Rookie Review + 2nd Year Star Potential? - Fantasy Football Podcast for 2/18

Summary

Fantasy Footballers Podcast Summary: "Rookie Review + 2nd Year Star Potential?" - February 18, 2025

Hosts: Andy Holloway, Jason Moore, and Mike "The Fantasy Hitman" Wright
Release Date: February 18, 2025

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1. Introduction

The episode kicks off with the hosts expressing excitement about reviewing rookies and assessing their potential to become elite second-year players in fantasy football. Mike Wright introduces the focus on examining rookies across various positions and their prospects for the upcoming season.

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2. Current News and Contract Talks

James Cook Contract Negotiations

The hosts discuss James Cook's recent contract demands and the Buffalo Bills' response:

• Mike Wright ([09:08]): Announces their participation at the Fantasy Sports and Gaming Association (FSGA) conference in Las Vegas and hints at additional news to be discussed in future episodes.

• James Cook's Demand:

  • Mike Wright ([09:38]): Reports that James Cook is seeking a $15 million per year contract.
  • Andy Holloway ([11:23]): Highlights the disparity between Cook's demand and the current running back salaries, noting that players like Saquon Barkley average $12.5 million.

• Debate on Value:

  • Jason Moore ([10:51]): Questions if Cook is worth $15 million, citing the Bills' running back usage with multiple backs like Ty Johnson and Ray Davis.
  • Andy Holloway ([12:03]): Points out that Cook's demand places him at number 48 in average running back salaries, suggesting it's a stretch.

• Conclusion:

  • Mike Wright ([13:17]): Concludes that while Cook's talent is undeniable, his contract demands may not align with his current standing as a fantasy asset.

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3. Rookie Review: Quarterbacks

Caleb Williams and Jaden Daniels

The discussion shifts to rookie quarterbacks and their potential in fantasy leagues.

• Caleb Williams:

  • Andy Holloway ([14:20]): Expresses optimism due to improvements in Williams' gameplay and the addition of Ben Johnson.
  • Jason Moore ([16:37]): Notes Williams' flashes of brilliance but remains concerned about his consistency.

• Jaden Daniels:

  • Mike Wright ([17:10]): Praises Daniels for finishing as the fourth-ranked rookie quarterback with impressive rushing attempts.
  • Andy Holloway ([18:09]): Emphasizes Daniels' calm demeanor and dual-threat capability, predicting he will be a top-five fantasy quarterback.
  • Jason Moore ([19:41]): Highlights Washington's strong organizational structure, suggesting Daniels is poised for sustained success.

Other Rookie QBs:

• Drake May, Michael Penix Jr., JJ McCarthy:
  • Mike Wright ([20:21]): Introduces other rookie QBs with varying prospects, expressing confidence in McCarthy’s transition to a starter.
  • Andy Holloway ([25:26]): Discusses Drake May's potential despite some uncertainties regarding the Patriots' coaching and offensive strategy.

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4. Rookie Review: Running Backs

Overall Performance

The hosts lament a disappointing rookie running back class, noting historically few top performers.

• Mike Wright ([28:43]): Highlights that this year saw the fewest touches and yards from rookie RBs over the last decade, coinciding with standout seasons from veterans like Saquon Barkley and Josh Jacobs.

Top Rookie Running Backs

• Bucky Irving:

  • Andy Holloway ([32:57]): Celebrates Irving’s impressive rookie season, emphasizing his speed and reliability, predicting a strong sophomore year.
  • Jason Moore ([34:05]): Agrees, noting that Irving passed all tests and remains a valuable asset.

• Jalen Wright:

  • Andy Holloway ([29:08]): Criticizes Wright's underperformance despite high expectations.
  • Jason Moore ([34:54]): Points out Wright's efficiency but acknowledges missed opportunities for growth.

• Other RBs:

  • Jonathan Brooks: Jason Moore ([29:18]) discusses his likely absence due to injury concerns.
  • Trey Benson and Blake Corum:
    • Jason Moore ([30:16]): Describes Benson as a reliable backup with fantasy value, while Andy Holloway ([31:30]) warns about Corum's uncertain future if Kyron Jones secures an extension.

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5. Rookie Review: Wide Receivers

Marvin Harrison Jr. and Malik Neighbors

The wide receiver class also disappoints, with few rookies meeting fantasy expectations.

• Marvin Harrison Jr.:

  • Andy Holloway ([38:26]): Labels Harrison Jr. as a first-round draft bust for fantasy, citing inconsistency and lack of involvement in the offense.
  • Mike Wright ([38:56]): Agrees, noting his fluctuating performance and minimal impact.

• Malik Neighbors vs. Brian Thomas Jr.:

  • Mike Wright ([40:58]): Highlights Neighbors' challenges in securing consistent targets.
  • Andy Holloway ([41:06]): Suggests Neighbors might be slightly underrated but still behind peers like Brian Thomas Jr.

• Xavier Worthy:

  • Mike Wright ([50:47]): Discusses Worthy's potential despite concerns about the return of Rush E. Rice.
  • Jason Moore ([49:58]): Expresses mixed feelings about Worthy's future impact, acknowledging his talent but questioning long-term consistency.

• Other Notable WRs:

  • Bucky Irving: Praised for his breakout performance.
  • Roma Dunes and Jalen McMillan:
    • Mike Wright ([43:53]): Predicts Dunes as a valuable late-round pick.
    • Andy Holloway ([44:05]): Defends Dunes' target count despite modest stats.

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6. Rookie Review: Tight Ends

Brock Bauer and Ben Senate

The tight end position shows some promising talent among rookies.

• Brock Bauer:

  • Andy Holloway ([54:13]): Lauds Bauer as the best pass-catching tight end of the season, predicting he will be a top dynasty draft pick.
  • Jason Moore ([55:16]): Agrees, emphasizing Bauer's consistent performance and potential longevity.

• Ben Senate:

  • Mike Wright ([55:05]): Expresses desire for Senate to take over the Washington tight end role, citing the departure of veteran Zach Ertz.
  • Andy Holloway ([56:06]): Discusses Theatre of Sunlight's tight ends, mentioning potential contributors like Tavian Sanders.

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7. Conclusion and Future Projections

The hosts wrap up the episode by reflecting on the overall rookie classes and setting expectations for the upcoming fantasy football season.

• Andy Holloway ([59:25]): Encourages listeners to prepare for a strong running back draft class while expressing uncertainty about wide receiver prospects.

• Jason Moore ([60:18]): Announces a mock draft series for the top 12 picks of the 2025 season, inviting listeners to participate.

• Final Remarks ([61:19]): The hosts thank listeners and encourage them to join their fantasy football community online.

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Notable Quotes with Timestamps

• Andy Holloway ([05:21]): "If you're going to start a new dynasty league, the most important thing is the league mates."

• Jason Moore ([07:02]): "Screw them RBs."

• Mike Wright ([09:10]): "James Cook is not messing around. He means business."

• Andy Holloway ([14:20]): "Caleb Williams has flashes of brilliance and Ben Johnson’s addition gives me optimism."

• Mike Wright ([28:43]): "This was a down year for rookie running backs."

• Andy Holloway ([38:26]): "Marvin Harrison Jr. was an absolute disaster in fantasy terms."

• Andy Holloway ([54:13]): "Brock Bauer will be the number one tight end drafted this year."

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Key Takeaways

• Quarterbacks: Jaden Daniels emerges as a top fantasy prospect with strong performance and organizational support, while Caleb Williams shows promise but lacks consistency.

• Running Backs: Bucky Irving stands out as a reliable rookie, whereas other RBs like Jonathan Brooks face uncertainty due to injuries.

• Wide Receivers: Marvin Harrison Jr. underperforms expectations, and only a few like Roma Dunes show faint signs of potential.

