Top 10 Fantasy Football MVPs for 2020 - Fantasy Football Podcast for 9/2

Summary

Fantasy Footballers - Fantasy Football Podcast Episode: Top 10 Fantasy Football MVPs for 2020
Release Date: September 2, 2020

---

Introduction & Light Banter

The episode kicks off with Andy Holloway (00:00) promoting the Ultimate Draft Kit, highlighting its dual benefit of enhancing fantasy teams and supporting St. Jude Children's Research Hospital. The hosts engage in light-hearted banter about David Blaine's supposed balloon flight (00:21 - 02:53), setting an entertaining tone for the show.

Season Schedule Overview

Andy Holloway (04:33) outlines the in-season schedule for the podcast as the NFL season approaches:

• Monday: Weekend rewind with "Studs and Stinkers"
• Tuesday: Waiver wire analysis and streaming quarterback picks
• Wednesday: Trade discussions, snap counts, and mailbag segments
• Thursday & Friday: Matchup previews and new segments like "Prop It Like It's Hot"

Jason Moore (05:58) emphasizes the importance of active management throughout the season, stating, "This is where you win the championship. Your start sit decisions, your trade decisions, your waiver wire pickups."

Buy/Sell Segment: Jarvis Landry

During the Buy/Sell segment (06:37), the hosts analyze Jarvis Landry's potential for reaching 1,000 receiving yards in 2020. Andy Holloway (06:44) expresses skepticism, "Jarvis Landry is in my mind to be a very boring player to draft," which Jason Moore (07:03) counters by highlighting Landry's consistent performance: "He's been a top 20 every year."

Mike Wright (08:18) presents a nuanced view, considering the Cleveland Browns' new offensive scheme and the potential resurgence of Odell Beckham Jr. He concludes, "I'm going to sell, I'm going to take him just underneath the thousand-yard threshold."

News and Notes

Jason Moore (11:06) leads the discussion on recent NFL news:

• Joe Mixon signs a four-year, $48 million extension with the Cincinnati Bengals. Andy Holloway (12:30) expresses relief, "This is great news for a team that I think has a real opportunity."

• Alvin Kamara faces contract negotiations and injury concerns, including an epidural in his spine (13:35 - 16:18). Andy Holloway (15:37) discusses his rankings and concerns, while Jason Moore (15:37) explains the implications of Kamara's health on his performance.

• Leonard Fournette clears waivers, with potential interest from the Kansas City Chiefs (16:56 - 19:02). Mike Wright (17:13) dismisses the fantasy impact, stating, "I will care 0.0% like it."

• Kenyan Drake is nearing full practice participation (20:16), and A.J. Brown is making strides in training camp (20:29).

Fantasy MVPs from Guests

The podcast features insights from seven additional colleagues in the fantasy football community:

1. Al Smiz (27:59) - Jonathan Taylor

• Pick Reasoning: Mid-third-round ADP, conservative projections, improved offensive line, and favorable schedule.
• Quote: “They’re going to give this kid the ball early and often, and he may get 250 touches...” (28:00)

2. Marcus Grant (32:13) - Christian McCaffrey

• Pick Reasoning: Dominant role in offense, consistent high performance, and minimal regression expected.
• Quote: “He gets an upgraded quarterback at Teddy Bridgewater... he's going to double up as your fantasy MVP in 2020.” (33:14)

3. Brad Evans (35:08) - Chris Carson

• Pick Reasoning: Consistent performance, value in drafts, and minimized variables compared to other running backs.
• Quote: “Release the Kraken and you are about to score a championship trophy.” (35:17)

4. Liz Loza (37:53) - Damien Harris

• Pick Reasoning: Versatile skill set, dependable role in a strong offense, and low-risk late-round pick.
• Quote: “His 13th round ADP also carries zero risk. So just go ahead and lean into all of that upside...” (37:53)

5. Adam Lefkoe (40:23) - Philip Rivers

• Pick Reasoning: Veteran presence, improved offensive line, and familiarity with the coaching staff.
• Quote: “He is surrounded by weapons and everywhere you look...” (40:31)

6. J.J. Zachariason (43:49) - T.J. Hawkinson

• Pick Reasoning: Potential breakout tight end tied to good quarterback play and athleticism.
• Quote: “Don't doubt the potential of T.J. Hawkinson... he could be a top five tight end this year.” (43:49)

7. Jamie Eisenberg (46:40) - Dave Caldwell, Doug Marrone, Jacksonville Jaguars

• Pick Reasoning: Removal of the Leonard Fournette headache, simplifying draft decisions.
• Quote: “He took away the headache of Leonard Fournette... Dave Caldwell is the fantasy MVP for the 2020 season.” (46:40)

Hosts' Fantasy MVP Picks

After hearing guest opinions, the hosts reveal their personal MVP selections:

Mike Wright (49:20) - Antonio Gibson

• Reasoning: Versatile rookie with strong receiving and rushing capabilities, potential for high touchdowns.
• Quote: “Antonio Gibson highlights on YouTube and see what the potential is... he is one of the few players where the backfield is very murky.” (49:20)

Andy Holloway (52:13) - Kyler Murray

• Reasoning: High upside as a sixth-round pick, significant rushing and passing potential, and improved offensive environment.
• Quote: “Kyler Murray is the only other rookie quarterback to hit that 3,500 passing, 500 rushing yard mark in the history of the NFL.” (53:12)

Jason Moore (58:00) - A.J. Brown

• Reasoning: Consistent high performance, improved role in the Titans' offense, and high upside comparable to top receivers.
• Quote: “He should be a top 10 wide receiver for fantasy... he's being drafted where?” (59:10)

Notable Interludes & Humor

Throughout the episode, the hosts interject humor and playful remarks:

• Mike Wright (19:57) updates on David Blaine: “David Blaine is over 23,000ft in the air right now.”
• Discussions about mythical creatures and radio drama style segments add an entertaining layer to the podcast.

Conclusion & Closing Remarks

The podcast wraps up with the hosts reiterating their MVP picks and encouraging listeners to utilize resources like the Ultimate Draft Kit and the Sleeper app for an optimized fantasy football experience.

Andy Holloway (62:05) concludes, “This is our fantasy MVP episode for 2020... We are planting our flag.”

---

Notable Quotes:

• Andy Holloway (05:58): “This is where you win the championship... you win the championship in September through the rest of the season.”
• Jason Moore (05:58): “Your start sit decisions, your trade decisions, your waiver wire pickups, your roster from September 10th through the rest of the season.”
• Mike Wright (07:12): “Meanwhile, he's just been a top 20 every year.”
• Jason Moore (07:26): “How many times have you drafted Jarvis Landry so far? Mock drafts, real drafts this year?”
• Andy Holloway (26:54): “Fantasy football MVP time.”
• Jason Moore (26:48): "Look, Foot Clan. Who's your fantasy mvp?"
• Mike Wright (35:08): “Release the Kraken and you are about to score a championship trophy.”
• Andy Holloway (52:13): “Kyler Murray is my pick as the fantasy football MVP.”
• Jason Moore (58:00): “He's being drafted as the wide receiver 18. He is one of those league-winning high upside guys.”

---

This comprehensive summary captures the essence of the podcast episode, highlighting key discussions, guest insights, and the hosts' final MVP selections. Whether you're a seasoned fantasy football manager or a newcomer, this episode offers valuable analysis and entertaining discourse to enhance your fantasy experience in the 2020 NFL season.

Transcript

[Andy Holloway]

Foot Clan. Our big listener league draft is tonight. And if you're drafting tonight or through this upcoming weekend, you need the ultimate draft kit. And guess what? It's going to help more than your fantasy team. $1 from every UDK goes to support St. Jude Children's Research Hospital. If you've got a draft coming up, make sure you check it out@ultimate draftkit.com.

[Mike Wright]

We'Re all kind of looking for a bright spot right now, aren't we? Aren't we, Jason Heck? Yeah. Well, I've got one for you. There's a hilarious new series on Apple TV starring Jason Sudeikis called Ted Lasso. It's about an American football coach who heads to England to take a shot at managing one of the world's most competitive professional soccer teams. If you like a show with big laughs, a lot of heart, this is the one for you. Look, it's Jason Sudeikis.

[Andy Holloway]

Yeah, I mean, that's good enough.

[Mike Wright]

End of read. Watch Ted Lasso now on the Apple TV app. Subscription required for Apple TV Plus.

