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FantasyPros - Fantasy Football Podcast
Fantasy Gold: The Top 10 Must-Have Players for 2025 | Post Free Agency (Ep. 1548)
00:58:04
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- [00:00]
Chris Welsh
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- [00:35]
Derrick Brown
What's up, friends? And welcome into Fantasy Pros, the Fantasy football podcast. I'm Chris Welsh, joined by two magnificent voices in the fantasy football space. The king of bros, Derrick Brown, and the athletics own, Jake Seeley. And one of my co hosts I've worked with for many, many years and as I've said many, many times, spent, you know, gelato and overnights with our dear friend bogman Jake Seeley. Longtime friend, even saw Wrestlemania together. We have great memories and we'll make great memories today as we are Talking about the 10 must have players. We're already doing this, so who could they be and how can we dictate you have to have these players as we record this in March. Well, we're going to tell you all about it here right here on fantasy pros. Mr. Jake Seeley. How are you, my friend? And how do you figure out the players that we must have this early in the drafts?
- [01:30]
Jake Seeley
So circling back one, it was Royal Rumble. Get your facts straight.
- [01:33]
Derrick Brown
What did I say?
- [01:35]
Jake Seeley
WrestleMania.
- [01:36]
Derrick Brown
Oh, yeah, you're right. I'm sorry.
- [01:37]
Jake Seeley
Royal Royal Rumble live on Chase Field. Which was it, you or Bachmann that took the chair that I couldn't take home on the plane? I can't.
- [01:44]
Derrick Brown
I think I took it. I took the extra chair. It was very nice. It was padded, it was very beautiful. We were like three rows from like the ring. It was incredible.
- [01:53]
Jake Seeley
Yeah, it was. And the funny thing was we went to an AEW with, you know, Jay Felicio and we saw Sting's last match and we sat in those chairs again on the way out, I sold one of them for like 100 bucks.
- [02:02]
Derrick Brown
Because I did the same.
- [02:04]
Jake Seeley
I did the same. But yeah. So back from Iceland. As you know, today as we were recording this, it's also a two year anniversary. You didn't even give me.
- [02:12]
Derrick Brown
Congratulations, Congratulations, congratulations.
- [02:15]
Jake Seeley
And I thought about that is because we got gelato in Iceland. As you saw the picture, like every time it's bittersweet. Nicole and I keep getting gelato and I keep tagging you because I'm like you. Actually you and Boggs started that. It was us three that did that for the. But we got it. We got it. And figuring out my top 10 was figuring out. I think DBRO probably agree with me. He's trying to find values on most of these. Like at this point, like there's no reason. But we both similarly have guys in these. There are ones that are like very close to what their ADP is and that doesn't necessarily mean that they can't be must haves even at that cost.
- [02:47]
Derrick Brown
Yeah. And dbro, it's a really interesting thing too when you're looking at these like 10 must have players because I think these guys are also probably going to signify players that a lot of people are going to focus on and that are going to rise in adp. And the bigger question, it almost be a fun exercise to come back for this in like 5 months and see are these still must have players based on their value. But right now, you know, finding and dictating those players I think is a very interesting process. Anything you want to add to, you know these guys that you chose? Because there's a couple on here that I'm like, these guys are going to be. There's two specifically on a rocket ship for ranks by the time we get into like heavy draft season.
- [03:26]
Yeah, I think looking at this really comes down to talent situation and I know some of that's going to change and shift, especially after the NFL draft. So some of these guys we're going to give some context to. But I mean for me it comes down to when I'm looking at the board, it's. It's a combination of both talent situation and some of it is value too because there's some of the guys we're going to talk about here. ECR over fantasy pros hasn't even caught up to where we're ranking some of these guys currently. So we'll see that kind of catch up both in the aggregate on ECR and as well as like if you're doing early best ball drafts, this is going to be great for you because the EV you're going to be in a lot of draft rooms where these guys are going to slip and maybe they don't get taken where they should be.
- [04:07]
Yeah, I think actually the best ball side of this is very interesting. Early, early drafters. This is going to get you ahead of the game. If you guys want to check it out, I will say fantasy bros.com rankings fantasy bros.com NFL rankings you can check out. We've already got tons of experts that are getting in not only early redraft ranks, we've got dynasty, we've got rookie for drafts coming up. You can check out because we're going to be referencing this to these players. We're going to be using ECR on the overall and the positional and where both of these fine gentlemen have these players. So that is the setup here. Let's talk about the 10 must have players for 20, 25 and Dbro. Actually funny enough you guys both have quarterbacks for number five here but Dbro, let's start with you with number five for you. So by the way each of you are doing five of them so we'll get to 10. So D RO number five must have player is home.
- [05:01]
Dude, this has to be starting off the list. It has to be Justin Fields and I kind of alluded to this when we're talking about ECR right now he's QB26 in ECR. In my rankings he is QB12 and I think the proper way to look at in view Fields for this year is is he should be a QB one in your ranks like because that's what he's been every single time he's been a starter. You look over the last three years last year as a starter for the Pittsburgh Steelers QB7 and fantasy points per game two previous seasons before that QB9, QB5. So he will be assuming he starts all the games and stays healthy with at this point of the off season I'm not getting cute and projecting anything else. Justin Fields will be a QB one in fantasy. So I this is a guy that I I think even as rankings catch up to him he's still probably not going to be ranked as a QB one for a lot of different people and I think it's wrong man. So we know the rushing equity is there. He showed that last year and he's going to continue that. He's not going to stop running with the freaking Jets.
- [06:04]
Well the weapons around him too are like ultimately fascinating and like what he is going to be able to do not just as like a running quarterback but a full on quarterback with Breece hall and Garrett Wilson. I mean there are some huge playmakers around him that you hope scheme wise they're going to put it 12 is a top 12 quarterback that's pretty, pretty aggressive. Jake, let me ask you this Justin Fields or Anthony Richardson for this coming Justin Fields.
- [06:30]
Jake Seeley
Yeah.
- [06:31]
Derrick Brown
Without, without hesitation one will definitely be.
- [06:33]
The starter and one we'll see.
- [06:36]
Jake Seeley
Well what One will definitely be the starter as a day one also. It's just. Does day one last pat like, let's be honest, that's not an open competition.
- [06:44]
Derrick Brown
And the reason I say it is like yeah, well. And what's funny about it is like Justin Fields seems like he's floating into the Anthony Richardson of last season's draft equity and a lot of the hopes. But I think you agree with this one, Jake. And I think even your positional ranks, even though this is DBro's pick, might even be a tiny bit higher. Correct.
- [07:03]
Jake Seeley
So yes, this is now the second show in a row that you fancy. Bros Boys have stolen people out of my list before I even got to it. Actually the last one was Florio. He's not even with Fantasy Bros. He was the guest last week with me in Worm. Yeah, this was the top five winners and one of his. The first off the list was Justin Fields and I was gonna have Justin Fields and then guys, do you have to have. I was gonna have Justin Fields and Debra already had Justin Fields.
- [07:26]
Derrick Brown
Well, hey, why don't you not go to Iceland? Stop going to Iceland. And amazing. It's. It's March Sealy. Do your fantasy work?
- [07:35]
Jake Seeley
Actually, whoa, hold on.
- [07:36]
Derrick Brown
Their Internet is amazing.
