Fantasy Football - Rookie Review + Worrisome Wideouts - Podcast for 2/17

Summary

Fantasy Footballers Podcast Summary

Episode: Rookie Review + Worrisome Wideouts
Date: February 17, 2026
Hosts: Andy Holloway, Jason Moore, Mike “The Fantasy Hitman” Wright

---

Episode Overview

The Fantasy Footballers review the 2025 NFL rookie class across key fantasy positions, comparing the crop to recent seasons and highlighting expected versus actual outcomes. A deep dive into "worrisome wideouts" explores why several hyped rookie receivers didn’t live up to expectations, while the hosts debate which young wideouts, running backs, quarterbacks, and tight ends are set up for future success (or likely disappointment) in 2026 fantasy football. Dynasty roster decisions and early best ball ADP also play a role in their player outlooks.

---

1. Quick Question: Worrisome Wide Receivers

Timestamps: 06:01 – 20:48

Prompt: Which wide receiver are you most nervous about for next year? (Due to performance, situation, or other factors.)

Main Discussion Points

• Emeka Egbuka (Tampa Bay)

  • Jason: "If you paid any attention to football last year... that drop really hurt him. When Gronk came out and said ‘Emika Egg Big Boo,’ that was the turning point." (06:01)
  • Started with elite numbers: 89 yds/game, 18 fantasy points through 5 games ("second most fantasy points of all time to start a career"), then fell to 41 yds/6 pts per game post-“Egg Big Boo”.
  • Mike: Expresses bias as a former believer, but admits, "I can't get on this podcast and be like, well, I'm not worried about it at all... because I don't believe it." (07:36)
  • Jason: The issue is "all about Igbuka"—uncertain if it's mental, physical, or QB-related, but "I believe it's going to work... I'm holding some chips, not all the chips." (09:35)
  • Team context (Evans/ Godwin): "I don't believe the situation around him really makes an impact." (08:49)

• Marvin Harrison Jr. (Arizona)

  • Mike: “For the first time this morning, I actually thought about maybe an unfortunate comp... There’s a reality where Marvin never, ever, ever meets your expectations for superstardom, but settles into the worst version of DK Metcalf that you could find.” (11:22)
  • Andy: "Even the production... It's plays any wide receiver should make. It’s Michael Pittman... that’s not Marv." (12:07)
  • Mike on inconsistency: "His play is so inconsistent right now... The great ones, they don’t go ping-ponging between ‘what are you doing?’ and ‘oh, that was nice.'" (13:34)
  • Big concern with Arizona’s QB situation and offensive direction.

• Rome Odunze (Chicago)

  • Andy: "Another first round WR... The first month was great... put up 5 TDs in 4 games, which will absolutely keep you afloat." (14:48)
  • Consistency: "He averaged 59 yards/week, that’s not going to get it done... he hit it five times out of 14 games." (15:23)
  • Target share threat: "The issue is Colston Loveland, Mr. Loveland, Luther Burden... two other guys who are top contenders to be that (No.1) for Chicago." (15:57)
  • Disappointing given dynasty capital; Andy questions whether there’s a future path to high-end value.

The Nervousness Ranking

• Jason: Most nervous about Rome, then Egbuka, least about Marvin.
• Mike: Most nervous about Egbuka, least about Marv ("could be the 2nd or 3rd WR on his team").
• Andy: Most nervous about Rome, then Marv, least about Egbuka.

Notable Quotes

• "When Gronk came out and said Emika Egg Big Boo, that was the turning point..." — Jason Moore [06:01]
• "There's a reality where Marvin Harrison never, ever, ever meets your expectations for superstardom, but settles into the worst version of DK Metcalf..." — Mike Wright [11:22]
• "You spent too much draft capital to get Michael Pittman or the worst version of Metcalf." — Andy Holloway [12:09]
• On Odunze: "...I'm just like, I don't know that there is a path for him to ever become anything close to what he was drafted to be." — Andy Holloway [16:53]

Best Ball ADP (as of Feb 2026)

• Egbuka: WR23
• Luther Burden: WR22
• Rome Odunze: WR28
• Marvin Harrison: WR33

---

2. Rookie Review by Position

Quarterback Review

Timestamps: 23:27 – 32:46

• Only four times in the last decade have multiple rookie QBs averaged 17+ FPPG (QB12 territory).
• 2025’s standout rookies: Jackson Dart and Tyler Shuck (not Cam Ward).
  • Dart: "Ceiling play... he keeps running headfirst into the ground and into defenders." — Andy [25:18]
  • Shuck: "Steady top 8, like top 6–8 quarterback for fantasy.” — Andy [27:01]
  • Kellen Moore’s system lauded for "fast-paced" fantasy goodness.
• Cam Ward: Showed improvement post-bye, with a strong TD:INT ratio late in the year—"10 touchdowns to one pick... I didn't know that either." — Mike [31:40]
• "Shoot your shot" on dual-threats—historically, those with 17+ FPPG as rookies are 50% likely to be top-5 fantasy QBs within two years.

Running Back Review

Timestamps: 32:53 – 38:18

• On average, 3 rookie RBs in the top 24 every year.

• 2025 class exceeded the average—five RBs in top-24 (points per game): Travion, Hampton, Harvey, Judkins, Gentry.

  • But "literal five lowest efficiency RBs" by YPC — lowest since 2020.

• Excitement with flashes, but no Bucky Irving-level difference makers; injuries and inconsistency were common.

• “Among RBs who were top-24 as rookies, 79% were top-12 the next year.” — Mike [35:23]

• Key: Pass-catching RBs excel as fantasy assets unless they're Derrick Henry; Judkins cited as an outlier who may not have passing profile.

• "Trayvon is the most interesting to me because when he was all alone, he was a dominant force that made the offense better." — Jason Moore [36:40]

• ADP Check: Genti (RB11), Hampton (RB15/16), followed by Scatterboo, Hendo, Harvey, Judkins.

Wide Receiver Review

Timestamps: 40:46 – 47:15

• 2019–2025: At least 4 rookie WRs in top-36 every year—”Last year it was BTJ and Neighbors and McConkey and Marv and Xavier Worthy... In 2025 we had two (Tet McMillan WR17, Emeka Egbuka WR20)." — Mike [44:02]
• 2025 was the lowest rookie WR yardage class since 2018.
• Luther Burden misses list due to injury; “Fewest WR yards of any class since 2018.” [45:11]
• Packers' Matthew Golden underperformed for a first-round pick; late rookie emergence (Travis Hunter, Parker Washington) discussed.
• Andy on Higgins: "Games got more important, rookies played less for the Texans. That is the opposite of what should happen." [46:00]
• Discussion on which later-round WRs might emerge (Pat Bryant, Kyle Williams, Isaac Teslaw, Tori Horton, Tez Johnson)... enthusiasm but skepticism about long-term WR2/WR3 status.

Tight End Review

Timestamps: 50:13 – 55:15

• 2025 rookie TEs set records for:
  • Most targets, receptions, yards, TDs by a rookie class.
  • Standouts: Colston Loveland, Fannin, Warren.
  • Depth beyond “big three” — guys like Ferguson, Gadsden, and the sneaky Gunner Helm are intriguing for dynasty dice rolls.
• Jason: "What a great TE draft class this year. Not a very deep tight end class in the incoming class." [52:06]
• "Can we get rid of the old refrain that rookie tight ends take a while to develop? Considering the last three years, we haven’t needed to." — Mike [53:01]
• Dynasty note: Loveland consensus top tight end to draft/keep.

---

3. Dynasty & Roster Strategy Takeaways

Timestamps: Scattered throughout

• Invest in rookie RBs who flash, especially pass-catchers—history supports major second-year breakouts.
• 2026's rookie class expected to be very WR-deep, but tepid on RBs; opposite of 2025.
• "You want to invest in rookie wide receivers and probably avoid the middle tier rookie running backs" for 2026. — Jason [42:55]
• NIL (Name, Image, Likeness) and COVID-era eligibility effects mean dynasty managers should watch for delayed breakouts and returners.

