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FantasyPros - Fantasy Football Podcast
NFL Free Agency Day 3: Fantasy Football Impact (Ep. 1978)
00:29:56
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- [00:00]
Ryan Warmley
This is an Iheart podcast. Guaranteed human peace to the planet.
- [00:06]
Charlamagne Tha God
Charlamagne Tha God here. And listen, we are back. The Black Effect Podcast Festival is back in Atlanta on April 25th at Pullman Yard. Yeah, and the full lineup is nuts. We got the Grits and Age Podcast, Deontay Kyle and Big Ice Cup Cat. We got Club 520 with Jeff Teague and the gang. Yeah, yeah, don't call me White Girl. Mona will be there. Keep it positive, sweetie. With Crystal Renee. We got Reality with the King with Carlos King. And yes, drink champs will be in the building. Plus, you know, we going to have a lot of guests, so you need to join us. And we got the Black Effect Marketplace to pitch your podcast and everything you expect from the Black Effect Podcast Festival tickets are on sale right now. Go get yours@black effect.com podcast festival. Don't play yourself. Okay, pull up.
- [00:55]
Seth Wilcock
All right. And welcome into the Fantasy Pros Fantasy football Podcast. Day three of NFL free agency has come and gone on like the power of my house earlier today, swiftly and quietly. However, there's still a ton to talk about for fantasy football purposes. I'm your host, Seth Wilcock, joined by a man who's been in the thick of it all week long with reaction, podcast articles, shorts, Mr. Big Pod Energy himself, Andrew Erickson. And we also have the pleasure of having Ryan Warmley slide out of the hosting seat into the hot seat as his Baltimore Ravens are doing some take me backs. Worm, great to have you on the show today. And before we dive in, how are things? As you've been just getting grilled in the office chat over the past 24 hours or so, being the resident Ravens fan on the program.
- [01:44]
Ryan Warmley
Dude, I started laughing when you said, I didn't realize you were introing Erickson first because he said, this man's been in the thick of it. And I was like, yes, I have been in the thick of it. I've been here. I feel like Jon Snow in the meme, like in the battle of the bastards, pulling out a sword against an army. Just like an onslaught of arguments and debates. I can't tell you how many friends have reached out to me in the last 24 hours, like, to get my opinion or just text me out of the blue, be like, ravens are a scumbag organization. What. What's your take? Like, how am I even supposed to respond? Some friends, some non friends alive. Everybody's coming out of the woodwork.
- [02:16]
Seth Wilcock
Well, I appreciate you taking time from your battle to be here with us. And Andrew, you've been on one this week. I feel like every time I hear from you, it's just sending LFGs back in the slack. So are you ready to break down the fans football impact of today's moves once again, my friend?
- [02:31]
Andrew Erickson
Yes. They've been loving it. This is my favorite time, one of my favorite times of the year. Breaking down the free agency madness. Bolter flying, shooting from the hip. Love the takes. Let's break it down.
- [02:42]
Seth Wilcock
All right, so we have, we have Worm right now who is fighting medieval battle and you're more in this like new age modern warfare type of battle. So I appreciate that as well and of course also appreciate all the beautiful people out there across the Internet tuning in, even you Ravens fans. So please do us a quick favor. Give this video a thumbs up if you enjoy this type of content. Also, make sure you subscribe to the channel if you're new and the audio feed as well. And also as free agency continues to unfold, don't get left behind. Check out that live free agency tracker@fancypros.com tracker. The boys and the girls from the site have been doing an amazing job keeping that up to date. So make sure you're staying up to date there with our minute by minute news breaks. And gentlemen, let's jump right in at the top here with the news of the day. The Baltimore Ravens have backed out of the Max Crosby deal. They then signed Edge Trey hendrickson to a four year, 112 million dollar contract keeping him in the AFC North. And everything we're hearing from a sports medical community perspective is that this is well within the Ravens right to do this. They have been notoriously tougher than other organizations to pass physicals. And according to our guy, Dr. Deepak Chona, Crosby had a meniscus surgery in January. But based on his two week timeline on crutches, it appears that he just had that trimmed rather than fully repaired. And the meniscus is the shock absorber and he played it on, on it for two months. That plus he has some previous damage from an infection he had in that knee back in 2023. So all that paired with the fact that he doesn't have much of meniscus left, this could cause concerns for long term production. Therefore, that is why the Ravens in a sense wanted out. Is that how you're reading the situation as well, Worm?