- [07:38]
Jake Seeley
I mean coast to coast, you get like at least two bars every like. I don't know, they talked about their infrastructure. Anyway, I actually have a question for Debo is like why does he hate Justin Fields? Because I have him at 10, so let's just put it that way. So I am fully on board with this. The past three years as he was talking about since 2022, if you look at his points per game, he ranks only barely, barely behind Joe Burrow. Just to give you an idea. So we're talking about three, four quarterbacks depending. Of course there were some that weren't playing in 2022, but like he's in the top five on points per game. So I'm with him 100% on this. And he's actually one spot in front of what is going to be my first name that I'm going to mention at quarter. So he would have been the name that I mentioned first.
- [08:19]
Derrick Brown
Well, we're going to talk about that. I will point out again, you know, I threw out the Anthony Richardson thing. If you look at ECR ranks, Richardson is quarterback 17 while Justin Fields is currently 25. So you know, it sounds especially based on your guys ranks, it sounds kind of silly. And Justin Fields is going to continue moving up. He actually moved up two spots in 24 hours since we did this show and it'll keep going up but that's kind of the general space of where it is. You said you have also got a quarterback with one spot higher. I think you just said so we're focusing on some quarterbacks at number five. Your number five must have player. Jake Seeley is who.
- [08:54]
Jake Seeley
Yeah, QB 14 ADP. I have him QB 11. So it's not a huge gap over it. But he's somebody that I would take over. A lot of names that people might say like oh no, I just trust that guy more. But when it comes to quarterback, if I don't get a top tier or Joe Burrow, I have an A tier by himself. If I don't get one of those, I want somebody who has the potential for top five. I don't want quarterback 11. Like if this quarterback finishes QB11, I'm going to be like yeah, that's not that great. I want top five potential and I think Caleb Williams has top five potential. Not just because of Ben Johnson, not just because what everybody's talking about going into the second year and the changes there comes down to what was the biggest thing they also did in the off season is they addressed the offensive line. Caleb Williams, if you go back and look at my rookie profile for him is like I said, you know he has Josh Allen and now my. I always profile for fancy purposes to give people an idea in their head. Like Derek does a great job. A lot of people do of like say this is the player he's similar to stylistically and there are some comparisons to Josh Allen but I say like if you thinking fantasy what is like the line I could expect. And I said Josh Allen upside Sam Howell risk and I think we saw the Sam Howell risk last year but not with the interceptions which I thought that was probably the most important takeaway from his rookie year. It was a struggle at times. It was the bad Sam Howell decision making but he didn't throw a lot of interceptions and I like that from him. Now going into year two, I don't even care if Kenan Allen comes back or not. It's more a fact that now you have an offense that's going to maximize his value if it's there. And I want that 3, 4, 5 more likely 5, 600 rushing on top of what he can do as a passer. If we truly believe the talent that we saw last year, now having an offensive line, now having a second year, now having an offensive staff that understands how to use him I think top five is in play and that's why I would take him well ahead of some of the names like Jared Goff, the old Ben Johnson, like I would take him over Jared Goff.
- [10:44]
Derrick Brown
We have tiers on the fantasy pros ranks you can check out and it's interesting. Caleb is the end of tier three and tier three is Kyler Murray, Jordan Love, Herbert, Bo Nix, Brock Purdy and Caleb Williams and that and you know you're saying you take him over Jared Goff. Jared Goff is the end of that tier 2 if you're looking at it. Debro, what do you think about this pick and Caleb Williams? And I'd also be interested you referencing Caleb versus like Justin Fields and where you have him and what do you think about those two? Because those are right next to each other for Sealy but Fields is one spot higher. What do you think about Fields versus Caleb?
- [11:17]
I'm lower on Caleb. I just my question is he going to run this year? Because we saw the rushing last year and we saw it more down the back half of the season where he averaged 31 rushing yards over the back half of the season. I think it was like week 11 or week 12 on I just wonder in this new iteration of the offense with Ben Johnson are we going to get rushing from Caleb because he, he showed he can do that and does that add to his fantasy value in 2025 or do we not get the rushing? Because I think it's going to be a big divide like saying he's 200 rushing yards versus maybe, I mean last year 489. It could be the difference between being a top 12 quarterback or he's somewhere in the mid QB2 range. So I think I, I'm, I think that he could have a much better second season in the NFL with everything they've done this this off season. He has plenty of weapons around him. Ben Johnson in town I guess. Celia, I'm going to throw this back to you man. Like how much do you think he runs? Do you think he gets closer to that 4 to 500 range this year for rushing yards or do you think that he's a little bit lower than I'm guessing You're to tell me you.
- [12:22]
Said too, didn't you Jake? You said like around 500 yards.
- [12:25]
Jake Seeley
So yeah, I'm going to go back to that. Like look, Ben Johnson has the job that Ben Johnson has because he's better than I am. But I'm about to reference something that I said last year that was why I Believe this for Caleb Williams is last year I was doing a podcast and I said, if I am in charge of the offense for the Bears, back when they were having the whole Thomas Brown shift and all that type of stuff, I said that I would stop going to meet with Caleb Williams. And this actually references something I talked about with Jaden Daniels is at the beginning of the year, I actually said, what is Cliff Kingsbury doing? He's not letting him throw downfield. Why? And then I apologize to Cliff Kingsbury. It's like, hey, again, they know more than I do. He was making Jayden Daniels do checkboxes. And I said, similarly at the middle of the season. They're not doing that with Caleb Williams. They just throw the entire book at him. I said, they need to stop, pause and say, first read. If it's not there, run, first read, run, first read, run. Like get him to use his legs. You go back to college. What happened in his last season when he was trying to play hero ball is he stopped running as much and he tried to run around in the pocket and then make these crazy throws downfield that often felt incomplete. So that second half that deebro is talking about is he was more comfortable. He was seeing those opportunities and taking in when, you know, plays weren't there. So I do believe that if you're going to maximize Caleb Williams, if you're going to maximize this offense, that needs to be a part of it. Now, I will admit Derek brings up, what is the risk? What if Ben Johnson comes in and says, you know what, he's just good enough to pocket, I don't need him to run? That is a possibility there. But there was a lot of outside runs that you saw with the lines at times. I think part of that does come down to you can use Caleb Williams in that same aspect. So it's a question that is part of the reason that he's not higher than he is. So I will say there is risk, but I'm okay with that because at QB11, if I miss, guess what? I can go grab QB16, who turned into QB10 next year.
- [14:15]
Derrick Brown
Yeah, and both of these guys are preaching a little bit of the late round quarterback. These are quarterbacks that are on the back half of your overall starters. So the investment is easier to move through. You snag one of these guys, maybe you snag a little bit of a safer guy. If that's your play and you move through, let's go to number four on both of them. But first, let's talk about our friends over at DraftKings. Because when it comes to college basketball and March mania, one thing is for sure. Nothing is for sure. Upsets, buzzer beaters, Cinderella's advancing, top seeds Going home early. It's all going to happen. Bet the unexpected every upset, every day with DraftKings sportsbook. With live betting, exclusive content, promos and parlays, DraftKings is the ultimate college basketball destination for March. If you're ready to make your first bet, check out the matchups and pick a team to win. It's that simple. You can bet your bracket or even letting you parlay the bracket with your teams, or parlay a team to get to the sweet 16 or even the Final Four. Parlay those bad boys together if this is your first time, something special for you new DraftKings customers can bet $5 and get $200 in bonus bets instantly. Bet the unexpected with DraftKings Sportsbook. Download the DraftKings Sportsbook app and use code Fantasy Pros. That's code Fantasy Pros for new customers to get 200 in bonus bets. When you bet just five bucks only on DraftKings, the crown is yours.
