B (1:47)

No, not at all. I think that at we coming into the draft, there was this idea this is not a good draft class. It wasn't that surprising that only two backs, both three, if you count Kaylin Black, went on the first two days. Based on the analysis of the draft class. What was a bit surprising, Dave, is that when teams reset their boards before the third day, I think only what, two running backs went in the fourth round. So it wasn't like teams that, okay, we knew this was a weak running back class, but now it's, you know, it's a weak classic as far as depth because of nil. And then on the fourth round you thought okay, now teams are going to get their guy. And it still not until the fifth, sixth round did we see some of these names go off the board. However, what redeemed it was the landing spots. And look, I know in fantasy football I know because of the models that you know, draft capital matters and draft capital matters because of opportunity. Ryan Riddle put it so well all time sack leader Cal when he went to the NFL he said first round picks have to prove they can't play. Late round picks have to prove they can play. So you're going to get that early opportunity if you're a high pick. But if you can play. And look, running back is a position that has a low bar. Like that's why street free agents can be productive during the season. Like guys that weren't even with the team, don't know the offense or whatever can come in off the street and matter in fantasy football. So as long as you're above that adequate talent line of NFL running back play. And these guys on the fifth, some of them actually are very talented physically. So I do think that the landing spots make us pay attention. And then Dave, good teams, not all the teams are good teams. As soon as the players show up for camp. When were they drafted? I don't even remember. Just the best player should play, right? So yeah, may the best players win. That's what you hope.

A (3:47)

So let's talk through a few of these kind of one by one K Trail was a guy that I liked quite a bit through the whole pre draft process. You know, doesn't have the eye popping athleticism but just like a sound fundamental runner, good vision, good power, good burst. You know my initial comp was Nick Chubb. Maybe a little bit too lofty there. You know Nick Chubb can do things that are just superhuman on a football field that I don't think cater now and can. But I still see him being a guy who can handle three downs that can be a big part of a backfield. And then I look at where he landed, you know, going to Washington where Jakory, Crosby, Merritt, you know, he can do some things well but he has some flaws in his game. Rashad White, very good at catching passes. Not the best early down runner. Jeremy Ford, probably a guy that we're or I'm sorry, Jerome Ford, a guy that we're probably just going to see kind of work.

B (4:35)

Jeremy McNichols and Jerome Ford are one guy basically.

A (4:37)

Exactly right. They're both probably destined for the practice squad. So is this one where you could see Cateran Allen, even though he was a very late day three pick, potentially emerging as the top guy in this backfield.

B (4:48)

This one immediately set off some fantasy, you know, red lights, I mean, green lights really. Green lights first and then they turned yellow. So here's why Caitrin Allen is a good fit for Washington. They're going to a classic under center running game, you know, trying to help Jaden Daniels. And you said Nick Chubb, I mean, he isn't as sluggish as the Nick Chubb we saw last year, but you know, Nick Chubb after the injuries, let's

A (5:22)

just say that might be the perfect comp. It's like post knee injury.

B (5:25)

Nick Chubb is kind of a second knee injury.

A (5:27)

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

B (5:29)

But my point being that. But still, he's the rugged inside runner and it would make sense that, you know, Chris Rodriguez even, you know, it would make sense that he would appeal to them. And after he was taken or even at the end of the draft, I thought, okay, Katrin Allen, I mean, at the very least he's going to be the touchdown scorer. He said he has always been known as the fat man. I love that down here in New Orleans. Fats Domino, he said, when they play, when it's touchdown, fat, fat goes the fat man. However, and I still think he is the best suited running back for goal line carries. Then they go and they sign Robert Henry Jr. Out of UTSA and you watch him, he can scoot okay. And he has contact balance. So it's kind of like a more rugged version of Jakory, Crosby, Merritt. And the other thing, Dave, is I'm in my mind thinking about the coaches, watching Caitrin Allen and Robert Henry Jr go through drills like right after each other and noticing the difference in an accelerate initial acceleration like right away. So we'll see. I mean, I think I have my Bloom 100. We have our rankings, we have our initial knee jerk takes. However, we need to be open to new information like Puka Nukua. I don't know that many people were into him. And then as soon as you started hearing about him at rookie minicamp and how smitten and gaga the team was for him, you should have been on him. So whatever we think as our starting point, Dave, we need to be open to change.

A (7:02)

You know, can we talk about these training camp reports that we do for a quick minute? I mean, I don't know if there's a more valuable piece of content out there. And this is something that, you know, I was honestly as a consumer before I worked at football guys, I was overwhelmed by the depth of these training camp reports where I was like, I can't possibly read all this if I wanted to, but I wish I had because that's where I find the biggest edge every single year. Like even Cordell Patterson with the Falcons on nobody's radar. And then if you pay attention to training camp that year, they were just pounding the table for him and he ends up having this huge breakout season. So just a very valuable piece of content that I, that I feel the need to plug here on a football guy show. But let's talk about another running back as well and this I, I don't know what to make of this backfield. Jonah Coleman landing in Denver. Now I see a lot of, I hate to say it, but there's some, some J.K. dobbins in the game there and I think that they kind of like what they saw from RJ Harvey. I was very bullish on JK Dobbins going into this season, but I can't help but think that we're looking at a three headed monster here now. Now I know Cecil, Cecil Amy really likes J.K. dobbins, but he also really likes Jonah Coleman. RJ Harvey's not going anywhere. Do you kind of take the twos a company, three's a crowd approach when you look at this backfield and say I might just let my league mates

B (8:11)

deal with this one in redraft, maybe in dynasty leagues though Coleman becomes Really interesting. J.K. dobbins is basically on a one year deal. R.J. harvey, there's no way to put a smiley face on this. Okay? They took him in the second round and all we heard all off season is Ron. Running backs in need. Running backs in need. Even after they sign JK Dobbins going into the draft. Running backs a need. I mean take a second round running back and you're saying that in the next draft didn't go well. Jonah Coleman is a classic, good at everything, great at nothing kind of running back, really reliable. The kind of running back that coaches really like. I do think that there is a higher end range of outcomes here that is similar to Kyron Williams where you think like man, there's got to be a faster, bigger, more talented back they can have out there than him. But he does everything the way the coaches like and gets to play. And I think Jonah Coleman has that. I don't think RJ Harvey's role is going to change. I think that if Dobbins goes down, Coleman is the backup to Dobbins. And, you know, let that inform you how will if you can trade RJ Harvey and dynasty leagues, but Coleman becomes really interesting. I think there's a second tier after the two Notre Dame backs. There's a second tier or a third tier if you want to break them into two different tiers. And the next backs that should go off the board in dynasty rookie drafts or the next most interesting backs just for fantasy football in general. And Jonah Coleman is definitely in that group.

A (9:48)

So I love the Kyron Williams comp and that was the initial comp that I came up for when watching Jonah Coleman. But I can't help but worry about the Sean Payton of it all. Sig, I think that, you know, if you had a coach who wanted to lean on one running back, I think you could do that with Jonah Coleman. But I do see Jonah Coleman. Maybe his versatility is just that he can be that like number three guy on the depth chart that if Harvey goes down, if Dobbins goes down, if they need somebody to come in because both running backs are gassed, I feel like he is kind of that plug and play that can do a little bit of everything. But do you have concerns about that too? That like getting drafted to Denver? We don't really see workhorses in Denver. The only path to relevance is touchdowns or targets and Jonah Coleman can get there. But it's just so hard predicting where they're going in a Sean Payton offense.

B (10:31)

I think that would be great analysis when we were talking about why not to take RJ Harvey in the first round last year. Jonah Coleman is the third round pick in rookie drafts. So I think that's more than baked into his cost. And it doesn't. If anything, it makes it more likely that the fickle Sean Payton will say, I'm just going to put the guy out there that I know is good in every situation. So it cut both ways. The price more than reflects it.

A (10:58)

Another one we got to talk about Mike Washington Jr. There was talk that maybe he'd be going 32nd overall to Seattle. There was a lot saying that his floor was round three, but he ends up falling deep in the draft and then also lands in a situation where he's got ashen genty in front of him. I can't imagine a worse landing spot as looking at the draft capital and the team that he went to. So Mike Washington Jr. Is he even the injury away back here. I mean like I, I, I assume that if Jinsey got hurt there'd be some work here. But when I see a guy fall that down the far, you know, step one is making the team. And I don't even know If Mike Washington Jr. Is going to be on the final roster going into week one at this point.

B (11:38)

Yeah, he's right on that. Like late fourth round is, I mean probably they break tie. The good news for him is who else they even have on the roster like Dylan Loudby or something like that. Right. So you know, he should make the team. But generally these side speed backs, you know, for him to fall to the late fourth round shows you again, it's vision, it's instincts, size. Speed's great, that's the car, but the car doesn't matter without a good driver. And rarely is this one of those things that you see fixed, you know. Well, he didn't really have vision and instincts and then the NFL, he figured it out as a running back. Doesn't usually happen. So you're right that, you know, even if he has an injury away, he might not really do that. Well, unless the Raiders offense really starts to take off, which I don't know if that's going to happen this year. So no, I still think he'll be overdrafted just based on that side speed. No thanks.

