
Loading summary
A
This is an iHeart podcast. Guaranteed Human new year.
B
Same extra value meals at McDonald's. Now get a savory sausage McMuffin with egg plus hash browns and a small coffee for just $5 for a limited time only. Prices and participation may vary. Prices may be higher in Hawaii, Alaska and California. And for delivery.
A
Hello, everybody. Welcome into the Fantasy Pros Football Podcast. I'm Ryan Warmley, joined today by Andrew Erickson and by Jake Seeley from the athletic guys, we are into the new year. Jake, I have talked to some of folks here at Fantasy Pros. I've not really gotten a chance to talk to you. How did your fantasy season wrap up.
B
With a lot of second and third place finishes? Unfortunately, I'm the type of person that I don't mind like just getting my guys and not having to diversify. And it just happened to be the fact that I didn't have a lot of Derrick Henry even though I was on it, and then just a lot of Josh Jacobs. Just it's the overlap of players. It seems like if you had a certain player, you were basically second, third, fourth. If you had a certain ones, you finished first. It was just bad timing by a lot of players, but mostly good. I'll still take the second, third or fourth place finishes, but I think it's the first time since Andrew and I go back quite a bit since when I met him. I think it's probably about since the first time I ever met Andrew almost like what, eight, nine years ago that I don't have a, I didn't have, I'll admit it, I didn't have a single first place finish this year.
A
Yeah, I, I, I can relate to that. From the last couple of years, I've had a lot of teams make it and then not get over the hump. This year I did a little bit better. Erickson, I know we've already talked about this a bit. Erickson, how are you feeling? Kind of just stepping into 2026 here. Like, you know, I know we've talked a little bit about just how excited we are for, you know, kind of what's to come here with fantasy pros, with playoffs, the offseason, all this stuff. But now that the calendar has actually flipped into January and into 2026, where's your mindset right now?
C
I'm just really looking forward to getting into prospect season and into the NFL draft. That's kind of where my mind is trying to focus and balance that out with some of the NFL playoff content. We do rankings on the site for the playoff matchups. I'm doing a lot of the betting stuff as well, breaking down wildcard weekend, divisional weekend, conference championship weekend, and then obviously the Super Bowl. So even though it is the quote unquote off season fantasy football, the way that you can play and absorb this game, it's a365 endeavor and we're here for it. That's why you're watching this show right now. I used to, before I worked in fantasy, I would try to like, disconnect a little bit, take some time off, quote unquote, to kind of like reset my brain. And that's no longer an option. We are all in, all the time. And if you're joining us here, you're not taking a break. Well, subscribe, sit back. We got more content for you.
A
Yeah, we have.
B
Thank you for the dollar royalties there with the all in. I'll make sure you send me that chat.
A
Yeah. So what we're doing really throughout this week is takeaways for every afc, AFC team. We're gonna be doing the NFC next week, so we're gonna be doing a whole bunch of different episodes. We're gonna tape a bunch of these back to back to back to back. So just so everybody knows, we are taping all these on Tuesday the 6th. So, you know, if some of these are released in the next couple of days, if anything happens to have changed from now and then, that's why. But we're taping these all here on Tuesday. We're starting off with the AFC East. We'll, of course, break these down division by division. So we'll be hitting the Patriots, Bills, Dolphins and Jets on this episode here, one takeaway from each of you for each of these teams. So this can kind of be looking a little backwards, obviously, what just happened, but it's also kind of spinning it to look forwards as well. How are we going to take this information and adjust what we're doing in the future? Erickson, let's start with you with your New England Patriots. What is your takeaway here?
C
No, I. I don't think you should start with me because Jake is the one that actually put his takeaways in the show sheet first. And all the ones that are duplicates are the ones that I agreed with Jake. So I think 20, 26, trying to be nicer here. I think Jake, Jake us off with Ramon Dre Stevenson being a permanent thorn in the side of Trevion Henderson.
A
There you go.
B
It's not going away. Although I also realized during that whole preamble, there Worm. I missed the memo on like the peachish kind of like, I mean, I have some red in mind, but I.
A
Almost said that when you guys hopped onto the room.
C
Well, I almost had. I almost got a mistake because I realized I didn't have a graphic shirt lined up for today's show because I knew Jake was going to be on.