- [15:37]
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- [16:09]
Chris Welsh
I'm Noah. I'm 13, and as you might have seen from the news, I got a podcast and I explain those fake headlines like your uncle would, like your cousin would, if he actually did the research. Honestly, adults don't ask the right questions now. You know what? Noah de Barrasso is a show about influence. Who's got it, how they use it, and what it means. For the rest of you, it's not the news. It's what the news should be if someone Gen Z or Gen Alpha made it. When I'm watching everything.
- [16:36]
Jake Seeley
Sheesh.
- [16:38]
Chris Welsh
Majority of the youth 18 through 24 say they trust Republicans more than Democrats to fund the economy.
- [16:47]
Derrick Brown
You kidding me?
- [16:48]
Chris Welsh
Politics is wild and I'm definitely not here to tame it, but I'm here to make sense of it. Just what's happening, why it matters, and what it means for Us Bring your brain. Listen to now youw Know with Noah de Barrasta on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast.
- [17:07]
Maria Hinojosa
When I became a journalist, I was the first Latina in the newsrooms where I worked. I'm Maria Hinojosa. I dreamt of having a place where voices that have been historically sidelined would instead be centered. For over 30 years now, Latino USA has been that place. This is Latino USA, the radio journal of news and cultur running Latino news and culture show in the United States. Latino USA delivers the stories that truly matter to all of us. From sharp and deep analysis of the most pressing news.
- [17:39]
Chris Welsh
They're creating this narrative that immigrants are criminals.
- [17:43]
Derrick Brown
This is about everyone's freedom of speech.
- [17:46]
Nobody expected two popes from the American.
- [17:49]
Maria Hinojosa
Continent to stories about our cultures and our identities.
- [17:53]
Derrick Brown
When you do get a transition character.
- [17:54]
Like Emilia Perez, the trans community is going to push back on that colorism.
- [17:59]
Chris Welsh
All of these things, like, exist in Mexican culture and Latino culture.
- [18:02]
Maria Hinojosa
You'll hear from people like Congresswoman Aoc.
- [18:05]
Chris Welsh
I don't want to give them my fear. I'm not going to give them my fear.
- [18:09]
Maria Hinojosa
Listen to Latino USA as part of the My Cultura podcast network, available on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast.
- [18:20]
Sarah Spain
Get fired up, y'.
- [18:20]
Jake Seeley
All.
- [18:21]
Sarah Spain
Season 2 of Good Game with Sarah Spain is underway. We just welcomed one of my favorite people and an incomparable soccer icon, Megan Rapinoe to the show, and we had a blast. We talked about her recent 40th birthday celebrations, Co hosting a podcast with her fiance, sue, bird watching former teammates retire and more. Never a dull moment with Pino. Take a listen. What do you miss the most about being a pro athlete?
- [18:45]
Derrick Brown
The final.
- [18:46]
Sarah Spain
The final. And the locker room. I really, really like you. Just, you can't replicate. You can't get back. Showing up to the locker room every morning just to talk. We've got more incredible guests like the legendary Candace Parker and college superstar Az Fudd. I mean, seriously, y', all, the guest list is absolutely stacked for season two. And you know we're always going to keep you up to speed on all the news and happenings around the women's sports world as well. So make sure you listen to Good Game with Sarah Spain on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.
- [19:20]
Chris Welsh
Presented by Capital One, founding partner of iHeart women's sports number four.
- [19:26]
Derrick Brown
We're gonna be looking at some running backs. Oh, how cute are you guys you got little pairings, quarterbacks and running backs. You guys are so in sync here. So we've got two running backs that we're gonna pick with here. Dbro number 44 on your list currently is ranked. Yeah, another steal. You're looking at more of the flex running back range. But there's a lot of upside because his really his competition kind of got out of town. Who is number four on your must have players?
- [19:54]
It's Jalen Warren. And I I know that in consensus right now he is the RB27. I I think it's people hedging because we haven't had the NFL draft and everybody's expecting the Steelers to add a running back. And could they do that? Yes, that could absolutely happen. Depending on where that happens. Though that still doesn't mean that Jalen Warren isn't the starter for the Pittsburgh Steelers in 2025. And if he is, then he will pay off handsomely. Where I have him ranked at RB16 as a strong RB2. And I'll even go out on a limit and say if he's the guy this year he's an RB2 with RB1 upside. Because what we've seen out of Jalen Warren when he's been given opportunities and he's been healthy and I think that needs to be given context here because last year he was not healthy. All year he dealt with knee issues, hamstring issues and it really crushed his tackle breaking ability. But once he was healthy, we saw him go back to being the uber efficient back that we have come to love in fantasy. And I want to just be kind and rewind here people. In 2023 we are discussing a running back that is now possibly the starter, possibly can get workhorse usage. In 2025 that was top 10 in the NFL in yards per touch, explosive run rate, missed tackles forced. Oh, look at that. I can keep going on yards of the contact per attempt, yards per route run, everything you want from efficiency from a running back. This guy is going to possibly be a workhorse this year and yet we're ranking him as an RB3. I'm not doing it, not buying it.
- [21:27]
So here's my question to you real quick. And I want to get Jake's take on this though is I think some of the the hesitation on it is a word that you said is people's fear. Can Jalen Warren be a workhorse? Can he? Are they comfortable being a workhorse and giving him that? And I think that is what is holding a lot of us back. What do the touches look like to you where he's an RV 16, 15.
- [21:52]
To 17 a game. Like I think he's going to split touches with somebody, but I don't even think he has to get in that 20 something range for touches. And I. I want to take this a little bit further back. We're still discussing a prospect. In his final year of college he had 256 carries. So even if we go back to he has been able to improve in that he can stand up to the volume. He just dealt with injuries like everybody. Like that's the running back position outside of. Well, apparently last year they. They get hurt. It happens. They play football.
- [22:22]
One his receiving equity is something that makes him so valuable. So Jake, obviously you said this is kind of a steal. So you're going to agree if I ask the question is, is he criminally ranked at 2027 on the overall? You're probably going to say yes. But let me ask you this as well. Can he be a top 16 running back with 15 to 17 touches?
- [22:45]
Jake Seeley
So first I'd like to give a shout out to thank you for the blockbuster reference. That was actually my first job. So the be kind rewind. I have to give a shout out for Derek for that one. It's funny is I am at 21 so I'm not quite as high as Derek as of today because to your question, do I think he can have 15 to 17? Probably. But this is where I'm going to go with it. I actually as crazy is this going to sound. Listen to me on this one. I think it's more likely 15 to 18 touches. He's pushing RB1 then 20 plus per game. And the reason why is I'm going to throw out a name, Lamar Miller. I always use Lamar Miller because he was the best example of this for years. The fantasy community was like give him more touches, give him more touches. What the hell are you doing? Give him more touches. And I've said time and before and just very on this podcast, teams and coaches know more than we do. And what happened when Lamar Miller got more touches. He put up the same stat line on more touches. He was less efficient. And that's why I say this. I actually believe that Jalen Warren's best game is not touching the ball 20 plus times a game. And we haven't seen that usage from the Steelers because they probably understand that and know that it's Arthur Smith as well. Which is why I'm hedging a little bit to reference what D. Ro kind of said. Before, I don't think I'm hedging a lot. I have him clearly in Tier 3 with Breece hall and Chuba Hubbard and Najee Harris, his former teammate. Like, I have them there with those names. And I would if, as of today, if you told me I'm from the future. They don't draft anybody in the first two days. All right, I'll push him up to 16 with Debro.
- [24:10]
Derrick Brown
Yep.
