Hey, Foot Clan, before we start today's show, I want to remind you not just about the Ultimate Draft Kit that you can find at ultimatedraftkit.com that is available right now, but about the UDK Plus and what is launching on Thursday. Mike, that's got Mike so excited. The Draft Analyzer is making its debut this week, July 1st. That's part of the UDK Plus, and that's going to give you the opportunity to import your team or add your team, your full roster, and get a breakdown from the three of us.
We're going to grade your team. We're going to grade each of your position groups. We're going to give you UDK insights specific to your team, tell you who your difference maker is, some action plan, information about how to improve that team. Tell you which one of the three of us likes your team the best.
That's right. And then you'll be able to see that full report, you'll be able to share it, and it's going to be just a great addition to the UDK Plus. Plus, you can check that out at ultimatedraftkit.com. Welcome to the Fantasy Footballers Podcast with your hosts, Andy Holloway, Jason Moore, and Mike Wright.
Welcome in. Tuesday, June 29th. Mike Wright, Jason Moore, Andy Holloway with you. The end of June.
Draws near. Yeah. I don't know why that was it. That was it.
I couldn't wait for the follow-up to that. I was like, oh, you have my attention. No, that was it. But you are correct.
A dramatic reading of the calendar. It's definitely coming soon. Today. You didn't make it sound ominous.
Now, it's Tuesday, June 29th. The end is near. We're recording this on Monday, and we have a great show for you today. We have an ADP price check episode.
We're going to go through a handful of names, see where they're going in drafts, maybe change where they're going in drafts, depending on what we bring up and talk about and debate, discuss. That's some NFL news to talk about as well. Maybe a Dynasty download. I'm not sure.
I'm not sure. Obviously, they won by double digits. Remember the big plays? I just wanted last night's game to be a blowout, and thank goodness it was.
I mean, oh, Suns in five, in the finals, fantastic. You are poking the devil in the ball. I will, because we blew them out like we should. Go, Suns.
Yeah, what a game that was. Oh, man. But the good news is, Mike, you said July's on the way, and I had an anniversary trip with my wife playing. We have successfully moved that to accommodate the Suns being in the finals.
That's right. Priorities. I was married to the Suns before I was married to her. That's all I'm saying.
Fair, fair. The point I was going to get to is the end of June draws near. That means the beginning of July, you know, the two coincide on a regular basis. But Saturday, you're going to want to check your podcast app, because there will be another episode.
Three a week now for basic footballers. Yeah, three a week for all of July, and then five a week from August through December. You said from here on out, I guess you're technically right. There's at least three a week here on out.
That's what I meant. But then we go to five in August, and hold on to your butts. Because we've got 18 weeks of football this year. Yes.
We've been really, really exercising, working out, ready to go for 18 weeks. Some of us have. Mike has been, Mike's doing week 18 by himself, is what we're saying. Get that cardio up, Suns.
Need to get back on that bike. Yeah, is that coming soon? Yeah, ride number two is coming soon. I don't know.
All right, quick question of the day. How much do you guys factor strength of schedule into your rankings and projections? So, for a point of clarity, this is not the schedule, meaning which weeks you're playing, and are they playing in the playoffs against the... Because that type of stuff, when I'm ranking people, I don't factor in in the slightest.
It makes no difference. But as far as the actual strength of schedule, I do factor it in a little bit, usually. So we have these team-by-team docs that we go in, these spreadsheets that we've made and kind of upgraded year after year after year to help us with our projections. And in there is a strength of schedule from the previous year and the upcoming projection for this current year.
And the way that I use it is, if I see a team, you know, a guy had an outlier season, just, you know, real high, career high for yards per carry that coincides with, oh, he had a super easy strength of schedule, then I might adjust if this next year does not project to be a good one. So I do factor it into each team on a team-by-team basis, but it's so case-sensitive that it doesn't affect the majority of players. It's really just for the outliers. That's how I use it.
Mike, do you have anything to add? I do not. Jason laid it out very well. And I think it goes hand-in-hand with the discussions we have on, you know, that people bring up about drafting defenses and, like, the variability year-to-year.
Like, the NFL has a lot of parity. There is a lot of change that happens. I mean, you could just look at the NFC West last year and the injuries that took place for San Francisco. Right.
You know, they're projected to be a top-tier team, and they went through a really rough stretch. So it's not everything. There will be a lot of change, but you can stare at some divisions. And, you know, I think we brought up, you know, Pittsburgh's still going to play that Baltimore defense and the Browns defense a couple of times.
So you do know a little bit of what to expect, and that does factor in. It's more for the medium around. You know, this is an ADP price check. It's for those mid-range fellas.
Because the top-end guys, this has just been shown and proven time after time after time. Don't worry too much about the strength of schedule. You're great players beat up on great defenses. You know, if you're good, you're going to play.
You're going to score. You're going to get yours. YouTube.com slash TheFantasyFootballers. If you want to watch the show, subscribe, click the bell.
You'll know what we're doing over here. We do a lot of live streams and things. Oh, the glamour shot's not up anymore. Did somebody win that?