A (12:30)

Another size speed guy who will probably be overdrafted because of the potential lure of what he could look like an injury away, Adam Randall. And I know, like there is no comparison for Derrick Henry, but you look at a guy who's 6 foot 3, 240 pounds with 99th percent size adjusted speed, Adam Randle does fit the bill. But this is again, a guy who doesn't have that instinctual running style, doesn't have the best vision, might be a little bit better of a pass catcher than Derrick Henry, but probably buried on that Baltimore depth chart. And you got to imagine that if something were to happen to him, we'd still see Justice Hill. You know, Najee Harris is still floating out there in free agency and he feels like he's got Ravens all over him. So this is another one where I see the upside pass catching profile big, fast. But I do worry about how it's going to translate to an NFL field. So how should fantasy managers, dynasty managers, how should they be looking at Adam Randall?

B (13:21)

I'm not going to tell you. Don't take him in the third round. I mean, look, there's, I don't think Dave, I don't think there's a third round pick in Dynasty rookie drafts this year that I'm going to say that's terrible. Terrible because it's third round. I mean, this draft.

A (13:33)

I think you could say that about the second round in Dynasty throwing darts by like 111. It feels like we are.

B (13:39)

But so we still need to make some sort of choice here. And Adam Randall is kind of an Antonio Gibson wide receiver convert. Wasn't that good of a wide receiver. Wasn't that good of running back. Isn't even a guy like you can say, like, well, he's a pass catcher. Like, you have him run routes. And I'll be like, yeah, he wasn't that good of a wide receiver. And the other thing here that's really strange. I cannot remember another time when it was just so blatant and transparent that Eric Sa Costa, the gm, said this was Steve Biscotti's pick. The owner, the owner said, let me take, please let me have a pick now, this might happen.

A (14:16)

He said something about like, he's the guy that signs our checks. So we had to do it. Like, he was very blunt.

B (14:21)

Yeah, yeah. I mean, I'm not saying this doesn't happen, but usually it's not. I mean, Jeremiah Love might have been an owner pick. Okay. But for it to be so, it doesn't make me have more confidence, Dave.

A (14:31)

Right.

B (14:32)

You know, so, yeah.

A (14:35)

So we've got a few other guys that I think are worth mentioning here and I can let you We've got Emmett Johnson, Nick Singleton. Do you want to talk about either of those guys or is there another day three UDFA running back that you might want to talk about here?

B (14:46)

Well, let's talk about Emmett Johnson. I think he can do a very good Kareem Hunt impression, a younger Kareem Hunt. And I think Kenneth Walker we know is prone to miss a game or two or more. And this is a good offense. I think Amari D. Mercado and Burchard Smith, who I still like, but Emmett Johnson is more like a running back than Prichard Smith is. And I think that Andy Reid might have seen enough of Burchard Smith and said like, yeah, I don't really want him as a running back. Maybe there's a role for him in this offense, but not truly a running back running between the tackles or the running game. Now, what to watch here that's really fascinating is again, after the draft, maybe things change a little bit. Jaden Ott now, I don't know what folks thought about Jaden Ott at Oklahoma, at Cal he looked like he would be at least a draftable running back and he went to Oklahoma. Last year was a disaster, absolute disaster. His running back coach at Oklahoma was demarco Murray. His running back coach for Kansas City is demarco Murray. Huh. It was a disaster. So I want to, I hope somebody asks some pointed questions. We can get some more insight into that. Also speaking to Marco Murray, they signed Emmett Smith's son, E.J. smith.

A (16:06)

Really? I missed that.

B (16:07)

Yeah. So, you know, I don't know. Let's just again, let's keep our ears to the ground at rookie minicamp OTAs. I think that Emmon Johnson has the pass catching, the contact balance, you know, one cut and go kind of guy. I like him. I love his story. His parents individually left Liberia because of the civil war. Met at a church choir in a church choir in Minneapolis. That's how we get Emma Johnson. It's great. I love it. I mean he said like he's playing for his parents because, you know, after what they overcame, you know, this is, this is nothing. Nick Singleton, Lance Steerline put it best. Lance, your linenfl.com plays like a car with the brake lines cut.

A (16:50)

Yep, I think that's.

B (16:51)

And again, like that's not, I mean maybe he's a kick returner. Maybe he can add a lot of values, get returner. And from a dynasty standpoint, Tony Pollard and Tashi Spears are free agents next year and this is an offense on the rise, I think. But again, you know, guys with that don't run with nuance or subtlety. Is that something that they develop? I mean, it's not impossible. Okay. But it's not something I'm going to put a chip on. However, I'm not going to say you're crazy if you do it. I love now the guy I am going to pound the table for is Damon Claiborne. I think one of the best ways he's been described is Devon H and light and he's a guy that I think played a lot better than a six round pick. If you watch him, he's versatile. He's got, you know, the agility, he's got contact balance, he's got the burst, he's got pass catching ability. He, he's attack. He's not a true power back or pile pusher but he's not one of those backs that goes down on first contact either. Vikings traded up a little bit for him. But with Aaron Jones who probably is going to miss some games and Jordan Mason who is he's good at what he does, but that's only part of the running back duties. I think you're going to see Claiborne get a chance to show what he can do and then let's face it, the Vikings are kind of rebuilding. Okay. The Vikings might even have like a whole new regime next year for all we know. Now, that's not necessarily great for Claiborne, but running back is not a position that you've prioritized in a rebuild. Okay. So if Clayborne shows he can play, he's going to have his foot in the door, you know, so Claiborne is a guy that I absolutely will say, like, that's the guy to prioritize. After the first two are gone, you might. You can wait. Kaylin Black, which got to mention him because he's yet another third round San Francisco running back. I don't know that he's better than Jordan James. I think he's better than Isaac Arando. He's a try hard guy, you know. Okay. Eli Heidenreich, running back, wide receiver. I don't know. Kenny Gainwell, like assuming Aaron Rodgers.

A (19:01)

I want to pause on Heidenreich just for a second because what is the chance that he could end up being just like the primary slot or slot receiver here in Pittsburgh? I know they took Jeremy Bernard and Jeremy Bernard can play out of the slot, but like Heidenreich can do that too. And if you're getting slot usage from a guy that you can put in your running back spot, especially in PPR leagues, like, there is definitely some allure there.

B (19:21)

You know, Dave, I didn't even think about that. Honestly, I didn't even think about that. Like, thank you for putting that on my mind because I was having discussion with Max Toscano. Love to talk football with him.

A (19:31)

Super sharp guy.

B (19:32)

And he was saying, you know, something about Steelers offense. And I'm like, who could beat man coverage though? Even Jeremy Bernard. We'll talk about him a little bit. You know, who's going to beat man coverage? Look, Eli Heidenreich as a receiver. I mean, what am I saying? Yeah, as a receiver. Looks like Christian McCaffrey moves like Christian McCaffrey. I mean, if you just. I'm be on. I mean, I know it's so easy. Christian. No, seriously, as a receiver. And look at the stats he put up in Navy's offense. Like, yep. When you think of pass off all time leading yardage.

A (20:06)

Yeah, like all time.

B (20:08)

So. And also they built their offense around him and I know it's navy, but that. That to me means, hey, now, he fell to the seventh round, but you're right. And the Steelers are saying the right things about, like, oh, we've got a role for him. But, you know, I didn't even think about that now. Now I want to go back and move him up a little bit, because I think that if the Steelers are rational, Jeremy Bernard is a polished receiver, physical receiver, but Heidi Reich actually is the element that they need more in this pass offense if they're going to make it work. So. And then I got to mention that, you know, he's from Mount Lebanon, where I was born. I mentioned Henry, and I think that again, you know, a couple of running back battles to watch for roster spots. Washington, Kansas City. I want to mention Jamari Taylor. Now Jacksonville, Jamari Taylor, you know, they might. He didn't get drafted. There's a little bit of a surprise. Jacksonville might have been an Andre Darian Price. You know, there was some talk about that. But I'll say this, if you know Bashel Tutin, there's a lot of things he can do to take off. There's a lot of things he can do to get in the doghouse. Chris Rodriguez is Chris Rodriguez. You might be like, yeah, Chris Rodriguez. Why am I worried about Chris Rodriguez? Well, if you feel that way, Jamari Taylor, he has a lot of the same stuff as Chris Rodriguez, where he's going to get. Because what did Lian Cohn say he loved about Chris Rodriguez? Like, he. He gets three or four yards even if he's not there. Jamari Taylor's that kind of rope, like, just sticks his nose in there, you know, I mean, he's going to really appeal to them. Put a pin in Seth McGowan, like a Zach Moss kind of back as somebody that could supplant D.J. giddens. They didn't really have a true backup to Jonathan Taylor. I don't love McGowan, but I think that he might be the second best running back on the roster, which for fantasy football, we always need to know,

A (22:02)

and he can handle full workload. I think you're drafting Seth McGowan, saying, oh, this guy's going to take touches from Jonathan Taylor. You're saying if Jonathan Taylor is to miss a week, Seth McGowan can step in and get 20, 25 touches. I don't think they want to give DJ Giddens a workload like that.

