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FantasyPros - Fantasy Football Podcast
Fantasy Football Waiver Wire Stashes To Target Ahead of Week 1 (Ep. 1682)
00:16:39
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- [00:00]
A
This is an iHeart podcast. This is a real good story about Drew, a real United Airlines customer.
- [00:09]
B
After almost four years of treatments, I was finally cancer free. My mom's like, where do you want to go to celebrate? I'm like, let's go somewhere tropical. And then pilot hopped on the intercom and started talking about me. And I was like, what is going on here?
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C
My wife beat cancer, too, and I wanted to celebrate his special moment.
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A
That's Bill, a real United pilot.
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C
We brought him drinks and donuts. We all signed a card.
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B
I was smiling ear to ear. Best flight ever, for sure.
- [00:32]
A
Sure.
- [00:33]
C
That's how good leads the way. Welcome in everybody, to fantasy Pros. This is the fantasy football podcast. It is me, Joey P, Joe P. Zeppia. And today we're going to get ahead of the waiver wire. That's right, because a lot of your leagues have already opened up waivers. And Jake Seeley from the Athletic and I are going to help you get some names on your rosters before everybody else. Because we want to save you time, energy, and most importantly, your fab budget. That's right, your free agent budget. We want you to have as much as you can. So let's get ahead of everybody else. Let's be smarter. Let's work together to get the right guys on that roster. And Jake Sealey, we're going to start things off here with a bang. I've been drafting this guy everywhere. I know you and I were fighting over him on a draft today, but Ali Gordon of the Miami Dolphins looks like he might have a role in this offense now. Devon Hn is tending toward playing right now. It seems like it's going in that direction where he's going to be ready Week one as of recording this, but it is a calf issue, and it is a guy that's had some injury history in the past. Ali Gordon, in case you didn't know, had 26 carries for 126 rushing yards, three receptions for 48. And that was a pretty good preseason for Ali Gordon, the OSU product. And Ali Gordon just looked comfortable in the offense. And Jake, we've seen Ollie Gordon perform well, but we've also seen Miami use multiple running backs for fantasy in this offense. Just dial back a couple years ago to Raheem Moster, too. So let's talk about the reason why you think Ollie Gordon should be somebody now and not wait for the end of week one.
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A
Yeah. And the best part about it is just taken before the waivers. I have an article at the Athletics. The free guys I do the free guys every single year basically 150 plus pick in ADP. And the first four of these five names are free still as of right now. Now Ali Gordon's at the top of the list for two reasons. One is he's probably not going to be as free if you're drafting this weekend, but he's still somebody going outside the top hundred and somebody that should not be going that far. As you mentioned, that draft you and I were in, I think it was the eighth or ninth round he went. You probably don't have to go that early. Maybe it was the 10th, but somewh around there I would look to get him because let's take one step back. You talk about everything we like from him. There's two things. Here is one, Jalen Wright did everything he could to look like the worst running back in the NFL in the preseason. And then he, and then he got hurt on top of it. So even If Achan plays 17 games, we've seen Raheem Mostert, oh, by the way, he had the better season than Achan. I don't think Ali Gordon's going to have a better season than Achan. The point being is you said you kind of set it up. We know this backfield is a two headed monster. They use both. This is like the Lions. We want that second piece. He can be David Montgomery for the Dolphins. And the biggest appeal here, and you remember this because we talked about him like a month and a half ago on this network and I said I thought he fit the Raheem Mostert role better than Jalen Wright. But Jalen Wright was in front of him. At that time I was still drafting Jalen Wright, but taking flyers on Ollie Gordon. But as I mentioned, everything Wright did was terrible. Everything Ali Gordon has done reminded of us two years ago in 2023 when we're like, oh, this might be a first round running back. Of course 2024 happened, but now he's set up to worst case scenario, give you a flex running back value. Best case scenario, H and Mrs. Anytime. And now you're talking about top 20, even potentially better.
- [03:40]
C
Yeah. Before the injury, Jalen Wright averaging, I think 1.6 yards per carry.
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A
Get excited, which is what he did last year.
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C
All right, let's talk about another running back too. And as Jake said, I want to just reiterate this for the audience too. Don't forget, if you're in these drafts and deeper leagues too, draft these guys, okay? They're going almost free. But in case your drafts already happen. These are our targets for early waiver wire this week. Let's talk about Dylan Sampson now. The Cleveland Browns backfield situation is certainly one that is in motion. Jerome Ford's there. Judkins, we throw our hands up here at this point, but what do you see in Dylan Sampson that makes him potentially valuable in fantasy early on?
- [04:20]
A
Yeah, Judkins, can I. The shrug emoji. Like, I don't know.
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C
I mean, at this point, that's the best analysis I think anyone could give on these.
