The TRUTH: Top 10 TEs + SB Lineups, Kupp of Sadness - Fantasy Football Podcast for 2/6

Summary

Podcast Summary: Fantasy Footballers - Episode "The TRUTH: Top 10 TEs + SB Lineups, Kupp of Sadness"

Release Date: February 6, 2025
Hosts: Andy Holloway, Jason Moore, Mike "The Fantasy Hitman" Wright

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Introduction & Pre-Super Bowl Context

In the episode's opening, the Fantasy Footballers gear up for the Super Bowl, reflecting on past matchups and setting the stage for their final "Truth" segment of the season.

• Andy Holloway [02:14]: "Thursday, February 6th. Last show before the Super Bowl, so we can get our thoughts in about that."

The hosts reminisce about attending the previous Super Bowl matchup between the Chiefs and Eagles in Glendale, highlighting the excitement surrounding these powerhouse offenses and quarterbacks.

Major News & Trade Rumors

A significant portion of the discussion revolves around emerging trade rumors, particularly concerning Cooper Kupp.

• Jason Moore [06:43]: "A friend of the show Cooper Kupp announced on social media that the Rams are looking to trade him."

Key Points:

• Cooper Kupp's Trade Speculation: Kupp, turning 32 in June, has seen a decline in target share (11% in the final stretch), making him a potential trade target. His performance dipped significantly when sidelined, leading to the Rams' decision.

• Potential Replacements: The conversation shifts to possible replacements like Jordan Whittington and comparisons to players like Adam Thielen, suggesting that Kupp could still be a valuable asset if traded to a team with a solid quarterback.

• Travis Kelce's Future: The hosts also touch upon Travis Kelce's statements about his longevity, noting his fluctuating performance and the uncertainty surrounding his future as he ages.

  • Mike Wright [12:38]: "Kelsey is always the number one tight end. Even last year when he finishes the number two."

The Truth: Top 10 Tight Ends

This segment delves deep into the tight end landscape for fantasy football, analyzing consistency, performance, and future potential.

Overview of Tight End Consistency and Trends

• Jason Moore [15:13]: "The Ravens tight ends had 18 receiving touchdowns for the Ravens... That's as many as the Cowboys, Colts, Giants, Rams, Panthers, Chargers, Jags, and Texans combined."

• Mike Wright [17:31]: "These are stars who are... Have found themselves into good situations that they can actually shine and be the focal point."

The hosts highlight a trend of increasing receptions among tight ends, attributing it to evolving offensive strategies and the emergence of new talent.

Detailed Rankings

1. George Kittle - San Francisco 49ers

   • Rank: #1
   • Consistency: High, with a consistent target share and reliable performance.
   • Quote:
     • Mike Wright [20:03]: "He was a wonderful draft pick. This was a fifth, sixth round draft pick that was the number one tight end on the season."
   • Analysis: Despite his age (31.2 years) and being in the final year of his deal, Kittle remains a top-tier fantasy asset, especially with his strong red zone presence.

2. Brock Bowers - [Team Name Not Specified]

   • Rank: #2
   • Consistency: Moderate, with a mix of great and bust games.
   • Quote:
     • Jason Moore [22:10]: "There's nobody I want more at my tight end spot than Brock Bowers for probably the next eight years."
   • Analysis: A seventh-round pick who quickly became a fantasy sensation, Bowers benefits from high target volume and positions himself as a future first-round tight end.

3. Trey McBride - Arizona Cardinals

   • Rank: #3
   • Consistency: High in the second half of the season.
   • Quote:
     • Mike Wright [29:03]: "Trey McBride is going to be a really valuable fantasy asset next year."

4. Sam LaPorta - [Team Name Not Specified]

   • Rank: #4
   • Consistency: Inconsistent, tied to team dynamics and offensive focus.
   • Quote:
     • Jason Moore [33:42]: "Sam Laporta can be good. He is a very, very serviceable option in this offense."

5. Johnny Smith - [Team Name Not Specified]

   • Rank: #5
   • Consistency: Mixed; strong second half but shaky start.
   • Quote:
     • Jason Moore [35:27]: "Johnny Smith was the number four most consistent and number four overall."

6. Travis Kelce - [Team Name Not Specified]

   • Rank: #6
   • Consistency: Declining, with a high bust rate but still produces when active.
   • Quote:
     • Jason Moore [44:02]: "He is Travis Kelsey's story. He is, he, he, he..."

7. Dallas Goddard

   • Rank: #7
   • Consistency: Middle-tier with occasional strong performances.
   • Quote:
     • Jason Moore [56:16]: "Dallas Goddard is the tight end seven in our consistency rankings."

8. Zach Ertz - [Team Name Not Specified]

   • Rank: #9
   • Consistency: Declining performance, not meeting past standards.
   • Quote:
     • Jason Moore [51:34]: "Zach Ertz did it."

Note: The transcript primarily covers the top rankings, with some discussion on players beyond the top 10 being minimal or non-existent.

Fantasy Face Off & Super Bowl Lineups

In the episode's finale, the hosts engage in a playful competition to draft their ideal Super Bowl fantasy lineups.

• Andy Holloway [59:07]: "That's who I'm talking about."

• Mike Wright [61:04]: "I'll be drafting them very, very high right now as the tight end too."

Key Points:

• Captain Choices: Both Mike and Jason choose Saquon Barkley as their team captain for its high point potential.

• Player Selections: The lineups feature a mix of top-performing receivers and tight ends, emphasizing the strategic importance of selecting reliable players with high target volumes.

• Notable Selections:

  • Hollywood Brown [60:04]
  • DeAndre Hopkins [61:04]: Hoped to capitalize on his touchdown potential despite inconsistent targeting.

Conclusions & Final Thoughts

The Fantasy Footballers wrap up the episode by reinforcing the importance of selecting top-tier tight ends and being cautious with mid-tier options. They emphasize the evolving dynamics of tight end performances and encourage listeners to focus on consistent performers or high-upside options for their fantasy rosters.

• Jason Moore [62:13]: "Focus on those next year for tight end."

• Andy Holloway [62:17]: "I like my nasty boy. Tight ends."

The episode concludes with reminders about responsible gambling and promotional content for DraftKings, signifying the end of the season’s Fantasy Football discussions.

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Notable Quotes:

• Andy Holloway [15:07]: "You want answers?"
• Jason Moore [15:13]: "The Ravens tight ends had 18 receiving touchdowns..."
• Mike Wright [20:03]: "He was a wonderful draft pick."
• Jason Moore [22:10]: "There's nobody I want more at my tight end spot than Brock Bowers..."
• Jason Moore [56:16]: "Dallas Goddard is the tight end seven in our consistency rankings."
• Jason Moore [62:13]: "Focus on those next year for tight end."

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This episode serves as a comprehensive guide for fantasy football enthusiasts focusing on tight end strategies, providing in-depth analysis, player rankings, and actionable insights to optimize their fantasy rosters going into the Super Bowl.

Transcript

[Andy Holloway]

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[Jason Moore]

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[Mike Wright]

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

[Jason Moore]

Welcome in.

[Andy Holloway]

Everyone's here today.

[Jason Moore]

Thursday, February 6th. Last show before the super bowl, so we can get our thoughts in about that. We were just talking today about how we were at the super bowl the last time that the Chiefs and Eagles squared off. It was out here in Phoenix, actually Glendale. But it was exciting at the time.

[Mike Wright]

And I, even before the game, like the game was awesome. But before the game, when we were talking this week of like, it's Chiefs, it's Eagles, these two awesome offenses, these two great quarterbacks that, I mean, it was like a dream come true matchup. And now just a few years later, it's Chiefs versus Eagles. And I was like, oh, that sucks.

[Jason Moore]

Yeah. I mean, I don't know if we speak for everybody on that. Obviously we don't speak for Eagles and Chiefs.

[Mike Wright]

Fans. Oh, of course not.

[Jason Moore]

But, like, I found myself slightly looking forward to it more than I was at the beginning of the week. And, you know, this storyline. Saquon, the birthday, the opportunity with the. Just what an unreal season that would be to leave New York and win a Super Bowl. You got the three Pete. Which. Good news. Good news. NFL, they've got a license now. They've negotiated with Pat Riley.

[Andy Holloway]

Oh, they did.

[Jason Moore]

They worked out a deal to be able to use the term 3 Pete in the event that the Chiefs win.

[Mike Wright]

Wow.