B (22:16)

No, no, I don't. I don't know what they think about getting to this point. Colin Bennett is another, you know, Jamal Williams. Yeah, that's your. I want to give you the credit for that, Dave, course, because it's bears. Le'Veon Moss, I think, you know, just a little bit upright, but a power back. And remember Green Bay South John Eric Sullivan. What do we know about what he wants with his offensive line? Massive, dudes. Massive. That kind of sounds like a Le'Veon Moss. You know, I think he's better than Ollie Gordon. I'll say that. I'm going to mention Jamal Haynes, who's a kind of a human joystick, but thick, you know, I mean, he's, he's not insubstantial. And again, what do they think of Taj Brooks? Yes, Samaj P rides the backup, but he's on the back nine of his career, undrafted free agent. And then the last one. I'm going to mention, Dave, I'm going to. I'm going to kick this back to you because I think that outside of the Notre Dame running backs, the third, third, like when the dust settles, we look back like five years from now that the third most valuable running back in this class is Xavian Thomas.

A (23:34)

I like that a lot. And we got that almost immediately. Brian Perez, who covers the Bears, like, minutes after the tweet came out, was saying that, like, I expect Xavian Thomas to get some running back usage. And yeah, like, he is kind of cut from. I hate to say it, but like

B (23:49)

the Jameer Gibbs cloth, I mean, Ben Johnson is looking at that dude. And Xavian Thomas played some running back at lsu. Folks, watch the snaps. He looks very natural. And everyone's saying Xavier Thomas, third round. What are we thinking here? If it's just speed? I mean, there were speed returner guys that you could mold into receiver like Emmanuel Henderson and Malik Benson. Like, there were those guys available on the third day, but he wanted to make sure he got Xavian Thomas and like, come on, we know what Ben Thomas values. Okay? I mean, Ben Thomas, Ben Johnson values. And they immediately went off the board in the third round. Dave, I thought he's going to convert him to running back and the kind of athlete he is. Like you said Jameer Gibbs kind of athlete. Ooh, really? We need to watch this.

A (24:42)

Absolutely. That's one that I got very excited about. And you saw, like, immediately there were comps to Tyreek Hill, Jameer Gibbs, like Bears fans losing their mind because he's got one of the most fun highlight reels out there. But. But he talked about Caleb Black a bit ago and I want to Talk about Caleb Black. And this can kind of be our transition to wide receivers as well, because the 49ers, you know, there's been so much talk about consensus, big boards and them just kind of sticking to their process and doing their own thing. So we saw Calen Black, you know, a 25 year old, go in round three, a guy who wasn't even invited to the combine. And then we see Dijon Stribling, a guy who a lot of people assumed would be a day three pick going as the top pick in round two. So, you know, we want to use draft capital. I think that you made a very poignant point. Is that like there's some correlation there or, I'm sorry, some causation there. It's not just the players who are drafted better are better players, but they often get a longer leash. They get the chance to prove that they're not good rather than having to prove that they're good. So how do you weigh draft capital for guys like this Caleb Black, Dijon Stribling? Because if you're looking at consensus, you know, rankings going into the draft, they're way down boards. But at the end of the day, they went in round two and they went in round three. We can't just completely ignore that. Right, Sig?

B (25:50)

You can't. And I think it's a case by case basis. Okay, so let's talk about Kaylan Black. I mean, the best thing about him being a third round pick is he's going to make the team. It would be shocking. Trey Sermon esque. Right. Which, I mean, I guess it could happen. But again, I don't think there's any way he's decisively better than Jordan James. And I don't think he's a guy that there's scenarios where like even somebody like Mike Washington or Nick Singleton be like, well, if they can somehow put it together, you can see team be like, wow, we've got our running back spot solved. I don't see that. But because he's going to make the team, I think he's in a tier with Nick Singleton. You know, he's in a tier with Mike Washington saying like, well, on one hand you have very known quantities of player but of limited ceiling. On the other hand, you have a more volatile player but a higher ceiling. So I think that that is what matters. Now. Stribling is a guy that I already was more, I think more open to than others. Okay. In the Bloom 100 he is. It's a really strong defensive class. But just know this Now I'm really high. We're going to talk about these guys. You know, I'm high on Hurst, I'm high on Brazel, I love where Bell landed. I'm high on Fields. And then after that, my next running back, I mean my next wide receiver is dribbling ahead of Denzel Boston ahead of Omar Cooper. And we can talk more about Boston Cooper. But I was talking to my man Dustin Scott Royer, have him on the couch soon to talk about fits. And he opened my eyes because look, I was like, okay, Stribling, hey, he could be the number one receiver next year. Or he. Let me put it this way, there's nothing in his way by year two or three to be as big of a role as he can earn, whatever that is because Pierce hall can't stay healthy. Evans and Kirk are one year deals basically. Okay. I think Evans contract is basically a one year contract. So that alone. And it's a good offense. Okay. So it's an offense that there's going to be production, you know, maybe for this year it might be DeMarcus Robinson if those guys all get hurt, but certainly don't get his chance. But I still saw him more in the mold of what he did at Ole Miss, which is he's going to be a vertical guy, he's going to have some run after catch speed. He's a, he's a physical guy. Now what did they say they love about him is blocking. Right. Oh and by the way on the Caleb Black thing, Kyle Shanahan, he sounded like traumatized. He's like last year was the first year forever. We didn't have any running backs. You know, it's like he's, he'll just never have enough running backs. You know, it's like his, his security blank. He's like I gotta have more running backs because of all those years that he had to have guys out there that you don't want out there. I guess, I don't know. So with Stribling they said blocking, blocking, blocking, blocking, you know. And when I think of blocking for wide receivers, I think of oh, that 15 yard run ended up being a 40 yard run or a 60 yard touchdown because of that wide receiver block downfield. Right. But Dustin opened my eyes to something else that I think is being overlooked with Stribling and why they emphasize blocking and why it matters for fantasy is the Zwam block guy.

A (29:07)

Yes.

B (29:08)

And these insert routes and it's the mold of Cooper Cup, Puka Nakua. I'm not saying he's on the lat level as a, as a receiver.

A (29:20)

How about Juan Jennings as a more reasonable Juan Jennings?

B (29:24)

But he, you know, but he's more physically, he's got more than Jennings. Maybe he's not. He doesn't have quite the ball. You know, Juwan Jennings at his best looked like Brandon Marshall going for the ball. And believe me, if I'm bringing up Brandon Marshall so he. I think Juwan Jennings was a little bit underrated because he had that poor 40 time which didn't match his play speed and it wasn't factoring like wow, what kind of ball skills and catch rate he is. All this dribbling is good, but yes, Juwan Jennings. Juwan Jennings has mattered for fantasy football. And again, if we see this wide receiver group as very shaky and now Stribling has a way to get targets where sometimes, Dave, he's the player that is schemed to get open on the play. I mean, now I want to maybe move Stribling up ahead of fields, you know, or at least say like, hey, in typical rookie drafts, I don't know because I'm going on my own instruments here. You know, if Hurst and Brazel are falling well after stribling, you know, take, take Stribling first and maybe you can get one of the other ones. So let me put it this way. I'm open to stribling being when the dust settles in this draft, a top five wide receiver. And maybe even depending on how things go in Philadelphia, depending on whether Jordan Tyson can stay healthy, you know, maybe even like top three.

A (30:38)

Yeah, and I don't think that's crazy at all. And Stribling was a guy that I liked before the draft just because in, you know, a shaky kind of un known wide receiver class, the athletic profile alone was enough to get excited about. I mean, this guy is just a super athlete. And then you talk about the blocking. I think that's a learned developmental skill. And you look at so many of the guys like that have come out of Ole Miss. Trey Harris was one of the best blocking receivers we saw in last year's class. AJ Brown, a phenomenal blocker as well. So that's something that they ask these receivers to do a lot at Ole Miss. And it actually kind of pads the per route run numbers that we get so excited about because they aren't running routes on every single play. They're in there blocking a lot as well. And I think that just fits perfectly with what the 49ers are trying to do. But let's take a Look at some of these round one receivers, and we mentioned a few of their names already. But when people are going through their rookie drafts, we talk so much about tiers. So I want to ask, you know, if you've got your rankings pulled up, kind of where we draw the tiers in these early wide receivers. So we've got Cardinal Tate and Jordan Tyson. Would you say they're in a tier by themselves or are you putting Malik, Makai, Lemon in there? You put in Casey Concepcion in there. Where's your kind of top tier for the receivers?

B (31:45)

I'm putting tier Tate. Tate in a tier by himself. Tate is a tier.

A (31:50)

I'm with you too, and I'm all right.

B (31:52)

And it's because he's a number one receiver. I think he's already shown more versatility being used on more parts of the field, more parts of the route tree than Tyson. You don't have durability concerns. You know, I just think that there's. There's a scenario with Tyson where we say, yup, hurt guys stay hurt. And we're already seeing Ricky Pearsall as a cautionary example here. So I just think with Tyson, like, you do have to take that seriously. And the other thing is, it combines with my pause on Tyson is that people got confused with toughness and competitive toughness. I call it competitive toughness, which is when you encounter a confrontation, a one man on one man confrontation on the field, whether it be press coverage, jam, whether it be getting jostled in your route, whether it be run after catch tackle attempts, whether it be bids for the ball, contested catches. Jordan Tyson, you know, kind of a finesse guy. So that I think is also a risk factor for him. Tate doesn't really have a risk factor. I shouldn't say that I'm going to bloom him, but he doesn't really have one. So I think he's in a tier. And then Dave, I'm going to say, you know, Lemons in the next tier. He's just got that dog in him. I don't love the landing spot, but, man, I wanted this landing spot a lot more.

