Speaker 1: Hello everybody. Welcome into the Fantasy Pros Football Podcast. I'm
Speaker 1: Ryan Warmley, joined by Derek Brown and Pat Fitzmorris. Guys,
Speaker 1: we are talking fantasy takeaways for the NFC South. This
Speaker 1: is another in our series of divisional takeaways from the season.
Speaker 1: We are running through each one in their own shorter episode.
Speaker 1: Today is the NFC South. It starts at the top
Speaker 1: with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, who win yet again. Just
Speaker 1: been ten and seven. Obviously a weaker division, that ten
Speaker 1: wins was enough to take home the crown fits. What
Speaker 1: was your takeaway from the Bucks this season?
Speaker 2: Oh, that Bucky Irving is the absolute truth and that
Speaker 2: he warrants first round consideration in twenty twenty five fantasy drafts,
Speaker 2: at least in leagues that only require you to start
Speaker 2: two wide receivers, which pushes up running back value in
Speaker 2: those leagues. I think Bucky Irving might, maybe should, sneak
Speaker 2: into the back end of the first round. He finished
Speaker 2: with eleven hundred twenty two rushing yards and eight touchdowns,
Speaker 2: even though he only averaged nine point two carries a game.
Speaker 2: Over Tampa Bay's first nine games, Bucky averaged five point
Speaker 2: four yards per carry, had a fifty five point one
Speaker 2: success rate, which is just like off the charts for
Speaker 2: running backs, phenomenal numbers. Good as a pass catcher forty
Speaker 2: seven catches, three hundred and ninety two yards. Rashad White
Speaker 2: actually had his best season as a runner by far,
Speaker 2: and by the end of the season the Buccaneers had
Speaker 2: basically benched him and made him Bucki's back up. Bucky
Speaker 2: was just that good, like as good as that one
Speaker 2: two punch for a while was I think the Buccaneers
Speaker 2: realized they were just better off playing Bucky like seventy
Speaker 2: five percent of the snaps. So the guy's just so
Speaker 2: much fun to watch, Like his vision, the way he's
Speaker 2: able to string together a series of moves and just
Speaker 2: break ankles, contact balance. He is just a special player.
Speaker 2: And I really regret him because he ran kind of
Speaker 2: a sluggish forty at the combine, Like never again. Man,
Speaker 2: I think the people who you know, some of the
Speaker 2: Pac twelve folks rest in peace. PAC twelve, the true
Speaker 2: believers who saw a lot of Bucky in college, like
Speaker 2: they knew and they were the ones who benefited at
Speaker 2: least in dynasty. But man, I'm not going to get
Speaker 2: cheated out of Bucky Irving shares and redraft next year.
Speaker 1: I was going to ask because he was going as like,
Speaker 1: what like a late third early fourth rounder in Dynasty.
Speaker 3: I mean he was probably somewhere late second, early third,
Speaker 3: somewhere in the.
Speaker 1: Yeah, I don't even know if I saw you.
Speaker 2: If you look back at Dynasty drafts and see some
Speaker 2: of the guys who were picked ahead of Bucky Irving, like,
Speaker 2: you're just going to be slapping your hair.
Speaker 1: So was there a lesson to be learned their fits?
Speaker 2: Yeah? Because I did the same thing with Kyrine Williams
Speaker 2: and didn't learn my lesson, like, don't fade the undersized
Speaker 2: backs who run a sluggish forty times, you know if
Speaker 2: they had like really productive college careers, because like pay
Speaker 2: attention to the production and not so much the measurables.
Speaker 1: Yeah, deebro, what are you doing with Bucky Irving next year?
Speaker 1: I mean, when you hear first round consideration, does that
Speaker 1: seem oh wow, that's pretty aggressive in your mind? Or
Speaker 1: is your initial reaction?
Speaker 3: Yeah, that's about right, It's about right. I have him
Speaker 3: right now as RB six right now in my overall
Speaker 3: he is fourteenth overall, although you could move him up
Speaker 3: into the first round. I have a no problem with that.