[Jason Moore]

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

[Andy Holloway]

Oh, welcome in.

[Jason Moore]

Yeah, that was extra juice today.

[Andy Holloway]

Welcome into the show. I've been told that there are listeners out there that try to time up my welcome in.

[Mike Wright]

Oh, you got him. I thought you've just been taking in the David Blaine experience.

[Andy Holloway]

Mike the fantasy hitman Jason.

[Mike Wright]

You don't know what I'm talking about?

[Andy Holloway]

No idea.

[Mike Wright]

Oh, David Blaine's up in the air, like, you know, up how they took the house up with balloons.

[Andy Holloway]

Do you mean mentally or like, physically?

[Mike Wright]

No, David Blaine's up in the air.

[Jason Moore]

Levitating, like right now.

[Mike Wright]

Like right now, right now.

[Andy Holloway]

I did not know that.

[Mike Wright]

Yeah, David Blaine's holding on to like a whole bunch of balloons and he's flying across the world right now.

[Andy Holloway]

That's.

[Jason Moore]

Wait, wait, that's so David Blake.

[Mike Wright]

Yes.

[Andy Holloway]

Wait, he's flying? Okay, I have so many questions, Mike. One of them is we could do a whole. Is he holding on to a bar like I have?

[Jason Moore]

That was. That was the first thought is how is he holding this?

[Mike Wright]

No, I believe he's strapped in. Even David Blaine has his limits.

[Andy Holloway]

David, you're telling me right now because this is all breaking news. I mean, the show has changed. It was gonna be an MVP show.

[Jason Moore]

Lots of industry experts. It's gonna be a great show.

[Andy Holloway]

Scrap it, Brooks. Okay. Did you know about this David Blaine thing and you didn't bring it up? I did not.

[Jason Moore]

It's called Ascension So wait, now he.

[Andy Holloway]

Is floating across the United States. There is a chance that we're talking about all this and the podcast comes out and he could have plummeted or something.

[Mike Wright]

No, not David Blaine.

[Andy Holloway]

That's true.

[Mike Wright]

If. Look, he probably will. He'll plummet and then he'll hit the ground, but he'll just, like, turn into a bunch of feathers.

[Jason Moore]

Find him. And then he's in China.

[Andy Holloway]

Yeah.

[Jason Moore]

And then they go, here I am.

[Andy Holloway]

I watched him catch a bullet in his mouth, which seemed like a bad idea as well.

[Mike Wright]

David Blaine is a wizard. A true. He is the local wizard.

[Andy Holloway]

Gandalf the white.

[Mike Wright]

Yeah.

[Andy Holloway]

Okay.

[Mike Wright]

David the. Blaine.

[Andy Holloway]

David the blame. Okay, sorry. We're gonna get back on track. Welcome to the show. This is the fantasy MVP episode for 2020, all three of us. We have our fantasy football MVP that we'll be revealing on the show today. We have also invited seven additional colleagues from the fantasy football community to bring their fantasy football MVP picks. I will say shout out to JJ's Zachary Zacharison, who last year he made the Lamar Jackson call right here on the show.

[Mike Wright]

What I like about this show is.

[Andy Holloway]

You got a 1 in 10 chance of being right here.

[Mike Wright]

Sure is. These are our friends. These are people. We respect their opinions and it's most. Yeah, yeah, most of them, of course. And it's always wild where, you know, we get. We have differing opinions, but then you reach out to some of our friends and you're like, whoa, that's a really different opinion or different take than what I've had. So it's just. It's interesting to perspectives to get those other perspectives.

[Andy Holloway]

And do we have David Blaine's MVP pick?

[Mike Wright]

I believe he chose himself.

[Andy Holloway]

Okay. I believe you're right. I want to let the listeners know.

[Jason Moore]

Where is he? He's in the end zone with the ball out.

[Andy Holloway]

Yeah. Yeah. He would be a decent free agent pickup right now. Signed with Jacksonville. I want to let people know the in season schedule for the show because the NFL season is kicking off next week.

[Jason Moore]

Oh, yeah, baby.

[Andy Holloway]

Breaking news. And obviously we're five days a week throughout the season, but our editor in chief, Kyle, thought it would be a good idea to let new listeners know what. What to expect for the in season schedule. Monday shows, we do a rewind of what happened in the weekend. Normally some spectacular puns are featured that day.

[Mike Wright]

Oh, yes.

[Andy Holloway]

But studs and stinkers on Mondays, Tuesdays, that's the waiver show. That's also when we pick our streaming quarterbacks for the upcoming week. So that you know, ahead of time, who to grab off of waivers. Wednesday, it kind of depends on the week. We do keep trade cut. We do snap count discussions, trade talk, mailbag. Wednesday is kind of. It's a wild day.

[Mike Wright]

It's the potpourri day.

[Andy Holloway]

Yeah. Thank you, Mike. Thursday, that's starts of the week. And we begin the matchup previews for the upcoming weekend games. Friday, more matchup preview. We do in and out and we do a new segment this year called prop it like it's hot. Talking about some player props.

[Jason Moore]

Yeah, look, this is fun. You know, we always say you don't win your championship at the draft. This is where you win the championship. Your start sit decisions, your trade decisions, your waiver wire pickups, your roster from September 10th through the rest of the season. That's when you actually take home a championship. So stick with us.

[Andy Holloway]

I was on. I did an AMA yesterday. Someone asked what is the number one thing that you believe gets you into the playoffs? And my answer was basically activity, especially towards the very back end of the week, if you're more active, if you're listening, if you're making those two or three tweaks. There is luck in fantasy football. I hate to say it. There's some luck involved.

[Mike Wright]

Guess what? This is break news. There is luck in life.

[Andy Holloway]

Yeah. Yeah, it's true. But I think activity. Just doing one or two more things than the opponents in your league, that makes a huge difference. Let's do some Buy, sell.

[Jason Moore]

Buy or sell. Presented by Pristine Auction.

[Andy Holloway]

Buy or sell. Browns wide receiver Jarvis Landry. 1,000 receiving yards for the 2020 season. He's done it in three of the last six seasons. He's 27 years old. And as I read all of this, I realize that Jarvis Landry is in my mind, somehow some way the most boring player to draft or think about in fantasy football. And I don't. That is such. That's so disrespectful to Jarvis Landry, the player. But he really, really is in my mind that way.

[Mike Wright]

Meanwhile, he's just been a top 20 every year.

[Andy Holloway]

He's really good.

[Jason Moore]

He's. He's great. He's. He's Robert woods light. He will be drafted later than he finishes.

[Andy Holloway]

It's the worst insult you've ever given anybody.

[Jason Moore]

Oh, how dare you.

[Andy Holloway]

Just because it's. It's a man that's already undervalued. And then you just said he's the light version of a disrespected player like Robert Woods.

[Jason Moore]

Yeah. So Jarvis is super disrespected. The reason he's super disrespected is because we who see that and recognize it also disrespect him.

[Andy Holloway]

How many times have you drafted Jarvis Landry so far? Mock drafts, real drafts this year?

[Jason Moore]

Zero. Several times. Oh you have in mock drafts? I don't have him on any of my real team but when I'm, you know, if I start with a couple of stud running backs, if I end up getting a tight end and I need someone that's playing and scoring in the mid later rounds, I look Jarvis's way.

[Andy Holloway]

So to answer the question, zero for me as well. Are you buying 1000 receiving yards? Last year he had 1100 yards.

[Mike Wright]

Yeah. So here's what's tough about this year. Like there's, there's a lot of different things.

[Andy Holloway]

Is Robert Woods, Jarvis Landry light because Jarvis Landry finished ahead of Robert woods last year.

[Mike Wright]

But here's the thing, here's my case against Jarvis Landry for the thousand yards. Things are very, very different for the Cleveland Browns. You know, new coach, new offensive scheme. I do believe in the bounce back of Odell Beckham Jr. I believe he was hurt the entire year watching him on the field. His production, he will be back. And on top of that, Jarvis Landry a great player. But his, he's a short, a shorter reception type of player. You know, 10 yards a catch, 8 yards. He had a season of 8.8 yards per catch and in Cleveland 12 yards per catch his first year and then over 14. I think that is an outlier season for Jarvis Linder. That's they hit on a bunch of big plays. I think the big plays will take a regress back to what he normally does. He's, he will still be an excellent player. So I think going with the thousand yards is actually harder to say if I think he can hit it, buy or sell because if you say 1100 yards, I'll sell that. I don't think he's going to get there. I think he will finish right around a thousand. I'm going to sell, I'm going to take him just underneath the thousand yard threshold.