I don't know if we've chosen the winner yet. Somebody lost that. Yes. Somebody lost by winning that.
Yes. There was a shocking amount of comments of people actually wanting this thing. I mean, I think it's great. I think the person, the subject of the photo is very handsome.
Worthy of being on the wall. Very, very handsome. I was shocked how many people actually really wanted this thing. And someone, like, yes, I was asked if I get someone wiring me to the $10,000, which yes.
And then I took $10,001 and $10,002. So if you have $10,000 and $10,000, it could be yours. I'm going to be a millionaire by the time this thing's over. There are 5,000 entries for it right now.
Not all that's that money, though. At footlandgoesway.com. 5,000 entries. I just want to see a picture of its final destination.
Up on a wall. What room did they choose? That should be a prerequisite for winning. You need to send us a picture of where it went.
What is this thing going to do? That belongs in a game room by your people. It's very big. It's a very big picture.
It's going to cost us a little bit to ship to you. What I was thinking is we just need to get Jason's recently shared video from his trip to California. Oh, the suntan lotion. And maybe screenshot sunscreen.
Oh, sunscreen shimmy. It's been named the sunscreen shimmy. Okay. Oh, my God.
Yeah, you were on display. Let's put it that way. But we could auction that off for charity. Yeah, got to NFT that thing.
And no charities here. No charities. Okay. News time.
News and notes from around the league. Presented by Sleeper. Jaguars beat reporter Tony Smith expect second year running back James Robinson to be, quote, This is a fantasy disaster that is currently taking place in Jacksonville. The disaster started in the draft when they had a free swear, like you can't believe, of James Robinson being incredible as an undrafted free agent rookie.
And then you spend a first round pick. I'm not arguing that ETN doesn't have first round talent, but you didn't need to take him. And they did. And then immediately after the draft, you have Coach Myers saying, well, ETN is going to be our pass catching guy.
And then he's, which is like, that's kind of weird. And then you go to the OTAs and he's just working with wide receivers, which is whatever they're working on his hands. But you have all of these things moving in the direction of such a fantasy meltdown and disaster for being in on Robinson, being in on ETN. And I've finally seen enough of this smoke that's coming out of Jacksonville.
I've adjusted my numbers. I've moved ETN down and I moved Robinson up. Neither are in a place where I really want them for fantasy, depending on the ADP. But there is so much being reported on this running back situation that I'm not ignoring it anymore and just like, ah, well, the first rounder is going to eventually take over.
Yeah, he could. But this is a real situation that's brewing. It's a problem. The two running backs in Jacksonville that have made massive fantasy impacts in recent years have both had every bit of the work on every down.
Right. When Fournette surprised the world, it came by there being a depth chart behind him. When James Robinson came out of nowhere last year, he was the only player on the field that doesn't diminish his talent to say that, you know, there's going to be another guy there, but it diminishes the opportunity. He should be out there.
I don't think any of us doubt that he should get playing time. But I mean, where do you, I'll skip ahead here. We'll stay in the news. But why don't you just shoot your shot where James Robinson is going right now.
We're doing an ADP price check today. Tell me where you think James Robinson is going in drafts, because I've got the answer. I imagine he's going in the sixth round. Yeah.
But where? Where in the sixth? Yeah, because now I can just say sixth round. I was between the fifth and sixth, so I'm going to go early in the sixth.
Okay, I was between sixth and seventh, so I'll go second half of the sixth round. You're both very close. Six to five. Oh, man.
Oh, I think, wait. We were basically, I win, but it's very, very close. Yeah, that's the RB28. So that's actually not as far down as I thought.
Like, there are storylines in the offseason that put certain players almost on the do not draft list. I think for some, Josh Jacobs is there with Kenyon Drake's situation in Las Vegas. For me, James Robinson is on that list for a lot of people. For me, James Robinson is very close on that list.
You know, you say running back 28. Well, he beat that. Yeah, he very well might beat that. I don't look at that.
I can't be better than running back 28, but I don't want him. I don't want, like, what is the upside? The upside is not that he's the ever down back, getting 80% of the touches like last year. That can't happen again.
I realize he has finished well, but like you said, he finished because he was the only show in town. And even if he has the goal line back, he does not project to be the receiving back. And even though he's talented, he's not the most talented. So eventually, I feel like when you're drafting James Robinson, you're just going to be left holding the bag, and maybe there's some dollars in the bag, and you could say it's not worthless, but you're not going and buying a car with a few bucks in that bag.
No, as a dynasty manager with James Robinson on my team, I don't view him as having much. Does that make sense? I don't look at my roster construction in my dynasty, they can say that he is solving a need for my team. Right, but directly after the draft, how do you snapshot of Andy Holloway, the round one has just ended.
How you felt about James Robinson then, how do you feel much different? Really? No, because I don't think this isn't news to me. I agree.
Like, I think ETN may take over more of the workload by the end of the year, but that's what I always thought. I mean, I didn't think ETN's coming out as three down back week one, but I figured Robinson would just come out and be completely unpredictable as the way I can play him. The way that the situation has changed to me is the team, it feels now like the team will actually give Robinson a shot. Instead of, you were great on this team last year, we weren't here, don't care.
