NFL Coaching Changes, Fantasy Impact + Top Rookie Picks

Summary

Fantasy Footballers Podcast Summary: NFL Coaching Changes, Fantasy Impact + Top Rookie Picks (March 7, 2019)

Hosted by Andy Holloway, Jason Moore, and Mike "The Fantasy Hitman" Wright

The March 7, 2019 episode of the Fantasy Footballers Podcast delves deep into the seismic shifts within the NFL coaching landscape and their ripple effects on fantasy football. The expert trio provides astute analysis on how new coaching hires could redefine player performances, discusses the standout rookies poised to make an immediate impact, and offers strategic insights to help fantasy managers stay ahead of the competition.

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1. NFL Coaching Changes and Their Fantasy Implications

a. Impact of Top Coaching Hires

The hosts kick off by emphasizing the profound influence that a new head coach or offensive coordinator can have on a team’s fantasy outlook. Mike Wright highlights, “We’re going to go over all the coaching changes from this past offseason...” (01:27), underscoring how these changes can transform previously undervalued players into fantasy assets.

b. Case Studies: Rams and Bengals

Andy Holloway draws parallels between past coaching transitions, mentioning Matt Nagy’s arrival in Chicago and Sean McVay’s takeover in Los Angeles. Jason Moore points out, “McVay gets a lot of credit and of course, rightly so...” (01:37), illustrating how effective coaching can rejuvenate a team’s offense, turning players like Tyreek Hill into fantasy stars.

2. Top Rookie Picks for Fantasy Success

a. 2019 Rookie Class Overview

The discussion shifts to the 2019 rookie class, with a focus on wide receivers DK Metcalf and Nikhil Harry. Jason Moore asserts, “I would take him with the first pick” (05:00), favoring Harry for his well-rounded skill set over Metcalf’s raw athleticism.

b. Dynasty Implications

Mike Wright predicts, “DK Metcalf will go ahead of him in Dynasty drafts...” (06:55), suggesting that Metcalf’s higher draft stock in the NFL could secure him a prime spot in dynasty leagues, despite Harry’s immediate fantasy appeal.

3. Notable Player Moves and Fantasy Impact

a. Antonio Brown's Trade Scenario

Antonio Brown becomes a focal point as the Steelers negotiate his potential departure. Mike Wright discusses, “Antonio Brown's a difference maker for fantasy football owners” (12:36), emphasizing the uncertainty and excitement surrounding his destination, with hints pointing toward the Raiders or Tennessee Titans.

b. Tyreek Hill’s Contract Extension

The Chiefs' decision to extend Tyreek Hill’s contract is hailed as a win for fantasy managers. Jason Moore categorizes Hill as “a top five guy” (14:20), highlighting his value and the positive dynasty implications for Patrick Mahomes’ offense.

4. Team-Specific Coaching and Fantasy Insights

a. Arizona Cardinals: Cliff Kingsbury's Arrival

Cliff Kingsbury’s appointment as Arizona’s head coach brings the Air Raid offense into focus. Andy Holloway explains, “This is good news for fantasy, obviously, great news for David Johnson” (19:19), suggesting that Kingsbury’s system could enhance Johnson’s role in the passing game.

b. Cincinnati Bengals: Zach Taylor Takes the Helm

Zach Taylor replaces Marvin Lewis in Cincinnati, with significant fantasy implications for running back Joe Mixon. Andy Holloway notes, “With Zach Taylor, Mixon has every chance to be a top 10, top five back in fantasy” (23:09), anticipating increased utilization in the revamped offense.

c. Cleveland Browns: Freddy Kitchens Takes Over

Freddy Kitchens’ promotion to head coach in Cleveland is seen as a boon for Baker Mayfield. Mike Wright observes, “This is great news for the Cleveland Browns” (26:31), predicting improved offensive metrics and heightened fantasy production from Mayfield.

d. Denver Broncos: Vic Fangio’s Leadership

Vic Fangio replaces Vance Joseph as Denver’s head coach, raising questions about the running back situation. Mike Wright discusses Philip Lindsay’s fantasy value under Shanahan’s zone run system, stating, “It depends on whether you buy into the Shanahan system” (30:30).

e. Green Bay Packers: Matt LaFleur Steps In

Matt LaFleur takes over as head coach in Green Bay, with expectations of balancing the offense. Andy Holloway anticipates, “Someone like Aaron Jones is going to be a value this year” (36:28), highlighting potential improvements in the rushing game.

f. Miami Dolphins: Brian Flores and Chad O'Shea

Brian Flores’ move to New York Jets and Chad O'Shea’s new role as Miami’s offensive coordinator sparks debate. Jason Moore praises O'Shea’s adaptability, hoping he can “maximize what your players can do” (40:19), while Andy Holloway expresses concerns about Miami’s offensive talent.

g. Tampa Bay Buccaneers: Carson Palmer and Bruce Arians

The return of Carson Palmer and the hiring of Bruce Arians in Tampa Bay are heralded as positive moves. Andy Holloway shares, “Tampa is going to be very happy with Bruce Arians...fantasy players are going to be super happy with Chris Godwin, with Mike Evans” (45:25), projecting a thriving passing offense.

5. Strategic Insights and Recommendations

a. Embracing Coaching Systems

The hosts advocate for understanding and adapting to new coaching systems to leverage player potentials. Mike Wright encourages managers to “download the best free Fantasy app...Sleeper app” (15:23) for up-to-date news and strategic advantages.

b. Evaluating Player Roles

Andy Holloway emphasizes the importance of assessing how coaching changes impact player roles, particularly in the running and passing games. He advises, “You have to buy into the Shanahan system” (30:30), highlighting the need to evaluate system compatibility with player skill sets.

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Key Takeaways

• Coaching Changes Matter: New head coaches and offensive coordinators can significantly alter player performances and fantasy value. Understanding these shifts is crucial for strategic roster management.

• Rookie Evaluations: The 2019 rookie class, especially wide receivers like DK Metcalf and Nikhil Harry, presents lucrative opportunities for fantasy managers. Assessing their roles in new systems can offer edge picks.

• Player Movements: High-impact players like Antonio Brown and Tyreek Hill demand close attention due to their potential to transform team dynamics and fantasy outcomes.

• Team-Specific Strategies: Each team’s unique coaching changes and system implementations necessitate tailored fantasy strategies. Staying informed about these nuances can enhance draft and weekly lineup decisions.

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Notable Quotes:

• Mike Wright: “If Jeff Fisher just leaves that Rams team and they are uncoached, they're just...There’s nobody there.” (00:27)

• Jason Moore: “It didn’t go well.” (02:11)

• Andy Holloway: “This is good news for fantasy, obviously, great news for David Johnson.” (19:19)

• Jason Moore: “DK Metcalf will go ahead of him in Dynasty drafts...” (06:55)

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This episode equips fantasy football enthusiasts with the knowledge to navigate the complexities of coaching changes and rookie evaluations, ensuring they make informed decisions to dominate their leagues.

Transcript

[Mike Wright]

Hi, this is Kyle Rudolph and you're.

[Jason Moore]

Listening to the Fantasy Footballers Podcast.

[Andy Holloway]

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

[Mike Wright]

Welcome in another fabulous show about to begin.

[Andy Holloway]

Fabulous and important, as you know. Look, some of these.

[Mike Wright]

Well pronounced. Well pronounced, Jason.

[Andy Holloway]

Thank you. Important. Yeah. Today's show is very, very important. As far as the off season, the elongated preseason shows go, I would say this is up near the top, near the pinnacle.

[Mike Wright]

I don't disagree. We're going to go over all the coaching changes from this past offseason and we've seen the impact that one change at the top, either in the offensive coordinator position or recently in the head coaching position. Chicago with Matt Nagy two years ago, Sean McVay. It makes a humongous difference. You see players that were completely fantasy, irrelevant. You remember the offseason of what happened to Ty Gurley? Is he another Trent Richardson? Those words came out of people's mouths.