[Jason Moore]

Well, if he doesn't get to a thousand then it will be just underneath. We talk about, well he's, you know, finished there three of the last six years. Well, you know, he's played for six years so one of those was his rookie season. The only two years he hasn't gotten there he was at 987 yards and 976 yards. I'm buying he's 1000 yard receiver pretty much every year. So I will buy that he is over that threshold. But it's a good line in the sand because it's a matter of what do you believe about the offense, about Hooper, about Odell Beckham. But the reality is he's a very good wide receiver.

[Andy Holloway]

I'm going to sell it with the Beckham resurgence, Hooper and the passing volume going down. Also. I. I'm watching David Blaine now.

[Jason Moore]

Oh, is it.

[Andy Holloway]

He's. He's in Arizona. He's in Arizona. There's a chance that it.

[Jason Moore]

Well, he could be right above us.

[Andy Holloway]

He could come right through the roof.

[Mike Wright]

Wait, is David Blaine here?

[Andy Holloway]

Guys, David Blaine is everywhere.

[Mike Wright]

So good stuff. And I looked at my projections. Jarvis Landry, 980 yards. So that was one of those. The gut check does actually line up with the projection.

[Andy Holloway]

All right, that was by yourself from Pristine Auction. You can use the code ballers@pristine auction.com. you get a $10 credit.

[Jason Moore]

I wanted to double check mine. 1023. Yes.

[Andy Holloway]

All right, that's. It's going to be tight. It's going to be close. All right, let's talk news.

[Jason Moore]

News and notes from around the league.

[Andy Holloway]

Gentlemen, Joe Mixon has signed a four year, $48 million extension.

[Mike Wright]

Oh, man. Now, now is the time you can let it all out. Andy, was it starting to feel a little bit dicey when he was Joe Migraine there. Oh, golly, those migraines just not showing up to practice. What is going on with Joe Mixon? It certainly feels like he's not practicing because they're working on a deal. You don't want to go out there, have an injury right before you sign a contract. Are you. How are you feeling?

[Andy Holloway]

Relieved.

[Mike Wright]

Okay, well, I'm saying, like overjoyed. Were you starting to get the.

[Andy Holloway]

Get the terrified? Yeah, of course I was. Look, our entire objective here is to help you win your fantasy league. We take more pride in that than our own leagues.

[Jason Moore]

Right.

[Andy Holloway]

We want the advice we see on the show to be good. We also do not want to pivot from a. My guy. We are planting our flag. And then, you know, when two days later they end up in a walking boot or they end up twisting an ankle or they end up with migraines. Yeah, it's not a good feeling. But he has signed a. I mean, the Bengals invested in Joe mix in a four year deal. $48 million. This is great news for a team that I think has a real opportunity to be. I think. Look at last year's Cardinals. The record Might not reflect the fantasy football success and opportunity on the field. Last year the cardinals were 5, 10 and 1. But you started to see, you know, what this offense could bring to the table. Kenyan Drake at the end of the year, Kyler Murray and his fantasy value. And I think that could be the Bengal season this year.

[Jason Moore]

Yeah. I also think this is, ironically enough, good news for Alvin Camara. It's another running back kind of helping to set the market. This was a somewhat team friendly deal compared to Christian McCaffrey's is a little less than Derek Henry's because that's the other big news. Here is the ongoing crazy, up and down, quick news roller coaster that has been Alvin Camara over the last 24 hours. If you haven't followed along, it was, you know, yet we were reporting yesterday that he had been out for three unexcused absences. It was contract related.

[Andy Holloway]

Migraines.

[Jason Moore]

Yes, exactly. Well, I did have that thought of like, you know, right before the contract got landed. Mixon was gone for a little while and now Camara is stepping aside and, you know, maybe they land on a contract here. Then there was the Saints are open to trading Camara. The report came out and lots of people backed that up and said, yeah, my sources say they are open to it. So now it's like, is he going to be traded?

[Andy Holloway]

Is he going to negotiating in public? It's very nice.

[Jason Moore]

That's exactly what it is. And I think the end result here is the Saints would like to sign him. There is a gap in what Camaro wants versus what the Saints want. The Saints aren't going to bend to a Christian McCaffrey level at all. And they would rather trade him than sign him to something like that. But I do think that they get a deal done here and he's in. But in all of that, there was another piece of news kind of lost.

[Andy Holloway]

Among the contract discussion.

[Jason Moore]

Yeah. And that is that while he wasn't out just for contract reasons, it was because he had an epidural in his spine.

[Mike Wright]

That's where you get him.

[Jason Moore]

That is that. I mean, I guess that's fair. That's. That's where you get them. But that's not good news.

[Andy Holloway]

The reason that Alvin Camara was 8 or 9 in my rankings all off season had to do with the injury problems last year, concussion problems the year before. The fact that this team has invested in, you know, Latavius Murray. And the counterpoint to that being he's always had somebody else in the backfield and he's always ended up in the top five or six range. But it's what you want in that top pick. It wasn't meant to be disrespectful to where he could finish. It's meant to be, what do I want in my top pick? And feeling slightly less confident in Alvin Camara. This was. This was news to me, though, this epidural. This was something that you should be paying attention to in your league if you're making a decision because everybody's doing that. I'm picking 4, 5, 6. Do I want Derek Henry? Do I want Clyde Edwards Allaire? Do I want Dalvin Cook? Do I want Alvin Camara? Does this actually concern you? Heading into the season?

[Jason Moore]

The contract issue concerns me more than the epidural. But the epidural is information that can't just be thrown out. What it means is not. It means he's dealing with back pain and that normal, less aggressive methods of dealing with that had obviously been ineffective. And so he got this. It's not outlandish or, you know, an uncommon thing for a player to get an injection to relieve pain. So don't overblow this. The nice thing is they work as well. So he might hit the season feeling real, real nice. But it is worth noting that his body's a little hurting right now.

[Andy Holloway]

I honestly didn't know that was available to me.

[Jason Moore]

Oh, yeah. I got epidurals in the back. You come on down. I'll give them. I'll give them.

[Andy Holloway]

Yeah.

[Mike Wright]

I want the preventative walking boot.

[Jason Moore]

Exactly.

[Andy Holloway]

I want you administering that to me in my spine. That's exactly what I want.

[Jason Moore]

Dr. Jason.

[Mike Wright]

Don't move.

[Andy Holloway]

Pause.

[Jason Moore]

You moved.

[Andy Holloway]

All right. Leonard Fournette cleared waivers. He is a free agent. I'm going to bring up one rumor because it entertains me because of Mike. NFL reporter for fan cited tweeted that the Chiefs have potential interest, potential interest in Leonard Fournette now that he has cleared waivers.

[Jason Moore]

Why can't we just have nice things? Why can't we just have these top draft picks? Be like, you're locked and loaded. You're healthy. Your contract is good. You've got no competition. Come on, people.

[Andy Holloway]

Now, Mike was quick in the studio to dismiss this with no real concern.

[Jason Moore]

Yeah.

[Mike Wright]

For fantasy purposes, let's say Kansas City does in fact sign Leonard Fournette. I will care 0.0% like it. Number one, it doesn't really make sense. The reason why Shady made sense last year is Andy Reid had coached him before. Like they. They had a professional relationship. It's let's see if this player who was great for me before, let's see if he has anything left, which Andy Reid determined that he ultimately did not Leonard Fournette. He who he doesn't take snaps away from Clyde Edwards Allaire. As much as you know, I'm all in. I am absolutely 100% all in on Edwards Allaire. But you also know that when you have the number one guy for Kansas City, you aren't getting Christian McCaffrey 90% snap counts. You aren't getting that type of a workload. You're getting a guy who's on the field maybe 60% of the time, but it doesn't matter because of the value of those snaps. The values of he's going to have so many receptions, touchdown opportunity.

[Andy Holloway]

He's a better player than Darrell Williams. He could, he could demand a slightly larger timeshare chunk than Darrell Woods.

[Jason Moore]

I think you've got CEH blinders on if you think that them signing Leonard Fournette would not have an impact on the amount of carries and you know, opportunities that he'll receive. That's not to say he wouldn't be the lead guy or good, but it definitely would have an impact. I mean you wouldn't, you wouldn't bring in an extra body to not give him the ball at all. And he is better than Darrell Williams. I know we mock Leonard Fournette about his efficiency numbers, but keep in mind they handed the ball to Leonard Fournette left, right and center with Gardner Minshew, a six round rook. Like what was the, what was the defense trying to do?

