The TRUTH: QBs Part 2 + Deep Dives, Pendulum Swings - Fantasy Football Podcast for 1/21

Summary

Podcast Summary: Fantasy Footballers - Fantasy Football Podcast

Episode Title: The TRUTH: QBs Part 2 + Deep Dives, Pendulum Swings
Release Date: January 21, 2025
Hosts: Andy Holloway, Jason Moore, Mike "The Fantasy Hitman" Wright

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1. Episode Overview

In this episode of The Fantasy Footballers Podcast, hosts Andy Holloway, Jason Moore, and Mike Wright delve deeper into their ongoing "The Truth" series, focusing on quarterbacks' performances during the 2024 NFL season. The trio offers in-depth analyses, strong opinions, and strategic advice for fantasy football enthusiasts aiming to optimize their quarterback selections. Additionally, they cover significant news and notes from around the league, including coaching changes and team updates.

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2. Weekly Football Recap

Key Highlights:

• Buffalo vs. Kansas City: Mike Wright expresses excitement about the potential matchup, referencing a memorable comeback by the Chiefs against Buffalo. He remarks, “... the fact they won and then, man." ([02:51], [03:14])

• Refereeing and Flopping: The hosts discuss the controversial officiating in recent games, particularly criticising Patrick Mahomes' on-field antics. Andy Holloway comments, “...like he was a flop, dude. It's a flop.” ([04:09], [04:12])

• Fan Sentiment on Chiefs: Jason Moore highlights a poll showing a significant shift in fan opinions towards the Kansas City Chiefs, noting, “76% are on. I can't stand the Chiefs.” ([05:57])

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3. The Truth: Quarterbacks Part 2

a. Kyler Murray

• Performance Analysis: The hosts critique Murray's inconsistency, emphasizing that his fantasy value fluctuated based on his rushing performance. Mike Wright states, “... he was so much worse in the second half because the first half of the season his consistency score was number five.” ([20:14], [20:34])

• Strategic Advice: They advise caution when drafting Murray, suggesting he could be a high-risk, high-reward pick in double-digit rounds. Andy Holloway remarks, “I want to be out.” ([24:10], [24:27])

b. Brock Purdy

• Season Performance: Purdy is acknowledged for performing reasonably given his team’s struggles. “Brock Purdy did the best he could do this year.” ([26:59], [27:07])

• Fantasy Implications: While consistent, Purdy lacked standout games necessary for championship contention. Jason Moore notes, “... he's not going to win you a championship.” ([28:32])

c. Justin Herbert

• Consistency Issues: Herbert's fantasy relevance is questioned due to a lack of explosive games, though there was improvement in passing efficiency later in the season. “He never had a great game.” ([29:15], [29:30])

• Future Outlook: The hosts remain cautiously optimistic about Herbert's future in fantasy football, expecting potential growth with offensive additions. Jason Moore states, “I really do think [Herbert] will be... relevant for fantasy football purposes.” ([31:15])

d. Caleb Williams

• Rookie Season Struggles: Williams faced significant challenges, including a high number of sacks and turnovers, leading to a poor fantasy finish. “This was more catastrophic by far. This is worse than the Kyler one.” ([45:19], [45:43])

• Development Potential: Despite the rough start, there's hope for improvement with new coaching strategies under Ben Johnson. Jason Moore suggests, “...if he [turns it around], he will be relevant for fantasy football from time to time.” ([56:26], [56:34])

e. Geno Smith

• Declining Performance: Smith’s fantasy value has diminished, with a noticeable drop from previous seasons. “He was a two quarterback guy.” ([37:31])

• Team Dynamics: His performance is tied to the Seahawks' offensive changes, including the departure of key wide receivers. Andy Holloway comments, “He was the only 16 over the first half because...” ([39:11])

f. Jordan Love

• Inconsistency Issues: Love struggled with touchdown rates and was heavily influenced by the Packers' reliance on running back Josh Jacobs. “7% great. 21% good. 43% bust.” ([41:58], [42:04])

• Future Prospects: The hosts remain skeptical about Love’s long-term fantasy viability, citing the Packers' offensive strategy. Jason Moore states, “He's the quintessential pocket passer...” ([43:22])

g. C.J. Stroud

• Rookie Performance: Stroud faced a challenging rookie season but showed signs of improvement towards the end. “This was, I would say, you can't win with that.” ([45:19], [46:26])

• Fantasy Relevance: Despite setbacks, he holds potential for future fantasy seasons if supportive offensive pieces are added. Jason Moore advises, “I will be very relevant for fantasy.” ([47:15])

h. Anthony Richardson

• Disappointing Season: Richardson is highlighted as a major fantasy bust, with low completion rates and high bust game percentages. “This was obviously one of the biggest busts in fantasy football.” ([56:26])

• Future Outlook: The future remains uncertain, as he faces potential benching due to inconsistent performances. Mike Wright notes, “this was one of the biggest busts.” ([56:46])

i. Bryce Young

• Mid-Season Improvement: Young showed promise in the latter half of the season, regaining some confidence and performance. “He was happy in a big way.” ([60:19], [60:34])

• Fantasy Potential: While not a top-tier fantasy quarterback, Young could offer value in deep rounds or super flex leagues. Jason Moore suggests, “...he'll probably be a better value than the guys around him.” ([62:03])

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4. News and Notes: Coaching Changes and Team Updates

Key Highlights:

• Chicago Bears: The Bears hired Ben Johnson as their new head coach, aiming to revitalize the team’s performance. “Ben Johnson goes to Chicago.” ([12:42], [13:02])

• Colts and Falcons: The Colts appointed Lou Anarumo as their defensive coordinator, while the Falcons hired Jeff Ulbrich as interim head coach. “Colts hired Lou Anarumo... Falcons hired Jeff Ulbrich.” ([13:27], [13:50])

• Miami Dolphins: Discussions centered around the Dolphins' offensive strategy and the future role of Tua Tagovailoa amid coaching decisions. “What is the future of the Miami Dolphins...” ([51:18])

• Coaching Dynamics: The impact of new coaches on quarterback development and team strategies was a recurring theme, especially concerning young quarterbacks like Caleb Williams.

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5. Final Thoughts and Future Projections

QB Drafting Strategy:

• The hosts emphasize the importance of understanding quarterback consistency and variability. They caution against overvaluing quarterbacks with high ceilings but low floors, advocating for a balanced approach in drafts.

Fantasy Football Advice:

• High-Risk QBs: Players like Kyler Murray and Anthony Richardson are portrayed as high-risk, high-reward options, suitable for late-round picks or super flex leagues.

• Reliable Picks: Quarterbacks showing consistent performance, such as Justin Herbert and Jordan Love, are discussed with nuanced views on their fantasy relevance based on team dynamics and offensive support.

Future Episodes:

• The hosts tease upcoming episodes that will continue to explore quarterback performances and extend their analysis to running backs, promising further insights and strategic guidance for fantasy football enthusiasts.

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Notable Quotes:

• Mike Wright: “He’s the flop at the end where the ref didn’t call it and it was just. It was full soccer flop.” ([04:12])

• Jason Moore: “76% are on. I can’t stand the Chiefs.” ([05:57])

• Andy Holloway: “I want to be out.” ([24:10])

• Mike Wright: “This was obviously one of the biggest busts in fantasy football.” ([56:26])

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This episode provides valuable insights into quarterback performances, offering fantasy football managers nuanced analyses to inform their drafting and in-season management strategies. The hosts blend statistical analysis with personal opinions, making it an informative and engaging listen for both seasoned and novice fantasy football participants.

Transcript

[Andy Holloway]

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[Mike Wright]

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[Jason Moore]

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

[Mike Wright]

Welcome in Tuesday, January 21st, Mike Wright, Jason Moore, Andy Holloway, the fantasy footballers. Back at you.

[Andy Holloway]

It was a good weekend of football.

[Mike Wright]

I don't know if I'm looking forward to. I mean, it was. It was a good weekend of football. It was a wild weekend. Lots to talk about. We've got our truth series going on right now, part two of the Quarterbacks. But I can't tell you how much I'm looking forward to Buffalo, Kansas City.

[Andy Holloway]

Very much.

[Mike Wright]

I rewatched the epic of the Comeback. Every time I watch that, I'm still blown away by the reality of it, where they throw a touchdown pass and there's 13 seconds left on the clock for the Chiefs and they give up two plays. You know, you stop one or you make one short. It's over. There's no chance. The fact they won and then, man.