[Jason Moore]

Now, look, McVeigh gets a lot of credit and of course, rightly so. If Jeff Fisher just leaves that Rams team and they are uncoached, they're just.

[Andy Holloway]

There's nobody there.

[Jason Moore]

There's no head coach. How far between Fisher's Rams and McVeigh's Rams do they actually end up?

[Andy Holloway]

Right in the middle?

[Mike Wright]

So what you're saying is, if you're a prospective head coach candidate, you want to look at a place, I, I don't know, like Zach Taylor going into Cincinnati.

[Jason Moore]

Yes.

[Mike Wright]

With the shadow of Marvin Lewis and all those years there, because the disparity, how good you look like, for example, Steve Wilkes in Arizona. He had to replace Bruce Arians.

[Jason Moore]

It didn't go well.

[Mike Wright]

Didn't go well because the gap, I mean, you only went backwards.

[Jason Moore]

Well, you replaced the game. They were very backwards. Three wins.

[Mike Wright]

You replaced the back 2000 or something like that, who just got another job. So we're going to talk through all of them on the show today. Break down how we see things playing out for 2019, what it will mean for some of the players on each of these rosters. And you can find us on Twitter @ the FF Ballers. Follow Mike @FF Hitman.

[Jason Moore]

Oh, do it.

[Mike Wright]

See, you should. Jason is at. Jason. Ffo.

[Andy Holloway]

Don't do it.

[Jason Moore]

I was, I was telling Jason he needs to follow me.

[Andy Holloway]

Oh, no, never gonna happen.

[Mike Wright]

You're verified now, so that's good.

[Jason Moore]

It's me for sure.

[Mike Wright]

Holloway. You can follow me. The website, the fantasy footballers.com. we'll be updating a lot of stuff this offseason, getting new rankings up there and that's where you can find the ultimate draft kit. You can subscribe to this podcast on Apple Podcasts. You can listen ad free on Stitcher Premium. You can Listen on Spotify, iHeartRadio or you could watch it.

[Jason Moore]

That's really the best way to do it.

[Andy Holloway]

Certainly.

[Mike Wright]

And that is YouTube.com the fantasy footballers subscribe. Click the bell. You'll know when new live streams. Things are happening. We're always here. We're a year round fantasy football podcast getting you ready. If you missed the last episode and you're a commissioner, I encourage you to go back and listen. There were five commissioner tips at the end of that show. Got a lot of great feedback on them. Part of our job here is to help you have a better league so you enjoy fantasy football more. Yes, that's why we got into this.

[Jason Moore]

And to give you hot musical drops. Jason, how just inflamed. Inflamed where your mentions after the beatboxing went live.

[Andy Holloway]

Yeah, I mean I had like two people that were like, yes, the beatboxing was great. So I normally lit.

[Mike Wright]

I'm pretty lit. Pretty lit. You. I don't know if you want your. I don't know if you want your. Your mentions inflamed or not. I just don't know. You need.

[Jason Moore]

That's because you don't know anything about.

[Mike Wright]

Personal for that, don't you?

[Jason Moore]

No, that's engorged.

[Mike Wright]

I don't know. No, it's not. All right, quick question of the day.

[Jason Moore]

Call a doctor.

[Andy Holloway]

Mike, I've got a bulging disc on my no timeline.

[Mike Wright]

Brooks, if you need to leave, I understand. All right.

[Jason Moore]

Okay.

[Mike Wright]

Thank you. If there's a door real close to you, if you just need to take off one day, I get it. All right, post combine. Quick question. Who is the 101 right now in a dynasty rookie draft? No, the draft hasn't happened. The NFL teams haven't selected anybody. But Mike, you mentioned on the show Tuesday that you thought maybe the first three or four picks were going to be whiteouts. Who do you think the number one.

[Jason Moore]

Pick is as of right now? To me it's Nikhil Harry and I.

[Mike Wright]

Think that surprises people.

[Jason Moore]

We talked about Metcalf on the combine show because he was the big story. A man who's literally all his body is made out of muscles. He has actually no skeleton frame, just muscle. His skeleton is made out of more muscles.

[Mike Wright]

They're making new textbooks based on this person.

[Jason Moore]

This is how strong he is. He ran a 433 except he. His agility drills were close to catastrophic for especially compared to the 40 that he just ran. His production profile is down. He's actually a pretty raw receiver. He's still going to go very high in the first round. Nikhil Harry is. If Metcalf weren't around, Nikhil Harry would be the talk of the combine to me and I think he'll end up at a good spot and is a little bit more well rounded wide receiver at this point. So I would take him with the first pick. But this, this rookie class is very interesting because I feel like the last few years you knew who the first pick was. It didn't matter what's going. You knew it was going to be Saquon Barkley. You knew a couple years ago it's going to be Zeke. It doesn't matter where he goes.

[Mike Wright]

You knew it was going to be Leonard Fournette too.

[Andy Holloway]

Yeah, it was.

[Jason Moore]

I would say it was. It was pretty much assumed it was going to be him.

[Andy Holloway]

You always knew what the top tier was.

[Jason Moore]

This is this year. We need to see how things shape.

[Andy Holloway]

After the NFL draft. It could literally be one of six or seven different people. They fall into the right spot and they look best. I'm with Mike. I actually like Nikhil Harry the most. He would be my one on one. I think he is a good enough route runner. So great yards after the catch. He can go deep, he can box people out. He looks like a red zone. Perfect body type and target on those contested catches. So since we don't know where they're going, I'm going to. I'm going to lean Nikhil and it's.

[Mike Wright]

So ironic because Nikhil's my guy.

[Jason Moore]

Yes.

[Mike Wright]

But I think DK Metcalf will go ahead of him in Dynasty drafts because I think he'll be drafted fairly, you know, probably 10 or 15 picks ahead of Nikhil Harry in the NFL draft. I think so.

[Jason Moore]

Yeah.

[Mike Wright]

I think.

[Jason Moore]

I wouldn't disagree.

[Mike Wright]

And based on that fact alone, I think between combine hype and being higher, the higher drafted wide receiver, I think that'll be enough to get him to that one on one spot. But we will see. You know, you put Nikhil in the right place or Hakeem Butler or another one of these wide receivers and things change pretty quick. So big time news, all right. We ran the Ultimate Draft kit pre sale giveaway and that ended on March 1st. Now you can still preorder the Ultimate Draft Kit. In fact, you still get pre order bonuses by ordering the ultimate Draft Kit, including bonuses on shotballers.com and fantasychamps.com and it's still the lowest possible price. And you can get that at ultimate draft kit.com what is over with was your chance to pre order and enter to win the very first listener league spot. We also gave away two jerseys from fantasychamps.com and we gave away a studio tour and sit in on the show. And I have those winners for you. You guys ready for that? Can't wait to find out the jersey winners. David. Oh, man. Jason, why don't you handle this one?

[Andy Holloway]

Oh, David. Miracle. It's.

[Mike Wright]

Thank you.

[Jason Moore]

Thanks, Borat.

[Mike Wright]

He became. He went from what happened at the beginning of the name he was American. And then at the end of the name, he was certainly not. All right, and then you have Michael Bailey won another one of the jerseys and the studio tour. Oscar Flores. Congratulations.

[Jason Moore]

Congratulations.

[Mike Wright]

And the big winner, the listener league first entry, although all three of us are in it.

[Jason Moore]

Fourth entry.

[Andy Holloway]

If you're listening right now, I just want you to know I hope it's you listening at home right now. I hope you're the winner right now. Get excited.

[Mike Wright]

It is gonna be you. John Kinzer. John Kinzer.