- [24:11]
Jake Seeley
I just. I just don't believe Arthur Smith's going to come out of the draft with nobody. So maybe it is day three, maybe it's round six and I don't really care. But if it's round three, maybe even round four because of this draft class, I'd probably keep him right in this range. But that's not a slight. I still do believe he does have top 15 upside.
- [24:28]
Derrick Brown
Fascinating. If the Steelers would have traded for like Jordan Mason instead of the Vikings, Jordan Mason and Pittsburgh would have ruined all of that. Jake, speaking of The San Francisco 49ers, they traded away Jordan Mason. Look at that. They traded away Jordan Mason. They opened up a spot that's behind Christian McCaffrey, which looks very tantalizing. And that just happens to be where you're going with your must have number four player.
- [24:51]
Jake Seeley
Yeah, he's right now RB52. I have him at RB43 and I would actually love to put him higher, but there's just some names in front of him that are actually in split backfields already. Like, they're already getting touches. But Isaac Grundo going back to last year, and this is I'll victory lap this in the fact that I had him in tier two with like Isaiah Davis and Blake Corum and other running backs like that. To be fair, I'll come for myself, too. I also had Kamani Vidal and like Will Shipley in that tier. So, like, I wasn't 100% perfect on that tier, but I really loved him even more after the draft because Isaac Garendo's play style works perfectly in a Shanahan system. And I said that as soon as he was drafted. And that's why I love this, because as soon as they put that tender on Mason, I'm like, oh, you got to be kidding me. Maybe they just really have a thing for Mason and I'm just going to have to hold off for another year on Guerreno. But then the trade happened. I was like, yes, this is what I wanted. I believed and I held tight. And Isaac Grendo is rewarded. To everybody who held on to him especially in Dynasty because he's purely the backup to Christian McCaffrey. Now, of course, we've seen it before 49ers. Would it really be a shock if they came out of the fourth round with a running back? We're doing this again, but at least as of today, Christian McCaffrey, who, you know, I'm still even drafting Christian McCaffrey as a top five running back because he has number one upside still. It's just heavy health. But at this point, that health is getting riskier and riskier and riskier. And we saw Garendo last year when he was finally healthy. By the way, the upside he has, which is top 15 if he has that backfield. So that's why Grendo's here. I would love to even put him higher, but it's just like I said, it's tough with some of the names in front of him.
- [26:27]
Derrick Brown
He's like the classic handcuff in the handcuff world. It's like when he's the guy, it's like just skyrocketing value. Dbra, what do you think about Garendo being a must own player?
- [26:37]
I love the call. I mean, really, it's just, you know, it's a hedge against cmc and it's really just saying, like, look like if he gets the job, we've already seen this happen. And Jake's talking about prospect stuff from last year. If I'm reading this right, I had him as my RB6 in the class last year right above Tyrone Tracy and I. Maybe this is a flex, but also a cell phone right above Tyrone Tracy and Bucky Irving. So I was very high on Grindo as well. So I'm big believer in the talent, man. I mean, his speed and his athleticism are just fantastic. I mean, we're talking about a running back that could break. And he did this last year when he was given the opportunities. He can hit home runs, man. So, like, even on limited volume, like, we don't need the CMC volume. If he was their starter again in 2025, give him 15 touches and he's going to break a home runner, too.
- [27:26]
Jake Seeley
I mean, Welsh knows it in 49ers, 6ft 220 and can run almost a four three. It was low four threes. Like, that's. I don't think people realize that.
- [27:35]
Derrick Brown
Yeah, and if you got those good tackles, like, he, you know, he's not looking to sidestep or like he just plows into the hole and if they bring a hole up, then boom. He's going to break it out. Big breakaway, speed. Just quickly D row. In the world of like, we don't really handcuff necessarily anymore. Is there a more important spot to handcuff a running back with Christian McCaffrey? With Garendo, is there another player that's like, if I take this running back, I have to. I'm. I'm trying to envision and I kind of don't know if there is someone that's more important from a value perspective. I'm not sure there's a bigger gap between Grindo is like the backup and if he became the number one. But is there a more important handcuff in football?
- [28:16]
No. I mean, I think the only other guy that, like, off the top of my head that I can really paint you as good of a picture for Garendo is maybe Zach Charbonnet.
- [28:25]
Jake Seeley
I thought you're gonna say Blake Corum.
- [28:26]
Derrick Brown
Well, Blake Corum's another one.
- [28:28]
Jake Seeley
You know, I mean, like, I think that might be end of list.
- [28:30]
Derrick Brown
Yeah. I mean, seriously though, and Gurindo is probably going to go where in drafts behind both of those guys. Just guessing.
- [28:37]
Yeah. Celia, what do you think? Is there a bigger one or one of those guys more important than Grindo, you think?
- [28:42]
Jake Seeley
I think that's probably the list. Like, I have Grindo in front of Rashad White because I think the Buccaneers are already starting to tell us, like, agreed, it's not like, oh my God, Chase Edmonds, but like, they don't seem to be Sean Tucker. Like Bucky Irving last year is like, they don't seem to love Rashad White and deservedly so. He is a very volume dependent and even more so than what people want to hate Najee Harris for. So I'm looking right now, the tier I have Garendo in is actually right behind Jordan Mason. But that's again because I actually think Jordan Mason gets more per week. But if, put it this way, if everybody gets hurt that I have these backups with there. To really answer your question, Grendel would rank the highest. Grinder would rank over Mason over Ray Davis over Blake Corm. Like, he would be the top of those, even though they would all kind of be in a similar conversation.
- [29:24]
Derrick Brown
Yeah, it's very interesting. Friends, you can join the Fantasy Pros Discord community today, chat with other fans and get access to exclusive AMAs that could wind up on the podcast feed. We had a bunch of those last year. You can go and chat in the Debro, the Derrick Brown AMA as well. Here's our current schedule. You can get it says myself, I think this is a worm here. Worm and Fitz at 5pm East. The copy here, it's like, I'm not worm. You can get Worm and Fitz at 5pm Eastern on the first Tuesday of each month. You get Fitz and Bogman at 5pm Eastern on the third Tuesday of each month. And you can get your questions answered and be on the show@fantasypros.com chat. Join it today fantasypros.com chat and get in the Discord. I got an AMA too. So actually you can talk with myself but just not with fits on that show. Let's go to number three. Boy, I'm going to tell you, these are my favorites. These are like number ones for me.
- [30:18]
Jake Seeley
Can I just say that he's already gone 3 for 3 on like stealing names. I was going to have on my.
- [30:22]
Derrick Brown
List just murdery if this was a mock, Gotta get in, baby. Expletives and angry, but gotta get in.
- [30:32]
Jake Seeley
Worm and Welsh did the same thing. They're like, here's what we're doing this week. I already have the other persons.
- [30:42]
Derrick Brown
Behind the curtain here.
- [30:42]
Jake Seeley
Jake.
- [30:43]
Derrick Brown
I, I sent Welsh a slack. I think it was on Friday.
- [30:46]
And I said before I even sent.
- [30:48]
Anything out, we got this show next week. I was like, here's my name. I was like, I don't. You know, I was like, so just so we have this out there. I was like, I gotta look at.
- [30:57]
Jake Seeley
Future shows for me now. Yeah.
- [30:59]
Derrick Brown
Dbro's like. Dbro's like, listen, I don't care what Jake wants. What I'm doing. Yeah, exactly. Yeah. So Dbro, you are sniping left and right. This is a great name. This is number three on the must haves. You've been preaching this since last year and the moves have made it more apparent. Let's talk about your third must have player for 2025 Welsh.