• Tight Ends: Brock Bauer is a standout rookie with high fantasy value, positioning him as a top draft pick in dynasty leagues.

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For more detailed analysis and ongoing fantasy football insights, join the Fantasy Footballers community at jointhefoot.com and follow them on Twitter @FFballers.

Transcript

[Andy Holloway]

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[Jason Moore]

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[Andy Holloway]

Welcome to the Fantasy Footballers Podcast with Your hosts, Andy Holloway, Jason Moore and Mike Wright.

[Mike Wright]

Welcome in Tuesday, February 18th. Jason Moore, Mike Wright, Andy Holloway. It's the Fantasy Footballers podcast. Happy to be with you. All of you listening, all of you watching the show over on YouTube.com the.

[Jason Moore]

Fantasy Footballers Jay with a Yoohoo wave over there.

[Andy Holloway]

Welcome to YouTube.

[Mike Wright]

A little bit frightening. We got a great show for you today. We're going to do some rookie review and I'll be curious, gentlemen, which rookies you think will be elite sophomore options for fantasy football players. So we'll walk through the positions, we'll keep it brief, but I do want to know if you fell in love with one or two of these players in each position that whether they performed in their rookie season or not, you think, you know, brighter days are ahead.

[Andy Holloway]

Yeah, Joe Milton iii, they did talk.

[Mike Wright]

About him getting traded.

[Andy Holloway]

Dude, he was awesome. For one part of one game.

[Mike Wright]

Week 18.

[Andy Holloway]

Yeah.

[Mike Wright]

Yeah. A reminder. The ultimate draft kit available now. The pre order that is ultimate draft kit.com where you can get instant access to the Dynasty Pass and you can learn all about the UDK and the Dynasty Pass. @ultimate draft kit.com we have a special giveaway, a chance to win a listener league spot. Come and play with us in 2025. It's also the lowest possible price you can get. So if you're going to get it eventually, get it now.

[Andy Holloway]

Yeah, if you're listening to the show, you're probably playing fantasy football this year, which means you're going to want the ultimate draft kit, cheapest price, get in our listener league, have a chance at it and all the dynasty stuff. You know, we're talking rookies today. The incoming rookies are outlined there. Team opportunities. A bunch of stuff is already up and available. Even though the main thing launches on.

[Mike Wright]

June 1st and the community, you can always find [e-mail] we'd love to have you hop in there, become a part of the foot clan. We have a quick question of the day. It's an Instagram question written in by SDP dub. Don't know what that means. What is the most important thing when it comes to starting a dynasty league? So it is dynasty season. We have a dynasty podcast. Let's talk about dynasty leagues.

[Andy Holloway]

Yeah, I mean, to me, if you're going to start a new dynasty league, the most important thing is the league mates the members of the league. This is something that you hope is around for, you know, at least a decade. You know, you're going to go through cycles and have rivalries and you need active managers. When you have. It's not like a redraft league. A redraft league. You got your buddy Bill who really doesn't give two farts and whatever next year. He's like, yeah, I'm not, I don't want to do it.

[Jason Moore]

Poor Bill needs to stop farting around.

[Mike Wright]

All the bills out there.

[Andy Holloway]

So I would just say have a group of people who are dedicated and love fantasy football. That's just going to make your league better. If you're a member of Join the Foot, you can go to footclanleagues.com, find someone to fill in. And I would just say to that point, like, you know, all of the leagues we're in, they're 12 man leagues. Every league that I play in is a 12. At least. Our listener league is even larger. But I would be happier to play in an eight team dynasty league with committed, like a core group of eight that I know is going to be around for a long time and just make the rosters larger. You know, go flex, fix that. Yeah. And then, and then if you want to add, you know, two more managers and turn it into a 10 team down the road, you can do fun expansion drafts. There's, there's ways to get around that as opposed to just filling it, being like, I've got to have 12 guys in this league or 12 people. So, you know, it just doesn't, it's not going to be as fun.

[Mike Wright]

Mike, do you have a, I mean, that dynasty tip, I mean, that's a good one.

[Jason Moore]

That, that is the most important thing. But if you're, if you're talking specifically about your startup draft, it's screw them RBs.

[Andy Holloway]

That's my usual.

[Jason Moore]

Yeah, that really is especially old running backs. But it's. Don't overvalue youth in your dynasty draft. Like, don't reach for guys who they shouldn't be going in the second or third round. You're like, well, they're so young, so I'm going to have them on my team forever. You need to balance that. You do need to balance with some old guys, but generally speaking, like in the first round early on, I'm not drafting really any running backs, but if you're going to get one, it has to be Bijan Gibbs guys who are just young. I'm like Saquon Barkley. Barkley's going to finish as a top five, top three running back next year, assuming he plays all the games. But for how long?

[Mike Wright]

I've got a more nuanced tip for Dynasty Leagues in terms of making them more entertaining and fun. If you can get the history documented for the league in whatever way possible, that's more fun as a dynasty league carries on. I think those stats are great, you know, whatever it is, the most points scored in the season, the best record of all time. Obviously you're going to know your champions, but there's a lot of different metrics, head to head matchups, rivalries. There are websites that will provide that for you. There's a lot of them out there. I think league legacy is one of them, but there's several other ones. Those are best to get connected early when you start the league as opposed to trying to go back and figure out all of that information. So if you enjoy that kind of that side of it, to me, dynasty is all about the longevity and the franchise history and building something special. And so opportunities to break records to no records are coming up. I mean that stuff's fun for me. And make sure you're on a platform or in an environment where communication is simple and easy. So you can be talking all year round, wherever that is a slack channel, maybe it's on sleep or whatever the case may be.

[Andy Holloway]

Talk that trash.

[Mike Wright]

I'm not going to hit the drop, but I do have one piece of news. We're pre recording this show. We're at FSGA in Las Vegas, the Fantasy Sports and Gaming association conference. So we're recording the show a little bit early. So there may be other big news that has broken and we'll get to that on future episodes. The only thing that we haven't talked about on the show that did come out was a tandem bit of news about James Cook. One first it came out he's looking to receive 15 million a year on the next contract.

[Andy Holloway]

That's the small news.

[Mike Wright]

And then the next day went on Instagram live, pinned his own comments about 15 million a year. And then he removed his. The team.

[Andy Holloway]

Yeah.

[Mike Wright]

From his profile.

[Jason Moore]

We got him.

[Andy Holloway]

Scrub a dub. We dubbed that profile.

[Jason Moore]

We got him. The Bills know that James Cook is not messing around.

[Andy Holloway]

He means business. He got rid of. I mean it worked for Kyler, right? This is stupid. It's so stupid.

[Mike Wright]

Have we been checking Al Borland's profile to see if he's still listed as producer? Because I don't know if that's the negotiation tactic that, you know, I feel.

[Andy Holloway]

Like if someone did that here, we just let him go. Right. Like, you know, I'm looking for a new contract. I'm going to take all, you know, mint Footballers. Right.

[Mike Wright]

If that's what you're saying.

[Andy Holloway]

No speed wise.

[Jason Moore]

So for some context, obviously, contracts, they go up. But so Christian McCaffrey, right now, he's an average of, what is it, 19 mil a year, and then the second highest average is Jonathan Taylor at 14.

[Mike Wright]

Is James Cook worth 15 million a year? Even with that, even with the inflationary.

[Jason Moore]

Context, it's really difficult because the question of, like, could James Cook be worth that? I think so. But the way that the Buffalo Bills use their running backs, especially now when they're like, no, we use three guys, we use Ty Johnson, we use Ray Davis. And so to have that amount of money into a position that. That things fall apart pretty fast.