[Jason Moore]

Congratulations, John.

[Mike Wright]

Welcome in. Now, we will let you know a little bit later in the off season when we will open up the interest spot, the fifth spot and through 12. And you guys can send in different stuff every year.

[Jason Moore]

14. It's a 14 teamer.

[Mike Wright]

That's what I meant. Through 14.

[Jason Moore]

The way we open it to 12 and then eventually we'll get 13 and 14. I follow you. I'm with you.

[Mike Wright]

Okay. All right. You've confused me. That's really what you've done there. But we will let you know how you can enter to win. Congrats to John and every other winner. Pre order the ultimate Draft Kit right now atultimate draft kit.com. very excited. Working on the app, working on custom scoring and all the great stuff, you know, and love from the Ultimate Draft Kit will be in it. Let's get into the news.

[Andy Holloway]

News and notes from around the league presented by Sleeper.

[Mike Wright]

Now, I mean, the headline news again. We won another flag football game.

[Andy Holloway]

Who that? They call that a winning streak.

[Mike Wright]

That's two games in a row. Okay. I want to say, extremely impressive. I believe I came to the sideline after the game and Jason's wife was able to come and watch watch Jason play. And she said to me, and I quote, you didn't suck.

[Andy Holloway]

So very kind.

[Mike Wright]

That felt real good. That felt real Good. And I did no look past to Jason. Did he tell you this?

[Jason Moore]

I did not. He Mahomes did.

[Andy Holloway]

He? Mahomes did.

[Mike Wright]

And Jason caught it. Went into the end zone and then did a full on jet plane. Arms out, sailing jet plane.

[Andy Holloway]

I kind of. I flew right through the other guys on the other team. And the referee said excessive celebration. Celebration.

[Mike Wright]

You got flagged.

[Andy Holloway]

No, he didn't flag it, but he just said that's excessive. And I said it was necessary.

[Jason Moore]

Flying like an airplane is excessive.

[Andy Holloway]

I flew for a long time.

[Mike Wright]

For a really long time.

[Andy Holloway]

I was circling the other team overseas float. It was first class, my man.

[Mike Wright]

I told the referee to let him off the hook because he's 36 years old.

[Andy Holloway]

Yeah.

[Jason Moore]

So the funny part about it is my boy had football practice yesterday and he busted off a huge touchdown run. He also turned into the airplane.

[Andy Holloway]

Nice.

[Mike Wright]

Did he really? All right.

[Andy Holloway]

I wonder where he gets it from.

[Mike Wright]

I guess we'll talk some.

[Andy Holloway]

Hey, so that was for an extra point. Real quick. Yeah. How many points did we win by?

[Mike Wright]

One.

[Jason Moore]

Nice.

[Mike Wright]

That extra point that you scored. All right. Antonio Brown, the sweepstakes. They're heating up. It's heating up. Whatever you want to say about Antonio Brown. The Steelers have begun telling teams that it's moving quickly and to give them their best offers. And the report we have as of now is that the jets and Cardinals are out and it could be wrapped up as soon as Friday. In fact, by the time you're listening to this, it's probably done. Probably done.

[Jason Moore]

But in the even newer report is it's now a one team race. Allegedly. That's what's coming out.

[Andy Holloway]

The Raiders.

[Jason Moore]

And the Raiders, it sounds.

[Mike Wright]

What's the latest that it's.

[Jason Moore]

We're down to the one team.

[Mike Wright]

What team?

[Andy Holloway]

The Raiders.

[Jason Moore]

Well, it's not being reported. It's.

[Mike Wright]

That's not even a. I mean that's not even wink. That's not good for the Steelers Compensation?

[Andy Holloway]

No.

[Mike Wright]

A one team race or that you can run as slow as you want and win at a run team. One team race.

[Jason Moore]

Those are my favorite kind of races. Look, it's. I think it's more of just that perhaps the deal is essentially done. They're just working out on finalizing a.

[Mike Wright]

Couple things, but huge implications.

[Jason Moore]

Seems like he'll be a Raider.

[Mike Wright]

Everybody that owns Antonio Brown in a dynasty or keeper league, you're waiting to hear what team it is. And this is huge. This is huge for the Steelers offense. Say what you will about blonde mustaches and strange videos and all the peripheral on the field. Antonio Brown's a difference maker for fantasy football owners.

[Jason Moore]

Yes.

[Mike Wright]

And so we will have a lot to talk about if this breaks before, you know or you know, before this show was released. We'll talk about it on the next show. Yeah, we'll break it all down.

[Jason Moore]

The Raiders. It's not my favorite landing spot because Derek Carr is. But Derek Carr has sustained higher level fantasy wide receivers. If you. Yeah, we're just a couple years removed from Michael Crabtree being great for your.

[Mike Wright]

Fantasy and Derek Carr being an MVP candidate.

[Jason Moore]

Yes.

[Mike Wright]

Through the beginning of the season.

[Andy Holloway]

And he can hyper target one person.

[Jason Moore]

Yes, he can.

[Andy Holloway]

Antonio Brown could get hyper targeted.

[Mike Wright]

He will request it. He will. You start to look at the teams with younger quarterbacks and you just wonder, do you even want him in the locker room? Do you. Would you want Antonio Brown going into the New York jets locker room year to Sam Darnold.

[Andy Holloway]

Yep.

[Mike Wright]

And saying obviously it helps Sam Darnold from a. Like on the field. You would think it would help him. But you had situations earlier in the career of Tony Romo where, you know, it's like to every play wants the ball. It's just an interesting decision for gm.

[Jason Moore]

Yes, it is.

[Mike Wright]

All right. The Chiefs are discussing a record setting deal with contract year wide receiver Tyreek Hill. Tyreek Hill earned it. That's what I will say he did. And how does this make you feel about Tyreek and dynasty implications for Pat Mahomes? I mean, you got to feel great, right?

[Jason Moore]

Yeah, he's a top five guy for me.

[Mike Wright]

All right. No thoughts, Jason?

[Andy Holloway]

No, same. It's great news for every Kansas City chief player, their dynasty outlook, all of.

[Mike Wright]

That little bit of news as well about the Colts supposedly in strong pursuit of Tyrell Williams. I've seen Tyrell Williams attached to the Raiders as well.

[Jason Moore]

Yeah. If they get Brown, I don't. I wouldn't think they're going to go after Tyrell. I, I spoke this into existence.

[Mike Wright]

I'm gonna hopefully. Let's do this. Let's predict right here, right now on the show where we think Antonio Brown's going. And if it's the Raiders, that's fine. You can go with it.

[Jason Moore]

I'm going Raiders.

[Mike Wright]

You're going Raiders.

[Jason Moore]

Yeah.

[Andy Holloway]

I want the Niners. I think the Raiders.

[Mike Wright]

I believe it'll be Tennessee.

[Andy Holloway]

Nice.

[Mike Wright]

I think it'll be the Tennessee Titans.

[Jason Moore]

Interesting.

[Mike Wright]

Yeah.

[Jason Moore]

I have not heard that at all.

[Andy Holloway]

I heard a little bit.

[Mike Wright]

Yeah. So that was today's news and notes. Look, if you hate your fantasy app, got a solution for you. Download the best one, the best free Fantasy app on iOS and Android, the sleeper app. You get those news reports, you'll find out where Antonio Brown is asap. You guys ready to talk about some coaches?

[Jason Moore]

Yes.

[Andy Holloway]

Coaching carousel.

[Jason Moore]

Yeah. The nice part about that is there's actually somebody in the room today who I'm sure knows that homage. Unlike the uncultured swine who sit before me.

[Andy Holloway]

You're correct. Yeah. Yeah.

[Mike Wright]

I'm trying to think about it, but I will say it wasn't quite the beat boxing experience we had yesterday. But that's a good thing. All right.