[Andy Holloway]

Pat Riley gonna be cash and check, those words.

[Jason Moore]

Yeah. Yeah, that's smart. We gotta do. We gotta get four Pete right now. Does anybody have four Pete?

[Andy Holloway]

We don't, but we.

[Jason Moore]

What about four score? They're gonna try to say that, aren't they?

[Andy Holloway]

We did learn a new word that involves three. Jason, you don't remember your word?

[Mike Wright]

Oh, I do. I do, absolutely. Because it's specific to the Tight End episode.

[Andy Holloway]

Yeah.

[Mike Wright]

We're gonna talk about the percentiles and how they. And how they come and they're. They're going to be broken into turtiles. So that's the word.

[Jason Moore]

That's English. That's real.

[Mike Wright]

It's real. I'm not saying something foolish or stupid.

[Jason Moore]

No.

[Mike Wright]

I'm talking nice math words like turtle.

[Andy Holloway]

How did we stumble into this?

[Mike Wright]

Because I was like, quartile. We all know it. Like, oh, you're in the upper quartile, so that means you're in the upper fourth. And I was like, what's the. What's the same thing for three? And we, you know, Is it the third?

[Jason Moore]

You don't hear that very often.

[Mike Wright]

No, because it's tertile. Sounds like it's either got a shell or you're taking a dump.

[Jason Moore]

Yeah, it's something in between. Yeah. So you can be in the upper tertile of something, of course, or the bottom tertile.

[Mike Wright]

If you're in the bottom turtile, you're in the bowl.

[Jason Moore]

So.

[Andy Holloway]

Hey, we're back.

[Jason Moore]

We're back. Yeah. We've got the final truth episode today. The Tight End Truth super bowl this Sunday. If you've been with the show for a while, you know what that means. That means Super Bowl Sunday is your first opportunity to preorder the 2025 Ultimate Draft Kit. The UDK plus, we do a very special, very special promotion that launches on Super Bowl Sunday, ultimate draft kit dot com. If you pick it up before March 1, starting Sunday, you get a chance to win a listener league spot. You get the lowest possible price we're keeping the price the exact same this year. You get access to the Dynasty Pass.

[Mike Wright]

With the UDK plus the Dynasty Pass when it launches on Super Bowl Sunday in four days it will have all of our Dynasty startup rankings, all of our rookie rankings, our initial pass through of everything. Obviously those will change. More players will be added in. We'll have several updates post combine post NFL draft. But it's good to start early and get to know these players names. All that will be in the UDK plus it's launching so soon.

[Jason Moore]

Yeah. Sunday. Go get in there. And if you are already an Ultimate Foot Clan member, you got nothing to do but log on and use the content because you already have access.

[Andy Holloway]

You won.

[Jason Moore]

Yeah. You already won the prize and you're.

[Mike Wright]

Already entered into the listener league entry.

[Jason Moore]

Yep. The chance to come and play with us next year. So that is big time ultimate draft kid.com Go check that out. We do have a little bit of news, couple of topics. One major topic we want to talk about.

[Mike Wright]

News and notes from around the league.

[Jason Moore]

Well, a friend of the show Cooper cup announced on social media that the Rams are looking to trade him. He turns 32 in June. He disappeared from the second half. Yeah. The target.

[Andy Holloway]

It wasn't the whole year.

[Jason Moore]

It was the final turtle of the season. Really?

[Andy Holloway]

Yes. The turd turtle.

[Mike Wright]

The turd turd tile. Yeah.

[Jason Moore]

For him it was a turd tile.

[Andy Holloway]

Yes.

[Mike Wright]

I've never seen anything like this that I can remember where a player announces that the team will be seeking a trade. Like players.

[Jason Moore]

I kind of like him taking control of it.

[Mike Wright]

Oh, it's great. I don't blame him for doing that. He even came out in his social media post and said he he disagrees with their decision. He expects to add some quality football and honestly I think he will be an important piece to a passing game next year in the NFL. Whether, I mean I'm not saying he's going to be a fantasy sensation for, you know, being a wide receiver one by any means. But we saw this with Adam Thielen.

[Jason Moore]

Say you can go Thielen somewhere.

[Mike Wright]

Exactly.

[Andy Holloway]

But Thielen was a free agent, right?

[Mike Wright]

Right. He wasn't the free agent but he was older and changed teams because the team had kind of moved on from said they were not going to give him that contract.

[Jason Moore]

I think he was 32 when he.

[Mike Wright]

Moved and went and was pretty valuable for the Carolina Panthers. So I could see that happening with Cooper Cup. But you know, usually like Miles Garrett comes out and says I'm requesting a trade or the team lets people know, like, you know, we will be looking for a trade, but this was the first time I can remember a player coming out and saying, hey, breaking news. The team wants to trade me.

[Jason Moore]

From week 15 through the playoffs, cup had an 11% target share and average 29 yards a game.

[Andy Holloway]

Yeah.

[Jason Moore]

So, you know, in that regard, that's not going to make a team excited like they might have been five games before. But he did come out on Twitter and say that the team will be working with me and my family to find the right place to continue competing for championships. I don't agree with the decision and always believed it was going to begin and end in la. I saw freezing cold takes, found a nice tweet from the Rams organization.

[Andy Holloway]

Oh, no.

[Jason Moore]

That showed a picture of Cooper cup and Pukinakua. And you know, it only comes as a package deal. Only comes as a package. Set. They're breaking up the set.

[Mike Wright]

Let me, let me, you know, can be sold individually.

[Jason Moore]

Apparently they can. Jordan Whittington.

[Andy Holloway]

Yep. I was going to bring him up.

[Jason Moore]

Can we talk about. I mean this is a fantasy football show. Cooper Cup. Yes. You might find that'll come with the quarterback. To me, if he, if he finds a destination where you've got a quarterback, it's Kansas City, it's. They lose T. Higgins and he goes to Cincinnati. Something like that would really excite me. But what about the Rams whose offense you already know is going to be very proficient. You know, Puka Nakua is.

[Andy Holloway]

Oh, Puka is a stud.

[Jason Moore]

The guy. But what about Jordan Whittington or, you know, I just saw today. Why is his name escaping me? One of their other wide receivers, Marcus Robinson. Keep going. 2, 2, 2, 2. He's going to be gone. So he was a free agent. He's not coming back. So a lot of opportunity.

[Andy Holloway]

Yeah. So Whittington last year was a six round pick. He had a good training camp. He was one of those players where the buzz, like the drum beat got louder and then he had a pretty good performance in the preseason. So he was a player that was like, I mean he's a six round wide receiver who was now on the radar for the dynasty community. And then he had a couple opportunities, you know, like week four and five where he actually played the full allotment of snaps. 97%. 92%. Six for 62 and one of them seven for 89. And the other one, this is like, this is by no means a declaration that Jordan Whittington, that's his job for sure. But it's with the depth chart the way it is, Whittington feels like the most natural to fill in as in Cooper Cup's role. So he's an exciting player that I can't imagine he's on waiver wires or anything like that for Dynasty, but he could be someone that you take a little bit of a flyer on because.

[Mike Wright]

The return, like trade a third for him.

[Andy Holloway]

Yeah. Right now you're not going to get, I mean I have Whittington.

[Jason Moore]

You won't get that.

[Andy Holloway]

And I'll tell you this news, you're not going to get a, you're not going to get it done for a three. So you would, you'd be having to pay. It's. He's more of a. If you're making a trade with a team that has Whittington like, oh, let's, let's get him. Let's just toss J Dubs in this, in this trade here.

[Mike Wright]

Those breakout weeks, they were without Cooper Cup, Right. Which is important to know because obviously he's gone. However, they were also without Puka Nakua during those weeks three through seven. Those are the weeks that Cooper cup missed the target share. Tutu Atwell was the highest at 25%. He's going to be gone. Jordan Whittington was the next highest at 18% in the very beginning of his career.

[Andy Holloway]

For which.

[Mike Wright]

For the, for weeks three through seven.

[Andy Holloway]

Oh, you're kidding. I wasn't counting weeks three, weeks three, he played 38%.

[Mike Wright]

I'm just saying the weeks that Cooper Cup.

[Andy Holloway]

I got you because in the two weeks where he was a full time player, he was 28% and 22% of the targets. So he, he, he seems like a natural placement. Unless the Rams make some sort of splash.

[Jason Moore]

Well, in the Rams would be candidates to draft a wide receiver too.

[Mike Wright]

Yeah.