---

4. Notable/Memorable Moments

• The “Egg big Boo” saga and how one media slip reshaped the perception of a breakout receiver.
• Mike’s tongue-in-cheek “remove your name from his name” motion regarding DK Metcalf (“Mike Calf”) [11:17].
• Jason’s fantasy heartbreak: “My team was awesome and it got beat.” [05:30]
• Lively banter about Arizona’s heat, domes, and “Team Dome” for the entire state.
• Music break / Yacht Rock digression about Michael McDonald and office tunes [50:26–53:01].
• “Still waiting” jokes on tight ends breaking tackles (targeting Meowson Taylor) [52:55].

---

5. Final Thoughts & Upcoming

• Next episode: Mock Draft, first round.
• Recommendations to preorder UDK; reminder that rookie outlooks can shift rapidly.
• “UltimateDraftKit.com if you just need more good rookie chat, check it out.” [55:44]
• Emphasis on keeping perspective for dynasty — rookie breakout timelines and context still key.

---

In summary:
The 2025 rookie class delivered on its RB hype, did not for WRs, and produced an exceptional TE crop. Dynasty managers should be especially wary of over-investing in underperforming WRs like Egbuka, Marv, and Rome Odunze, but also keep an eye on their context for second-year surges. For 2026, the hosts are bullish on the incoming wide receiver influx but urge caution on rookie runner depth. Finally, recent years have shown rookie TEs can hit the ground running—adapt those old assumptions!

Transcript

[Andy Holloway]

Today's show is brought to you by our friends at indeed. We know here that hiring someone for a job, it's not just about filling a role. You got to find someone with the right background, the experience.

[Jason Moore]

It's.

[Andy Holloway]

It's a difficult thing to do. And that's what Indeed is here to help you do. Get the right person for that job. Indeed Sponsor jobs help you match with candidates who can move your business forward. Target candidates by skills, certifications or location. Join the 3.3 million employers worldwide that use INDEED to connect with quality talent that fits their needs. Spend less time searching and more time actually interviewing candidates who check all your boxes. Less stress, less time, more results. Now with Indeed Sponsored Jobs and listeners of this show will get a $75 sponsored job credit to help get your job the premium status it deserves. Indeed.com podcast terms and conditions apply. Hiring. Do it the right way with indeed.

[Sponsor Voice 1]

To be a Team USA skier, it takes dedication, determination, and lots of hard work. But it doesn't take all that to score unlimited 2% cash rewards on purchases. Just use the active cash Visa credit card from Wells Fargo and tap to pay with that natural born talent and unwavering focus. Earn unlimited 2% cash rewards on purchases with the active cash Visa credit card from Wells Fargo. Terms apply. Visit Wells Fargo.com ActiveCash Visa, a proud sponsor of the Olympics and Paralympic Games.

[Jason Moore]

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

[Mike Wright]

Welcome in.

[Andy Holloway]

Oh, man. Oh, man.

[Jason Moore]

Gonna be one of those shows that's.

[Andy Holloway]

Not mid season or off season.

[Jason Moore]

That's mid season.

[Mike Wright]

No, that's the beginning of a season.

[Andy Holloway]

All right.

[Jason Moore]

We just do whatever you want. Season.

[Mike Wright]

We just began 2026, Mike. Just now.

[Andy Holloway]

I mean, it was like a month and a half ago, but.

[Jason Moore]

No, no, no, no, no. Football.

[Mike Wright]

Yeah, we're gonna.

[Andy Holloway]

We have the Mayan calendar and the NFL calendar. That's how I live my life.

[Jason Moore]

Exactly.

[Mike Wright]

I think I saw somebody talking about how, like, we don't. Like, we shouldn't do New Year's the way we do New Year's. Like, the new year should be like when spring starts. You know what I mean? Because, like, our new year is like the dead of winter and people are stuck indoors. Like, it should be in association with spring and newness. Well, I get that, like, we should rotate the calendar.

[Jason Moore]

Basically. What you're saying is the final month of the year should be, like, March.

[Mike Wright]

Correct.

[Andy Holloway]

But, I mean, I don't know when.

[Mike Wright]

Spring starts because we don't have seasons and everything we have Hot or less hot?

[Andy Holloway]

Because the. I mean, the less hot's pretty nice, though. We have. You have the reverse seasons down under.

[Mike Wright]

Yeah, I don't.

[Jason Moore]

They don't.

[Mike Wright]

They're not part of our world, Mike, by the way.

[Andy Holloway]

I am sorry. Australia.

[Mike Wright]

You see, we had the hottest February in Arizona in history by a lot.

[Andy Holloway]

I felt out like it.

[Mike Wright]

It was like an average. Our average temperature for those out there, people. No, no, no. I know.

[Andy Holloway]

Buried in snow.

[Mike Wright]

I want you to understand this.

[Jason Moore]

You got it all.

[Mike Wright]

Our average temperature this month was 69 degrees.

[Andy Holloway]

That's not cold.

[Jason Moore]

That's pretty nice.

[Mike Wright]

The highest previous was like 64 as a high average. Like we're. Our water is. Our water is gone.

[Andy Holloway]

This is not good for snow.

[Mike Wright]

We don't have snow runoff. We got no water.

[Andy Holloway]

Don't worry, snow people. We're about to get. Get it.

[Jason Moore]

Yeah, we are.

[Andy Holloway]

We are. We are doomed.

[Mike Wright]

It's coming for us. I'll say it once. I'll. I've been saying it for a while. We need to get this state indoors.

[Andy Holloway]

We need to build.

[Mike Wright]

We need to build a whole. I mean, I'm Team Dome on that.

[Jason Moore]

Team Dome on the state of Arizona.

[Mike Wright]

Put the whole state inside of a dome. That take a while.

[Andy Holloway]

I feel like that's a pretty big project. Yeah.

[Mike Wright]

What is that city they're building over in the Middle East?

[Andy Holloway]

They canceled it.

[Mike Wright]

The line.

[Andy Holloway]

It's done.

[Mike Wright]

Oh, they're doing that?

[Andy Holloway]

No, I just saw it got canceled.

[Mike Wright]

Wait, fully canceled?

[Andy Holloway]

Yeah, we're done.

[Jason Moore]

I think they built a couple houses.

[Mike Wright]

That's the one where they. They also, because it was Dubai.

[Andy Holloway]

Right. We put a lid on it idea.

[Mike Wright]

They canceled it fully.

[Andy Holloway]

What if we put a giant mirror in the middle of the desert?

[Mike Wright]

Yeah.

[Andy Holloway]

Nothing will go.

[Mike Wright]

That actually really disappoints me. That was the first city that seemed like it would be from like cyberpunk or something. You know what I mean? What is this show? What do you talk about?

[Jason Moore]

Normally we're going to talk about rookies of last season and how they fared.

[Mike Wright]

Because this is a fantasy football podcast.

[Andy Holloway]

Yes, it is.

[Mike Wright]

And we are the host of that show. It is Tuesday, February 17th. Welcome in one and all. Ultimate Draft Kit pre order available atultimatedraftkit.com or order by March 1st and you'll be entered to win a listener league spot to play with us. The listener league winner of this past year sequentially beat Myself, I think, then Mike and then Jason.

[Andy Holloway]

Well, to win the title, really just. He laid down on the track.

[Jason Moore]

I beat myself in the championship to be fair, I was in the championship.

[Mike Wright]

To be fair. Yeah. So the very worthy winner is what I'm saying. But you can.

[Andy Holloway]

My team was awesome and it got beat.

[Mike Wright]

Yeah. Yeah. I felt good about mine and it went down. Lowest price of the year as well. Ultimate DraftKit.com Our quick question of the day kind of around, you know, wide receivers. What wide receiver are you the most nervous for for next year? There could be a lot of reasons why. Things that you saw over this past year, free agency, you know, coaching changes and any reason is fine. But is there a receiver that comes to mind where you are a very nervous right here, right now?

[Jason Moore]

Yeah. I mean for me, I don't think I need to really explain the reasons. If you paid any attention to football last year. That's right. And that drop really hurt him. When Gronk came out and said Emika egg big Boo. That was the turning point for a Mecca Igbuka because that on a very.

[Andy Holloway]

Large NFL pre show.

[Jason Moore]

Yeah, he pre egg big Boo. Okay. He was 89 yards per game, 18 fantasy points per game. We're talking overall wide receiver, one territory.

[Andy Holloway]

Post IG Big Boo to start the year. In his first five games it was the second most fantasy points of all time to start a career. Brian Pukinakua and then just in front of Malik Neighbors and then IG Big.