[Jason Moore]

Last year, I don't know, I heard a lot of chatter for commish tips.

[Mike Wright]

Seven coaches were on the carousel last year. This year, seven head coaches once again making, making their way to the top of the ladder. Let's start in Arizona. Let's talk about Cliff Kingsbury replaces Steve Wilkes. Steve Wilkes got a one year try. Mike McCoy, bad hire. Bad hire. They fired him midseason.

[Jason Moore]

Seems like a big part of Steve Wilkes undoing.

[Mike Wright]

So let's talk a little bit about Cliff Kingsbury. You've had this trend in the NFL. We're going to talk about Zach Taylor in Cincinnati. Some of these younger coaches, maybe they've been quarterback coaches, maybe they've in the Sean McVeigh tree. Cliff Kingsbury comes from college. It's a surprising hire at first glance.

[Andy Holloway]

Got fired from his college alma mater and took an offensive coordinator job at usc, which he then quit to get a head coaching gig in the NFL.

[Mike Wright]

Yeah. And some things you need to know about Cliff Kingsbury, he's a younger coach. He, he was somebody that coached Pat Mahomes during his time at Texas Tech. So he has experience. And you know, you're going to hear the Air Raid offense a lot. And I'm going to just summarize what you need to know about the Air Raid offense as fast as I possibly can. So you understand. So when we talk about this for the next five years as the NFL tries to perpetuate the collegiate game in the NFL, you understand it a little bit. And really this came out of the most historical example is Mike Leach ran the Air Raid and a lot of the coaches underneath him, including Cliff Kingsbury, run the Air Raid offense. It's long considered an offense in college that doesn't work in the pros, but in recent years you've seen success from quarterbacks like Baker Mayfield. Case Keenum ran a air Raid offense. By the way, Cliff Kingsbury was an assistant coach on that Houston team that Case Keenum ran that offense in. Nick Foles ran an air raid offense and won a Super Bowl a couple of years ago. So it's essentially, it's an offense that's predicated on passing the ball a ton. There's a lot of simplicity about it and a lot of the question marks around running that type of offense in the pros has to do with, hey, in college you don't have as many elite athletes that can react as quickly. You put people in a position to run four verticals up the field and normally somebody finds a way to be open. And another thing that happens in college, you might not realize is the hash marks are much farther apart. And so where the ball gets spotted on the left or the right side, there's a lot more room in college, the hash marks are tighter in the NFL. And so there's some question is, can this work in the NFL game? We're seeing teams move to this, to the more exotic, exciting, non smash mouth pass. Heavy coaching rule changes in the NFL lend themselves to protecting the, the quarterback position. Right.

[Jason Moore]

I really want someone to get hired and they label their offense. So coach, explain how do you run things? I run a non smash mouth. That's right, non smash mouth offense.

[Mike Wright]

As opposed to Jason with the fedora, which is very, very smash.

[Andy Holloway]

Very smash mouth. Different kind of smash mouth.

[Mike Wright]

Different kind.

[Jason Moore]

I was walking on the side.

[Andy Holloway]

Yeah. So yeah, this is, this is good news for fantasy, obviously, great news for David Johnson. That's the player that I wanted to bring up. This. David Johnson didn't lose anything last year. He looked great on film. He clocked in fast. He was just constantly running right up the middle. He wasn't involved in the screen game nearly enough, especially the first half of the season while Mike McCoy was there under cliff.

[Mike Wright]

I think he lost a lot of fans. When you say he didn't lose anything. I think he lost a lot of fantasy football fans.

[Andy Holloway]

He certainly lost a lot of fantasy football fans. A lot of belief in the fantasy community, but he didn't lose anything from his skill set, his athleticism, yet. He's still only 27 years old, so he should be fine. But under kliff Kingsbury, since 2004, in his air raid system, the running back receiving game has been really, really important. I've seen some reports saying, oh, you know, here's the main running back, he wasn't used that much in the passing game. And that's just, that's just inaccurate. The sixth most targets, the six most receptions, fifth most receiving yards, and six most first downs in college, in the NCAA under since 2014 under Cliff Kingsbury. Yeah.

[Mike Wright]

And a lot of why people look at the Air Raid and they worry about it. Or maybe you look at his history, his record right at Texas Tech. 7 and 6, 5 and 7, 6 and 7, 5, 7. Before he was fired.

[Jason Moore]

Look, his defense has sucked.

[Mike Wright]

Exactly. And that's my point. A lot of times Air Raid is looked at as, hey, here's a chance for two teams to go up against each other in the game, 70 to 55. You know, it's these high scoring games. If you put a person like, oh, thank you. That's fair, that's fair. But if you put them in a position where they brought in Vance Joseph in Arizona, the hope is you go up on the offensive side, you improve the defense over what it was last year. Put Patrick Peterson, Chandler Jones in a good position.

[Jason Moore]

This is the Rams strategy.

[Mike Wright]

It is the Rams.

[Jason Moore]

Everyone wants to be the rams and have McVay.

[Mike Wright]

It's just hard to replicate. Although you did see last year, big improvements on the offensive side for Matt Nagy. More innovative offenses are coming. Any other things you want to add there? I mean, what if Kyler Murray ends up in Arizona? I mean, that is the rumored.

[Andy Holloway]

If Kyler Murray ends up in Arizona, Kyler Murray, specifically for his value, for fantasy value. It would be enormous for Kyler. Kyler would be a rock star for fantasy football because Kyler needs a certain system that can utilize his skill set, period. And not every coach in the NFL can do that, but Kliff Kingsbury could. He literally tried to recruit him out of high school into the college ranks. And they're, they're, they've got a good relationship. So I think that would be huge for Kyler. I don't know that that would be really an improvement for Larry Fitzgerald. For Fitzgerald and the passing weapons or not. But, but Kyler would get used the right way.

[Mike Wright]

Are there any concerns that you would see a situation where he comes in the offensive line is not strengthened enough and you have kind of the Lamar Jackson impact on the passing game.

[Jason Moore]

He's a better passer than Lamar.

[Mike Wright]

He is a better passer. All right, Zach Taylor taking over the Cincinnati Bengals job. Finally, someone replaces Marvin Lewis. Zach Taylor, the quarterback at University of Nebraska in 2005 and 2006. Long coaching history. Quarterbacks coach in Miami, quarterbacks coach in Los Angeles last year. Comes from the McVeigh lineage.

[Jason Moore]

And the age. He's a young lad.

[Mike Wright]

Yeah, he's what, 36 years old, 35 years old.

[Jason Moore]

He's 30. He'll be 36 in May.

[Mike Wright]

So what are we looking for? When you talk about Andy Dalton, assuming he remains the quarterback, AJ Green's return, Tyler Boyd and then Joe Mixon and his evolution, his growth as a, as a young fantasy star.

[Andy Holloway]

Again, I would lean to the running back as the biggest winner because you've got a guy in Joe Mixon who could catch the ball so well. That was one of his largest strengths coming out of college, who was used a little bit in the passing game, but can be used so much more. Essentially exactly what you saw from Todd Gurley, going from the 40 reception count to the 60 reception count when you brought in a more offensive minded guy. Getting your best player the ball in space. Yeah. So I think that it's, it's huge news in the positive for Joe Mixon who's got every chance to be a top 10, top five back in fantasy this year.

[Jason Moore]

It'll be interesting to see just how much does he take away from his time with Sean McVeigh. Because if you look at the Rams, they don't have an alpha number one wide receiver. They have an excellent core. And all of those guys are useful. Robert Woods, Cooper Cup, I mean these guys are useful for, in Brandon Cooks, of course, but for fantasy purposes, none of them are elite level wide receiver ones like AJ Green. So for me it's hopefully solidifying, solidifying the fact that Tyler Boyd is going to be usable off of his breakout. He's not, I'm not calling Boyd a wide receiver one, but they spread the ball out enough that, that these other guys, these, these auxiliary guys, pass catchers for the Bengals, they'll be used more than they have in the past.