[Jason Moore]

Those were the good old days. Because I don't think that's what we're going to get at all.

[Mike Wright]

Those two teams are not the same.

[Jason Moore]

No. And one of those two teams is the worst. Just the absolute worst.

[Mike Wright]

I full turn. Yeah. I don't want to always go with kind of the mob mentality when it comes to all the referees and oh, look, we should appreciate greatness and all this stuff. Like no, they. They're really annoying. Like Patrick Mahomes dives.

[Andy Holloway]

He's.

[Mike Wright]

It's a flop, dude.

[Andy Holloway]

This is the flop at the end where the, the ref didn't call it and it was just. It was full soccer flop. Shameful. That's like that. That is shame upon your house and shame upon your neighbor. That. Get that crap out of here.

[Mike Wright]

We need like harsh penalties for flops.

[Jason Moore]

Yes.

[Andy Holloway]

Quick through. We got to get this through. Of the. We can take the. New York. New York can look at face masks if they happen. If they didn't. The helmet to helmet. The call on that Mahomes did get and you're like, oh, I can see what the ref saw with the whiplash of the head. But he was nowhere near it. That and then flopping. Flopping is a 15 yard foul.

[Jason Moore]

Flopping should be penalized for sure so that you don't incentivize doing it because in truth, it's a smart play. Like he should do that. If this was. If I'm a Chiefs fan, I'd be like, why didn't you throw your hands up and fall over? Because draw the penalty.

[Andy Holloway]

There's nothing to lose. Only 15 yards to gain.

[Jason Moore]

Yeah. First down, 100%. So I put a poll out this morning because I love, I love greatness. I grew up. I mean we all did. We grew up die hard Phoenix Suns fans. Like in Arizona, that was all there was. And our Charles Barkley era, we. We didn't get a championship. Why? Because of Michael Jordan. Michael Jordan stopped us from having enjoyment in life. Dude, I loved Michael Jordan. Everyone loved Michael. You didn't get tired of watching Jordan Jordan. You were like, that's greatness. I want that. I wasn't tired of watching Mahomes win championships when it was fun and when they were like an entertaining team that didn't seem like this boring, plotting, villainous, villainistic, you know, that's new type of team. So I put a poll out this morning. I said, in the year 2025, how do you feel about the Kansas City Chiefs, three options. I'm a Chiefs fan. I still like the Chiefs. I can't stand the Chiefs. And 76% are on. I can't stand the Chiefs.

[Mike Wright]

I mean, there's always going to be a vote for jealousy right when another team is doing well. But this is, you know, Juice fans.

[Jason Moore]

Got to get it.

[Andy Holloway]

I think they do.

[Mike Wright]

Mahomes doesn't control the late hit call. He doesn't control the sliding. I mean that call was terrible. The slide, the half slide, Texans players colliding and they call the pit. That was a terrible, awful call. But he doesn't control that call. He controls the one on the sideline, the flopping. He controls the Vlad A. Divock. And that, that party is kind of eye roll. And they just, they, they seem to win these games in ways where it's slow and plodding and the other team just barely falls short and you just barely get it done.

[Jason Moore]

And I've got good news for you. Right now it appears to be 23 degrees and 17 mile an hour winds for the upcoming contest. So I don't think we're going to get that crazy, amazing back and forth affair.

[Mike Wright]

All we need is one where the Bills win.

[Jason Moore]

Yes.

[Mike Wright]

So. But I mean that was not, you know, the Chiefs beating the Texans was not the surprise of the weekend. The surprise of the weekend was the legend that is being built in Washington. The Commanders 45, the Lions 31. The turnovers, the performance of Jaden Daniels. I tweeted it. Not to twist the knife, just the reality. I mean the Commanders are everything that people thought the Bears would be.

[Andy Holloway]

Yeah.

[Mike Wright]

With.

[Jason Moore]

Wow. You know, they really are.

[Mike Wright]

They are the rookie that could lead you to a Super Bowl. The defense that was, you know, that performed well. And, and they are every. And that has to hurt. I know it hurts for Bears fans. I got close friends that are Bears fans and I'm sorry. You just got Ben Johnson.

[Jason Moore]

Yeah.

[Mike Wright]

You got the bell of the ball and hopefully that. I mean you did everything you could do this off season now getting Ben Johnson to give yourself a shot. But the. There's just this quick finality with the playoffs. It is just hard. It's just like 15 and 2.

[Jason Moore]

Yeah.

[Mike Wright]

The line and it's just over the whole season.

[Jason Moore]

The whole season.

[Mike Wright]

And now. No. No offensive and defensive coordinators. They'll both be gone.

[Jason Moore]

Yeah.

[Andy Holloway]

They're about to get. They're about to lose everybody. And when like how is no one else at the quarterback position doing this VR thing that it keeps coming up of like right at the beginning, Jane Daniels, we put him on this VR regimen which, yeah, he runs reps at.

[Mike Wright]

1.75 speed like it's.

[Andy Holloway]

It is brilliant. Like, the hardest part about being the quarterback is getting actual live reps. Because even when you're in training camp and you're going against your team like they're not. Like they're. They're instructed, don't touch the quarterback. There's just. There's things that are not. It's not full game speed. No matter how much you want to compete against your own teammates, it will never be the ferocity of which a. Another team could do. So finding another way to just get. See defenses react, trying, make the right call.

[Jason Moore]

It's.

[Andy Holloway]

It's amazing.

[Mike Wright]

I'm sure there's other quarterbacks and teams. I think it comes down to just. People can't explain what he's doing. And it comes from hard work, whether he's doing the VR or showing up early, whatever the case may be. He's been working his butt off and he is so unflappable. 45 points against the Lions, regardless of the defensive injuries. The fourth down play, so impressive.

[Jason Moore]

Always seems so calm under pressure. The moments don't seem to get to him. He does not appear rookie, like in any way, shape or form. And I know, you know, going back to the VR thing, he credited, like when we were talking about him as a college prospect, he was talking about that was what he was giving credit for his transition from the ASU quarterback we saw to the LSU sensation. He said it was the VR stuff. So I didn't know until this weekend that when he was.

[Mike Wright]

And Malik Neighbors.

[Jason Moore]

Well, sure. And Brian Thomas Jr. The weapons certainly help, but you know, he doesn't have them for the commanders. It is interesting. I'm sure next year a lot of programs will be picking up the VR headsets, putting them on, saying the less Call of Duty, more VR.

[Mike Wright]

Oh, boy.

[Andy Holloway]

The hit that Jared Goff took there on the. On the interception. Oh, my goodness. I think if that were Patrick Mahomes like, they would have. They would have called the game. Yeah, they would say no. That's an instant forfeit for the Washington commanders. You can't do that to Patrick. And Jared Goff's over here. No. No call at all. Okay.

[Mike Wright]

Cliff Kingsbury getting it done. He'll have offers. Whether he takes them, I don't know. The Rams, they lost to the Eagles. 28, 22.

[Jason Moore]

Exciting game.

[Andy Holloway]

It was.

[Mike Wright]

It was. It was an exciting game.

[Andy Holloway]

And then hopefully Jalen, the two point.

[Mike Wright]

Two point conversion heard around the world.

[Jason Moore]

Oh, man.

[Mike Wright]

Buffalo 27, Baltimore 25. You know, the game was not lost. I mean, it was lost on that play, but it wasn't right. Like, you know, you had the.

[Jason Moore]

It was lost on the Mark Andrews.

[Mike Wright]

Fumble and the catastrophic fumble by Lamar Jackson too, that put him, you know, in position to win.

[Jason Moore]

It's just sad because, like, I've already seen the tweets. You know, you knew they were coming so predictable that like, oh, Lamar can't win in the playoffs. It's like Lamar. That was not. I know Lamar had the phone, but Lamar was there. He was. You know, they could win the game if he just. If Mark Andrews catches the two point conversion, that was in his hands.

[Mike Wright]

He did play great. He missed throws. He didn't have the weapons in the, in the wide receiver room that he needed. Like, you know, you look at what I think, Jon Gruden came out and talked about the fact that like Mark Andrews was put in a position where he has to be everything.

[Andy Holloway]

Yeah.

[Mike Wright]

For these drives.

[Andy Holloway]

That final drive was. I mean, Zay Flowers missed the game and then that final drive, Bateman was out, Right?

[Jason Moore]

Yeah.