[Andy Holloway]

Fournette will face six man fronts in Kansas City on his opportunities as well. Yeah, Fournette is, I mean we've had what Damian Williams.

[Jason Moore]

Yeah, exactly.

[Andy Holloway]

That you.

[Jason Moore]

That I have besmirched the talent but loved the fantasy. So I mean here's the deal. He's not going there. I don't think they have the cap room. I don't think the fit makes sense. I will be interested to see where he lands, but he's not of himself going to be a value. He's just going to wreck someone else.

[Andy Holloway]

Yeah, you wouldn't be interested in Fournette in that situation or would you?

[Jason Moore]

No, I don't think so. I mean I'm interested as a dynasty owner of Fournette, praying he goes somewhere. Dynasty manager of Fournette. So yeah, I'm interested but I think that it will be more a matter of.

[Andy Holloway]

I think you would have to draft him if he was in Kansas City. You would have to draft him because the upside of him taking over in an injury or that situation would be just too great.

[Jason Moore]

Sure.

[Mike Wright]

We have an update. David Blaine is over 23,000ft in the air right now.

[Andy Holloway]

So this is good. I'm glad we're play by playing this on a podcast. I'm afraid for him right now.

[Mike Wright]

Spectacular.

[Jason Moore]

He actually just dropped.

[Mike Wright]

He's parachuting. Oh, is he?

[Jason Moore]

Oh, yeah. Okay, you got to get a little quicker to the parachute part. He released at 25,000ft. I have no frame of mind.

[Andy Holloway]

Has the parachute opened per chance?

[Jason Moore]

Not yet.

[Andy Holloway]

Okay, keep us posted. Al. Cliff Kingsbury said Kenyan Drake is close to returning to practice in full. Jason, your thoughts?

[Jason Moore]

I think that is great, but obviously I see this as. I still see this as bad news. I mean, it's just a matter of glass half full, glass half empty. I want him healthy. And whenever you say you're close, that means you're not healthy.

[Andy Holloway]

Almost there.

[Jason Moore]

Right? But it is funny the perspective difference you have on certain players, right? Like this is bad news. You know, when Kenya Drake is almost ready, it's bad news. We were talking about. Amari Cooper is just doing individual drills. He hasn't been with the team, but it's. It's been good news that A.J. brown has been back to individual drills where he's still not practicing with the team in full.

[Andy Holloway]

So a matter of the parachute has opened, which is similar to how I felt falling with Joe Mixon until the contract. Was the parachute opening up? Tyrell Williams, wide receiver for the Raiders. Injured reserve, torn labrum. Season is over. Pay attention to Brian Edwards at the back of your draft. I was asked yesterday, outside of the big rookie, you know, Judy Rager, Lamb, these guys, Jefferson, should you pay attention to anybody at the back of your draft? Sound the alarm for Brian Edwards. He may have more volume than Henry Ruggs. Yeah, and maybe pay more attention to Henry Ruggs too.

[Mike Wright]

You in our family league? Family league? You dropped Jalen Rager to pick up Brian Edwards.

[Andy Holloway]

I did, I did. I want to see how that works first few weeks of the year. I'm not going to be waiting. I don't want to maybe attached with a late round pick in the terms of like when they get back. When you talk about buying the injury diplomat like Mike Williams, I don't want to think maybe he works with Tyrod Taylor four weeks into the season. If somebody's coming back, I want it to be Debo. I wanted to be somebody I know will be good when they come back and Then the Athletic is reporting. We talked about it yesterday. Tyra Taylor will start most, if not all of the Games in 2020.

[Mike Wright]

This, it's interesting because like Cam Newton has been the guy I've been targeting as my late round quarterback because late round guys, you want him to have the rushing upside because that is just the difference maker. That's part of Tyrod Taylor's game. He becomes, he becomes more interesting now that that there is actual like a groundswell whispers from the bushes that Tyrone might be the guy for the vast majority of the season. So to me that turns into a guy that you could draft. I don't know off the top of my head who the Chargers play the first.

[Jason Moore]

Their first week is really tough. They played the number one pick from last year, the Cincinnati Bengals. So it was sarcasm. Tyrod should be a little bit in play when you've got a mobile quarterback that runs the ball. We've talked about this. That's a cheat code. He will put up large fantasy performance.

[Andy Holloway]

Let me just illustrate though, from his career because I looked into him early this morning. You know, this is a player that's going to throw for around 3,000 yards. This is a player that has never thrown, I think 20 touchdowns is his career high on a season. The majority of his like full work was, you know, 15, 17, 20 range. That's what you should expect through the air. He's had rushing seasons in the 500 range. I haven't projected in the 400 range at this stage in his career. But you're right. I mean, when you can run the football, that could lead to rushing touchdowns at the quarterback position. He's ranked ahead of Drew Locke in my rankings. So, you know, that's not saying very much for where that is.

[Mike Wright]

But Bengals week one, Kansas City week two, you probably don't want in on that. And then Carolina week three. So, I mean, I don't know, could.

[Jason Moore]

Get off to a strong start.

[Mike Wright]

Yeah, you might want to look at that before we jump into the fantasy MVPs. Look, Foot Clan. You've heard us talk about them for years now. But just in case there are some of you who haven't been paying attention, want to tell you, maybe you're not.

[Andy Holloway]

Hip with the times.

[Mike Wright]

Yeah, you got to be a cool cat.

[Andy Holloway]

Yeah.

[Mike Wright]

Check out Sleeper. This is where you need to be playing your fantasy football. They are a revolutionary company. They started, you know, it was news and they were getting you the news faster than everybody. And they said, well, let's take this up a notch. We're Going to make leagues. And that is now where we are playing. Andy talked about our listener league draft. It's happening today on Sleeper. That's where the Megalo bowl is. The Sleeper bowl that we've. That we did over the weekend. They are. They're always innovating. They're always making things better, including they've just added voice chat. So we're doing things online right now. You're drafting online? Well, Sleeper's got you covered with a voice chat. No, just taking all the time to text each other. Look, you can actually just talk to people, so you really gotta check it out. You can download it from the App store. We can't recommend Sleeper enough.

[Andy Holloway]

Well, and I like that they're always. They're one of the platforms looking at the game every year and making tweaks and adjustments and improving it. And we are kind of particular about that stuff. Like, we weren't recommending Sleeper as a platform until last year when they had made all those strides. And now they just continue to improve. All right. Also, we want to thank today's sponsor. We're talking about Navy Federal Credit Union. Did you know what the cash rewards credit card from Navy Federal Credit Union. You can earn 1.5% cash back on every purchase. Your rewards won't expire while your account is open and you can redeem them as soon as they are earned. Because we all love cash back. It's nice.

[Mike Wright]

I like cash back.

[Andy Holloway]

Joe Mixon especially. Speaking of rewards, you can get a Navy Federal auto loan and reward yourself with a new car. Applying is easy. You can do so on their mobile app, online or by phone. It's super fast. You get a decision in seconds. And the rates right now are as low as 1.6. 79% APR. You can get an estimate on your monthly payments with their online auto loan calculator before as well. And Navy Federal, their members are the mission. They are open to all armed forces, the DOD, veterans and their families. They are insured by the NCUA and credit and collateral are subject to approval rates subject to change and are based on credit worthiness rate available for new vehicles. Message and data rates may apply. Visit navy federal.org for more information.

[Jason Moore]

You guys ready?

[Mike Wright]

Yeah.

[Jason Moore]

Who's your fantasy mvp?

[Andy Holloway]

All right. Fantasy football MVP time.

[Mike Wright]

David Blaine is safe. Just want you to know, Andy, that could have. That worked. I could feel. I could feel the pressure building. I could feel the worry, the concern. Look, he's safe.

[Andy Holloway]

That was an unexpected ride. I didn't expect to go on that. He was on this morning when David.

[Jason Moore]

Blaine's on a ride, we're all on a ride.

[Mike Wright]

Look. That is true.

[Jason Moore]

Do you remember his underwater one? That was the one that freaked me out the most.

[Mike Wright]

Okay, sorry. Back to the mvp.

[Andy Holloway]

What you didn't know is he is one of six tuplets. So we're almost out.