A (33:14)

When AJ Brown is eventually traded to

B (33:16)

the baseball, although he's not, he's not a one for one replacement for A.J. brown. He's not going to play at all like the role A.J. brown played. And the other thing is, you know, we're going to see about Jalen Hurts. You know, this could be kind of a quarterback situation that goes off the rails in the next year or two if Jalen hurts, doesn't prove himself with Sean Manion and and then was that

A (33:34)

I see Makai Lemon and Eli Stowers kind of in the aggregate can do all of the AJ Brown things like there's no one to one replacement but you what Makai Lemon does best, you take what Eli Stowers does best and you've kind of got like a semblance of an A.J.

B (33:47)

brown there in the middle of the field. And that's going to be the case is whether Jalen hurts can really unlock that middle of the field. And we'll see. You know, there's Eagles are at a crossroads, but I do think that those, those two, Lemon and Tyson are another tier because I think that with Concepcion going to Cleveland and then Cleveland also drafting

A (34:17)

Denzel Boston.

B (34:18)

Denzel Boston and Joe Lawyer who is

A (34:21)

a good pass catcher. Yeah.

B (34:22)

But also. Yeah, I mean look, I'm going to, I'm just going to go ahead and handle Sadiq, Kenyan Sadiq, Omar Cooper, Denzel Boston, those three I'm going to handle all at once. And really Casey Concepcion to an extent. But look, if you've got like in an offense only rookie draft and you've got like the sixth or seventh pick one quarterback, you know, you don't need Fernando Mendoza. I'm not going to say don't take Casey Concepcion because he's the kind of player that should be the top target earner eventually in his offense. But here's how I'm going to handle all these Cleveland and Jets guys. Okay? I think, Dave, that we in dynasty rookie drafts have been valuing opportunity incorrectly because we're focused on early opportunity and that's really what we want to weigh. And there's value to early opportunity. There's value and that's part of the draft capital model, right? There's value to early opportunity. There's value to looking at the depth chart and saying is this, is there an opening for this player to prove himself soon? However, I think we are deficient at valuing quality of opportunity. And whether you get to play in one year or three years, like what kind of offense are you in? And in general, is this organization, is this coaching staff known for getting more out of players, creating overachievers, or are they known for underachievers? Okay, here's the simplest way to think about it, folks. When you are using your dynasty rookie picks or when you're making fantasy football picks, but especially dynasty rookie picks, because we're mirroring the NFL here. You are hiring the team to develop your rookie for you. Like you really Going to hire the jets or the Browns. Like, it better be a compelling, compelling player if you're going to say like, well, these organizations. When was the last time the jets had an overachiever at tight end in fantasy football? Let me answer that. Never. Never. The jets have never. When was the last time the jets had an overachiever at wide receiver? Jericho Cautery?

A (36:42)

Maybe. Maybe we get our second Brendan Marshall reference here.

B (36:45)

Yeah, Brandon Marshall with Ryan Fitzpatrick. That's fair.

A (36:48)

One year.

B (36:48)

That's fair. But I just mean, like someone they drafted and then like made them into a better player or a more productive player than expected, you know, or even as expected with Breece hall and Garrett Wilson. So, you know, first. First round draft capital. I don't care. I don't care. And the other thing I'm going to say about Omar Cooper and Kenyan Sadiq is they overlap roles. The Jets. I mean, this is like fantasy drafting, Dave, where you take both sides of a running back handcuff. It's like. I mean, running back committee. It's like. But no, you just made it. So you've lowered the upside of your roster now because if Kenyan Sadiq is good, he's going to keep Omar Cooper off the field. And if Omar Cooper is good, he's going to keep Kenyan Sadiq off the field. Neither of them can play X. Receiver Garrett Wilson plays Z. Well, I mean, maybe they could do something bad and move Garrett Wilson to the X and kind of waste him, you know, I don't know. But Sadiq and Cooper are both guys that are that fifth eligible receiver, not the running back, not the inline tight end, not the X and not the Z. So that's yet another reason. And if you like desean Watson, you know, I mean, now this talk that he's going to start, I mean, not that you. So I'm buying it.

A (38:02)

Who else is it going to be?

B (38:03)

Well, no, I'm buying it. I'm buying it because it also sounds like an owner kind of thing. Thing. And also like, just shudder, Sanders. The NFL doesn't like him, you know, like they just don't like him. But all I'm trying to say is like, like, why are you going to take a shot at that? Like, like what, like what scenario can you construct? We're like, no, no, like Omar Cooper Jr. That's going to be the guy that reverses the curse, you know? So, Casey, can you talk about quality of targets?

A (38:29)

I just like, you could put some numbers here. Like last year, Justin Jefferson, 31 target share, like one of the best in the league on the Vikings and he got outscored by Devonte Adams 23% target share because the difference in quality of targets, you know, one of these is coming from Matthew Stafford. One is coming from whoever was also

B (38:46)

red zone targets, touchdowns. So you know, that was a, I mean I use a lot of words, but I do think that we can do better than just blind draft capital. Yes, right. Some percentage of first round wide receivers or top 40 wide receivers have hit. But let's look at the subgroups, who's hit and who hasn't. Now let's talk about the case we're talking about now. Does he resemble the guys that have hit or the guys that haven't? Okay. And a lot of the first round wide receivers who haven't hit is because they just ended up in trash offenses. So I don't think it's controversial to say like, nah, take somebody else.

A (39:23)

So again, you know, trying to try to not, not, not challenge your opinion. But I think with Casey Concepcion, the reason I see the upside here, I have a lot of faith in Todd Monken and maybe I shouldn't but like we saw what he was doing at Georgia was very exciting. Like the way that he kind of changed up the offense in Baltimore, turned Lamar Jackson from this run first quarterback into this hyper efficient quarterback. And when I see Casey Concepcion, I do see some Zay Flowers there. You know, a guy who can win all over the field, a super twitched up guy that can create immediate separation. But you do make a good point about just the Browns history and like how that has turned out. But I keep talking myself into Casey Concepcion just stepping into this Zay Flowers role. Of course they don't have Lamar Jackson there to facilitate the offense and that could be the problem. But I think long term, like I'm just a fan of Concepcion. You've talked a lot about stories, you know, you like guys that have good stories. Casey Concepcion, I mean this is just a small blip of who he is. But the way that he is like owned the stutter and like made it a part of his personality and that it is like helped shape him into the player. He is just such an easy player to root for. And yeah, betting for that first round guy on Cleveland to hit has typically been a losing bet. But I don't know, there's something about Casey Concepcion that I'm just like innately drawn to in these rookie drafts.

B (40:36)

No, I get it too. And he also has his own nonprofit like to help out, like community outreach already, which is some of his nil money to set it up. And I do think that he does project as a top target earner and again, the top five in rookie drafts. Love, Tate, Tyson, Lemon, price, some order. So if you're sitting at number six, you know, if it's not tight end premium and I like Eli Stowers, I won't say don't take Eli's towers there. Even in one quarterback leagues, I won't say don't take Fernando Mendoza. If in a PPR league, I'm probably going to take Casey Concepcion, you know, so I'm not like, I'm not saying like nuke him, but I just think that it's because of the weakness in the first round of rookie drafts that pushes him into the middle of that first round. But you wanted him to end up just about anywhere else but Cleveland. Okay, maybe like Pittsburgh would have been worse. I don't know.

A (41:34)

And even if you feel okay about the Cleveland pick, then they followed up with Denzel Boston. Then they followed up with Joe Royer. Like just more mouths to feed. So I get what you're saying when

B (41:41)

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B (42:11)

Ryan Reynolds here from Mint Mobile. I don't know if you knew this, but anyone can get the same Premium Wireless for $15 a month plan that I've been enjoying. It's not just for celebrities. So do like I did and have one of your assistant's assistants switch you to Mint Mobile today. I'm told it's super easy to do@mintmobile.com Switch upfront payment of $45 for 3

A (42:32)

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A (42:36)

then full price plan options available, taxes and fees, extra fee, full terms@mintmobile.com but let's keep moving down. You know, we've talked about the round one guys. We've talked about some of the round two guys. Round three is where we just saw so many receipts. We saw 19 receivers drafted on round three. I was hanging out with Jeff Bell this weekend in person. You know, we're sitting on my Couch. I'm doing all of the running back outlooks for the rookie guide. Jeff is doing the wide receiver outlook and I'm, you know, tidying up around the house. I'm taking the dog for a walk. I'm getting a shower, getting a workout and poor Jeff is just sitting here. He goes, I'm finally caught up. And I said, jeff, three more wide receivers were just drafted. I mean like he could not get on top of this. It was just like every minute another wide receiver was getting drafted. So. So looking at some of these guys that were drafted in rounds four, five, six, seven, is there any one, two, maybe even three that kind of jump out? Typically a losing bet betting on a day three wide receiver. But we do see guys emerge and when they emerge, they end up being the best values from that class. I'm thinking Puka Nukua, Amon Ross St. Brown, Tyreek Hill, Stefan Diggs. Do you think we could have a guy like that in this class?

