Speaker 1: Welcome to Fantasy Football Weekly, a production of I Heart Radio.
Speaker 1: Time now for Fantasy Football Weekly from I Heart Radio,
Speaker 1: your weekly source for the nation's best fantasy football advice, speculation,
Speaker 1: and whatever stupid stuff they decided to drop into the show. Now,
Speaker 1: here's your host. Welcome to Fantasy Football Weekly. I'm Paul
Speaker 1: charchy in. My co host is Brian Johnson. Welcome back.
Speaker 1: Finally you can say welcome back to me. Yeah, I
Speaker 1: mean normally you're here again. Yeah, that's usually the case.
Speaker 1: Scott Fish filled in admirably for you, and it wasn't
Speaker 1: even a filling. I mean, you know you were available.
Speaker 1: We just wanted you know, he's a cost in the show.
Speaker 1: He gets to come back. You choose the film. I'm
Speaker 1: sure he did. Alright, he did, great, he did. Um,
Speaker 1: we're gonna break down the NFC East and it we'll
Speaker 1: talk through our how we see these offenses functioning for
Speaker 1: this season. We've been doing this now, I think six
Speaker 1: straight weeks where we've broken down different different divisions and uh,
Speaker 1: the NFCUS because it gives us a chance to talk
Speaker 1: about some shaky quarterbacking on the whole. But some football teams,
Speaker 1: football teams, we're gonna talk about some and I will
Speaker 1: be breaking down football team. Because it's Stu Beird, I'm
Speaker 1: gonna take the Stupird option. So I've got Washington, You've
Speaker 1: got the Giants. Before we jump into the Giants, let
Speaker 1: me just remind people I gave you Stu Beird though
Speaker 1: we were discussing, we were prepping for the show, and
Speaker 1: the first thing I said was you get Stu Beird.
Speaker 1: Of course, thank you. We appreciate your yes. Um, and
Speaker 1: you got stuck with the team you love to hate,
Speaker 1: the Giants. So yeah, the division champions Giants, I forgot
Speaker 1: about that. I wait, no, Washington's the division channel. They
Speaker 1: didn't matter. They both made the playoffs though, right, No,
Speaker 1: that's right. I'm forgetting that the Giants should have won.
Speaker 1: They should have well, no one should have won that
Speaker 1: division last year anyway, Properly, that's enough reality football. We
Speaker 1: jump into the Giants. A reminder gives you Lead dot
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Speaker 1: I think the grand prize is three grand in that one,
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Speaker 1: in a day, in less than a day, like five hours.
Speaker 1: I was given last Friday off day off quote unquote
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Speaker 1: for this and really really nice. So let's talk about
Speaker 1: the giants. Let's jump in here, and as we've done
Speaker 1: for all of our past shows on this again. We're
Speaker 1: not recapping last year. We're looking forward for how we
Speaker 1: think this offense is going to look. And let's jump
Speaker 1: into the Giants. Giants. Uh, last year offense not good
Speaker 1: thirty feet and uh thirty one in yards per game
Speaker 1: and points per game. Um. Joe Judge makes his return
Speaker 1: as head coach his second year. He brings along UH
Speaker 1: he's had Jason Garrett into offensive mastermind. Jason Garrett uh
Speaker 1: still the offensive coordinator for the g Men. Uh. Let's
Speaker 1: start with se Kwan Barkley obviously got to start with Barkley. UH.
Speaker 1: The big name of course on the team. Running back
Speaker 1: five really player five overall as of right now, it's
Speaker 1: either like you, unless it's a super flex league and
Speaker 1: one quarterback leagues, you're taking a a top five running
Speaker 1: back or Travis Kelsey, which, by the way, it's Travis Kels.
Speaker 1: Well now his mom says it's Kelsey, so his mom
Speaker 1: would know, so so this thing is still very ambiguous.
Speaker 1: We had the bit because my fantasy league would pronounce
Speaker 1: it Travis Kels and we used to make fun of that.
Speaker 1: The shouty guy was the best bits. Yeah, We're like,
Speaker 1: they're so wrong. It's funny, but no, it might be right.
Speaker 1: But anyway, UH, if you're not taking Barkley, UH, you
Speaker 1: might be taking Kelsey outside of one of the other
Speaker 1: big backs. But Barkley injured Week one of last year.
Speaker 1: As everyone remembers, UH last season, people are expecting a
Speaker 1: full on bounce back. They're banking on it. At ADP five,
Speaker 1: we'll talk about him. It's a little more this segment. UH.
Speaker 1: And if for handcuffed reasons you're interested. Davante Booker is
Speaker 1: the top backup running back, and they also have Corey
Speaker 1: Clement who came over from the Eagles, and our rookie
Speaker 1: Gary bright Well. But whoever the running back is for
Speaker 1: the Giants, the a running behind arguably the worst offensive
Speaker 1: line in the NFL. In Pro Football Focus his mind
Speaker 1: that ranked thirty seconds going into this season. UH. And
Speaker 1: this despite the fact that they have put money and
Speaker 1: draft picks towards that line. They have tried, but the
Speaker 1: players that they've invested in have not worked out. UH.
Speaker 1: They invested a fourth, fourth overall pick in Andrew Thomas
Speaker 1: last year, UH flopped at left tackle. UH. Nate Solder,
Speaker 1: who was the starting left tackle last year, will probably
Speaker 1: move to right tackle. List here does make his return.
Speaker 1: He opted out in so that that will help. That
Speaker 1: does help a lot. But uh, outside of that, Um,
Speaker 1: they have a converted guard playing center. This will be
Speaker 1: a second year playing center, and the other two guard
Speaker 1: spots right now wide open for competition. The line is
Speaker 1: even defined right now, so very worrisome there for the
Speaker 1: running game and not only the passing game. Daniel Jones
Speaker 1: currently quarterback one, pretty much free in terms of a
Speaker 1: starting quarterback. If you wants too high, you mean he
Speaker 1: should be going later. You're going later than that. I
Speaker 1: mean there are guys after him, like Carson Wentz, I'd
Speaker 1: rather roll the dice on, and many you know, many others.