Speaker 3: I mean, and yeah, I mean pick whatever name you
Speaker 3: want to evoke here. Kyron Williams two point zero fits.
Speaker 3: Another good test case of this too is Tyler Algier,
Speaker 3: a player that did not test really well. But I
Speaker 3: think the lesson that we need to learn about Bucky
Speaker 3: Irving is college tackle breaking metrics translate. They might not
Speaker 3: translate as a strict one to one, but these guys,
Speaker 3: because if you look at Bucky's profile, his tax breaking
Speaker 3: metrics were fantastic. I think it was over the last
Speaker 3: two to maybe three seasons, and the same thing could
Speaker 3: be said for Kyroen, it could be set for Tyler Algier,
Speaker 3: and really, if you can break tackles, you can freaking
Speaker 3: break tackles man. Although I will also give a hat
Speaker 3: tip to the Buccaneers because the one thing that like
Speaker 3: when I was looking at Bucky as a prospect, that
Speaker 3: I really hoped in the NFL, if you stuck Bucky
Speaker 3: Irving in an outside zone scheme, he doesn't have that
Speaker 3: type of lateral agility to where that would have fit
Speaker 3: him really well. The Buccaneers said, look with Rashad White,
Speaker 3: it hasn't worked with outside zone and stuff. We are
Speaker 3: switching to gap and counter and getting downhill, much like
Speaker 3: the Rams did to fit Kyron Williams. That was fantastic
Speaker 3: because Bucky once you get him into the second level
Speaker 3: and you get him moving downhill, that's where you see
Speaker 3: the special runs and the things that he can do
Speaker 3: into the second level and really really help himself. You
Speaker 3: stuck him in an outside zone scheme and you asked
Speaker 3: him to get lateral and really like the that's where
Speaker 3: I think the shortcomings of the testing and some of
Speaker 3: the physical stuff could show up. Buccaneers didn't do that, man,
Speaker 3: But this all comes down to again putting a bow
Speaker 3: on this. Believe in the collegiate tackle breaking metrics they
Speaker 3: translate if.
Speaker 1: I remember correctly fits. I think Bogman was in on
Speaker 1: Bucky then after the combine was like you have to
Speaker 1: be you just can't be in on him anymore. And
Speaker 1: you know, like we said a few times, like there's
Speaker 1: the lesson is to uh to kind of bell.
Speaker 3: Well, and I think I think we're we're getting to
Speaker 3: the point where the NFL is changing its tune about
Speaker 3: size for these running backs like where we were in
Speaker 3: that we I mean, come on, guys, like in the
Speaker 3: last three to five years, we've been pigeonholed. Okay, well,
Speaker 3: if you're not two hundred or two oh five or
Speaker 3: two ten, then are you really going to get workhorse
Speaker 3: type of work. Well. Devon h Chan said, okay, hold
Speaker 3: my beer, Bucky Urban said, hold my beer. Kyrin Williams said,
Speaker 3: hold my beer. And we got a six pack of
Speaker 3: runbacks that are good that didn't fit that mold. So
Speaker 3: we really need to kind of like crush that mold,
Speaker 3: toss it in the trash and say, okay, we need
Speaker 3: to learn from this.
Speaker 1: People were making those comments when Jamier Gibbs was having
Speaker 1: his Crazy Sunday Night game in week eighteen the same thing. Debro,
Speaker 1: what was your fantasy takeaway for the Atlanta Falcons who
Speaker 1: went eight to nine last year.
Speaker 3: I am so not only excited because now we can
Speaker 3: stop all the talk of is Drake London actually good
Speaker 3: at football? Because he is, and he proved it by
Speaker 3: catching one hundred balls this year. But with the addition
Speaker 3: of Michael Pennix, we could see Drake London take off
Speaker 3: and we have not seen the full ceiling for Drake London.