[Andy Holloway]

So they can justify it because they could say, well, we just pay an average of $6 million per each running back. 15 million goes to Cook, and then, you know, a million to each of the other guys.

[Mike Wright]

It's a weird off season because you just saw the influence of a dynamic running back being added to an offense and the value of Saquon Barkley and Derek Henry and Josh Jacobs and doing.

[Andy Holloway]

Saquon's average salary is 12 and a half million. So I think 15 seems like a stretch. Looks like Derek Henry's at 8 million.

[Mike Wright]

Well, you don't start low.

[Andy Holloway]

Josh Jacobs is at 12 million.

[Mike Wright]

You don't start low. When you start pulling it off of the ig. Maybe he did send them a note and said, I want 15 and didn't get a reply.

[Andy Holloway]

And maybe they got a reply and it said, go ahead and remove Bills from your profile. Maybe this is not James Cook at all. He's like, I want 15 million. He's like, dude, just scrub. Just go ahead and scrub it.

[Mike Wright]

I mean, it's crazy because we just talked about James Cook again on the last episode and you know, the 16 touchdowns, like, if there was ever a time to negotiate your contract.

[Jason Moore]

Oh, yeah.

[Mike Wright]

After you scored two touchdowns, two touchdowns, then you went to 16.

[Jason Moore]

He's your. He's going into year four. Right.

[Mike Wright]

He probably started asking for a million, a touchdown.

[Andy Holloway]

I mean, on the back of this off season where the big signings at running back made giant impacts for the rosters, took teams deep into the playoffs, won a Super Bowl. Yeah. You start to say, look, running backs matter again. And, you know, I'm the second best player on the Bills. You got to pay me accordingly. I don't mind him doing that. If you're a running back, try to get your money. You're not worth your. The running back market should not be giving 15 million to someone per year, that's not a top three back in the league. And he's not a top three back.

[Mike Wright]

He is currently the number 48 on the average salary by running back. So this is. I'd like to be. I'd like to be paid appropriately and I do believe a little bit in the rewarding the season when you play it like, you know, Brock Purdy. Right. A bunch of years at no money. James Cook is going to be an unrestricted free agent in 2026. So this will be the final year of his deal. His base salary this year will be 5.1. In the final year of his deal.

[Andy Holloway]

I believe his brother threatened to hold out about the same timeline and then gave in and played on the contract, if memory serves.

[Mike Wright]

Yeah. So we'll see what happens with James Cook. Apparently that'll be a storyline we get to enjoy all off season long. Talk some rookies.

[Andy Holloway]

Rookie review.

[Mike Wright]

All right, we'll take a quick walk down memory lane, see what we got out of the rookies this year, position by position and who we think can take a step forward in 2025. We'll begin with a player I know I feel like Jason is very confident in the future capabilities of Caleb Williams.

[Jason Moore]

Is it confidence or you're just hopeful because of Ben Johnson?

[Andy Holloway]

So I think it is more hope than confidence, but it's not. It's optimistic hope in the sense that like there are times where you just didn't see enough from a player to believe, you know, rookie year Bryce Young, it was very difficult to see the path for him. You know, he just didn't have any success. He didn't show the flashes. Now he's, he's gotten it together. I think now there's optimism in Carolina that Bryce Young's a thing. But last year with Caleb Williams, while he had some just abysmal games, his inability to, you know, get rid of the ball and stop taking sacks and. But those are rookie mistakes. He also had really great moments, flashes of brilliance, showed kind of the special features he has his arm strength and talent and so you combine that with Ben Johnson coming in and so I am optimistic that it's going to work out.

[Mike Wright]

Finished as the quarterback. 14, was drafted in the ninth round in fantasy leagues and you know, not. Not what we hoped for or expected. You know, you said flashes of brilliance. There were plays, there were moments, stuff that other quarterbacks that we've looked at in the rookie seasons never gave us. That is for sure. I don't know if I saw the Complete game. Like, I would have loved to have seen one complete game where I felt like he was in control from the beginning of the first quarter through the fourth quarter. They won the game. And I said, hey, that's just something you need to start to repeat.

[Andy Holloway]

Oh, I agree completely. I mean, he had a couple games, so he had, you know, from a fantasy standpoint, he had five top six fantasy finishes on the week. But even in some of those great games, the first half is like he had 33 yards and then, you know, they were getting blown out and he came back and had a great comeback and showed those. I agree with you. There was no consistency and I don't think I saw a complete game. Just front to back, open to close.

[Jason Moore]

Yeah, I'm, I, I'm going to trust in Ben Johnson with you. Jason of like, I want good coaches and good offenses to put my players in a on the path to success. But man, Caleb looked brutal to me of just frantic, not seeing things like, looked like he could be easily confused. He, he has great arm talent. But I'm concerned.

[Mike Wright]

The second rookie quarterback off the board in the 10th round who finished as the quarterback four on the year, Jaden Daniels. We have been.

[Jason Moore]

I'm less concerned.

[Mike Wright]

Yeah, I mean, this, this was awesome. I mean, it's the seventh most rushing attempts of all time as a rookie. Had an incredible season. Certainly seems like Washington is in safe hands for the near term at a minimum. You know, you never know what injury or something like that could derail a career. But you couldn't ask for a better situation top to bottom, than what Washington is in right now. New ownership, a coach that had success. You know, you outperformed your expectations. Your rookie was more mature beyond his years, and you have a foundation to build upon. When you talk about fantasy football, I think it's not, it's not a debate that Jaden Daniels is five rungs ahead of every other rookie from this past year. The question is just, is he a perennial top five guy to you?

[Andy Holloway]

Yeah, he is. His nature of just being so unflappable. He doesn't rattle when things go bad. He just gets up. And he's got the same calm, cool demeanor that you see from successful NFL quarterbacks, just didn't seem to tilt. And he usually has an answer. The fact that he has the superpower trump card with his legs and that he's willing to scramble and he's not afraid to use it. You know, it's like Kyler has that, but Kyler's terrified to use it. He doesn't, you know, it's like that's a break glass in case of emergency. Whereas with Jaden Daniels, that's a. If you guys don't guard me right, I'm gone. And so for fantasy purposes, there's no fear. You could argue he should be the number one quarterback drafted next year with, you know, an older Josh Allen and him coming into year two. But he'll be in that top. He'll probably be the third quarterback drafted. Definitely be in the top five.

[Jason Moore]

Washington has. Washington has the third most cap available to them because it's like, I mean he was. He did that with like Terry McLaurin. Like, Terry McLaurin is a great player, but Terry McLaurin's a little bit older. And like, if you can get talk older, Zach hurts. Yeah, I mean like the, the pieces on this team imagining that this team being really aggressive and going out and getting a. Yeah, if, if Higgins gets to market.

[Andy Holloway]

But.

[Jason Moore]

Or just I'm saying something, a first round wide receiver, a splash and free agency, they can make something happen here. And a just a wild thing of Jaden Daniels of like his stock went up in a game that he did not play, like watching the super bowl and how Patrick Mahomes and the Kansas City Chiefs struggled against the. The Philadelphia Eagles. Comparing that to the game that just happened where Jay Daniels was just fine, you're like, that is really, really, really impressive season and very optimistic for the future.

[Mike Wright]

3Rd overall pick, Drake May. 8th overall pick, Michael Penix Jr. 10th overall pick, JJ McCarthy, who looks like will transition right into being the starter. I have my doubts that Sam Darnold is coming back. I mean, I. What would you handicap it at right now in Minnesota? I have it about 10%.