B (43:38)

Yeah. Oh yeah. I think the third day and even a couple of undrafted, I'll cover some ground here. And again we need to look at the organization and then we also need to look at how the organization has been able to. So not talking about the third rounders because I do want to talk about the third rounders but we can give them a little deeper treatment. But talking about. And I'm just going to go through the Bloom 100 and tell you who I've got because I think there's a lot of really intriguing guys from the third day and my favorite is definitely Cyrus Allen. I mean Cyrus Allen is like just one of the most dynamic movers I would say if you're talking about just pure movement skills. Cyrus Allen moves like Jordan Tyson. I mean just. And maybe a little more under control to be honest with Kansas City. You know, Rasheed Rice off field stuff. Xavier Worthy, can he stay healthy? Is he good? Patrick Mahomes, by the way, I think was very underreported that Patrick Mahomes turned back into like the God Patrick Mahomes last year and yeah, he messed up his knee but I think that Cyrus Allen and let's not forget about Jalen Royals there either. Who they really like then Skyler Bell. A lot of people love Skyler Bell. A lot of people. Matt Waldman favorite, Jeff Bell favorite into him now. My knee jerk reaction was like, well, Khalil Shakir is going to be there for a couple more years. DJ Moore is going to be there for a couple more years. It is a great landing spot. It is a great organization to land in, a great quarterback to play with. However, you know, he might look more dynamic than Khalil Shakir in a similar role and he could be earning snaps over, say, Josh Palmer and Keon Coleman. If he can play, he's gonna be playing with Josh Allen. So I think that he's probably underrated.

A (45:53)

I'll talk about Skyler Bell for a quick.

B (45:55)

Please do, please.

A (45:56)

This was like a 1am conversation Jeff Bell and I are having just, you know, deep after day three, kind of talking through all these players. And I think about Joe Brady did in Carolina, where he had this rotation of three guys that could do a lot of the same things. And I'm not saying there's any Christian McCaffrey in Buffalo, but you would see Curtis Samuel, DJ Moore, Christian McCaffrey just all on the field, all in a rotation. You'd see Christian McCaffrey out wide, you'd see D.J. moore in the backfield. And there were three guys that were cut from a similar cloth. And when I look at DJ Moore, Khalil Shakir and Skyler Bell, also three guys cut from a similar cloth, three guys who can rotate and play every position, guys who can get in the backfield and handle carries out of there as well. We have seen that Joe Brady likes to have this sort of versatility with his receivers, even if they are similar archetypes. So I think Keon Coleman is the loser here. And I'd expect that on three wide receiver sets, we're going to see DJ Moore, Khalil Shakir and Skyler Bell all out on the field and defenses aren't going to know what to expect from any of them.

B (46:50)

I like that. I mean, I think that especially because DJ Moore is not known for his precise route running, you know, so maybe you don't have like a true traditional ex, like someone that clears out. But I do think the bottom line is the kind of player that Skyler Bell is, as you're pointing out, as I was talking about Waldman about him on the phone yesterday, you know, there's a lot of ways he can find the field. Got to mention Brennan Thompson. You know, Mike McDaniel's excited about him. Isn't that. I mean, Mike McDaniel and speed at wide receivers.

A (47:22)

And a big army quarterback.

B (47:24)

And a big army quarterback. And Matt Harmon, my nephew, reception perception, you know, he said, hey, nope, there's something, Brandon. There's a. There's so much speed at wide receiver in this draft, but Brennan Thompson is the one that looks like the Most credible actual wide receiver out of all these guys that can run like, you know, win the hundred yard dash. C.J. daniels, okay, the Rams gave up three picks to get him and they only had four picks left in the draft. And the Rams know what to do with late round picks. I mean, the Rams have their fits. They also didn't have a fourth or a fifth round pick. So I'm wondering like, how long. Dave, how long were they like, Daniel's still there. There we go. Trade up as wait. Because Daniels, if you just look at ball skills, he's among the top in his class. And I think his speed is a bit underrated, maybe a bit of a finesse receiver, but he's more dynamic than say Kanata Mumfield, who's a more technically sound receiver if you're looking at, well, who's going to replace Devonte Adams eventually. I mean, they like Daniels. We're talking about fourth round picks in rookie drafts. I think Josh Cameron's a really interesting guy. Josh Cameron, Dave, I just think the NFL doesn't know what to do with a wide receiver that looks and moves like him. He, he kind of is like a Brandon Jacobs. I mean, he looks, you almost look at Josh Cameron, you think like, you might be able to turn him into a defensive end. You know, he's a power player. He's not sudden. Okay. He's not really swift in a straight line, but he's not a slug. But he's a power guy. He's. He has a running back mentality, but he has great ball skills. The fact that Jacksonville took him and they moved up a little bit for him, but Jacksonville I think is an organization that will say like, we don't care what anybody else thinks. We think we can do something with this guy. So just put a pin in that one. I know Matt Waldman was like, tim, Kendrick Law is another guy. And all these guys are guys on the third day that these teams were like, let's trade up. Let's make sure we get him. Even if it was just a couple

A (49:28)

lot of day three movers.

B (49:29)

Yeah, that's just the team saying, like, we like this guy. Okay? Kendrick Law is. He doesn't quite have the edge that Amon Ross St. Brown has, but he works in the same part of the field. He, he's really crafty, he's really sudden in a phone booth quicks kind of way. And it's possible, like Ammon Ross ain't Brown, that he can do more as a downfield receiver. He just wasn't asked to do it. Maybe he's not a burner. Kendrick Law. But again, good organizations. So what's, you know, what do all these guys have in common, Dave? Like Rams, Jags, Lions, you know, chargers with Mike McDaniel. What am I looking for in these? Skyler Bell, Buffalo. What am I looking for here? Kansas City. All these guys landed in good organizations, good offenses. And gotta mention Dion Burks. Just because I think it was a back I haven't really followed up. He should have been a third or fourth round pick. Fell to the seventh round. I think it's something medical. So yeah, I mean, I think that there are plenty of these third day wide receivers. There are lots of guys. Bryce Lance. That's your third one.

A (50:46)

I was going to mention we were enticed.

B (50:49)

Go ahead.

A (50:50)

And that was it. I mean, it's not even that I'm especially excited about Bryce Lance. I mean, I do like throwing darts on the guys with this sort of athletic profile. I mean, this guy is just a fre athlete if he's able to put it together. But I think me, when I see them go with Tyson early and then I see them go with Lance late, I mean, they're just pushing all the chips in to see what they have in Tyler Schuck this year. And I think that's probably the biggest takeaway from the Saints draft is that they're, I don't, I don't even want to say belief in Schuck, but they're at least going to give him an honest opportunity this year and Saints fans should be pretty excited about that.

B (51:21)

Yeah, I would go one step further and say, and I love that you did that, Dave. I think that, I think the most interesting thing in the draft, by far more than any fantasy football thing, is looking at the draft as a whole and saying like almost psychoanalysis kind of way. Like, what is this telling us about how this team sees themselves? What they think matters, what direction they're going. And without a doubt, Dave, I would go one step further and say Mickey Loomis did not just draft like they believe in Tyler Schuck. I mean, he drafted like Tyler Schuck was the number two overall pick last year. And you're building around your franchise quarterback. Now you're saying we have our franchise quarterback. Now we're gonna let him take off. And aggressively too, because let's include Oscar Delp, who we'll talk about. Yeah. So three out of the first four picks are vertical threats. And what more do you. And they have a good offensive line too, by the way. So yes, the other takeaway in a similar vein that I want to make sure that folks understand is that when John Eric Sullivan said, because they asked him like, how are you going to evaluate Malik Willis? You know, he said, well, we did a three year deal because we are going to have multiple drafts, he said, multiple drafts that were. And we're going to make some noise in free agency next year to build a team around Malik Willis. Okay. And he even said something the effect of like Malik knew the shape the roster was in. Almost like they had to apologize to him, be like, hey, you want to come down, be our quarterback? I know like the team doesn't look that good right now, but let's sign you for three years. And the other side of this equation, Dave, is if you look at the Miami draft and you say, okay, if you were building a team again, like imagine Malik Wilson was their first round pick last year at quarterback and he looked promising enough that you're like, okay, this is going to be your quarterback on a rookie contract and you can build around him. How would you build around Malik Willis? That's exactly what their draft looked like. And I think that it's, it's something that for fantasy football you got to take heed of. And also if you, I think there's a reasonable chance that they're going to be successful. But that is, that is our. And with Bryce Lance, I, I think that unlike Ted Hurst, because we're talking about these third round receivers. Unlike Ted Hurst, I think Bryce Lance, I mean the speed and the ball skills are there for sure. I do think he's going to have more of growing pains to like just the way that corners play. And I say that he can be Marquez Valdez gambling and I mean that as a compliment, but I feel like, and hey, if Jordan Tyson can't stay healthy now, Bryce Lance becomes a lot more interesting. But I still think he's more of a one dimensional player in the NFL.