- [31:19]
I'm just playing to the crowd here, baby. I knew you were hosting this, so we had to give a lot of 49ers love on this. But seriously, dude, it's like, can we just toss the rookie season, Most of it just into the trash for Ricky Piersoll. I mean, looking at the Runway is clear, dude. You have Brandon Ayuk entering this year at not 100%. Debo Samuel is gone. I love Juwan Jennings just as much as anybody. But we're talking, we're discussing a first round drafted wide receiver that is uber freaking talented. And we also got a snippet of what this could look like and I understand people say it's two games, you're cherry picking things. Cause I can go back to the previous three games before that and say oh he didn't do anything. He legit didn't get any catches, any targets, nothing. Okay, let's discuss that. San Francisco featuring him in the final two weeks of the regular season in a lost season, that to me signals more of okay, we're going to put more on his plate in we and we can discuss everything off the field, injuries, all of that stuff for days and what sideline Ricky Pierce all. Maybe we saw this ascension happen earlier in the season if all that stuff didn't happen but for me that signals okay, if we are going to walk away from Deebo in the off season we need to see if we put more on his plate. Can he handle it? Can he be the guy or at least show flashes of being the guy. We thought we were investing in the first round of the NFL draft and Ricky Pearsall answered the freaking bell dude. In the final two weeks of the regular season he was wide receiver 7 and wide receiver 14 and fantasy scoring. He got almost a 22% target share. He got a 30.4% first read share. So he's operating or was operating as the wide receiver one for San Francisco's offense and he had almost three yards per route run 2.84 to be specific. All of those metrics are freaking fantastic. So yes, we always talk about invest in uber talented wide receivers in their second year in the NFL. We got a small snippet of what he could do possibly this year and look at this. He is being valued right now in ECR as the wide receiver 49 in my rankings. I have him as wide receiver 27. I will be drafting Ricky Pearsall everywhere in 2025.
- [33:37]
Only question I have on this is do you have pierasol over Juwan Jennings?
- [33:42]
That's a great question. I have them in the same area code. Let me see. I think I have him right ahead of him. Where is Juan? Okay, Goods is wide receiver 34 and I could start making the case for him at wide receiver 30 or 30 31. So.
- [33:57]
So you have Pierce all over Juan Jennings and that is where I disagree with you. I John Jennings to me is now Ricky Pierce all is going to be the big explosive play. He's the type of especially with how we've seen the 49ers run with him is play him across the field. Let him. He's the Debo version. Let him get the yards after super fast guy, probably four catches, 85 and a score. But Juwan Jennings is going to be your 10 target guy. Purdy loves him. I like Juwan Jennings as the top guy. They love Juwan Jennings in the red zone as well. So my only caveat would be this isn't the old 49ers where it's like, you know, Brennan Iuk at 11 and Debo at 14. This is maybe them in the 20s, but to me it's like Juwan Jennings at like 24 and Pearsall at like 28. Jake, you said 3 for 3. Obviously you agree with Ricky Piersaw being higher than his wide receiver. 49 rank here. Give me your take on the must own and him versus Juwan Jennings.
- [34:53]
Jake Seeley
So, yeah, I actually am a little bit lower than he is on Pearsall. Not by much, but I am vastly, far lower on Juwan Jennings. And this is coming from somebody that pounded the table in my waiver column. You know, you and I were talking last year about like, it was Juwan Jennings. Juwan Jennings. But you kind of brought up an interesting point where I think it's going to come down to what is Brandon IUK as of today on the team? As of today, Is he out there week one? If he is, I don't like Jennings as much because I do agree with your assessment of Jennings. Where I disagree is I think that Jennings as what my point was last year is an IUK replacement and Piercel is more of a Debo replacement, stylistically the fit with George Kittle. So my concern is that Jennings just isn't on the field as much. And now I could be wrong. And I mean, maybe just Pearsall can't even get capacity and Pearsall's only out there in three wide. That's a possibility. I'm leaning more towards, I believe in Pearsall being the higher ceiling. And this is coming from somebody who likes Jennings. So that's really the difference. I. I would just look at it this way. When it comes to these kind of situations where we're all, you know, we're talking about possibilities and I'm admitting I could be the wrong one here is I'm just going to take the cheapest. So if it ends up being Jennings is the cheapest, he'll be the one I draft more. So I'll still take Pearsall. But if Pearsall ends up the cheapest, I'm going to take him because these are the scenarios where we can do our best guesstimate. We're trying to guess what Shanahan is going to do, what Purdy's going to feel comfortable doing. And you've brought up the rapport that he already has with Jennings. But if Pearsall's out there for 90% of the routes and Jennings out there 60%, that's going to be a big ding that could flip the other way. So I'm on Pearsall and I do I have Jennings right now because of that down in like the Mooney Shahid range, which just ends up being like the 48 just because of there's so many freaking wide receivers to pick from next year.
- [36:41]
Derrick Brown
I think it'll come to I'm, I'm a little bit of the. The Juwan Jennings soothsayer, as Andrew Erickson would call me. But I would be shocked if Jennings wasn't in all two wide receiver sets. I'd also point out to you that I think the signing of DeMarcus Robinson might be a little bit of a tell of what's going to happen with Brandon Aiyuk. Whether there's a health issue where it's half the season or it is a clear they're going to get rid of him and Juwan Jennings will go into the Brandon Aiyuk.
- [37:07]
Jake Seeley
If Aiyuk is gone or even if you said he's still with a team but misses half the season, I go back to what you said and would agree Jenny's would be inside my top 25.
- [37:16]
Derrick Brown
Like yeah, and that'll be something to watch.
- [37:18]
I'll say this, and I wanted to get this in here. Brandon IU could be traded in the NFL draft and the answer to all of this could just be draft both. It could be Jennings and Pierce.
- [37:28]
I think it is draft both. I do think that is the answer. It is draft boat. And the cheaper cost is a really interesting thing. I think both of them could come at pretty affordable costs. But you might see, like I said, the upside is in favor, I think of like Ricky Pearson, the big playability. But you could end up seeing both of these guys in the late 20s and they could both be draftable. I think that is what you're seeing at the end of the day. And you know, you could be like DeMarcus Robin. I think it's something to watch for. We've got the top two for each of these guys coming up. But first, let's talk about this week's chasing challenges brought to you by Microsoft. Just like athletes who push boundaries and redefine what's possible, business decision makers today are turning Challenges into opportunities. Microsoft meets you where you are with tools and guidance that help you make an impact. With safe, secure AI solutions, players and teams are facing their own challenges. In this segment, we spotlight athletes or teams that are currently undergoing a challenge. What this means from a fantasy or a betting standpoint, in examining how we think they can overcome it. Whatever challenge you're facing, Microsoft empowers you with the expertise to say bring it on. This week we're discussing Ricky Pierasol overcoming this competition. With Deebo out, that is one less target but Juwan Jennings and the potential return of Brandon Iuk and the signing of DeMarcus Robinson. Ricky's path is not completely clear on what it will be, but it is becoming clear. Debro broke down the reasons to get excited. Now he just needs to overcome the competition that's around him and get those targets from Brock Purdy. That's it for this week's chasing challenges. Remember, Microsoft's AI solutions empower you to take bold steps and make an informed decision, sparking new ideas to help drive your business forward. With Microsoft as your trusted partner, you can navigate your journey with confidence, finding innovative solutions and reaching new possibilities. Visit Microsoft.com challengers to learn more. Number two. You guys have finally deviated. It's finally not in the same position.
- [39:28]
We got to go back to three, baby. Speaking of challenges, Jake's got a three.