Speaker 1: We'll talk about him soon. Ryan Fitzpatrick going after uh,
Speaker 1: Daniel Jones. I would take fits nine out of ten
Speaker 1: times over Jones and probably Deshaun Watson. The one other
Speaker 1: time was also going after Daniel Jones. Worth the lotto
Speaker 1: play moral stands aside. Um, Jones does have a shiny
Speaker 1: new toy in wide receiver Kenny Golladay, who is the
Speaker 1: leader of that pack. Now he's going off the board
Speaker 1: as wide receiver wide receiver twenty seven right now, which
Speaker 1: seems about right Uh, he's definitely the wide receiver you
Speaker 1: want out of this corpse. Uh corps of corps corpse
Speaker 1: might be a more pronounced that. It's actually a deep
Speaker 1: set of receiver Sterling Shepherd. The problem, I think because
Speaker 1: it's too many Sterling Shepherd, Darius Layton. You can get them. Well,
Speaker 1: then if you're drafted Darius Tony, a rookie that some
Speaker 1: people are excited about from a redraft. Respect don't like
Speaker 1: this landing spot. He's he's dead to me there um,
Speaker 1: But yeah, giants wide receivers do not did not produce
Speaker 1: last year. Granted Golliday wasn't there, but they were bottom
Speaker 1: made and catches bottom four and yards and touchdowns at
Speaker 1: the position. I'm just kind of out on this whole
Speaker 1: whole pass game at the wide receiver, even Holiday, who
Speaker 1: in theory should immediately become the alpha. We see a
Speaker 1: lot of times even very good receivers first year on
Speaker 1: new teams struggle. I just and there's just too many
Speaker 1: balls to go around, including Barkley, Evan Ingram, Sterling Shepherd, Tony.
Speaker 1: It's just you know, slat and there's just so many
Speaker 1: guys that need to get fed. I worry about Golliday
Speaker 1: getting appropriate usage here. I'm with you, and the Giants
Speaker 1: actually have a very good defense, you know, so I
Speaker 1: don't I don't know if they're gonna be giving up
Speaker 1: a ton of points, so I don't know how active.
Speaker 1: If they're really wanting to win games, I mean they are,
Speaker 1: but I don't know how many they're gonna win. It's
Speaker 1: gonna be more good defense, ball control with Barkley, that's
Speaker 1: gonna be the recipe for success. And you just mentioned
Speaker 1: Evan Ingram. Let's talk about him and I might as
Speaker 1: well throw in the He is my highest upside player
Speaker 1: for the Giants right now. He has underachieved so far
Speaker 1: in his career, to say the least, just thirteen touchdowns
Speaker 1: across four seasons. Of course, he plays all sixteen games
Speaker 1: last year for the first time in his career, scores
Speaker 1: one touchdown God, the only tight end touchdown for the Giants.
Speaker 1: But man, the Giants do utilize their tight ends a lot.
Speaker 1: They're they've been top eleven and catches for three straight years,
Speaker 1: usually a focal point of the offense. But Kyle Rodolf,
Speaker 1: is there a really good red zone end zone target?
Speaker 1: And I worry that this could be another one to
Speaker 1: three touchdown season for Evan Ingram. But right now it
Speaker 1: tight end fourteen. I mean he's gone like tight end
Speaker 1: six five, like his a DP and now the bottom
Speaker 1: has fallen out finally maybe he puts it all together.
Speaker 1: Still a freakish athlete, he's showing flashes of brilliance. Of
Speaker 1: course he's had some some bad drops. But at tight
Speaker 1: end fourteen right now, if you're missing out on the
Speaker 1: Big three or four, however you want a group of
Speaker 1: those guys. There's top six seven potential here for Ingram.
Speaker 1: If you can put it all together in a tight
Speaker 1: end fourteen, that's a virtually free uh, if you're looking
Speaker 1: at your starting tight end and to the riskiest player,
Speaker 1: it's pretty obvious. And he's a top five pick if
Speaker 1: he gets hurt like he did last year, year done
Speaker 1: before and the year before, and of course everyone is
Speaker 1: at risk of injury, but uh, obvious a little concerned.
Speaker 1: They don't like fully unleashed him out of the gate either.
Speaker 1: When the season starts, you know, like people are thinking
Speaker 1: thirty touches, I'm thinking more seven team twenty worlcome back
Speaker 1: a little bit. I know he's a freak of nature.
Speaker 1: He's still very young, very much in the prime of
Speaker 1: his career. But I don't know top five pick, it's
Speaker 1: it's too risky for me. He's not he's not locked
Speaker 1: or produced. E've been taking DeVante Booker late in a
Speaker 1: lot of drafts, even if you don't have Barkley right
Speaker 1: not right now. I don't have Barkley at any I
Speaker 1: don't have any shares of Barkley and across any of
Speaker 1: my draft. So I would almost argue, if you have
Speaker 1: Barkley not to take Booker. Booker will be serviceable. But
Speaker 1: if Barkley goes down, you're pretty much done. But if
Speaker 1: you don't know in Barkley and you get the starting
Speaker 1: the Giants, but uh that's but uh yeah, that's all.
Speaker 1: That's all we have to say for the Giants, other
Speaker 1: than I hope Gettleman Dave Gettleman finally gets fired after
Speaker 1: this season. I think it will happen. I hope. So
Speaker 1: for Washington football team, they get competent quarterbacking for the
Speaker 1: first time in years, and this team is said to
Speaker 1: improve significantly over last year. Brian, you're gonna hear a
Speaker 1: lot of optimism. This team finished twenty fifth points last year.