[Mike Wright]

Well, maybe that means something good for John Ross. And I think you kind of had, you have two outcomes here in Cincinnati. If there's anything we've learned about that organization is they are willing to be patient. 16 years without a playoff win under Marvin Lewis. Zach Taylor will have time. Now the question is whether he can transition Andy Dalton into his Future, he's only 31 years old. Or whether they're going to, you know, struggle this season. And then you'll look at more of the rebuild, reconfigure. AJ Green might not be a part of that future. Andy Dalton might not be a part of that future. We'll have to see what happens last year. Joe Mixon, one of the more consistent runners over the last 10 games of the season. Zach Taylor again can only help. I think in this situation to have a Fresh mind and Mixon's ability to catch the ball. It bodes well. All right, Freddy Kitchens is officially taking over for Hugh Jackson, Greg Williams, that combination last season. Freddy Kitchens took over after Week 8 as the offensive coordinator in Cleveland. And look, the match was a good one between Freddie Kitchens and Baker Mayfield. Yeah, it was great.

[Jason Moore]

Baker really flourished under that system. Over the final eight games, Baker's passing attempts actually went down, but his passing yards went up and he went up a full touchdown a game. Now, again, he's a rookie, so maybe we're just seeing the natural progression of him as the season goes along. But there was a big shift for the Cleveland Browns offense once Freddy Kitchens took over. Obviously, they. They liked what they saw enough to give him the. The head coaching job. They talked with Baker about, do we want to bring Freddy Kitchens in? And Baker was signed off. Your franchise quarterback was good with it. I think this is. Is great news for the Cleveland Browns.

[Andy Holloway]

Yeah. I would expect to see more of the same of what you saw the second half of last year, which was great. Great for the running backs, great for Baker. Baker's going to take a huge step forward this season going into year two. I think you can. You can like the Browns all the way across the board. Even Jarvis Landry.

[Mike Wright]

Yeah. I mean, I think one of the things you're going to see them do is add to the wide receiver core in a big way. They need help at the wide receiver position. I doubt Rashad Perryman's back. He was a bit part player. Antonio Calloway has plenty of the up and down problems. And then. So you got Jarvis Landry, and I think they're going to add a big name. I don't know who that'll be.

[Andy Holloway]

I saw the draftsman. I saw Matt Harmon saying that they needed more smoke in the kitchen for the Baker. Smokey, John Brown.

[Mike Wright]

Wow. Wow. Okay, wait.

[Jason Moore]

Harmon went with that joke.

[Andy Holloway]

I believe it was him. Yes.

[Mike Wright]

That's very off brand. 100% Matt Harmon's fault. That joke is what we're saying.

[Andy Holloway]

I love.

[Jason Moore]

That's a great joke.

[Andy Holloway]

That's a great joke.

[Mike Wright]

Oh, okay. So you're giving him credit and that's why he's in the ultimate.

[Jason Moore]

That's a dad joke.

[Mike Wright]

Ted Monkin was the offensive coordinator in Tampa Bay. Takes over as the offensive coordinator under Freddy Kitchens the last two years in Tampa. Third most pass attempts, fourth most past attempt. There are questions.

[Jason Moore]

Give me the air yards.

[Mike Wright]

The air yard, sure. Baker thumbs up. But does that hurt somebody like Nick Chubb if the Offense becomes more past attempt heavy. Somebody like Cream Hunt, once he comes off the.

[Jason Moore]

I don't think it'll be pass attempt heavy. Like I don't, I don't think we'll skew too much. Like I said, Baker's attempts went down. I know that Monk. And they had to throw the ball a lot. I think that's more a. That was a result of Tampa Bay's defense.

[Andy Holloway]

Yeah, it was their defense position and their.

[Jason Moore]

And they didn't they personnel and running back.

[Andy Holloway]

Who did they have to run the ball? Now you've got two great running backs on the same roster. Not that the Browns have some great defense.

[Mike Wright]

All right. Anything else you want to add on?

[Jason Moore]

Nope.

[Mike Wright]

On there. All right. Vic Fangio taking over as the Denver head coach replacing Vance Joseph. Vance Joseph now the defensive coordinator in Arizona. Vic Fangio, a long coaching career. He, he had a very nice season as the defensive coordinator in San Francisco. Actually. Really three really strong years between 2011 and 2013. And then last year absolutely dominant as the D.C. in Chicago with Khalil Mack number one in points against number one in rushing against the run. And they were number three against, you know, total yards given up. What does the impact of Vic Fangio taking over in Denver mean for the offense and what is the variable of a new head coach mean for players with low draft capital like Philip Lindsey?

[Jason Moore]

So for Philip Lindsay in particular, it's. You just have to be on watch. You would. You have to assume he will get the starting job. 1. He had it last year. So they've, they do have film on him. Phil Lindsay had a complete uphill battle through training camp. It was able to beat out third round Royce Freeman. So theoretically you would think that he is the guy. But you have to at least have some pause for concern that the like the total workload, the total work share, the timeshare will be split up a little bit heavier in favor of Royce Freeman. So that's, that's the biggest concern. What's nice for Denver is with the OC change, I mean it's, it's Kyle Shanahan's zone run system and Kyle Shanahan's system turns schmucks into thousand yard rushers. So you got to feel very bullish about the, the Denver Broncos running game. It's got to figure out how, how much is Philip Lindsay going to be used? Is he going to be worth that third round pick that he's probably going to cost in fantasy drafts?

[Mike Wright]

Yeah, I think that's the question. I mean he's somebody that you're making a bet on. You could either trade him at the value he's established himself on in like a dynasty league, or you buy into the Shanahan system. You buy into the fact that John Elway is absolutely in love with this kid and wants to make both Philip Lindsay and Royce Freeman the crux of that offense. Throw them the ball out of the backfield, both of them. So it just kind of depends on which way you're looking. This will be a defensive team. They got Joe Flacco behind center now as well.

[Andy Holloway]

Yeah. I mean, look, it's weird because usually when you have a head coaching change, they. They break the mold. You know, if. If you had a real players coach, you know, you get more of a. Of a hard line man. Right. If you've got a defensive coach, you go offense, offense, defense. You know, this is kind of like they just slightly tried to upgrade like. Like this defensive coach. I want someone with a little bit more experience, but there's not much experience on the offensive side of the ball. And I worry that there's not much talent on the offensive side of the ball, specifically behind the center. And that's my worry. Wait, my. My worry is that the quarterback. Offensive coordinator, you know, the running backs.

[Jason Moore]

Are also behind the center, technically, but.

[Andy Holloway]

When you add them with the quarterback and then.

[Mike Wright]

Is that what they call the. The guy that shoots the ball out of his butt?

[Jason Moore]

Yes.

[Andy Holloway]

Yes. That is what your son called me after last night's game, because I am the guy that shoots the ball out of his butt.

[Mike Wright]

Yeah. We got in the car after the game and my 7 year old's asking the positions and I'm the quarterback and Jason's the guy that shoots the ball at his butt.

[Andy Holloway]

Yeah.

[Jason Moore]

Half back, half crack. Butt shooters.

[Mike Wright]

Oh, my God.

[Andy Holloway]

So that's just my.

[Mike Wright]

I like it. My 10 year old. My 10 year old, instead of saying center, he go. He's very, you know, correcting the seven year. That's the snapper. That's the snapper, Nathan.

[Jason Moore]

So the football butt snapper.

[Mike Wright]

The butt snapper.

[Andy Holloway]

I think. I think I'm going to stick with the guy that shoots the balls out of his butt. That's my position. But my whole point here that I was actually making is that I do have worries for the Broncos offense as a whole.