[Mike Wright]

It's a real prestige.

[Andy Holloway]

We're almost out of out of David Blaine's. All right, we're going to listen in to some of our colleagues and their fantasy football MVP picks for 2020. We'll weigh in on our thoughts and then we will share our fantasy MVP picks to close out the show. We're going to start with Al Smiz. My friends partnered Twitch Streamer, works with espn, good friend of the podcast. See what Smiz has to say.

[Al Smiz]

Hey Foot Clan, how's it going? It's Al. When the fantasy footballers approached me and asked who my fantasy MVP was going to be in 2020, it did not take me long to arrive at Jonathan Taylor with his mid third round ADP and extremely conservative projections right now based on the situation that he's in with Marlon Mack being the incumbent with Nahim Hines possibly being the passing down back. But they didn't spend the draft capital they did on Jonathan Taylor to let him sit and rot. They're going to give this kid the ball early and often and he may get 250 touches as opposed to the 200 to 215 that most people are projecting him for. Let's take a quick look at some facts. They've got improved quarterback play going from Jacoby Brissett to Philip Rivers this season. He is running behind arguably the best offensive line in the NFL and they've got the sixth easiest strength of schedule via pff. Four of those games coming against the Texans and Jaguars in division project to be God awful. Give me the rookie from Wisconsin is my fantasy MVP. With the upside of possibly top 6 or 7 RB being drafted as the 20th, 22nd running back off the board.

[Jason Moore]

Top 6, top 7 that is.

[Andy Holloway]

I don't know why he had to bring facts into the equation.

[Jason Moore]

Facts are really I, you know, we all know Mike likes Jonathan Taylor. He just had him as what was.

[Mike Wright]

That the year it was on a breakout show.

[Jason Moore]

Yeah. And I'm a huge fan, full believer in the talent. If he were to get 250 carries, I agree he would be a top 10 running back. The question that people wonder is will he do that? How much will Marlon Mack weigh in? But when you're talking about a fantasy mvp, someone that's actually going to win a league for you.

[Andy Holloway]

Yeah.

[Jason Moore]

You're talking about someone who you're drafting in the 20s at running back, who finishes in the top 10 at running back. Those are people who actually win you a league. So the floor for Jonathan Taylor is probably a usable but disappointing asset.

[Andy Holloway]

Lower than where you're drafting.

[Jason Moore]

Right. But not completely unusable, whereas the ceiling is super high. Did he sway you, Andy?

[Andy Holloway]

Well, I've always seen the path. It's just the probability factor. I will say this. Jonathan Taylor is incredibly enticing. If you are in a league where you know you're staring down a starting running back decision and it's Jonathan Taylor or it's, I don't know, even someone like Ronald Jones, you're like, who do I want to put in my lineup? What's the actual ceiling for a player like that? That is enticing. And I do see that the path is there. His, his point about the draft capital and him not sitting there to rot. It makes sense. The offensive line is tremendous. The path is there. And it just depends on what he represents to your team and whether you can afford to not play in week one or can you put them right.

[Mike Wright]

In there, Mike, And I'll say this because this happened to me last year. Look, I've mentioned I'm all in on Jonathan Taylor, but you know, there still is risk there like last year or I'm sorry, heading into this year. We all love Miles Sanders. He was a league winning running back. He was incredible. Guess what Miles Sanders did for the whole first half of the season. He's, he sucked for fantasy football. It was really, really bad and he was a fourth round pick. So while I'm, I'm still in on Jonathan Taylor, I, you have to admit to yourself when you're drafting him there, there definitely is risk. But I believe like Smiz, by the end of the year, Jonathan Taylor is a league winning guy.

[Andy Holloway]

You read my mind though. Because my question to you was if I promised you Miles Sanders rookie season for Jonathan Taylor, in actuality the exact numbers, does he belong in the third round of fantasy drafts or not?

[Mike Wright]

Third round is a little bit rich, but so we're bringing this up to saying like Ronald Jones is a great example of make sure you're grabbing somebody like that. Where Jonathan Taylor, you may not be able to play him week one, even though you have to pay the higher draft capital. Get him to get him. Meanwhile, grab one of these later running backs, you know, will be getting touches those first couple weeks while you can evaluate what's going on with Taylor.

[Andy Holloway]

All right, we're going to go to the hosts of the NFL's fantasy football podcast, good friend Marcus Grant with his MVP pick.

[Marcus Grant]

What's up everybody? Marcus Grant here from NFL Fantasy Live on the NFL Network. And we're talking MVPs this year. I'm going to go with Christian McCaffrey. I mean, I know it sounds like low hanging fruit, but you know what, I'll tell you what, low hanging fruit tastes just as good as fruit at the top of the tree and you don't have to reach as high for it. I mean, we haven't seen a one man offense in the NFL, but CMC last year was the closest we may ever get played. 93% of the snaps had about half of the team's total touches, a ton of the team's total yards, and about half of the team's touchdowns. I don't expect much to change for him in 2020. Maybe there's a slightly better supporting cast. I think he gets an upgraded quarterback at Teddy Bridgewater. But this is still an offense that functions primarily through Christian McCaffrey getting the football. There's a reason he's going off the board at 1.01 in pretty much every fantasy draft. And yes, even if he has a step back, even if there is some regression, there's still going to be plenty of work there for cmc and I think he's going to double up as your fantasy MVP in 2020.

[Andy Holloway]

Well, I mean, this low hanging fruit, you do have to reach high for 101.

[Jason Moore]

If you didn't get the first pick, you don't get to play with Christian.

[Andy Holloway]

I feel like this is, this is Marcus saying we have another lt. This is Marcus saying there's a player that we do, you know, repeating at any of these positions as number one. That's a tough situation we've talked about. Okay. I'll be happy with any of the top three. You know, maybe that kind of an opinion. But CMC could be separated from the rest. Somebody asked me yesterday, is he in a tier of his own? Do I believe he's in a tier of his own?

[Jason Moore]

Yeah. This is Marcus saying if you get to pick your draft spot right. It is worth sacrificing the value that you might get later to say I'm going to take the one on one and get Christian McCaffrey, even though I get the latest second round pick. And I don't blame him. I mean, when we've picked our draft spot, it's been the one on one because of cmc, but I don't think we need to convince anybody here that he.

[Mike Wright]

Good one. And just when you're. When you're at the 101 and you grab Christian McCaffrey. Hold on. Like, you need to be careful with your draft. Like the example I'm bringing up here, Jason, we did a mock draft last week, I believe, and you were the one to one. You took Christian McCaffrey and even through those first three picks you were like, ah, seeing all these really, these players that you wanted to draft, you were concerned about how your the team was looking. And then by round six, like, wow, my team is really freaking good. Oh, yeah. And I have Christian McCaffrey on top of that.

[Jason Moore]

You don't really have a team with Christian McCaffrey where at the end you go, I can't win.

[Mike Wright]

Right.

[Andy Holloway]

David Blaine has just taken off again.

[Jason Moore]

For real.

[Andy Holloway]

No, I'm just.

[Jason Moore]

There was one balloon in his pocket and he's launched himself.

[Mike Wright]

He's now standing on a jet fighter.

[Andy Holloway]

He's on the moon. All right, hold on to something. Strap yourself in.

[Mike Wright]

Oh, yeah.

[Andy Holloway]

Fade the noises. Brad Evans has his fantasy MVP for us. It's going to be. I think it's going to be high intensity on this one.

[Brad Evans]

What up for clan? It's Brad Evans from FTN fantasy.com and boy, do I have a tale to tell you.

[Andy Holloway]

An evil villain.

[Brad Evans]

Lurking deep in the chilly, dark waters of Puget Sound resides a fantasy leviathan. All backers should fish for this mythical beast. Wrecks defenses with hard charging runs, steady 100 yard performances and abundant touchdowns. Draft him and he'll pull the competition down to Davy Jones's locker. His name is Chris Carson. Available typically in rounds three to four of fantasy drafts. The Seattle smasher is destined for another 1300 total yards and 8 to 10 touchdowns. Release the Kraken and you are about to score a championship trophy.

[Mike Wright]

Oh, Brad.

[Andy Holloway]

Oh, Brad.

[Mike Wright]

We love you, Brad. What I like about this one, I mean, he tied in Seattle. Just got the Kraken, right?

[Andy Holloway]

They did.