Speaker 1: Twenty yards. I think they're going to be closer to
Speaker 1: top twelve top fourteen in both of those categories. So
Speaker 1: let's start with Ryan Fitzpatrick, your new starter, although we'll
Speaker 1: mention uh Taylor Heineke looked pretty darn good at the
Speaker 1: end of last year. But Fitzpatrick goes in as the starter,
Speaker 1: and he played well last year, and his benching for
Speaker 1: to a Toungo violoa should not be viewed as a
Speaker 1: reflection of Fitzpatrick's play. And you know, I'm gonna give
Speaker 1: you some numbers here that really I think will will
Speaker 1: help demonstrate why he's going to be very valuable here,
Speaker 1: and especially compared to recent Washington quarterbacks. You know, Fitzpatrick
Speaker 1: impressed the ball upfield. He finished eleventh in completed air
Speaker 1: yards last year, in eighth in yards per attempt. And
Speaker 1: this despite last year he had the second shortest time
Speaker 1: to throw and he still finished eighth and yards pert tempt.
Speaker 1: I mean that guy hung tough in the pocket and
Speaker 1: delivered downfield. Last year. He ranked number one in aggressiveness,
Speaker 1: which is next next. Jen stats is calculation for a
Speaker 1: pastor's willingness to throw into tight coverage. I like that
Speaker 1: about him. He's always been this way. He'll take the
Speaker 1: periodic pick if it means that he can get the
Speaker 1: ball towards his best receivers. Fitzpatrick led the league in
Speaker 1: on target a percentage in balls thrown twenty yards or
Speaker 1: longer last year. He was good last year, and they
Speaker 1: mentioned him anyway, the Dolphins would have made the playoffs.
Speaker 1: I'm convinced that they kept him there for sure. All
Speaker 1: we needed was one more win his He had six
Speaker 1: his sixty five completion percentage. People think that he's a
Speaker 1: very errand thrower, but he completed six of his passes.
Speaker 1: Aaron Rodgers completed sixty six, so I really think that's
Speaker 1: not accurate either. He was next gent Stats seventh ranked
Speaker 1: quarterback in completions above expectation. So you're all that together anything,
Speaker 1: And I've got more on him later. So let's go
Speaker 1: to Let's go to his receiving targets, beginning with Terry
Speaker 1: mcterry McLaurin sitting on a breakout season. He's already really
Speaker 1: good despite the terrible quarterbacking they've had. Um, how bad
Speaker 1: was it last year? Mclauren was seventy five in catchable
Speaker 1: target rate. Last year seventy five among why receivers and
Speaker 1: catchable targets. Now with Fitzpatrick, he's going to see way
Speaker 1: more downfield opportunities. Fitzpatrick's a dot has been the top three, sorry,
Speaker 1: top ten for three straight years, so we're gonna see
Speaker 1: McLaurin work downfield much more. I love that opportunity for him. Um.
Speaker 1: Fitzpatrick's number one wide receiver, so his top wide receiver.
Speaker 1: His averaged one hundred forty two targets per season when
Speaker 1: Fitzpatrick has started ten or more games, which he has
Speaker 1: projected to do. Here, if we put Terry McLaren on
Speaker 1: one forty two targets, he will be a top ten
Speaker 1: wide receiver this year easily. McLaren played a whopping eight
Speaker 1: per cent of the team's plays last year, so obviously
Speaker 1: I love mclauren. Curtis Samuel gets reunited with Ron Rivera
Speaker 1: and Scott Turner, who know him very well from Carolina.
Speaker 1: He'll presumably read that jack of all trades guy that
Speaker 1: he has been for Carolina. UM, but now with the
Speaker 1: best quarterbacking of his career, and he's reunited with Terry McLaurin,
Speaker 1: who they went. Isn't that fun? Um? You know, so
Speaker 1: you know it's gonna be the same we did to
Speaker 1: we do. Just say that Fitzpatrick loves to feed his
Speaker 1: number one and that's going to continue to be the
Speaker 1: case here. Um, but Samuel figures to be the number
Speaker 1: two receiver in this offense, and they're gonna run him
Speaker 1: some and do some other stuff with him. I think
Speaker 1: you'll get a lot of high and low stuff. Let
Speaker 1: me note this. He ran predominantly from the slot last year,
Speaker 1: but under Scott Turner in Carolina Curtis Samuel lined up
Speaker 1: outside much more often. And I think he's going to
Speaker 1: be an outside receiver for this team because Adam Humphries
Speaker 1: is going to man the slot and he'll likely be
Speaker 1: on the field more than people realize because people in
Speaker 1: their minds still think Samuel, like last year, is gonna
Speaker 1: be predominantly slot. I don't think he is. I think
Speaker 1: he's gonna go outside much more so. Um. He Humphries
Speaker 1: got cut from the Titans. He was two years into
Speaker 1: a four year deal, and that's you that was worrisome
Speaker 1: that they didn't decide to keep him, and he had
Speaker 1: the concussions last year. But um, you could play him
Speaker 1: in a PPR situation only and sort of pick your spots.
Speaker 1: He played with Fitzpatrick and Tampa for what it's worth,
Speaker 1: But I don't think Humphries is anything more than the
Speaker 1: last last pick of your draft kind of guy, or
Speaker 1: some of you pick up off the waiver wire. Rookie
Speaker 1: Diemi Brown is there. He's a speedcer with deep speed,
Speaker 1: and we do have a deep armed quarterback here, so
Speaker 1: he might be somebody who could you could throw a
Speaker 1: dart at from time to time. But there's also Campsen's
Speaker 1: and Antonio Golden Gandy and Kelvin Harmon, and there's other guys.