[Mike Wright]

And you have, like, why, why should your tight ends being. You have to clear, run clear out routes. Like, you're going to be exhausted at that position of the game. You need more players. Look, Lamar, Lamar could have played better. Lamar missed Derek Henry down the left sideline. That would have been a guaranteed touchdown early in the game. You know, it's always a play or two. It's not. It's not generally like catastrophic failure and three turnovers to zero. Yeah, you lost. Same with Detroit.

[Jason Moore]

The turnovers, five turnovers were huge this week. If you look at the losing teams, all four losing teams outgained the winning teams in total yardage. The Texans, the Lions, the Rams and the Ravens all had more production in yardage but lost the game.

[Mike Wright]

Yep, yep, yep. All right, let's talk some more news.

[Jason Moore]

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

[Mike Wright]

Well, the Bears did hire Ben Johnson as their new head coach.

[Andy Holloway]

Okay.

[Jason Moore]

Best you could do.

[Mike Wright]

It was a mad dash to see who could get Ben Johnson. Jacksonville wanted him bad. The Raiders wanted him bad.

[Jason Moore]

Cowboys were like, nah, we're good, man.

[Andy Holloway]

Yeah, Cowboys, they got their eyes on somebody. Yeah, so we hear.

[Mike Wright]

Yeah. Brian Schottenheimer, the Bear.

[Andy Holloway]

They can't possibly.

[Jason Moore]

Oh, they can. They can. Absolutely. If there's anyone that can do it, it's Jerry.

[Mike Wright]

Ben Johnson goes to Chicago. He is prepared to bring in Jason's favorite head coach of all time, Dennis Allen as their defensive coordinator. That's fine.

[Jason Moore]

He's fine as defensive coordinator.

[Mike Wright]

And the Colts hired Lou Anarumo as their DC Longtime Bengal DC who had a, you know, a great run, had a Super bowl run with a good defense there. Falcons hired former interim head coach with the most manicured gray beard of all time. That is a Jeff Ulbrich.

[Andy Holloway]

It is a very fancy gray beard.

[Jason Moore]

You don't usually see the gray beards so manicured.

[Mike Wright]

And that is from the commercials.

[Jason Moore]

The people that. Oh, yeah, he. Dude, he could get a great like, beard dye commercial.

[Andy Holloway]

Yeah, but then he doesn't have his gray beard anymore.

[Jason Moore]

Exactly.

[Andy Holloway]

I bet he likes the gray beard.

[Mike Wright]

No, they have the dyes that accentuate the gray.

[Andy Holloway]

Oh, the touch of gray.

[Mike Wright]

Touch of gray. He could be a touch of gray guy. D'Amico Ryan says it's too early to put a timeline on whether Tank Dell can even play in 2025.

[Andy Holloway]

Oh, brutal.

[Mike Wright]

You know, I want to give a lot of credit to Houston. Going into Arrowhead. They were actually in a position to compete. They moved the football and it was a couple plays, you know, and what. What else is new for them?

[Jason Moore]

And they didn't have digs. They didn't have Tank Dell or the refs. Yeah, it was, it was. It was tough sledding. But yeah, I mean, I think right now you have to. You go into next year, assuming you don't have Tank Dell, certainly for fantasy football, he's not going to be on the radar.

[Mike Wright]

And then we had Cooper cup, who was basically deleted from the offense over the last quarter of the. Of the season. Quartile. I've seen that word used a lot. Last quartile of the season.

[Jason Moore]

Oh, we're fancy.

[Mike Wright]

And you know, what was the word you used earlier?

[Andy Holloway]

Villain. Something.

[Mike Wright]

Villain. Villainization or something. But Cooper cup said he plans to play next year but not sure of his future with the Rams. So maybe there's some discussions have already happened.

[Jason Moore]

It sounded like he plans to play next year, but not sure how. Well, you know, he's not sure, you know, what type of player he is anymore.

[Andy Holloway]

It was so weird.

[Mike Wright]

Cut candidate.

[Andy Holloway]

Yeah, they would save money, but they could also just rework things.

[Jason Moore]

He could def. I think he could go Adam Thielen somewhere. You know what I mean? Go and be a productive player for a team that needs someone and he's. We're going to break. Sorry, Coop. We love you. He would be big Cooper cup fan. But we got Touch of Gray.

[Andy Holloway]

Touch a Gray For Cooper, he will be 32 jokes to be made next year.

[Jason Moore]

You know, welcome to the club. Yes.

[Mike Wright]

That was today's news and notes presented by USAA Insurance. Learn more at USA.com insurance Let's jump back into the truth.

[Andy Holloway]

You want answers?

[Jason Moore]

I think I'm entitled.

[Andy Holloway]

You want answers?

[Mike Wright]

I want the truth.

[Andy Holloway]

You can't handle the truth.

[Mike Wright]

Okay, look, we've had the truth graphic there for a long, long time, right? But I saw something for the first time. And look, if you're listening, you didn't see it, but if you're on YouTube, you saw the graphic. Introducing the segment. I saw something for the first time that made that graphic even more agreeable.

[Andy Holloway]

Did it have to do with your hair?

[Mike Wright]

Yes.

[Andy Holloway]

That's the first time I've ever seen it too.

[Mike Wright]

So the first clip of me. So for those listening at home, and I'll hit it.

[Jason Moore]

I didn't see it.

[Mike Wright]

I'm going to hit it again. And you will watch.

[Andy Holloway]

That's amazing.

[Mike Wright]

So for those watching at home, there's two scenes of me wearing a judge's wig. Okay.

[Jason Moore]

Okay.

[Mike Wright]

So before I reveal the problem, I want you to watch again with close eyes, Jason.

[Andy Holloway]

See if you can notice.

[Mike Wright]

See if you can notice the problem.

[Jason Moore]

You want answers?

[Andy Holloway]

You want.

[Jason Moore]

You can't handle this.

[Mike Wright]

So did you.

[Jason Moore]

Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah. There's. There is no.

[Mike Wright]

No effort.

[Jason Moore]

No effort needed to.

[Andy Holloway]

Oh, here's the thing. So one of the scenes, you're wearing the wig.

[Mike Wright]

Yes. Like a person would wear a wig.

[Andy Holloway]

The other one, you're wearing it like a hat.

[Jason Moore]

A wig.

[Andy Holloway]

Hat.

[Jason Moore]

I cover. I mean, we. That's not even true. That's not even true.

[Mike Wright]

Mike, our graphics guy, put so little effort into that that they just put a wig over my hair. Like, half my hair.

[Jason Moore]

Half your hair was showing.

[Mike Wright]

Like you. It's a Photoshop thing.

[Jason Moore]

You just move it down like you.

[Mike Wright]

Just move the hair.

[Andy Holloway]

Brian is dying.

[Jason Moore]

Push the down arrow, you know, hold, shift, push down, like three times and you're good.

[Mike Wright]

That was not hard. I believe we all saw that for the first time. This is going many years of.

[Jason Moore]

Well, enjoy that foot clan.

[Mike Wright]

Well, we're into the Truth, Part two, our last episode. If you missed it, go back. Listen. It was the truth of the top 10 quarterbacks today. We're in part two. We are looking at the next tier. And there will be a lot of debate on today's show about the future of some of these guys. Because, you know, what was the truth about their potential? We'll talk about it. 45 different quarterbacks this year finished as a top 12 quarterback. So had at least one top 12 quarterback week. A quarterback.

[Jason Moore]

One right in line with what we're used to seeing. 46 last year, 45 the year before, 49 the year before this. We bring this stat up every single season in the draft time. When you're talking about quarterback strategy for the streaming option for the late round quarterback, people out there and in here, there are options from the waivers that you will never think of. For instance, Malik Willis.

[Mike Wright]

Yeah.

[Jason Moore]

Had a top 12.

[Mike Wright]

Drew Locke.

[Jason Moore]

Drew Locke had the epic game, man.

[Andy Holloway]

If anyone played Drew Locke in that.

[Mike Wright]

Game, say, some were not predictable. Marcus Mariota did it twice while not playing a full game.

[Jason Moore]

Yeah, he didn't start either. So no one, for fantasy purposes, started. We should really have this number be 43.

[Andy Holloway]

Okay.