B
That's the sales. Like I got the Konami code shirt so I took care of it. But yes, the code being broken for Travion Henderson, as Erickson's talking about. We both agreed on this one. I saw that was actually the first one I saw. I was like, wait, we have overlap and we have overlap in quite a few spots. But the first one off the top is that we know like Stevenson's contract is the biggest thing. Like if this was he was going to be a free agent. We can act like, okay, cool, somebody's going to pay to have Stevenson come into their backfield. Maybe he returns to the Patriots. But the truth is is that that contract is going to keep him there because it's already got two more years on it and whatever we want to have happen and we have this with other teams and we know this, all of us sitting here, everybody watching knows this. No matter how much we can bang the table and say we want this, we want that. I'm sure we'll talk about it when we get to the NFC of the Seahawks situation. Teams are going what they're going to do and Mike Vrabel and this offense are going to use both running backs. Stevenson when healthy, was always a part of this backfield to varying degrees, but especially at the end of the season as we saw more productive than Henderson and not because Henderson wasn't good. We know that. It's just that Stevenson was involved as at least a 50, 50, 50, 50 if not more split. And I just think this is going to continue to be have happened. But the good news is as we've seen with the Seahawks is you can have a better version of the Seahawks and have them Both still as RB2s which play both weeks or all weeks.
A
So I, I want since you guys have the same one here about Stevenson kind of still continuing to be like you phrased it, the thorn in the side of Trayvon. I wanted to ask you our friend and colleague Pat Fitz Morris released kind of a way too early 2026 mock graph mock draft, just the first five rounds as he saw it and he had Trayvon Henderson as the 302. This is in a 12 team league in that If Ramadre is still there and still a thorn in his side, you know, Fitz is less worried about, hey, even if the workload's not there, Henderson is explosive enough in what he expects to be a good offense that it's not going to matter early Third round pick does feel pretty early. If we really think Jake that Ramon Drake is still going to be an issue.
B
Yeah, I would say it's a little bit early. I feel more comfortable in the fourth round, but even if so, I my last statement was that both can be productive. Is that let's say you get the best version of Kenneth Walker with Charbonnet as the Seahawks, that best version was a high end RB2 just knocking on that RB1 door. Problem is, you have to understand is that with that comes some really bad weeks like RB1s as a whole, there's only about five or six that really won't let you down a handful of times throughout the year. You have to understand when you have an RB2, a fringe RB1, it's going to happen five, six, maybe even seven games. And with somebody like Stevenson in that backfield with him, it could happen more frequently. So if you are going to invest in Henderson because we also know the upside of this and I know that Erickson's going to agree with me on this. We've seen what Kenneth Walker can do without Steven or mixing the backfields now, but Kenneth Walker without Charbonnet and we've seen what Charbonnet can do without Walker. The appeal of the upside of Henderson was what if Stevenson gets hurt and then you all of a sudden have a top 10 running back we just had this year. But understand that if you're going to draft that, you can't be like, oh my God, I've had two weeks of, you know, RB20 performances. I'm going to move on. That's not why you spent that cost Erickson.
A
What do you think the 302, which by the way is the 26th overall pick, is that too high, too low or just right for Henderson in your early thoughts about 2026?
C
Well, I don't know where Fitz had some of the other running backs in either for 2026. Like that's kind of what you have to make that.
A
Well, I'll tell you this, the next three picks in his mock draft after Trayvon were Kyron Williams, Chase Brown, Derek Henry.
C
Yeah, I think I'd rather have Chase Brown. I think I'd rather have Derek Henry. Are we going to stop drafting Derrick Henry? This guy's inevitable and he doesn't catch passes and it doesn't matter. So I think that with Henderson, I think that Jake did a great job of kind of outlining what his profile looks like, but I think that what he does well, how the Patriots want to use him, there's always going to be someone else involved. I comped him to Tony Pollard coming out. Tony Pollard has always been his best when he's actually splitting time with another running back. And then when he got all the touches, his efficiency was gone and we were so confused, like why is Tony Blair not more productive? Because he wasn't being used in the most efficient way. So I think that's similar case here where even if it isn't Ramandre Stevenson, I think they'll have somebody else in this backfield not named Terrell Jennings as the other running back because before this at the start of the year, it was a three man show. It was Antonio Gibson, it was Ramondra Stevenson, and it was Travion Henderson. So last four games that they've played together healthy, Stevenson has out snapped traven Henderson in three of those games. And then the touches have been 64 for Henderson, 46 for, for Stevenson, 58, 42%. So 6040 split I think is being safe in terms of trying to project these guys for 20, 26 if they're both healthy. And I think that you can probably find guys with higher bell cow ceilings. Where did Omarion Hampton go? Rather have him than Travyn Henderson. Rather have Genti and Travyon Henderson. I mean Judkins. Judkins is a bell cow. Like that's what his profile is. And he started to catch passes at the end of the season for the Browns. So again, volume is king. And I don't know if Henderson necessarily profiles as a volume is king type of running back in his second season.