A (54:05)

And I also, when I look at what the Saints did and then a couple other teams that jump out to mind, you know, the jets loaded up on offensive skill players, the Browns loaded up on offensive skill players, that tells me that like hey, if we can find success this year, great. But if not in this quarterback rich 2027 class, then hopefully we can draft a guy that we can drop into a system that already has some guys with a little bit of experience make it easier for that young quarterback if they do have to go that route.

B (54:33)

I'm sorry, I'm being negative.

A (54:35)

Nothing to apologize for. Yeah, yeah, let's hear it.

B (54:37)

But I do want to draw a distinction between what the Saints and Dolphins did and what the Browns and Jets did. Because I think what the Saints and Dolphins did were like building with a specific blueprint of an offense in mind around the players that they have. I think what the Browns and Jets did is they went grocery shopping and they were like, I don't know, maybe they know how to cook chicken. Maybe they know how to cook beef. Maybe they know how never go grocery

A (55:01)

shopping when you're hungry and the Browns are starving right now.

B (55:04)

Well, that's the whole thing. It was almost. Dave, it was almost like a draft. It was like, well, they're going to say, what did you do for the offense? Well, this is what we did. Now can I tell you what the plan is based on that? I don't think there's more of a plan than that because, well, they don't. Neither team has a quarterback of the future on their roster right now.

A (55:20)

I think that that's a good point. And you know, yeah, I think that there's more of a vision to what they're doing in Miami and New Orleans. But I want to talk about some these tight ends and I think this is the perfect. You know, we talk about draft capital. Draft capital gets discussed so much after the draft. If there's one position that you could really say draft capital does not matter, it's tight end. Because there's so many different types of tight ends. And I think people are going to see, oh, who's this Nate Borkirker guy who got drafted in round two? And Marlon Klein and Sam Roush and Will Kazmark and Max Bredesen. These guys are not fantasy relevant. Like these are extensions of offensive line. Max Bredesen is more of a fullback than he is a tight end. So if you are just kind of blindly following draft capital, there's some landmines to watch out for at the tight end position. But who are some of the pass catching tight ends, Sig? The guys that we should actually be targeting in fantasy football?

B (56:10)

Yeah, yeah,

A (56:13)

you already mentioned Delp. I think Delp is the perfect. Like Delp is not a blocker. He's not a Nate Bowker.

B (56:18)

Look, I'm Dell's my number two tight end after Stowers. I mean, we talked about Stowers. Look, just really quickly on Stowers, folks, I know there's some medical concerns about like some previous injuries. Oh, well, you know, and by the way, on that note, Daquan Wright, who is an undrafted free agent for the Eagles. If Stowers is a medical bust, Daquan Wright is probably one of the top five receiving tight ends in this class. Ball skills. I mean, look, I. Over on the old base camp, I was talking to our mutual friend Jason Wood about this because he was asking me about undrafted tight ends. And I said, look, whether it's wide receiver to tight end converts or basketball converts, the NFL has shown us that for a receiving tight end, you need to be big, you need to be athletic and you need to have ball skills. If you've never really played big time football before, that doesn't matter. We can teach you the rest. Okay, so who checks those boxes? I mentioned Daquan Wright, you know, Oscar Delp absolutely checks those boxes. Guy that wasn't used that much at Georgia, but he can be a vertical threat at tight end. And then I think that you have to go down to Michael Trigg. So I think that, you know, basically there's four, there's three, four fantasy tight ends that I'm really interested in. I mean, really, Stowers, Delp and Trig. I mean, yes, Kenyon Siddiq, but he's going to be overdraft.

A (57:48)

I could already hear the YouTubers furiously typing away asking why you aren't mentioning Sadiq here. And I know your reason, but he's Johnny Smith.

B (57:57)

He's, he's Delaney Walker and not in a good organization. And he doesn't have the mean streak that Delaney Walker had either. Okay? He's just. I'm going to do it. I'm going to do, I promise you folks, I'm going to start doing more impromptu videos on our YouTube channels. On our YouTube channel, on Audible channel. Subscribe, like, and subscribe to. Do all the subscribing to football guy stuff and get notifications and all that.

A (58:20)

We should have done that like 50 minutes ago. So thank you for being the professional.

B (58:23)

Yeah, that's just me. Because we're here to talk, right, Sadiq? I'm gonna do a short treatment on like I went back. I've gone back and watched him a couple times. Like, am I missing something? And we'll start a conversation about that. But look, I would take Delp before Sadiq anyway, and I wouldn't necessarily take Michael Trigg before Sadiq. But let me tell you folks, Michael Trigg is basically like, you remember Jared Cook? Like, imagine if Jared Cook could actually catch. I mean, Michael Trigg doesn't have the straight line speed that Jared Cook had, but physically he has the same kind of presence at the catch point. But he, he is incredibly talented as a receiver and he has all the athleticism. Like, you watch him, you're like, okay, that fits in the NFL. Lots of character concerns. I mean, he's a knucklehead. Like in, in the scouting community, they call him a knucklehead or maybe a turd, you know, or like, like somebody that's just like, oh, how do you motivate this guy?

A (59:23)

But listen, listen, inconsistent effort is the

B (59:27)

incident and one game suspensions for breaking team rules, things like that. Okay, Dave, if you were an agent representing a player like that, I'd say you get to pick. Out of all 32 teams where your knucklehead is going to play, what team would you pick?

A (59:45)

Probably the Patriots would be mine. Like, we, we've seen them at least bring in knuckleheads and try to reform them.

B (59:51)

If it was Belichick, like, do your job philosophy. I mean, maybe my, I mean, like for no comment, I would say the Cowboys. I mean, I really think that he landed in the perfect organization. I really think he landed in the perfect.

A (60:03)

Jerry Jones does a good job of harnessing knuckleheads.

B (60:05)

Well, and just saying, like, you got a clean slate here, man.

A (60:08)

Right.

B (60:08)

I mean, I think Pete Carroll used to do that. I think Kansas City does that. Kansas City is another organization, I think, but Dallas is a player's organization. I mean, it's, it's a player's atmosphere. I think Brian Schottenheimer being hired basically signified that, like, let's let this current group of players stay together and make this happen. Other than Michael Parsons. So I just feel like Michael Trigg, like, I'm twice as interested in him. I was already pretty interested in him. I'm twice as interested in him now with Trigg in an organization like Dallas, I just think that's, that's. And you know, again, like, of course Dak Prescott and then RJ Maryland. And RJ Maryland is another guy you have to take seriously because Russell, Maryland's kid, you have to take him seriously because he runs a 45 at like 6 4, 2 4. He has ball skills, you know, he has hands, he has ball skills, he looks natural. And also he's coming off an ACL tear last year. So. Dave, I think that, yes, he went undrafted, but it's very possible that he's going to get some bur. He's going to get to. For his body type and, you know, elite speed, you know, speed score or whatever you want to call it. And he landed with Green Bay. So I think that Green Bay, at least there's a role there for someone like him. Maybe he can do some of the stuff like Luke Musgrave couldn't do as a receiving threat because Musgrave athletic. Remember he drafted Musgrave before Kraft. But Musgrave's athleticism, his raw athleticism, never really translated. Two more undrafted. Oh, and I'll mention Hibner just because Baltimore needed to replace Likely and they did trade up with him. And Eli Reardon, the third round pick for New England has upside, but it's like a slow burn, like two or three years probably.

A (61:56)

Oh, he to me is so obviously the heir apparent for Hunter Henry. Probably such similar problems and I think what's that? He could develop, right. You know, hopefully he gets a touchdown because that's how Hunter Henry gets his family.

B (62:07)

I mean, that's the problem. Right. I mean, right. So you're going to hang on to Eli Radon for two years to see what he's worth.

A (62:13)

I would rather take, maybe get a touchdown dependent flexible.

B (62:16)

Right now, Michael Trigg's either going to get cut or. Ooh, watch out. Right. Russell Roger Maryland will get cut or. Okay, now we've got something rolling. I'll mention John Michael Gillenborg. Now, this is another guy, the most athletic tight end in the draft as far as just pure numbers.

A (62:33)

Shocked he didn't get drafted just because of that athleticism.

B (62:36)

And he has ball skills again, like you watch him play, like, he looks like. He looks like he can handle catching the ball. And I already mentioned Daquan Wright, so. Yeah. And you know, out of the blocking tight ends, I think that Tucker Kraft, who wasn't a true pure blocking tight end, he had shown some of this athleticism. I think Breton Strange broke out more as A receiver and A.J. barner. Now, does that equal fantasy relevance? Yeah, I don't know. But a guy like Ketzmaric, a guy like Sam Roush, especially if Colson Loveland got hurt or something like that. So I don't want to totally write these guys off board. Kirker, I don't want to totally write these guys off. But at the same time, I think you're right, Dave, to just put them all in one bag and say, like, just use your picks elsewhere. Yeah.

A (63:25)

And. And you know, a guy like Tucker Kraft too, like, yeah, we get excited about the fantasy production, but that is such a. We don't see that often.