[Mike Wright]

But it just, it's kind of there to highlight the reality that there's contributions well beyond the prototypical starting starting options. Just so you remember from last episode, what we're doing is we're looking at their fantasy finish and we're contrasting it with their consistency and we're evaluating consistency on the basis of how many great games did they have? 26 or more points. How many good games? 21 points or more. And how many bust games. So you're over 15 and so under 50. Sorry. Yes, under 15. Kyler came in at 11 in the fantasy finish. He was drafted as the quarterback. 8. He is one of the Mount Rushmore of busts to me this year because of the. You took him in a spot where he needed to be your guy and he wasn't quite bad enough to let you pivot off when you should have and not quite good enough to win you games.

[Jason Moore]

Now outright busts are easier to deal with. If you got Travis etn, you moved on. You weren't spending every single week thinking, oh, I got to find a way. Should I. I think I should start Travis ETN this week.

[Mike Wright]

You.

[Jason Moore]

You just went, well, that sucks. You lit the pick on fire and you found someone else to try to get you fantasy points. Kyler the whole season.

[Mike Wright]

I mean, the thing is, 44% of his games were bust.

[Jason Moore]

That is awful. And he was so much worse in the second half because the first half of the season his consistency score was number five. So he really was like the drug you shouldn't have. It's like, ooh, you like this? This feels good. You've got something nice here.

[Mike Wright]

Boom.

[Jason Moore]

You're addicted now. You're on the streets. That was Kyler.

[Mike Wright]

Yeah. Kyler had A people on the streets.

[Jason Moore]

Yeah, I mean homeless. This was a situation where you ended up in a meth house if you kept with Kyler Murray all season long.

[Mike Wright]

We're getting to the point now where Kyler he is. He'll give you a Jay Cutler game.

[Jason Moore]

Right.

[Mike Wright]

He'll give you the big performance from time to time. But we're at the point now where the excuses are. We're running out of excuses for Kyler. Oh, all he needs is a top tier wide receiver option. So let's draft Marvin Harrison that you can't turn into one. Trey McBride, best tight end in football. Maybe that's not enough. You can't throw for 4,000 yards. You can't 21 touchdowns. Didn't run the football when he needed to. You know, you talk about what Jaden Daniels does. Well, he picks his spots to run and he always picks the right spot. It seems like only 13% great games. That's a departure from the Kyler Murray we've seen before. 38% good, 44% busts. You know him as a running quarterback over 500 yards rushing. You're always going to have the ceiling possibility. But that is part of the drug, right? It's like, I just need a little bit.

[Jason Moore]

You think you've got a floor. Usually with mobile rushing quarterbacks, it's like, well, we know he's going to get 30, 40, 50 yards a game. So you're starting with a 3, 4, 5 point baseline in fantasy points scored. But the issue with Kyler this year was sometimes he just didn't run. And that was the success or failure for fantasy purposes. In games where he had 20 or more rushing yards, he averaged 21 fantasy points per game. Yay. Great. But then in games where he had fewer than 20 rushing yards, it was 12 and a half fantasy points. So there were so many times as a Cardinal fan that I'm watching these games, I'm like, why aren't you running there? Scramble. You have. You have a superpower. You literally are so much faster than everyone on the field. And he just chooses to not use, not exploit it.

[Andy Holloway]

It's like when. It's like when Superman is Clark Kentucky and he's like, Clark Kent can't. He can't be in this sport. Like, I can't, I can't. My dad's going into the tornado. I can't do it because, yeah, because it's Clark Kent. People will know.

[Mike Wright]

I think Jason made the kind of the point on Kyler that should be seen. What the truth is is he never became a better passer this year. His good games were when he ran. It wasn't like sometimes you got a great passing game. Do you know he had 12 games with two or fewer touchdowns and most of those were zero or one. He only had, he had a three touchdown game early in the year and then he had week 18 when no one cared and he threw four touchdowns. Otherwise you literally didn't get anything in the passing game that you expected from him. 21 touchdowns. You know, it's a really, really disappointing year.

[Andy Holloway]

Very, very disappointing. And possibly even more disappointing is that next year I have to leave the margin that things get better because I believe that Marvin Harrison gets better.

[Jason Moore]

I really, really do.

[Andy Holloway]

And it's like, well, part of that will be his connection with Kyler and Kyler getting more done in the passing game. And this is not me saying in January, like, I am so in on Kyler Murray. It's. I hate that that has to even be an option because I want to, I want to be out.

[Jason Moore]

I agree.

[Andy Holloway]

I want to be out.

[Jason Moore]

But he'll be in the double digit round. He'll be around.

[Andy Holloway]

He'll manage to pull us back in.

[Jason Moore]

If he's a 9th round pick. If he's a 9th round pick, he's one of those mobile quarterbacks that falls towards the double digit rounds. You highlight and target those guys. That's why, you know, Jaden Daniels was my guy for Andy because he was like the last drafted quarterback that scrambles.

[Mike Wright]

And you have that really good about that now.

[Jason Moore]

Yeah, that worked out pretty well. But you know, this is the truth series you're also going to go into next year seeing, hey, Kyler was a top 10 quarterback this year. In fantasy, he finished as the quarterback 10. I mean, that was not the experience. And so I think you got to, you got to pump the brakes and be cautious next year when drafting him.

[Mike Wright]

Yeah, yeah, I think that's his story. So we'll take a quick break and we'll jump back into some more names.

[Jason Moore]

This episode is brought to you by Peloton. Look, life's got a game plan and it's always changing. One season you're all about them 4 week strength building classes. The next it's squeezing in a run or hitting the bike after work, whatever's on deck, Peloton's here to fit into your schedule. From strength, running and cycling and everything in between, Peloton adapts to your goals no matter the season of life. And with Peloton's All Access membership, you've Got the flexibility to work out wherever you need to at home, on your bike, your tread, your row, or even on the go with an app at the gym. Whether you're gearing up for a marathon or just trying to keep your energy up for late night game replays, Peloton's got the classes to keep you in the zone. Find your push, find your power. With Peloton at 1peloton.com.

[Mike Wright]

The Apple Watch Series 10 is here. It has the biggest display ever. It's also the thinnest Apple watch ever, making it even more comfortable on your wrist whether you're running, swimming or sleeping.

[Jason Moore]

And it's the fastest charging Apple Watch.

[Mike Wright]

Getting you eight hours of charge in just 15 minutes. The Apple Watch Series 10, available for the first time in glossy jet black aluminum. Compared to previous generations. IPhone XS are later required. Charge time and actual results will vary. All right, done with Kyler. Moving on to number 12 on our list, Brock Purdy. Consistency rank was higher than his fantasy Finish. He was 8th, inconsistency, 7th in the first half, 12th in the second half. I feel like Brock Purdy did the best he could do this year.

[Andy Holloway]

I am in complete agreement.

[Mike Wright]

No Brandon Iuk, no Christian McCaffrey for almost all year. And you know what, I'm going to say no Debo.

[Andy Holloway]

Yep.

[Mike Wright]

Yeah, not really. 47% good, 40% bust. He will always be fringe. Ran for 323 yards. That's nice. Five touchdowns on the ground, but all the injuries to the offensive line, even left tackle, right. You talk about protecting Brock Purdy. I think he did the most with what he had in a absolute trash season for the 49ers.

[Andy Holloway]

Yeah, I'm in complete agreement. I mean it was last year with an additional game, you know, he was a 4,000 yard passer and a 31 touchdown. That's what he put up on the season. It was a 7% touchdown percentage for percent of his attempts that turned into a touchdown. And this year it plummeted all the way down to 20. He is like, he is what we talk about where a pocket passer can just, it can fluctuate so tremendously. Not just a, oh, I went from 35 down to 30. It's like, no, this, this is what can happen if the, if the team around you doesn't hold up. Things fall apart for, for these types of guys. Even though, I mean, at the beginning Brock Purdy was, you know, kind of keeping things alive with those, with, with running a little bit. So next year, once we get everybody in, seeing what the team looks like Brock Purdy will be, he'll be a break glass. He's not someone who draft but perfect quarterback too.

[Jason Moore]

That's what I was going to bring up I think in super flex leagues. Brock Purdy is a name that I will be much more excited about because he is pretty consistent. You know he was the consistency rank of number eight so that's great if you're drafting him as your second quarterback. The issue with Brock Purdy and I think you will always have this issue is the lack of great games. You know he only had two games that qualified as great this season. He's not going to win you a championship. So if you're in a single quarterback league he's not taking you to, you know, beyond the playoffs to win championships. It's just not his style. Because this is a run first team. If they're doing great, they're going to have rushing touchdowns.