Well, hopefully he impressed. And that's the point, is now, maybe he's actually going to get a shot to be out there on the field, and he works better as a grinder than they thought. Maybe he's a better inside runner than ETN is at this point. Instead of just saying, you're the first round pick, you're this guy that we've drafted and anointed to be our guys.
I'm so frustrated that they want you to the job. The way you win at the NFL level, especially when you have holes to fill in defense, is you take a free square running back, and you take one at quarterback when you've got a rookie contract, and you have the opportunity to be in both situations. Well, I feel like, Mike, you need to get your deck of cards ready, because this team in its entirety, I mean, this is more, to me, when I look at this, I see that what's going on in the camp right now, is they are flat out saying, Rooks, I know you're high draft capital, but you have to earn it. This is how we coach.
Nothing's given. You are not the starting running back. He's going to be involved. You are not the starting quarterback.
Like, they're still doubling down on, you know, Trevor's not ready. He's not ready to be a starter. Like, but he is. And he's going to start, and we all know it.
And so it's like, yeah, I mean, yeah. Is he going to start in Gardner? This is James Robinson's team. Okay.
I don't feel like they're saying this is James Robinson's team, just that he will have the chance. It's a mess. Let's talk about another rookie. ESPN's Nick Wagner believes Trey Sermon looks poised to make an impact as a rookie.
Made a strong first impression, particularly as a pass catcher out of the backfield. Looks poised to make an impact as a rookie as long as it carries over the training camp in the start of the year. So he's poised to make an impact as long as he makes an impact. It's a professional hedge.
You know, well done, Nick Wagner. That's how you do it. He's going to be great so long as he continues to get the ball and do well. Pretty great.
But the reality here is what we said when, my name is Jeff Wilson, went down, which is he has an opportunity to show out, and what he has not done, and some people have done this with Kyle Shanahan before, is just, well, he hasn't gotten hurt yet. No, but has really found their way into his off-house. Disappointed him. He's shown out.
He's done what you hope he does with the opportunity to show out, and so... Making a good first impression. When you don't have Moser, you don't have Wilson there. Yeah, you've got a chance, and when his number's called, it gives us more confidence that he will fit the scheme and do well.
Let me ask you an annoying question, Mike. Trey Sermon in the 7th or James Robinson in the 7th round? Oh, my goodness gracious. Because I think we know what San Francisco wants to do.
If everybody's healthy, it would be Moser, it would be Wilson, and it would be Sermon. Yeah, it would be all of them. So I think I still have James Robinson, but what a question that is. I think I do as well.
I think I lean James Robinson. Just the known, not known, but the projected, projection of known volume where... But the Trey Sermon upside is still higher. I mean, you have...
Because the 49ers, whatever, built on the native burial ground, whatever dark magic they mess with over there, it just keeps knocking people out. Yeah, it's hard not to... You just can't bank on any of this running back room staying healthy. And so why not take a shot later in your drafts on a very talented player that will be the future?
Because Moser has a year. So they may have great plans for him. And I'm speaking as a dynasty manager of Reem Moser. I want the world for him this year.
But your future is probably not him. Yeah, the way that I look at this is in draft season, James Robinson will have more value come week one, two, three, four. And so if you have to draft one, I would lean towards him. But again, I said James Robinson's a guy I don't want on my team because it doesn't fit the arc type of running backs that I draft.
That's the same exact thing to me with Trey Sermon. I think the second half of the year, I'm going to much prefer to have Trey Sermon on my team, help me win some weeks, than James Robinson when I think it'll be more the ETN show. That's funny because I believe I offered you James Robinson for Trey Sermon in our dynasty. It was a quick denial.
McCall Hardman has made sizable improvements. Do you buy into the report from the Athletic's Nate Taylor? Yes. McCall Hardman, whether it's about running his consistency.
We're not doing this again, are we? I am. You are? I am, and I don't blame anyone for not doing it again.
Oh, I'm not doing it because I've watched enough McCall Hardman to say that he will never be, ever, a complete wide receiver. I've seen him make too many mistakes for too long to believe that he will ever be able to, quote, shoulder the load, I would say. I completely understand that. I mean, you watch him and he's got flashes of brilliance, but he's got some boneheaded mistakes.
And that's why his snap count, you know, he hasn't even worked his way up the pecking order before this season, even when opportunities presented themselves. But when I look at this from a dynasty viewpoint, which, when we're talking about McCall Hardman, I think that's more applicable. Going into year three. Yeah, he's going into year three.
He's only 23 years old. Look, I know Travis Kelsey is locked in as the guaranteed he's going to be the number one tight end forever, but he's actually not. He is older. He will fade out.
Sammy Watkins is gone, and you've got to have more than just Tyreek Hill. McCall Hardman has shown enough flashes of good that I am willing to believe in the long-term success of McCall Hardman because they will need someone else. over the next couple of years. He's still under contract for a while.