A
Let's get to the next team in the AFC east here, the Buffalo Bills. You guys had a lot of overlap on this one as well. Ericson, we'll start with you this time. You're talking about the receivers here.
C
Yeah. So I think that Buffalo just needs to upgrade their wide receiver position. I think that it's pretty obvious based on what they got from that position this past year. Khalil Shakira was the best receiver they had. Wide receiver, 38 on the season. You know, not really moving the needle. Had a couple spike weeks here and there, but it was mostly in terms of games where he had a big yards after the catch play. And if he didn't have that, then he was basically a bust in your lineup. So the Keon Coleman experiment, could he be Quinton Johnston in year three? Maybe. I don't know. He's got a lot of problems and he has a lot of growing that he needs to do. I mean, Brandon Cooks is out producing Keon Coleman. Like Brandon Cooks went to Buffalo because he's like, oh, I can get snaps here and be productive in this offense. So that's a big issue. And I think that it's a good reminder to bring up. This team was ready to trade a future first round pick for Jaylo right before the trade deadline. So they decided looked at their roster like, hey, we need to make a move, we want to make a splash. Let's get Jalen Waddle. That's still potentially in the cards depending on how Miami Dolphins in their off season progresses here. So maybe they do end up trading for another wide receiver. Either way, I think that they're going to upgrade that position. So right now the guys currently on the roster can't have a lot of faith in them just because they frankly haven't been good enough. And Josh Allen's being too much on Josh Allen's plate as a passer where his rushing has had to take over for this Buffalo Bills offense. And that's why James Cook obviously has been super productive because it's been him and Cook that have been basically the entire Bill's offense in 2025.
B
Yeah, this might be too dated for you, Worm, but I'm going to like go back to the TLC is the don't go chasing Bills wide receivers as try to smash that into the used to be Dolphins running backs before they got a chan. It used to be other backfields and stuff like that. But if you don't know your tlc, Worm Sor and I'm sorry for everybody who had to hear me do that, but it really comes down to that. Unless you know, Ericsson's right, like they do need to address it. But what if they don't? What if it's just another wide receiver too? And this is just the packers what they've been doing for years. It's the Bills of what they've been doing for years unless they truly get a clear alpha, which I don't know that we really have in free agency. And I don't think they're going to draft anybody. If they do where they're drafting, that's going to come in and be like their version of Ted Roll McMillan this year. And then we saw what even that could be on a lesser team. But point being, to come back to it is that Josh Allen spreads it around. Josh Allen is always going to spread it around. He's just not somebody who targets, targets, targets, targets the same guy every single week because he takes what's available. He's one of the best quarterbacks in the NFL because he sees what's available. And there are some weeks where it's Shakira. There are some weeks where it's Joshua. Hell, Brandon Cooks was a thing again. Like there's just some weeks that he goes to the tight ends twice. That's the big thing is they run a lot of 12 as well. And I'm not saying it can't happen. Like Erickson's right. Like if they do get a clear alpha, that could change things. I just don't know that it's going to because I don't think the Bills need to for who they are. Maybe they decide that's what's preventing them from getting over the hump and we have to see how the playoffs play out. But as of right now, I'm just, I'm going to stop chasing the Bills wide receivers and saying, well, it's finally going to be this guy. It's going to be this guy. No, because every single week it's not even this guy.