- [04:27]
Ryan Warmley
Yeah, I would say it seems to be that the consensus is they're not that concerned short term, they are concerned long term. And given the amount of compensation, both financially and more importantly, those draft Picks that they were talking about, that's where they became uncomfortable. I do think like, like I find it funny. A lot of people online were saying like, well of course he couldn't pass his physical. He just had surgery two months. Like what, he can't go run like, you know, a shuttle cone? I'm like, they didn't ask him to run a 40. Like the point is that it was. The medical evaluation didn't hold up. When they say he didn't pass a physical, they don't mean like he ran too slow or something. They understand.
- [05:01]
Andrew Erickson
Yeah, people run 40s out there at their, at their.
- [05:04]
Ryan Warmley
Well, I don't, I don't actually know what they would do.
- [05:06]
Seth Wilcock
I would like to be fun, make it a little better.
- [05:08]
Ryan Warmley
To your point, Seth, like, this is not the first time they have failed somebody in medical evaluation process. This is also a team. Like even setting aside people reporting to like Ryan Grant back in 2018 when they didn't sign him, even setting aside the examples that people were pointing to, this is also a team that has had some really serious health scares with big time players. Zach Orr was like their linebacker of the future and then retired medically, like out of nowhere. Nabi Matabwike, maybe he is coming back. It's starting to feel a little more optimistic in that direction. But like there was serious talks for the last year, you know, eight months that he might be retiring due to his neck injury. So like this is an organization that not only has been very strict in the past with the medical side of things, they've also been burned by the medical side of things in a pretty significant way. So of course they're going to be careful.
- [05:52]
Seth Wilcock
Yeah, Erickson, this is one of those situations where it is a doctor by doctor opinion and the Ravens notoriously having one of the stricter staffs. It, it makes sense. It's still scumbaggy though, right? Like, it's absolutely feels like something that didn't need to happen. But here we are. And I'm a Steelers fan, so of course I was hoping the Ravens would actually unload these picks, but not to be the case, my friend.
- [06:16]
Andrew Erickson
Well, I, I love the theory that the Raiders made this trade so the Ravens wouldn't be able to resign Tyler Linderbaum because they didn't know. They didn't think they would have the compensation to do so because that's who they really wanted no matter what was to build this offensive line for their rookie quarterback. So there's a lot of ways you can look at it. I agree with you from the scumbaggy standpoint, like, the optics of it are, well, Trey Henderson's available. Like, no one signed him after two days. Like, let's just give him the bag. We feel a little bit better about his health now. Again, I don't think that he's the same caliber of player that Max Crosby is, but in terms of, hey, the Ravens, what are their biggest needs? We talked about it in the team needs. I know that I messaged Worm about it directly. They need pass rush, right? DaCosta has been really vocal about, like, we need to generate some type of pass rush. So they did get better by adding a premier pass rush or one of the highest in the free agency class. And the fact that they didn't have to give up two round first picks to get it. Like, Worm, is that still like a win for you? Like, again, Hendrickson's the worst player, but now you're not giving up two first round picks. Like, do you think that the Ravens, just looking at their roster, are better off this way? Aside from how the other 31 teams feel about the Ravens, which obviously they're really upset because they like ruined a lot of free agent plans because, oh, well, we thought this guy was going to be able. Well, now he's not. We did this, we did that, and it's all because of the Raven's fault. Yeah.
- [07:35]
Ryan Warmley
Okay, well, first of all, like, the Ravens should not care what the other 31 teams think about their process for determining the medical health of their players. If the Ravens acted in an untoward way, then yes, that's like an issue. But like, they shouldn't care that the timing of this mess with other teams. They're doing what's right for their team. If you are believing that this was all above, sure. I actually don't know how I feel. I. One of the key parts about Max Crosby in that addition that was so exciting for Ravens fans is we just saw this with Mike McDonald's defense in Seattle. They need to be able to stop the run without loading the box. One of the things that Max Crosby brings is an ability to set the edge better than any pass rusher in football. He is the best run defending pass rusher in the sport and is still adding this pass rushing juice that the team really needed. So he is a not just a better player, of course, but a supremely, like, great fit for Jesse Minter's defense, which will mirror what Mike McDonald was doing. So it is a, like, Trey Hendrickson is not a great run defender. That is like A big step back in that regard. Obviously, he's still a good pass rusher. He is coming off an injury of his own. We'll see how that impacts him. He's also older.
- [08:42]
Andrew Erickson
Did he pass his.
- [08:43]
Ryan Warmley
I will say.
- [08:44]
Andrew Erickson
Do we know?