Speaker 3: That's what I want everybody to take away from this,
Speaker 3: you saw really really stinking good for Drake London in
Speaker 3: twenty twenty four. That is not his true ceiling. We
Speaker 3: could see that in twenty twenty five. And what we
Speaker 3: saw in the difference between Kirk Cousins and how that
Speaker 3: hampered and his health and his arm and all that
Speaker 3: kind of stuff hampered that offense versus what he saw
Speaker 3: with Michael Pennocks. We could see even better Drake London
Speaker 3: in twenty twenty five, Like with Kirk Cousins, ten point
Speaker 3: seven to a DOT, two point two four yards per
Speaker 3: route run, he averaged sixty five receiving arts per game.
Speaker 3: All of these metrics are really really good. With Michael
Speaker 3: PENNOCKX And people could say it's a small sample, it's
Speaker 3: a glorious sample. His ADOT went up to twelve point five.
Speaker 3: He averaged one hundred and seventeen receiving yards per game.
Speaker 3: I get it's a three game sample. He still had
Speaker 3: two hundred yard days out of those three games. Three
Speaker 3: point seven four yards per route run. We get Drake
Speaker 3: London not just like eating up targets and gobbling up
Speaker 3: volume in that short to intermediate range, but we get
Speaker 3: him downfield and we've seen Michael PENICKX willing to throw
Speaker 3: those type of balls to Drake London. Let's go, baby,
Speaker 3: one hundred and ten catches top three wide receiver in
Speaker 3: twenty twenty five. My body is ready.
Speaker 1: Is that a bullet prediction or is that you are
Speaker 1: ranking him as a top three receiver?
Speaker 3: That's my bowl prediction right now, Drake Lend right now,
Speaker 3: in my early twenty twenty five ranks, he's gonna be
Speaker 3: top six. I'm still kind of sifting through it, but
Speaker 3: he's he's gonna be top six, Top.
Speaker 1: Eight, Chase Jefferson pooka CD.
Speaker 3: He deserves to be in the conversation right next to
Speaker 3: m and Ross Saint Brown.
Speaker 1: I'll say that, Okay, okay, Fitz, what about you? You
Speaker 1: kind of reacted in a way in hearing de Ro's
Speaker 1: ranking that makes me think you might be a little
Speaker 1: bit lower.
Speaker 2: I'm a little bit lower, Like I've got him below
Speaker 2: Thomas and Neighbors, who I think are potentially pretty special.
Speaker 2: I think London could be special too, And I agree
Speaker 2: with Debro's enthusiasm about the ability of Michael Pennox to
Speaker 2: unlock London. Fully. I'll try to do this without speaking
Speaker 2: ill of Kirk Cousins because I think I've done enough
Speaker 2: of that already. But Pennix is just to watch that
Speaker 2: guy throw the ball is so much fun. Like I mean,
Speaker 2: that guy just zip's it like he can spin it
Speaker 2: like nobody's business, and like that's a big part of it.
Speaker 2: Like to finally get the right quarterback for London because
Speaker 2: obviously it was a struggle with Desmond Ritter and Taylor
Speaker 2: Heineke or whoever was in twenty twenty three, and then
Speaker 2: you know, sort of over the hill Kirk Cousins in
Speaker 2: twenty twenty four. Finally we saw what he can do
Speaker 2: with a dude who's got crazy arm talent. I'm looking
Speaker 2: forward to London's output in twenty twenty five is also.
Speaker 3: Contract season for Drake London.
Speaker 1: Let's go baby. Oh wow.
Speaker 2: They might they might want to take care of them.
Speaker 1: They should.
Speaker 3: They should learn the lesson that the Cincinnati Bengals did
Speaker 3: not learn and say, yeah, we probably need to do this.
Speaker 3: Forere you reset your market.
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Speaker 1: The Carolina Panthers five and twelve a more fun back
Speaker 1: half of the season for them than the first half fits.
Speaker 1: What was your takeaway for Carolina?
Speaker 2: Yeah, before I say what it is, can I ask
Speaker 2: does the winner get a few long strands of TJ.
Speaker 2: Howkinson's hair to go with the helmet as kind of
Speaker 2: a value.