[Jason Moore]

Boo happened and from that point on, 41 yards per game, six fantasy points a game. That is the obvious reason why I am nervous. This is a player who I loved in college. Made him a my guy going into last year. He is a good wide receiver. He was talked up through the entire camp process. Baker talked about this rookie is coming in. Looks like a vet, does everything right. Loves him as a man. Just espoused as much as he could about this rookie. Like telling people, hey, he is the real deal. You come out first five weeks of the season. Obviously it was correct. So what in the freaking heck happened to make it to where you couldn't throw the ball to him? He had all uncatchable passes. When the ball went his way, he would drop it.

[Mike Wright]

I am. I am really nervous because I feel like I'm so invested in Ebuka on a number of levels that I feel like my normal default reaction would be to find a super clear path to tell you why he'll be fine. Like that's how I feel like my default reaction would be in this situation. Like I feel biased towards his success. I whether it's I'm rostering him and had him as A potential keeper. He won't be a keeper anymore. I just love what I saw on the field and the player. And yet I can't get on this podcast and be like, well, I'm not worried about it at all. It's totally fine. Like, he'll be totally, totally fine. It's not a big deal. Because I don't believe it.

[Jason Moore]

Because the path that you would describe happened for him when it all went wrong. He got the opportunity to be the dude. Mike Evans was injured, Chris Godwin was gone. It's like, hey, wow, this great rookie step up. And that's when he stepped down. So we don't know the status of Mike Evans, current free agent. I don't think it's.

[Mike Wright]

He had gotten. He got hurt, too. And there's a lot of talk ever since the hamstring injury for him. Not the same player.

[Jason Moore]

Yeah, I mean, I, I don't believe the situation around him really makes an impact. If Mike Evans is there, if Mike Evans is gone, Chris Godwin is fully healthy. If McMillan is a huge part, I think it's irrelevant. It's all about Igbuka. Is it a mental thing? Was it a physical thing? Was it. Was it, you know, maybe a little bit of Baker in there, too? Because Baker just had blinders on when he threw to a Buca. I believe it's going to work. I, you know, if I have to, I will have to. When we start statting out the UDK player by player, start at the team level, look at how many passing yards I think Baker's going to have, the percentages that goes. I'm going to put a Mecca Buka. As a player that I believe is going to be.

[Mike Wright]

Your chips are in.

[Jason Moore]

My belief is in. I'm holding some chips.

[Mike Wright]

Not all the chips.

[Jason Moore]

Yeah, because I'm nervous.

[Mike Wright]

Look, I. My player that I'm most nervous for at wide receiver, this is not going to be a surprise. I think a lot of people are annoyed, nervous, all of that. But for the first time this morning, I actually thought about maybe an unfortunate comp.

[Andy Holloway]

Before you give the name, I think it's the, the, the connection here of being nervous about Emeka Buka and being like, your guy. You're going to name, which you can.

[Mike Wright]

Name if you want.

[Jason Moore]

Okay.

[Mike Wright]

It's Marv.

[Andy Holloway]

It's Marvin Harrison. I mean, this was.

[Mike Wright]

Spoiler alert.

[Andy Holloway]

You're going into.

[Jason Moore]

Why would you do that?

[Andy Holloway]

I'm so sorry. But it's like, hey, year two, first round wide receiver, Ohio. This is wide receiver year nothing. It will he will be just fine. And then Marv was not.

[Mike Wright]

Oh, you're saying Abuka's one year behind on that same path? Yes, potentially. Look here. Here's the comp I started thinking about with Marvin and what people are going to have to reconcile and the nervousness, it's across the board. Who's the quarterback? New head coach Michael Wilson's emergence. Trey McBride is the true number one and will remain the true number one. And if Michael Wilson gets more work, because I don't know if I'm Michael Floor and I turn on the tape. I saw a lot from Michael Wilson. I didn't see much from Marvin Harrison. He had three weeks in his first 29 games as a top 12 fantasy wide receiver. Mike, there is a player that plays for Pittsburgh who you begrudgingly kind of got on board with at the very, very end, but mostly hated all off season. And his name is Mike Calf. DK Mike Cav.

[Andy Holloway]

I would like to file a motion.

[Mike Wright]

To remove your name from his name.

[Jason Moore]

Motion denied.

[Mike Wright]

There's a reality for Marvin Harrison where he never ever, ever meets any of your expectations for superstardom, but settles into the worst version of DK Metcalf that you could find. Yeah, that is.

[Andy Holloway]

Yeah, that's what I. Yeah.

[Mike Wright]

When I watch Marvin Harrison, like everything I saw for Michael Wilson was better than what I've seen from Marvin Harrison. Marvin Harrison has more often than not, not made the big play, not made the difficult play. He has made a handful in two years of plays where I was like, oh, and the rest have been very pedestrian. Even the production. It's plays any wide receiver should make. It's. It's Michael Pittman, which is. No, it's not disrespect to Michael Pittman.

[Andy Holloway]

But it's good wide receiver.

[Mike Wright]

It's like, dude, that's not.

[Andy Holloway]

Marv was.

[Mike Wright]

You spent too much draft capital to get Michael Pittman or the worst version of Metcalf. You were searching after a hall of fame.

[Jason Moore]

Yeah. You were searching after a world class wide receiver. I. I still believe. I still believe. And there is enough on tape. I know you're. You're saying that Michael Wilson. Honestly, Michael Wilson on tape definitely looked better than Marvin Harrison. He.

[Mike Wright]

Were you watching Ohio State tape or were you watching?

[Jason Moore]

I remember the Ohio State tape. But I mean in the first nine weeks of the season before he got injured 55% of his games, he was a wide receiver two or better. Like that's a good clip for two.

[Andy Holloway]

Wide receiver. Two.

[Mike Wright]

Yeah. Yeah.

[Jason Moore]

Okay. How about the same exact thing so.

[Mike Wright]

Half the time he was a wide receiver. Two or better. I think you're making my point.

[Jason Moore]

I don't. I don't think you understand the mike is. I don't think you understand the percentages of, I mean outside the top, like four or five wide receivers who are up there 80 to 90% of the time. That's not a bad rate for a wide receiver at all.

[Andy Holloway]

But we want top 12.

[Jason Moore]

Okay, so you're telling.

[Mike Wright]

Let me put it this way, 45% of the time he wasn't even a wide receiver. Too correct on a week?

[Jason Moore]

Sure. Yes.

[Mike Wright]

Okay.

[Jason Moore]

I'm okay.

[Andy Holloway]

Was these facts. Get out of here.

[Mike Wright]

Let me read you DK Metcalf's fantasy finishes in his career. 32, 7, 12, 18, 16, 31, 26. I hope that's not what we're reading off in five years. That's all I'm saying about Marv. Do I want him to succeed? Of course. But his play is so inconsistent right now. Whether those numbers are, you know, those numbers notwithstanding, his play on a play to play basis is inconsistent. The great ones don't do that. The great ones, they don't go ping ponging between what are you doing on that play? And oh, that was nice. You know, that's my point. And I'm really nervous. I'm really nervous because who's playing quarterback for Arizona? Yeah, I mean, how long is the journey going to be from here to relevance?

[Jason Moore]

The quarterback issue is probably the biggest issue with Marvin.

[Andy Holloway]

I think it's Kyler, my guy that I'm nervous about. It is another first round wide receiver. Another top 10 wide receiver is Roma Dunes of the Chicago Bears at the like a buka.

[Mike Wright]

The first month, it's such a good name.

[Andy Holloway]

The first month of the season was great for fantasy because Mr. Rome put up five touchdowns in four games. Five touchdowns in four games will absolutely keep you afloat. But so Rome appeared in, you know, he got hurt at the end of the year. He missed five of the regular season games, but he played two games in the playoffs. So you're talking 15 or, I'm sorry, 14 games. He was over. Like, do you guys know the average to get to a thousand yards now was 17 games? It's like 50 something, 59 yards. Yeah, he was.

[Mike Wright]

Which.

[Andy Holloway]

That's for fantasy, Des. Garbage. If you're telling me you're averaging 59 yards a week, like that's not going to get it done. And even that mark, he hit it five times. Five, five. I'm counting the playoff games too. Which maybe you're like, hey, I'm not going to count the playoff games because he was coming off the injury. I'm going to count them because the issue is Colston Loveland, Mr. Loveland, Luther Burden, like DJ Moore is already not even in the equation anymore, at least in my opinion. For fantasy of who can be fantasy.