[Jason Moore]

I fully expect Saying goodbye to Cooper cup, saying goodbye to two, two out.

[Mike Wright]

Well, I think they're going to go try to find another Robert woods the same way that they find an average, you know, a Darnell Mooney type of asset on the free veteran market. Yeah, veteran. That's not going to cost what Cooper cup costs.

[Jason Moore]

Travis Kelsey during radio row opportunity here during the super bowl said he has a lot of good football left in him. They asked about retiring, he said, will I be here in three years, hopefully still playing football. So.

[Andy Holloway]

Okay.

[Jason Moore]

It'll be a different period of time for Travis Kelsey, fantasy wise.

[Mike Wright]

Yeah, I mean it already is. Kelsey is always the number one tight end. Even last year when he finishes the number two. I believe on a per game basis he was the number one tight end tied with Laporta.

[Andy Holloway]

But oh, two years ago.

[Mike Wright]

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, two years ago. And then of course this last year fell down to tight end six.

[Andy Holloway]

He is going to be very frustrating, I think for fantasy football because we've seen it in, in this playoffs like you had, I don't remember which round it was, I guess their first game because they had to buy and I was like, Travis Kelsey has this huge game and then Travis kelsey has like 16 yards or whatever it was. It was extremely low. So knowing what he's still capable of, if they funnel the offense through him, like he could still get a bunch of volume. He had, you know, three weeks, from weeks 8 to 10, 12 targets, 1612 targets where he was the tight end 4, 2 and 1, and then he. And then he absolutely disappeared. So it's in there. He can still do it, but it will not be a week to week thing. So we'll see what the ADP shakes out to be.

[Jason Moore]

Yeah, he'll be the starting tight end, but you will not know whether to start him all the time.

[Andy Holloway]

Yes.

[Jason Moore]

Or at least you'll get there. I mean, Antonio Gates had four years at the end of his career where he would give you prolific performances. He'd finish in the top 12 two of those years. But it wasn't the old school numbers and that just makes sense. And you're going to get weapons back. Rashi Rice missed most of the year. He will be difficult, Mike.

[Andy Holloway]

It will. And this is just, you know, thinking overall greatness of that is Travis Kelsey and I heard someone mention the ages because they were like bringing up Gronk, you know, because Gronk's one of the best of all time. Like, do you know how old is Gronk is compared to Travis Kelsey?

[Jason Moore]

He's younger, isn't he?

[Andy Holloway]

He is born. So Gronk born May of 89. Travis Kelsey born October of 89.

[Mike Wright]

Wow.

[Jason Moore]

Okay.

[Andy Holloway]

Like Travis Kelsey.

[Jason Moore]

Yeah.

[Andy Holloway]

Gronk has been gone forever. Kelsey's still putting up crazy numbers.

[Jason Moore]

Yeah. It'll be interesting to see what happens with that offense. I think that's it. By way of news, let's go ahead and jump right into the truth.

[Andy Holloway]

You want answers?

[Mike Wright]

I think I'm entitled.

[Andy Holloway]

You want answers?

[Jason Moore]

I want the truth.

[Andy Holloway]

You can't handle the truth.

[Jason Moore]

All right, our final truth episode. The tight end position. Pretty interesting this year. The most receptions by tight ends in NFL history.

[Andy Holloway]

Really?

[Jason Moore]

Yeah.

[Mike Wright]

Yeah. I think they had almost wasn't it.

[Jason Moore]

Like a quarter over 100 million receptions? Yes.

[Mike Wright]

I think they had a quarter of all the receptions in the league.

[Jason Moore]

24% almost. Yep. Yep. In the. That's a big number. And it was pretty high last year too. Just under 23%. Thanks Brock Bowers the last and last year. Thanks Sam Laporta and Trey McBride's breakout last year and McBride doing it again this year. So. Yeah, I mean if you talk about a trend, we could do it again, right. Warren from Penn State. I mean we could first round tight end opportunity if it's becoming more and more a part of the offense. You know, we had three tight ends this year finished with 95 or more receptions. Bowers, McBride and Travis Kelsey.

[Andy Holloway]

And that would, that would push my thesis to be more of. This is a, this isn't a trend of the NFL. This is.

[Mike Wright]

These are stars who are.

[Andy Holloway]

Have found themselves into good situations that they can actually shine and be the focal point.

[Mike Wright]

It's nice. It's a changing of the guard. You know, we had the studs for a long time and every five or six years, you know, the Gronk and Jimmy Graham changes and then it becomes the Kelsey and Andrews and now it seems like It's Bowers and McBride.

[Jason Moore]

Yeah. And you know, LaPorta will be in the mix and the Kelsey Andrews Kittle generation will start to fade.

[Mike Wright]

What's really cool to know about tight ends is the truth of tight end series is that the new generation only comes when the old generation leaves. We can never have good tight ends across the board. That will basic, basic math is tight end suck across the league, tight end suck. And here's the proof for that. And this is why Turtile came up. Okay. Tertile came up because Dallas Goddard, who is not that good, I think he's. He's fine. He's fine.

[Andy Holloway]

I think he's a good NFL player.

[Mike Wright]

I agree with that. I agree with that. I'm saying for fantasy football. We're on fantasy. For fantasy football, Dallas Goddard made no difference to you, right? He was. He didn't. He helped you a week or two when there were injuries to AJ Brown and Devontae Smith. Dallas Goddard in our consistency metric is our tight end seven. And that sounds really, really good. And I want you to remember that it's still Dallas Goddard. So it's not that great. And he busted 44% of his games. Almost half of his games were a bust. That was not the bottom Turtile, that was the middle Turtile. And so I just want to give you an example of like we could.

[Jason Moore]

Have just said thirds there, but we didn't.

[Mike Wright]

Tight ends as a whole are very inconsistent. Not great. It does separate those. If, if you can call your shot and get the right tight end at the top, it is a true difference maker for fantasy. And then if you don't get one of those guys, they all suck. Don't spend middle round picks on them, do you?

[Jason Moore]

Here's a crazy stat. The Ravens tight ends. 18 receiving touchdowns for the Ravens. So overall, Titans have had a lower percentage of the team's red zone targets despite those other receptions going up. But the Ravens, not to blame there. That's as many as the Cowboys, Colts, Giants, Rams, Panthers, Chargers, Jags and Texans combined.

[Mike Wright]

Wow.

[Jason Moore]

They could use some wide receivers. Or maybe that's just not how Lamar's name.

[Andy Holloway]

No, I think that's. Maybe Lamar just likes because Bateman had what, nine?

[Jason Moore]

Yeah. Yeah. So a reminder for our final truth episode, we're looking at weeks one through 17. We're looking at consistency. You just got a little bit of a summary of what we're going to find. But yeah, we're looking at weeks one through 17, classifying tight end performances above 15 points as great games, above eight as good games. That's not that many points.

[Mike Wright]

That's not that good, but it's good enough for tight end. Yeah, the bust games are below five.

[Jason Moore]

And a half points, which means that 44% of the time Dallas Goddard was under five and a half points.

[Mike Wright]

Not in the bottom turtile. So Titans are yucky. Yuck.

[Jason Moore]

Number one though, George Kittle.

[Mike Wright]

Boy, he was good.

[Jason Moore]

George Kittle. Number one in consistency, number one in fantasy finish. Drafted in the fifth round. I don't think we've heard the name George Kittle enough as one of the best deals of the draft.

[Andy Holloway]

Agree.

[Jason Moore]

How was he in the first half? Number one. How was he in the second half? Number two?

[Mike Wright]

He was in a lot of categories for footy awards because he deserved to be. And we can recognize that. This was a wonderful draft pick. This was a fifth, sixth round draft pick that was the number one tight end on the season. Super consistent, helped people win and he got no votes in any category. It was like he was not even like the runner up, maybe at the tight end position, but he has no respect. And what's funny is there's a lot of things that will be made. Brandon Iuk's injury, Debo going away now George Kittle is going to be a year older and I don't feel like George Kittle is going to skyrocket up and be a first or second round tight end next year.

[Andy Holloway]

He's not on early best ball right now. He's the tight end. Three in the late fourth round.

[Jason Moore]

The previous three years for George Kittle he finished as the Titan five, three and four.

[Andy Holloway]

Yeah, I'm with Jason. I think George Kittle is very exciting if things the touchdown for the 49ers.