- [08:45]
Ryan Warmley
Can we throw the lighter injury? I guess the thing I will say too, about Hendrickson is he is older, but he probably doesn't have the same level of wear and tear that Crosby does because Crosby pays literally every snap. So that's a little different. The thing I would say about Hendrickson, and I'm curious your guys's opinion too, because this is one of the things I've been arguing about a lot is like, I don't feel like they got a discount on him. Like, the idea that they were like, oh, the market's not there, so we'll just get a. If they sign up for like a ten million dollar a yield a year deal, that's a different story. Then it's like, okay, yeah, they saw real savings here. Hendrickson went into this process hoping to get a contract worth 30 million. With incentives, this contract could be worth 30 million a year. Like. Like that. They did not get a financial discount here. And rumor is that they were trying to sign both at the same time. So it's not like they. If you like, just for the sake of argument, let's pretend that we know beyond a shadow of a doubt that the Ravens genuinely wanted Crosby. They did not get cold feet. There is something on the medical and it scared him off. Like, it's all very above board. If we. If we assume that for a second, what would be the logical next step? It would be to go sign the next best pass rusher available. Right? Like, I don't take that as a sign that they were being, you know, shady or scumbags. I like, this is what they would have done in whether they were scumbags or not scumbags, they would have done this either way. To me, this doesn't tell us anything about what you think about the actual backing out of the deal, in my opinion.
- [10:03]
Seth Wilcock
No, and that's very fair. And again, these doctors, like, you can basically like pass them without passing a physical. It's like called projected to pass. Which means if it was this, you know, one area that we are not concerned about, you can move forward with the deal. They did not. Erickson, before we get off this deal and get to some other moves around the NFL today, I did want to talk about the Raiders, though, and the implications of just substantially upgrading this team over the past 48 hours or so. In addition to getting Max Crosby back for the time being, Tyler Lindenbaum secures a three year, $81 million contract with the Raiders. And to me, I think it's just a perfect fit in this Kubiak offense that you really need an athletic center who's able to pull and then also you need a high IQ player who's able to help make those checks at the line. They also beef up this defense as well. Quay Walker, Nakobe Dean, Quiddy Pay who didn't really work out with the Colts, but still a very high caliber interior defensive lineman. And then like I just think like overall for me, Erickson, like I'm back in on Ash and Genti. I tried not to be that guy. You guys know I was like top 5 Ash and Genti season last year and did not come fruition. He's going right now around that like onew turn on underdog and also we're seeing ADP or ECR right now from fantasy pros RB7. Does that feel about right to you or where would you be comfortable taking Genty after these moves?
- [11:21]
Andrew Erickson
It feels right because the Raiders are really revamping this offensive line. I think getting Linderbaugh, combining him with Mendoza, who we assume will be the number one overall pick, I think that helps a rookie quarterback so much. Having an experience, one of the best centers in the NFL helping him with the checks at the line of scrimmage, the fact that they're going to get Colton Miller back. Remember he was one of the best tackles last year when he was healthy. So like that they're getting a Pro bowl player back into the lineup that's on the roster. He just has to stay healthy. And then Jackson Powers Johnson, again, a guy who played some center, played some guard, now he can kick into one of the guard spots. Okay, now you're already looking at, you have already upgraded three offensive line spots. You have all that you still have. Again, you don't have two first round picks, but we'll see what happens. I still think that you would like that. But you still have the NFL draft, you still have a high pick in the second round where, okay, we can continue to invest in the offensive line. We can maybe draft another tackle. One of these guys that's going to be going early in round two. So I think they're doing all the right things. Genti can't run behind a worse offensive line. Last year, I mean didn't he have more yards after contact than he had rushing yards in general because he was doing it all on his own and I think that he was as advertised coming out of Boise State where the tackle breaking was so apparent but he could only do so much behind a broken offensive line. So I do like Genty a lot. I think that RB7 is appropriate. However, would you take him over Ken Walker? That is kind of a question. I'm really thinking long because I love this landing spot.
- [12:46]
Ryan Warmley
I would rather have Genti than Kenneth Walker. As of right now I'm expecting the Chiefs to add more to that backfield. The other thing on Linderbaum too and obviously I watched a lot of him in Baltimore. He's a good center all around but he's a better run blocker than he is a pass protector. Like he like the run blocking is where he truly excels and is an elite elite like just mobile center option. I know the PFF guys just call him a playmaking center like he is really good in the run game. So yeah I love Genti this year too also and I will let us move on the one last thing I point I did want to make that I didn't say just on the Crosby stuff too is the Cowboys doctor who does a lot of the knee repairs in the NFL looked at this as part of the review and the Cowboys backed out of like they're not pursuing the trade either anymore. So it's not just the Ravens. I wanted to point that out to you like a Cowboys doctor also looked at his knee and said we don't want to pay up for this.