[Jason Moore]

Correct in the financial equation.

[Andy Holloway]

Oh, yes, he's very, he's a Chicago Bear. I'm saying he won't. Like we aren't worried about DJ Moore or saying, hey guys, I think the number one target for Chicago, it still might be DJ Moore. I think that that is not happening. But you have two other guys who are top contenders to be that for the Chicago Bears. Mr. Loveland was not even really, he wasn't part of the equation when Rome was having the good games at the beginning of the year. I'm very concerned for him, especially considering like the investment in to Rome. It's like Marv, where Abu kind of fell a little bit in rookie drafts compared to how a first round wide receiver normally. But people were in on Rome. People were very in on Rome and I'm just like, I, I don't know that there is a path for him to ever become anything close to what we had, what he was drafted to be.

[Mike Wright]

These three names, I think at one point if you threw them all on a dynasty roster, you'd be oh, you'd.

[Andy Holloway]

Be like, oh my gosh.

[Mike Wright]

If you had maybe like three weeks.

[Jason Moore]

Into last year, I've got the future of the National Football League.

[Andy Holloway]

I will have a dynasty in our dynasty league.

[Jason Moore]

And now you're hoping like tell me one of them works out.

[Mike Wright]

So put them in order of nerves for you. Jason, like most nervous to least nervous about because it sounds like Marv is your least nervous. Probably.

[Jason Moore]

Yeah. I think I'm most nervous about Rome. Not based on what I've seen from him specifically, more based on what I saw from Loveland and even Luther Burden. The fact that the Bears, I think are going to be able to spread the ball around and Rome to me profiles now as a touchdown dependent player, he is not going to be the alpha, which he can be good at.

[Mike Wright]

That.

[Jason Moore]

Yeah, yeah. Oh, absolutely. He could have a season where he, you know, only has 60 receptions but has over 1,000 yards and you know, nine touchdowns and is really good for fantasy. That's, you know, that's fine. But his pathway, like if the touchdowns don't come, he might be the third wide receiver on his team.

[Mike Wright]

Can we just spread the production from Caleb Williams into all the quarters of the game, please. So we can just see normalcy. I'm probably the most nervous about a Buka in that bunch.

[Jason Moore]

Sure. I.

[Mike Wright]

And I probably. I would probably be. I'd probably be the least nervous about Marv. Two of those three. I think that's my. Because he is the Abuka. Could be the 1, 2, 3, 4 or 5 pass catching option. Rome could be 3 or 4. Marv, it's going to be 2 or 3.

[Andy Holloway]

My list would be. I'm most nervous about Rome. Second would be Marv. I'm least concerned about Ibuka.

[Mike Wright]

Yeah. Okay. Well, that makes me happy. Mike, persuade me for the. No, not now.

[Andy Holloway]

Oh.

[Mike Wright]

Throughout the entire off season, just persuade me. Keep saying nice.

[Jason Moore]

He's going to need a constant drip of positivity.

[Mike Wright]

That's it.

[Andy Holloway]

I mean, Mike Evans is the first shoe that has to drop.

[Mike Wright]

Yes. Off the team and into the hall of Fame.

[Andy Holloway]

Oh, let's do it. Let's do it. Fourth ballot hall of Fame.

[Mike Wright]

Yeah.

[Andy Holloway]

Wide receiver.

[Jason Moore]

I am curious about current best ball ADP on these three players. If you haven't seen it, what order do you think they're being drafted in?

[Mike Wright]

Oh, this is awesome.

[Andy Holloway]

Wow. Is. Are we in basketball?

[Mike Wright]

I'm going to guess. Okay. Upside. I'm going to guess that A. Dunes is going ahead of Marv and I'm going to guess that A Buka is going behind both.

[Jason Moore]

Okay. You're correct on one, incorrect on another. I'll tell you in a second.

[Andy Holloway]

Oh, I'm going to guess my mastermind right now.

[Mike Wright]

Okay.

[Andy Holloway]

Yeah. Crap. Okay. I think the first person would be. That's impossible.

[Jason Moore]

Three names.

[Mike Wright]

Yeah, you just got to pick up one.

[Andy Holloway]

I'll go. I'll go. Marv. Marv Abuka. Rome.

[Jason Moore]

It is. Marv. Last as the wide receiver, 33. Rome, wide receiver, 28. And Buka is still being drafted. Pretty hot and heavy. Wide receiver, 23.

[Mike Wright]

Okay, okay, okay.

[Jason Moore]

Luther Burden, wide receiver, 22.

[Andy Holloway]

Yeah, that's right, baby.

[Mike Wright]

That's right.

[Jason Moore]

That feels.

[Andy Holloway]

Oh, Luther Burton.

[Jason Moore]

That feels dumb.

[Mike Wright]

Just another on the year, Mike.

[Andy Holloway]

That came on a. I don't know if we can actually hit, but he is so good.

[Jason Moore]

See, Luther Burton, here's the thing. But both Luther Burden and Roma Dunes, A. I think they're both super talented and they share the exact same problem.

[Andy Holloway]

Which is Colston Loveland. Yeah.

[Mike Wright]

There was a switch in the NFL headquarters that said what is happening? And Mike turned it to what I want to happen.

[Andy Holloway]

Yeah.

[Mike Wright]

That is literally click.

[Jason Moore]

But Luther Burden is going to siphon off both these guys. And then each one of those two, they'll take turns. They'll be like, oh, this Luther is so good. Look. Oh, Rome sucks. And then Rome will get two touchdowns in a row. You'll be like, ah, Luther's done now. Rome stepping up. It's just going to be like that forever.

[Mike Wright]

All right, we're going to take a break. We're skipping news, we're pre recording this show by a couple of days and we're jumping into a rookie review. Have you ever wished you could make something happen just by thinking about it? Well, WIX may have just answered your prayers. That's right, WIX has done it. Their new Harmony editor makes it so easy to create a website exactly how you imagined it that it's almost like you're just thinking out loud. Experience the new way to create websites with WIX Harmony. It's a hybrid website editor that offers the perfect blend of of AI and precise drag and drop tools, introducing the world to the next generation of website creation. I mean I grew up building websites on my own. It is so much easier to build them now. WIX has it on lock switch back and forth between AI prompts and hands on editing. You can build the exact website that you want the way that you want. So easy. And you can also rest easy knowing that your WIX site is backed by 99 uptime. So you want your site online all the time. That's all the time. And enterprise grade security. No add ons required. Check it [e-mail] Harmony think switching to.

[Jason Moore]

T Mobile is a whole complicated thing? Nah, it's easy. You could do it almost anywhere in just 15 minutes.

[Sponsor Voice 1]

Even poolside like Drew Ski. You can switch to T Mobile and unlock savings that are built to last with with T Mobile's better value plan you can save over a thousand dollars a year versus Verizon at, at&t. Save on streaming satellite and more benefits that they leave out.

[Jason Moore]

I get all the VIP perks.

[Sponsor Voice 1]

Start saving from day one and for a limited time get T Mobile's Better Value plan.

[Jason Moore]

I know you love deals.

[Sponsor Voice 1]

Plus switch right now and we'll even pay off your old phone up to 800 bucks. What do you think of all that?

[Jason Moore]

Drew Ski? Stay chilling. Just switching. It's better over here.

[Sponsor Voice 2]

T mobile.com Better value savings versus comparable plans at, at and T&Verizon. Plus the cost of optional benefits, plan features and taxes and fees vary. With three plus lines of better value plan, three plus new lines and two eligible boards or three plus Lines and five plus years on T mobile postpaid plan. Require qualifying credit required. Checkout in 15 minutes or less per line. Get up $800 per line via virtual prepaid card. Typically takes 15 days after rebate submission. Qualify unlocked device credit service ported on you plus days with device. Ineligible carrier and timely redemption required. No cash access and card expires in six months. Card issued by Sunrise Banks NA member fdic.

[Mike Wright]

All right, here we go.

[Sponsor Voice 1]

Rookie review.

