the Philadelphia Eagles. Ryan Fitzpatrick can run an offense. So I don't know, maybe Jordan Howard has some touchdown upside at the beginning of the year. I'm just trying to spin it.
- [43:16]
Jason Moore
Do you know how old Jordan Howard is?
- [43:18]
Andy Holloway
Not old. I would guess 26.
- [43:22]
Jason Moore
Yeah, he's 25 right now.
- [43:24]
Andy Holloway
All right.
- [43:24]
Jason Moore
I think he might be 26 when the season enters, but it feels like he's 32. He's just been out, you know, having thousand yard seasons for, you know, the last better half of the decade. So.
- [43:36]
Andy Holloway
And teams don't want him.
- [43:37]
Jason Moore
And teams don't want him. He's not a great pass catcher. That's been proven. That's not like opinion. That's.
- [43:44]
Andy Holloway
Yeah, that's science now.
- [43:45]
Jason Moore
That's science that he is just not that good at that. So you know it's going to drive his fantasy stock. But I think, look at certain times last year people were picking up and playing Laird and Bellage and you know, Jordan Howard, I do remember Patrick Laird season.
- [44:03]
Andy Holloway
That was fun.
- [44:04]
Jason Moore
Yeah. So if Patrick Laird can do a little bit of fantasy relevant work, Jordan Howard certainly can. And he'll be late in drafts. He'll be a guy where you can have as your benchmark running back, where you're not talking about, oh, would you accept him as your RB2? I think you're going to have him possibly as your RB4, because nobody's going to want him. And I'll. I'll take him all day there because depth matters in fantasy.
- [44:30]
Andy Holloway
NBC Sports reported that Jerick McKinnon.
- [44:34]
Jason Moore
Oh, my goodness.
- [44:35]
Andy Holloway
Agreed to restructure his contract with the 49ers. The 49ers placed a second round tender on Matt Burrida.
- [44:43]
Jason Moore
So if you don't remember, Derek McKinnon originally signed with the 49ers in 1992. He has not yet played a single game for them in real season, but he is still a 49ers. Unbelievable. I mean, it's just. It's so surprising.
- [44:58]
Andy Holloway
Here's what, here's why we bring this up. I hope you had fun with Raheem Mostert last year because this team had three running backs last year. And if they're keeping McKinnon because, I mean, he restructured, that doesn't guarantee him a spot on this team. But if they are, if they have.
- [45:19]
Jason Moore
Four running backs, he's a running back, so I'm pretty sure he's guaranteed a spot. I mean, they're going to.
- [45:24]
Andy Holloway
With the 49ers.
- [45:25]
Jason Moore
Four is not enough. Four is not enough. My name is. Jeff is going to be back. Is he? What?
- [45:30]
Andy Holloway
Hold on. No. Jeff Wilson is back.
- [45:34]
Jason Moore
He will be by the time the season rolls around. They're looking for 16 or 17 running backs led by my guy, Kyle Use check, who is awesome. He'll be out there. Here's the truth. Every single game, someone is very fantasy relevant. For The San Francisco 49ers run game behind Kyle Shanahan. It's going to be a great role. Jerick McKinnon will probably be undrafted, but could be relevant. It's just a crazy piece of news, really. It's too early to tell how that running back core is going to shake down, but it is. It's just funny because it's like people don't even remember he's there.
- [46:10]
Andy Holloway
Oh, yeah. So Brooks is letting us know that Jeff Wilson was in fact resigned.
- [46:16]
Jason Moore
That's right. March. This was March 5th just a couple of weeks ago.
- [46:19]
Andy Holloway
They're like, I forgot all about bring them all in.
- [46:22]
Jason Moore
I don't know. All right, Maybe they don't know Melvin Gordon's out there.
- [46:26]
Andy Holloway
Oh, don't tell them, please. All right, moving on to wide receivers. We already exhausted the Stefan Diggs trade while we were between shows. The Cowboys figured it out. They got Amari Cooper under contract five years, $100 million. Good for you, Cowboys. This was the move that you had to make, and now you got to figure things out with Dak, of course, who is currently on the franchise.
- [46:54]
Jason Moore
He turned down more money from the red.
- [46:58]
Andy Holloway
Talking about Amari Cooper right now.
- [46:59]
Jason Moore
Yes. Amari Cooper was offered more money to go to the Washington red and division. He turned it down. He wants to be part of this franchise and I think it's good. I know you and I disagree, right? Amari Cooper has every single year of his career been great at the end on paper, and great for. I don't argue with it. And great for 50% of his games. But he's been atrocious for fantasy. He has let fantasy players down because his consistency is exactly what we try to avoid. 50% of the time he's great. 50% of the time he's bad. Last year looked like that was not going to be the case. Turned out to be the case because he was great in the beginning and terrible in the end. I believe it was injury as the reason that he was terrible in the end. I think his consistency in the beginning. I will be in on Amari Cooper this year. You will be out on Amari Cooper as if it was me with Philip Rivers.