[Mike Wright]

New hockey team. So Brad's, you know, on the up and up with the sports and I like that he framed his. This tale. You know, this is a radio drama.

[Andy Holloway]

Yeah.

[Mike Wright]

And he made sure it sounded like he was calling in from an AM radio.

[Andy Holloway]

Yeah. I didn't know you could call in through the radio. But he definitely did.

[Jason Moore]

He found a way. This was.

[Mike Wright]

Thank you, Brad.

[Jason Moore]

Yes.

[Andy Holloway]

I actually love. I love the pick because his value has been there throughout the off season. Top end Chris Carson is better than where he's being drafted and that is going to be true through the rest of the drafts this week.

[Jason Moore]

Last year Chris Carson is way better than where he's being drafted. I mean last year Chris Carson was one of those league winning high upside guys in the Sleeper bowl. We talked about how well we, you know, we missed on last year Juju Smith Schuster in the first round. But part of the reason we were able to win the championship is because we got Chris Carson at a value. And now the next year he's pretty much at about the same value. Might be going a little higher than he did last year, but certainly not where he finished. And I, you know, I like grabbing Chris Carson if I'm in that tier. Of all of those he's, he's mixed with the Melvin Gordon's and Todd Gurley's and all these running backs who have been better but have changed teams and have a bunch of question marks. Chris Carson is on a great offense where he was good this past season and he's still the guy. So a lot less variables if you're going to go running back there, he's.

[Mike Wright]

The guy if Chris Carson is there. I frequently start running back, running back, running back because it's too hard for me to pass on Chris Carson. Third.

[Andy Holloway]

Yeah, yeah, I've seen you do it. You're not lying. All right, great friend of the show analyst extraordinaire from Yahoo fantasy Liz Loza with her MVP pick.

[Liz Loza]

I know fantasy managers tremble at the idea of rostering a Patriots running back, but do not fear the multiple skill set that Damien Harris offers. Instead, embrace it. Sure, New England's third round pick from a year ago has a playing style that's more dependable than extra, but that's on brand for New England. Listen, Sony Michelle has a bad foot and was far from effective or efficient last year, averaging 3.6 true yards per carry. Lamar Miller, the other guy they just added, oh come on, don't at me with that because he missed all of 2019 due to a torn ACL. Meanwhile, Harris has been lighting it up in camp, receiving praise as a peer rusher, a route runner and a pass blocker. His 13th round, 13th round ADP also carries zero risk. So just go ahead and lean into all of that upside because I'm telling you a breakout is looming.

[Andy Holloway]

Damien Harris is so interesting. You know I'm in but I was asked yesterday backfields I'm avoiding and I couldn't help but think of New England because I she told me not to be afraid, but I can't listen. I can't listen to that.

[Jason Moore]

I love the skill set. I was one of the Damien Harris truthers you were last year and because I think he is a really talented running back. So it makes complete sense to me that he would win this job. The question is what will that job be worth without Tom Brady and with Cam Newton, with a guy who has long vultured goal line touchdowns and you know, if he. And he's not going to be. Even though he's got the skill set to be a three down back, James White is not disappearing. So for me, while the value is there, if he ends up, yeah, I.

[Andy Holloway]

Like the pick because of the value.

[Jason Moore]

If he ends up being a good running back this year, he could be a fantasy MVP because he costs you nothing. And if you have the chance with your last round to get a weekly start at running back, that's a fantasy mvp. But I have a hard time seeing it actually happen even though the talent is there.

[Andy Holloway]

All right, yes, it's time for Adam Lefkoe now a good friend of the show. We just joined him on the Bleacher Report podcast, the Left coast show. And he also hosts NBA on TNT Tuesdays. Let's hear Adam Lefkoe's fantasy mvp.

[Adam Lefkoe]

Hello, this is Adam Lefkoe's MVP for the fantasy footballers.

[Andy Holloway]

Drink it in.

[Adam Lefkoe]

The MVP that I am picking is not the person that's going to score the most points. My MVP is not the one that may even lead his position. But hold be the guy that you're going to get so late in this draft that people are going to look at you and ask how the hell did you do that? He's not a young guy. He's not a middle of the age guy. That's not a phrase. He's one of the oldest guys in the NFL. Philip Rivers is my mvp. Never has Philip Rivers played behind an offensive line this good. He is surrounded by weapons and everywhere you look and he's playing for a coach that led one of his most successful seasons with San Diego, Frank Reich. In a year in which it's all going to come down to the communication between the quarterback and the coach and the quarterback and that offense, there's familiarity baked in. And I think we're a little bit used to seeing Phillip these last few years with one of the worst offensive lines that we may be judging him harshly. Philip Rivers. Get him late, let him bake. I thought that was going to rhyme and it didn't. Was Adam Muffko's mvp.

[Andy Holloway]

Oh, no.

[Adam Lefkoe]

Jason, good talking to you.

[Jason Moore]

Oh, no, indeed, Footballers.

[Andy Holloway]

That was creepy. Thank you, Adam. I'll say this, Philip Rivers was in early value pick in our udk. We did eventually remove him because we didn't feel like the actual ceiling and upside was there. Rivers has the best situation he's had in a while. But can he really reach MVP levels on your team? Jason?

[Jason Moore]

I don't. I don't know that he's on your team. Well, certainly can't. On my team. He is. You know, we get the question every year. Is there somebody who's just off your board or someone that, you know, burn you in the past and so you won't draft him? I usually don't have an answer for that, because I don't. But it's. It's P. River. I mean, he will not be on my team. And the reality is, I don't think this is the best situation he's had because, okay, he's got lots of weapons. He's got Ty Hilton, he's got, I don't know, baby hands Jack Doyle, and maybe Paris Hilton is a thing. Maybe rookie, you know, Michael Pitman.

[Mike Wright]

Paris who?

[Andy Holloway]

Yeah. What did he say?

[Jason Moore]

What did I say?

[Mike Wright]

Did you say Paris Hilton?

[Jason Moore]

Oh, I hope so.

[Andy Holloway]

Oh, my gosh.

[Mike Wright]

Did he.

[Jason Moore]

Paris Campbell? We'll have to check the tape on that one. My point.

[Mike Wright]

Am I the only one who heard it?

[Jason Moore]

Yeah.

[Andy Holloway]

I didn't catch it.

[Mike Wright]

Okay.

[Andy Holloway]

Mike heard it in his head. This didn't even happen.

[Mike Wright]

Maybe I was thinking it. We'll find out.

[Andy Holloway]

Here's very relevant reference.

[Jason Moore]

Is that passing core actually better than Austin Eckler? Keenan Allen, Hunter Henry, Mike Williams? No. Is the offensive line better? Yeah, but he. These are all brand new weapons for him.

[Andy Holloway]

Frank Reich is a lot better for him.

[Jason Moore]

Yes, Frank Reich is better. But Frank Reich also knows that the strength of this team with that offensive line is running the ball. And they're going to be able to do that.

[Andy Holloway]

You don't have to talk us out of Philip Rivers.

[Jason Moore]

I'm not talking you out. I'm talking the Foot Clan out.

[Andy Holloway]

Look, I will make an effort to stream P. River against you in my.

[Jason Moore]

Leagues for the hopes he will dominate that week. I'm beating you.

[Andy Holloway]

All right. It's JJ's.

[Mike Wright]

It will rain on you.

[J.J. Zachariason]

Oh, hey, guys, it's your boy J.J. zachary here. You know, the guy who, on this very show last year, told you that Lamar Jackson was going to be the fantasy football mvp. MBD regression says I'm going to whiff on this year's pick though, but I'm going to go with TJ Hawkinson. We know he has the overall profile to be a potential stud of the position, but he also fits the mold of a breakout tight end really, really well. I did a study this offseason on spotting breakout tight ends and what was clear was that breakout tight ends are generally tied to good quarterback play. They're usually very, very athletic and they're often year two or year three players. There are a lot of late round tight ends to like and target this year, but Hawkinson is my favorite. I don't think anyone should be shocked if he's a top five tight end this year and he emerges as the next early round tight end for 20, 21 and beyond.

[Andy Holloway]

All right, bold words. Top five T.J. hawkinson upside. He was last year's week one darling. Lots of fab spent on T.J. hawkinson after week one's dominating performance. Believe it was two touchdowns against Arizona. If it wasn't two touchdowns, it felt like it because it was a lot of fantasy points and he disappeared and he dropped the ball in the end zone multiple times last year and he's doing it again in camp this year. But the profile fits the profile. Look, you're attached to Matthew Stafford. There aren't a ton of other weapons there outside. You know, it's Galladay is Jones, it's hockey Lees. Do we have the blinders on due to the rookie disappointment after the free agency signing?