- [04:28]
A
Well, I will say I'm glad we recorded this after something happened this morning because Pierre Thomas yesterday got released and I'm like, oh, maybe they know Judkin's situation is going to get figured out and the NFL is going to suspend him two games or something. But then they picked up Raheem Sanders off waivers and added him to the backfield, which goes back to. Okay, maybe they don't. All right, so what's the one thing that we do know? We know Jerome Ford and we know Jerome Ford's a good running back. He's a replaceable running back. Dylan Sampson has some like Tajie Spears to his game. Some.
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C
Yeah.
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A
And if we said Tajie Spears was on the Browns and we had this situation going on, everybody would be drafting or Tajie spears as an RB3, which is what's the constant that we know. Dylan Sampson, similar to Tees number five. His role is secure whether it's Jerome Ford or Judkins ever gets onto this team as the passing down complement Jalen Warren in this offense. Yes, it's the Browns, but it's the Browns with Joe Flacco right now. Joe Flacco, by the way, I don't know if you know this, Joe, over his last 17 starts, 4,400 passing yards. This offense is going to do things. I don't expect it to be a top 10 offense, but it's going to be productive. More so than people think. I would take it over the Saints. I would take it over the Giants as of today. So Dylan Sampson, another one that can be an RB3 for you, especially if you went wide receiver heavy.
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C
A thousand of those passing yards by the way to the opposing safeties and.
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A
Cool team that made it 5,000. Jones.
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C
So there you go. Probably right. But no, you're. You're not wrong. Which brings us to the next guy on our list. Perfect know Cedric Tillman, who we were just in a draft that literally just wrapped up before this show. The CBS Experts league for the St. Jude's charity that we do every year. And I drafted this guy and I haven't drafted this guy. And I got into a little tussle in July with Pat Fitz Morris about Deontay Johnson. I said, deontay Johnson's been on three teams in a year. He's done, he's dusted, it's over. And sure enough, he was part of cut day yesterday. And Cedric Tillman, look, this was a prospect that I liked coming into the NFL to begin with and I knew it was going to be a little bit of a slow burn. As you mentioned with Flacco, I'm very optimistic here. He can carve out a nice number two wide receiver role. You saw a short window there over like a four game stretch where Tillman was very useful. And once again you talk about furry guys. He's a free square. And I think you and I see eye to eye on Cedric Tillman as well.
- [06:50]
A
Yeah, it was one of the few times where you popped my cue over at cbs. I mean we were nine picks, eight picks apart. So it's going to. But like this was one of the ones where I was like, hey, you know what, I'm going to still get Cedric Tillman. And I'm like, oh no, I'm not. Joe got him. Because here's the appeal. You bring up that four game sample, 40 targets. Do I think that Cedric Tillman's walking into 170 targets? Absolutely not. Do I think he's going to be the top two option? Yes, because he is a top two option. Now of course David Njoku is in the mix. But if I said there's a world, Joe, where we do somehow get Flacco for 17 games and we get to week 17 and similar to the argument about Devonte Adams and Puka Nakua and he said that Cedric Tillman outspoken, I would not fall out of my chair shocked. I'd be surprised. But I wouldn't be like, oh my God, I never saw that happening. There's a world where it can happen because you just brought up the four game sample. He's a productive white receiver that everybody last year was calling a post hype sleeper. And now he has Joe Flacco as his quarterback at least to start the season, if not at least 10, 12 games before they start thinking about 20, 26 if Flacco doesn't get hurt. And he's very similar to number four, but similar to number four when we talk about him and segue into him. The one thing I know about Joe Flacco, I just brought up those 4400y. He is going to chuck the ball. Chuck the ball. Chuck the ball. Well, who do I want in that scenario? The number two on his team that has a ton of big playability.
- [08:09]
C
Yeah, he's cheaper than Jerry Judy. There's a lot of reasons, I think, to like Cedric Tillman there.
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A
Half of the price of Jerry Judy.
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C
Half the price. Yeah. But I mean all those are good reasons there. And Cedric Tillman again, I knew it was going to take a little while for him to pop off and had he stayed healthy, maybe this would be a different conversation. But he didn't last year.
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A
Right.