- [13:32]
Andrew Erickson
So as long as it wasn't Joe Mixon's doctor that looked at Max Crosby
- [13:36]
Seth Wilcock
like just but the Cowboys aren't scumbags. Let's just make that clear. The Ravens still scumbags. Let's turn the page though here we also had news in the quarterback market where Daniel Jones signs a two year $88 million deal that could be worth up to $100 million deal to stay with the Indianapolis Colts through Week 13. He was the quarterback eight at 19.4 fantasy points per game. Do you think we see that type of production again from Danny Dimes Erickson coming off that broken leg, the torn Achilles. Plus he also lost Michael Pittman Jr. Or do you think that ceiling comes down just a bit?
- [14:10]
Andrew Erickson
I think the ceiling's got to come down. You look at how efficient the Colts offense was, they were on a historic pace. So this was courtesy of True Media 3.17 points per drive through the first 10 games, the fourth most by a team in its first 10 games this century Right. Like we're talking about, this team was getting compared to the 2007 Patriots of like how efficient this offense was with Daniel Jones. So naturally you're going to see some progression. And when you factor in the quarterback coming off an Achilles injury, we saw Aaron Rodgers and Kirk Cousins both come off kill his injuries and they looked really bad, particularly moving around outside of the pocket like the mobility was sapped out of those guys. So Daniel Jones is obviously younger than those two players. I think he had more mobility than those guys anyway, but. And we've also seen Daniel Jones come off a season ending injury before a couple years ago and it took him some time to kind of get back up to speed. I pulled this when I was writing the recap for Daniel Jones kind of making this deal. He was, he was a top 10 quarterback in fantasy points per drop back in 2022 and then he dealt with some injuries 2023, 2024 and he was outside the top 35 quarterbacks and fantasy points for drop back. And then in 2025 under Shane Steichen in this great system with great playmakers surrounding him, he was back inside the top 10 in terms of fantasy points per drawback. He also scored five rushing touchdowns last year. So I think that's something you just gotta have to eliminate when you're kind of doing your projection. Like he's not going to get as many rushing touchdowns as he did last year. So I think we're just kind of hoping that he can right the ship and keep the Colts offense afloat and not have it implode like it did at the end of last year. So we can feel good about Jonathan Taylor as a top five fantasy running guy because Jonathan Taylor was the run. I mean he was outscoring everyone last year when Daniel Jones was operating at a really high rate. Alec Pierce now stepping into the wide receiver one. Okay, he's confident Daniel Jones is going to be the guy. Chris Ballard is confident Daniels is going to be the guy. But the Colts are pushing a lot of their chips on a guy coming off a torn Achilles and I think that you have to create a price in your mind where, okay, I understand that maybe we could get back to this offense from 2025 again, but is it going to happen in week one, week four? Probably not. So yeah, I trying to be more up and probably a little bit more pessimistic about them returning the same type of offensive output from last year to this year.
- [16:32]
Seth Wilcock
Right now, QB 26 in the fantasy pros ECR and someone definitely I would say off redraft boards but Worm, like would you mind taking a shot on Danny Dimes in Best Ball where you just kind of have to load up on quarterbacks. He's behind, you know, players like Cam ward, Sam Darnold, C.J. stroud, who it feels like a ceiling just because even if there is any rushing, it will put him above those players.
- [16:54]
Ryan Warmley
I am going to skew very heavily on the side of assuming that he's not good enough to be a fantasy quarterback this year. Like, like we, I know he's younger than Kirk Cousins, Aaron Rodgers, like other quarterbacks that have gone through Achilles injuries but like we have seen like pretty much that whole next year is a write off and I just don't want to be playing that game. I, I, I could see the case a little more in Best Ball to your point but like I think he should be behind those other names that you're mentioning. Like I, I'm way more confident that they're going to finish higher than him this year. I'll put it like this. I'm not taking Jonathan Taylor in round one because I am that worried about the quarterback position. Like wow, like okay, he was a different guy when Jones was not on there. He went from being you know, really like the, the league winner of all league winners early last season to you know, he wasn't like, he was awful but it wasn't on that same level. I'm looking like right now just like the running back rankings. Like I'd rather have James Cook with. He's still got the same play call or quarterback there in Buffalo. I might rather have Genti to the point we were just talking about. I am going to be really heavily fading this offense. The only player in this offense that I'll be somewhat interested in this year I think is Tyler Warren because he's still like a midst.
- [18:00]
Seth Wilcock
Let's go.
- [18:01]
Ryan Warmley
But, but besides Warren, I'm like I'm going to be pretty much taking these guys off the board unless they start to drop in where their ADP is.