[Mike Wright]

You do wonder, you know the offseason is going to be a commitment of money to Brock Purdy.

[Jason Moore]

Yeah.

[Mike Wright]

It's also the last small window for Christian McCaffrey in the NFL. So you do wonder if some of the identity of this offense could change over time. They gave Brandon Ayuk that money. He'll be back. So that would be something to watch. Justin Herbert came in at 13. Justin Herbert never had a great game. No games of over 26 points. The story for him, 504 pass attempts. This was a guy that had almost 700 two years ago he finished 13 inconsistency as well. This was not a fantasy relevant guy but this was a player that you saw the transition over the second half of the year where their neutral pass rate, yards per game, EPA per pass, explosive pass plays, they all went up tremendously from week six on. So you saw the writing on the wall. I said the entire year the Chargers were a team that was a couple players away. To me a difference maker. A little bit more in the running game I think than J.K. dobbin. Somebody that can catch the ball would have meant a lot. And then another prolific wide receiver option or tight end option, I don't care which one. Whatever they take, you know, Lad McConkey, Quentin Johnson, if they, if you want them to be their guy, your guys then you need a more prolific tight end and a more prolific pass catching running back. You're right on the edge I think. But you do know that Harbaugh, if he gets his way would love to run the football and play defense.

[Andy Holloway]

Yeah, I mean that's historically what it's been it'll be their decision in the draft or free agency, I guess is going to be fascinating because they do, they need. I mean McConkey can be like a 1A. I think McConkey could be great, but it's. You do need somebody else. But they will put a priority of some kind to the running back position. So it's like which, which weapon do they invest in heavier? And I think that will say a lot to what their plans are for the next year.

[Mike Wright]

Jason, let me ask you a quick question about Herbert before we move on. Will Justin Herbert be a fantasy relevant quarterback over the next five years?

[Jason Moore]

Yeah, I really do think he will be. Harbaugh wants to play defense and run the ball, but he was a quarterback and he sees what he has in Justin Herbert as. I mean you just watch how he talks about Justin Herbert. Find yourself someone who loves you the way that he loves Justin Herbert. The first month of the season, when they started out running, playing defense, they were only letting Herbert throw the ball 22 times a game on average. From that point forward, they had their bye week and you saw 31 pass attempts a game the rest of the season to a lot of success. I think they'll, they'll end up with a better weapon or two. I expect them to really try to get a tight end. Maybe Tyler Warren, the rookie, you know, I think he'll be associated with this team. Will Disley is fun. We love playing the drop. But his utilization showed how good a legitimately good tight end would be for this team. That would help in the run game. You know, kind of a dual threat tight end would be great. So I think the talent of Herbert will not, you know, it won't be put to the side over the next five years for fantasy purposes.

[Mike Wright]

Caleb Williams at 14, consistency of 16. This was not the dream season you would have hoped for. Head coaching change. Weird, you know, 68 sacks taken, most in the NFL, 19% great, 31% good, 56% bust. Not relevant for fantasy. There was a small moment I remember during the season after weeks five and six going into the buy, coming out against Washington who, you know, their defense hadn't really stepped up yet. That Week 8 game was the defining moment to me of Caleb Williams season.

[Andy Holloway]

It was the they were 4 and.

[Jason Moore]

2 and they never recovered from the.

[Mike Wright]

So he took a million sacks. I mean he put the Sam Darnold playoff performance into routine. He was pressured like crazy. He was 69% catchable. Target rate. So 44 out of 47 quarterbacks. So that's your red alert. That was your like, hey, you're not, you got to do a lot more at the NFL level than extending a play and making a wild across your body throw and highlight throw.

[Jason Moore]

It was the normal plays. The normal NFL plays were not there for Caleb Williams.

[Andy Holloway]

No.

[Mike Wright]

No sustained drive.

[Jason Moore]

He showed flashes of why he was drafted number one. I saw enough to believe that he will get better. I think bringing in Ben Johnson as the head coach is fantastic news for hopefully being able to develop Caleb Williams and give him a system where, hey, let's, let's learn how to take the easy stuff. The on time stuff. Like let's work on you being on time. Hit that leg, you know, hit that third, that fifth step, drop, hit your leg, bite your knee, you know, use the slot receiver more. I think that this will be really good for Caleb Williams progress going forward. But rookie year was a, overall a disaster. The few games he had that were good were against, you know, Carolina, Jacksonville, Indy, the end of the year, a couple games against Detroit when they lost all their defensive players. For the most part when he played top half defenses, he was abysmal.

[Mike Wright]

What are your odds with Ben Johnson and all the history in Chicago of quarterback struggles? Only 3,500 yards didn't break that 4,000 mark this year. What do you put the odds of it working with, with Ben Johnson and Caleb Williams? Because you know, on one hand you could, you could have that perfect, you know, coach, offensive mind, play calling, it could all work out. On the other hand, you could get a Kyler Murray situation that didn't work. You know, Cliff Kingsbury and Kyler in Arizona. Give me your percentage chance of success.

[Jason Moore]

I'm, I'm on the optimistic side, but it's not, you know, I like, like 70. No, I think I'm more like 60%. I think it's going to work out.

[Andy Holloway]

I'll be interested in two years.

[Mike Wright]

I'm 50. 50. That's about where I'm at. I was really discouraged and disappointed with what I didn't see which was a improvement over time.

[Andy Holloway]

Yeah, a man who has any composure in the pocket, he just, he's running around with his hair on fire.

[Mike Wright]

Yeah, yeah, he did have, I think.

[Jason Moore]

He was playing the VR at half speed. You know what I mean? That's what it seemed like.

[Andy Holloway]

So much faster.

[Jason Moore]

Like, dude, speed it up.

[Mike Wright]

And then put it in the wrong setting.

[Jason Moore]

He put it in the wrong setting.

[Andy Holloway]

Because he's like, I'm here for the story.

[Mike Wright]

He couldn't compete.

[Andy Holloway]

Not here for the Gameplay.

[Mike Wright]

I'm here for the story.

[Jason Moore]

Yes.

[Mike Wright]

Oh, it's easy mode.

[Jason Moore]

That's my way of playing the video game, Caleb. You need to make it challenging.

[Mike Wright]

And then Kyler's got the headset on. But it is Call of Duty.

[Jason Moore]

And then virtual reality. Call of Duty.

[Andy Holloway]

I saw you totally working on things, Coach. Don't worry about it. Did you guys go Killtacular?

[Mike Wright]

I assume.

[Andy Holloway]

Does Call of Duty have a Killtacular? I have no idea.

[Mike Wright]

I'll just go with it. Well, I assume that both of you saw before Ben Johnson was hired the troll by those two teenagers.

[Andy Holloway]

Yes.

[Mike Wright]

Did you get to see this?

[Jason Moore]

No, I did not.

[Mike Wright]

So two teenagers got his number and they texted him, hey, it's me, Ben Johnson. I'm your new head coach.

[Jason Moore]

Caleb Williams's number.

[Mike Wright]

Yeah. Texted Caleb Williams and said, hey, it's me, Ben Johnson. I'm your new head coach. Really excited to work with you. And then they, like. So he put that number in, and then they FaceTimed him, and it's all on video. And then the kids are like, hey, man, it's me, Ben Johnson. And then they're like. Then they, like, shrink and they go, I'm really sorry for this, man. See you later. It was.

[Andy Holloway]

That's how you do impressions. You just gotta say your name. It's me.

[Jason Moore]

It's me. It's me, Ben Johnson, everybody.

[Mike Wright]

It's me, David Gettleman.

[Andy Holloway]

Well, that's more like.

[Mike Wright]

It's me. Number 15. Number 15. Geno Smith, 22. Inconsistency tells you everything you need to know about him as a fantasy quarterback, which was. That's not good.

[Jason Moore]

We almost took him out of here. We took a couple of quarterbacks out to talk about. We're not going to talk about it.

[Mike Wright]

Not even worth it.

[Jason Moore]

Yeah, it's just not worth it.

[Andy Holloway]

He was the only 16 over the first half because.

[Mike Wright]

Well, I mean, it was a rough year for Geno Smith. He had 21 passing touchdowns, and four of them came six of the first nine weeks.

[Andy Holloway]

He was a top 10, top 12, guys. Sorry, I don't know that. Just. That's wild to me.

[Mike Wright]

Like I said, I mean, 17 touchdowns going into week 18.