[Andy Holloway]

Man, I've got it more like 66, 33. I think they're going to get him to return. No. 66%, that is J.J. mcCarthy. But I think there's a good chance they're going to let Sam Darnold test the open market. If there's a team out there like, let's say the Rams end up trading Stafford to the jets. Like, you know, you've seen some rumors out there and then they want to go after a Darnold and they'll probably pay more than Minnesota is willing to pay. But if Darnold doesn't find a good market, which he might not, a lot of these teams who need quarterbacks are going to be highly up in the draft. They're going to be drafting one.

[Mike Wright]

Well, let's do the experiment. I Think it'd be fun. AFC East. The only team that actually could use him will never bring him in because he used to play for them, the Jets. Right. Because Drake May is secure.

[Jason Moore]

They might be interested. I don't know if Darnold's interested.

[Mike Wright]

They can't be interested.

[Andy Holloway]

They couldn't. I mean if. Could you imagine if the New York jets signed him and he comes back and he sucks that you just can't do it. I mean it would just be.

[Mike Wright]

Bring a circus in, man.

[Andy Holloway]

You've got. Now the NFL has to regular, you know, so great. Only the Raider soccer does and have the teams go down.

[Mike Wright]

Oh, relegate them. Yeah. The Raiders are the only team in the AFC West. They're definitely a contender for Sam Darnold.

[Jason Moore]

Yeah.

[Mike Wright]

Especially with Pete Carroll there. No time to waste. The AFC North, AFC north. You'd have the Steelers or the Browns. Those would be two teams that could use a quarterback. And then for the south, you know, you're really looking at the Titans. Probably nobody else.

[Andy Holloway]

The Titans have such a high pick. I think if they're going after a quarterback, they should do it in the draft.

[Mike Wright]

NFC wise. You'd be talking about the Giants.

[Jason Moore]

Yep.

[Mike Wright]

Otherwise no other team in the East. NFC west, probably it would be the Rams trading Stafford. That'd be it. NFC north, nobody. They're all set.

[Jason Moore]

Right.

[Mike Wright]

And then NFC South, Saint seemed committed to Derek Carr. Panthers. No, they've already done the Darnold experiment as well. And the Falcons, the Buccaneers have it figured out. So yeah, I mean let him test the waters, see if the Raiders write him a big check and maybe he's got a chance to come back. But of those guys, May Pennix, McCarthy and I'll throw Bo Nixon now pick 12. Amazing rookie season. If you were kind of putting those guys in order from a dynasty perspective just based on what you saw as a rookie. You know, limited work for Pinnocks May, nothing from McCarthy.

[Andy Holloway]

I mean I've got Bo Nicks ahead of Caleb Williams in Dynasty startup race. I would much rather have him. I'm sure of the system that's in place and it just feels safe and secure with Sean Payton and what we saw from rookie or Bo Nix with again not, not a ton of weapons. I do think that Marvin Mims, hopefully Troy Franklin, like they've got some good developmental prospects but this wasn't, you know, some elite core of wide receivers that he was inheriting. He got more out of Cortland Sutton than we've seen in years. The fact that he uses his Legs runs the system well. Bo Nix to me is obviously very safe and from fantasy, you know, for fantasy football, very safe because he runs these other guys, Pennix and Drake May.

[Jason Moore]

Well, Drake, I mean Drake may actually had what, 10 fewer rushing yards than Bo Nicks.

[Andy Holloway]

Yeah, he ran well, but he didn't, he didn't throw well, but he didn't have anybody to throw to.

[Jason Moore]

The Patriots is a full rebuild, so it would be just a. Do you feel like you saw enough composure and enough traits from Drake May that, that the future could look bright? Because they're, they're very.

[Mike Wright]

Yeah, I liked what I saw from Drake May.

[Jason Moore]

They're slotted for like a lot of mock drafts have t Mac going there as the number one wide receiver off the board. So it's like factoring that the Patriots are going to do something. They're not just going to stand pat with the wide receivers that they have right now.

[Mike Wright]

Yeah, yeah, I think, I think Drake May might be the most slept on of this group in terms of, you know, at least with McCarthy, you know, you can paint the picture. You know, Addison and Jefferson, Kevin O'Connell.

[Jason Moore]

I'm bullish on McCarthy.

[Mike Wright]

I mean McCarthy should be able like you can see the easy case for him coming in and being successful. Michael Pennix, we got to see enough of him. He's got weapons around him, great running game. You can see him being successful. Bo Nicks we saw have a good year. Drake Mays sitting there in this like I don't, I don't want to be so afraid of the Patriots offense and system that we ignore what might be coming because of like what you said. The draft capital is going to be there. They made a move at head coach after one year and I think Drink May, you know, he's a third pick in the draft.

[Andy Holloway]

Oh, and he definitely showed a lot of skill. Mike Vrabel, I believe is a very good head coach, but I think he's a very good NFL head coach. He's not the type of head coach you're really, you know, Jones and foreign fantasy football. He's going to come in and make sure the defense plays better. I, you know, not just be a high flying off. It's especially with the personnel they have. He's going to, you know, match how to win ball games with the personnel they have. And I don't know that they've got enough explosive power on offense. It was kind of like when, when Harbaugh went to the Chargers, we kind of. That took nothing away from Justin Herbert's talent. But you knew like it's he's probably not going to do as much for fantasy and I feel that same way here. Not to take anything away from Drake May, the player or the talent, but I think Vrabel coming in is not going to be great for fantasy.

[Jason Moore]

The wild thing for Drake May so his end of season stats, you know, just under 2300 yards, 15 passing touchdowns. He, he appeared in 12 games. He pretty much played 10 full games. If you go look at the game log of like he didn't start at the beginning of the year, fills in a little bit at the end of week three, then doesn't start two more times and then you had and then week eight, 30% of snaps gets knocked out, doesn't play the last game. So in essentially 10 full games, you know he puts up Those numbers of 23, 15 and like Caleb Williams threw 20 touchdowns in an entire season. So it's like dirt. I would, I think it would be foolish to overlook Drake May moving forward.

[Mike Wright]

All right, we'll take a break and we'll come back and talk about the rookie running back performances.

[Andy Holloway]

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[Mike Wright]

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[Jason Moore]

It's a weird year.

[Mike Wright]

Did not find value in the draft. I mean one of the one of.

[Andy Holloway]

The things in fantasy football that has been so consistent. I mean it's literally been 12 years in a row longer than we've been doing this show and we've done it a decade. There are always two rookie running backs or more, sometimes many more, but at least two rookie running backs who finished in the top 24. And so this was the first year that. That said goodbye.

[Mike Wright]

Yeah. Yeah. 12 year run is Bucky almost did it. But the top five running backs drafted, they couldn't get on the field. I mean Jonathan Brooks, we know the story.

[Andy Holloway]

Sad story.

[Jason Moore]

Do you see the. And we got a. Not an unexpected but just a now it's. They're being talked about in media of Jonathan Brooks is likely to miss most of if not all of 2024. It better be all after a.

[Mike Wright]

It better be all.

[Andy Holloway]

Yeah. You got.

[Mike Wright]

Don't bring him back at the end of a lost season to redo this.

[Jason Moore]

When you retear your ACL and it took so long to even get him on the field. So something was up with.

[Andy Holloway]

What do you do with him in Dynasty? Let's say you lost your rookie year, right. And let's just say he doesn't play a snap this year. So he's out.

[Jason Moore]

Right.

[Andy Holloway]

He comes into his third year after missing his first two. Is he ever going to be handed the reins to be like, okay, you're the guy. You're our star running back.

[Mike Wright]

If there's a way for you to box him up and put him in the attic for a couple of years for your fantasy team, I mean, you can't trade him for anything. So you're just. You're lost.

[Andy Holloway]

Yeah, it's wild.

[Mike Wright]

You made the pick and you're stuck. I mean, but it wasn't only him. I mean, the first five picks drafted. Jonathan Brooks got the injury. Trey Benson.