[Jason Moore]

Eight, you know, it was the second most of his career but very consistent. I mean consistency wise, 86% good, 50% great games and 7% bust games. So you know, who are you going to count on when you look at the San Francisco offense at this point?

[Mike Wright]

Right.

[Jason Moore]

Is it Ayuk trying to come back from injury? Is it Ricky Piersall as a sophomore? I mean it's George Kittle.

[Andy Holloway]

Yeah. And George and Brock and Brock Purdy like they, they're, they have a seemingly a real connection when it comes to you know, touchdowns. You had. He was so Kittle had eight this year which for Kittle that's actually a higher number.

[Mike Wright]

He's.

[Andy Holloway]

He's had one outlier season at 11. It was six two years ago but.

[Mike Wright]

Remember that was, that was a fine for Kittle. I feel like he spent years with like four touchdowns on a season.

[Andy Holloway]

Yeah, like just him and Birdie seem to be getting it done.

[Jason Moore]

21 red zone targets.

[Andy Holloway]

That's crazy.

[Jason Moore]

33% of all routes inside the 20 which was number one among all tight ends. That is. Yeah, that's it definitely speaks to a different quarterback being kind of more focused on him. He is 31.2 years old in the final year of his deal.

[Mike Wright]

You love that. So don't extend him, make him work for it. You know what I'm saying? Go get that money, George.

[Jason Moore]

Number two rookie Brock Bowers. He's not 31, he's 22 years old. He was a seventh round pick. His consistency rank was three. Number two in the first half, six in the second half. Great games, 25% so half as many as Mr. George Kittle. Good games, 69% nice busts 13% of the time. Had to deal with a carousel at quarterback, a carousel at wide receiver. Devonte Adams leaving Jacoby Myers missing time. Goodbye Gardner Minshew. But you knew from like week one that everything everybody said about Brock Bowers was 100% true. And you knew it almost instantly.

[Mike Wright]

Yeah, I mean I was, you know I have historically been very anti grabbing rookie tight ends relying on them because for a decade every year people do it and it hasn't worked until the last two week one. I remember coming in, it was like okay, what's your early. You were wrong from, from the whole draft season. And I was right off the bat like trade for him. Brock Bowers is awesome. He is that dude. He's the number one tight end being drafted right now in best ball head of Trey McBride despite not knowing the quarterback situation. And I think it's, I think it's just I would take him ahead. He doesn't seem like Laporta. Laporta finished as the tight end one, but we knew on the Truth episode last year we were talking about it wasn't as great a tight end one season as we had recently seen. And he was really inflated by touchdowns. The percentage of his fantasy points that came from touchdowns were very high. You know you're talking about a number one rookie season from Brock Bowers who only had five touchdowns on the season. It did coincide with, you know, the loss of Devonte Adams and he became the de facto number one target for the team. But that's not going to change going into next year.

[Jason Moore]

He lined up all over the field. He had more total targets than Travis Kelsey has ever had in any season.

[Mike Wright]

Is that true?

[Jason Moore]

Yeah.

[Mike Wright]

I did not know that.

[Jason Moore]

153.

[Mike Wright]

Well that's exciting.

[Jason Moore]

And 99 of the 153 were short area targets. So that's zero to nine yards.

[Mike Wright]

You know, I don't think that there were a ton of Raiders games being played on national TV this year because they were not a very good team. You might not have got to watch Brock Bowers to see how it came about. But here's how it came about. On a regular basis he finds a spot in the zone that is perfect. Like he is a 10 year vet and gets it or he just is bigger than them. Can take these DBs, these linebackers and easily shed them off and get some yards after the catch. It was him.

[Jason Moore]

He had the same target share as Nico Collins, 24%. The same first read target shares Mike Evans 28%. The same first downs per out run as Justin Jefferson at 10.8% and the same yards after the catch per reception as CD Lamb. So there's nobody I want more at my tight end spot than Brock Bowers for probably the next eight years.

[Mike Wright]

I was surprised to see he is currently pick 16 on Underdog. So that's, that's where the number one tight end is going because he's, he's being drafted as the number one tight end but it's after the first round, he's not a first rounder. He's, you know, middle of the second. How do you guys feel about that?

[Jason Moore]

He'll be a first rounder.

[Mike Wright]

I think he'll be like the 1, 2, 11, 12.

[Jason Moore]

Yeah, yeah, yeah. I think, I think it'll make more of a difference in redraft. I do.

[Andy Holloway]

And we have, you know, we got Chip Kelly here.

[Jason Moore]

Yep.

[Andy Holloway]

As the new OC and.

[Mike Wright]

Oh, I forgot about that. Heck yeah.

[Andy Holloway]

And just went back and was trying to remember exactly how it happened which, you know, brought me down the memory lane of Zach Ertz. Like the, the career. That was Zach Ertz of when he, when Ertz was on the Eagles for. It felt like forever. We were screaming like free Ertz, man. Get this dude the ball. He's like, he's, he's such a, he's such a good player. He's a good tight end. We need to feed him. And it took a bit but you know, the, before the downturn of Chip Kelly. So this is 2015, it was Zach Ertz with 112 targets. So it's, it's not something that, with Chip Kelly. Yes. This is not something that the Chip Kelly offense is opposed to doing.

[Jason Moore]

That's good to know. And if you, if you want the differential in my mind with I think honestly Brock Bowers and our next guy, we're going to talk about Trey McBride. They're neck and neck in terms of the next few years. Performance wise it's probably where the touchdowns go. But three year gap, amazingly between Brock Bowers and Trey McBride who is still very, very young. We'll talk about him in just a minute. This episode is brought to you by Abbott. Let's talk about a small thing that can make a big difference if you have diabetes. The Freestyle Libre 3 sensor. It's amazing how the sensor gives you real time glucose readings so that you can see the impact of every meal and activity to make better choices. The Freestyle Libre 3 sensor can help you live life with diabetes on your terms. This is progress. You can try it for free at FreestyleLibre US. Offer available for people who qualify. Visit MyFreestyle US to see all terms and conditions. Certain exclusions apply for prescription only safety info found at FreestyleLibre US.

[Mike Wright]

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[Jason Moore]

Number three, Trey McBride. 25 year old Arizona Cardinal tight end. Number two. Inconsistency number four in the first half. Number one in the second half. The most consistent tight end in the second half of the season. Multiple number one performances. 73% good games, 33% great, 13% bust. All with two receiving touchdowns. Wild 111 for 11, 46 and two.

[Andy Holloway]

What did, what did Brock have? Reception wise, no touchdown.

[Jason Moore]

Brock was at five.

[Andy Holloway]

Okay.

[Jason Moore]

Which is not crazy.

[Andy Holloway]

Five receiving. So I guess then that's only one more touchdown then, right? Didn't McBride have. I thought McBride had a rushing touchdown.

[Jason Moore]

And then the fumble recovery. Yeah. Yeah. So they were close.

[Andy Holloway]

Yeah.

[Jason Moore]

And McBride definitely the first read in the Arizona offense. It wasn't the season Cardinals fans expected from Marvin Harrison. And doesn't matter the strides that Harrison makes because we're talking about a situation that is going to be very Reggie Wayne, Dallas Drake, you know, like this is going to be a centerpiece, he's going to get paid, he'll be the highest paid tight end. And you know, Jason just talked about at number seven, you got 50, 50 shot of a complete bust like McBride, Bowers. These guys are going to give you reliable target numbers every week. And that is my favorite thing with the tight end. Just let me know that you've got a high target share.

[Andy Holloway]

Right.

[Jason Moore]

That you're getting. I mean the tight, the touchdowns are going to come and go for these two guys. You're going to have much better seasons touchdown wise than you just got for years.

[Mike Wright]

It has been. When you look at your matchup on a weekly basis and your opponent has Travis Kelsey, you just, you're really not, you're like, ah, that sucks. I'm already taking like a, like a 7, 8 point loss at this position. I got to make it up elsewhere.

[Jason Moore]

That's your hopeful, right?

[Mike Wright]

Yeah.

[Jason Moore]

You're hoping you take a seven point loss but you might get three touchdowns on you.

[Mike Wright]

And it seems like these two guys at least, Trey McBride and Brock Bowers, I think they'll be neck and neck this, this coming season depending on who has more touchdowns. They're, they're a difference maker. So I will be drafting them very, very high right now as the tight end too. He's going in the middle of the third round which seems like a wonderful value.