[Jason Moore]

Some of those weeks, if you. If you remember how the season got started, because we don't do this based on quarterback rank. We do it based on score. So, like, the first two weeks were great for him. You know, he's the quarterback seven, quarterback five. And that was maybe okay for fantasy, but as far as his performance, he didn't get 18 points in either of those weeks. It wasn't a really good fantasy performance. It just kind of the league stunk. To start the weeks, he set a.

[Mike Wright]

Career high in completion percentage. He's 34 years old. I am of the more pessimistic side of what Geno Smith brings to the table. I think he's very capped. I think I will not be. I will not be enthusiastic about their passing situation with DK Metcalf in particular. Obviously you saw JSN get it done. Kind of ties in with that completion percentage. But, you know, it's starting to look more like 2022 was a very outlier type of year for Geno Smith. He had 30 touchdowns in 2022. The last two years, 20 and 21. And so that's, you know, that's just not a fantasy relevant guy. That's a two quarterback guy.

[Andy Holloway]

Yeah, the. I'm a little more optimistic than you are on him, Andy, but I think that the Seahawks are going to be very, very run heavy team.

[Mike Wright]

Well, they did make the change at offensive coordinator. The grub experience was one and done.

[Jason Moore]

Yeah, they're also clearly going to move on from Tyler Lockett. He's going to cost them too much money. So maybe at this point in the career it's addition by subtraction, but it is subtraction of a really valuable asset that Geno's used for the last several years.

[Mike Wright]

I actually think he'll just renegotiate with them. Really I do. Aaron Rodgers, we're skipping him at 16.

[Jason Moore]

Yeah, he. I mean, we don't know if he's going to play football next year. And he stunk this year.

[Mike Wright]

What was the truth?

[Jason Moore]

The truth is he stunk this year.

[Mike Wright]

Okay. Yeah.

[Andy Holloway]

Based off of what evidence?

[Mike Wright]

Yeah. Where's the data, Jason?

[Jason Moore]

Yeah, the data was between the ears. Just both your eyes and your brain. If you watched it, it was not a good experience. And I doubt he plays football next year. It's certainly not the jets and I don't look out there and see a bunch of franchises that are like, I want to do what the jets did this last year.

[Mike Wright]

So, yeah, the risk benefit analysis on Aaron Rodgers, bringing him into your team. Let's talk about the next man up though. In Green Bay, Jordan Love. This was one of the bigger storylines. You talk about Kyler and him letting you down in relation to your draft capital. Jordan Love comes in at 17 and fantasy finish 15th in consistency. Was drafted as the quarterback 10 in the seventh round. So you did think that, you know, there was a part of the Season before I traded for Lamar Jackson and our league of record where my, my tandem of quarterbacks was Kyler and Jordan Love. And I really thought, boy, these are going to be two guys in the second half of the season. You can bounce back. Yeah, you could bounce back and forth.

[Andy Holloway]

Between them for mediocre production week through week seven. That part of like the season for Jordan Love was we're ready.

[Jason Moore]

We are.

[Andy Holloway]

We are absolutely ready. Week one, like, week one had some.

[Mike Wright]

Really weird, call it the Jaden Reed.

[Andy Holloway]

Period of time in the, in the, in that game in Brazil. It was weird. He still managed to be the quarterback 11, gets hurt right at the back at the end of the game, comes back immediately as the quarterback to a down game. Quarterback four, quarterback 11. Here we go.

[Jason Moore]

We're ready. Jordan Breakouts happen.

[Andy Holloway]

Jordan Love is going to continue off of what he started the past year. And then.

[Jason Moore]

So here's the, here's the truth. The truth for Jordan Love. And we talked about it throughout the season. It was a touchdown problem, in part caused by Josh Jacobs greatness. Josh Jacobs, to start the season. We, you know, we spoke about the touchdown regression, how many carries he had without scoring a touchdown on the season. And that pendulum, I mean, that thing got momentum the other direction and flipping flew off the. Whatever the middle part of a pendulum is.

[Andy Holloway]

Yeah. Know that. The middle part of a pendulum because the. I think that's also the pendulum.

[Jason Moore]

The last 10, the hanger. I don't know what are you hanging on?

[Mike Wright]

You know what I mean?

[Andy Holloway]

Like the little you're talking about where it's attached.

[Jason Moore]

You're saying, you're saying there's so much.

[Mike Wright]

Weight on one side that it just popped the other side off or what.

[Jason Moore]

I'm saying this thing, it was, it was, it was propelled and it flew off because Josh Jacobs scored.

[Mike Wright]

You know, your pendulum score.

[Jason Moore]

Yeah. Oh, yeah. Two or three touchdowns. It seems like every single. Every single week, the last 10 games. Jordan Love, who, you know, last season and to start this season, his touchdown percentage was really, really good. He was great in the red zone. He always got it done there. And then the last 10 games of the season, if you put that on a 17 full season game pace, 17 total touchdowns, that you can't have that for fantasy.

[Mike Wright]

This was, by the way, let me give you the data real quick. 7% great. 21% good. 43% bus. So that's a problem. This was a little bit like a Philadelphia light situation, though. We talked about what affected Jalen Hurts in our last Truth series. This became Saquon's team. That's how winning happened. That was the packers with Josh Jacobs. Like you said, that was how winning was happening and so you didn't need to use him as much.

[Jason Moore]

So going forward next year, do you expect them to continue the recipe of writing Josh Jacobs and making that the foundation of this offense?

[Mike Wright]

I think there'll be more balance. I think you're going to get like, if I had to predict the next five years of Jordan Love's career, I think you're going to get about three meaningful fantasy seasons in that group. But I don't think it's going to be one of those things where that's the only way they win football games.

[Jason Moore]

He's the quintessential pocket passer that is good. That is good enough to have a great season and not great enough to be reliable the way that Joe Burrow. Joe Burrow. To me, if he doesn't get injured, he will be good as a pocket passer every single season for fantasy football purposes. A Jordan Love, C.J. stroud. These guys have to have the phenomenal passing touchdown season. And those are not, you know, that's just not a sticky stat.

[Mike Wright]

You know what you need is a one. You need one wide receiver that brings it every week. You need one dude that can bring big numbers every week for Green Bay and they don't have that.

[Andy Holloway]

And it's like looking ahead next year, what do they do? Like you have Romeo Dobbs and Jaden Reed. I think they're both in their final year next year. Kyle, correct me if I'm wrong. And then you have Christian Watson tears his ACL in week 18. So I mean he, he will not be ready to start the season.

[Mike Wright]

So it's a nor has he ever been the guy that you're going to be able to count on every week anyway.

[Andy Holloway]

Yeah, he hasn't been able to consistently get it, but at least when he's on the field, Jordan Love is better. It helps the other wide receivers. So it'll be watching them try to figure out do they get a true number one or do they just go with these guys who are all good but no one on that team is elite.

[Mike Wright]

18 was Matthew Stafford. I guess we're not going to talk much about Matthew Stafford.

[Jason Moore]

There's not a bunch to discuss. He was, we're not drafting very mid level and I really wanted to make sure that in today's episode we got to Anthony Richardson and Bryce Young.

[Mike Wright]

I can't wait.

[Jason Moore]

Those, those two players have a little bit more conversation Needed for that, as does this guy.

[Mike Wright]

19 is C.J. stroud. This was. This was more catastrophic by far. This is worse than the Kyler one.

[Jason Moore]

Oh, yeah, because he was in the fourth round.

[Mike Wright]

Fourth round. C.J. stroud. Part of the story was the rookie season. Let's build on it. So keep that in mind, all of you rookies, Bo Nicks and Jaden Daniels and Caleb, it doesn't always get better. The other part of the story was, okay, we paid. We paid our guy, right? We paid Nico Collins, we brought in Stefan Diggs, and we've got Tank Dell going into sophomore season. And they also won football games, so I'll give him credit there, but zero great games, 6% good, which means that this is a guy who he busted 63% of the time. So 63% of the time you're under 15 points and all the rest, basically you're under 21.

[Jason Moore]

This was, I would say, you can't win with that. A pretty good hit for us in draft season. He was on our bus list in the, in the ultimate draft kit, we brought up a lot of the similarities between Baker Mayfield's amazing rookie season when they then bring in Odell Beckham Jr. And it's hard to remember it, but sophomore year, he was the most overdrafted. Like, like, it's a guarantee that you're going to see a complete level up, which needs to happen to be drafted that high. And you just don't want to draft guys at the presumed level up that we haven't seen yet. None of us thought it would be this bad by any means. I mean, C.J. stroud was one of the most fun players to watch in his rookie season and going forward now, I think there are a lot of questions, especially for fantasy purposes. Is very Jordan Love.