Speaker 1: Stevens sim City. I like that it is sim City
Speaker 1: with two Sims on the team. Uh. Tight end Logan
Speaker 1: Thomas is fascinating. So he had the improbable path as
Speaker 1: a college quarterback turned tight end turned journeyman, bouncing around
Speaker 1: from team to team to team, and then last year
Speaker 1: he's on the field for Washington's plays. And he was
Speaker 1: a pro drafted as a pro quarterback. But Cardinals, that's
Speaker 1: like the fourth quarterback. He wasn't like signed as a
Speaker 1: free Asian or anything like that. He was drafted to
Speaker 1: play quarterback. Didn't work out and do his credit. I mean,
Speaker 1: he's managed to stay in the league and Lions gave
Speaker 1: up on him, and then now he's turned into a
Speaker 1: very good tight end. Over the final eleven games of
Speaker 1: last year, he finished with per game averages of five catches,
Speaker 1: fifty one yards and half a touchdown per game. That's
Speaker 1: pretty solid, lead the team in red zone targets. There's
Speaker 1: downside here though, because again Fitzpatrick feeds his number one
Speaker 1: Curtis Samuel's now there, Adam Humphries now there. They dat
Speaker 1: drafted Diamie Brown. I think there's some downside on Logan Thomas.
Speaker 1: I don't think he's gonna get quite as much usage,
Speaker 1: quite as many balls, but he's he's still I still
Speaker 1: probably make sense about where he's going in most fantasy drafts.
Speaker 1: As currently as tight ends eight off the board. Yeah,
Speaker 1: he's you know, it's the big three. And then he
Speaker 1: got Hockinson, got Art and uh Kyle Pitts and then
Speaker 1: it gets scared to that. Then it's then it starts
Speaker 1: with Logan Thomas, and I don't like him being the guy.
Speaker 1: I'm kind of avoiding that situation. But as good as
Speaker 1: he was last year, if you told me I get
Speaker 1: five catches fifty have a touchdoff from him that I'm
Speaker 1: definitely in, which is what he did in the second
Speaker 1: half last year. Let's go to the running back position.
Speaker 1: Everybody's high in Antonio Gibson at this point, including me
Speaker 1: his abilities. I think we're overlooked by many last year.
Speaker 1: But I think given the off season of reflection, people
Speaker 1: have gone back and looked at his body of work
Speaker 1: last year and realized Antonio Gibson was really good. He
Speaker 1: was Pro Football Focus his sixth ranked running back last year.
Speaker 1: Derrick Henry led the NFL and miss tackles. Antonio Gibson
Speaker 1: tied him in miss tackles per carry. That's pretty impressive,
Speaker 1: Pretty impressive, the team repeatedly said last as repeatedly said
Speaker 1: in the offseason, They're gonna throw to him more, as
Speaker 1: you probably remember at Tuni with Gibson's converted wide out
Speaker 1: and so that makes sense. I think he will. I
Speaker 1: think that will end up happening, and that will end
Speaker 1: up dink J. D. McKissick, whose only real value to
Speaker 1: fantasy fans is fantasy players, is as a PPR back.
Speaker 1: I read a report today, uh from NBC Sports Edge
Speaker 1: whatever Rhodo World's called now about how he's put on
Speaker 1: muscle though, put on some weight kiss and now that
Speaker 1: he's gonna take the job from Antonio Gibson. But have
Speaker 1: given the opportunity, he might be more than he could
Speaker 1: be the full on bell cow backup for Gibsons. That
Speaker 1: could make sense. Uh, here's the real problem for Antonio Gibson.
Speaker 1: His pass blocking is awful. ProFootball Focus ranked him sixty
Speaker 1: one at the position. There are only three qualified runners
Speaker 1: who ranked lower than Antonio Gibson, and he we need
Speaker 1: him to be on the field and third down if
Speaker 1: we want to see the past catching get better and
Speaker 1: then the receiving numbers go up. So he's got to
Speaker 1: get better than that riskiest player. His current ADPs loan
Speaker 1: Logan Thomas, who as I mentioned earlier, he's going off
Speaker 1: the board and round seven. Last year there were only
Speaker 1: three viable targets on the whole team. This year there
Speaker 1: might be six, so I think his numbers are could
Speaker 1: potentially go down. The player with the most upside, we're
Speaker 1: back to Ryan Fitzpatrick, quarterback twenty six right now. Had
Speaker 1: Fitzpatrick been allowed to play the full season in Miami,
Speaker 1: he was on track for four thousand one d passing yards,
Speaker 1: twenty seven and a half touchdowns, thirty three thirty rushing
Speaker 1: yards and five rushing touchdowns. His closest comparable quarterback Justin Herbert.
Speaker 1: Justin Herbert's ADPs quarterback six. Ryan Fitzpatrick, who put up
Speaker 1: again was on a per game basis. Is putting the
Speaker 1: same numbers as Justin herbert Is ADP is six too cheap.
Speaker 1: Too cheap. Hopefully you will not be too cheap to
Speaker 1: consider the sponsors that you were about to hear. As
Speaker 1: we take a break, we come back, we'll talk about
Speaker 1: the Philadelphia e goals eight, an offense in a great
Speaker 1: deal of transition. We'll tell you how we feel about
Speaker 1: them in moments. Welcome back Fantasy Football Weekly. Paul Giargie
Speaker 1: and Brian Johnson. We you, let's talk about the Eagles.
Speaker 1: There may be no more player with upside and downside
Speaker 1: then Jalen Hurts. If he can be a good enough
Speaker 1: passer to hold that job all year and continue running
Speaker 1: like he did last year, he has top five fantasy
Speaker 1: quarterback in him. But if his passing stays at the
Speaker 1: level it was last year, Brian, I can't tell you
Speaker 1: he even finishes the season as the start. Yeah, well, uh,
Speaker 1: we'll certainly talk about the upside and downside of Jalen
Speaker 1: Hurts a little more. But like you mentioned, a lot
Speaker 1: of change going on in Philly. A new head coach,
Speaker 1: Nick Sirianni, the former offensive coordinator for the Colts. They
Speaker 1: also have a new offensive coordinator, Shane Stiken, who is
Speaker 1: the former O C for the Chargers. So a lot
Speaker 1: of changes on the sidelines for Philly. Um, we're not
Speaker 1: good in terms of yards per game in points per
Speaker 1: game last year respectively. That was a lot of Carson
Speaker 1: Wentzlough and not Jalen Hurts of course. Uh. Well, and
Speaker 1: again that offensive line just amated by injury, and we'll
Speaker 1: talk about the line a little more as well. Uh,
Speaker 1: Philly did rank top eight in past play percentage passed
Speaker 1: the ball over of the time, very past friendly offense. UM.