[Mike Wright]

All right, we're going to take a little walk through the positional groups for the rookies in 2025 and compare them historically. And we're going to start with the quarterback position. So we want to see how this quarterback rookie class compared to previous years over the last decade. We only had four years where multiple rookie quarterbacks average 17 plus fantasy points per game in their starts.

[Jason Moore]

Hard to do for rookie quarterbacks.

[Mike Wright]

So four times in 10 years or about as many times as Marv is.

[Jason Moore]

A wide receiver and 17 points per game. The reason we're using that metric, that's basically what the quarterback 12 is on average over any given season.

[Mike Wright]

So this year there were multiple. There were two rookie quarterbacks who hit that mark. And Sam Ward. Nope.

[Andy Holloway]

Oh, no, no, no.

[Mike Wright]

It's Jackson Dart and Tyler Schuck. Now what's interesting is neither of them really had this like it wasn't like the whole season. Right. Tyler Shuck came on at the end. Jackson Dart had a nice run injury. What's going on?

[Jason Moore]

Good run injury.

[Mike Wright]

Yeah.

[Jason Moore]

So nice individual run injury.

[Mike Wright]

Yeah. So it's interesting. Jackson Dart, Tyler Shuck. I mean they were the most exciting rookie quarterbacks, both from an NFL and a fantasy perspective. It wasn't Cam Ward, although he played better over the second half of the year, he did. Probably had the. Probably had the least total at his disposal, I would say in terms of.

[Andy Holloway]

Oh, for sure.

[Mike Wright]

Weapons, offensive line, all of it.

[Andy Holloway]

For sure. Yes. Yeah, I would say for sure.

[Jason Moore]

I mean, I know Chris, I love Chris Olave, but there was not much else to work with.

[Andy Holloway]

Chris Olave is a. Is a great player. Joanne Johnson is a serviceable tight end. So I think if you, I think.

[Jason Moore]

If you switch the quarterbacks, if you switch the quarterbacks, you'd be saying Calvin Ridley still had it and you had, you had Epic Aisle Manor and you had Chico.

[Andy Holloway]

I would disagree. Watching them, it was. They were not good. And the. And then I'm also including that coaching.

[Jason Moore]

Sure. Coaching.

[Andy Holloway]

It's Dart is the ceiling play. He is the far scarier player who keeps running headfirst into the ground and into defenders and sometimes his offensive line. And I am a little bit nervous about Matt Nagy being the mastermind of the offense for the Giants. You know, we talked about the Callahan stuff. He's the, He's a. The what? The passing game coordinator. It's not as. He's not as high on the level as. As Nagy is. Who. Nagy has like two years of success and those were with Mahomes and then he had years of not being great with Mahomes and then he had his own team and it was awful.

[Mike Wright]

And they didn't. They didn't, you know, he's not taking a better role.

[Andy Holloway]

Right.

[Mike Wright]

Somewhere else.

[Andy Holloway]

And then. So, but, but Dart is the player who he runs. So for fantasy football, that's what we want. Tyler Schuck might end up being the guy because he can make all the throws. He does run enough or you know, to, to boost the floor. And his coach, his coach gives his. Like Kellen Moore. I mean, you know, we get hot and bothered by a lot of different coaches and people might be like, I'm tired of hearing about it. Wherever Kellen Moore has gone, there has been fantasy goodness because of how he runs his offense.

[Jason Moore]

You know, fast paced.

[Andy Holloway]

Specifically fast paced. When you are playing multiple. When you get multiple snaps more per game over the course of the season, it really, really adds up. So while Dart is the. He's the one I prefer. I, you know, no risk it, no biscuit. I think it could easily end up being Tyler Shuck, who's just this real steady top eight, you know, like top six to eight quarterback for fantasy.

[Mike Wright]

I think one of the best things Kellen Moore did was entrust Tyler Schuck to throw the football and make bigger plays.

[Andy Holloway]

Yes.

[Mike Wright]

And give him responsibility. Like sometimes these offensive coordinators can just try to do too much protecting of the young player and then you have. You don't get to see enough.

[Jason Moore]

I think they protected him in the right way, which was via Spencer Rattler. They gave him time to. Not just by comparison, look how good Shrug is. But having Spencer Rattler win the job starting week one and letting Shuck have the time on the bench, that could have, that could have been helpful for him, even though he played 20 years of college.

[Mike Wright]

So fantasy wise, looking at, I mean, those are two guys over 17 fantasy points per game in their starts. And Jackson Dart, by the way, fifth best among rookie quarterbacks ever, averaging 41 rushing yards per game in those starts. But among the quarterbacks that have done that have gone over 17 fantasy points per game in year one, 50% of them were a top five quarterback within the next two years.

[Andy Holloway]

That's wild.

[Mike Wright]

So shoot your shot, right? I mean year two jumps for Lamar Jackson, Justin Herbert, Kyler Murray for fantasy wise.

[Jason Moore]

I agree with Mike. If you have to call your shot on one of these guys being top, which is a real fantasy asset, it's got to be Jackson Dart with the incredible amount of rushing that he does.

[Andy Holloway]

He did all that without Malik.

[Jason Moore]

Yeah, I mean you want to talk about the worst receiving core Wandale and.

[Andy Holloway]

I think Wanda was good.

[Jason Moore]

No, Wanda's good. But I'm saying that's, that's, that's his best. He's, he's not as good as Chris Olave.

[Andy Holloway]

Agreed.

[Jason Moore]

So maybe Dart, I mean all, all three of these guys did not have a ton to work with.

[Mike Wright]

There you go. So, you know, look at those other quarterbacks who hit 17 plus fantasy points per game. There was some regression in year two. Baker Mayfield, C.J. stroud, Bone Nix. Those are players that their fancy points per game decreased by three fancy points per game. We might have been having that conversation about Jayden Daniels had he gotten more of the season to like Jason brought up frequently how nice their schedule was in his rookie season. Year two, we didn't see like when we did the true series and we talked about Jaden for a minute, like we just didn't see the peak games and the, you know, in the few that he got. But yeah, and we'll see where Cam Ward falls in next year with I mean maybe an extremely talented wide receiver being added to the roster and some offensive line improvements.

[Andy Holloway]

They gotta do something and spending a.

[Mike Wright]

Lot of that capital. New head coach, new offense coordinator, Brian Dable. Like there is a lot of reasons.

[Jason Moore]

I mean being drafted at the one on one buys him time. I mean Bryce Young is still playing because if Bryce Young was drafted in the second round, he would have been moved on from already and that, that's where Cam Ward can compete with Tyler Schuck and Dart from not so much Dart, but Shuck. You know, if things go wrong, the rug can get pulled. If things go wrong for Cam Ward, it won't get pulled, but he'll probably get pulled. I would still definitely bet on both Dart and Chuck over Cambord.

[Mike Wright]

Do you realize, I mean when you look behind the scenes, I know the fantasy numbers weren't prolific or anything and again, his weapons sucked. But I'm looking at Cam Ward's game log right here, right? He started the year and he threw four touchdowns and what looks like 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 interceptions. Okay. You come out of the bye week and I know we said the coaching change happened, but also the bye week and getting into the speed of the league. You realize from the bye week on, he threw two, four, six, eight, 10 touchdowns and one pick. I realized the interception, he didn't throw an intercept. He threw one interception. From week 10 on if the entire season on a team that was constantly losing ball games and had to, had to throw the football. I think that that is what you, we all said, well, he looks better. I think that was a big part of the equation was like you're now running the offense. They were, they were coming back in some of these games. So I mean, I didn't know that either. I didn't know the touchdown to interception ratio was that good in the second half of the year.

[Andy Holloway]

But I don't think people should be out on Cam Ward of. He needs to have some time to develop, have competent coaches around him. It's just the, he is, he's more of a pocket passer. You know what those. After the bye week, he had right out the gate two games with 30 plus rushing yards. Okay, that's like, we would definitely take that. That's really solid. But then the remaining, what, six games he surpassed 10 rushing or he hit and surpassed 10 rushing yards twice. Like, so it's just, it doesn't, it won't be there for fantasy because he'll be a pocket passer.

[Mike Wright]

So even if pick. Do they have four or five.

[Andy Holloway]

Yeah. Around there.

[Mike Wright]

I mean they're probably the top, at least one of the highly, highly mocked teams to go Jordan, Tyson, Makai, Lemon, Cornell, Tate.