[Jason Moore]

It can't be any worse than last year because of the impossible.

[Andy Holloway]

No, I know, but whenever you get a change, you're just excited for change. And I'm saying I don't think the changes are Good here. Good enough to make these pieces really valuable.

[Mike Wright]

Emmanuel Sanders staying around helps as long as he's healthy. Sure. That goes for all players.

[Jason Moore]

Well, it's just.

[Andy Holloway]

Well, not all players are coming off of late in their career Achilles tears.

[Mike Wright]

You don't think they're. I mean, but they wouldn't. They wouldn't re up him, right? I mean, they wouldn't keep him there. They'd cut him. They didn't believe he was going to be fine, right?

[Andy Holloway]

They believe he's going to be fine.

[Mike Wright]

They don't pay him for no reason.

[Andy Holloway]

But he's not fine yet, so they can't know.

[Mike Wright]

All right. Matt LaFleur is replacing Mike McCarthy in Green Bay. This is the off season of, I don't know, I guess change the off season of what has been.

[Jason Moore]

How was the old in with the.

[Mike Wright]

New and what has been for the. For a long time? The patience ran out. Right? Matt Lafort, by the way, 39 years old, was the offensive coordinator for Tennessee. A lot of excuses made for that offense over the last couple of years on the fact that, look, Marcus Mariota banged up almost constantly.

[Jason Moore]

Well, LaFleur's got a little bit of that McVeigh dust on his shoulders, too.

[Mike Wright]

He does. He still, he. It's still there. And so he'll take over in Green Bay. Nathaniel Hackett moves over at offensive coordinator.

[Jason Moore]

What are they. How does this guy keep getting jobs?

[Andy Holloway]

I don't know.

[Jason Moore]

It's ridiculous. LaFleur, what are you doing?

[Mike Wright]

Nathaniel Hackett was the offensive coordinator in the. In Jacksonville, turned Blake Bortles into the number five overall offense, total points. I mean, that's a, that's his resume. And there's a history there between those two guys, too. So, you know, what are you looking at for Matt LaFleur? Is this a season where Aaron Rodgers, at 35 years old, by the way, just four years younger than Matt LaFleur, is this a season where he's going to be undervalued, underrated and outperform our expectations? Because he's wanted to be liberated from the Mike McCarthy play calling. He's wanted to be put in a position where he can, you know, go out and do what he does?

[Andy Holloway]

From, from a projection standpoint, I'm pretty much leaving Aaron Rodgers where he's been. I know there's a lot of changes, but we can't anticipate exactly what those are. I just have to believe he's a Hall of Fame caliber quarterback. His rookie wide receivers will be better. I actually think they're going to Bring someone in, in free agency at the position as well. So I, you know, I think you have to go status quo now. Is he a value? He could, he could still be a value because he's not going to be the first quarterback taken off the board. So he will inherently drop a little bit from last year. I'm not drafting him because you put way too much capital in a onesie position where you only need one guy. The thing, this is kind of similar to some of these other teams. The one area where I think there's a huge improvement is the running game. Hackett and LaFleur have consistently had teams that are higher ranked in rushing attempts. They want to get that part of the game going. Green Bay was dead last in rushing attempts last season, lowest in their franchise history. So when it comes to now, they're going to use a committee.

[Jason Moore]

Yeah, they've. He's already talked about it's 50. 50.

[Andy Holloway]

Right. And, and, and that's fine because if you, I mean, if you look at the split last year, it was a committee last year as well. And now you're going to probably add 100 carries total on the season.

[Mike Wright]

So I don't buy into. I'm sorry, go ahead.

[Andy Holloway]

I think someone like Aaron Jones is going to be a value this year.

[Mike Wright]

And you've mentioned that before and you could be right. I don't necessarily buy into the historical assessment of Nathaniel Hackett and the rushing attempts. The teams that he was the offensive coordinator for didn't have Aaron Rodgers or anything close to it. So the necessity of avoiding, like you don't bring in a guy to be the new head coach of Aaron Rodgers and turn them into a running football team. No, Aaron Rodgers won't accept that.

[Andy Holloway]

Sure. But look, look at when Leflore was with the Falcons, when Matt Ryan was having the MVP season, went to the super bowl, they were still a very balanced team. Devonta Freeman and Tevin Coleman got a lot of carries. That's more the model that I see here versus what we saw in Tennessee.

[Jason Moore]

Does that concern you at all then for. I mean, you were saying Rogers is a value, but the reason why Rogers was not the fantasy super stud last year came down completely to red zone attempts. And are you concerned that they get in the red zone? Maybe they're going to try and call in some runs a little bit more.

[Andy Holloway]

I, you know, it's hard to say the red zone attempt number being low isn't just because they, it's certainly not because they ran the ball in the red zone. It's because they weren't in the red zone as often as usual. So if they can move the ball between the 20s a little bit better, his touchdown number can go up. And I don't think Aaron Rodgers is a value in a draft at all because I think he's a terrible pick. That's the opposite of a value. But I think he is going to be more of a value than he usually is. For those people out there that draft Aaron Rodgers every year.

[Jason Moore]

Is that how you shop too? Like when you're in Target, something's a value or like your wife grabs a shirt, she's like, well it's $25. That's a terrible pick.

[Andy Holloway]

Yeah, you're darn right.

[Mike Wright]

It's worth noting that Matt LaFleur is calling place. It's not Nathaniel Hackett, It'll be Matt LaFleur calling plays. Was offensive coordinator in Los Angeles two years ago, Tennessee last year. Number one in points during his his time in Los Angeles with McVeigh. All right, Brian.

[Jason Moore]

Where he wasn't calling plays.

[Mike Wright]

Where he wasn't calling. Yes. Brian Flores replacing Adam Gaze. Miami has a new head coach, not a B hole hopefully he was the linebackers coach ahead of 2016 for the Patriots. Yeah, this is over.

[Jason Moore]

It's a whole Patriots squad now down in Miami. The big news of this is not Flores because he's the defensive mind. It's the new OC Chad O'Shea who was the Patriots wide receiver coach for a very long time. And if you research it all for O'Shea, he is at least Julian Edelman gives him the credit of turning Edelman from a cornerback or quarterback into the wide receiver that he is today. So it's very interesting to see what, what O'Shea is going to do. I really like how he talks about fitting his system to what his players can actually do. So that speaks very much to your not a B hole comment where you have these coaches like it's my way. If you don't like you can get out, you go in, you maximize what your players can do. And just with the Patriots system then that's what he is bringing down. He's talked about that. The Patriots passing system, Albert Wilson, very interesting, very interesting to me as a later round guy if, if he in fact can become the focal point of this offense.

[Mike Wright]

It's funny you mentioned the building an offense around your players strengths or vice versa because I feel like a lot of the coaches that got fired were ones that failed to adapt to their player strengths because it's dumb. Well, I mean the Patrick Peterson on defense in Arizona.

[Jason Moore]

Oh, goodness.

[Mike Wright]

What Steve Wilkes did. This is my system. You're going to run in my way. It's going to work. Instead of, hey, let's. Let's accentuate the greatest players on our roster.

[Jason Moore]

Yep. So hopefully O'Shea can get that done.

[Mike Wright]

Okay.

[Andy Holloway]

So he's just going to need some great players on his roster.

[Mike Wright]

That. That does feel like the problem.

[Andy Holloway]

Right. Okay. So our system is we're going to suck. Sorry, Dolphins fans.

[Mike Wright]

You're going to get some hate for that. I know, but the fact that Albert Wilson, who flashed last year.

[Jason Moore]

Yeah, Wilson's.

[Mike Wright]

But also was severely hurt, got himself hurt. And he is a good player. We ain't enough. And Devontae Parker should be out the.