[Jason Moore]

I don't have the blinders on. I can see the pathway. I mean I picked Noah Fan as my breakout candidate this year for a lot of the reasons he just laid out. You know, he's a very athletic year two tight end that is was drafted to be a star. So I totally see the pathway. I'm choosing to go Fant over Hawkinson. If you go Hawkinson over Fant, that's fine. I liked Hawkinson as a prospect more than Fant coming out last season. Hawkinson does have the better quarterback play. The only caveat that I would throw in and really the true reason why I am fant over Hawkinson is just the ankle, the injury that apparently he still has not fully healed from. I mean he's out there, he's playing so he is quote unquote healthy. But the reports are saying he's he's still dealing with some of that issue. And I know when that injury happened there were rumors or worries that it was a much more significant injury. And so now a year later that he's still dealing with this. I, you know, that's the tiebreaker for me for Fant. But Hawkinson, I hope, dominates. He could be a great tight end.

[Andy Holloway]

All right, we've got one more before we reveal our fantasy football MVPs, Jamie Eisenberg from CBS Sports with his pick.

[Jamie Eisenberg]

The fantasy MVP for the 2020 season isn't a running back, a wide receiver, not even a quarterback. The fantasy MVP for the 2020 season is Dave Caldwell, Doug Marone, and the Jacksonville Jaguars. You know what they did for you? They saved you the headache of reaching for Leonard Fournette in maybe the third round, potentially the fourth round. But that headache is gone. You don't have to worry about that anymore. You don't have to sit there and say, look how good he was last year.

[Andy Holloway]

Look what he can do this year.

[Jamie Eisenberg]

With all this work. We've been telling you our podcast, Shameless Plug at CBS Sports, this fantastic podcast, the fantasy footballers. Anybody who's been paying attention has told you, don't draft Leonard Fournette, and the Jaguars, they remove that headache for you. So, Dave Caldwell, you're the guy. You're the fantasy MVP for the 2020 season. Right before the busiest draft weekend in fantasy, you took away the headache of Leonard Fournette.

[Andy Holloway]

Bye. Bye.

[Jason Moore]

Thank you.

[Jamie Eisenberg]

Dave Caldwell, mvp. Also, like Jarwin, it's his time.

[Andy Holloway]

So he made the case that this is how I feel about the leadership in Cincinnati. By the way, thank you for making things easier on me with Joe Mixon, but we don't have to deal with Leonard Fournette if you haven't drafted yet. But then he throws in Blake Jarwin.

[Mike Wright]

Look, when you're riding on Falkor, there's.

[Andy Holloway]

The room for two there.

[Mike Wright]

There's room for a whole town.

[Jason Moore]

He's a big dog.

[Mike Wright]

Is he a dog dragon? What is he exactly?

[Jason Moore]

I don't.

[Andy Holloway]

He's his own thing.

[Jason Moore]

He's a dog dragon.

[Andy Holloway]

Wait, wait, you said that like a factual statement, as though dog dragons.

[Mike Wright]

He's got a dog face and he's got scales like a dragon. And he flies. I don't know.

[Andy Holloway]

He's a Falkor.

[Mike Wright]

But Jamie is 100% correct that Blake Jarwin will be a fantasy MVP this year.

[Jason Moore]

Large white dragon. Now, real quick, wait, that's. Look, the Google says it's a large white dragon. So.

[Mike Wright]

Yeah, with a dog face.

[Jason Moore]

With a dog face. All right. I will say this, though. Jamie is right in the sense that he's helping, you know, on taking Lennar Fornet out. He is helping, you know, listeners not make that mistake. But could you argue that that is bad because we weren't going to draft him, which meant someone else was.

[Andy Holloway]

That's true.

[Mike Wright]

Yeah. That's a fair point.

[Andy Holloway]

And we don't get the validation of the fact that his season would have come to a screeching halt regardless of whether he was on the team.

[Jason Moore]

So we got the validation already. This is a true victory lap.

[Andy Holloway]

Okay, it's our turn. Volunteers to go first with fantasy football MVP picks here.

[Mike Wright]

I mean, I'm happy to go first because my pick should not be surprising to anyone who's been following the podcast at all over the summer or since the draft. It's Antonio Gibson, running back out of Washington. The rookie I look you want to have. Are you feeling down in the dumps? You want to bring some joy in your life? Pull up Antonio Gibson highlights on YouTube and see what the potential is. This guy was scoring a touchdown basically every single time he touched the ball at Memphis. Here is the path that Antonio Gibson took. He had to go to JUCO because of grades there. As a running back, he led his team in receiving. He goes to Memphis once he finally gets his shot because he was playing behind two NFL running backs. I don't blame Memphis for not getting him on the field, but as a senior, he was second on the team in receiving at the running back position. I want my running backs to catch the ball. I care more about that than I care about them being a two down grinder. He's a dominant kick returner. We've seen high correlation with players who have that skill set. Just that means they're a good NFL player. That means get them the ball in space. The Senior bowl matters for college. In the Senior bowl he was the leading rusher of the game, 11 for 68 on the ground that proving that he can get it done on the ground. Washington used their second pick on him. Yeah, it was a third rounder, but it was actually their second pick in the draft. He is one of the few players where the backfield is very murky. Yes, I, I readily admit I think Adrian Peterson is the starter at the beginning of the season. But this is absolutely a situation where the talent could rise to the top. The best running back I believe will be the guy and I believe that the best player for the team is Antonio Gibson. The, the three down skill set is there. He's been tearing up training camp. He has been running with the ones people were talking about. Well, is Bryce Love going to be the start on this team? Bryce Love is running with the twos, there are beat reporters making projections that Bryce Love might be the one who gets left off the roster. Ok, Antonio Gibson, I know the draft cost has gone up eighth, ninth round, but that's still in the range of. That's take the shot on the guy that you think can win your league. And to me, that is Antonio Gibson.

[Andy Holloway]

I will say one thing that has encouraged me about the chance of Antonio Gibson making a big impact is the fact the team seems very committed to him as a running. In camp there's a lot of talk about the hybrid weapon, wide receiver room, kick returns. From what I understand around camp, he's being treated as a running back. Yes, primarily. I mean, he's in that room. He's with the running backs day to day which gives him just a higher chance of being that breakout type of candidate.

[Mike Wright]

And my final point here is. Okay, let's say.

[Andy Holloway]

And where you draft him.

[Mike Wright]

Yeah, let's say, okay, the carries just aren't there. Antonio Gibson, he's around the 100 carry mark which is. It would be a little bit disappointing, but it is a possibility that Antonio Gibson is already the best second pass catcher on this team behind Terry McLaurin. It's not just the running backs that are nebulous, it's also the wide receiver Cord. They have a weapon problem on that team and Antonio Gibson is a lethal weapon on the football field.

[Jason Moore]

How dare you. Stephen Sims is amazing. No, I agree with you and you've brought this up before but I think it's worth repeating. Jonathan, the Taylor is a freak of nature. That's why he's someone else's fantasy MVP this episode. That's why he is. You know when you're 225ish pounds and you run sub 44 you succeed like the history of those guys succeeds. Well, that's Gibson. Gibson is the same exact thing. Ran the. I think they were both 4, 3, 9, right?

[Mike Wright]

Yep.

[Andy Holloway]

Yeah. I mean if he gets the opportunity at running back, he should take advantage of it. Is the expectation. All right, I'm going to bring you my fantasy football mvp. We'll let Jason close it out. Mine is about what makes a fantasy football MVP and to me that is having a difference maker at a specific position that you acquire later in the draft. That has been the definition for fantasy football MVP for the past few years. Specifically for this position. I'm not singing a new song here. It's Kyler Murray. Kyler Murray is my pick as the fantasy football mvp. I When you look at Kyler Murray I just listened to Daniel Jeremiah talk about Kyler Murray. Like I said, he's a popular breakout pick for a reason. The pass, the passing ability of Kyler Murray is why he went number one overall. Daniel Jeremiah said if you look, if you took this draft class, last year's draft class and the year before and you put all those quarterbacks available into the pot, that includes Lamar Jackson, Daniel Jeremiah would take Kyler Murray number one overall over Lamar Jackson because of that passing upside. I think he has the best chance of being a weekly difference maker for your fantasy team relative to the draft value he is entering. Gentlemen, the Jordan year. Oh, his year 23 season when Patrick Mahomes.