[Andy Holloway]

Like if they get, if they get one of those guys, that'll be exciting.

[Mike Wright]

They need to give him one of.

[Andy Holloway]

Those guys as the archetype of the pocket passer. He'll have, he'll just, he'll fluctuate.

[Mike Wright]

Oh, for sure.

[Andy Holloway]

So the no dart and sh. Because they're running more. It's just better for our game.

[Mike Wright]

All right, let's look at the running back position. Over the last decade, on average, we have had three rookies finish as top 24 running backs either looking at points per game or total points. So rookie running backs at least three on average. So you look at this year and this is perfect timing because we just on the Thursday show last week talked about how there were five rookie running backs that finished in the top 24 and fantasy points per game. And that's, I mean we, we've only seen that in 2020, but only points.

[Jason Moore]

Per game because they didn't play all their games. Basically. This is a weird season.

[Mike Wright]

Travion, Hampton, Harvey, Judkins. But we also talked about how they were the literal 5 lowest efficiency running backs as well. So from a yards per carry standpoint, I thought that that was kind of interesting. But we got five, we got five of those names. But I don't necessarily think that any of them felt like that. Bucky Irving level team addition because of the injuries, because of the inconsistency of when you knew you were going to get it from them. I think Travion had his nice window for sure and Genti did too. At the end of the season, Judkins seemed really impressive.

[Jason Moore]

Yeah, I think all these rookies showed enough in their rookie season in bursts and stretches for extreme excitement for most all of them going forward. TBD on the Judkins injury recovery process. Outside of that, then it's really.

[Mike Wright]

Harvey's at the bottom of my list of those five. Is he at the bottom of the list for you guys?

[Jason Moore]

Probably at the bottom of the list. I fully expect J.K. dobbins to resign and be back with the Broncos and that'll be a full time share. You're hoping that there is a year to leap in workload, in trust for, you know, now a somewhat of a veteran running back. Hampton. They shouldn't have Najee there anymore. I think Hampton is very, very exciting going forward. He showed enough and will be the guy from day one.

[Mike Wright]

It's. It'll be interesting. You want to see the efficiency get better for all of them. But here's the numbers behind the numbers here among the running backs who were top 24 in year one. So there's five of those guys this year, 79%, 79% of them were top 12 the next year.

[Andy Holloway]

Yes, it's. It is a incredibly good bet to make. But it's like so the examples, you know, McCaffrey, Camara, Jameer, Gibbs, pass catchers like you have, you have to be a pass catcher to get into the top 12. Unless you're Derek Henry and you're getting, you know, 12 plus touches.

[Mike Wright]

It feels like Judkins is the only one not in that category.

[Andy Holloway]

Of these five, which is not fair to Judkins. Like Judkins had. Judgins can catch, you know, like in college he caught at least can he.

[Mike Wright]

Like Ken Walker catch?

[Andy Holloway]

It's just, can you, can you be reliable in that part of the game? And it's like Judkins you know, his last two years in college, 22 receptions in both of them. It feels like he's the one part of his profile there's using them wrong.

[Mike Wright]

Yeah. And it's also. What else do you have around? Like, Trayvon is going to be.

[Andy Holloway]

Yeah, I know. The Cleveland Browns.

[Jason Moore]

Exactly.

[Andy Holloway]

What else do they have around?

[Mike Wright]

Dylan Sampson was a very capable pass catcher for them.

[Andy Holloway]

Sure.

[Mike Wright]

I'm just saying, like Harvey's the pass catcher, Trayvon's the pass catcher. Genti's the pass catcher.

[Jason Moore]

No, Trayvon should be the pass catcher. Unfortunately. Ramon Drake, a ton of passes.

[Mike Wright]

That's true. Yeah, that's true. But that's really.

[Jason Moore]

Travion is the most interesting to me because what he showed is that when he was all alone, he was a dominant force that made the offense better.

[Andy Holloway]

Right. Genti was already alone.

[Jason Moore]

And then when Ramon Dre came back, they still said, Ramondre is our starter. Ramondra. And then you go into the playoffs and you had teams where.

[Mike Wright]

Yeah, him and Harvey feel the same. Mish. Except for more explosive for Trayvon.

[Jason Moore]

I agree. I mean, yeah.

[Mike Wright]

What's the ADP like? I see Genti's at 11, Hampton's at 15 or 16. Where is. Where are the other names? Like, you're going to have Scatter Boo coming back who we don't get to talk about, but really Scatter Boo is.

[Andy Holloway]

Being drafted in front of Hendo, Harvey and Judkins, and that's the order.

[Mike Wright]

Hendo, Harvey, Judkins.

[Jason Moore]

Yeah. Yes, I think we do.

[Mike Wright]

That's a tough one.

[Jason Moore]

We will need health information on Scatterboo and Judkins before we know where we should be drafting them. I mean, if I knew Cam Scatter Boo was fully healthy, he'd be right up there with Hampton.

[Mike Wright]

To me, there were big time flops in that same category, only 33% of them. But in year two, losing about 2.6 fantasy points per game. Damian Pierce, Javante Williams, Bucky Irving, Clyde Edwards, Allaire, who was a top 25 back as a rookie, by the way, that was the other five running back here. You ready for the names? So 2020, Jonathan Taylor.

[Jason Moore]

Yes.

[Mike Wright]

Yeah, you're still good. James Robinson.

[Jason Moore]

Oh, yeah.

[Mike Wright]

Antonio Draft, Capital matters. Gibson.

[Andy Holloway]

Yep.

[Mike Wright]

DeAndre Swift hanging around and then ceh.

[Andy Holloway]

Whoops.

[Mike Wright]

So let's take a break and we'll talk whiteouts and tight ends.

[Andy Holloway]

Support for today's episode comes from Square. During Square's biannual releases event, they launched new tools built to help local businesses run faster, smarter and more profitably. These updates are live now and designed for businesses that want clearer insight and simpler operations. A key update is Square AI, which brings business data into one place so owners can ask questions and get instant answers. Square also introduced new financial tools to help track costs, manage cash flow and plan ahead. All of this works alongside Square's core features, including selling online or in person, accepting major payment types, managing staff and accessing funds quickly from one connected platform. Square launched its most powerful tools yet, designed to give local businesses a competitive edge without the complexity. If you're ready to sell smarter, run faster and stress less. Right now you can get up to $200 off square [e-mail] go footballers that's s Q U A R E Footballers. Run your business smarter with Square. Get started today.

[Jason Moore]

This show is sponsored by BetterHelp. February is the month of hearts, roses and chocolates. But love is imperfect. It goes through ups and downs and no matter where you are on your romance journey, single dating, just focusing on yourself therapy can be a helpful way to sort through it all. Signing up for therapy with BetterHelp can help you find your way by understanding what you want from a relationship and taking some of the pressure off of yourself. BetterHelp is the world's largest online therapy platform and it handles the initial therapist matching work for you. You just take a short questionnaire to share your needs and your preferences. And thanks to BetterHelp's industry leading match fulfillment rate, they usually get your match right the first time. You can also feel confident knowing betterhelp therapists work according to a strict code of conduct and are fully licensed in the United States. Everyone is still finding their way. Find yours and feel lighter. Sign up and get 10% [e-mail] footballers. That's betterhelph. E L-P.com footballers.

[Mike Wright]

All right, let's look at the wide receiver position since 2019. Did you have something you wanted to.

[Jason Moore]

Add, Jason, in a later?

[Mike Wright]

Why'd you raise your hand?

[Jason Moore]

Well, no, I'm just. I'm excited.

[Andy Holloway]

I was excited to say something at the end of the show.

[Jason Moore]

Call on me in about.

[Andy Holloway]

Hold on. Stop the show.

[Jason Moore]

Three to five minutes.

[Andy Holloway]

Yeah, I need to say something in about.

[Jason Moore]

Well, I can. I can. I can essentially lay this out. Since we're between running back wide receivers. I think it is worth looking at the overarching view of how the draft class was expected to play out versus how it did play out and how that compares from 2025 to this incoming class of 2026 because they are inverse. Last year was a Running back, heavy draft class where everyone was like, man, there are. It's so deep. There are so many great running backs. There's super high end talent and then the next tier are guys that can be real difference makers. Wide receivers. There's like a guy or two we like and then it's pretty weak and that totally played out. It was just true. And we'll talk about that in a second when we look at what usually happens with wide receivers versus what actually happened with wide receivers. But this year the expectation going in is the exact opposite. It's a very deep wide receiver draft class. There. There isn't a definite Malik Neighbors, Jamar Chase. Yeah, I know, but it's.