- [18:09]
Seth Wilcock
Okay.
- [18:09]
Ryan Warmley
Okay.
- [18:10]
Seth Wilcock
I, I mean I'll say it right now like Alec Pierce was going somewhere yesterday when I was looking around wide receiver, 37 on underdog. Like I'll still take a shot on him. Andrew, because I think he does have wide receiver two upside, especially now that we get Michael Pittman Jr. But do you agree with like Worm that like fading maybe the Colts in general to start this season and maybe buying them at a discount mid season might be the, the play?
- [18:35]
Andrew Erickson
Yeah, because I think that we'll all get the reports of Daniel Jones looks like 20, 25 all over again. Indiana Jones, he's ready to go. And then when you see him actually play on the field, that's where you get concerned. So I know we got a report from Schefter that said that he should be ready for week one and that he even could be ready for training camp. I think that there's a time where we can wait and kind of just get more information. But I would rather, I kind of agree with Worm where I think if I need to be overweight or underweight on Colts players, I think you're probably, you're probably better off being a little bit underweight on this team.
- [19:08]
Ryan Warmley
Yeah. And even setting aside, like how you feel about Daniel Jones himself as a runner, if he's not running, I think that will impact the whole offense. Like he's a quarterback that relies on his mobility when he is successful, the times he has been successful in his career. So like even setting aside like, hey, you're not getting the fantasy value of his running, I think that will impact the offense as a whole to the point where I need to see some discounts. I need Jonathan Taylor going in the mid to late second round if I want to take him. Not he's the ninth overall player in ECR right now. That could change. We're sitting here in early March, but right now I want nothing to do
- [19:38]
Seth Wilcock
with that except Tyler Warren keep on Tight end three. Tight end three Still, I'm telling you, folks. Tight end three.
- [19:45]
Andrew Erickson
Shout out Penn State.
- [19:47]
Seth Wilcock
Shout out Penn State. Thank you for that. I appreciate that.
- [19:50]
Andrew Erickson
This episode is brought to you by Spreaker, the platform responsible for a rapidly spreading condition known as podcast brain. Symptoms include buying microphones you don't need, explaining RSS feeds to confused relatives and saying things like, sorry, I can't talk right now, I'm editing audio. If this sounds familiar, you're probably already a podcaster. The good news is Spreaker makes the whole process simple. You record your show, upload it once, and Spreaker distributes it everywhere. People listen. Apple podcasts, Spotify, and about a dozen apps your cousin swears are the next big thing. Even better, Spreaker helps you monetize your show with ads, meaning your podcast might someday pay for, well, more microphones. Start your show today@spreaker.com spreaker because if you're going to talk to yourself for an hour, you might as well publish it next Monday.
- [20:39]
Ryan Warmley
Our 2026 iHeart podcast awards are happening Live at South by Southwest.
- [20:44]
Seth Wilcock
This is the biggest night in podcasting.
- [20:46]
Andrew Erickson
We'll honor the very best in podcasts
- [20:48]
Ryan Warmley
from the past year and celebrate the
- [20:50]
Andrew Erickson
most innovative talent and creators in the industry. And the winner is.
- [20:54]
Ryan Warmley
Creativity, knowledge and Passion will all be on full display.
- [20:58]
Andrew Erickson
Thank you so much iheartradio. Thank you to all the other nominees. You guys are awesome.
- [21:02]
Ryan Warmley
Watch Live next Monday at 8pm Eastern,
- [21:05]
Andrew Erickson
5pm Pacific free@veeps.com or the Veeps app
- [21:10]
Seth Wilcock
and the Minnesota Vikings and running back Aaron Jones have agreed on a revised contract with a base salary of 5.5 million. RB, 33 in points per game last season, 9.9 fantasy points per game in PPR, 13 games played. Is that where you really are projecting him for this next season, Andrew? Because I think if we learned anything, we learned that Jordan Mason are really just a guy. You know what I mean? It's like I'm not enthusiastic by this. Maybe they're not done. Maybe they go out and add someone in April in the draft. But I'm definitely not excited about Aaron Jones coming back, if that's fair.