[Jason Moore]

Door and we don't know who the quarterback's going to be or the running back.

[Mike Wright]

Kayla Bellage, Kenyan Drake, somebody else. So there I feel like it is. It's kind of putting the car before the horse to speculate on that offense because they do need to fill a lot of holes on the offensive side of the ball. No more Ryan Tannehill. So, yeah, I mean, it's going to. It's probably a transition in Miami.

[Andy Holloway]

It's a little scary in the sense that you're. You're taking.

[Mike Wright]

Yeah, Mike.

[Andy Holloway]

Mike, you're taking multiple Cronkiski. Oh, no, no, no, no. Don't come around on this one. Can we get a ruling from the judge? Gronk. Sicky.

[Mike Wright]

The last thing you want to do is associate Gronk with somebody right now, the way that he performed for you.

[Andy Holloway]

But, you know, Flores has been a longtime linebackers coach, you've got a longtime wide receivers coach. And I realize they got a little bit more experience last year, but this is really like a. I don't know, you know, inexperienced at the top. They're not used to running an organization. And then it's like, okay, you're calling plays, you're crafting everything, you're doing it all, and you don't have the best group of players to do it with. Just seems like a difficult situation to be in for these guys.

[Mike Wright]

All right, Adam Gaze, you're still a head coach. Still a head coach. He heads to New York to take over as the head coach of the jets, replace Todd Bowles. They go from defensive minded head coach to offensive minded head coach. Somebody to come in. And by my estimation, this is all about bringing in somebody to mold and form and build Sam Darnold into a next level quarterback.

[Andy Holloway]

Yes. If you want to know how good Peyton Manning was. You just look at the hiring in 201819 of Adam Gaze coming in to mold your quarterback. Because Adam Gaze was really, really good when he had Peyton Manning.

[Jason Moore]

He has not had a top 20 offense since he had Peyton Manning.

[Mike Wright]

23Rd, 17th, 28th, 20.

[Jason Moore]

Why are people giving them jobs?

[Andy Holloway]

I don't know. But here's what I do know. Dowell Loggins, the offensive coordinator who's coming alongside, I think Adam Gase looks really smart next to Dowell Loggins, who is terrible everywhere he's gone. I mean, you're talking Tennessee, Chicago, Miami, always been a bottom half offense. It's tough. It's tough in the streets here.

[Mike Wright]

If you listen to Adam Gaze during his very peculiar press conference, he talks a lot about the fact that, you know, they struggled metrics wise, because they had to do what they needed to do to win games. Now you can look at as opposed to, as opposed to running as many plays or stretching out the offense or putting up more yards. That's the argument he's made is because he did find. Here's the thing that's in his corner. He won more games than I thought he'd win with that roster, 100%. He made the playoffs with the Miami Dolphins and Ryan Tannehill, slash, who was Tannehill's backup?

[Andy Holloway]

Brock?

[Mike Wright]

Matt Moore. Not more. Oh, the.

[Jason Moore]

Yes, ma'am.

[Mike Wright]

And so he won. He found a way to win games.

[Andy Holloway]

Credit is due there. And if you're a Miami or a New York jets fan, that's good that that's coming first. Right. You as a team, you want to win, not just put up stats, but for fantasy. And that's all I care about. I worry, you know, he hasn't produced a lot of good offensive metrics and.

[Mike Wright]

Yeah. Yeah.

[Andy Holloway]

Without Peyton Manning ever.

[Mike Wright]

Well, he's talked already about making Quincy and Newall more of a. Giving him more opportunity in the offense. You've got Robbie Anderson likely to be back. Sam Darnold evolving. He flashed last year. And so you do have some optimism with an offensive minded head coach and a lot of cap room that this offense could improve and take a step forward. And it's interesting because it's kind of like Miami sends Adam Gaze to New York in their division. Brian Flores comes from New England and lands in Miami in the division like this rotation of teams competing to be second to the Patriots is very interesting. Right.

[Jason Moore]

Yeah.

[Mike Wright]

Bruce Arians is back.

[Andy Holloway]

Oh, Bruce replaces Dirk.

[Jason Moore]

You sneaky snook.

[Mike Wright]

Replaces Dirk.

[Jason Moore]

I'm retiring.

[Mike Wright]

You know, as a Cardinal fan who had to endure last season. This really hurts.

[Jason Moore]

Yeah. Last season.

[Andy Holloway]

Palmer is retiring. Me, too.

[Jason Moore]

Last season is why he retired.

[Mike Wright]

Carson Palmer's coming back. He's a new quarterback for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

[Andy Holloway]

Look, he's got a great situation here. Bruce Arians goes to a team with a ton of weapons. Bruce Arians, ton of talent, great offensive mind, who I believe is going to absolutely get the most out of Jameis Winston. I think he's a better coach than Dirt Cutter all the way across the board, both offensively and as a head coach, as a players coach. Players really love him. I remember watching the Hard Knocks and seeing the relationship between Dirt Cutter and Jameis Winston and just going like, yeah, it didn't. It didn't look like, you know, we had years in Arizona with Bruce Arians where you watch the relationship that Bruce has with his players, where he could tell him the hard stuff he needs to tell him, but that's because, you know, the love is there and the support is there. Tampa is going to be very happy with Bruce Arians, and I think fantasy players are going to be super happy with Chris Godwin, with Mike Evans, with, you know, the entire passing attack.

[Jason Moore]

Bruce Arians has had a top 15, top 15 passing offense every year since 2009.

[Mike Wright]

He is. He is completely unafraid to take the reins off the talent he has and chuck it up there. Look, I, you know, he's going to do what he does, and it's been very good for fantasy players. Right.

[Jason Moore]

Very interested to see who gets this starting running back job.

[Mike Wright]

Yeah, it's going to. It's going to matter a lot. Yeah. Ronald Jones get another opportunity.

[Andy Holloway]

He might. He shouldn't.

[Jason Moore]

It's going to be really, really tough. Really tough for Ronald Jones to get out there.

[Mike Wright]

Did you say he shouldn't?

[Andy Holloway]

Correct. Because I don't think he's good. I'm not saying, like, the human doesn't.

[Mike Wright]

23 attempts. 23 attempts in the NFL on a team, mostly. Well, look, he's on a disaster of an offense. 23 attempts. Lock it up. It's over. It's over.

[Andy Holloway]

He's a smaller back, similar to Bruce Ellington. Right. Or Andre Ellington. Andre Ellington was very successful.

[Jason Moore]

But Ellington can pass.

[Andy Holloway]

Exactly. Even more important, he can catch the ball. He was a great back for that system. I don't see that in the skill set of Ronald Jones so far in his career from high school on.

[Mike Wright]

Okay. All right. I won't linger. All right. Team offensive coordinator changes. I'm going to mention them all. You guys jump in with the most significant, important ones in your mind. Dirt cutter taking over the offensive coordinator job was the offensive coordinator in Atlanta. Now he returns and takes over that job. Takes it away from Steve Sarkeesian. Greg Roman now the new offensive coordinator in Baltimore. Kellen Moore taking over in Dallas. That's a pretty surprising move. Dariel Bevel taking over in Detroit, formerly with the Seahawks.

[Jason Moore]

Hey, carry on.

[Mike Wright]

And John DeFilippo, Jacksonville.

[Jason Moore]

Yep.

[Mike Wright]

Is taking a shot. Kevin Stefanski. And I just laugh.

[Jason Moore]

I laugh because the guy who got fired midseason is taking over for Nathaniel Hackett, who should not have another job.

[Mike Wright]

It's just. It's just rotating. It's just rotations.

[Jason Moore]

It's garbage.

[Mike Wright]

Arthur Smith taking over in Tennessee. Kevin O'Connell in Washington.

[Jason Moore]

Arthur, I've got a plan.