Speaker 1: For Jalen Hurt's sake and his past catchers, hopefully that
Speaker 1: remains the same. But I let's talk about the running,
Speaker 1: the running game and Miles Sanders, who's had a somewhat tortuous,
Speaker 1: tortuous tortuous in the league, especially from a fantasy perspective.
Speaker 1: Big weeks down weeks just very inconsistent, even when it
Speaker 1: just comes from his usage and touches per game. Just
Speaker 1: six h rushing touchdowns last year's zero receiving touchdowns right now,
Speaker 1: going off the board as RB eighteen, just after the
Speaker 1: DeAndre Swifts and j K. Dobbins of the world. But
Speaker 1: I don't know if I like that spot for Sanders
Speaker 1: and Redraft. I like guys like Chris Carson David Montgomery
Speaker 1: who are going after Sanders. Uh, just from the safety
Speaker 1: Here's why I kind of like Sanders. Everybody's so down
Speaker 1: on him. A DP is really depressed, and that offensive line,
Speaker 1: when healthy is actually quite good. So I'm kind of
Speaker 1: interested in Sanders this year. The So let's talk about
Speaker 1: the line. It's been elite for years. The Eagles have
Speaker 1: had a very good offensive line, and it fell off
Speaker 1: a lot last year because of injury and and they're
Speaker 1: they're stars are falling a little bit. Right tackle Lane
Speaker 1: Johnson and center Jason Kelse is he kels or is
Speaker 1: he kills he too? He's gotta bell. They might be
Speaker 1: past their their prime by a pinch, but they're still
Speaker 1: still very good players. Uh. They did invest a nineteen
Speaker 1: first round pick and left tackle Andre Dillard, but he
Speaker 1: has yet to live up to expectations. They do get
Speaker 1: back the Eagles, that is right guard Brandon Brooks, who
Speaker 1: missed all of that'll help. He was Pro Football Focused
Speaker 1: hot Pro Football Focus his highest graded guard in twenty
Speaker 1: nineteen and he missed all of last year, so the
Speaker 1: line much improved they are. They are only ranks seventeenth
Speaker 1: by Pro Football Focus going into the season, but if
Speaker 1: it stays intact, it could return to its glory days
Speaker 1: and UH help boost Miles Sanders into top twelve RB territory.
Speaker 1: But he's very much a coin flip and very much
Speaker 1: a contestant or a finalist for the highest downside. For
Speaker 1: give you another reason that I'm optimistic here. You know
Speaker 1: Doug Peterson's gone. Peterson used a maddening running back by
Speaker 1: committee that oftentimes was not reflective of who the best
Speaker 1: runners were, and Sanders is the best runner. But we
Speaker 1: know Nick Sirianni won't do that in the Colts. That's
Speaker 1: kind of very much so it I agree it is,
Speaker 1: but it's a but it's an opportunity for it for
Speaker 1: Sanders to um to get more work than he had,
Speaker 1: and I think there's a decent chance he does here
Speaker 1: you would you would hope to think he does. And
Speaker 1: just for the sake of mentioning Boston, Scott will be
Speaker 1: the primary backup. He has filled in admirably, admirably in
Speaker 1: the past, and they do. They did sign carry On
Speaker 1: Johnson for those wondering if he's still in the league
Speaker 1: and drafted, Uh, Kenneth Gainwell, I think in the fourth
Speaker 1: round as a he's a rookie. Uh. Tailing off the
Speaker 1: running back commy there. Uh So let's go to the
Speaker 1: passing game and Jalen Hurts the other big name in Philly.
Speaker 1: Uh inside the overall top eighty five players currently quarterback
Speaker 1: nine in most formats, going right after Aaron Rodgers, before
Speaker 1: Tom Brady, Matthew Stafford, Ryan Tannehill, Joe Burrow. A lot
Speaker 1: of faith being put in Jalen Hurts. Uh. But like
Speaker 1: you said, he he was great last year. But but
Speaker 1: the sample was small. We'll we'll dive into Hurts just
Speaker 1: a little bit more in a second. Let's talk about
Speaker 1: his receivers really quick. And when you start with the
Speaker 1: Philly receivers, you really have to start with the tight
Speaker 1: ends and not the wide receivers. And for at the moment.
Speaker 1: As of right now, the tight ends are both Dallas
Speaker 1: Goddard and zach Ertz. Zach Ertz is still an Eagle. Uh.
Speaker 1: The Eagles have always used their tight ends a ton,
Speaker 1: always ranking near the top of all relevant fantasy stats.
Speaker 1: Richard Rodgers and Jason Croom were catching tight ends catching
Speaker 1: touchdowns for the Philly for the Eagles last year at
Speaker 1: tight end. Uh. The real history has Sirianni comes from
Speaker 1: India where they use multiple tight ends all the time too.
Speaker 1: You know, the recent history for the Philly tight ends
Speaker 1: has gone from all zach Ertz to kind of a
Speaker 1: fifty fifty Earth's got her platoon, but the torch is
Speaker 1: certainly getting passed to god Heart now currently tight ends
Speaker 1: seven going after all the big names, and again Ertz
Speaker 1: is there for now at tight end twenty one. I'm
Speaker 1: thank him leaving. I am too, I you know, I
Speaker 1: like taking Art's late and then I just think they're
Speaker 1: gonna end up moving him someplace. Now, you know, where
Speaker 1: they move him may not be a desirable spot, but
Speaker 1: presumably any team that's gonna trade whatever it costs to
Speaker 1: get zach Ertz and Earth's wants to be well paid
Speaker 1: to um you know that's gonna pay him and trade
Speaker 1: the equity for him. Presumably they're going to use him.