- [21:44]
Andrew Erickson
Yeah, it's hard to get excited about a guy coming off career lows and yards per carry, yards after contact per attempt and another injury plagued season. Right. He's dealing with this AC joint injury that continues to kind of play him where he comes back. He looks explosive, he's good in the passing game, but then he hurts his shoulder and then he misses eight more weeks of the season. So I think that this just kind of hurts Jordan Mason. And in terms of, okay, like maybe he would have been the guy, they would have leaned on him more as a workhorse type of running back. But that's not going to be the case because Aaron Jones, we know at this point his career is probably just going to operate on passing downs. He had 2.3 catches per game, so that's been pretty decent for his type of role. And we saw when one of those guys went down or missed time, the offense would just turn to one player and kind of feature that exact guy. So I think they're kind of stuck in that RB3, RB4 type of purgatory. And to point out about them adding more players to this backfield, that's definitely going to happen. I would be very, very surprised if they don't draft one. Neither of these guys are under contract next year, so the Vikings don't have any running back on the roster for 2027. So although Aaron Jones will be back for this year, it seems more likely enough they're going to draft a rookie and maybe that's the player that you really want to gravitate towards. So I don't see a lot of appeal with either of these. Again, Mason was pretty good at times and Aaron Jones. Mr. Earlier in the year averaged 75 rushing yards per game and, and the five games that Jones missed. But when Jones is hanging around again, these guys are putting up low end RB3 production.
- [23:11]
Seth Wilcock
Yeah, and Worm, this is really a place in drafts where the running back position gets pretty stinky pretty quickly without knowing the rookie landing spots. Like once you get past, you know, Ramandre at RB 29, I think you're really in quite a dead zone. You can take a shot on someone like Bial Toot and I think Blake Corum will have a little bit of upside, you know, once again. But it's like the Alvin Camara's, the James Connors, the Trey Benson's like really people in this gross backfield timeshare type of situation. So are you taking a lot of those players over someone like this? And Aaron Jones, like Kenny Gainwell, Woody Marks, like Charbonnet, I'll take all those guys over him that are actually behind him in ECR right now.
- [23:49]
Ryan Warmley
I think probably Charbonnet may be the one. I would. I mean, just depends on what kind of reports you get on the recovery. I mean Erickson really took the words out of my mouth. I was going to say the same thing, that whoever they draft, they are going to draft somebody. Whoever they draft will be the guy that I want to target in this backfield. And even though it's a bit of a down year, right, we've seen the way teams are operating, like trading for David Montgomery, things like that. They don't believe this is a strong running back class. I will still want to opt for the youth and kind of buy into that rather than say like is there still upside with Aaron Jones at this stage in his career? I just don't buy it. Setting aside the rookie though, yeah, I think some of these other name like Tyler Algier is a few spots ahead of him in ECR right now. They just signed a new contract, you know, going. Even though I think it's gonna be a bad team, I'd rather take a swing on that than Jones at this point. Like I think most of these guys I'll take ahead of him.
- [24:34]
Seth Wilcock
Well, let's get cheeky with it here. The Washington Commanders, they signed Titan Chig Akwonquo to a three year deal. No numbers and salary attached to that as of now, but tight end 28 at 7.3 points per game, but also had 12 games of three plus catches. So very consistent. I was betting Chiga Cunkwo reception props like a fiend late last season and it cashed in almost every single time. Did lead the Titans though with 56 receptions, 560 yards. So he was an impact player. Not really from a fancy standpoint, but could this be the start of something good Erickson in the nation's capital? Because I, I really like Chick. I think a lot of people liked him when he kind of bursted on the scene his rookie season. And at the same time does this mean like all hopes lost now for 2024 rookie Ben Senna? And he's kind of a drop from taxi squads and dynasty leagues.
- [25:22]
Andrew Erickson
Yeah, I think Ben Senate is entering the the Caleb Johnson territory of guys that hey, I don't know if it's ever going to happen for this player. So that being said, super pumped up about Chicaconkwo here and I'm so excited that we have Maryland Terp here on the show as well talking about fan about Chiga Conquo so one thing I always look at when it comes to tight ends trying to find this late round tight end breakout is what can this guy do after the catch. And that has been Chica conquo's calling card since he entered the NFL as a fifth round draft pick. Looking last year, minimum 45 targets. The guys that check off the boxes in terms of yards out to the catch per reception. Darnell Washington, Dalton Kincaid, Colby Parkinson, Tyler Warren, Pat Fryermuth and Chegga Conquo again like kind of rounding out some of these players that finished highly in yards after the catch per reception. That is a conquo. So I think that he did enough in a pretty bad situation. Look, last three seasons, 50 receptions in each of the last three seasons for Chig A conquo like he's been like steadily productive again, coming off a career high in terms of yardage again. But he only has scored two touchdowns. So that's kind of where you're looking at like that's why it never really turned into fantasy production. I mean dude, what is he supposed to do? He said Will Levis as his quarterback. He's had Cam Ward at his quarterback. Like of course he's not going to put up eye popping type of stats. Oh, now he has Jaden Daniels who made Zach Ertz the corpse of Zach Ertz who who hasn't broken a tackle since Chicago entered The NFL. I think that this is an awesome landing spot and he's going to be top of my list in terms of late round tight ends to target this year's Tucker Kraft, it might be Chicaconqua.