[Mike Wright]

Is this a thing now?

[Andy Holloway]

It's kind of a thing. When Patrick Mahomes entered it was his year 23 season when he made the leap to league MVP. Fantasy MVP. He was a 10th round selection that year. Lamar Jackson, year 22, going into that year 23 season made the leap, league MVP, fantasy MVP was an 8th round selection. And here's Kyler going from year 22 to year 23. He is a 6th round pick. Now you are starting to catch on as to what can happen in fantasy football drafts. But if he's a sixth round draft pick, you already have a hit rate in those rounds. That is, that is difficult. You're not hitting every pick in that round yet. The upside of hitting on Kyler Murray is so tremendous. He is the only other, Cam Newton's, the only other rookie quarterback to hit that 3,500 passing, 500 rushing yard mark in the history of the NFL. And the real case about Kyler Murray that can be easily made statistically is the touchdown percentage. That positive regression. Last year Kyler Murray had a 3.7% touchdown percentage. Last year Lamar Jackson in the miracle year had a 9% touchdown. So you're saying no, no I'm not. But what if, but really, you know, Patrick Mahomes in his super year it was 8.6. Those are outliers on the other extreme from the 3.7. But let's say he gets to five, five and a half percent. A very reasonable, achievable, normalized level.

[Jason Moore]

Slightly above average. That's, that's what that. You know, if you're five, five and a half, you're above average, but not outlandish, not an outlier.

[Andy Holloway]

You got it. You got Gardner last year, 4.5% in his rookie season, Kyler 3.7. He's going to throw the ball at least 550 times in 2019. They've added DeAndre Hopkins to the offense. Let's say he doesn't make that outlier leap, 6, 7, 8%, but he gets to five and a half. Well, five and a half is 30 touchdowns, 30 to 31 touchdowns in this offense. You add DeAndre Hopkins to the equation, you got 500 yards rushing minimum on the ground over the course of the season. And the thing about Kyler Murray, when you look at what he did last year, he did not throw the ball deep a lot in that offense in quantity, but he, when he did throw it deep, he was very, very successful doing so seventh most yards on those throws. Do you think DeAndre Hopkins helps you with your average depth of target and your success?

[Mike Wright]

I would say so, yes.

[Andy Holloway]

Do you think going into a second year of a burner like Andy Isabella, big playability, a healthy Christian, Kirk, Dan Arnold, what he brought touchdowns over the last four weeks, we were going to.

[Mike Wright]

Have to fight if you didn't bring up the postman.

[Jason Moore]

The fifth name that you can bring up now is first ballot hall of Famer Larry Fitzgerald, who's looked really good in camp.

[Andy Holloway]

Yeah, and Murray's put on some weight. Here's what I'm saying. If you wait till the sixth round and you draft Kyler Murray, you have an outside shot at the number one overall fantasy quarterback for 2020 Adam. That chance with the predictability of breakouts at the quarterback position, it's worth that pick. And it's worth that pick over anybody else you can get in that sixth round. You get the high weekly baseline number with the rushing totals. I think the NFL Jordan year leap is coming for Kyler. We also saw the year one to year two leap for Carson Wentz. So we've seen this now three times where that guy becomes a fantasy football mvp. Look, if the draft cost goes up to the third, fourth round, sorry, no, get out. But six round value on Kyler Murley. That's my. That's my fantasy mvp.

[Jason Moore]

Yeah, I like it. And sometimes I play a game where when you remind me that The Cardinals have DeAndre Hopkins, I try not to smile.

[Andy Holloway]

I saw you smirking. Is that all it was?

[Jason Moore]

It was just a warm fuzzy feeling.

[Andy Holloway]

Oh, that's so nice.

[Jason Moore]

You know who else brings me warm fuzzy feelings?

[Mike Wright]

Who's that?

[Jason Moore]

My wide receiver. One for my League of Record team, A.J. brown. That's my fantasy MVP this year. And the reason why he's my fantasy MVP is because he's going to be a fantasy MVP. He's phenomenal. He's not good. He's he was otherworldly. His rookie year he had the ninth best rookie wide receiver season since the year 2000. He was dominant and we left last season worried that he was going to be like this top six wide receiver pick in fantasy this year because of how dominant he was. How dominant was he? Well, once Ryan Tannehill took over, he was the wide receiver 3. But from their bye week on, there was a major shift in the Titans offense. Okay. Before the bye week, A.J. brown averaged 59% of snaps. After their bye week, he averaged 85% of the snaps. He went from being a wide receiver on the team to being, oh, this is a, this is a starting wide receiver. On pretty much every passing down he was the wide receiver one from that, not all wide receiver one. He was ahead of Michael Thomas during that stretch. Now he had a ton of touchdowns. He had these big breakaway plays, things that are outlierish. But he finished his rookie season as the wide receiver 15. He's currently being drafted as the wide receiver 18. He's being drafted past what I believe is his floor. That was his rookie year when he wasn't playing all the snaps. He's coming into camp as the clear number one. He has the potential, the body type, the ability to finish as a wide receiver. Top five this season and you're getting him in the fourth round. Look at the names of people who have finished within a point per game of where he finished his rookie year. I'm going to read you these names, tell me if they're good or bad. Not one by one, just as a whole. Odell Beckham Jr. Antwan Bolden, Michael Thomas, Mike Evans.

[Andy Holloway]

Oh dear.

[Jason Moore]

Michael Clayton, Mike Williams, Kelvin Benjamin, Keenan Allen, Marquis Colston, Eddie Royal, AJ Green, Amari Cooper, Calvin Ridley and Julio Jones. Now you got a couple names in.

[Mike Wright]

There, a couple stuck in there.

[Jason Moore]

A couple of those.

[Andy Holloway]

Michael Clayton. Is that, that's that movie you like Brooks, right?

[Mike Wright]

Yeah, that's a good one.

[Jason Moore]

Yeah, exactly. Phenomenal move.

[Mike Wright]

Clooney.

[Andy Holloway]

That's George Clooney. But I had no idea.

[Jason Moore]

The vast majority of those players are superstars, career long superstars. And that's what A.J. brown, I believe is. I don't see any reason talent wise, he, you know he was drafted to be that he went ahead of DK Metcalf, his own teammate from college in the NFL draft. So to me I think he should be a top 10 wide receiver for fantasy. He's being drafted where? So what if he doesn't break further out, but I think he will. He's my fantasy MVP for 2020.

[Andy Holloway]

Well, I love it. And he. He's one of those players, too, that you root for to have all the opportunities you saw last year because you know what he's capable of. You want those players to be. It's like the let Russ Cook situation. You want to see AJ Brown unleashed.

[Jason Moore]

And they might start doubling him. Oh, wait, no. They. They're going to need to stack the box. That's right. I forgot there's Derek Henry behind there opening things up. So I. I love it.

[Andy Holloway]

I watched some Derek Henry highlights yesterday.

[Jason Moore]

Oh, what.

[Andy Holloway]

Don'T we close segments with the same drop we open them with?

[Jason Moore]

Yeah, always.

[Andy Holloway]

Let's.

[Jason Moore]

Who's your fantasy mvp?

[Mike Wright]

Antonio Gibson.

[Andy Holloway]

So David Blaine's okay? Is that what we. We've established that.

[Jason Moore]

Yeah.

[Andy Holloway]

Look, guys, I guess okay is not the right description.

[Mike Wright]

I have something to tell you. I am David Blaine.

[Andy Holloway]

Oh, no. It's been a wild ride. Hope you enjoyed the podcast. Enjoyed the show. Make sure you grab the ultimate draft kit if you don't have it already, and listener league draft tonight.

[Mike Wright]

See you tomorrow.

[Jason Moore]

Goodbye. 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.

[Andy Holloway]

Hey, Foot Clan, thanks for listening to that episode. Remember, you can get a Navy Federal auto loan and reward yourself with a new car. Right now, rates are as low as 1.79% APR plus you can get estimate you can estimate your monthly payments with their online loan calculator before you apply at Navy Federal. Their members are the mission insured by NCUA credit and collateral subject to approval rates subject to change and are based on credit worthiness rate available for new vehicles. Message and data rates may apply. Visit navy federal.org for more information.