Speaker 1: Buffalo was the primary landing spot that we've heard about. Yeah,
Speaker 1: I would love that, but anyway, we'll see what happens
Speaker 1: with Earth's. As for the wide receivers, not very exciting.
Speaker 1: I'm gonna talk about DeVante Smith very quickly. He's the
Speaker 1: only one I'm gonna mention. I'm not gonna talk about
Speaker 1: Jalen reagor Travis Folgum. I'm not going there in drafts.
Speaker 1: Maybe they start producing in the season, I'll ad him
Speaker 1: off the waiver. Why but they're they're not draftable in
Speaker 1: my mind, not even Reager, even though he has a
Speaker 1: draftable a DP at one sixty two, people are drafting him.
Speaker 1: I would not. DeVante Smith is my highest upside player.
Speaker 1: He's a rookie wide receiver forty right now, but he's
Speaker 1: the top wide receiver on this team. Not the top receiver.
Speaker 1: That would be Dallas Goddard. But uh, one of the
Speaker 1: most exciting wide receivers ever to play college football. Is
Speaker 1: absolutely dominated. Won the Heisman, almost won the national championship
Speaker 1: on his own. It's quite simply he's if he's the
Speaker 1: top target at wide receiver on a team that's top
Speaker 1: eight in passing play percentage, and if Jalen Hurts can
Speaker 1: keep it clicking. If you're getting Devonte Smith at wide
Speaker 1: receiver forty, I'm not comparing to Randy Moss. People concerned,
Speaker 1: well from the Thinness factor a little bit, but you know,
Speaker 1: there are a lot of concerns with Randy Moss go
Speaker 1: into his rookie year. There are a lot of concerns
Speaker 1: with Devonte Smith. He could throw all those out the
Speaker 1: window and just be a phenom right out of the game.
Speaker 1: And wide receiver forty, I'll roll the dice there, And
Speaker 1: unlike Jalen Waddle, Um, you know who who's going, I
Speaker 1: don't know about if team picks ahead of him, twelve
Speaker 1: picks ahead of him, you know that offense, that passing
Speaker 1: offense is largely going to go through Smith, and you
Speaker 1: know that's that's there's a certain amount of appeal to
Speaker 1: that for those that need productivity from him this year.
Speaker 1: And lastly, it was either you know, Miles Sanders or
Speaker 1: Jalen Hurts as your riskiest player. I guess maybe Dallas
Speaker 1: Goddard could have been in the convo, But I'm going
Speaker 1: Jalen Hurts if you're taking quarterback. We've said it in
Speaker 1: previous pods. It might be the deepest that's ever been
Speaker 1: in fantasy. If you're sinking uh, you know, a top
Speaker 1: six seven round pick into Jalen Hurts. He has to
Speaker 1: pan out, and if he doesn't, yeah, you'll probably feel
Speaker 1: uh find someone on the waiveward to back him up.
Speaker 1: But you caught it cost yourself a stud at another
Speaker 1: position if it Hurts doesn't pan out, So yeah, most
Speaker 1: risk I'm with him that um and tons of upside. Definitely,
Speaker 1: it all comes down to his passing. He just he
Speaker 1: has to be able to pass better than what we
Speaker 1: saw last year. He'll give you that rushing floor, but
Speaker 1: if his arm doesn't keep him on the field, he's
Speaker 1: not gonna be getting any rushing. That's at the end
Speaker 1: of the day. It's a passing position and people don't
Speaker 1: like to hear that in Fantasy owners and you know,
Speaker 1: I get it, but and you're here for the rushing,
Speaker 1: but at some point your quarterback has to be able
Speaker 1: to pass. Let's go to the Dallas Cowboys. Bryant uh
Speaker 1: Dak Prescott returns to lead a high powered offense that
Speaker 1: struggled without him. As you already know from last year,
Speaker 1: in the four full games he played, he was Fantasy
Speaker 1: Football's highest scoring quarterback last year. There's a lot of
Speaker 1: optimism for him. He uh he topped four hundred fifty
Speaker 1: passing yards in three of his four full games last year.
Speaker 1: Four fifty. Dak obviously very good passer, elite weaponry around him,
Speaker 1: a very safe fantasy selection despite coming off the ankle.
Speaker 1: I think the question is, though, on this rebuild ankle,
Speaker 1: are they going to run him as much? I mean,
Speaker 1: much of his fantasy upside had come from these combo
Speaker 1: games where you know, he ran for forty five yards
Speaker 1: and maybe a touchdown and he threw for two eighty
Speaker 1: or three thirty and a couple of scores, and you know,
Speaker 1: in combination, those are really good Dak Prescott games. Just
Speaker 1: to unclear as to whether or not that rebuilt ankle
Speaker 1: is going to allow him to produce the same kind
Speaker 1: of rushing numbers and if Mike McCarthy will allow him
Speaker 1: to have the same kind of rushing numbers. I'm not
Speaker 1: too worried about the ability, but yeah, they're not going
Speaker 1: to force it as much as they did in the past.
Speaker 1: I think that's true. Let's talk about the offensive line
Speaker 1: because that's much of the story with Dallas this year.
Speaker 1: Offensive line decimated by injury last year, but should return
Speaker 1: to I'm not calling the elite status because I don't
Speaker 1: think we're that level for these Cowboys anymore. But this
Speaker 1: could be a top ten offensive line. It was only
Speaker 1: two years ago they were the number one line with
Speaker 1: a bullet that's in most people's minds. Yeah, it's an
Speaker 1: aging Uh, there's it's a somewhat aging line in spots
Speaker 1: like left tackle Tyrone Smith returns he missed almost the
Speaker 1: entire season last year. Their right tackle l Collins returns
Speaker 1: after missing oh of last year with a hip injury.