[Andy Holloway]

James Conner was awesome. Got an extension. Goodbye.

[Mike Wright]

Yeah, I mean, Trey Benson's a good player and if Connor gets hurt, which he does sometimes, Trey Benson will be.

[Jason Moore]

Trey Benson's a sensational backup in my opinion. And look, when you're.

[Andy Holloway]

When you're.

[Jason Moore]

I guess just thinking of dynasty of the way that I look at it is most. It's hard to have three good starting running backs in Dynasty. If you have two where you're like every week except for by weeks. I know that these are my two starters. You're in an okay position, but then it's. You got to have just a stable of backups because the NFL season is brutal and backups end up starting for you a lot so this is not a. The. It's not the end of Trey Benson. He has value for fantasy.

[Mike Wright]

I agree. I mean, I think I.

[Jason Moore]

Just. Not as a started yet.

[Mike Wright]

Connor, but to Jason Swineman. Connor. Connor is the leader. Conor got the contract. Trey Benson will be stuck in a role that no one likes for fantasy unless there's an injury. And then Blake Corum, same boat right now. Kyron's only 24 years old.

[Andy Holloway]

Kyren was awesome. If he gets an extension, goodbye.

[Mike Wright]

The only thing that could disrupt something in Los Angeles would be, you know, Cooper Cups going out the door. Does Stafford leave? Does that mean that your head coach is. He just. Does he want that next quarterback project like the Sam Darnold? Is that why he wants. They might want to make that move to reset the clock. They've got a young defense or, you know, and could that change the trajectory? I mean, I don't know. What's Kyron's contract situation?

[Jason Moore]

He's going into year four, so he's eligible and he's in the final year of his deal.

[Mike Wright]

Does he still follow the team on Instagram?

[Jason Moore]

I've seen some. I've seen some whispers of an extension coming for Kyron.

[Andy Holloway]

So great for Dynasty.

[Mike Wright]

We saw six carries from Marshawn Lloyd. We basically saw no Marshawn Lloyd all year.

[Andy Holloway]

And Josh Jacobs was awesome.

[Mike Wright]

And Jalen Wright, who, you know, explosive, blew up the combine, made us kind of optimistic about his potential. Definitely ran at times ahead of Raheem Mostert, who's banged up all year. You know, when you look at that group right there, of those five names, you didn't see a ton of them on the field. And then the next man up in the fourth round was Bucky Irving. He was the star of the rookie class. 207 for 1122 as a rookie with 52 targets, 47 catches, a pretty stable offensive situation. I mean, he is the bell of the ball.

[Andy Holloway]

Yeah, for sure. I mean, he's the only rookie that did finish Inside the top 24 at the running back 15 the second half of the year. He was one of the best assets in fantasy football, and that was while Rashad White was playing. Rashad White didn't miss any games. It just became Bucky's team. And Rashad White spells him a little bit more. And his, you know, his quick burst was really on display this year. Every time that he had a little opening, he'd be five yards down the field before anyone could catch him. And despite being a small back, broke tackles. It's great. Usually I am pounding the table based on historical analysis that fourth round and later draft picks at running back, when they have a great rookie season, they get worse the next year. That is like 82% true. So this is not like a small data sample. This always happens. Bucky will be fine. Bucky passed all tests. The team is invested in him. I don't think there's going to be a Damian Pierce situation.

[Jason Moore]

They don't need to do it. Like Rashad White is still on the team for a year and Rashad White has a role like you. You don't need to replace that yet. Where you. You don't have the concerns of them spending a pick on a running back who ends up being way better than. Maybe they drafted him to be kind of like Bucky taking the job from Rashad White. I want to go back real quick to Jalen Wright because it was. Overall, it was a really disappointing year for. For rookie running backs. Jalen Wright might be the most disappointing to me of the Miami Dolphins. They traded a 20, 25 third to move up to go get Jalen Wright. He has the build, the speed, everything that the Miami Dolphins would want. He ends up with the fewest total yards from scrimmage of any rookie running back with 70 or more touches over the last decade.

[Mike Wright]

It's not like he didn't have any touches.

[Andy Holloway]

Right.

[Mike Wright]

68 attempts on the ground and then.

[Jason Moore]

Add on top of that.

[Andy Holloway]

Look.

[Jason Moore]

Yeah, HN's the starter. HN is not getting it done on the ground. Like they're. And then. And then the other guy is Raheem Mostard. How. How was Jalen Wright not pulling a Bucky Irving and moving up the depth chart?

[Andy Holloway]

It.

[Jason Moore]

That one was talent. Yeah. I mean, we.

[Andy Holloway]

Yes.

[Mike Wright]

Sorry. But you wouldn't say Achan's incapable either.

[Jason Moore]

I think it's not that he's incapable, but he was really struggling on the ground. And. And the Miami Dolphins to me looked like, let's try something. Let's. We gotta. Let's. Let's get a game of Jalen Wright. Let's see if we can get him going. But clearly the coaching staff saw him for it. Just. They didn't think that he had the chance to do it.

[Mike Wright]

I believe his higher carry games did coincide with the departure of a quarterback. So we know how dysfunctional they were without to a. You know, I'm just bringing it up because it's like if HN struggled to. Look, I think it's fair. You should have seen more explosive plays from him even if he wasn't great on every touch.

[Jason Moore]

And you had the. We had such a pump fake of week five. He's 13 for 86 on the ground, like, incredibly efficient. That's 6.6 yards per carry. And then they go into the bye week and it's like, oh, the rookie running back got on the field, got opportunities. We're going into the bye week. Here we go. He's going to get a roll. And then. Nope.

[Mike Wright]

And yeah, Moster's not getting any younger, so this team may need to pick another one up, which could be a problem. Impressive players beyond that, though. I mean, outside of Bucky, you. Tyrone Tracy.

[Andy Holloway]

Yeah.

[Mike Wright]

Ray Davis, undrafted for fantasy, you know, fourth round pick for the Bills. And then Isaac Grindo had some opportunities this year, but those three names, you know, in that low percentage category of, you know, being good, you know, Tracy seems like he'll have an opportunity in the Future as a 5th round pick.

[Andy Holloway]

He does. I, you know, Tyrone Tracy is more the Damian Pierce to me, where it's like, he looked very good. The team could say to themselves, hey, our running back, you know, for this year is kind of solved. We're okay and not worry about it. I think they will do that. But so did the, you know, the Houston Texans did the same thing. They didn't go. They got Joe Mixon the year after. So, like you had Damian Pierce's rookie season and then there was a lot of excitement for Damian Pierce in his sophomore season, but when it didn't go right for Damian Pierce, the team is not invested, they're not committed. They're going to just keep trying to figure it out. And so they then they stopped using Damian Pierce and then in the off season, they're like, let's go get Joe Mixon. So this is one of those things where Tyrone TRACY if weeks one through four of the 2025 season, he is, you know, out there just making great plays, breaking tackles, looking awesome. Great. He'll continue to get work, but as soon as it goes poorly for him, the team's just going to try to figure out something. And I think that the whole franchise will look very different this off season.

[Mike Wright]

Yeah, they could use one of those ball throwers behind center.

[Andy Holloway]

I believe Aaron Rodgers is available.

[Mike Wright]

Yeah, yeah, they could.

[Jason Moore]

He's already in the area.

[Andy Holloway]

Yeah.

[Mike Wright]

All right, wide receivers, do you guys want to move on and talk about Brief overview here. Marvin Harrison was the number one off the board in the NFL draft.