[Andy Holloway]

Yeah, I love that. And you're alluding to it a little bit just of the. Like Trey McBride and Brock Bowers to me have nothing to worry about competition wise like George Kittle. I'm excited for George Kittle right now.

[Jason Moore]

But we've seen things change.

[Andy Holloway]

Things over the off season for the 49ers could change drastically. They might stay the same but there is a chance they can change. And if things change for the Raiders or the Cardinals, it does not matter. It's actually better for them in my opinion. Like Marv gets better, they add another potential wide receiver weapon for the Cardinals.

[Jason Moore]

Now the offense is better now they might score more.

[Andy Holloway]

Exactly. Trey McBride will not lose his spot in the, in the pecking order and of the depth chart of where the targets are going to go. He's a top tier talent and if you get him on a better offense just like Bowers, then now we're talking. They are, they are lapping the field.

[Mike Wright]

And it's the human beings like the actual guys, Trey McBride and Brock Bowers, it was their doing versus, I mean all of these, all of these guys are great. I don't want to take anything away from Sam LaPorta, exceptional tight end, but it wasn't his doing. It was, it was. He is a part of a great offense.

[Jason Moore]

I would push back on that. I think it was definitely push back on that.

[Mike Wright]

That schemed him open, that allowed him to take advantage of a great offense. That is the number one scoring offense in the league versus, you know, the other two guys. It was all they're doing. It was you, you get the ball, you break two tackles, you run for 20 more yards. There's just nothing you can do about that. That's just not what LaPorta can do.

[Jason Moore]

Yeah, we can agree to disagree in part on that. I mean the Port, I didn't just have one good season. He had two seasons for this team. You know, 120 targets is earned. Targets aren't earned stat. And Trey McBride didn't have years like this his entire career because you did have to have opportunities to make him a center piece of the offense. He didn't outplay Zach Hertz in previous years, so it was his time. But I don't want to take away from Laporta just because that offense had two amazing running backs, two amazing wide receivers. So La Porta got 90 targets instead of whatever, you know, these other guys did.

[Mike Wright]

My point is more, it's like I said, I don't want to take it away from Laporta. It's to build no it's to build these other two guys up. I never saw laporta go up and just moss people left and right. You know, you saw that with Trey McBride all the time. His sideline catches that were just like.

[Andy Holloway]

And hurdling people. Which I wish you would stop doing, right?

[Mike Wright]

Stop. It's very cool, especially for a man your size, but stop it.

[Jason Moore]

Porter's got a higher yards for catch than McBride does, I'll tell you that.

[Mike Wright]

Yeah, I think he had a couple of real long breakaway receptions.

[Jason Moore]

It wasn't his doing, though. No, they put him on a cart. They put him on a cart and drove him down the sideline.

[Mike Wright]

No, I mean, we're actually saying the same thing because it was like those broken plays where he was by himself on half of a field.

[Jason Moore]

Laporte is an amazing athlete and an amazing season. So good.

[Andy Holloway]

We must be talking about him next, right?

[Jason Moore]

No, we got to talk about Johnny Smith first.

[Andy Holloway]

Oh, well, laporte will be right after that though, right?

[Mike Wright]

No, no, no. A couple more right after that, though. No, not yet.

[Andy Holloway]

Good season my butt.

[Mike Wright]

Yeah.

[Jason Moore]

All right. Johnny Smith is four somehow.

[Mike Wright]

Johnny Smith, I just love that for no reason. We're done, both of you.

[Jason Moore]

Here's your line here. I don't really. Look, I'm not taking nothing away from Sam Laporta, but the dude sucks.

[Mike Wright]

You made me do that.

[Jason Moore]

Last year's number.

[Mike Wright]

You brought this on him.

[Jason Moore]

You act like the dude didn't catch a million passes. If Laporta was in the Cardinals offense, he would have caught that amount of passes.

[Andy Holloway]

Sam Laporta is no Johnny Smith. That's what I know.

[Jason Moore]

Johnny Smith was the number four most consistent and number four overall. He was 13 in consistency in the first half, third in the second half. 63% good, 25% bus, 31% great. That 31% great number, that's right on par with Trey McBride. I mean, that's above Brock Bauer, dude.

[Andy Holloway]

The second half was outrageous.

[Jason Moore]

I mean, he was a lead. He had 88 receptions for 884 yards, 111 targets, and really didn't become the central, you know, focus at the tight end position or in the offense until week nine.

[Mike Wright]

Yeah, people won championships with Johnny Smith. I mean, he was the tight end 23352 and then 1013. 5. But the 1013 you're talking about basically double digit fantasy points those weeks. Those are just.

[Jason Moore]

They're not bus games.

[Mike Wright]

Not at all. And it is funny you brought this up a couple times during the season, especially late towards the playoffs, that maybe Arthur Smith deserved an apology because the entire world was so sick of him using Jonah Smith over Kyle Pitts. Like you've got this highly drafted top 10 pick and you're. But he's a practice going that guy's better. Yeah, Jonas is a better player than.

[Andy Holloway]

Kyle which that is 100% correct. But his usage of Drake London, I don't issue any apologies.

[Mike Wright]

Fair.

[Jason Moore]

Yeah.

[Mike Wright]

Keep them down Mike. I like it.

[Jason Moore]

This was, you know, Johnny Smith was sort of like what David Najoki did last year to finish the season. You had a just a run of games where you're like this is a guy that's been around and yet is now an elite option indicative of Miami's transformation on offense. They couldn't get the ball. They weren't willing to get the ball down the field as much. Tyreek Hill, we went over that in the truth episode for him almost half the receiving yards. I don't think any of us would have said if we told you starting the year he's going to have half the receiving yards. Who's the beneficiary? You would have said Devon Hn. You would have said Jalen Waddle. You would have said somebody not named Johnny.

[Mike Wright]

He said in the league Washington breakout season as a rookie. Absolutely. It would not have been John who Smith but John who Smith was the quick out relief valve over and over down the stretch for tua.

[Jason Moore]

Now John who run that could run after the catch.

[Mike Wright]

John who is under contract next year for the Dolphins. I don't see the scheme style getting the ball out of to his hands to protect him as well. Changing.

[Jason Moore]

That's what I was going to say. Is this a blip or not?

[Mike Wright]

I don't. Well, I don't think the second half is going to continue all throughout next year.

[Andy Holloway]

Tight end 23352 right.

[Mike Wright]

However, I think he is going to be a really valuable fantasy asset next year. He'll certainly be, you know I think in the top seven tight ends. Is that fair? You know I see him having kind.

[Andy Holloway]

Of like in adp you mean?

[Mike Wright]

No, no, no. It's fantasy finish. I think at the end of the.

[Jason Moore]

Year he'll be a seven or eight.

[Mike Wright]

Seven or eight. Somewhere around there. Kind of what we had for a couple seasons from like Evan Ingram kind of volume your way towards, you know being a very relevant not bust pick.

[Andy Holloway]

But you have it. That's the question is are we going to have a John new hn offense or are we going to have a Tyree kill Jalen Waddle offense?

[Mike Wright]

Not Tyree Kill.

[Andy Holloway]

Yeah. It's weird because two years ago, if you remember, I mean, they were dead last in target share. Right.

[Jason Moore]

Like this was for the tight end position.

[Andy Holloway]

Yeah, for the tight end position. This was not a team. And now chicken or egg. Right. You know what? Like, you know, who are they going to throw the ball to? Type of stuff. And chicken and John who emerges.

[Mike Wright]

You don't want to throw the ball at eggs. They'll break.

[Andy Holloway]

I just, I. This is a really difficult thing of not knowing which, which, which ways the offense going to point.

[Mike Wright]

They didn't have John who two years ago. Right. He was, he was still smiting it. A falcon. So I think part of it is that and part of it is Tyree Kill. I mean, you know, two years ago, Tyree Kill was two years younger and that's a pretty big deal right now when you're, when you're at this age.

[Jason Moore]

And number five with 55 receptions on just 69 targets.

[Mike Wright]

Not nice.

[Jason Moore]

673 yards, but 11 touchdowns. It's Mark Andrews. Which, the Mark Andrews. What do you want to call it? The Journey?

[Mike Wright]

No, the roller coaster. The roller coaster. I mean they're building, they're building a Mark Andrews at Six Flags right now.

[Jason Moore]

Oh, does it start pretty crappy?

[Mike Wright]

It starts crappy, but it's going to fall wild at the end.

[Jason Moore]

They take you underwater where you're almost drowning.

[Mike Wright]

Yeah.