A
Blank when it comes to managing your money, you've got to think like a fantasy gm. It's all about making smart moves. That's where the Klarna card comes in. It's like that perfect waiver wire pickup for your everyday finances. You can pay in full now or plan ahead to pay later so you stay flexible and always in control of your budget. It's your debit card upgraded, no credit impact to apply, no annual fees and it works anywhere. Visa is accepted. Think of it as a game winning play for your everyday finances. Sign up for the Klarna card by downloading the Klarna app or learn more@klarna.com US Klarna card and take control of your purchases your way. Klarna Card Pay Later Plans issued by Webbank Deposits in your balance account are held at Webbank Member FDIC anywhere Visa is accepted. Certain merchant product good and service restrictions apply. Some merchants do not accept virtual cards. Physical card only included with a paid Klarna membership plan.
D
If you're paying more than $1 a month for any ED or hair medication, listen up at Joy and Blokes when you start TRT or Enclomiphene, you can add any ED or hair loss prescription for just $1 a month. $1 add ons with your hormone plan and right now all labs are 50% off. I'm Josh Whalen, founder of Joy and Blokes. I built this company because men are tired of paying for fragmented care without results. Every Joy and Blokes lab includes a visit with a licensed clinician who connects your symptoms to your biomarkers. You'll get a real plan that covers hormones, performance and confidence. If you're considering TRT or Enclomiphene, this is the most efficient way to do it. Get started@joyandblokes.com and use a promo code podcast new customers get 50% off their labs and for a limited time, you can take advantage of our $1 ed or hair loss add ons when you start TRT or Enclomiphene not available in all states. Compounded medications are not FDA approved. Learn more@joyandblooks.com if you're the purchasing manager.
E
At a manufacturing plant, you know having a trusted partner makes all the difference. That's why hands down, you count on Grainger for auto reordering. With on time restocks, your team will have the cut resistant gloves they need at the start of their shift and you can end your day knowing they've got safety well in hand. Call 1-800-granger. Click granger.com or just stop by Granger for the ones who get it done.
A
It's funny, I don't know if it came through on your guys end. It got really choppy for me when you guys were talking, but it was both of you so I'm pretty sure it was. My Internet was the issue and I set that up to say all I could hear kind of coming through the choppiness was you singing Waterfalls, which yes I do. I did recognize the song. Jake. I don't know that. I could name another song by tlc, but I did recognize that one.
B
So no Scrubs.
A
Oh okay. I have heard that song. I didn't know that.
C
Except for the Bills wide receivers. Yes.
B
And if you ever saw the follow up or listen to the song. No Pigeons as they come back from the Sporty Thieves or Sticky. Wait, is it Sporty Thieves? I don't know if you've never seen that. Nicole had never seen it. They did the comeback version. It was no pigeons.
A
That's great. I was not aware of that one either, so wow.
B
I'm surprised how many people don't know that song.
A
If you want a chance to win the ultimate symbol of fantasy glory the fantasy football championship belt, courtesy of our good friends at Trophy Smack, the number one destination for epic fantasy football hardware. Then this is your moment. This massive gold plated belt is built to make a statement. It's bold, it's heavy, and it's guaranteed to turn heads in your league. Don't just win your championship, wear it. To enter, all you need to do is subscribe to the Fantasy Pros YouTube channel right now. Drop a comment below on any of our videos. That is it. We will be announcing a winner right here on the channel, so make sure to turn on notifications so you don't miss your chance to claim this championship belt and flex on your entire league. All right, guys, let's go to the Dolphins. Jake, we'll start with you here. What is your takeaway from the Dolphins?
B
Yeah, there's going to be a team later in this where it's going to even give more clarity to this, but I think Devon Hn could be in trouble. And I mean trouble as in what we expect. Like the fact that he's a top five running back. Because we're now talking about massive potential turnover starting from the the coach, which as of right now isn't happening. But through the quarterback position, the wide receivers, Tyreek Hill, like this. Matt, this team could be one of the worst teams in the NFL next year. It already was already in the conversation this season. But I bring that up to say is that we've seen what being one of the worst offenses in the NFL can do to running backs. We go all the way back to a friend of ours on this very network, the late great Mike Tagliere who said that like he proved that. He wrote an article about how rare it is to not just top five, to have a top 10 running back on a bottom five offense. And that's why I bring this up is that I'm not saying it's definitive. We have plenty of time to see how this shakes out. But the path that the Dolphins are heading down, we can see Devon Achan as a first round bust. And I say that just to say is I feel like he might be the one that I skipped past in the first round as of today, depending on what happens. And the fact like I would love to have him in the second round because he's not going to fall that far. He's too good to fall that far. But this offense in this team might be too bad to prevent him from still being a top five first round talent. And that's where I'm looking at. The Dolphins as of today, he is.