- [39:34]
The challenge was me letting Jake have his third name. Here you are 100% right. I got, I got overzealous with the 49ers apology. Timeout to me. There's a, there's a false start, the holding and a false start. 15 yards. Let's go back. We did the challengers but we are going to do probably the highest ranked player on here and boy, it's hard to disagree with this but you're going to have to spend a first or if you're lucky, a second round pick on a must have player. Jake, take it away. Number three. Sorry, it's not number two.
- [40:07]
Jake Seeley
No. I was trying to lean forward because I have to move my camera because you can see right there that wonderful football with a BT7 on it. Who I will. Yes, 100% victory lap from last year because the reason I have that is because I found that before anybody thought he deserved it and also when he changed his signature, if you've ever seen a signature from college, Brian Thomas 11, it's awful. Kudos to whoever told him to change his signature because big upgrade there. Big upgrade in the fact that like I had him at tier 1.5 last year and it's like I kind of want to put him in tier one but like just a little bit of hesitation on the risk because you know I brought up a couple of reasons you can go back and look at that. But Brian Thomas with the Jaguars, I mean let's just break down who he played with. I mean he played with bad Trevor Lawrence. Like let's be honest, at this point in his career right now Trevor Lawrence is one of the biggest busts in NFL history. We're hoping we can get him back to what he thought he could be out of college. Similar style with Caleb Williams in the fact that like you saw the comfort start to show up when he ran more and we need to get that back. And maybe these changes in the off season, maybe everything finally gets him back to what we saw at Clemson because we really haven't seen Clemson Lawrence really in the NFL at times flashes. But the biggest thing I bring that up to say is it wasn't very good play from Trevor Lawrence and then that very good play or not very good play wasn't that big of a drop off to Mac Jones because Mac Jones and Trevor Lawrence sadly to say aren't that big of a difference. And yet Brian Thomas similar to Malik neighbors who everybody wants to love and Brian Thomas just continues to fall into the shadow. He fell into the shadow of all the rookie, the top three rookies from last year and he now falls into the shadow of Malik neighbors of being overlooked once again. Which what does this Jaguars team did this this off season? I mean they kind of got rumored to be in on some of these wide receivers but they just went out there and like eh, you know what, we'll just have a bunch of jabronis at number two like it's fine. I'm assuming they draft somebody if not the first, probably the second round. But Brian Thomas is going to walk right back into 140 targets. They're going to be better this year even if Trevor Lawrence doesn't ascend as much as we want him to be. And that's why I do have him as a must own at seven because if I'm drafting in the back half of the first round, I'm not leaving the first round without Brian Thomas who I actually have very small tiers at the top of my wide receivers and he's in the for me. I'll give you an idea. My tier includes Amare St. Brown, Malik neighbors, Brian Thomas, endless. Like it's those three after the big group. I think they deserve similar to his draft prospect. For me, kind of a tier of their own, like a 1.5.
- [42:37]
Derrick Brown
Pretty fascinating too. Like you said, that team is just like, oh, is there anybody that could catch a ball or compete against Brian Thomas? Get rid of them. Ingram, you're gone. Kirk, you're gone. We only have Brian Thomas. That's the only thing that we're going to have. And maybe we'll just get some complimentary pieces. Apparently that's all you need. Dbro a first round is a must have. It's a pretty interesting take too that Jake is throwing out to essentially say if you're at the back half of the first round, he's the player that you need to take. Yeah. And in a perfect world, it'd be great if he was like a wheel pick. But what do you think about especially the high equity of a guy like Brian Thomas being a must. Have.
- [43:14]
I think it's a fantastic call, dude. I've got him as my ninth overall player. I've got him at wide receiver six right now. And if you're. If you're taking swings like and we're talking about a must have guy and we're going to draft him as a top five to eight wide receiver, then basically this guy needs to have top two, maybe wide receiver one overall upside with him. And we already saw it last year, he definitively has that. Like weeks 13 through 18, the only wide receiver in points per game that was better than Brian Thomas Jr. Was freaking Jamar Chase Case. That's it. He was wide receiver 2 in fantasy points per game. So to tell me, this year with better play calling, maybe we get better quarterback play. They probably do add somebody in the draft. But still, unquestioned number one option in this offense is going to be Brian Thomas Jr. He has wide receiver one overall upside. So considering all those factors, I have no problem with this call. And I'm right with Jake on this.
- [44:09]
All right, well, after the false start and we lost yardage, Brian. Brian Thomas got us the first down and we're back, back. We're going to number two on your guys list. As I was saying before the fall start, finally it's a different positional pick that you guys have. And D. RO wouldn't you know it, this guy used to be Brian Thomas's teammate. Number two of the must have players is who?
- [44:33]
Why are we being so disrespectful to Evan Ingram? I don't understand it. ECR you gotta make me believe it. Like why? Why like tight end nine right now and he's competing with what in Denver? Cortland Sutton, Marvin Mims. These are the worries that you have. Nah, nah, man. No way. In my rankings he is tight end four and he has top three upside. I'm shooting the moon with Evan Ingram. All we need is health, man. We've seen this play out like when he has been the focal point of a passing attack. He has top five, top three upside. I mean, just go back to 20, 23. He was the tight end four in fantasy points per game. And again, we've already talked about and kind of shaded Trevor Lawrence in this, this entire show so far. So do we think that we're going to get better quarterback play from Bo Nix in Denver vs. Vita State and Jacksonville? I think it's possible, man. And he has the target drawing ability. He plays the role that we want in Denver. We're not going to get any kind of foolishness with Adam Troutman or whoever the hell else is left on that roster. I'm not worried about that. That Evan Ingram is going to compete weekly for the team lead in targets with Cortland Sutton and Cortland Sutton, I mean, let's just say it what it is, the de facto wide receiver won last year where he's at in his career. I think Evan Ingram is a fantastic candidate to just lead Denver in targets. And I don't think it's going to be close because he's shown the ability to draw a high end target share. I, I said he, he sniffed at almost a 24 target share back in 2023. He could get upwards of 25, 26% this year in Denver with a, with a play caller scheming up stuff to get him the freaking ball because he's the most talented guy on that roster right now as far as pass catchers go. So Evan Ingram. Yeah, sign me up, dude. Top three, top five upside.
- [46:17]
We have a live show. We do. We got a twitch, by the way, Twitch, TV, FantasyProse. We got lots of different shows. We have one show, myself Bogman and Joe Pizza Piadu called out of bounds live on Mondays and D. Ro you were in the chat this week. It was just me and Pizza Pia and we talked about Evan Ingram and the signing. And something I had mentioned that bothers me about the Denver Broncos is the weird rotational stuff they do. You got a couple teams that run big rotations where it's like these wide receivers in, these wide receivers out and it kind of mitigates targets. Cortland Sutton was the constant and there's the possibility that a constant could be Evan Ingram on this and he gets those targets. But I worry about that target share. I'm looking at the top four tight ends ECR Brock Bowers, Trey McBride, George Kittle, Sam Laporta. You said Evan Ingram is number four. So who are you kicking out of that top four?
- [47:06]
The only guys I got above him are brock Bowers, Trey McBride and George Kittle. Sam Laporta has to contend with JMO and he's going to contend with Amon Ross saying Brown, he's not even going to sniff in that same ilk of target chair John who Smith has still got to contend with Tyreek Hill and Jalen Waddle. TJ Hawkinson also has two really strong pass catchers. Like for me it's. I mean it's those top three guys. Like it's Bowers, it's McBride and it's Kittle. That's the only guys that I can make the case that can draw as many targets as Evan Ingram.