- [47:49]
Andy Holloway
I. Yeah, I like to hate. I like to pretend to hate Amari Cooper. He's. He is good.
- [47:57]
Jason Moore
It's.
- [47:58]
Andy Holloway
It's great that he's back with the Cowboys. A couple house cleaning notes here. The Bengals franchise, AJ Green. As was going to be expected, the Houston Texans, they found their replacement.
- [48:12]
Jason Moore
Oh, yeah.
- [48:12]
Andy Holloway
For DeAndre Hopkins. They signed Randall Cobb to a three year, $27 million contract. They. You want to talk with. Okay. San Francisco has all the running backs. Houston has all the slot wide receivers.
- [48:27]
Jason Moore
Oh, my goodness. What are they. What are they doing? Here's the difference.
- [48:31]
Andy Holloway
San Francisco's running backs, they're banking on our man.
- [48:37]
Jason Moore
Yeah, Kenny Bills, y'all.
- [48:40]
Andy Holloway
Kenny Bill's season.
- [48:43]
Jason Moore
Hopefully my Dynasty team would be very happy. Kenny Bill season. Let's get that done.
- [48:49]
Andy Holloway
Now. My dynasty team would be very happy if it were Alan Lazard season because the packers brought him back on a one year deal. The Jags put a second round tender on Keelan Cole.
- [49:02]
Jason Moore
Yeah, that was really surprising.
- [49:04]
Andy Holloway
What? Okay.
- [49:06]
Jason Moore
Okay. You really needed Keelan Cole.
- [49:11]
Andy Holloway
And in tight end news, we were wrong. Well, we were about Jimmy Graham. I remember you saying he's going to sign and he signed immediately.
- [49:20]
Jason Moore
I said he would sign because there are poorly run franchises out there who would stupidly make a sign. Jimmy Graham and then the Bears.
- [49:29]
Andy Holloway
So the team holding that bag, the Chicago Bears, brought him in on a two year deal.
- [49:34]
Jason Moore
And the crazy thing to me is usually, usually bad franchises start at the top, like ownership. But the Bears are a storied franchise. They're a great franchise. But I don't know, man, it's like you win GM of the year and all of a sudden you think you can do no wrong. And since that time, I feel like the Bears GM has just constantly been making head scratchers.
- [49:59]
Andy Holloway
Well, because they want to compete. San Francisco's got the running backs, Chicago has the tight ends. I'm looking at our lads right now and we have 10 tight ends on the roster.
- [50:13]
Jason Moore
That's because nobody stays healthy.
- [50:15]
Andy Holloway
What is happening? And this doesn't even have Jimmy Graham on it yet.
- [50:19]
Jason Moore
Well, the great thing is they've had a real issue with injuries at the tight end position. So they go out and sign Jimmy Graham.
- [50:27]
Andy Holloway
Yeah, that's the move. The Seahawks put a second round tender on Jacob Hollister, AKA Abercrombie. So we're going to have a log jam at tight end up in Seattle. And the Raiders signed Jason Whitten for some reason, I think this was just.
- [50:41]
Jason Moore
A Monday Night Football connection. They wanted to bring Jason Whitten and Gruden together because just imagine the hype speeches that they can give. I don't know if Booger is too far removed from his playing days, but rumors are maybe he'll sign.
- [50:59]
Andy Holloway
Fair enough. All right. The episode is going to run a little bit long today, but you know what? I don't think that matters right now. People need content. People need stuff to listen to. So listen to my interview with awesome Eckler.
- [51:14]
Jason Moore
You talking to me?
- [51:19]
Andy Holloway
The fantasy footballers are extremely excited to bring in one of our favorite players for an interview here, Austin Eckler. My friend, congratulations on the new contract, what you have accomplished from undrafted to this level of success. How are you feeling about securing the bag, my friend?
- [51:43]
Mike Wright
Hey, first off, I just want to start off by saying thank you for having me on. I appreciate you guys time, but no, the feeling, man. The feeling is amazing. You know, just like you said for going from undrafted to finally, you know, it coming my time of contract year and actually being able to secure contract with the team that I started with is amazing feeling personally and just, you know, knowing the connection with me and the Chargers is strong.
- [52:10]
Andy Holloway
At what point throughout the year, or it maybe it was in the off season, at what point did you start to feel confident that a new deal was going to get done?