[Jason Moore]

And then right before you drown and it rockets you up, lifts up. Look, it's Mark Andrews is. It's wild. This was the, did you know this is his career high in touchdowns? That was his career high in touchdowns.

[Mike Wright]

Was it his career high in games played?

[Jason Moore]

Yes.

[Mike Wright]

Yeah, that's always been his problem.

[Jason Moore]

11 touchdowns. He's only had one double digit year ever. You know, one of the things that happened back in 2021 is we've got, we got this outrageous outlier season from Andrews. 154 targets, 107 receptions. He's played seven seasons. He's never again surpassed 73 receptions. Andrew Story is never going to be competing with McBride and Bowers on the PPR reception totals. It's always going to be if Andrews is on the field and Lamar Jackson's on the field, these two have a special red zone relationship and it surfaced over the course of the back half of the year.

[Mike Wright]

Yeah. And when you say the back half of the year, it really. The first month of the season. That's when at that point after week four, people were cutting Mark Andrews in half of your leagues. He had just goosed back to back games.

[Andy Holloway]

Oh, man. Oh, he had the back to back goose. And then the discussion of do you play Mark Andrews?

[Mike Wright]

Yeah. Do you play him? And it was, do you drop him? He was. And we, you know, we, I think we did our best saying you don't drop Mark Andrews.

[Jason Moore]

People are, I might have been done after the first four.

[Mike Wright]

I know I was.

[Andy Holloway]

Which I don't. I don't blame anyone.

[Mike Wright]

So here's how bad it was. The truth of his season. The first four weeks he had a total of 65 yards and 51 of those came in one of those games. No touchdowns, six total receptions. So it was worthless.

[Jason Moore]

14 yards in the other three games.

[Mike Wright]

Yeah. And then if you think about it, you go, okay, so he finished. He must have had an amazing stretch run the rest of the way from weeks five through 18. The rest of the way. If you just take the yardage pace of those games, once you're finally past the car accident month. Remember that narrative, you got in a car accident early. Maybe it took him a while to get going. What do you think his yardage was from that point forward? It would have been a 17 game pace of under 800 yards. 795 yards. So to me, yeah.

[Andy Holloway]

But what's the touchdown pace?

[Mike Wright]

14.4. Yeah.

[Andy Holloway]

All right.

[Mike Wright]

But I think it echoes what Andy's saying. He's not going to be a high volume, high floor PPR machine anymore. He. He has huge game upside because of touchdown.

[Jason Moore]

Yeah. His consistency rank was blow his fantasy finish, which you're probably going to see from him with touchdown dependency was number four in the second half. Number six on the season, 17 in the first half, 31% bust rate. He redeemed, you know, all of the. If you had him still, if you kept him, you could play him and you could rely on him because tight end, it's. It's tough in the tight end streets. Mark Andrews delivered with the touchdowns. That's where the value came. Yes, but the truth of his season is not. I don't feel like he was the fifth best tight end.

[Mike Wright]

No, no. Because I mean. But despite that first month and the fact that you don't feel that way, still finished above Sam Laporta.

[Jason Moore]

Yeah, he did. He did.

[Mike Wright]

So there's that.

[Jason Moore]

He did finish that. A Sam Laporta.

[Andy Holloway]

Oh, man.

[Jason Moore]

So don't. Hold on. Let me just take the logical conclusion. You said verbatim, McBride earned it, Laporta didn't. Which means that if Laporta didn't perform, it's also not his fault. Thank you. Because if it wasn't his fault to be successful can't be his fault if he failed.

[Mike Wright]

Correct.

[Jason Moore]

Yeah. So he's just a product of a system. So he would have been great had they let him be great.

[Mike Wright]

Yeah, yeah, yeah. Okay. Yeah. Great.

[Jason Moore]

So I mean there's no point on dunking on him. Just dunk on the lion.

[Mike Wright]

I wasn't dunking him, I was sharing facts.

[Jason Moore]

Sure.

[Mike Wright]

Mark Andrews finished above Sam Laporta.

[Jason Moore]

That's. Yeah.

[Andy Holloway]

No, he did feel like you'll be in on Mark.

[Mike Wright]

I think Mark Andrews this next year will plummet in draft, I guess.

[Andy Holloway]

Where's early best ball? End of the seventh round right now.

[Mike Wright]

End of the seventh. So that's going to be probably ahead of where John who's going and I think I would rather have John who the Mark Andrews next year. I'd rather have that take the one round, not only the one round discount if they were in the same round. If I'm on the clock at the beginning of the eighth round and I'm choosing between John Ooh. And Mark Andrews, I think I'd rather have the PPR floor and the consistency that I would expect from the two offense rather than just the touchdown upside from Mark Andrews.

[Jason Moore]

I mean 55 receptions over 17 games. You played every game. You averaged 3.23 receptions. Yeah, that clinches the butt cheeks until you get the touchdown which to be fair, make sure I never say that exact line again.

[Mike Wright]

You got a lot of touchdowns so you unclenched regularly.

[Andy Holloway]

Yeah, that was a loose, loose butt.

[Mike Wright]

Cheeks, lot of fiber.

[Jason Moore]

All right, kelsey at number six was drafted as the tight end one in the third round.

[Andy Holloway]

Whoops.

[Jason Moore]

He's 35 years old. Consistency rank of eight. In the first half it was 13. In the second half it was nine. Not a good pick, just not a good pick. No, he was the perfect kind of did enough ish to make you keep playing him because you'd never sit Kelsey. Right. But, but maybe you could have, maybe you could have shifted from what you got from Kelsey in the second half to a Johnny Smith.

[Mike Wright]

So we've already, if it hasn't become clear, we've already hit the massive tear break of. I know we're, we're talking about Travis Kelsey, hall of Famer, first round fantasy pick forever. But he is obviously no longer an elite option, a weekly reliable player that you're going to bank on and I don't think Mark Andrews is either. We just talked about him. So like John who's on that bubble.

[Jason Moore]

Which he's probably I don't think he's in there.

[Mike Wright]

He's probably not in that group.

[Jason Moore]

No, he's not in that group.

[Mike Wright]

Which means there's only three and the rest of these are all trash.

[Jason Moore]

Well, until next year's number one pick.

[Mike Wright]

Sure, maybe it'll be four. But then if that happens, if next year's number one pick, if the rookie comes in and achieves greatness, that only means that George Kittle has to be bad then.

[Jason Moore]

Yeah, because of the rule of the tight ender.

[Mike Wright]

Yes, there can only be three.

[Jason Moore]

There's generally another kind of. There's normally another Johnny Smith. It wouldn't be Johnny again.

[Mike Wright]

Right?

[Jason Moore]

There'd be somebody else. But we talked a lot about Kelsey already at the top, talking about his age, talking about how he wants to keep playing, talking about how annoying it's going to be just giving you the numbers. 25% great. 50% good. 38% bust. That was the Travis Kelce story. I'd love to talk Laporta, but we got to take a break first. You want control of your financial future and Schwab knows that. That's why when it comes to managing your wealth, we give you more choices like full service, wealth management and advice when you need it most. You can also invest on your own and trade on thinkorswim, our powerful award winning trading platforms. Plus you'll get low costs, transparent pricing and 247 live help. Because at Schwab, we understand it's your financial journey and we believe you should have choices in how you invest. Visit schwab.com to learn more. Ryan Reynolds here from Mint Mobile with a message for everyone. Paying big wireless way too much. Please, for the love of everything good in this world, stop with Mint. You can get premium wireless for just $15 a month. Of course if you joy over paying, no judgments. But that's weird. Okay, one judgment. Anyway, give it a [e-mail] Switch upfront payment of $45 for three month plan equivalent to $15 per month required intro rate first three months only, then full price plan options available, taxes and fees extra. See full [e-mail] all right, last year's number one tight end totally didn't earn it. Number one, didn't earn it this year, didn't earn it. Number seven, just kind of a mist out there on the field. Sam Laporta was drafted as the tight end too in the third round, no question. Disaster.

[Mike Wright]

Yeah, huge bus disaster.

[Jason Moore]

He was the 8th most consistent in the second half after the a much worse start at number 21, only 7% great, 47% good, 33% bus. Jameson Williams returned this year, made a big impact. We talked about him in the tight end truth, huge difference maker. Had the dominance from Gibbs who ascended, Montgomery who continued.