- [47:36]
Jake, you did not seem quite as excited about Evan Ingram on this. So let's hear your take. Not only at tight end four for DBro, but his claim of must have.
- [47:48]
Jake Seeley
Yeah. So so far if we are drafting together and Debro's in front of me in these rounds, I'm not getting anybody and this time I'm not getting the guy because he's taken him way before I am. This is the time we're like kind of on other sides. Here's the thing though, I don't disagree with if the targets. So he brought up 20, 23. You go back to the year with the Giants, he was on pace for 135.67 target somewhere around there when he got hurt. And he was on a similar points per game pace that year too. My concern is that is that Evan Ingram and half a full point PPR has always been more appealing than non because short area, short area, short area. He doesn't even do a ton after the catch is he needs those targets. He needs 100, he needs 140 to hit top five. And if this is old Jimmy Graham and he's getting 130, cool. I'm just hesitant on that actually happening. And there is a world where Derek's exactly right. Like he ends up being the top. Like if they don't do anything in the draft they don't do anything more signing wise, which is certainly plausible. I'm with him. Marvin Mims. Fine. Like the funny thing is is Marvin Mims. I got so much Hate for him. I was calling him possession receiver and they're like, look at him downfield. It's like, yeah, but you're missing my point. Possession doesn't mean you only cat the ball 12 yards out and go down. It means you catch the ball and go down all the time. Like he can run straight line downfield fast. It's just he's not doing anything with it. I don't think Marvin Mims is the answer. So even as the two, I'd be in that 110, 115 range, which would put him where I have him back end of this tier. I have a very big tier 2 that starts with Mark Andrews and ends with Tucker Kraft. And he's in that njoku Kel. I mean he's got his name alongside Travis Kelce at this point of his career.
- [49:30]
Derrick Brown
But.
- [49:31]
Jake Seeley
But Travis Kelce and those. I'm just hesitant on getting those targets because he needs those targets. It's kind of similar to the Najee Harris. Like Najee Harris needs the volume or he's probably not getting there. Evan Ingram needs the volume and that's probably the only difference in what Derek.
- [49:47]
Derrick Brown
And I think, yeah, I'm probably going to be split between where Derek and maybe ECR is. I like that kind of 8 range and there are ifs. Like those ifs are important. Like you know, if he is like the number one red zone target, if he is getting a slew of targets, like those are the things that are going to be exciting for him. All right. Not skipping Jake here. Number two love. This is a guy returning home and you can question one way or the other did this up, up or even maybe take away a little bit of fantasy value if he could have been a number one somewhere else. Number two on your list of must own players is who?
- [50:22]
Jake.
- [50:23]
Jake Seeley
Yeah. Right before the week he got hurt. You're going to talk about last year. I love that Derek brought up the fact that Brian Thomason points per game was only behind Jamar Chase. Guess what Jamar Chase was actually behind when he got hurt. That being Chris Godwin. Chris got people already forgot he was the number one wide receiver in fantasy. Do I think he's going to be the number one wide receiver in fantasy if he was last year over the course of the entire season? Absolutely not. But he was the number one on his team. He was much better than Mike Evans before he got hurt. Mike Evans actually was having a tough year. Tough ish by Mike Evans standards. Until Godwin got hurt. Signs back back with Baker Mayfield back with this offense, the only question we have of today similar to Christian McCaffrey is is he 100%? If you tell me he's 100% by week one he is a wide receiver. One I right now have him at 16 just because I'm hedging a little bit versus consensus which I'm sure is just not catching up. Similar to the Justin Fields conversation and Jalen Warren conversations we've had. He'll we'll see him rise. But I have him in front of Mike Evans. I have him in front of Devonte Adams and DJ Moore and Garrett Wilson and names like that because, because he's back. He's 100%. He took a team friendly ish deal to come back with this team and I think he's right back to being a wide receiver. One I don't really need to tell you who Chris Godwin is and I don't really need to tell you what they're going to do with that offense with Chris Godwin. I just need to tell you hopefully he's 100% and if so, even at 16 he's probably a value DBRO.
- [51:44]
Derrick Brown
Is Chris Godwin a easy slam dunk top 20 wide receiver to you?
- [51:49]
If he's fully healthy and ready to go, yes, right now I will. And keeping this a buck, I do have Chris Godwin at wide receiver 28 right now and it's only because of the health if we if I got reports that he is 100, he's rocking and rolling, he's doing full workouts, he is going to rise in my ranks and I will be where Jake is, where we're at in the off season. I'm not there yet. Only because of reports is if we got a blurb that came out tomorrow and it says Chris Godwin's running 100, he's going to be a full go like no questions at all ball. I'll be right where Jake is easily.
- [52:24]
Yeah, I miss taking McMillan overs every single week and I'm betting pros.
- [52:29]
Oh man, those reception overs were so.
- [52:32]
That'S the only thing that's gonna make me sad is not doing that but maybe goddamn misses a couple games and we can just get all signings this.
- [52:38]
Jake Seeley
Off season I was the happiest and saddest with one individual signing at the same time. Like I said, so many Dynasty tears for Jim link McMillan and at the same time like yeah, there goes Chris Godwin.
- [52:49]
Derrick Brown
I think we all were.
- [52:49]
I think we your BTJ love is very, very happy. Godwin didn't go To Jackson.
- [52:54]
Jake Seeley
Yes, yes. Yeah.
- [52:55]
Derrick Brown
Very, very true. All right, it is time for number one. Number one on both of these guys lists. Dbro, let's kick it to you. We're getting back to wide receivers. Number one on your must own for 2025 is who I so in a.
- [53:11]
Very similar ilk as the the case that that Jake made for Brian Thomas Jr. I'm going to make the case strongly for Drake London and I was in on him crushing last year, finally getting decent quarterback play. I think he still has another level that we haven't seen yet because of the quarterback play he got last year. Look, we should not have any kind of like false constructs about our our ideas about Kirk Cousins last year. We all saw it, it happened once Michael Penix got in there and I and again I understand we're talking about a small sample size. I understand, I fully understand that. But the difference of what Drake London was doing with Michael Penix and so many different Elks, I'm going to lay out here, it was huge. Dude. Like Drake London last year was the wide receiver 13 and fantasy points per game. He was third in red zone targets. So we know the role in this offense. He is going to get a bevy of targets and score a lot of touchdowns, man. So looking at just that role and how bountiful that is, now you're telling me, okay, he's going to get used more down the field because that's what happened with Michael Pennock. With Pinnocks under center last year, Drake London's adot climb from 10.7 to 12.5. His receiving yards per game jumped from 65.6 to 117 and his yards per route run increased from 2.2 to 3.74. Now all that is to say he's going to get used more down the field. It's going to give him more ceiling and raise his floor on a weekly basis. And if you add all of that to this awesome red zone role, I want to heavily invest in Drake London again this year because if we're taking a guy this early and he's wide receiver 10 in ECR and he's my wide receiver 7 in my ranks, I am pounding the table for this guy because I think much less like Jake laid out with Brian Thomas Jr. Drake London has top three wide receiver upside in 2025.
- [55:06]
Jake, do you want to start your draft, let's say from the nine hole Brian Thomas and then Drake London in the first and second round.