Speaker 1: Zack Martin, the right guard is elite. The left guard
Speaker 1: is Connor Williams, a solid, not splashy player. Center is
Speaker 1: pretty big question mark. Travis Frederick had to retire, of course.
Speaker 1: Is most people know um Tyler Biadaz I believe is
Speaker 1: how you pronounce his name. He was the starter last year,
Speaker 1: he wasn't great, and he's back for this year. A
Speaker 1: wide receiver. You already know. It's a total embarrassment of
Speaker 1: ridges for the Cowboys. There are three great receivers. They
Speaker 1: each are worthy of one hundred targets. They each had
Speaker 1: one hundred targets last year. And you know that means
Speaker 1: when you when you're spreading a hundred targets out three
Speaker 1: different guys. Some games, all right, I know, UM, some
Speaker 1: games you're gonna have guys that just don't show up
Speaker 1: in the box score as much because the other two
Speaker 1: need to get fed. And so that happens. Sometimes. Everybody
Speaker 1: believes Ceedee Lamb is going to take a big leap
Speaker 1: in year two. I'm I'm certainly on board. In his
Speaker 1: four full games with Dak Prescott, which were his first
Speaker 1: four NFL games, by the way, So you know, weeks
Speaker 1: one through four of last year with Dak Prescott, his
Speaker 1: production there put Ceedee Lamb on pace for ninety re receptions,
Speaker 1: one thousand, four hundred yards and six touchdowns. So ninety
Speaker 1: three catches for rookie, that'd be probably it would have
Speaker 1: been an amazing season for him. Um. Then Dalton came on,
Speaker 1: Lamb season went in the crapper and you know the
Speaker 1: story from the rest of that. Um, he's tall, he's
Speaker 1: a ranging receiver, surprising burst even though he doesn't have
Speaker 1: top end speed, tons of huge broken plays at Oklahoma.
Speaker 1: Lamb had the league's second best catch rate last year
Speaker 1: on balls twenty yards or longer. And now he gets
Speaker 1: a far better, stronger armed quarterback in Dak Prescott ceedee
Speaker 1: lamb is um is Is has moved in the eyes
Speaker 1: of most people into the teens for his a DP
Speaker 1: Among wide receivers, Amari Cooper led the team in every
Speaker 1: meaningful statistical category last year, and I'll probably do that
Speaker 1: again this year, although it'll be much closer, he said,
Speaker 1: career highs and red zone targets. Last year, he converted
Speaker 1: twenty seven percent of his red zone receptions into touchdowns.
Speaker 1: Cooper got seven targets from inside the five yard line,
Speaker 1: which is nuts. That is a lot for a wide receiver.
Speaker 1: Seven targets from inside the five yard line. He remains
Speaker 1: the safest of the Dallas receivers um, although all the
Speaker 1: steam for Lamb makes it close. But I still think Cooper.
Speaker 1: If I had to pick one, I would take Cooper slightly,
Speaker 1: and I've got them ranked within like two players of
Speaker 1: each other, two receivers of each other. I'll mention this
Speaker 1: though Cooper underwent ankle surgery in January, didn't participate in
Speaker 1: the team's offseason program at all, and he is expected
Speaker 1: to be okay for the start of training camp. We'll see.
Speaker 1: Then there's Michael Gallup third wheel. Still targeted a hundred
Speaker 1: thirteen times last year and a hundred five times the
Speaker 1: year before that, or I might have had those backwards.
Speaker 1: Actually I think it was hundred five last year. Um.
Speaker 1: He's the big body downfield guy that they throw too.
Speaker 1: It's the boom er bust stuff. When he gets when
Speaker 1: he connects on those deep balls, he's great, and he
Speaker 1: scores on those. It's great, but usually it doesn't work out.
Speaker 1: In his twelve non touchdown games last year, he averaged
Speaker 1: three catches for forty two yards. That's that kills you.
Speaker 1: Those basically every time I used him on DraftKings it
Speaker 1: was hard pegging those four so temptingly yeah, yeah, Um,
Speaker 1: let's go to the tight ends. Blake Jarwin returns after
Speaker 1: missing the entire season with an a c L and
Speaker 1: the season opener. He he got in some like practice
Speaker 1: and O t s and mini camps, expected to be
Speaker 1: available for training camp. He's a far He's he's the
Speaker 1: much more polished receiver of the two between him and
Speaker 1: Dalton Schultz, and I expect him to resume his number
Speaker 1: one tight end status that he had going into last year. Um.
Speaker 1: Dalton Schultz just is not a is not a special player.
Speaker 1: And the tight end position though with either guy, I
Speaker 1: think there's some danger and there's a fair amount of
Speaker 1: steam on Blake Darwin Um coming back. But in reality,
Speaker 1: the tight end position, no matter who is your fourth
Speaker 1: or fifth in the pecking order, you're behind the three
Speaker 1: receivers behind his Sekiel Elliott, and so really at best
Speaker 1: your fourth or fifth at the time at as looking
Speaker 1: for balls from back, Darwin broke a lot of hearts.
Speaker 1: He was a trendy sleeper pick at tight end last year.
Speaker 1: And I believe you didn't even play. I think you
Speaker 1: heard him Silvan and you didn't even get like a
Speaker 1: full game out of him. I think it was early
Speaker 1: in wee. That was brutal. Yea, all right, let's talk
Speaker 1: running back. This is going to be a really hard
Speaker 1: decision for a lot of people. There is so much
Speaker 1: steam right now, and Ezekiel Elliott going off the board
Speaker 1: right now as running back five and player five, I
Speaker 1: think it was five, or do you say somebody else
Speaker 1: was five earlier Barkley. But I guess, depending demands where
Speaker 1: you're looking, it might be four. Um, in fact, it
Speaker 1: might be three. Well, we give it. I should, I should.
Speaker 1: I don't have in front of me McCaffrey, Cook, Kamara.
Speaker 1: Uh No, I've got him going after he's gone. I
Speaker 1: just I do have notes that he's going on Henry.