- [27:00]
Seth Wilcock
Okay, Worm, any thoughts on Big Chig, your former alma mater?
- [27:05]
Ryan Warmley
Yeah, I don't think Tucker Kraft is as a viable outcome here.
- [27:11]
Andrew Erickson
Getting ahead, getting ahead of myself, of
- [27:12]
Ryan Warmley
course, but that's the ceiling.
- [27:14]
Seth Wilcock
That's the ceiling.
- [27:15]
Ryan Warmley
But I strongly agree that he is a great late round target right now in ECR. He's tight end 29. That's gonna go up a bit. I wonder how far it will go. Like A.J. barner's tight end 22.
- [27:26]
Seth Wilcock
Right.
- [27:26]
Ryan Warmley
You know, Sadiq, the, you know, exciting rookies tied at 21. As Isaiah likely is getting a new opportunity. He's tight end. I don't know if he pushes too far past those guys, but like, I think he should at least be in the conversation with them. I think the upside's really apparent. Erickson hit the nail on the head. He's also like, like I said, he's tight in 29. He's been a top 24 tight end every year of his career. He never misses games. He's played all 17 games all four seasons. Like, he's already lower than he has been and now he's got this upside. We saw like, not just Zach Ertz, but what Jay Daniels. Like, what do we always talk about with Terry McLaurin? Like, really talented player who always had terrible quarterbacks. He finally gets to play Jaden Daniels and he has the late, late career breakout Chica Konko is not Terry McLaurin, but he's very athletic. Tight ends break out later in their careers all the time. It's very common for them to break out as they get into their mid to late 20s. He's only 26 years old, still very athletic, gets the best quarterback he's played with. They also have a new offensive coordinator who is a former backup quarterback who do backup quarterbacks love. Throwing to tight ends like that could help too, a little bit. Like, I. I'm. I'll be all over a conquo at at this price for sure. I strongly, I don't agree with Erickson on the ultimate ceiling, maybe, but I. He could easily be a tight end one this year and he's going as a tight end three.
- [28:33]
Seth Wilcock
Well, and keep an eye out in Tennessee for Gunner Helm. He was another player who consistently was actually pushing Chig off the field in certain circumstances and was having a really nice Run down the stretch, former Texas Longhorn, shout to her boy Scott Bogman on that one. But like, I know we say it every year, but tight end, it feels kind of deep right now. It feels kind of deep. We won't be saying that in week three, but we're saying that here in March.
- [28:55]
Ryan Warmley
The other thing I'll say about a conquest too is like, what? What do we always like to look for? And Andrew Cooper talks about this a lot with the great work he does with tight ends. A guy that can be a top two target in the offense. Yeah, Commanders are going to add more. We would. We would assume right now he's a top two target in that offense behind only McLaren.
- [29:10]
Seth Wilcock
Very fair. Very, very fair. Last note, staying at the tight end position here, the Eagles resigned Titan Grant Calcatera and also sign tight end Johnny Mund as well. Erickson. Are these guys just placeholders or does this mean that maybe my hope that Eli Stowers maybe finds his way to Philadelphia in round one is alive? Or do you think like, hey, these guys actually could maybe be the legit tight end ones for the Eagles offense this year?
- [29:37]
Andrew Erickson
I think they might be just rolling a committee of tight end taken from the Shane Steichen before they got Tyler Warren where they just play four different guys and any of them for fantasy. But what does it mean? Oh, we get a concentrated target share between Devonte Smith and maybe if A.J. brown sticks around. I mean, Devonte Smith, they have been pumping him up left and right. Every time Nick Sirianni gets a microphone again, he says, I don't know if A.J. brown's gonna be on the team, but they talk about, we need to get devonte Smith more involved. And I think that if they don't make a move at tight end, it is okay, Devonte Smith, we're gonna get this guy 120, 130 targets and you're gonna feel pretty good about. Because we already know he's a really good player. It's just a matter of the offense that they've been playing in has really kind of been holding him back again, as we know, with the AJ Brown attitude and what's been going on with him at the Eagles. But yeah, I wouldn't surprise me if the Eagles don't really add much to tight end.
- [30:30]
Seth Wilcock
Wow, Worm, Eli Stowers, Eagles. Are you here for it?
- [30:35]
Ryan Warmley
I have a lot more here for that than I am to talk about these guys right now. Free agency, like, oh, I get excited about Johnny Munt. Yeah, I would love the opportunity. Opportunity. If they were to take a swing on a guy like Stowers. I think that would be really exciting.