[Mike Wright]

Yeah. I'm not worried that Stroud will be, I think three out of the next five years, I will be very relevant for fantasy. He had major injuries to the wide receiver position. Yeah, I thought he played really great down the stretch. I thought the playoff game, he played great with what he has the slowest man on earth, Dalton Schultz running, you know, up the middle of the field.

[Jason Moore]

Yeah. You don't want, like, even these really, really bad fantasy games. You don't watch from an NFL perspective and think, man, C.J. stroud, maybe he really doesn't have it. Oh, he's not that good. It wasn't like that. It was. Yes, it was. Joe Mixon. The same way with Josh Jacobs. For Jordan Love, it was C.J. stroud is playing Good ball. He's doing what he needs to win NFL games, but for fantasy football purposes, he's not running the ball. And if the touchdowns go in the running game, which now with Joe Mixon instead of Damian Pierce, a lot more likely that. That's just not okay for fantasy. If you don't throw at least two passing touchdowns in a game, while you're not a mobile rushing quarterback, you're taking an L at that position.

[Mike Wright]

He was on the bus list from this past summer. He is at a 5.9 consistency percentage in F. 5.9, 5.9. Mike was the one that really, you know, kind of put the word out that, look, we had a few prolific games that everyone saw last year and they made you. They made you believe that this was going to be a consistent thing, but we didn't see it consistently yet.

[Jason Moore]

I think the Raiders need to hire Bobby Slowik. I would love to see that as a head coach.

[Andy Holloway]

Are you still. You're still in on Bobby?

[Jason Moore]

No.

[Andy Holloway]

Oh, okay.

[Mike Wright]

The Raiders are where the player.

[Jason Moore]

The Raiders go to Dodge. Yeah. Just take them off this team. So they got to get Stroud someone.

[Andy Holloway]

I got you.

[Mike Wright]

His. His passing up a head coaching job didn't work like Ben Johnson.

[Andy Holloway]

No, no, it did not. The. I think Jason's. The point is the strongest one.

[Jason Moore]

It.

[Andy Holloway]

The bet against CJ Stroud was not this. It was just. You're paying such a high equity pick for. For something that has to take. For a player to have to take a massive, massive step forward. It's just. It's not worth. It's not worth the risk when there are other guys later in the draft at this position, which is a replaceable position for fantasy. So just. I'm sure there'll be someone who gets gassed up into the fifth round. You'll go, maybe not.

[Jason Moore]

There always is.

[Mike Wright]

Yeah. I mean, because let's be honest, when it hits, it's really fun and exciting and also cool.

[Andy Holloway]

And you've got emotionally.

[Jason Moore]

Yes.

[Mike Wright]

Yes. All right, we'll take a break.

[Jason Moore]

Where's Jaden Daniels go next year? Like second, third round?

[Andy Holloway]

He will go. He will go very early.

[Mike Wright]

Probably quarterback three. Yeah.

[Jason Moore]

Maybe quarterback two over Hertz.

[Mike Wright]

Yeah.

[Jason Moore]

Josh, Allen, Lamar. And then it'll probably be three.

[Andy Holloway]

It'll be three, four.

[Mike Wright]

That's where he probably belongs. All right, we'll take a break. We'll talk about a few more relevant names when we talk truth of the quarterback position. This episode is brought to you by Amazon. Sometimes the most painful part of getting sick is the getting better. Part waiting on hold for an appointment or sitting in crowded waiting rooms standing in line at the pharmacy. That's painful. Amazon One Medical and Amazon Pharmacy remove those painful parts of getting better with things like 247 virtual visits and prescriptions delivered to your door thanks to Amazon Pharmacy and Amazon One Medical Healthcare just got less painful. All right, I want to breeze through. We got three more names that I want to talk about. Tua, we know what the season was. The concussion, that threat to his career. He was not a great fantasy quarterback once he returned the way the offense functioned downfield passing versus short area. Johnny Smith, it's.

[Andy Holloway]

What is the future. What is the future of the Miami Dolphins where I guess is this the offense going forward where Tyree Kill is still. Still faster than everybody but you just. You can't come through with good fantasy performances because this is how the offense is running. It's running short stuff, it's running on dump offs to HN and Johnny Smith is that's what we get moving forward because that is. That's a big bummer if that's what's going to be the case.

[Jason Moore]

I think that is going to be what the case is. I don't know how much he just.

[Andy Holloway]

Deleted everybody for us.

[Jason Moore]

Yeah, I don't know how much I want to give credence to the narrative of the concussion worries. Get the ball out quick. Don't let plays develop down the field that can put to at more risk. It still worked. You know, they won games down the down the stretch where they were really close. You know, they started so poorly, especially with Tua's injury, lost a lot of games. They dug themselves a hole that wasn't really their fault. And they did get close to the playoffs so you can't really argue it didn't work. And even from a fantasy perspective, you know, the second half he was the consistency rank of the quarterback 14. Not winning you championships by any means, but so much better than what we saw earlier in the season. I would imagine it's more of the same, especially since they decided to keep McDonald's at head coach. I would.

[Andy Holloway]

He's McDonald's now.

[Jason Moore]

Yeah, he's always been McDonald's.

[Mike Wright]

You don't know, do you?

[Jason Moore]

No, no. Yeah, he's been McDonald's.

[Mike Wright]

He's not been McDonald's.

[Andy Holloway]

That's Seattle. No, he's McDaniels.

[Jason Moore]

No, check the tape. McDonald's. Kyle, you're the.

[Mike Wright]

That's not his name.

[Jason Moore]

Footballers historian. Yeah, no, I know, I know. But where it started, I'm pretty confident that McDonald's was Mike McDaniel. I'm pretty sure.

[Mike Wright]

Well, I know that Drake May is 21, cousins 22. Let's go to Anthony Richardson, the fifth round pick who finished at 23. He had a consistency rank of 14, 27th in the first half, technically fifth in the second half, but did not play a lot of games. 18% great. 36% good. 64% busts.

[Andy Holloway]

Okay. I don't know.

[Mike Wright]

Do you want to.

[Andy Holloway]

Everything will be completely up to ADP with Anthony Richardson if he. If Anthony Richardson is left for the scraps of the waiver wire and he's a double digit guy. Sure.

[Mike Wright]

You want to play a game?

[Andy Holloway]

Oh, let's do it.

[Jason Moore]

I want to play the game.

[Mike Wright]

Anthony Richardson versus Who we're going. Well, it's not a versus. The game can be different. You know what I mean? It's just a game.

[Jason Moore]

Okay.

[Andy Holloway]

Okay.

[Mike Wright]

Out of 43 qualifying quarterbacks, okay. What rank was he in a dot, Average depth of target.

[Andy Holloway]

Oh, I mean he's 40. Letting it fly.

[Mike Wright]

43 relevant quarterback. 43 qualifying quarterbacks with 150 pass attempts.

[Jason Moore]

So 43 guys check downs and bombs. I'm going to say he's tenth.

[Mike Wright]

Mike.

[Andy Holloway]

Yeah, I was going to guess top ten areas.

[Mike Wright]

Oh, you guys are way off. He's number one.

[Jason Moore]

Oh, okay.

[Andy Holloway]

All right.

[Mike Wright]

Number one in average depth of target, deep throw rate.

[Jason Moore]

Well, that's got to be high.

[Mike Wright]

Number one.

[Jason Moore]

Yeah.

[Mike Wright]

Out of 43.

[Jason Moore]

Passive rating on deep throws or just in general?

[Mike Wright]

Just pass a rating.

[Jason Moore]

Who? 43.

[Andy Holloway]

I'm gonna go. I'll go 42.

[Mike Wright]

43. 43 completion percentage, something I brought up a lot during our live show.

[Jason Moore]

We'll go 43.

[Mike Wright]

Oh, we got 43 out of 43. What about adjusted completion percentage, though? Let's adjust that for drops. For drops.

[Jason Moore]

Oh, okay. Well then that's 43.

[Mike Wright]

43.

[Andy Holloway]

Oh, come on.

[Jason Moore]

I'm crushing this off. Just gotta go number one to 43.

[Mike Wright]

Mike off target rate.