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C
So there's value there coming in. And whether you're drafting late here or again, the waiver wire is now open for business. You want to add these guys. So so far we've talked about Ali Gordon, we've talked about two Browns there, Dylan Sampson, Cedric Tillman. Again, players on bad teams sometimes get overlooked in drafts and rightfully so. But in these circumstances, this is a time to buy in on some of these guys who can be productive in fantasy. We have two more names we want to talk about. Before we do, just a quick reminder. If you've got drafts remaining this weekend, and I know you do, use the Draft Assistant right now during all of your drafts, don't miss out on your high upside targets or some of these guys that we're talking about right now, you could save yourself some fab and just add them to your bench. Draft Assistant connects directly to your draft and provides both real time pick suggestions and estimations on which players might be taken before your next pick. Draft Assistant fully integrates your customized draft sheets, your cheat sheets, your suggested picks based on your rankings, team build, ADP and other factors. So if you want to dominate all your drafts in real time without the guesswork, Draft Assistant is the way to do it. Fantasypros.com assistant or make it easy on yourself. Download the Fantasy Pros app today. Try it for free. You get the three day free trial at Fantasy Pros Premium. At fantasypros.com premium, go sync your leagues for free. Don't be a tool. Use the tools. All right, next guy on our list is a Denver Bronco wide receiver that made a flurry of touchdowns at the end of 2024. Now Derrick Brown keeps saying that's not sustainable, that's not sustainable. And he's probably right. But there's room for somebody else here as Bo Nixon hopefully takes another step further in his development. So let's talk about Marvin Mims and What the upside is for him this season.
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A
Yeah. So you see, Marvin Mims isn't going to catch 32 touchdown passes this year.
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C
Dang.
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A
I have to redo My projections.
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C
30 in your projections.
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A
But okay, all right, look, this is coming from somebody who hasn't been a Marvin Mims fan due to the perception of everybody else. Like I brought up and I said, Marvin Mims, he's a possession wide receiver, which people don't seem to want to accept. And I'm not coming for people or anything. I'm just saying, like people say the big playability. And what I mean by possession wide receiver is somebody who doesn't do a ton after the catch. So let me make that clear. He has 20, 30, 40 yard big playability. That is very clear. But he a lot of times goes down after he catches the ball, which is fine because like Cedric Tillman, I want that big playability. I want the number two on the offense. He has clearly been the number two, as we yelled at our screens last year at the end of the season, like Sean Payton, give him more snapshots. What the hell are you doing? And he's Sean Payton. He was like, I guess I should give him more snaps. Like, yeah, no kidding. Because the rest of the guys on your team are fine options, but nobody's playing to his level. So if you tell me that Mims and Tillman both walk into110,120 targets as the number twos this year, I actually think they're going to be very similar in the production. The only splitting difference was if you said Cedric Tillman has Dylan Gabriel from week one, he'd probably be number five and might not even make the list. But he has Joe Flacco as of today. Bo Nix, I don't think will pass quite as much as Joe Flacco, but I know the touch. We saw him as a rookie and I know he will pass enough that Marvin Mims. You tell me he's a wide receiver. 4. And I have to live through the ups and downs as my wide receiver four. Absolutely. But as you've been saying this whole show, Joe, you're picking him off waivers and if you're drafting this weekend, he's still free. You don't even have to say he's my wide receiver. 4. He could be your bench option.
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C
Yeah. And look, you never have enough depth of quality here, whether it be a wide receiver or running back. So, you know, make these adjustments in your draft strategy. Add these guys to your queue late and this is where you can really gain an advantage too because if you talk about, you know, sometimes people don't have the attention span. Like the draft starts to get away from a lot of the normies and the casuals out there where all of a sudden their depth of the pool isn't very good. This is where we come in to help you with these names and we've got one more for you too that we want to talk about and it's in the Washington Commander backfield. Now Chris Rodriguez is that guy for me because I think that's the dude that's going to get the goal line work and to me that's where it's really valuable. But you're thinking in some of those more shallow leagues too, that Austin Eckler is probably floating around there and some of those 10 teamers. So let's talk about Austin Eckler. And now that Brian Robinson Jr. Finds himself outside of this Washington Commander backfield, who's got the inside track to the fantasy volume?
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A
Yeah, well this is 12 team 2 to be clear. And I know some people might be watching this being like not my league. I go by under 60% on Yahoo and that's pretty much a pretty good barometer for the most leagues. So Alison Eckler might be already drafted, might already be on rosters, but if you go by under 60%, he's not. He's around the 50% mark and it's been climbing. He was already in the 40s and I bring him up similar to Dylan Sampson. Is that if you're right about Chris Rodriguez, great for the people there and Chris Rodriguez, sorry, Crosky, Merritt people. If you're wrong, cool for cross Demerit people, bad for Chris Rodriguez. The one thing that doesn't matter for either one of them is Austin Eckler. Is Austin Eckler. Is Austin Eckler. Yes, last year was a disappointment because he got hurt but while he was out there, similar to the Christian Kirk argument we make all the time, he was productive when he was on the field. Is he more than an RB3 at this point? No. Do you want him in non PPR? Probably not even a non PPR, but half and full point PPR as your RB3, which again he's going to be on your bench. So you can kind of what I like about Echler is taking them off waivers or double digit rounds, putting them on your bench and then taking a flyer as your third running back. So if that busts, then you have Ecker to fall back on as your flex option. Even if you need the flex option. He's just that reliable. Hey you know what? I'm going to go out there and I'm going to get double digit points every single game. Maybe I don't get you 25, but I'm out there producing top 30 numbers every single week. As a half or full point? Full point PPR running back.