Okay. He's hard to start. Yeah, deeply. I get it.
I did make a trade offer a couple weeks ago. You know, he's just one of those players like if you want to say, who's someone you can just... Because nobody's holding on to Michael Arden with hands of stone. Like this is...
He's just fodder, a little extra, you know, sprinkle on top of the ice cream in a trade. That's fair. The Steelers released David DiCastro. He was one of the only two starting linemen set to return him last year.
And Jason's shaking his head and the reaction on Twitter was very visceral to DiCastro being released. He graded out horrifically bad last year. Now, it's pro football focus and you take that with how you believe about their sight and their grading. But I don't think that this is necessarily a negative move for the offensive line for Pittsburgh.
Because if you're getting bad play out of someone else who cost your team less, it seems like a net win and it could be better. Now, DiCastro has said there's a lot of underlying wink business stuff going on having to do with the designation of his injury. Some things that look a little bit cloudy for the Pittsburgh franchise. But as far as people going, oh, you released DiCastro.
What are you doing? I don't think you're getting any worse. It's hard to get worse. That's my point.
From a franchise standpoint, from a franchise standpoint, I understand what you're saying. You're paying a lot of money for a guy who wasn't that good. So it might be better for your team in the end to make this transaction. But for fantasy football, I don't think their offensive line is actually better.
They might save more money and it's better for the dollar. But I do view this as a negative. I mean, goodness. This is an entire new O-line.
That is Yikes-Apotamus. You're on fire today. That was today's News and Notes presented by Yikes-Apotamus. Sleeper supported us with the News and Notes today.
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Shout out. You better check yourself before you wreck yourself. And that's a free, that's a free championship ring, not a doorbell, right? Correct.
Both are good products. One protects your door and one protects your finger. Yeah, from people thinking you're not a champion. That's right.
All right, we are into the ADP price check. We're going to be guessing the, you guys did so well earlier. You set a standard for this segment. Let's try a player that Jason will have to push through his utter despising of.
10th round? 11th? This would be wide receiver Odell Beckham Jr. He is our consensus wide receiver 27.
You know, he started his career with three straight wide receivers six or better years. He was going into the Hall of Fame. Yeah, he was. Unbelievable.
He has now finished outside the top 15 wide receivers in each of the last four years. Wide receiver 83, 16, 26, and 85, which is also known as the greatest hits for Jason's arguments. Where do you think he's going right now? What's your guess?
I know that there are a lot of great wide receivers going in the fourth round, so he's going to go well behind that. I'm going to go seventh. That's probably just... Seventh round?
I don't know. I wouldn't take him in the seventh, so people are dumb. Sixth, fifth? You are dumb.
That's probably me, but... He finished a week as the number one wide receiver last year. Yeah. You aren't drafting wide receivers in the seventh round that can do that.
Okay, I am in. Sixth, sixth round, final offer. No, you're in the seventh. 6-0-6.
You're wrong. Fifth round? Yeah, he feels like a fifth round to me, so the nice thing about Beckham this year is you aren't giving elite ADP price for him. I'm going, I'm like 5-0-9.
The answer is 6-0-3. Oh, I'm so close with my amended 6-0-6. I win. Wide receiver, 26.
So, despite Jason burying him, our consensus ranking has him at 27, which is really close to his average draft position. Nobody trusts him. Mike, you wouldn't say you trust Beckham, right? Oh, no.
But you see more upside from him late than other wide receivers. Yeah, and if... Tyler Boyd versus Beckham. Oh, yeah, give me Odell Beckham.
Tee Higgins versus Beckham. Well, I don't know. Jason, do you want Tee Higgins or Odell Beckham? I would...
So, this is an ADP price check show. I would imagine Tee Higgins is going far later. Brooks will figure that out. Yeah, tell me where Tee Higgins is going.
I would guess he's going at least, like, 9th round. In which case, I would take Tee Higgins. I would not draft Tee Higgins over Odell Beckham. The upside is clearly there with Beckham.
We know he has done it. He has not aged out. He's going to be 29 years old this year, which is fine for a wide receiver, but it's certainly not the prime. You know, wide receivers usually peak around 27, and it's getting younger and younger.
So, he's on the downturn of his career, but it's hard to tell what the arc is based on the last four and three real seasons. It's tough, and he's not the Beckham of the first three years. What's wild is the ADP he's at now in that sixth round? Do you know who went there last year at that spot?
Odell Beckham? Well, no, probably. Hollywood was around that area. Oof.
Is it on Diggs? Oh, yeah, yeah. Yes, of course he was there. Man, that was stupid.
Is he on Diggs? In hindsight, yes. Well, now let's say he's... Okay, now let's work through Odell Beckham really quick.
Did you find Higgins, ADP Brooks? Higgins is just barely after Odell. He's in the sixth round. Whoa.
Yeah, because you won't stop talking about him being the Bengals wide receiver one. I haven't really been talking about that much. You do. Every time you talk to March A's down, you talk to Higgins up.