[Mike Wright]

So Laporta can be good. He is a very, very serviceable option in this offense. But he, you know, all jokes aside, he's not the dominant force that demands to be a centerpiece of the offense. He is a great asset to add to an already good offense.

[Jason Moore]

If unfortunately you are right.

[Mike Wright]

Yeah. And so, you know, the first half of the season when you drafted him as that tight end one or tight end two, when you really went in on Sam Laporta, I mean, you, you dropped Sam. Sam Laporta was dropped because unlike Mark Andrews, where it was one month into the season, we're talking nine games into the season where Sam Laporta was behind Zach Ertz and Mike Kicki and Dalton Kincaid and Cole Comet, he was, you.

[Jason Moore]

Know, you had given up, you had.

[Mike Wright]

Given up, you'd moved on. And a lot of people would stream Sam Laporta second half of the season. Now, that turned out good because he, he was kind of more integral to the offense later on. And the thing is, is I know that any game that you're out there, Sam Laporta can finish as even the tight end one on the week. That's nice to know. But you're not going to have consistency because he's not a. He. He isn't part of the, you know, the engine that makes the offense move.

[Jason Moore]

He is this year. Seven touchdowns on 60 catches. I mean, you're in the Andrews territory right there.

[Mike Wright]

Double those touchdowns.

[Jason Moore]

Double.

[Mike Wright]

You have.

[Jason Moore]

Your math is bad.

[Andy Holloway]

12 a part of the situation. Part of the situation for Laporta is.

[Jason Moore]

Like, did you just say that seven times two is 12?

[Mike Wright]

Because I think, oh, he had seven. I think that's what you did.

[Jason Moore]

I think you said that. Not letting you leave there.

[Mike Wright]

Okay, that's fair. That one's on me.

[Andy Holloway]

Yeah. Like just is remembering the story of the Detroit Lions. The first half of the year when the Lions had their defensive pieces and right. They were. They were killing people on offense, but. And then the defense was not allowing people to score. So you just, you, you weren't getting whether the offense is still strong, it's not as relied upon. And then in the second half of the year, I'm just like, I'm, I'm trying to think about this out loud of like, could that have been a source of why Laporta had a great second half because the Lions had whatever, you know, 20 plus guys on IR, including losing a bunch of key defensive.

[Jason Moore]

Pieces and losing Montgomery for a period of time where he had two good games. That Montgomery. Look, Jared Goff threw for 4637. You would have expected a much better year for Sam LaPorta. You would have if he was indeed the focal point, like a McBride or a Bowers or a Kittle.

[Mike Wright]

Yeah, he's the fourth receiving option in this office.

[Jason Moore]

And we all like Almond Ross forever. We like Jameson Williams. We like Jameer Gibbs, who catches the football. He's not changing that order. Now, could he have a. He could have a top five year because he catches 11 touchdowns.

[Andy Holloway]

Yes, exactly.

[Jason Moore]

But that's the category for sure. So fight over number eight, Tucker Kraft. Number nine, Zach Ertz.

[Andy Holloway]

Don't worry about Tucker Craft. Why are we skipping?

[Jason Moore]

I have no idea who made this executive decision.

[Mike Wright]

I made the executive.

[Andy Holloway]

Our note says skip.

[Mike Wright]

Yeah. Why are we skipping Kraft? So, yeah, because we wanted to talk about 12 guys because that's kind of how we fit them in. And I wanted to get.

[Jason Moore]

Poor guy, man.

[Mike Wright]

I wanted to get to David.

[Jason Moore]

Didn't earn it.

[Mike Wright]

I wanted to get to David Njoku and Dallas Goddard.

[Andy Holloway]

Why? Tucker Kraft was better.

[Mike Wright]

Well, okay, he was a little bit better. Dallas Goddard was significantly better. He was the tight end seven in our consistency rankings, but missed games. And David Najoku is. I mean, who are you. Who are you taking next year? David Najoku or Tucker Kraft?

[Andy Holloway]

Who's Tucker Craft?

[Mike Wright]

Here's the thing.

[Andy Holloway]

He's throwing the ball in Cleveland.

[Mike Wright]

Tucker Kraft did not have a good season. Did he have more total fantasy points than the guys who missed games? Yes, but he didn't have a good fantasy season. You're not going to draft him next year. And it's an irrelevant conversation.

[Jason Moore]

And Musgrave was gone.

[Mike Wright]

Yeah.

[Andy Holloway]

Kraft stole his lunch money.

[Jason Moore]

I mean, Zach Ertz. Yeah, these are. This is the you didn't play that great. This is just the order you're in category.

[Mike Wright]

We don't have to talk about any of these guys.

[Jason Moore]

Well, Zach Ertz did it.

[Mike Wright]

Wrap this thing up, guys did it.

[Jason Moore]

At 34 and was the ninth most consistent.

[Andy Holloway]

Yeah, I think Tucker Craft was better than you do, apparently.

[Jason Moore]

Well, Tucker Crafts, I mean, if you want to look at the numbers, he had 50 catches for 700 yards and seven touchdowns. This is, I think, Ferguson, Dalton Schultz a couple of years ago. I guess Dallas, maybe turnstile.

[Andy Holloway]

I mean, it's just more about, like, what is the what. What is his career path like? He was. He was a third round pick.

[Jason Moore]

He's 652-59. He's 24 years old. He was a third round pick.

[Andy Holloway]

Yes. And that was.

[Jason Moore]

He's not an athletic freak. He has a capable.

[Andy Holloway]

Well he. His at his athleticism is actually.

[Mike Wright]

Whoa, whoa, whoa.

[Andy Holloway]

Did I go lefticism?

[Mike Wright]

Athleticism.

[Jason Moore]

I was gonna go athleticism and then.

[Andy Holloway]

I bailed out and jumped into a different word. It happens.

[Jason Moore]

You've done that.

[Andy Holloway]

His athleticism is actually pretty. It's better than you think it is like his in quickness and explosiveness. He's in the 69th percentile and the 75th percentile for explosive. Like he has good shooting speed.

[Jason Moore]

He's a piece of an office. He's only a Duke 2 games where he had five or more receptions.

[Mike Wright]

You also had Luke Musgrave miss the vast majority of the season. Played a couple weeks, got injured for the whole season. Played the couple of.

[Jason Moore]

Craft is probably it now though.

[Andy Holloway]

Yeah, that's what I think probably. I think Kraft is. He's going to be the preferred guy and it's 355 yards as a rookie, 707 as a sophomore. Just saying like I would pay attention to the way that his Mike wants.

[Jason Moore]

Him to get some time on the show.

[Mike Wright]

He got some time. You can have as much time as you want for Tucker Craft.

[Andy Holloway]

That was it.

[Jason Moore]

He doesn't want to talk about Erzone. We probably don't need to but he had a great year.

[Andy Holloway]

Yeah, it's just. Is he back the which he will be for half a season before Ben Senate takes over.

[Jason Moore]

The muth was at 10, Najoku was at 11. But keep an eye on the consistency rank. He was number five like you talked about Johnny Smith. I take no joke over Johnny Smith.

[Mike Wright]

Yes.

[Jason Moore]

Unless I am being dealt the worst hand at quarterback I can comprehend.

[Mike Wright]

What about Najoku or Laporta?

[Jason Moore]

No joking.

[Mike Wright]

Yeah, of course.

[Jason Moore]

Oh my God. This can't be a thing.

[Mike Wright]

It's not going to be a thing.

[Jason Moore]

He missed so much time. He missed three weeks at the beginning of the year. He missed week 15. He missed two weeks in the fantasy play or the championship week and the week after he missed his quarterback. He had Amari Cooper traded midseason. The team is collapsing. But you watch him play football and you say okay this is a. A dominator.

[Mike Wright]

I think he's going to be a humongous bounce back candidate and probably the best value of the non best, you know the non elite tight ends next year because at the end of the previous season, we weren't sure. Was it these ancillary pieces or did he level up? Can he be kind of a center of a top two target in an office going forward? And while at the end of the season it seems like he wasn't because he missed those games, got injured throughout, had some quarterback changes, even Jameis Winston getting pulled, and nobody paid attention to the Browns. As the season went on, you kind of forgot about David Najoku. But on a per game basis and watching the film, he was actually the guy that ended the season prior. He didn't go on that kind of a magma stretch because, you know, if you remember the season prior, it was somehow their schedule lined up with like eight of the best matchups for tight ends in a row. But my point is, going into this draft season, there was a question of is David Najoku that guy or not? And I believe he actually proved he was despite finishing at tight end. 11.