- [14:03]
C
I got one more for you in deeper leagues too.
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A
I'm glad.
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C
It's a prospect that I liked in draft season and I like the landing spot too for him. Elik Ayo Manor of the Tennessee Love it. That's another guy too that I would just if you're in a 14 team league. He's probably still undrafted I would imagine. I don't think it's going to be September, but at some point I think he's going to work his way up the depth chart and I think he and Cam Ward are going to make some beautiful music together at some point in the second half. So that's another name.
- [14:30]
A
Do you want to hear the line from my free guys article? He said has to work his way at the depth chart but he only has to pass the deteriorating higher locket and van hey, I make two big plays a year. Jefferson.
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C
That's not too hard. Ao manners. He's a dude.
- [14:47]
A
He also had a great game against Travis Hunter when they faced Colorado.
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C
That's what everybody always points to is that one clip of him, Moss and Hunter which is fun.
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A
Which is it was the entire game that he did.
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C
He did have a huge game night. But that, that one catch that he makes there where he's, you know, in the overtime in the end zone.
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A
Yeah.
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C
Over his head and he's dragging him into the end zone with him.
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A
You know where I thought you were gonna go.
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C
The two of them, he and Cam Ward seem to have a nice chemistry too early on, which is nice to see.
- [15:11]
A
Yes. Which I really like. I thought you were going to bring up and we'll throw out another bonus one. I thought you're going to bring up Isaac Tesla who I compared to last year's Juwan Jennings. Juwan Jennings needed injury in front of him but if any of the three get hurt, Amara St. Brown, Jameson Williams or even Sam Laporta and they decide to run some more three wide. And by the way, the one thing that they said they're not making a lot of changes in their offense but the one thing they do want to try a little bit more this year is some of the big play opportunities. By the way, if anybody gets hurt, Tesla is going to be this year's Juwan Jennings, where everybody is scrambling to the waiver wire to get him.
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C
All right, so those are the names that get ahead of everybody else in your league and that's why you subscribe to Fantasy Pros. And while you're at it, make sure you're taking advantage of everything that we have here. If you want to dominate your fantasy draft with Fantasy Pros Premium, now is the time free for six months when you deposit and place your first trade over at Novig. This is the easiest way to get full access to our top fantasy tools like the draft assistant that we talked about earlier and all the tools all season long. Waiver wire assistant, the trade analyzer, everything. You get access to the best draft tools on the planet in season and in your draft for free thanks to our friends at Novig. So check out this premium offer for you@fantasypros.com premium. Get started there today. That'll do it for us. But the story of the game goes on. For Jake Stealy of the Athletic, I'm Joey P. We'll see you next time. Kids.
- [16:31]
A
Thanks for listening to the Fantasy Pros Fantasy Football Podcast.
- [16:34]
C
If you love the show, the best.
- [16:36]
A
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 antasypros and subscribe to our YouTube channel at YouTube.com fantasypros this is a real good story about Drew, a real United Airlines customer.
- [17:18]
B
After almost four years of treatments, I was finally cancer free. My mom's like, where do you want to go to celebrate? I'm like, let's go somewhere tropical. And then pilot hopped on intercom and started talking about me. And I was like, what is going on here?
- [17:29]
C
My wife beat cancer too, and I wanted to celebrate his special moment.
- [17:32]
A
That's Bill, a real United pilot.
- [17:35]
C
We brought him drinks and donuts. We all signed a card.
- [17:38]
B
I was smiling ear to ear. Best flight ever for sure.
- [17:41]
C
That's how good leads the way.
- [17:43]
D
Football is back. That's right. The new NFL season is here and you should be listening to NFL Daily as we march along to Super Bowl 60. It's in the name NFL Daily so you'll have fresh content in your feed all season long. Join me, Greg Rosenthal, in an all star cast of co hosts for previews and recaps of every single game. NFL Daily will keep you up to date with everything you need to know so you can sound smarter than all your friends. Listen to NFL Daily on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.
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E
Hi, it's Honey German, and I'm back with season two of my podcast, Gracias. Come again. We got you. When it comes to the latest in music and entertainment, with interviews with some of your favorite Latin artists and celebrities, you didn't have to audition.
- [18:27]
A
No, I didn't audition. I haven't auditioned in, like, over 25 years.
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C
Oh, wow.
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E
That's a real G talk right there.
- [18:33]
A
Oh, yeah.
- [18:34]
E
We'll talk about all that's viral and trending with a little bit of Cheeseman and a whole lot of laughs. And, of course, the great B you've come to expect. Listen to the new season of Gracias. Come again on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcast, or wherever you get your podcast. This is an I heart podcast.