Just by association? Yes. Okay, that's fair. So with Odell Beckham, let's just have a realistic outlook here, okay?
All right. Let's assume that he is not in the absolute peak prime of his career because he's going to be 29 years old and he's coming off of, you know, a couple years of injury, but that he is healthy all year. Plays a full slate. Do you think that he is a top 15 wide receiver in the run-heavy Browns offense?
I do not. If he plays 17, I still do not. Probably not. Yeah, I mean probably not, but I can see that happening.
You have weeks one through five, so you have five games here. In that time span, he was averaging almost eight targets a game. Now, I guess you can say he didn't do much with them. He had a couple strong finishes, wide receiver 15 in week two, wide receiver one in week four, but we also saw over the second half Baker Mayfield become more comfortable with this new offense from Stefanski.
It's hard because, let's say Julio was in Cleveland. He just landed, right? And he's their one. Like, we're not going to be overly enthusiastic about Julio in that offense with that team.
Yeah, it's a lower volume, but my point is, like, Baker has been through it where he's had to run a new system basically every year of his career and now you have some actual continuity with continuity. Is that not what it is? Continuity, idiot! Continuity, that's what it is.
Dang it! Ah, yeah! Ah, yeah, some continuosity moving into the next year of his career. So, I don't know.
I'm leaving room for it. I'm shakalaka! Thank you. Thank you, Jason.
We're talking about it. I agree with you. You should leave some room for it to happen. I agree with you.
Baker got better the second half of last year. My only contention, and the reality is... And he didn't get better because Odell Beckham was out of the lineup. Oh, wait, wait, wait.
Odell Beckham missed that part of the year? That is the stupidest argument. It happens every time, though. He spreads the ball around.
He doesn't feel this pressure. There are plenty of examples of Devo wide receivers being bad for a team. I think this is one of those examples. That's where I...
I mean, it is narrative-y. And we like to be more stats-driven and more analytics-focused, and so I get that. My argument is based more on the history of injuries and the fact that outside of Eli Manning, he's never really done what we've hoped, but that is a narrative that has existed before where a Devo wide receiver has not necessarily been good for a quarterback. All right, let's talk about Chase Edmonds running back for the Arizona Cardinals because wide range of opinions.
I don't know if you guys saw this. He doesn't even have a proper face scan in Madden right now, Chase Edmonds. I know, get him into Madden if he's got the potential to be a top-tier runner. That's nonsense.
But what do you think the ADP is of Chase Edmonds? Because I think us being out here in the Valley, we have a different perspective on how the team might utilize them. I think outside of the Valley, it's a very mathematical equation for people where David Johnson, he left, and Kenny Drake left, and now the next man up is Chase Edmonds. So when have you ever heard of Chase Edmonds?
Oh, well, you heard of him when he scored three times against the Giants. You heard about these boom games that made headlines for fantasy, but maybe you're not watching him week in, week out. Very smart, talented player. 25 years old, 5'9", 2'10".
I believe he doesn't have a goal-on-carrying in the NFL. Well, he has one carry inside the five in three years. So where do you think he's going? Because I think...
Too high. Too high is the answer. I think they view him as somebody with an upside that is unknown, so maybe somebody viewed Gibson last year or something. I feel pretty confident about who the fourth-round running backs are, so I'm going to go after that.
I'll go fifth-round, because he still got perceived upside. I think he's late third, early fourth. Oh, ooh. I was with Jason.
I don't think he's... He made his way out of that fourth-round running back dead zone, I believe. I think he's in the fifth round. So whatever.
That'll be my answer for the ADP, and I'll say, like, 504. So if he's 504, that's too high for you? I'll go 405. Oh, 501, blue jeans.
5'10". Okay. I was dyslexic. No, that's RB25.
5'10". 5'10". 5'10". 5'10".
5'10". 5'10". 5'10". 5'10".
5'10". 5'10". 5'10". 5'10".
5'10". 5'10". 5'10". 5'10".
5'10". 5'10". 5'10". 5'10".
5'10". Here very soon. If you're looking at the Steelers' offensive line and their offense, and you were saying, like, how disappointed you were with that, Connor had success regardless of those things. Yeah, he had some success.
Because that team facilitates those opportunities for him, and he was their only player. But I think when you watch him play, this is not the same player from two and a half years ago when he filled in for LeBell. He doesn't have the exact same quickness. I don't know how much of the passing game work he's going to.
I guess it's not... Pumping the brakes on Chase Edmonds to me is not a pro-James Connor take. It is a reality that they're going to use both players, and that will cap the upside. Yeah, I view this...
Whoa! It will be a split backfield for sure. And the upside is with Chase Edmonds because of the injury history for James Connor. If you want to draft Chase Edmonds hoping that he becomes a de facto guy when Connor inevitably misses four or five games, then that's one thing you can try to hope for.
But I don't believe Chase Edmonds will ever receive the guy role on his own. They're a great offense. You don't have to be the only guy in Arizona to contribute. Kenyon Drake got a ton of work.