[Andy Holloway]

Had such a disappointing fantasy football season. Really did crushed. It was a brutal. Yeah, I mean, this was a Guy who was often drafted in the first round of, you know, redraft leagues. And while he finished as the wide receiver 28 and had okay stats, 885 yards, eight touchdowns. It wasn't a complete dud of a rookie wide receiver season, but based on expectations and fantasy football draft capital, an absolute disaster.

[Mike Wright]

Lack of consistency was a killer for him. Seven games with a touchdown where he averaged 16.9 fantasy points per game. In those 10 games that he didn't score 4.7 fancy points per game.

[Jason Moore]

Yeah, that ain't it.

[Andy Holloway]

And I mean, we watched the tape a lot and it's always hard to really determine this.

[Mike Wright]

Whose fault is it?

[Andy Holloway]

Yeah, I mean, you know, is it the play calling? Because there were a lot of dumb routes where he'd run forever before Kyler ever had a chance to throw the ball. He's not even turning around. But there were also too many plays throughout the course of the season that I just saw a flat out lack of effort. I mean, it just seemed like come back to the ball a little harder. Like, it just seemed like he was.

[Jason Moore]

Like the urgency was playing at 80%.

[Mike Wright]

There was. This was one of those players where you felt like you saw not getting them involved early in the game coming back to haunt you. If you look at the numbers, 69% of his receptions came 10 plus yards down the field. Where the players we saw have explosive rookie seasons. Malik, Neighbors, Brian Thomas Jr. Those were all 43, 48%. You didn't get Harrison those easy catches to keep him involved in the game. No, I'm not. You could put the blame on him, too. Obviously you should be given effort on every play, but we know how wide receivers are. If you're not really a part of the game plan. If you seem like if every week the coach and the offensive coordinator in the press conference have to explain why you weren't involved. Again, there's a breakdown. Yeah, like this is the guy you brought in to be your dominator, and you're not throwing him an easy slant route or a screen pass or getting him involved so that you don't have games without a touchdown. Being 4.7 fantasy points per game. That's what we saw on a weekly basis and that was depressing. So from a fantasy forecast perspective, it's really, really hard to have the same kind of dynasty excitement for Harrison Jr. As you would Neighbors and Brian Thomas.

[Jason Moore]

Yeah, that makes it so much worse.

[Andy Holloway]

Even Xavier Worthy or Lad McConkey next year, it'll be really interesting to see where Marvin Harrison Jr goes I believe.

[Jason Moore]

Looking at a best ball right now. Wide receiver, 18 at the end of the third.

[Mike Wright]

There's upside.

[Andy Holloway]

There is upside. As a reminder, Marvin Harrison Senior, 64 catches in his rookie season. Marvin Harrison Junior 63 catches. Marvin Harrison Senior, 836 yards. Marvin Harrison Junior 885 yards. And Marvin Harrison Senior, eight touchdowns. Junior eight touchdowns. So they had almost identical stats.

[Mike Wright]

Check this one out though. Marvin Harrison Jr. 62 for 885 and 8. Malik neighbors 109 for 12. Oh 4 and 7 on 170 targets.

[Andy Holloway]

170, 70 targets as a rook. Wow.

[Mike Wright]

But Malik Neighbors will need to navigate new quarterback. He was quick to give Matthew Stafford his flowers over the super bowl weekend and talk about the kind of quarterback he wants to bring into New York. And you know, New York is talking to Shador Sanders and how great is Brian Thomas Jr.

[Andy Holloway]

I only say that because you talk about the corporate quarterback play of Malik Neighbors. It was bad. But Brian Thomas Jr. Played his best ball with Mac Jones. It's not like it's that much different.

[Mike Wright]

Malik Jones would have loved Mac Jones.

[Andy Holloway]

He had, he had Daniel Jones. Daniel Jones is better than Mac Jones.

[Mike Wright]

Malik Neighbors with Daniel Jones, I mean, was slightly better. Number three, number five and number six on the week to start the year. I guess that's, I mean 18, 12 and 15 targets. And then the wheels fell off and Daniel Jones was gone. So when you look at that little stretch, I mean he had a three game stretch. He would have been on pace for 255 targets.

[Andy Holloway]

Yeah, well, the 170 targets you compare that to. Brian Thomas only had 133 targets. But Brian Thomas finished ahead of him as the wide receiver. 4. So I mean, both these players are great. I think people might just be not high enough on Brian Thomas Jr. Because he was drafted behind him. Malik Neighbors, you know, they.

[Mike Wright]

I would.

[Andy Holloway]

These guys play together in college. And it was Malik Neighbors was the star and Brian Thomas Jr. Was the question mark. Number two. He was the T. Higgins to the Jamar Chase.

[Mike Wright]

Neighbors is a better player.

[Andy Holloway]

I agree. Neighbors is so.

[Mike Wright]

I would rather have him.

[Andy Holloway]

I think they're so, so close though.

[Mike Wright]

Roma Dunes, they didn't have as many opportunities as both of those players, but he did have over 100 targets. 734 and three. Okay, you know this is going to come down to is Caleb Williams going to be the guy has been Johnson going to fix that and will there be enough volume for Roma Dunes A with DJ Moore as the one there? I mean, Brian Thomas, he's the one neighbors the one Harrison the one.

[Andy Holloway]

D.J. moore, the one.

[Mike Wright]

Yeah. So that, that is. Look, I think Caleb Williams loves Roma Dunes. I think that is a go to type of receiver for him. But you're going to need to do more.

[Andy Holloway]

I mean when you say he didn't have quite as much opportunity, I take a little bit of issue with that. Only because you had Brian Thomas Jr play 79% of the snaps on the season. You had Roma dunes. They play 84% of the snaps on the season. He was playing ball. Now he didn't get as many opportunities to catch it. But we talk about all the time targets are an earned stat. He earned 100 targets and some of that's going to be on Caleb Williams, on Shane Waldron, on the, you know, the whole, you know, the other wide receiver options. But he was out there as much as all these rookies. So I feel like his disappointing season might be the realest. You know what I'm saying?

[Mike Wright]

I think I'll be in on Roman Dunes later round pick.

[Andy Holloway]

Where Mike, where is he going in best ball drafts right now?

[Jason Moore]

I will find that.

[Andy Holloway]

That's. I'm going to guess before.

[Jason Moore]

Let's try to guess.

[Mike Wright]

I'm going to say wide receiver 31.

[Andy Holloway]

I started thinking 38, but I think it's going to be higher. I think 28. Okay.

[Jason Moore]

You're both way too low. Wide receiver 26 at the end of the fourth.

[Mike Wright]

Okay, okay. But I mean look young, I don't think this is.

[Jason Moore]

This is best ball where it's wide receivers go very early.

[Andy Holloway]

Where's D.J. moore? I mean if you're talking about fourth.

[Jason Moore]

Rounder for wide receiver 17 at the back of the third.

[Andy Holloway]

Okay. I'd rather have D.J. moore in the third than Odun's.

[Jason Moore]

Oh yes, I agree with that.

[Mike Wright]

If they're that close. Yeah, but I don't think they'll be that close in redraft at all.

[Andy Holloway]

Yeah, man.

[Mike Wright]

No, I agree with that.

[Jason Moore]

Home leagues Rome will go later.

[Mike Wright]

But the Rome is a physical force and I think it's going to come down to Caleb. But I actually like him. Xavier Worthy had the great finish to the season. 59 for 638 and six in the regular season. You know, they used him in an evolving role.

[Jason Moore]

He started cooking at the end.

[Mike Wright]

He was the 28th pick in the draft. So it's a first round wide receiver. Ricky Pierce saw. We saw a little bit Xavier Leggett. We kept trying to start as a flex player when opportunities were there. He ended up with under 500 yards receiving as a rookie, Keon Coleman, you know, for the 33rd pick in the draft, it was just 29 receptions.