[Andy Holloway]

43.

[Mike Wright]

43.

[Andy Holloway]

It's not a game, don't worry.

[Mike Wright]

There's one more. Yeah, he's just piling on check down rate.

[Jason Moore]

Like I don't think he checked down a lot. He had screens, but he checked 43rd.

[Andy Holloway]

In check down rate.

[Mike Wright]

So that was a Ricky Bobby style. If you ain't first, you're last.

[Jason Moore]

Well, that is. Look at his second half, right? We talk about the consistency score. In the second half he was number five. That's because in those games that he did play and he exited some of Those, he had 28 points, 20 points, 21 points in three of the five. The others though, 13.9 and 13. It's really. You can get big game winning performances with him.

[Mike Wright]

Here's the future of Anthony Richardson that's going to happen. He's either going to be a starting quarterback and if he is, he will be relevant for fantasy football from time to time. If not all the time.

[Jason Moore]

Yeah, I think if.

[Mike Wright]

Or he will not be a starting quarterback.

[Jason Moore]

I agree.

[Mike Wright]

And the clock.

[Andy Holloway]

He has one more year.

[Mike Wright]

He's got one more. One more year.

[Jason Moore]

He's got one more month like genuinely to start next season. If a month in, he's played four bad games and you know they're going to put the hook out there and pull him off stage.

[Mike Wright]

Well, because you're going to have a. What Shane Steichen is going to be hot seat. Hot seat next year. Like everything around the Colts is terrifying. It's all going to come down to did you make the right pick with Anthony Richardson? But from a fantasy perspective, this was obviously one of the biggest busts in fantasy football.

[Jason Moore]

We did not see on film things that made me believe it will get fixed. But what we did see on film was incredible ability when it worked. His deep passes that connected were amazing. His physicality, his running ability and you know, goal line touchdowns were what you want. They were Josh Allen, Jalen Hertz esque. And so this is a player because of how bad he was so often I don't think he gets gassed up next year.

[Mike Wright]

Well, look, one of the storylines in the off season that I was concerned about was injury. He missed two games this year with a hip and oblique injury. He missed two more weeks with a back injury.

[Jason Moore]

He missed a play with tired.

[Mike Wright]

Oh gosh, that dude, that, that was so bad.

[Jason Moore]

That was the worst thing I've ever seen.

[Mike Wright]

So, so bad.

[Jason Moore]

Why did you come off the field? Were you hurt? Oh, no, I was just tired. You're the quarterback.

[Mike Wright]

You know he made plays. But you do you expect players to be able to make some plays? I would say he made about a play 47% of the time. That's the problem. You don't. You cannot be a fantasy relevant quarterback. And I broke all the data down when we, when we did the bust episode. You can't do it at 47% passing. It has never been done. It's not possible. You almost have to be at 60% or above. That is a huge gap.

[Jason Moore]

He levels up or he flames out. You're right, Andy. He's not going to be the quarterback for 17 games next year unless he is good. So I will be drafting him next.

[Andy Holloway]

Year saying the double digit rounds as my second quarterback just to.

[Mike Wright]

Why not?

[Andy Holloway]

Just to see what happens in week one or two.

[Mike Wright]

Same as Kyler, same as Love.

[Jason Moore]

I mean the see what happens. The hope for him has always been and the reason he was drafted so high is really Josh Allen and the transition that he was able to make as a quarterback that had a, you know, a 50% ish completion percentage for a year and a half and then they got Stefan Diggs, he leveled up. He became a good, you know, more consistent thrower. He. If you watch the first year or two of Josh Allen, you got head scratching throws that were just like man.

[Mike Wright]

You Josh Allen fixed. He was fixed with mechanics.

[Andy Holloway]

Yes.

[Mike Wright]

If you go back and you, and you really look at the way he threw the football, you listen to him talk about it. It was one specific trainer changing one specific movement in the way that he threw the football.

[Andy Holloway]

Well, let's get phone number. Okay, this sounds very easy.

[Jason Moore]

Now that we know, let's just ask who that guy.

[Andy Holloway]

That guy. And like five VR headsets, five to.

[Mike Wright]

Ten, you better VR all the time, burn them out. Last name I want to talk about because I know Jason wants to talk about it. So Bryce Young, who came in as the 25th ranked quarterback, 18th inconsistency, 29th in the first half, lost his job. Second half, 14th, showed some flashes. It was, it was interesting to see. At the end of the year, I don't know if Dave Canales figured something out. I don't know if it was a softer schedule. You know, I don't know if the game slowed down for real for Bryce Young.

[Andy Holloway]

I think it did.

[Mike Wright]

But it gives you some hope. You know, when we're talking fantasy, it's not always about will you start Bryce Young next year. It's about can you start his wide receivers, can you start a running back because they're going to be in the red zone or is this offense as inept as it was for a year and a half? You know, it's nice to see.

[Andy Holloway]

Yeah. This will not be a projection of oh, top 10 Bryce Young next year. It's no, he, he can give us other players. Like watching Bryce Young over the second half was so exciting. The man, he got just his confidence back. He was happy in a big way. Yeah, he was happy. He, he's doing turnaround touchdown celebrations. Like he really, really. I think he found it. I don't know. I don't think so.

[Mike Wright]

Did he ever do the Jameson Williams celebration.

[Andy Holloway]

Oh.

[Jason Moore]

I don't think he was that happy.

[Mike Wright]

That was out of control.

[Jason Moore]

That was something that's out of control.

[Andy Holloway]

All right.

[Jason Moore]

Only two pumps. Yeah.

[Andy Holloway]

Three is the penalty.

[Jason Moore]

Yeah. The nice thing is, you know, the second half of the year, and for fantasy purposes, what I hope we get from Bryce Young, I think a lot of times he's really seen or assumed because he was a timing passer and he's a smaller guy that's not this incredible athlete, that he's pure pocket passer. But, you know, after that bye week, when he got back in, he was on pace for 432 rushing yards. That is a real. That's, that's a dual threat. You know, that's kind of the numbers we're talking about with, with Bo Nix where you, you have games where he's rushing for 30 to 50 yards. It's not every game, but at least it can provide you a way for. They're going to add another wide receiver here. Right. They tried to get Deontay Johnson to fix the problem.

[Mike Wright]

Yeah. They didn't have. I mean, Leguette's only one under contract past 2025. So definitely to me, he played the comp. To me, in the second half of the year, he played more like Baker Mayfield. Yeah, he was eyes downfield. A lot of escapability, making stuff happen.

[Jason Moore]

I think he'll be a very good quarterback. Two to draft in Fancy. You know, when we're looking at these guys who are going to be drafted, you know, either not drafted in single quarterbacks or if you're in a super flex league and they're drafted, you know, 13 through 32, he'll probably be a better value than the guys around him.

[Mike Wright]

The truth about Bryce Young is that he will be an NFL quarterback, I think for a little while. Which didn't seem like was going to be the case when Andy Dalton took over for him.

[Jason Moore]

It's really nice to be drafted with the number one pick because I think if he was a second round, if he was a Will Levis, he never would have gotten the opportunity again.

[Mike Wright]

Certainly, yeah, the leash is longer. So we'll get into the truth of the running back position on Thursday.

[Jason Moore]

Saquon is breaking it. He's.

[Mike Wright]

Yeah. You looked at me like you had stared at these.

[Jason Moore]

Dude, he's not, he's not number one. I mean, I'm going to auto make him number one because according to our metrics.

[Mike Wright]

What is happening with you in the data, man?

[Andy Holloway]

He just.

[Jason Moore]

Well, we don't have a historical comp for like games over 30 points. Like he's not getting enough credit for the incredible games which he had.

[Mike Wright]

How about you?

[Jason Moore]

Yeah, we'll get that next. We'll give that next episode.

[Mike Wright]

All right. A couple reminders here at the end. You can go to shopballers.com check out the foot Clan title swag. If you won a championship this last week, one of the ways that you can help this show. If you have a few free moments, click that follow button. This off season, we're here. We'll be producing content for you and throughout the playoffs and into the off season and free agency in the draft and training camp and everything. So if you're listening on Spotify, click Follow. If you're listening on Apple Podcasts, click follow. If you have a free moment, leave us a five star review. We would really appreciate that if we brought you some value over the course of the year. That'll do it for today. But like I said, we'll be back on Thursday and if you want an extra episode every week, you can become a member of the Foot clan. Jointhefoot.com 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.