Speaker 1: Dibro would definitely be an honored if they did. Oh,
Speaker 1: we got ball jokes? Huh?
Speaker 3: Okay, all right, let's see how it is.
Speaker 1: Okay, I could help, all right?
Speaker 2: My take for the Panthers is that Dave Canalis is
Speaker 2: indeed a QB whisper and has helped turn Bryce Young
Speaker 2: into a legitimate NFL starter. Just a terrible start to
Speaker 2: the season for Bryce Young, benched after two games, comes
Speaker 2: back as the start in Week seven, and you know,
Speaker 2: okay at first, and then it just got better and
Speaker 2: better from there. By the end of the season, seven touchdowns,
Speaker 2: three interceptions or no interceptions excuse me, in his last
Speaker 2: three starts. I don't know if he's going to be
Speaker 2: a star like next year or ever, but he is
Speaker 2: at least a credible NFL quarterback that the Panthers can
Speaker 2: start to build around. And you know, maybe a couple
Speaker 2: of years down the road, they're going to realize he's
Speaker 2: not the guy to take them to the Promised Land.
Speaker 2: But there is hope now and you can thank Dave
Speaker 2: Canalis for that. And there's also going to be hope
Speaker 2: for Carolina pass catchers next year. And yeah, I'm even
Speaker 2: kind of high on Debro's guy Jaalen.
Speaker 1: So I was gonna kind of ask, what's the larger
Speaker 1: takeaway for you from for fantasy purposes. Is it Bryce
Speaker 1: Young is a viable, if not maybe even good, you know,
Speaker 1: super flex quarterback to have on your team next year,
Speaker 1: or is it Bryce Young is not a fantasy viable quarterback.
Speaker 1: But he is good enough to make Jalen Coker, Adam Thielen,
Speaker 1: Juba Hubbard viable.
Speaker 2: Yeah, Bryce Young is a worthwhile super flex quarterback. I
Speaker 2: don't think anyone wants to have him as their QB
Speaker 2: one in a one QB league, But there are some
Speaker 2: leagues where, you know, because of the format, whether it's
Speaker 2: you know, a really deep league, some leagues, it's actually
Speaker 2: sensible to draft a backup quarterback, And I think in
Speaker 2: those leagues, Bryce Young is worth having as a backup,
Speaker 2: mainly more about him not being a drag on the
Speaker 2: offense as a whole. Like, you know, Young's competence is
Speaker 2: good for Chubaha, It's gonna be good for Jalen Cocher
Speaker 2: and whoever else is there. We'll see about Xavier Legett.
Speaker 2: I'm not entirely sold there. You know, maybe we see
Speaker 2: a breakout for Jitavian Sanders next year. Like Young's improvement
Speaker 2: gives me a little bit of optimism for JT. Sanders.
Speaker 2: So we'll see. But like we don't have to worry
Speaker 2: about you know how I talked on the AFC South
Speaker 2: Show about the Titans offense being a sinkhole and probably
Speaker 2: continuing to be a sinkhole in twenty twenty five. I
Speaker 2: don't think we have the same fear as with the Panthers.
Speaker 1: Bryce Young's bye week was week eleven. From that point on,
Speaker 1: do you have it? Do you have a guess of
Speaker 1: where he finished?
Speaker 3: I had it pulled up and I was just about
Speaker 3: to bring it up. Yep. Fits take yes, weeks twelve
Speaker 3: through eighteen, Fantasy points per game? Where was Bryce Young.
Speaker 2: For rank?
Speaker 3: Promise you you're gonna guess too?
Speaker 2: Eleven?
Speaker 3: Uh? Higher?
Speaker 1: No kidding?
Speaker 3: Not top not top six, No QB nine and.