[Andy Holloway]

Woof.

[Mike Wright]

But for 556 yards and four touchdowns.

[Jason Moore]

Yeah, lad.

[Mike Wright]

McConkey was 82 for 1149.

[Jason Moore]

Coleman and Leguette are. That's. Those numbers are very, very concerning.

[Andy Holloway]

We've had on the Dynasty podcast, we've had the Jalen McMillan versus Keon Coleman debate. Obviously, the draft capital of Keon Coleman is great, but the breakout at the end of the year of Jalen McMillan makes you go okay. Could he actually be the better rookie wide receiver this year because he really had a dud from Coleman?

[Mike Wright]

I think I would still be the Coleman side. Coleman missed some time injured. They brought in Amari Cooper, who was irrelevant. You kind of have some journeymen there right now, right? Mack Hollins catching passes. Curtis Samuel there. Seems like. It seems like Keon Coleman's sophomore season will have at least a puncher's chance of being a breakout season.

[Andy Holloway]

Yeah, for sure he's got a puncher's chance.

[Jason Moore]

But they, I mean, I mean like.

[Mike Wright]

A 10, I would say like thousand and ten seems as his ceiling.

[Jason Moore]

2010 would be a great year for him.

[Mike Wright]

I think I'll be curious where we end up ranking him and for redraft for the year.

[Jason Moore]

And the Buffalo Bills me do. What do they do at the wide receiver position? I think they will. Even though they just spent a second on Coleman, I think they got to do something else too.

[Andy Holloway]

Yeah, I mean, you saw it with the Chiefs. They would spend every year. It's like they're trying to take their shot. Whether it was, you know, getting, trading for or bringing in Kaderius Tony or getting Sky Moore. And it's like they just kept then Rushy Rice, then Xavier Worthy. But Xavier Worthy is the name we really need to bring up because that one is interesting. He is. He is going to go very high, I think, in next year's draft based on what he did in the playoffs, based on being a chief. I mean, this is a young kid who has always produced at every level. Drafted in the first round, ended the season, you know, really important to the offense. And so some people will be very excited for a leap forward. They're hoping he's the next Tyree Kill. Right. He has that speed, he has that connection, a great offensive mind and quarterback. Can he develop into that? Can he become, you know, of all these guys like Keon Coleman's not going to become a fantasy superstar. I don't. I Don't see that happening. Jalen McMillan's not going to become a fantasy superstar. There is a route, a path at least for Xavier Worthy to become, to level up, to become one of those, you know, wide receiver ones that you're drafting in the first or second round in the future because he's dominating on the field.

[Mike Wright]

How do I simultaneously disagree and agree?

[Andy Holloway]

I mean that's what Xavier Worthy is because I disagree with what I said. But I see the path.

[Mike Wright]

I don't see the path to that kind of a ceiling, but I see the path to him being the number one receiver for the Chiefs. Even with the return of Rush E. Rice. I see a world where Xavier Worthy is scoring the most fantasy points of any pass catcher on the team because of the fact that they can use him in so many different ways.

[Jason Moore]

And unfortunately I see a path where Rice comes back and Worthy is unworthy, inconsequential.

[Mike Wright]

I don't see that anymore with Worthy.

[Jason Moore]

I still do like the numbers. I know they, they took the shots. So maybe if a few of those the. The big time downfield throws actually hit this past season, you'd feel different because like what happened in the super bowl, like they. Was that the. Was that his. His first big catch?

[Mike Wright]

No, but I mean he was on.

[Jason Moore]

He was his longest catch of the season. 54 would have 54 yards. And other than that though, it's like 20, 35. But I'm sorry like consistently in. In his game logs it's 19 yards. 19 the big play, 1921 when they. When he was really involved there at the end and he was making money for fantasy. Long of 12, long of 19. These are not huge, but those are.

[Mike Wright]

The areas where Rashi Rice is going to be very good on the interior part of the offense. I think Xavier Worthy, what you saw in the last six games of the season, you know, he was on 142 target pace. It was a lot of short area stuff, but the targets just kept going up and up. I think you can use him in different ways. When Rashi's out on the field and you know Kelsey's. He's going to disappear from this offense.

[Jason Moore]

Yeah.

[Mike Wright]

And Worthy was too good as a rookie man.

[Jason Moore]

Worthy is so maybe we'll just. It's so strange to be to. I don't disagree that he could become great, but to have such a wide range of outcomes where you can go, you could be a top 15 fantasy wide receiver or you could be nothing. Which is how I view him is that's very difficult to handle.

[Andy Holloway]

Yeah. You know who's not going to be nothing? Lad. McConkey.

[Jason Moore]

Oh, lad's so good.

[Andy Holloway]

I mean, he finished as the wide receiver 12, so such a good route runner, reliable hands, great quarterback. I still kind of am pessimistic that he will not be the one for this team. Like they still are looking for their wide receiver one their alpha, you know, to steal a Josh Jacobs line here. Like he's a good receiver. But I think they want a proven alpha wide receiver one. But I just wanted to give another shout out to Ladd because he was so talented.

[Mike Wright]

Lad deserves it. He had a great season. You know, you could see an offense if it's predicated on a great running game and some other peripheral wide receiver options where he could still be the fantasy leader for the team. I think that's possible there.

[Andy Holloway]

I mean, Keenan Allen with Herbert for the last couple years was just. It's just the guy who's always in the right spot. He's. He is like you're going to create separation and catch it when I laser beam you the ball. That's what Keenan Allen did over and over and over and that's what Lad did. So maybe it will stick.

[Mike Wright]

What was Amon Ra's yards per catch?

[Jason Moore]

Let me go find because, I mean.

[Mike Wright]

You talk about what Keenan Allen did. Allen's last three seasons with the Chargers, with Justin Herbert 10.7, 11.4, 11.5, lads.

[Jason Moore]

At 14 and Amonra was at 11.

[Andy Holloway]

A lot of that was yards after the catch stuff.

[Mike Wright]

But I mean, he also interior parts of the field was not afraid to go over the middle.

[Andy Holloway]

No. Which he maybe should be a little bit more afraid.

[Mike Wright]

He was limping a lot.

[Andy Holloway]

He was beat up a lot. That's the only knock I have against McConkey is he's 185 pounds.

[Jason Moore]

Yeah. He is 200 pounds.

[Andy Holloway]

Fearless. And I think he should have a little more fear.

[Mike Wright]

Yeah. Let's take another creatine, take a quick break and we'll be back. It's winter and you can now get.

[Andy Holloway]

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[Jason Moore]

A snow angel.

[Mike Wright]

Sorry, no, but angel hair pasta.

[Andy Holloway]

Uber Eats can definitely get you that. Get almost, almost anything delivered with Uber Eats.

[Mike Wright]

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[Andy Holloway]

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[Mike Wright]

Product availability may vary by region. See up for details. This Episode is brought to you by Allstate. Some people just know they could save hundreds on car insurance by checking Allstate first. Like, you know, to check the date of the big game first before you accidentally buy tickets on your 20th wedding anniversary and have to spend the next 20 years of your marriage making up for it. Yeah, checking first is smart. So check Allstate first for a quote that could save you hundreds. You're in good hands with Allstate Savings. Vary terms apply. Allstate Fire and Casualty Insurance Company and affiliates, Northbrook, Illinois. Okay, so tight end wise, Brock Bauer is pretty decent.

[Jason Moore]

Yeah.

[Mike Wright]

You guys like. You like what he did as a.

[Andy Holloway]

Rookie halfway through the season and maybe after one week of the season, you were like, he's the best pass catching tight end in the National Football League. He was everything that you expected him to do. Everything he was for multiple years in college. You can't give enough flowers to how talented he is. He will be the number one tight end drafted this year. He'll be the number one tight end in Dynasty. I believe he is worth as high as the fourth overall pick in startup drafts for Dynasty. A difference maker for a long time period. And so goodness gracious. I mean, it's. He is that guy.