Chase Edmonds still finished as a top 24 running back seven times in 16 weeks last year with Kenyon Drake. Yeah, it's a big place. I'd certainly rather have Chase Edmonds than James Connor. No question.
I don't care about the goal line. I'd much rather have... I mean, multiple top 10 weeks last year for Chase Edmonds just being a... I mean, he had a top 10 week with three attempts.
He had a top 10 week with five attempts. Yeah, but the thing is, is because of that, you're not playing him in those weeks. You can have... In basketball, that's fine.
I think you'll be able to play him as a flex every week of the year. No questions asked. If that's... On this offense.
If that is true, then 5-10 is fine. 5-10 is great because you have the injury upside with James Connor and you have a flex-worthy starter every week. I don't think you're going to feel comfortable flexing him every week. I would rather have James Connor.
He's going a bit later. Not too much later, I believe, than Chase Edmonds. And, Jay, to your point, it was a split backfield last year. Kenyon Drake saw 54% of the snaps.
Chase Edmonds 47%. That was already a split backfield in terms of playing time, but Kenyon Drake was the power runner. He was the power guy, and I think that's what James Connor is. And now you have the upgrades that the Arizona Cardinals have made to their offensive line, specifically getting Rodney Hudson in here to play center.
Those goal line up the middle carries... They're going to work now. Where does Cliff want to run? Right up the middle.
Right up the middle. And it's going to work out much. It's going to help Chase doing the same thing. They're not going to not run Chase interior at all.
But goal line will go to... I believe goal line is going to go to Connor. You said it was a split backfield last year. Chase finished 28 at the position.
So I think Kenyon Drake had more in the tank last year than Chase... Do we know how far apart these guys are in 88? It's got to be pretty massive. Right now, I can give you that.
I was showing Connor in the eighth. I would rather have Connor in the eighth than spending a fifth. The fifth round is chock full of great wide receivers. Yeah, he's a 5'10".
I would take Chase in the upside there because he's 25, and he's a good player. So I still think that we're all three lower on Chase than some others are, but I can see the path. People see it with Arizona's offense, and I think for good reason. I mean, this is a top-five scoring offense potentially this year.
So, yeah. I mean, Connor's only 26. Does that surprise you? You know they're a year apart?
Yeah, it does, but because he doesn't look like it anymore. I mean, unless you're talking injuries or whatever happened last year. Connor's two full seasons removed from his fantasy expectations. Okay, that's a fair way to play it.
Running back 26 last year at the end of the season, and I don't have the... the numbers in front of me but before he got hurt he had finished outside of the top 30 just three times he was very good for fantasy football last year through week 11 hey man as a partner I'm down if you want to tell me both players are talented I'm fine with that let's go with Will Fuller Will Fuller right now ADP price check yeah the answer is too late yeah he is it's too late and it probably matches my ranking of them which is too low too late and too low because everyone's too scared and too well yeah I'm too well scared so where do you think he's actually going I think he's probably going in the oh he's going late man I'll go 9th round I'll say 8th round 9th round yeah I agree 8-10 is wrong oh man that sounds really spot on I'm going to go 9-0-2 and I'm going to die I'm going to die over here I don't know too much suns ah okay Mike final answer where are you going I'll go one price is right over Jason so 9-0-3 was he 9-0-2 okay all right 9-0-3 he is going 7-0-9 okay okay so I guess I won yeah you did wide receiver 32 off the board setting the league on fire number 5 most consistent wide receiver last year he will miss week 1 yes yes which will mean he will go later or you know it's a reflection of him going later here 11 games last year 879-8 doesn't get to play with Sean Watson but super talented player this is a call your shot breakout offense moment because what's going to happen here is it's a nebulous wide receiver core you have Devontae Parker you've got Will Fuller you've got Mike Gasicki you've got Jalen Waddell they're high in drafting because you don't know who it's going to be as the wide receiver 1 most people completely stay away whoa or twoa I keep hearing it oh come on that was great did you say you don't know whoa yeah of course you're saying you don't know who it's going to be oh come on that's a passing grade let's see here oh man I'll give it a 5 but here's the thing a lot of times when you're looking for a late round breakout player you want a nebulous situation you want a place where it's not clear who the star is going to be Will Fuller Stephon Diggs last year well Stephon Diggs was brought in to be the guy you didn't know if he was going to be good but the situation wasn't like is it going to be Cole Beasley is it going to be Stephon Diggs you knew it was going to be Diggs who do you think is going to be in Miami well I'm just saying it could be Devontae Parker it could be Jalen Waddell I think it's very fair to say that Will Fuller is the best most experienced wide receiver they have he is without a doubt the best most experienced we have lots of reasons to doubt Diggs we have these arguments to doubt Diggs coming in multiple years in Minnesota where he was putting in lower production never going to get it never going to have a volume the argument against Diggs last year was 100% related to the offense and the quarterback which is the same situation a bet on Will Fuller is a great bet for someone who believes in Tua if you think that Tua has it the tanking for Tua was just a couple years ago where he was the superstar future generational player for some NFL franchise and so if you still believe in Tua then you've got to draft Will Fuller but I don't believe in Tua yeah