B (63:31)

We're coaching and he's a psycho. I mean, the thing is, like, what you could See about him. And it was on his tape at San Diego State. I mean, South Dakota State. And the other thing about Kraft, if you're paying attention and you listen to my show with Dane Brugler that year, he said, hey, Alabama wanted Kraft. Like, Alabama came calling for Craft, he's like, no, I want to finish out my time with my program. So that should have showed you the caliber, Tom. But you could watch Tucker Craft and you're like, this dude looks like Conan the Barbarian in the opening.

A (64:01)

Yes.

B (64:01)

You know, you could see that. And there's not like, I mean, Sam Roush actually has really good hands. He looks more athletic than his numbers, short arms. Like, I just don't know how he's going to win at the catch point. Like, there's like, there's not that guy that I'm like, ooh, you put this. He's a receiving tight end. Even Max Claire. Yes, he's the Rams, but they have five tight ends. Like, they're telling you like, like, we want to have a ton of tight ends. None of them are going to stand out.

A (64:26)

Yeah. And I'm with you. And I want to go back on one thing you said too, kind of talking. And it just something in my mind when you were talking about Michael Trigg and you were talking about RJ Maryland, Michael Trigg fell for some character reasons and RJ Maryland fell for the injury reasons. And it sounds counterintuitive, but those are the bets that you want to make on these day three and UDFA guys. If you look historically the UDFAs, the day three guys that do hit fall for character concerns or fall for injury concerns, it's because they're talented players that had good reason to fall in the NFL draft. So, yeah, I'm completely with you on Trig and Maryland, two guys that I still like even though they didn't get drafted. And Sig, typically when we are doing a post draft show, there's a lot of talk about the quarterbacks. There isn't a ton to talk about this year. I mean, really not much to talk about at all. So I'll set the question up regarding Fernando Mendoza. And this is wild that we're talking about this as a number one overall pick. If I were to set the over under for games started this year, 3.5, are you taking the over or the under on that line? Yeah, it's tough.

B (65:27)

Well, because they can be competitive. Because I do think this team, John Spytack had a great draft. We don't know how much Pete Carroll and the Sort of clown trove. Coaching staff he put together was holding things back. Not everybody on the coaching staff, but you know, when your son's the offensive line coach. So I mean, that's really tough. But I think that that's part of why Mendoza and I think from a fantasy standpoint, Mendoza has a ceiling or maybe somewhere between, like it's a ceiling. But his median is really high to his ceiling because he's just such a solid prospect, you know, like a Brock Purdy. Now he might not be in as souped up an offense as Brock Purdy. I think he's as athletic as. Or Tyler Schuck, you know, now that isn't the kind of talent you're used to. But I think it also shows you the NFL is realizing, Dave, that like processor is important. Emotional tranquility in big moments is important. You know, processor is important. I mean, I'm sorry. Decision making, not just processing, but decision making, which are two different things. There's like, do you see it? Do you actually perceive it? And then like, what do you do with what you see and perceive? So I think that it represents evolution. He's like Brock Purdy. Mr. Irrelevant. Tyler Schuck was a second round pick. But why are they hitting. It's the processor, it's the decision making and it's. The game's not too big for them. Ty Simpson's interesting. You know, when the Rams target somebody, you're going to pay attention. Is he going to even start in the first two or three years? Dave, we're going to be looking at him like barely playing football for like six out of seven years, like a Trey Lance kind of thing. Now, that being said, in a super flex league, if you say, well, I heard what you said about Casey Concepcion, I'm thinking about Ty Simpson at six. Yeah. In a super flex league, sure, they're telling you we're going to give him a chance to start, but for fantasy, his ceiling is like Jimmy Garoppolo.

A (67:16)

I want to say, According to Sean McVeigh, he's still got to beat out Stetson Bennett, which is just right to come out and say, but that's.

B (67:23)

Yeah, that whole thing is strange because, you know, teams often try to be like, no, no, no, no, what you thought was happening wasn't happening. But sometimes it was. But I do think I'm going to spice up the, the quarterbacks a little bit. Okay. Taylor Green and Cole Payton are both guys that. Okay, let's think about dynasty value. There's the numerator in a fraction the top number is the likelihood of them hitting. Let's say for Peyton and green it's 5%, you know, but then there's the numerator which is what would they be worth in fantasy football if they hit? Oh, they would both be like mid quarterback ones. Yeah. You know, they're both incredible athletes and natural runners. So if it's a 5% chance of having a mid quarterback one, their ceilings are higher than Fernando Mendoza's. You know, that's worth something. And you get this 1% back door cover out Dave, where Green could be converted to wide receiver and Peyton has already had some snaps at tight end. And then I'll sprinkle a little more on top and say, well we know Cleveland. I mean Green could see snaps by the end of the year and with Peyton, Eagles aren't sold on Jalen hurts long term. So I mean there's, there's a, there's a crack there. And I'm going to bring up two more names. Now of course there's Carson Beck and there's Drew Aller. I guess the theory if I'm a Steelers fans would be Penn State did him wrong. I don't know that Mike McCarthy really makes me want to get Will Howard because again like the mental exercise Dave of like it's Drew Aller's turn in the drill in training camp now will Howard really come, you know, comparing the two of them right now, at least Will Howard's gonna look, if you want to look young and skinny, hang around with old fat people. Okay. And, and Carson Beck's gonna get a chance to start. Cade Klubnick might be get a chance to start. So in super flex leagues just that they could start by the end of the year.

A (69:23)

That's the intriguing thing. Yeah. We could see a lot of these quarterbacks who fell are in positions where they could very easily end up starting a half. Absolutely.

B (69:30)

Now they're going to probably show why they fell in the draft. Like that's what mostly happens. But there are two undrafted quarterbacks I think for fantasy that especially in super flex leagues. But just put a pin in it, okay. I think both of these guys could at least be like to Rod Taylor's. When we look back, one the more exciting one athletically is Haynes King from Georgia Tech. Now he ended up with Carolina and he only has to beat out what Kenny Pickett, you know, hey, and we'll see about Bryce Young. I think that the Panthers should sign him long term. Now if you're wrong, oh well, eat your 80 million dollar dead hit. But why not just proceed with confidence? I don't know, but I'm just saying, like, we're not saying Bryce Young is going to be. It's not like he's behind Drake May or something, you know.

A (70:25)

Right.

B (70:26)

And then the other one is Jalen Daniels, and Jalen Daniels is not quite. I mean, he's more like a 4, 6 runner, and he. His problem is he's built more like a wide receiver, like a. Like a utility wide receiver, you know, like a 6 foot, 200 pound guy. But Greg Cosell loves him. And I mean, there's people that like, just make me pause. Like Matt Waldman, you know, I was like, well, they love a player. He loves Daniel's arm talent. And he has been watching football. Folks, I'm going to look in the camera because this is important. If you love. I mean, if you've sat through this, then you must geek out on all the layers of football. All the intellectually stimulating layers of football. And Greg Cosell, really. Steve and Ed Sable in NFL Films. And Steve Sable, like, rest in peace. Ed Sable, rest in peace. We all owe a huge debt to them, the way they presented the game from a narrative point of view. But Steve Sable, the son, started NFL matchup in the 80s, and Greg Cosell became a big part of that. And at the time, Dave, the ESPN's perspective was like, who would watch a show about this? Like X's and O's and stuff. Like, football fans don't care about that. Remember the opening to like NFL Today or what have you would be like, guys getting blown up, like hits. That would all be illegal now. Right? Yeah. That was how they thought the NFL should be marketed.

A (71:59)

There was no intellectualism in football.

B (72:00)

There was no fantasy. Pure podcasts, man.

A (72:03)

Right.

B (72:04)

We had to right that wrong, dude. So you know Greg Cosell loves Daley Daniels. He's in Tampa. Baker Mayfield. I still think Baker Mayfield. The story last year was he was just hurt. He was hurt, okay. But I could be wrong. And Grego Sullivan's a quarterback again. He only has to beat out Jake Browning to be the backup.

A (72:26)

So let me just ask you, because we've gone through all the positions now. We've talked about all of the players for the most part. Do you just have like one final kind of overarching take on this draft class? Because so many people are just quick to say, like, everybody in this class sucks. Trade all of your picks for 2027s. And me personally, Sig, like, I am always trying to zig one other Zag. So when I see everybody saying this class sucks, I. I just see an opportunity for value here. Like, I just want more 20, 26 picks. Sure, there's uncertainty in this class, but I think it's crazy to pretend like there isn't going to be some elite fantasy producers that emerge from this class overall. And that's kind of my overarching take.