- [52:22]
Mike Wright
Not necessarily through the year. It was after the year, you know, had. It had a pretty good year as far as what I was given for my workload and you know, came up to the, to the point where it's okay, this is my contract year. And it's like, look, they can tender me, which is usually the option that teams go or you know, if they like me enough, you know, we can have some negotiation. So when we first started out, you know, talking about just as far as my role on the team, we were kind of in a different mindset but ended up chiseling down to an agreement. So at the beginning of our negotiations as far as a long term deal, we were really far apart. So I figured, yeah, probably just get the tender. But then like I said, we ended up coming to an agreement as far as like what type of player I am because it's kind of different. If you look at me, you know, I've been a backup for, you know, on paper I've been a backup for like three years. But to me, I've never really felt like a backup. I felt like I always had a position or a role on the team that was. And I was able to, you know, influence the outcome of games through that role. It wasn't just, oh, I'm a special teams guy and so, you know, I don't have a potential to have a decent sized contract. And so we kind of got on the same page as far as like putting like an offensive weapon tag on me. It's like that's what you are. It's like you're not necessarily the starting running back who's going to take, you know, 40, 30 or 20, 30 carries a game. But you know, you might get some carries here, some receiving yards here. So I'm just glad we were able to, you know, finally chill down to what we thought I was and you know, put into paper and get them agreed on.
- [53:55]
Andy Holloway
Have they given you any, you know, implications, any commitments to what the backfield is, is going to look like this year. Like, are they kind of going to split with you and Justin Jackson or what? What we are all hoping for is seeing you as the featured guy. Have they kind of given you any, any indication what the plan is?
- [54:15]
Mike Wright
No, we haven't had any talks as Far as the future of the backfield charges yet, but it seems that Melbourne probably not going to be coming back. And you know, it's like, okay, well, it's Justin and me right now in the room as far as, you know, guys that have consistently played. And so it might be looking to draft somebody or just use us and find somebody who knows. But as far as right now, I mean, I know I'm going to be there, so I'll have to be doing my thing either way.
- [54:41]
Andy Holloway
Now, were your. The feats of strength that you're always posting on Twitter, was this your way of creating extra leverage against the team?
- [54:51]
Mike Wright
You can say that.
- [54:54]
Andy Holloway
I knew it because you're doing some really freaking impressive stuff, man.
- [55:00]
Mike Wright
Right? They look at that and they're like, man, we got to have this guy.
- [55:07]
Andy Holloway
So with the changes for the teams, the big one is going to be the quarterback change. It seems that the team will be parting ways with Philip Rivers. And right now, I mean, at least a few weeks ago, Coach Lynn was saying he has no problem starting with Tyrod Taylor as your guys as the quarterback for the team. How much time have you really gotten to work with Tyrod and kind of get that, you know, the chemistry that you and Rivers have had for years.
- [55:38]
Mike Wright
Definitely going to be different, you know, especially coming in with Philip because when you come into Phillips, you know, team is. He just has control of the offense. You know, he's making changes on the fly. You know, he's lining you up in different spots and he's just very, very, I don't know, just fluid with it, I guess you would say. And he makes it work because he understands everything. So that was his offense and really Tyrod had to kind of take a back seat because of that as far as like, you know, the leadership in the actual, like, offensive room. And so I feel like it'll be different. I feel like we'll see more of Tyrod and his personality and his leadership if he is the guy. And, you know, I'm looking forward to working with him because I know he is super athletic and, you know, I've seen his athletic ability. So, you know, I'd have confidence in him being our quarterback. But now it's just, yeah, creating that chemistry because, you know, Philip has been there for so long. So in my career has all been with Philip and so it'll be my first time playing with a new quarterback. So it'll be interesting to, you know, see how we mesh and, and grow.
- [56:39]
Andy Holloway
And how do we convince Tyrod if he's the guy, how do we convince him that you need more receptions than Christian McCaffrey?
- [56:48]
Mike Wright
Right, right. I don't know about that. It was just a race. Who can have more yards?
- [56:53]
Jason Moore
Yeah.
- [56:54]
Andy Holloway
So that'll be different.
- [56:55]
Mike Wright
It'll be different because with. With Philip, you know, he's not as mobile. So you check it down a lot. Tyrock can run a little bit, so definitely gonna take some convincing to say, hey, I'm open over here, too. You can throw me the ball.
- [57:06]
Andy Holloway
So our focus, we're a fantasy football show. So I got to ask, how much do you know about fantasy football? Have you ever played? Or do you just. Do you distance yourself? What do you know about the game?
- [57:19]
Mike Wright
I used to play back in high school, but ever since then, I haven't really played. I keep up with it now and then, just as far as, you know, people hit me up and tell me that I was terrible this week and they hate me or that they love me this week. And I was pretty good. So know I don't necessarily keep it up on it, but other people keep me up to date for it.