Speaker 1: So he's nine a points per game. He was QB
Speaker 1: six actually in overall at total points. So obviously some
Speaker 1: players had buy you know, their own bye weeks and
Speaker 1: injuries and stuff. Or he didn't play a week eighteen,
Speaker 1: but total scoring QB six per game QB nine since
Speaker 1: his bye week in week eleven, so maybe even something
Speaker 1: was short his weekly finish at the position QB fourteen
Speaker 1: eight twenty eighteen, two nineteen and one. So it was
Speaker 1: quite a finish from him, and maybe is even being
Speaker 1: sold short a little, calling him, you know, more of
Speaker 1: a passable you know, QB two option. I'm not saying
Speaker 1: he's a guy who should be a QB one obviously,
Speaker 1: but uh, you know, he played well. I mean, that's
Speaker 1: certainly better than I expected. What really helps, though, is
Speaker 1: the rushing touchdowns, and I'm very curious to see if
Speaker 1: that ends up being sustainable for him or not. He's not,
Speaker 1: you know, the body type you might typically think of
Speaker 1: as this guy's going to add a ton of rushing value.
Speaker 1: But he had five rushing touchdowns in the last six weeks.
Speaker 1: That goes a long way.
Speaker 3: Certainly lot, oh, definitly a lot.
Speaker 2: And best of all, I got to wipe the egg
Speaker 2: off my face for having drafted Bryce Young ahead of c. J.
Speaker 2: Stroud in two Dynasty Rookie Drive.
Speaker 1: I think a lot of people are feeling that way.
Speaker 2: I feel a little bit better about that now. I
Speaker 2: don't know if it was the right call, but I
Speaker 2: do feel better.
Speaker 3: Even jurists too, if they want to say, like, well,
Speaker 3: we didn't play week eighteen and you know that monster game.
Speaker 3: Even if you look just weeks twelve through seventeen, ruys
Speaker 3: Sjung q BE twelve and Fantasy points per game.
Speaker 1: Wow, Yeah, and he just quick thoughts in him overall
Speaker 1: Debro No.
Speaker 3: I mean, I think he's He's definitely a really strong
Speaker 3: super flex quarterback. Now. I think that obviously we're talking
Speaker 3: about the rushing production is helping him a ton as
Speaker 3: far as in his fantasy outlook, So I think some
Speaker 3: of that's going to come back. So looking him at
Speaker 3: the at the lens of Okay as a strong QB
Speaker 3: two that can give me spike weeks for QB one
Speaker 3: and depending on what this offense looks like, because again,
Speaker 3: like this offense is trying to find its way, man, Like,
Speaker 3: you know, what does this offense look like? In year
Speaker 3: two of knelis with Chuba doing the things that he's done,
Speaker 3: with Xaviri ol Get hopefully taking a step forward or heck,
Speaker 3: Coca talked about the goat Jalen Coker, who has been
Speaker 3: out targeting their FoST round pick Xavier ola Get on
Speaker 3: a weekly basis. Can he step into that? Adam delen
Speaker 3: roll in twenty twenty five we shall see Debrel.
Speaker 1: Let's go to your New Orleans Saints five and twelve
Speaker 1: as well for your takeaway.
Speaker 3: I don't know if I want to claim them anymore.
Speaker 3: I've kind of disavowed, like my fandom of this team
Speaker 3: is done until Derek Carr is gone. When we get
Speaker 3: to a point where I can find legitimacy of this
Speaker 3: roster to root for. My fandom is on hiatus right now.
Speaker 3: But to that point a move that I didn't agree with,
Speaker 3: but New Orleans made it anyway, I'm not the GM
Speaker 3: extending Alvin Kamara. I think we've gotten to a point
Speaker 3: with Alvin Kamara at this point where he's a volume
Speaker 3: vacuum man. And at this point, like I faded him
Speaker 3: in ranks and was it going to be Kendre Miller,
Speaker 3: Was it going to be Age? Was it gonna be
Speaker 3: all these different things? It hasn't mattered Alvacamara in the
Speaker 3: last two years RB three and RB five and Fantasy
Speaker 3: points per game. He is going to soak up volume
Speaker 3: and that's going to carry him to yet another RB
Speaker 3: one season in twenty twenty five, whether we like it
Speaker 3: or not.