[Jason Moore]

I can't believe you wanted to talk about Dallas Goddard more than Tucker Craft. Dallas Goddard, we've played the record for eight years. I mean, he finishes at 27. His consistency was seven. His second half was five. But he missed a ton of time and he did exactly what he always does. He's always willing to give you about a 10 to 12 finish at the position. If he was a video game character, his nickname would be the opportunist. He's going to take advantage of a certain game here or there. But we're. I mean, we've been here, right? I mean, we're.

[Mike Wright]

We do not need to talk about Dallas Goddard.

[Jason Moore]

There's only one seasons of Dallas Goddard.

[Mike Wright]

There was only one.

[Andy Holloway]

I got about five more minutes on Tucker Craft.

[Mike Wright]

Look, I'm going to be honest with you guys. The tight ends after the top guys are so borderline the truth, the absolute truth, if I'm being completely honest and no jokes, is the reason that I wanted to talk about the Dallas Goddard was to get turtile in here. The problem is you guys brought up Turtle really early in the show. Oh, I'm sorry. So we didn't. We didn't even need Dallas.

[Jason Moore]

He's just a Turtile placeholder.

[Mike Wright]

Yeah, Tucker Kraft was. So I could get turtile into this show. Guys, that's more important than that.

[Jason Moore]

You're that fascinated in the word.

[Mike Wright]

I'm unfascinated with the. With the meandering. I mean, because we could talk about a million.

[Jason Moore]

Are we a Turtile? No, a trifecta.

[Andy Holloway]

I mean, I'm in the turtile of the.

[Jason Moore]

There's three balls.

[Mike Wright]

Well, you are the only Ring of Honor members, so. That's true. But I mean, whether we talk about.

[Jason Moore]

Congrats on that, by the way.

[Mike Wright]

Whether we talk about Kate Otten or Mike Gasicki or Cole Comet, I mean, there are so many of these guys and it's pretty irrelevant the difference between most of them, you know. So next year, stream the position or get one of the studs.

[Jason Moore]

Well, that's good because this triumvirate has another segment for you.

[Andy Holloway]

I cannot wait to be in on Cole commit.

[Mike Wright]

Yeah, maybe.

[Andy Holloway]

Oh, man, it's going to be fun.

[Mike Wright]

He's a talented player.

[Jason Moore]

When you were talking about Tucker Kraft, all I could think about was Cole Comet. Because it's the same. It feels the same.

[Andy Holloway]

Yeah, but like, but we're all. We all agree that Cole Comet is a talented guy.

[Jason Moore]

Exactly.

[Andy Holloway]

And got hosed this year. And now he's got.

[Jason Moore]

He will be hosed forever.

[Mike Wright]

He's got Ben Johnson.

[Andy Holloway]

He's got Ben Johnson. He's the new Laporta.

[Mike Wright]

Oh, no.

[Jason Moore]

Laporta didn't earn it. So that you did need.

[Mike Wright]

That's the point.

[Andy Holloway]

Even better.

[Mike Wright]

He just gives it to him. Fantasy Face off presented by DraftKings.

[Jason Moore]

Well, it's the final one of the year. We did not have football last week, so we do not have any punishments to dole out. But we do have super bowl lineups.

[Andy Holloway]

My lineup is punishment enough.

[Mike Wright]

Everybody.

[Jason Moore]

We do have.

[Mike Wright]

Hope you got Dallas Goddard in it after all this sweet Dallas Goddard talk.

[Andy Holloway]

Oh, he's in.

[Jason Moore]

We're circling back to super bowl. Only captain lineups for the. The big game. I'm going with a captain, Saquon Barkley. Well, who's your captain, Jake?

[Mike Wright]

My captain as well is Saquon Barkley.

[Andy Holloway]

And I knew that both of you would go with the captain of Saquon Barkley. So it was what in the. Like, how do you pivot this? So it is just the ultimate victory. And coming in at the bottom of the turtile, Mr. Dallas Goddard will be my captain.

[Mike Wright]

Fantastic.

[Jason Moore]

Well, the rest of my lineup, before.

[Andy Holloway]

I even knew that this show was going to happen.

[Mike Wright]

You're talking about number seven, consistency ranked Dallas Goddard.

[Andy Holloway]

That's who I'm talking about.

[Jason Moore]

My final five names Barkley, by the way, 18,000 as a captain.

[Mike Wright]

All right, why don't you name one name? We'll say if we got them so we know.

[Jason Moore]

Is that the best way to do that? Really? I think that sounds confusing.

[Mike Wright]

Let's try it out.

[Jason Moore]

I have Hollywood.

[Mike Wright]

I have Hollywood as well.

[Jason Moore]

At 5,400.

[Andy Holloway]

I have Hollywood Brown.

[Mike Wright]

Okay, so he's irrelevant.

[Andy Holloway]

Okay.

[Jason Moore]

I have Goddard in my lineup. Not my captain, but 5800.

[Mike Wright]

I have Goddard at 5800 as well. Mike says captain irrelevant. Other than obviously you get more points if you haven't played this game before. Your captain gets extra points, like one and a half times the points for whatever they score. But they also their salary costs more.

[Andy Holloway]

Yes.

[Mike Wright]

When you choose them.

[Andy Holloway]

I have. I have Saquon as a flex.

[Jason Moore]

Okay.

[Andy Holloway]

So.

[Jason Moore]

Okay, I have Patrick Mahomes at 10,000.

[Mike Wright]

Ooh. I do not.

[Andy Holloway]

I don't have any Mahomes.

[Jason Moore]

Okay, so I'm.

[Mike Wright]

I've got Jalen hurts.

[Jason Moore]

I do not have her.

[Andy Holloway]

I have Jalen hurts.

[Jason Moore]

All right, so we're.

[Mike Wright]

So Mike and I are on the hertz. You're on the Mahomes side.

[Jason Moore]

Yeah. I just figured he's going to hand it to Barkley. That's what I'm gonna go with.

[Andy Holloway]

I figure Mahomes is going to lose.

[Jason Moore]

Xavier worthy at 8,000 and then Noah Gray is the bargain bin at 2800.

[Mike Wright]

I've got Noah Gray at 2800 and Cream Hunt at 6400.

[Andy Holloway]

Oh, I went with one more ride for the big guy. We got Travis Kelsey in here at 9,000. I figure he'll show up in the Super Bowl. And then a guy who's surprisingly getting a bunch of targets inside the end zone. Not a bunch of targets nor playing time, but I'm going with DeAndre Hopkins at 4400. Just hope that we get. If anyone has a fluky two touchdown game, I think it's Hopkins.

[Jason Moore]

You just heard three lineups. Zero A.J. brown, zero DeVonta Smith.

[Mike Wright]

That's true.

[Andy Holloway]

Yeah.

[Jason Moore]

Pretty wild.

[Andy Holloway]

Yeah. Because Dallas guard.

[Jason Moore]

Oh, boy. That was Fantasy Face off. Presented by DraftKings Sportsbook. It's the last chance to bet on the NFL this season. Download the DraftKings Sportsbook app and use the code BALLERS. That is the code BALLERS. Place any TD bet on Super Bowl 59 and get it matched as a bonus bet in the amount of your original bet. Only on DraftKings sportsbook. The Crown is yours. Did you have a final thought there? Mike just said Goddard related. Yeah, Goddard and Craft. Goddard and Craft. Your guys.

[Andy Holloway]

Oh, I was like, I don't know that song. Yeah, yeah.

[Jason Moore]

Focus on those next year for tight end.

[Andy Holloway]

Dude, this is what I do. I like my nasty boy. Tight ends.

[Jason Moore]

It's good you passed on McBride for Andrews. I'll tell you that. That was smart.

[Andy Holloway]

Yeah. Marv.

[Jason Moore]

Marv.

[Andy Holloway]

Goodbye, everybody.

[Jason Moore]

Gambling problem. Call 1-800-GAMBLER in New York, call 877-8-HOPE NY or text hopeny467-369 In Connecticut, help.

[Mike Wright]

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[Jason Moore]

One bonus bet per customer based on.

[Andy Holloway]

Amounts of initial touchdown bet.

[Jason Moore]

Maximum reward varies. Bonus bet expires 2 hours, 16 minutes.

[Mike Wright]

And 25 seconds at 11:59pm Eastern Time. For additional terms and responsible gaming resources, see sportsbook.draftkings.com promos.