B (73:04)

Yes, the hate has gone too far. And, you know, why are you playing fantasy football if you're just looking at this like assets, go mess with your stock portfolio or something? This is about football and why we started Dynasty fantasy football. Why we love it so much is because we get to simulate being a GM and even a bad draft, good draft, whatever. The cool thing about this draft. And by the way, if it's an IDP league, it's a great draft. So play IDP leagues because you'll have more fun, you'll learn more, and this rookie draft wouldn't suck. It'd be a great one. And you'd have really tough decisions to make in the first two rounds weighing some of these IDPs against offensive players. Anyway, what I love about this draft is both NFL and fantasy football standpoint. Yes, it is a quote, unquote, poor draft. However, the flavors, the different entities are so different that you actually have to take a stand. Like in a typical draft, in a typical fantasy football rookie draft, there's this consensus board and teams can just make defensible picks and just make picks by the consensus board. Well, now, what matters to you in football? What do you. What's your football philosophy of what matters? You can say it's the organization, you could say it's athleticism, you know, whatever, or even just say it's draft capital. I just trust the NFL. You know, I mean, I might suggest something else, but that's fine. The point is you have some sort of ethos. You figure out, like, why did you even want to pay more attention to football than just watching it and rooting for your team doing fantasy football? So figure that out. But you're right, Dave, it swung so far back that, you know, I think that you might want to trade back into the second round. Just throw this flush, the second round pickets on the Floyd. No, no. And I didn't get a chance to talk about these guys, so I'm going to touch on players I think are vastly underrated. Those sort of surprise elite producers are going to come from Ted Hurst, number one. Look at Jason Light's track record of drafting receivers lately. Like just that Alone. Okay. I loved Hurst before the draft. Speed doesn't. Can make these subtle steps in his routes and you just feel for the cornerback. It's almost unfair to ask them to transition with him. They. They can't. They just can't. He'll get like three steps on a guy with like one step. That makes them just like stutter their step for a second nanosecond. He's got incredible ball skills. Like, can hang in the air. He has, you know, he's natural hands, catcher, natural high pointer, which was really important. Long frame. And I just see all the pieces there and I love that. Tampa said, hey, our X receiver doesn't have to be like Mike Evans. That just happened to be who our X receiver was. We could, we can incorporate a lot. I. I think Ted Hurst is going to be Chris Brazil.

A (75:48)

Wow.

B (75:49)

And again, folks, you got to read this.

A (75:51)

I thought he'd have been a first rounder. I was kind of shocked.

B (75:53)

Well, the way that he did. And there were some off field questions about him. Okay.

A (75:59)

That came out like 48 hours before the draft. I never like when that happens.

B (76:05)

Yeah, listen, Chris Brazil, there's some off field questions about him. He moves like a first round pick. I mean, he moves like George Pickens. He moves like Justin Hunter. Okay. He lands with Carolina after the draft. They do a piece about him where Dave Canales, former wide receiver coach, says, I was really looking forward to meeting with Brazel and how when he met him, he thought, this is just another guy that loves football like me. So he's connecting with the head coach. Right. And also if he's saying he loves football, this is kind of what the off field stuff was about to an extent. Okay. And then they asked Brazel and Brazel said something like, I said it a thousand times. This is the team I wanted to play for. And I met, you know, all these people and the vibes were good. And I think that might have something to do with them drafting me. And if a guy does have off field concerns about, like, motivation, focus, whatever, I don't know what they were. It was kind of vague. But if he says, like, this is the team I wanted to play for, doesn't that mean something of his chances of overcoming that? Okay. Malachi Fields is better than Denzel. Boston opportunity might be an issue with Malik. Neighbors. There's. But the Dallas. I mean, sorry. Miami wanted him, by the way. The Giants move up, give up three picks to get ahead of Miami. Miami takes Caleb Douglas. Now, Caleb Douglas is one of those Malik Willis guys.

A (77:28)

Another Fun one.

B (77:29)

Yeah. And they are saying, John was saying like we thought he was better than everyone else. Now what you know about Caleb Douglas is long and fast. He's one of those receivers that sometimes it seems like a stiff breeze might blow him away, like out off the field, you know. But that's not a bad skill set to start with with Malik Willis. But I think Chris Bell is the much more intriguing guy because in Chris Bell you have somebody who's like 6, 2, 2, 20, like a big rugged guy, but runs a 4 4. He's coming off an ACL tear, but I'm not worried about that because it's Miami. He's not going to rush him on the field. You know, they're drafting him for year two, three and four of the rookie contract. They're not drafting him for year one. Now he may get on the field, but one of the things that Bell has, I mean Bell has the straight line speed and he can be a bully at the catch point and things like that, but if you hit him when he's already up to speed on a crossing pattern, he can run away from everybody. And that's. And to me, to me, Dave, that's like what you do with Malik Willis in a Shanahan style offense, right? Because it's Bobby Slowik, right? You roll them out and you have these layered throws, right? So there's Chris Bell at one layer of the field, maybe Caleb Douglas at another layer of the field. And you know, you have Malik Willis as a check down. I mean, Malik Washington is a check down. They like Malik Washington too. They like him a lot. My point is that I think that the things that Chris Bell does well match up with the things that Malik Willis does, which is what they're going to ask him to do. It seems like they have a good grasp on him in the offense that their offensive coordinator knows how to teach. So that's the alignment that I'm looking for. I moved Chris Bell up about as much as anybody in terms of real value from like 24 to 13 from the pre because I was afraid he was going to end up somewhere that's like his first year is basically lost now. You're already behind, but Miami has a long term plan. So I really, I like Chris Bell a lot and I think that he has a ceiling with a Jordan Tyson, you know, with a Makai Lemon in this class because of that alignment.

A (79:41)

And I think that's a perfect note to wrap the show up on here. It's not that these are bad prospects there are just a lot of question marks here. But that doesn't mean that there still isn't upside. So all of these guys that we close the show talking about right here, Caleb Douglas, Malachi Fields, Ted Hurst, Chris Brazil, you know, these guys, they might not hit, but if they do, they can be elite fantasy producers and they can play at the end of the day is upside. Right.

B (80:05)

I mean, and they have, have a, they all have a calling card. And the calling card now, I mean, the one thing I'm worried about really quick, I didn't want to do your beautiful Melissa outro, but my only worry about Malik Fields and why he's lower than those other guys is because Jackson Dart's deep all to the outside is not the strength. Okay. Unlike Malik Willis. But I, I, I do think that, that it's kind of like there's no boring subjects, just boring people. Like, like dig in, folks. Have fun with this class. Watch these guys, learn about them and use your picks like the GM that you are. That's why you're hanging out, because they play Dungeons and Dragons with football players.

A (80:48)

Yeah. And Sig, you know, do you want to take us out on this one? You know, you do such a great job of closing out. How about the floor is yours? You can take us out here with whatever your final thoughts are.

B (80:59)

Oh, Dave, that's too kind of you because I know, I feel like, I hope, I hope, I hope I haven't stepped on your toes, man. No, no, I, and this is great for me though because you run a nice show compared to me where like we actually did cover everybody where if it was me, it's like squirrel.

A (81:15)

And that's because we keep it loose here. Like, you know, I'm not, I'm not trying to say like we need to do a 30 minute show. We're gonna talk and when the conversation naturally concludes, we'll, we'll put a bow on it. And sometimes it's a 30 minute show, sometimes it's an hour and 20 minute show. But that's what I like about the show is I just talk until the conversation feels like it comes to a natural end.

B (81:32)

And the natural end here and what is good and what I'll be able to point to, thanks to you, Dave, is like, I think almost every offensive player in the blue 100 is mentioned. So there's something in there for you.

A (81:42)

And it's in the bio too. Whether you're on YouTube or podcast Bloom 100. Absolutely. Check that out.

B (81:47)

So if you're a subscriber, you Want to support football guys? You like what we do for free? We've been doing it for free for 21 years on the audible. The best way to show your support is subscribe and you'll get the whole Bloom 100 and updates and and all kinds of stuff I'll be writing. But even if you know times is tough, money's tight. You pretty much got an Overview of the Bloom 100 in this episode and your mileage may vary. It's more. Just remember the Genesis of the Bloom 100 was I was in a league that was a 20 team league, salary cap, contracts. We kept it on Yahoo Groups on text files back in like 2004 and there were no rankings for a league like that for rookie drafts. So I made my set of rankings and I put it up on the football guys message board in 2005. That's one of the places that this journey like an important milestone along the way. So, you know, have fun. And I think that the draft is the New Year's day on the football calendar. Like you did, Dave. Like I did. You hang out with your best football friends and you look and think about the possibilities of the future, whether for your fantasy team or your favorite team or just these players, and you feel renewed and you have a lot to look forward to with your friends. And that's really, I think, with football guys. You know, Dave, you're doing an incredible job carrying on their tradition of we're your friends that like football and we're there for you and you're there for us. So let's keep doing it.

A (83:19)

And I want to thank you all so much for tuning in. I'll be back next week with more shows with Jeff Bell, Joey Wright and other football guy staffers that we have here. But thank you so much for tuning in and I will see you soon. Marketing is hard, but I'll tell you a little secret. It doesn't have to be. Let me point something out. You're listening to a podcast right now and it's great. You love the host. You seek it out and download it. You listen to it while driving, working out, cooking, even going to the bathroom. Podcasts are a pretty close companion. And this is a podcast ad. Did I get your attention? You can reach great listeners like yourself with podcast advertising from Libsyn Ads. Choose from hundreds of top podcasts offering host endorsements or run a pre produced ad like this one across thousands of shows. To reach your target audience in their favorite podcasts with Libsyn Ads, go to libsyn ads.com that's L I B S Y N ads.com today

B (84:23)

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