Speaker 1: So fits is somebody who's not a fan of New
Speaker 1: Orleans A right, actually not a fan of the Saints.
Speaker 1: I don't know how I feel about the city.
Speaker 3: Well who's not. Uh oh, we're gonna have a bigger
Speaker 3: conversation about being a fan of New Orleans all the time.
Speaker 1: I've never been to New Orleans. It is very high
Speaker 1: on the list of American cities that I have not
Speaker 1: been to that I want right.
Speaker 3: We're booking flat we're booking plane tickets right now. I
Speaker 3: hope we can't get it together.
Speaker 1: You're there, Well, well, we have our team trip to
Speaker 1: Vegas next month. That'll be my first time there. I'm
Speaker 1: hoping maybe next year we can come across New Orleans
Speaker 1: out list.
Speaker 3: But then we get you bailed out in time to
Speaker 3: have the between New Orleans and eight year after that.
Speaker 1: So yeah, But you know, as somebody who's not colored
Speaker 1: by your, you know, opinion of the Saints as a
Speaker 1: fan fits, Uh, what do you think about this take
Speaker 1: from Debra about Alvin Kamara and just the volume being
Speaker 1: enough to not really worry about anything else.
Speaker 2: First of all, I haven't been to New Orleans either,
Speaker 2: which seems like a great oversight.
Speaker 1: Canning to me. Honestly, I would have thought, I know there, I.
Speaker 2: Gotta get me some hurricanes and beignets, and so I.
Speaker 3: Am messaging the powers that be New Orleans in next
Speaker 3: year's team trip. Got it done?
Speaker 2: Yes, So no, I pretty much agree with Debro if
Speaker 2: I think it'll actually be best for Alvin Kamara if
Speaker 2: the Saints running back with Derek Carr, because Derek Carr
Speaker 2: is so eager to dump off to Alvin Kamara and
Speaker 2: keep his Like the ticket for Alvin Kamara to be
Speaker 2: an RB one again is the passing game usage and
Speaker 2: for him to have another seventy seventy five eighty catch season,
Speaker 2: which I think he could very well do with Derek Carr.
Speaker 2: If they somehow land some like hyper mobile quarterback who
Speaker 2: isn't going to dump off that much, that's when you
Speaker 2: need to pull the ripcord on Alvin Kamara. But considering
Speaker 2: how capstrapped the Saints are, as per usual, pretty unlikely.
Speaker 2: I think they change direction at quarterback, so I do
Speaker 2: think Kamara probably needs a tag team partner on early downs.
Speaker 2: I don't know if Kendre Miller is that guy. They
Speaker 2: might have to go fishing in the draft again for
Speaker 2: a new you know, potential air apparent at running back.
Speaker 2: But yeah, I mean I have no issues with the
Speaker 2: take that Alvin Kamara's going to be an RB one again.
Speaker 1: Where will you be playing on drafting Alvin Kamara?
Speaker 2: I think I do have him right on the RB
Speaker 2: one RB two boys.
Speaker 1: But like what round sounds right for him.
Speaker 2: Oh oh uh, maybe maybe three somewhere in the third.
Speaker 3: I was gonna say four he gets enticed into the fourth.
Speaker 1: Three or four?
Speaker 2: Yeah, I don't. I don't think he's gonna last to
Speaker 2: the fourth in too many leagues, certainly not in too
Speaker 2: many home leagues.
Speaker 1: He's not a stereotypical RB dead zone like name, but
Speaker 1: that is, you know, kind of the range that we're talking.
Speaker 2: About, especially PPR leagues man with the value he brings
Speaker 2: as a past catcher.
Speaker 1: All right, or wrap up the NFC South there. Uh,
Speaker 1: thank you everybody for tuning in. Please be sure to
Speaker 1: check out all of our divisional takeaway episodes. You can
Speaker 1: find them on YouTube or wherever you listen to your podcasts.
Speaker 1: Uh for Fits and Debro, I'm Ryan warmly, thanks again
Speaker 1: for tuning in and we'll see you next time. Thanks
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