[Mike Wright]

You don't feel that way.

[Jason Moore]

I love Tyson. I think he is.

[Mike Wright]

He your.

[Andy Holloway]

He's my number one.

[Jason Moore]

He is currently both. Yeah.

[Mike Wright]

Right now.

[Jason Moore]

I didn't know he was.

[Mike Wright]

I love it.

[Jason Moore]

But, but the wide receivers, there's. There's a lot. There could be five or six wide receivers drafted in the first round this year. That's great. Running backs. Yeah, you've got love who you'll. If you don't know the rookies yet, you know, you'll know him and then okay, there's a guy or two you can like and then it's. It's pretty weak, man. So I expect this year to play out opposite of last year. I think. I think you want to invest in rookie wide receivers and probably avoid the middle tier rookie running backs.

[Mike Wright]

But probably a. Yeah, definitely a good thing to mention as we get towards this next crop of, you know, you're in the dynasty past. You're looking at where we have our pre draft rookie rankings. You know, it changes ebbs and flows year to year. And a lot of, you know, we were talking about this with the nil and with the collegiate level. A lot of players are going back. You know, we had some quarterbacks we thought were coming out. They're not going to come out. You might have a one or two year delay until you start getting maybe even better draft classes than ever before because you've stayed in college for a couple more years. It's just. You got to catch up to that if guys are going back and taking the nil money. Right.

[Jason Moore]

Yeah, it is worth noting. I mean, we don't know how many guys are going to go back to college in 2028, but right now, I know it's early, but, you know, for the dynasty players out there, 2027 draft class looks really good.

[Mike Wright]

All right, wide receivers since 2019, we've had at least four rookie wide receivers finish inside the top 36 every single year. Last year it was BTJ and Neighbors and McConkey and Marv and Xavier Worthy. In 2025 we had two.

[Jason Moore]

Exactly. And one of them, and they weren't.

[Mike Wright]

They weren't big fantasy. Like one was the rookie of the year, Tetterall McMillan and his fantasy finish was 17 and the other was a Mecca Abuka and he finished at 20. So. And then, and then Luther Burden is sitting there and he didn't contribute over a long enough period of time to matter. He was hurt at the beginning and it's exciting. But yeah, it was definitely. I mean, Brian Thomas was the number four wide receiver last year. Malik Neighbors was seven. McConkey was 12. We had three top 12. This year we had two top 20 and they were barely in there. This was the fewest receiving yards of any wide receiver rookie class since 2018.

[Jason Moore]

So to your point, what we thought was going to happen happened. And I know that there was more excitement when the packers stupidly took Matthew golden in the first round because it's like, oh good, another first round wide receiver.

[Mike Wright]

But the expectation he end up not doing much.

[Jason Moore]

He didn't do first round caliber. I think he did exactly what most people thought he would do, but not the Packers.

[Mike Wright]

You mean scoring the playoffs?

[Jason Moore]

Yeah, for the first time.

[Mike Wright]

That was, that was too funny. Yeah, I mean fewest wide receiver yards of any class since 2018. So. You know, Travis Hunter, it seemed like there was an emergence about to happen.

[Jason Moore]

There's like one game, right?

[Andy Holloway]

Yeah, it was, it was that big game and now London and now all.

[Jason Moore]

Of a sudden because the emergence of the other wide receivers. Parker Washington looking good.

[Mike Wright]

Yeah, he had the 14 targets, eight catches, one on one and a touchdown. And then it's like went into the bye week and got hurt over the by.

[Jason Moore]

Yeah. And. And, but now it's. There's talk about maybe they focus him more on cornerback since they kind of don't need him at wide receiver, which.

[Mike Wright]

Yeah, yeah, that could delete.

[Jason Moore]

Yeah, you could just delete a player.

[Mike Wright]

And Jaden Higgins, you know, he had his moments, but he's mixed in with Jalen Noel and some of it was injury to Nico Collins.

[Andy Holloway]

Hated. Like Jaden Higgins was a name I thought about talking about for our opening segment, but it's like he doesn't have the.

[Jason Moore]

Not important enough.

[Andy Holloway]

Yeah, he doesn't carry the weight with the name. The fact that as games got more important, the rookies played less for the Houston Texans Was very concerning. That is the complete opposite of what should happen. If a team is confident that this.

[Jason Moore]

Can I make a counter. Can I make a counter argument to that?

[Andy Holloway]

Yes.

[Jason Moore]

What?

[Mike Wright]

15 minutes.

[Jason Moore]

Yeah, talk to me later.

[Mike Wright]

I'm preparing it right now.

[Jason Moore]

What Higgins did when he was on the field was very good.

[Andy Holloway]

Yes.

[Jason Moore]

He wasn't on the field as much. And I think that that is more coaching rather than him not stepping up and just taking it over.

[Andy Holloway]

I think the question is, but going.

[Jason Moore]

Into next year, he's not a rookie anymore and I think the coaches are going to say, okay, now is the time to trust and blah, blah, blah.

[Mike Wright]

I guess my only counter. Counterpoint.

[Jason Moore]

Okay.

[Mike Wright]

Would be that I didn't.

[Jason Moore]

You're making it now.

[Mike Wright]

I saw solid receiver play from Higgins, but not. Not the stuff I saw from Tet or a Buka at his peak.

[Jason Moore]

Oh, sorry.

[Mike Wright]

Burden. So it just seemed like, is this guy going to be kind of locked into like wide receiver, 2, 3 territory?

[Andy Holloway]

Receivers should get stronger as the season goes. You should not see less playing time. That's a red flag that maybe, maybe it goes away because Higgins was an interesting prospect. What a second round pick. I'm okay with the player, but hate the ending.

[Mike Wright]

I think you're more likely to see one of these names emerge than Jaden Higgins as a fantasy value in the next three years, which is. I'm going to give you some names. You pick your favorite. Just give me your favorite. They're all Mike's favorite.

[Andy Holloway]

Literally.

[Mike Wright]

They all actually might all be his favorite. Kyle Williams, Isaac to Slaw, Pat Bryant, Jalen Noel, Jim Ray, dk. Do not forget, for goodness sakes about Tori Horton. Sure. Because Cooper Cup's time. It's. It's ending. And Torrey Horton was flashing five touchdowns and then forgotten about because. And super bowl Champ, he had 13.

[Andy Holloway]

Receptions and five touchdowns.

[Mike Wright]

And then Tez Johnson kind of opportunistically. But is there a name in there that you think, like if you had to bet on one of those guys being, you know, a wide receiver to perennially. Is there a name?

[Andy Holloway]

The. The one I would expect to be the most productive next year is Pat Bryant. But it's a. Because of the opportunity, like the way I saw it anyways playing out was that Pat Bryant was kind of solidifying himself as the. As the number two guy behind Cortland Sutton. But then he just got hurt like every single game, you know, Williams, that was it. It's tough. He had 10 catches, he had three touchdowns. He showed the big playability. I don't know what Vrabel's plan will be for Kyle Williams. Will he just continue to be that type of a field stretching gadget player? And then Tesla is. Oh, gosh, if we ever got to unleash Tesla, it would be incredibly fun. But Amon Rossane Brown and Jameson Williams in front of you and Sam LaPorta. And LaPorta is like you. He needs the Runway to clear before he even gets better.

[Mike Wright]

Make your big plays.

[Andy Holloway]

Yes.

[Mike Wright]

Horton is the one that I think is going to be. Is pretty interesting to me and maybe more forgotten about.

[Jason Moore]

Yeah. And I would throw Tim Ray DK out there as interesting because he probably did the most this year of all of these wide receivers that you just named. And then if you look at how good he was on special teams, it just showed when he was on the NFL field against NFL defenders.

[Andy Holloway]

He belongs.

[Jason Moore]

He. He is good. He is electric. And so if he gets more involved as a wide receiver, obviously the new coaching staff and all that, he showed enough to break out and then I will not stand for. Despite him playing every game and doing nothing for the entire season, I still love Trey Harris.