[Mike Wright]

I think I just finished talking about the rookie tight ends.

[Andy Holloway]

Yeah.

[Mike Wright]

That we have from what we saw on the field. Yeah. Opportunity wise because tight ends generally take a while to get cooking. You do have a second round tight end and Ben, I am the Senate. Senate.

[Jason Moore]

The senator, baby.

[Mike Wright]

Who? Second round tight end. You saw the tight end position succeed for Washington. Zach Ertz is a free agent and ancient. A free ancient.

[Andy Holloway]

Oh, a free ancient.

[Mike Wright]

He's a free ancient.

[Andy Holloway]

That's nice.

[Jason Moore]

And we need him to just. Zach Ertz, your career has been incredible. Like this is. He's not a hall of fame guy, but a truly incredible career.

[Mike Wright]

Donated our memories.

[Jason Moore]

And look, live for your family, man. Just be around and let the senator go to work.

[Mike Wright]

Mike would like nothing more in this life than Ben Senate to take over next year in Washington. You already know the quarterbacks in good shape. We had a little bit of opportunity for Tavian Sanders and Theo Johnson this year.

[Andy Holloway]

They showed flashes. There was a little stretch for the Carolina Panthers tight end Jatavian Sanders. He looked good. Well, Theo was looking good, but he went on ir, got injured. I mean, none of it. It was just like the truth of tight end episode. Okay. The truth of tight end episode was there are very, very few elite guys. Get one or just wait because the rest all suck.

[Jason Moore]

I guess before Theo went down for injury, things were trending up for him.

[Mike Wright]

I want to. I am struggling to find the drop. Here we go.

[Andy Holloway]

I want to play the game.

[Mike Wright]

I. I know we're running. We're running low on time, but I want to circle back to wide receivers.

[Andy Holloway]

Okay.

[Mike Wright]

Because there's.

[Andy Holloway]

Titans suck.

[Mike Wright]

There are so many names at wide receiver.

[Jason Moore]

I have like five more minutes on Ben Sennett.

[Mike Wright]

I'm sorry. We are back at wide receivers. I'm going to read you a name and you're going to tell me if they ever have a fantasy relevant season. This is the game.

[Andy Holloway]

Okay. All right. This is fun. So fantasy relevant being like wide receiver, 36 or better.

[Mike Wright]

Right. Top 40.

[Andy Holloway]

Okay. All right.

[Mike Wright]

Do they ever have a top 40 is relevant? Yeah. Do they ever have a top forty season for their entire careers?

[Jason Moore]

Okay. Okay.

[Mike Wright]

Are you guys ready?

[Andy Holloway]

Yeah. Just say the name.

[Mike Wright]

No, no, no. I'm going to ease you in a little bit. I'll ease Xavier Leggette. No, I guess I didn't ease you in at all.

[Jason Moore]

I'm going to go.

[Mike Wright]

So you said no. Okay. You said Ricky Pearsall.

[Andy Holloway]

Yes. Yes.

[Mike Wright]

Okay. Jalen Polk. Second round wide receiver.

[Jason Moore]

No.

[Mike Wright]

Second wide. Second round wide receiver, Adnai Mitchell.

[Jason Moore]

No.

[Mike Wright]

Third round wide receiver. Malachi Corley.

[Andy Holloway]

No.

[Jason Moore]

No.

[Mike Wright]

Third round wide receiver, Jermaine Burton.

[Jason Moore]

You had the world in your hands, dude.

[Andy Holloway]

Oh, man.

[Jason Moore]

It was there.

[Andy Holloway]

And then he just.

[Jason Moore]

And he punted it off the bridge.

[Andy Holloway]

He just peed.

[Mike Wright]

Is that a no?

[Jason Moore]

That's a no all the way.

[Mike Wright]

Third round, third round wide receiver, Roman Wilson of the Pittsburgh Steelers.

[Andy Holloway]

I want to say yes. I want to say yes.

[Jason Moore]

Hey, back your guys.

[Andy Holloway]

It's fine. I think he will. I think he'll be a relevant Christian Kirk type player someday.

[Jason Moore]

I'll say no.

[Mike Wright]

Luke McCaffrey for Washington.

[Andy Holloway]

No.

[Jason Moore]

I will say probably not.

[Andy Holloway]

No.

[Mike Wright]

Fourth round wide receivers. I'll give you the names real quick. Troy Franklin.

[Andy Holloway]

Yeah, baby. Of course. You're darn right he will.

[Mike Wright]

Now is that a real answer?

[Andy Holloway]

Do you want to know why? Because it's Franklin.

[Jason Moore]

You have the button?

[Andy Holloway]

Yeah. You're done, right? Do I really believe he'll be a top 40 wide receiver? No, I do not.

[Mike Wright]

Mike, I think you.

[Jason Moore]

I think so.

[Andy Holloway]

Yeah. Oh, I'm back in.

[Mike Wright]

Javon Baker. Yeah. Mike is the Franklin truther. Javon Baker?

[Jason Moore]

No.

[Mike Wright]

Okay. Malik Washington in the sixth round for Miami.

[Jason Moore]

Yes.

[Andy Holloway]

I'm going to say no. There's at least one more name that I like. Malik. Could be. Could be a top 40. This coming season, I think.

[Mike Wright]

What's that name?

[Andy Holloway]

Jordan Whittington for the Los Angeles rams with the 2 to Atwell.

[Jason Moore]

My Dino team likes hearing that Cooper Cup.

[Mike Wright]

You see why I wanted to circle back. There's a lot. I mean the wide receiver list, it's long.

[Andy Holloway]

Yeah. And to give.

[Mike Wright]

And a lot of those guys I read, I mean that was all third, second, third and fourth round picks.

[Andy Holloway]

Yeah. To give the foot clinic kind of an early heads up. We'll have all sorts of rookie preview, not review shows talking about the incoming draft class. But this really does seem like the pendulum swinging completely the other way. So far it's very, very early. We don't know draft capital and I haven't even finished scouting all the wide receivers. But the running back draft class seems very strong. I think there might be six guys in this class that I like better than my favorite of last year. The top is very good in this year's draft class. And so far on wide receivers, I am very meh. I mean you got one stud that seems like a, you know, a Layup and then TMac. Yeah. T Mac looks great. And then the rest have their questions. Yeah.

[Jason Moore]

Kyle just said there's only right now for mock drafts. Right now it's four wide receivers in the first round, which is. That's low.

[Mike Wright]

So that's with so probably Burden the third in the first round.

[Jason Moore]

Oh, yeah. Luther will be a first round and.

[Mike Wright]

Then what a villain name, amica.

[Andy Holloway]

Luther Burden. Burden. He's a like you got Lex Luthor. You got the. He's a burden. And then it's like he's generationally LB3. Yeah.

[Jason Moore]

So I'm trying to lose about 3lbs every day.

[Mike Wright]

Every day for a month.

[Andy Holloway]

LB3 is the hardest one to lose. You know, I can get down too, but when I try to get LB3, it's right back.

[Mike Wright]

Yeah. I like Matthew golden out of Texas too. Kyle. I see that's the last name in there. Egg Buca. Burden.

[Jason Moore]

Yeah. The wide receiver class could prove us wrong, but right now it is.

[Mike Wright]

All right, that is going to do it. For today's show, we are mock drafting the top 12 picks of 2025. That's right. On Thursday, say mock drafting those first 12 names. That should be a lot of fun. Take care.

[Jason Moore]

Goodbye.

[Andy Holloway]

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