I believe in what they've built and I believe they put him in a position where much like I don't know even like Taysom Hill had great success in a system with a great coach in New Orleans last year Tua has everything around him to succeed and I believe he can do enough at the NFL level to have that breakthrough type of season I think that you you watched the highlights of Tua last year he had 8 or 9 deep passes that were on the money and you had drops from Jakeem Grant you had drops from some of these weapons he was throwing the ball to and that's been remade so I do believe I guess you're right I guess I'm going to call my shot with Will Fuller and say that from a value standpoint I think it can really happen I think they're the best team in the division or up there I think they'll compete with the Bills I think the Bills are the incumbent but I think it'll be a battle between those teams you know the Jets obviously run away with it you guys I'm just kidding I moved Will Fuller up yeah I will be doing this 35 and that's the thing is is what you can get for what you will pay is how you win in fantasy and if you're drafting him at the end of the 7th early 8th round for what you could get which is you could get in every week starter in Will Fuller you could get a top 15 wide receiver Will Fuller has the skills and if Tua takes that step forward it's done and you don't you're not spending a lot so alright let's go to Joe Burrow because I've seen some rumors on Twitter lately or conjecture hope optimism I'm not sure what it was of the breakout season for Joe Burrow right for fantasy purposes he's our QB 18 you know ranking quarterbacks is it's a tough business when it comes to you know you got to put them in a linear order and you're not going to even if you see a path for Burrow you're not going to rank him necessarily as a top 12 player because other players have done it and so or you like a Jalen Hurts more or you like a Justin Herbert more or guys just not coming off a catastrophic knee injury if you don't like that sort of thing it's not my favorite but you know my argument when I brought Jamar Chase up as my breakout on the show was what has been true of Taylor every single year there which is it doesn't matter if Danny Dalton or Joe Burrow the rookie he's going to throw the football 40 times a game you have three great wide receivers you have a good pass catching running back so all that to say where do you think he's going do you see a breakout as one of the possible outcomes for Joe Burrow yeah he's got to be going in the double digit rounds I think he's going to be round 11 I'm going to go 11-11 and put myself in the worst possible Price is Right rule but that is my favorite number yeah I don't know 12 sounds fine he's a quarterback 907 quarterback 11 quarterback 11 he knew he had us on that one that's why he's in here healthy games you know the nine games that he was before the knee injury he was on pace a 17 game pace granted but he was averaging over 40 attempts a game but he was on pace to throw the ball almost 700 times for nearly 4,700 yards now the touchdown pace was bad but rookie quarterback I mean 3.2% of your attempts at turning a touchdown that's way below the league average Joe Burrow should easily get up to at least the average so the question for Burrow to me is just it's health and I don't think that we don't know yet I tell you he's healthy though I give you the bona fide Joe Burrow of last year shows up week one but you can't because Joe Burrow in week one ran eight times for 46 yards like Joe Burrow is not doing that this year at least the first month he said he's giving you a good health no but Mike's right I mean even if you say he's not going to get re-injured you are taking like Carson Wentz came back and he didn't run the same okay Jason's UDK projections his actual numbers on Joe Burrow have the Bengals with the third most total plays in the NFL and Burrow with the fourth most attempts and completions and I have him as my quarterback 16 which I really like that ranking I think that that's fine for Joe Burrow if Joe Burrow was truly not injured if he finished out the season and was coming in to this year I would probably have him in my top 10 I do expect him to get off to a slow start it's a guy who loves Jamar Chase right there it's a guy who loves Jamar Chase a heck of a lot more than A.J. Green that's for sure 104 worthless targets thrown in A.J. Green's direction but yeah I mean there's a good wide receiver core bad defense there offensive line is improved but the reality is for fantasy quarterbacks I don't expect him to run the ball a lot especially the first half of the season and if that's the case it's going to take one of his strengths one of his added you know at least Alex Smith level baselines of rushing prime Alex Smith not post leg injury Alex Smith you know the old Aaron Rodgers baseline where you're running for 350 yards I just don't see that necessarily in that first half of the year so he's a guy that I've been passing whenever I have the opportunity to draft him and apparently if he's going you know in the 9th round I'm fine leaving the draft with Joe Burrow 100% fine but in my world that's because I took him super late in the league that didn't really care about Joe Burrow and you know he was the 15th quarterback taken and he was in the 13th round yeah exactly 6 of his 10 games he threw 1 or fewer touchdowns like you just have to hope you don't have a Matt Ryan situation here yeah I mean he was Jamar Chase is going to help Jamar Chase will help you would say Julio Jones should help Matt Ryan throw yeah but I just don't think it's a fair comparison one half of a season in the Burrow's life I'm not calling a shot on him I'm just saying that you just called him Joe Ice Joe Ice that me up 3 games with 0 passing touchdowns 3 games with 1 passing touchdown if a quarterback puts up 250 and 1 they have bombed your week like they have actively hurt your fantasy download certainly alright let's do a dynasty download dynasty download it's just Troutman now that one was great and if you're listening to the show the graphic keeps