[Andy Holloway]

Oh, dude, I'm in. I'm in.

[Jason Moore]

T.R.

[Mike Wright]

Harris is a perfect sleeper candidate. You're going to have Mike, Mick, Dan, Yoel.

[Jason Moore]

Nice first try.

[Andy Holloway]

I thought we were going to Mickey D's.

[Jason Moore]

Oh, you don't want to put the D's on there. But you.

[Mike Wright]

But that's how it's like wholesome, you know, Anyways. Well, yeah, Trey Harris is definitely interesting at tight end. The tight end position. Looking at the rookie review and we're.

[Andy Holloway]

Getting a photo of the old school Michael McDonald.

[Mike Wright]

Oh, my.

[Andy Holloway]

Not in love anymore.

[Mike Wright]

Oh, dude.

[Andy Holloway]

And Michael McDonald rips yacht rock. Dude, he rips, man. Yeah.

[Jason Moore]

Even if that was called, it makes so much sense.

[Mike Wright]

Apparently. Brooks was hoping you'd do an impression of Michael McDonald.

[Jason Moore]

It's a rock rock for uppity rich dude.

[Mike Wright]

We were definitely jamming on that in the office of. I remember that.

[Andy Holloway]

I mean, it's Regulators, dude. That's how much it rips. Orange was like, Dude, Michael McDonald rips. Let's go.

[Mike Wright]

Oh, my goodness. All right, tight end position as we close out our rookie review.

[Andy Holloway]

Thank you.

[Mike Wright]

I was hoping 2025 gave us the most targets, receptions, receiving yards and receiving touchdowns by rookie tight ends ever.

[Andy Holloway]

Makes sense.

[Mike Wright]

Targets, receptions, receiving yards, receiving touchdowns. Loveland, Fannin, Warren, let's go.

[Jason Moore]

Yeah. And I believe it's bright futures for all three of them. And then there are still behind those three excellent wide receivers There are still guys that could. I mean, I don't think Terrence Ferguson is done. They use Meowson Taylor.

[Andy Holloway]

Oh, I say. Oh, I thought you were saying Ferguson is.

[Mike Wright]

Sorry. No, no, no. Oh, I was just saying another rookie.

[Jason Moore]

But my favorite of the. Of all the tight ends behind is around a Gadsden who looked outstanding in stretches this season. What a great tight end. Draft class this year. Not. Not a very deep tight end.

[Mike Wright]

Not very deep, but you could still have. I mean, Sadiq is going to go very, very high.

[Andy Holloway]

Sadiq will be interesting.

[Mike Wright]

And then some people are more. I mean, more in on what? Stowers.

[Andy Holloway]

Yeah, there's. There's some.

[Mike Wright]

Claire.

[Jason Moore]

Yeah.

[Andy Holloway]

There's some names. And if you want to hear more about the rookie tight end class, we kind of previewed the guys at the top on this week or last week's Dynasty pod, and I dropped. I already. I already got it. It's not going to surprise you, Andy. There's already a tight end who I really, really like.

[Mike Wright]

Oh, my gosh. Ben Sennett's brothers in this class.

[Jason Moore]

Yeah. Mike has a tight. Yes. I want a big tight end that just mows people down.

[Andy Holloway]

Punish, punish people. Be like, what. What crime am I guilty of? I am bigger than you. That is the crime, and you will be punished.

[Jason Moore]

And that's why he did not like Meowson Taylor.

[Andy Holloway]

Correct.

[Mike Wright]

Still waiting to break a tackle. Is that what we're.

[Andy Holloway]

Oh, we are still waiting.

[Mike Wright]

Although, can we get rid of the old. Reframe that? Rookie tight ends take a while to develop. Considering the last four years, three years, we didn't need to develop anymore.

[Jason Moore]

I think that the only thing that you still hold on to is you don't assume that when a rookie tight end doesn't have a breakout season that it can't still happen. I hear.

[Andy Holloway]

I hear what you're saying.

[Jason Moore]

That's a Gadsden.

[Andy Holloway]

No, no, no, no. The new starter for Washington, year three.

[Jason Moore]

Oh, yeah. Breakout.

[Mike Wright]

I'm not going to doubt Mike until this year is definitively over with something horrible happening. Yes. To one of his predictions.

[Andy Holloway]

Unleash the senator. Dude, we got to get this show over so we can just blast some Michael McDonald.

[Mike Wright]

That's. That is correct. But yeah. Loveland Warren. You talked about some of the other names. I think Ferguson's interesting.

[Andy Holloway]

Yes.

[Jason Moore]

So you two.

[Andy Holloway]

As is Gunner Helm.

[Mike Wright]

Oh, Gunner Helm is sneaky.

[Andy Holloway]

Literally everyone.

[Mike Wright]

Very sneaky.

[Jason Moore]

Everyone.

[Andy Holloway]

Loveland, Warren, Ferguson, Arroyo.

[Jason Moore]

Not so much.

[Andy Holloway]

Okay, not all of them.

[Mike Wright]

Maybe there's two.

[Andy Holloway]

Arroyo and Mason Taylor. I am not Very interested in. But everybody else, because you're a barner man, everyone else has a place on a. On a Dynasty roster.

[Jason Moore]

And I know we've talked about the trifecta several times already this off season, but I just want to confirm for fantasy purposes, you guys, do you both have Loveland as the one you would.

[Andy Holloway]

Draft first of the three? Of the three.

[Jason Moore]

Yeah. And I have.

[Mike Wright]

I won't have to draft him, though. You know what I mean?

[Jason Moore]

Yeah.

[Mike Wright]

He'll already be on my team.

[Jason Moore]

Right.

[Mike Wright]

Because it'd be a keeper.

[Andy Holloway]

Yeah.

[Mike Wright]

But for my future title team.

[Jason Moore]

Right. I just want to remind the listeners. But I would if he was out keeper. Situation is you're not keeping him at a pick. You're keeping your best three players. So he will be one of your keepers.

[Mike Wright]

Yeah.

[Jason Moore]

Okay, cool. So it's like drafting him in the first three rounds. Would you do that?

[Mike Wright]

He's trying to make this bad. He's trying to make this bad for me, sir. He's trying to make this bad.

[Jason Moore]

Loveland's not going to.

[Mike Wright]

Speaking of the first three rounds, how many picks do you have in the first three rounds?

[Andy Holloway]

You can't let go of your hatred of Loveland.

[Jason Moore]

No, I don't hate Loveland. Yes, you do. I'm mocking keeping him. He's not going to go in the top three rounds.

[Andy Holloway]

Where would he go? Fourth round.

[Jason Moore]

I think Loveland will be a fourth or fifth rounder.

[Andy Holloway]

Yeah, he won't be in the fifth.

[Mike Wright]

Our situation is positional. We force positional diversity as well. So it's not like we just keep our best players. We have some, like, rule sets in there. But I like you trying to shame my pick. It's what I would do if I didn't have any picks. I would try to make other people's players seem worse. Hit it.

[Jason Moore]

Hit that button.

[Andy Holloway]

All right.

[Mike Wright]

We're going to say goodbye. Yeah, we're out of here. Mock Draft, first round, next episode. Don't miss it. Ultimate Draft kid.com if you just need more good rookie chat, check it out.

[Andy Holloway]

Goodbye.

[Jason Moore]

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.

[Sponsor Voice 3]

Justworks helps small businesses support their teams with everything from HR to better benefits. Whether you're hiring, automating payroll, expanding globally, or tackling compliance, JustWorks offers transparent pricing and 24. 7 human support. Hire and manage talent without juggling multiple platforms or hidden fees. And get your team access to premium benefits like health insurance. 401k and commuter perks. Learn [e-mail] they do your human resources right so you can do right by your people. Just works for your people.

[Sponsor Voice 4]

There's a reason Chevy trucks are known for their dependability. It's because they show up no matter the weather, push forward no matter the terrain, and deliver. That's why Chevrolet has earned more dependability awards for trucks than any other brand in 2025, according to J.D. power, because in every Chevy truck, like every Chevy driver, dependability comes standard. Visit Chevy.com to learn more. Chevrolet received the highest total number of awards among all trucks in the J.D. power2025 U.S. vehicle Dependability Study awards based on 2022 models. Newer models may be shown. Visit jdpower.com awards for more details. Chevrolet Together, let's drive.