A
To reference that Fitz mock draft. Again. He's the 108 in that early mock draft from Fitz. So Fitz is still, you know, happily taking him in that, you know, middle part of the first round. Ericsson, what do you think about that? Where does HN fall for you in early rankings?
C
I have no idea. I have not done my 2026. I'm not gonna lie and tell you. Oh, I have him in this exact spot because there's so much shake up. We don't know who the quarterback is going to be. We think it's going to be Mike McDaniel as the head coach. That's where the, the signals are kind of pointing, where he's taking a part in them trying to find their new general manager. I mean, there's a lot of good running backs right this year. I mean, there was a lot of good running backs this past season. Running backs came back and boomed in a really big way. Same thing in 2024. So I think you're going to have to make some tough decisions. And if something to break the tie is, well, this guy has Quinn, yours as his quarterback, that seems like a pretty good tiebreaker for me to then pick someone on a different team on a better supporting cast. So, again, well, let me flip the.
B
Question differently than what Worm said. So we're talking about first round and we often compare players to players, but let me say first round versus second round. Assuming as of today you brought up Hampton earlier, that they don't bring back a JK Dobbins or Situ like another running back of his ilk to step in alongside of him. Obviously that's why I said bring back, because Broncos situation right now. But a running back, that's enough of a threat that we're like, oh, my God, Hampton's not going to get like, say we go into Hampton as 18 touch per game. I'd rather have Hampton in the second round as 18 touch per game. And what I think is an ascending offense versus a descending offense. And what could be with Devon HN in the first round, that's where I would bring it up.
A
And Erickson, your. Your takeaway here is on Mike McDaniel.
C
Yeah. So maybe I'm in the minority here with this take. Trust me, I was not the biggest on Mike McDaniel entering this season. Especially after the first eight weeks of the season after they got blown out by the Cleveland Browns, I thought, okay, this is over for Mike McDaniel. But he rallied and was able to get a bunch of wins. Towards the end of the season and basically save his job. And I think that too much negativity is not, again, he's not perfect. He's definitely made mistakes. Not the best head coach. Doing a great job selling Mike McDaniel. Why he's not the problem. But I think that he was kind of handcuffed with Tua as his quarterback. Like, I think that he was very limited with what he could do as a play caller where we got to get the ball out quick because Tua can't hold on to the football for very long. We have to keep it underneath targets because Tua doesn't want to wait and let's, you know, routes meticulate down the field. I mean, that backs up in the numbers to a 2.6 second time to throw the season. That's the quickest in the NFL. Throwing behind the line of scrimmage. 27 highest in the NFL for the second straight season. Second highest rate of his career. So clearly this offense was okay. We can only do certain things. We have to run the football effectively, which is why HN was so good, because they turned into, we're going to run, run, run and feed HN as much as possible because that's how our offense moves. I just think that the relationship had timed out and it's not an exact comparison, but it reminds me a little bit of when Jared Goff and Sean McVeigh, when the time is up here, like, this relationship is no longer work between head coach and quarterback. So I'm not, I guess, as so completely out on the Miami Dolphins in 2026 if Mike McDaniel is the offensive play caller, is the head coach, depending on what other personnel moves they end up making. Because I think that he has shown that, yeah, I can make a lot of offenses work in a lot of different ways. I can be creative with my playmakers and with my personnel. So, I mean, Mac Jones, what if he's a quarterback in Miami? Is that the worst thing in the world we've seen a player from. Again, he can read defenses, he can get the ball out quick. Is he athletically limited? I would say so. Maybe that's the reason why you don't go with a Mac Jones type of player as opposed to moving away from Tua. But I guess for me, it's more about Tua in this Dolphins 2025 offense than really is about Mike McDaniel. So I guess I'm leaving the light on just a little bit here with this Miami Dolphins team in 2026.
A
Jake Erickson said that that he might be in the minority there. I do agree with him that I think it's more of a two limitation than a Mike McDaniel limitation. How do you see the issues there?