- [55:13]
Jake Seeley
I would be extremely happy about that feeling. Some things yeah it comes down to like we talked about just with Pennix. So Pennix I said you know let's be honest about what some people like crutch do when they compare players is like it was kind of different for me to say what a lot of people wanted. Like I went a different way Pennix compared to Stafford and Derek Carr like you know you get what I'm kind of hinting at there like oh well you can't do that. That doesn't make sense. But the truth is is like that's the ability of fitting into tight windows. Some of his anticipation was off but he's also a rookie, older rookie but at the same time like even in those pretty good not great Derek Carr and Stafford seasons like the pretty good ones I think that's what you can expect for Pennix and the biggest thing coming out of it is the target share that he had for Drake London when he was Under center was 40% like average like right around that range. Like obviously that's not going to continue over the course of the entire season but even if you pulled that back to 30, 32, 33 we're talking about 140, 150, 160 depending on how much they pass. You could be talking 100 to 70 targets and I only need 140 to similar what Derek said for him to be a wide receiver one because Drake London even before Kirk Cousins had terrible quarterback play and then had terrible Kirk Cousins so he really hasn't had a lot of quality play like a Stafforder Carr even if you told me you get decent Carr who you know you bring up the deep throwing and I say that for Derek Carr is that like we talked about it for years is that Derek Carr is a better deep ball thr than people realize just because he's middle of the road. He's not awful. I just need middle of the road Derek Carr you tell that's that's my thing. Take Derek Carr from 4 years ago put him boom right now on the Falcons and everybody's drafting Drake London pushing top 10 and that's I guess that's really the easiest way to say it.
- [57:00]
Derrick Brown
Man we have constructed so far in our must have players like legitimately probably a strategic type of roster for you guys. We've had late quarterbacks, backs, we've had a little bit, you know, mid to late running backs, heavy wide receivers. We've got you a tight end. We're going to bring it all full circle. If you want to look at Brian Thomas Drake London and Ricky Pearsall maybe as your top three wide receiver here is your flex option coming full circle from Jake's number five pick at quarterback. Your number one on the must haves Mr. Jake Seeley is who yes it.
- [57:32]
Jake Seeley
Is a teammate of that quarterback also in his second season and right now wide receiver 36 I have him at 29 and and depending on how the draft shakes out I mean he could end up pushing top 24 because so quickly people want to forget just because of what happened in the rookie season. I'll make the easiest example for everybody. Jackson Smith and Jigba rookie season vs Jackson Smith and Jigba second season we said Jackson Smith at jig with the smart people were saying like hey chill out. His rookie season he's going to a team with DK Metcalf, Tara Lockett be patient. It might take an entire year, maybe it happens halfway through but be patient. We go into last season say Roma Dunes A he's going to a team with Keenan Allen and DJ Moore. Be patient. Understand he's the three he's probably being overdrafted in your league and exactly what we expected to happen happen and now everybody's like well forget it. Don't want to Roman Dunes A Roma Dunes A give you an idea of at least in my opinion is bigger Garrett Wilson. That's my opinion. That's what I said about him last year. Do you put an extra 3 inches and 2030 pounds on Garrett Wilson and still keep your speed and still keep your ability and still keep your separation. Now I know people saw the highlights of a Dunes day last year and I know they saw some of the decisions and the drops and I know his dad did not help out anything by tweeting things all year long but like it's now he's walking into year two with Caleb Williams year two in this offense I've already talked about and year two of still being what everybody there wasn't one person who didn't consider him a tier one wide receiver going into the draft last year and the rookie season happens and and people are just so quick to overreact and now he's dead. Now he's a wide receiver of four. They probably need to bring in another weapon. No give me all the odunze I will have over shares of odunze this year.
- [59:18]
Derrick Brown
Debro what do you think about Roma Dunze as the must have yeah I'm.
- [59:25]
In on investing in talented second year wide receivers and I think Jake laid it out perfectly like however we want to slice it up. Caleb was bad last year. The Chicago the entire offense was horrible. Horrendous. So do I want to go back to the well and invest in a really talented wide receiver that Jake talked about? I I myself was also extremely high on Roma dunes as a prospect. Hell yeah man. Let's go. Yes, invest in second year wide receivers always.
- [59:52]
Especially the guys with talent plentiful here. Who is your favorite of the must haves? Put it in the comments below and and who's your must have for 2025? Let's take a look. Where does it differ and what did we miss? Make sure you drop that down here. Mr. Jake Seeley, what do you got going on over at the Athletic right now?
- [60:10]
Jake Seeley
You'll like this. It's actually not fantasy football related because my ranks just came out which we're talking about today. It's fantasy baseball. I am going to release an article why Fancy Baseball is dying and how do we get it back? So there you go.
- [60:22]
Derrick Brown
Oh, okay. Well I'm going to have to read that. Tell me. I'm trying to bring it back. I'm trying to revive it. That is a part of my goal. If you like fantasy baseball, you can check that. If you like fantasy football, Jake has always got you covered and we got you covered here on Fantasy baseball as well on the Fantasy Pros MLB channel if you want to check it out. There you go my friends. 10 must have players from the best in the business. Like I said, we want to hear from you and make sure you can go and check out all the ranks over at fantasy pros fantasypros.com NFL rankings. You can check out from half PPR, full PPR, rookie dynasty. You can check out the ECR and positional. Get all of that work in and see where you differ. And then you guys can drop us some of your must haves. That'll do it. Thank you so much for hanging with us. I'm Chris Welsh, that is DBRO and Jake Seeley and we'll talk to you next time right here on Fantasy Pros the Football Podcast.
- [61:13]
Thanks for listening to the Fantasy Pros Fantasy Football Podcast.
- [61:16]
Chris Welsh
If you love the show, the best.
- [61:17]
Derrick Brown
Free way to support us is by leaving a positive review on Apple pieces podcasts@fantasypros.com review or on Spotify.
- [61:25]
Chris Welsh
Follow us on X Instagram and TikTok.
- [61:28]
Derrick Brown
At Fantasy Pros and subscribe to our YouTube channel@YouTube.com fantasypros.
- [61:55]
I'm Jake Hofer and this is Back 40, a limited series show on Wire to Hunt, part of Meat Eaters Podcast Network. Each episode I'll be asking eight whitetail.
- [62:03]
Hunting pros a focused, thought provoking question.
- [62:06]
About hunting and land management. How do I hunt the best part.
- [62:10]
Of the farm with less than ideal access?
- [62:13]
Should you?
- [62:13]
Jake Seeley
That's what the real question is. Stand without good access is not a good stand.
- [62:18]
Derrick Brown
Listen to Back 40 on iHeartRadio app, Apple podcast or wherever you get your podcast.
- [62:25]
Chris Welsh
I'm Noah and I'm 13 and I started this podcast because honestly, adults don't ask the right questions. Now you Know with Noah de Barrasso is a show about influence. Who's got it, how they use it, and what it means for the rest of you. It's not the name, it's what the news should be if someone Gen Z or Gen Alpha made it. Politics is wild and I'm definitely not here to tame it, but I'm here to make sense of it. Listen to now youw Know with Noah de arrasto on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts.
- [62:55]
Sarah Spain
Get fired up, y'.
- [62:56]
Derrick Brown
All.
- [62:57]
Sarah Spain
Season 2 of Good Game with Sarah Spain is underway. We just welcomed one of my favorite people, an incomparable soccer icon Megan Rapinoe, to the show and we had a blast. Take a listen. Sue and I were like riding the lime bikes the other day and we're.
- [63:12]
Jake Seeley
Like, wee.
- [63:14]
Derrick Brown
People ride bikes because it's fun.
- [63:16]
Sarah Spain
We got more incredible guests like Megan in store, plus news of the day and more. So make sure you listen to Good Game with Sarah Spain on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Brought to you by Novartis, founding partner of iHeart Women's Sports Network.
- [63:32]
Chris Welsh
This is an iHeart podcast.