changing for the dynasty download and today was Jay Grizz was the centerpiece surrounded by 5 Trout and 1 Troutman that was pretty good alright this is a a dynasty riser here in our dynasty download segment Trey Lance 21 years old 49ers rookie quarterback since early May which was the draft he's slowly risen in dynasty 1QB start-up drafts where are you right now with Trey Lance you know I'm on record saying I don't think he's going to see time this year not much of it I know you guys both like him yeah for fantasy football I am all in I pushed my chips all in in our dynasty in our rookie draft when I took him 107 I took him 107 I took him before Trevor Lawrence he's so young and if you've been following the show for the offseason I'm very skeptical of Trey Lance actually making the jump to being a professional quarterback but the decision makers in the NFL for San Francisco they mortgaged everything I mean multiple first-round picks to move up and take Trey Lance to be the future of the 49ers so for dynasty purposes because we're in the dynasty download I am all in this is another quarterback that will likely run for he'll be challenging Lamar Jackson for who's going to have the quarterback rushing title of the season Trey Lance can easily hit the 1,000 rushing yard mark and then surrounded by the talent of Debo Samuel Ayuk and George Kittle just these yak guys you don't have to be the best downfield passer so he is set up for such incredible fantasy success that yes I am I am all in now just to answer the question of playing time this year I think he does see the field at least half of this year it would be it would be wild to see a team make that investment that trade investment and not move to the rookie San Francisco with everybody healthy they could start this they could start the season 6-0 and then you're all in Super Bowl or bust and then Trey Lance perhaps doesn't get in unless Jimmy Garoppolo gets hurt but that's a lofty projection to say a team's going to start that on fire yeah I mean it really is I think a huge chunk of how you value him is your projection for this season because that is an entire year of fantasy football that is either wasted or valuable and that matters when deciding to pull the trigger on a pick you know you took him over Trevor Lawrence if you knew for sure in that order I believe that Trey Lance starts week 1 and Jimmy Garoppolo's not on this roster I still think they're going to wait for some injury and try to trade him for anything they can get like when Philly traded Bradford right so I mean obviously that's an other world of projection as of right now the team says that Jimmy's their starter and if that's the case I think it's a good team Trey Lance shouldn't start much this year I believe they'll hand the reins over but I've got him at my quarterback 11 that's where I had him pretty much post draft I'd take him over Tannehill and Stafford and you know the cousins Ryan Brady all the older guys according to Warren Sharpe the 49ers have by far the easiest strength to schedule in the NFL for 2021 already so that kind of backs up a couple of arguments a good backup Mike's saying if they started you know they've said Jimmy Garoppolo is their starter they've said that Trey Lance isn't there yet but much like Jalen Hurts instantaneously have fantasy relevance I think we're all in agreement where if he takes over from that first moment he's going to be a valuable fantasy asset and I threw out the let's see so they have their bye week week 6 so if if they were going sideways then yes let's say the team is if they're somehow 2-3 let's walk the schedule Detroit week 1 1-0 okay that's a free win oh Detroit what are you doing at it's on the road though so it's at Detroit at Philadelphia week 2 that's probably a win that's probably 2-0 probably at home versus Green Bay week 3 we can give him an L let's say Aaron Rodgers is a Green Bay Packer that would be a big part of that I mean either way those two games you go 1-1 in those games week 4 is versus Seattle week 5 is on the road against Arizona if they are 2-3 that by week that will happen that will be the transition but if they're 3-2 or better then it might take a Garoppolo injury yeah because there's so many discussions with Trey Lance there's fantasy relevance and then there's does he develop is this division 2 passer the guy we saw on tape is that going to develop because you're going to need both of those components even if people want to take shots at Lamar Lamar can throw the football I mean he may have an ugly throw here or there he may not throw it a lot but he can throw the football and when he was a fantasy dominator he was able to do that so yeah it's going to be one of many interesting storylines of the quarterback position we just went through two of them like Burrow and him Trey Lance is just looking at the way the drafts unfolded Trevor Lawrence is in Jacksonville Zach Wilson is with the New York Jets Trey Lance is with the San Francisco 49ers one of those things is not like the other two for future situations talk about he's part of the last place NFC West yeah when half of your team is injured and you're in the best conference all of your superstars on defense get hurt I would still I mean I've been on record but I would still take Trevor Lawrence most people would I would as well I have Trevor Lawrence ahead of Lance in my dynasty rankings but they are back to that we want to thank Pristine Notch for supporting the show and Alvacomera signed full-size authentic helmet is $20 right now that ends on Wednesday night they have an authenticated DeAndre Swift signed football $20 right now ends on Thursday night hundreds of daily options though you can find your favorite player pristinenotch.com music code ballers get $10 trying to get my authenticated DeAndre Eaton jersey well after that big win yeah oh boy this could go sideways tomorrow alright folks thanks for tuning in we'll be back on Thursday goodbye thank you for listening to another episode of the Fantasy Footballers Podcast join our fantasy football community on jointhefoot.com and follow us on Twitter at theffballers