B
I don't disagree much on that aspect and that's folded in of part of my concern of the A Chan is like what does this look like because there's a big difference between if they address the quarterback position significantly or it is Quinn Ewers and see what they can get him. I don't, I don't think Quinn yours necessarily going to be that much more of an aggressive thrower than Tua. But if you look at it, you know down the end of the stretch that Erickson's bringing up once they left to a 20% yard plays, top 10, they were middle of the pack before that. It's not a huge jump but you started to see some more of the plays downfield and that mind you that's without Tyree Kill like so we've also have that as a factor there as well. So I agree with Erickson on the fact that Tua clearly might be the problem and that Mike McDaniel is doing the best with what he's given. I just don't know what he's going to be given. Next year is going to be significantly better and that's my concern as of today.
A
Let's go to the jets to wrap things up with the AFC East. Erickson, we'll start with you on this one. What is your fantasy takeaway from the Jets?
C
Breeze hall is going to be a fantasy RB1 on another team and it's going to be fantastic. The fact that Breeze all got to a thousand rushing yards on on this dumpster fire team. A thousand rushing yards for the first time his NFL career. Right. You think about the jets and how Garrett Wilson led the team in receiving yards and he played seven games.395 receiving yards, wide receivers 16 in points per game. Yeah, I think Paul is done with New York. I think that he made the smart decision to not play in Week 18 to not risk any type of injury and I think that get this man on the Chiefs, please. Just his skill set. Get rid of the Pacheco. Get rid of Cream Hunt. Enough is enough. Just get him on a team that's going to use him as both a rusher and receiver. Get him in space and just give him opportunities to score touchdowns, please. He's so talented. So that's my takeaway. The jets ruined Breeze hall the last two years. He will no longer be ruined because he's going to leave. I wish I could say the same thing Regarrett Wilson, but he is still under contract.
A
I was going to ask about where and you mentioned the Chiefs. Like that feels like the, you know, the ideal scenario for you, Jake. Where's like the ideal landing spot for.
B
You for Breeze hall, the other 31 teams. Like that's a 31 way die. Yeah, I will say any, any team that gives him the chance to be a clear bell cow because as long as he's getting the volume of touches and opportunities that he was getting with the jets on a better offense, actually the only concern would be to go back to. I'm going to save it. We're going to talk about the Browns. Like if he was replacing judges, I mean he's not going to replace Judkins. But my concern for Judkins is where I don't want to see Breeze hall go to as a team that has that poor of an offensive line and big tease there. But anyway, Breeze hall, there's a lot. I think the easiest one is always the Chiefs. But I think the biggest answer and you know, tongue in cheek is that I go back to that J.K. dobbin situation. We don't want to see him go to the Denver Broncos. Like that'd be awful. Like we would just be like oh God, we're going to do this now. So I think we just want to see somewhere where he's getting 15 plus touches every single week, week in and week out. Maybe the packers move on from, I don't know, Josh Jacobs contract on top of my head. But a situation like that would be glorious. But my takeaway from this, he brought up Garrett Wilson. I actually think Garrett Wilson is a great buy low if and there's a lot of if there. I mean the quarterback position has to be addressed also the offense has to be addressed. And this is why I say the offense as a whole is because Garrett Wilson, he's not too dissimilar from Chris Olave and a lot of ties to each other, but in the fact that they do a lot of better work out of the slot. And you can look at Garrett Wilson's career if you just watch Garrett Wilson, you know this but if also you want to go down the metrics route, he's better in yards per out run and there's a lot of opportunities out of the slot where he does better. And I saw some people tweeting about ESPN has that separate or is it open score that they came up with and he was top 10 in open score. But if you look at their catch score for him, which is catches attributed to the wide receiver that they should make, he was actually pretty awful in that he was actually one of the few inside the top 10 with a score of open that high that only had like a 40, 50% catch because the balls were actually on target quite a bit from Tyrod Taylor and the rest of the. It's just that he struggles with the coverage and he struggles on the outside more than he does on the inside. Garrett Wilson is a very talented wide receiver. He can succeed on the outside, but he's better when he's kicked in. And why I say that is because he needs somebody alongside him. I'll bring up the Michael Wilson comparison is like, Michael Wilson, like with Trey McBride is better than Michael Wilson last year, asked to be on his own when Michael Wilson failed. Like, sometimes you need a talent that takes that coverage away from you so you can excel where you can excel. And that's why I say is that the quarterback position addressed and, and let Garrett Wilson play more in the slot with somebody similar to his talent instead of these jabronis that they threw out the entire year as their second and third and fourth and fifth options were just all trash. And I will buy back in on Garrett Wilson as a top 15 wide receiver next year.