[Mike Wright]

Yeah, we'll see how it works. I mean, Dirk Ketter is kind of the most interesting one because, you know, this is a team that had success under him multiple years.

[Jason Moore]

That's great news for Matt Ryan because.

[Mike Wright]

We'Ve seen inconsistencies when these changes have happened. For Matt Ryan, this is a change, but it's one where it's not as abrasive.

[Andy Holloway]

Yeah, they're used to working with each other. Most of the players on this team were there. In fact, I would say, if anything, the team is slightly better as they've upgraded, you know, with Sanu and Calvin Ridley giving them a little bit better passing options. So I like that. One of the names I wanted to bring up was Greg Roman. Yep. Greg Roman. Look, he has gotten the most out of his rush, out of the running game, year after year after year as an offensive coordinator with San Francisco, as an offensive coordinator with Buffalo.

[Jason Moore]

He had Tyrod.

[Andy Holloway]

And that's the thing is his team rushing attempts were unbelievable because he is good with rushing quarterbacks. And now he's going to a team with Lamar Jackson. Lamar Jackson is going to get a lot of work on the ground. I mean, that's no surprise. But he has an offensive coordinator who. And they talked about rebuilding this offense for Lamar Jackson, and I think they brought in a good coach with experience with, you know, rushing quarterbacks, specifically talented rushing quarterbacks that they're going to succeed. I really think this is a good. A good hire. Agreed. In this situation, like, I believe you.

[Mike Wright]

Believe enough in Lamar Jackson, then.

[Andy Holloway]

Yeah, definitely. For the standpoint of his fantasy points and the standpoint of winning games in Baltimore. Good hire. I still don't. You know, I like Jordan. Lastly. And, you know, maybe the passing game can take a step up in year Two. But my belief is not strong there at all.

[Mike Wright]

Felt like we were waiting last year for that big Lamar Jackson explosion game. We never got it. We never got that through the air. You mean just enough fantasy points? I mean just production wise. He never really had a big boy game. He never had a 30 plus point game.

[Andy Holloway]

He never was consistently a top quarterback. 12. So he was a QB one. But he never exploded. Didn't have the Josh Allen games where it was insane.

[Mike Wright]

Yeah, you know, one of the games where he runs like he always runs but then throws two touchdowns. It just never happened. Kellen Moore takes over Dallas, gets back Jason Whitten, Dak Prescott gets a chance to again. This is a. He's a very young offensive coordinator, replaces Scott Linehan.

[Andy Holloway]

This is. I mean the way that I see it, this is Byron Leftwich. This is the head coach taking a player and saying I'm going to give you experience and he's going to get it for a year. And when this whole coaching staff is, you know, replaced at the end of next year, Kellen Moore will have had some experience in the meantime for 2019. I mean it is really surprising to throw him into the offensive coordinator role. I don't think he'll be doing the play calling.

[Mike Wright]

Not even 30 years old.

[Andy Holloway]

Yeah, it's so. I mean usually I look at stuff like this and I think it's going to go poorly. But these are the type of moves.

[Mike Wright]

I thought you were going to say. And I always.

[Jason Moore]

I think that now Kellen Moore is a winner. Jay, I know you like winners.

[Andy Holloway]

I do like winners. I like people with the last name more. I mean, that's two for two.

[Jason Moore]

How do you not like this guy?

[Andy Holloway]

No, I do like Kellen Moore.

[Mike Wright]

That's enough. Darrell Bevel, you mentioned what that means.

[Jason Moore]

Establish the run.

[Mike Wright]

Establish the run. Look, it's comedic. Right. But it's not because it wins games. It won games in Seattle last year. Darrell Bevel comes into Detroit and you mentioned Kerryon Johnson's name. There's an opportunity there for a healthy carry on Johnson to really take advantage of Bevel.

[Jason Moore]

Wasn't system Bevel was Seattle a couple years ago back when they had Marshawn lynch and he was Minnesota with Peterson through 2017.

[Mike Wright]

You're right. Not last season, but last season Brian Scheinheimer came in and did the same thing.

[Jason Moore]

Yes. It's just funny to. We'll see. I think carry on is going to get a lot of work.

[Andy Holloway]

Yeah. When he was with Seattle. And the thing is, is I fully see the fact that carry on will be part of a committee, but he will be a much bigger part. And there's going to be such a large pie of rushing attempts here in Detroit this year. The carry on will be great. I know they're going to sign someone or draft someone. They're going to bring them in and people will be afraid. Not this guy carrying. I'll be great.

[Mike Wright]

Keep, trade, cut pie, cake, cookies.

[Andy Holloway]

Oh, sweet mercy.

[Jason Moore]

You know what? I'm keeping the cookies.

[Mike Wright]

Yeah. Fresh chocolate, fresh bake cookie.

[Jason Moore]

And it's just. It's so portable. Like I can just. I can grab and go.

[Mike Wright]

Yeah. A piece of cake. Now are you up? Are you a. Cookies with milk?

[Jason Moore]

I don't have. I don't have to have.

[Mike Wright]

Well, you don't have. Nobody has to. Living your best life. Would you prefer it?

[Jason Moore]

Yes.

[Mike Wright]

Okay.

[Andy Holloway]

Yeah. I would write they're rich.

[Mike Wright]

Yeah.

[Jason Moore]

I need something to cleanse my palate.

[Andy Holloway]

I agree with Mike. I'm gonna keep the cookies. And even though I like cake better than pieces, pie I think will have more trade value. So I'm gonna end up having to cut cake and trade.

[Mike Wright]

Pie cakes have the widest range of outcomes. I feel like. Cause you can get real. You can get a dry cake. You can get a cake with too much of the cake and too little of the icing or bad frosting.

[Andy Holloway]

Bad frosting. Get out of here. Bad frosting cake.

[Jason Moore]

I mean, like, they have warm cakes, they have cold cakes.

[Andy Holloway]

I love cakes.

[Mike Wright]

Don't get me wrong. It's more of a keep.

[Jason Moore]

Show me. Look at me.

[Mike Wright]

It's more of a keep, keep, keep thing.

[Jason Moore]

Yeah, but.

[Mike Wright]

Right.

[Jason Moore]

But pies. I guess pumpkin pie is a cold pie. I was thinking of the fruit pies. When they're cold, they're not good.

[Andy Holloway]

Banana cream pie.

[Mike Wright]

Do you like the fruit pies? I'm not a big fruit pie guy.

[Andy Holloway]

Lemon meringue. I'll do keep, keep, keep.

[Jason Moore]

I'll do an apple here. Keep, keep, keep. Yeah.

[Mike Wright]

All right, we're moving on. Pristine deal of the day. Oh, you Saints fans out there, listen to this. Yesterday on pristineauction.com a Michael Thomas signed New Orleans Saints jersey. A Beckett witnessed authentic autograph jersey. $64.51, ladies and gentlemen.

[Jason Moore]

Look. Pristine auction. They got hundreds of new things up every single day. Now is the time, people. Because the public mind is off of football right now. You're getting great deals. A Michael Thomas signed Jersey for 64 bucks.

[Andy Holloway]

That is truly insane. When he read it, I had not seen that and my eyes went, that.

[Mike Wright]

That's crazy.

[Andy Holloway]

That's a typo or something. This is the part of the show where everyone's listening. They start crying. They start weeping. They're like, oh, no, the episode's over. I'm going to be so sad. Go check out the Spitballers podcast. We got another podcast. It's just having fun. It's more like those cookie questions.

[Jason Moore]

Absolutely.

[Mike Wright]

No doubt about it. Yeah, I'm really hungry as well. Let's go eat, guys.

[Jason Moore]

Hey, we'll see you next week, Foot Clan.

[Mike Wright]

Goodbye.

[Andy Holloway]

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