- [57:36]
Andy Holloway
I was gonna say, what was your social media like those first four or five weeks?
- [57:42]
Mike Wright
Oh, yeah, the first part, actually, this entire season, people were, you know, mostly giving me good comments. It was. I remember my first year and second year, it was a little mixed, but last year was pretty solid. I feel like I did a pretty good job for all you fantasy owners.
- [57:56]
Andy Holloway
Out there now, one of my best fantasy calls, I guess I got a little toot toot here. But before the season started and with kind of the old. The tumult that was going on with the team in Melvin, I had predicted that you were going to be a top 12 fantasy running back at the end of the year. So you came through in a big way and made me look really good.
- [58:19]
Mike Wright
That's quite the prediction you got there, man. Nice job, for sure.
- [58:25]
Andy Holloway
Yes. Look, hey, it was fantastic. And along the way, our listeners dubbed you awesome Echler. So are wondering, do you have an official nickname? Are you. Are you good with us? Rolling with awesome Eckler.
- [58:39]
Mike Wright
Awesome. I don't know if I'll call myself Austin Eckler. I might get a couple looks, but. No, that's fine. If you all want to call me that on your little face.
- [58:49]
Andy Holloway
All right. And we'll get you out of here on this one. I gotta talk about your celebration. I'm a guitar player, so your air guitar celebration is absolutely one of my favorites. And I was curious about what's the origin story did it just come out when you scored a touchdown or what's the background there?
- [59:08]
Mike Wright
So there's a lot of, like, different backgrounds I talk about, but the main thing is I just love, like, listening to rock music when I'm, like, working out and things like that, like hardcore rock. And so it's just the feeling that when you score a touchdown, it's pretty dang hard to score touchdown in the NFL. But when it's score and everyone's going crazy, you're cheering, booing, it's just that feeling. I feel like that I would be a rock star. You know, it's like I feel like that's what the whole concert feels like for a rock star. Everyone just going nuts and you just out there just jamming the guitar. So I'm out there just strumming it, just rocking out.
- [59:40]
Andy Holloway
Now, I'm not sure if you know, but Dante Moncrief, his celebration was actually slapping the bass. And I'm wondering if you guys have considered forming like an air band.
- [59:51]
Mike Wright
We tried to at one time, but the coordination was too bad, so we discontinued that. So it's going to take a little bit more coordination. But, you know, hopefully, you know, during the off season we can get something worked out.
- [60:03]
Andy Holloway
It would be fantastic. Thank you, Austin, for all of your time. Fantasy football players, they finally know the truth of how great you are as an offensive weapon, as a running back in the NFL. So thank you so much for your time, man, and we're looking forward to next year, what you can do.
- [60:21]
Mike Wright
Absolutely. I appreciate you guys. Thanks for having me on and all you fancy, make sure you pick me up. It's going to be a big one.
- [60:28]
Andy Holloway
That's what I'm talking about. Thanks, dude. Big shout out to Austin Eckler. Congratulations again on the contract. He was a delightful human being to talk to. Jason, do you have any parting words for the show?
- [60:44]
Jason Moore
Look, this is a Megala agency, okay? It's a long free agency show.
- [60:49]
Andy Holloway
Wait, what? Did you just try and use our Megala brand and put it onto free agency?
- [60:56]
Jason Moore
I did, and it works on paper.
- [60:59]
Andy Holloway
It did not work out loud, though.
- [61:01]
Jason Moore
Well, I realized that. But if you type it out, oh, man, it works. And that gave me confidence to go with Megala Agency. But it don't work. It don't work? No, it's terrible. But just write it down and then apologize because you'd be like, I get it. I see what you did. It was pretty great. And then ignore me ever saying it with my words in my mouth. No, the free agency is going to continue NFL draft season right around the corner. It's continuing on schedule.
- [61:31]
Andy Holloway
There are still so many interesting free agents available that we didn't even get to talk about, like, so hopefully Robbie Anderson. I mean, there are. There's some interesting guys that are still out there. I'm sure we'll talk about them next time. Quick shout out Pristine Auction. A Josh Allen jersey signed by the stallion himself. 76 bucks. Someone won that on pristine auction dot com. If you're gonna go there, check it out. Make a new account, register with the Code Ballers. You're gonna get $10 off your first purchase. That's gonna do it for the show. I'm your host, Mike the Fantasy Hitman. Right. He is Jason Moore. Stay safe, everybody. Find something to do. We'll see you next week. Good.
- [62:25]
Jason Moore
Thank you for listening to another edition of the Fantasy Footballers Podcast. Don't forget to visit us on the web at www.thefantasyfootballers.com and follow us on Twitter @the ffball.