A
Erickson, what do you think about that?
C
How dare you call AD Mitchell trash? Jake, we didn't get to see them play together. I think that is your guy you're talking about. He's a guy that it could be. He can get open on the outside, make things really easy for Garrett Wilson in the slot. So again, we still need the quarterback. That is the big, the big piece of the puzzle here. So, But I think Andy Mitchell is another guy that, I mean, if you could buy low on him, I mean.
B
Look, if he takes a step forward, I'm with you. Like, if he can be what we saw, then absolutely.
A
I, I, it's one of those things, Eric. So you've been really big on Garrett Wilson for, like, a number of years. And I just find myself, like, every year I'm really excited about him. And then for one excuse or another, it doesn't happen. And it's almost always entirely not his fault. But I just, like, at a certain point, I do think that, like, managers who have been burned by him are like, not gonna be able to kind of get back there. But again, you're somebody who's, who's been a big fan of his for a.
C
While Erickson, I mean, he was productive before he got hurt. Yeah, it's not like he wasn't producing. I mean, I think I felt like I was hot and cold on Wilson all year long because of, like, Fields the quarterback. Is this good or is it bad? And then one week it would blow up and the next week he would do nothing. So, again, I don't think this year really changes the outlook. Again, we still don't really. We didn't even know Fields was going to be the guy really for. We knew that the jets contract with him wasn't like, oh, he's going to be committed to Justin Fields long term. Look, it's just buying the talent of Garrett Wilson and hoping that they can figure out something. And I think that when you make bets like this time and time again, you usually come out on top more often than not again. It doesn't work every time, like buying low on the talent. Sometimes it doesn't work. It just doesn't. But I think you're going to hit more than miss. And that's why I agree with Jake that Garrett Wilson is someone. Hey, Dynasty manager. He's sick. Garrett Wilson, people were sick of Kyle Pitts last year, too. What happened? Boom.
B
Well, he's going to get six touchdowns next year because he gets the exact year that he's been playing against the touchdowns to jump back in. I know we got to move on, but the biggest thing you said to Justin Fields, and this is what I think, this actually isn't a point for any of the teams that we're talking about that I have, but I think it's an overarching one that people should look at, is that. But when the offense isn't 100% designed for the quarterback, and that was my concern, which was wrong because they switched quickly. The Colts, they did a real good switch going from Richardson to Daniel Jones, which wasn't a lot. They didn't have to change a lot. But if you look at it, Justin Fields, the lowest design rush rate of his career with the jets because they just said like, all right, we're going to kind of hybrid this offense between you and Tyrod Taylor because we don't know what's going to happen. Instead of just saying, you know what, this offense needs to be a Justin Fields offense. And that too, too often kills offenses in the NFL. I'm not saying Justin Fields should have hit. I'm not saying Justin Fields is an NFL starting quarterback. I'm just saying if you're going to take that chance, I think that's what we need to learn sometimes is when we go into off seasons and maybe the quarterback is in flux and it's two dissimilar styles is that maybe we should say, hey, this should be a team. We should take a pause on fantasy, understand that things could really go sideways.
A
We'll wrap up the conversation on the AFC east there. Be sure to check out our conversations on every AFC division this week and the NFC is coming up next week for our takeaways from the 2025 fantasy season. For Jake and Erickson, I'm Ryan Wormley. Thanks for tuning in. See you next time. Thanks for listening to the Fantasy Pros Fantasy Football Podcast. If you love the show, the best free way to support us is by leaving a positive review on apple podcasts@fantasypros.com review or on Spotify. Follow us on X Instagram and TikTok at Fantasy Pros and subscribe to our YouTube channel at YouTube.com fantasypros.
B
Foreign.