- [30:49]
Seth Wilcock
Yeah, let's I'm putting out in the existence whenever he opens the lines to be a first round pick, it's probably like 50, 60 to 1. I'm taking the shot. I'm still taking the shot. Boys.
- [30:58]
Andrew Erickson
Love it.
- [30:58]
Seth Wilcock
I don't care. I don't care about the 40 for Sadiq even though it was awesome. But guys, also awesome was this particular program. So thank you so much for being here with me today. That is going to do it for us on this episode of the Fancy Pros Fantasy Football Podcast. Please don't forget smash that like button if you enjoyed the episode. Also subscribe both of the Fancy Pros YouTube channel and that audio feed and be sure to check out all the great written content and our tool suite@fancyprose.com thanks for watching. For Andrew Erickson and Ryan Warmley. I'm Seth Wilcock. Take care y'.
- [31:28]
Andrew Erickson
All.
- [31:28]
Ryan Warmley
Thanks for listening to the Fantasy Pros Fantasy Football Podcast. If you love the show, the best free way to support us is by leaving a positive review on Apple pieces podcasts@fantasypros.com review or on Spotify. Follow us on X Instagram and TikTok at Fantasy Pros and subscribe to our YouTube channel at YouTube.com fantasypros.
- [32:11]
Charlamagne Tha God
Peace to the planet Charlemagne. Tha God here.
- [32:13]
Andrew Erickson
And listen.
- [32:13]
Charlamagne Tha God
We are back. The Black Effect Podcast Festival is back in Atlanta on April 25th at Pullman Yard. Yeah, and the full lineup is nuts. We got the Grits and Eggs podcast, Deontay Kyle and Big Ice Cup Cat. We got Club 520 with Jeff Teague and the Gang. Don't call Call Me White Girl. Mona will be there. Keep it positive, sweetie. With Crystal Renee. We got Reality with the King with Carlos King. And yes, Drink Champs will be in the building. Plus, you know we gonna have a lot of guests, so you need to join us. And we got the Black Effect Marketplace, the picture podcast and everything you expect from the Black Effect Podcast Festival. Tickets are on sale right now. Go get yours@blackffect.com podcast festival. Don't play yourself. Okay, pull up.
- [33:00]
Ryan Warmley
Next Monday, our 2026 iHeart Podcast Awards are happening live at south by Southwest.
- [33:05]
Seth Wilcock
This is the biggest night in podcasting.
- [33:08]
Andrew Erickson
We'll honor the very best in podcasting
- [33:10]
Ryan Warmley
from the past year and celebrate the
- [33:12]
Andrew Erickson
most innovative talent and creators in the industry. And the winner is.
- [33:16]
Ryan Warmley
Creativity, knowledge and passion will all be on full display.
- [33:20]
Andrew Erickson
Thank you. Thank you so much. Iheartradio thank you to all the other nominees. You guys are awesome.
- [33:24]
Ryan Warmley
Watch Live next Monday at 8pm Eastern,
- [33:26]
Andrew Erickson
5pm Pacific free@veeps.com or the Veeps app
- [33:31]
Ryan Warmley
On the Adventures of Curiosity Cove Podcast what if the Right Fit isn't what everyone expects? In the case of the Right Fit, Ella explores movement, confidence and belonging and learns that not all strength looks the same. This Women's History Month story introduces kids to women who change sports by trusting themselves and moving differently. Listen to Adventures of Curiosity Cove every Monday from the Black Effect Podcast Network on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts.
- [34:03]
Charlamagne Tha God
I'm Miles Turner. And I'm Brianna Stewart and our podcast Game Recognized Game has never been done before.
- [34:08]
Ryan Warmley
Two active players giving you a real
- [34:10]
Andrew Erickson
look at our lives and what we actually think on and off the court. Nothing's off limits. We talk tanking.
- [34:17]
Seth Wilcock
I might get in trouble for this answer, but I think it's like definitely happening.
- [34:21]
Andrew Erickson
In the wnba, we talk about our mistakes too.
- [34:24]
Charlamagne Tha God
They pulled me to the side and was like, hey man, we got a
- [34:27]
Ryan Warmley
call last night, man, you can't be
- [34:28]
Charlamagne Tha God
rolling around the city like this the night before games.
- [34:30]
Andrew Erickson
Check out Game Recognized Game with Stewie
- [34:32]
Ryan Warmley
and miles on the iHeartRadio app, Apple
- [34:35]
Andrew Erickson
Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts.
- [34:37]
Ryan Warmley
This is an iHeart podcast. Guaranteed Human.