D
If you're paying more than $1 a month for any ED or hair medication, listen up at Joy and Blokes when you start TRT or Enclomiphene, you can add any ED or hair loss prescription for just $1 a month. $1 add ons with your hormone plan and right now all labs are 50% off. I'm Josh Whalen, founder of Joy and Blokes. I built this company because men are tired of paying for fragmented care without results. Every Joy and Blokes lab includes a visit with a licensed clinician who connects your symptoms to your biomarkers. You'll get a real plan that covers hormones, performance and confidence. If you're considering TRT or Enclomiphene, this is the most efficient way to do it. Get started@joyandblokes.com and use the promo code podcast. New customers get 50% off their labs and for a limited time, you can take advantage of our $1 ed or hair loss add ons when you start TRT or Enclomiphene. Not available in all states. Compounded medications are not FDA approved. Learn more@joyandblokes.com this is an I Heart Podcast.
A
Guaranteed human.
Release Date: January 6, 2026
Host: Ryan Wormley
Guests: Andrew Erickson (FantasyPros), Jake Seeley (The Athletic)
This episode kicks off a series summarizing the biggest fantasy football lessons for every AFC division, starting with the AFC East. Ryan, Andrew, and Jake run through the Patriots, Bills, Dolphins, and Jets, each offering insights drawn from the 2025 season and how those insights will shape 2026 draft strategies, player outlooks, and fantasy expectations. The tone is engaging and sometimes lighthearted, but the conversation is rich with analysis and forward-looking advice.
Main Takeaway:
Rhamondre Stevenson remains a permanent “thorn” for TreVeyon Henderson’s upside—even into 2026.
Notable Quote:
“Stevenson, when healthy, was always a part of this backfield to varying degrees...especially at the end of the season as we saw—more productive than Henderson, and not because Henderson wasn't good... It’s just that Stevenson was involved as at least a 50/50, if not more split.”
— Jake Seeley (04:12)
Main Takeaway:
The Bills need to upgrade their WR corps, but until they get a true “alpha,” all pass catchers are volatile under Josh Allen.
Memorable Moment:
Jake tries a playful TLC reference—“Don’t go chasing [Bills wide receivers]”—emphasizing the futility in guessing which WR will pop each week (11:18, 15:27).
Notable Quotes:
“This team was ready to trade a future first round pick for Jaylen Waddle...so they decided... ‘we need to make a move...’”
— Andrew Erickson (10:21)
“Josh Allen is always going to spread it around...that’s the big thing; they run a lot of 12 personnel as well.”
— Jake Seeley (11:49)
Devon Achane’s Outlook:
Potential “first-round bust”—not due to talent, but because of possible massive turnover on the roster and risk of a bottom-tier offense.
Mike McDaniel’s Impact:
Erickson is more optimistic about McDaniel than Tua—a potential mulligan for the Dolphins' offense if they can upgrade at QB.
Notable Quotes:
“I think Devon Achane could be in trouble. And I mean trouble as in what we expect. Like the fact that he’s a top-five running back... this offense and this team might be too bad to prevent him from still being a top-five first round talent.”
— Jake Seeley (16:57)
“I think that he [McDaniel] was kind of handcuffed with Tua as his quarterback...I’m not, I guess, as so completely out on the Dolphins in 2026 if Mike McDaniel is the head coach...”
— Andrew Erickson (20:07)
Breece Hall:
Prime RB1 if he escapes New York—Jets have stifled his upside.
Landing Spots:
Jake’s answer to the “ideal landing spot”: “The other 31 teams...as long as he's getting the volume of touches...on a better offense” (24:52). Cautions on landing somewhere with a bad O-line.
Garrett Wilson:
A buy-low candidate—still a top-15 WR talent if QB and secondary WR options improve.
Notable Quotes:
“The Jets ruined Breece Hall the last two years...He will no longer be ruined because he’s going to leave.”
— Andrew Erickson (23:37)
“Garrett Wilson is a very talented wide receiver...but he’s better when he’s kicked in [the slot]...I will buy back in on Garrett Wilson as a top 15 wide receiver next year.”
— Jake Seeley (25:55)
“When you make bets like this time and time again, you usually come out on top more often than not.”
— Andrew Erickson (28:40)
This episode sets up the offseason fantasy football debate for the AFC East:
Erickson’s lasting advice: Betting on talent and patience with players like Garrett Wilson will pay off—eventually!
For further takeaways, stay tuned for more division breakdowns in the days ahead, and the NFC next week.