Speaker 1: I've gotten where I was looking fantasy footboll calculator. By
Speaker 1: those what I was I was using for this draft
Speaker 1: position five for either way. It was at this time
Speaker 1: last year that I was like, avoid Zeke at all costs.
Speaker 1: I was really nervous about Zeke for a lot of reasons,
Speaker 1: and thinks I'm still somewhat concerned, although I'm a lot
Speaker 1: warmer on Zeke now than I was last year. At
Speaker 1: this time he posted career worst numbers in every Russian category. Um.
Speaker 1: But again, the offensive line was really bad last year,
Speaker 1: and it comes back healthy this year. The other thing
Speaker 1: that we should mention is, by all accounts, Zeke looks great.
Speaker 1: And I've seen photos of Zeke. You know he's you know,
Speaker 1: he he doesn't like to wear a shirt anyway, and
Speaker 1: he does wear a shirt. It's a half shirt because
Speaker 1: he wants to show off his abs and he looks good.
Speaker 1: Zeke looks like he's taking this offseason very seriously, takes
Speaker 1: very good care of that Billy button. Always lind free,
Speaker 1: always lind free, when even when you take the offensive
Speaker 1: line struggles out of the equation. Though Zeke was not
Speaker 1: great last year, get this. Next gen stats showed this.
Speaker 1: Zeke had zero point zero seven yards over expectation last year.
Speaker 1: Zero point zero seven yards. Ruler to route to figure
Speaker 1: out how far that is. That's not the kind of
Speaker 1: double O seven you want. No, that is not um.
Speaker 1: That tiedem was Zack Moss, and people hate Zack Moss.
Speaker 1: So that gives you a sense of where of where
Speaker 1: what the Zeke we saw last year. But obviously people
Speaker 1: fully expect the bounce back. But here's the reason I'm
Speaker 1: still worried. Tony Pollard is the more dynamic back. Paulard
Speaker 1: deserves more touches than he's gotten. And just like when
Speaker 1: you go back, Pro Football Focus rates rates Pollard better
Speaker 1: in pretty much every metric except pass blocking. Zeke is
Speaker 1: very good. Pollard for two straight years running. Pro Football
Speaker 1: Focus thinks Pollard's the better running and just my eyes,
Speaker 1: Pollard is the more dynamic back. There's real risk, and
Speaker 1: this is why Zeke is the riskiest player at his
Speaker 1: current ADP for the Cowboys at draft position five. I
Speaker 1: need a sure thing I do. I don't want to
Speaker 1: have this kind of I don't want to have this
Speaker 1: hanging over me. Which Zeke am I gonna get? Am
Speaker 1: I gonna get lack the lackluster version we saw last year?
Speaker 1: Am I gonna get a better one? I don't want
Speaker 1: question marks to pick five? And to me, Zeke still
Speaker 1: got question marks. I would say he and Dalvin Cook
Speaker 1: are the two top running backs that you have to handcuff.
Speaker 1: I don't I'm not an advocate of handcuffing all stud
Speaker 1: running backs, but those two feel like the one and
Speaker 1: then you're reaching around to get that ensure you get
Speaker 1: those handcuffs, right, Yeah, I don't like it. So if
Speaker 1: Zeke is going at draft position five, how many other
Speaker 1: guys are going in that position in that range who
Speaker 1: aren't clearly the best player at their own position on
Speaker 1: their own team. I mean that's the worry, right, So
Speaker 1: I still think there's a lot of risk there. Let's
Speaker 1: talk about the play with the most upside compared to
Speaker 1: a DP. To me, that's a MARII Cooper. He's wide
Speaker 1: receiver four teen and round four. Uh ceedee, lamb going
Speaker 1: really right in the same range right now. But Cooper
Speaker 1: has just proven to be a workhorse receiver and I
Speaker 1: love the fact that they throw to him inside the
Speaker 1: five and that's those are cheap, easy touchdowns and I
Speaker 1: love that stuff. Um, so yeah, I'm taking Amari Cooper.
Speaker 1: Why deceiver fourteen might be a little low with Dak
Speaker 1: Prescott coming back? Who's gonna win this division? Washingtonsionavorite right now?
Speaker 1: I don't know that Vegas does. In fact, they're thirty
Speaker 1: to one to win the Super Bowl. Uh football team
Speaker 1: is no, I'm sorry, they're fifty to one to win
Speaker 1: the Super Bowl. Um, I think people don't. I think
Speaker 1: people just assume Fitzpatrick's no good when I don't. I
Speaker 1: don't see it. Cowboys are the odds one. But here's
Speaker 1: the thing. Washington has the best defense in the division
Speaker 1: by a mile, and maybe the best defense in the league.
Speaker 1: They added William Jackson, a very good cornerback, in the
Speaker 1: off season, huge upgrade over Ronald Darby. This is is
Speaker 1: a really really good defense and we talked about all
Speaker 1: the playmakers on offense. Now all Fitzpatrick has to do
Speaker 1: get the ball into the hands of his playmakers Curtis
Speaker 1: Samuel and Terry McLaurin and Antonio Gibson and Logan Thomas
Speaker 1: and let those guys make plays. And the Eagles plus
Speaker 1: five hundred is the worst odds. That seems like the
Speaker 1: best bed of them all though, just because in the division,
Speaker 1: because the Cowboys Washington in New York, they can implode
Speaker 1: any drop of the hat based on what happens to
Speaker 1: the front offices. Eagles plus five a Vegas. Put some
Speaker 1: money on it for him. I'm going to actually I'm
Speaker 1: gonna take Washington to represent the NFC in the Super Bowl.
Speaker 1: Never bet the team to win the Super Bowl. Always
Speaker 1: just bet them to make the super Bowl because then
Speaker 1: you can hatch, just cash cash that out, and if
Speaker 1: you still love your team, roll that whole bank forward
Speaker 1: on a super Bowl bet. And if you don't love
Speaker 1: that team, keep your money or go somewhere in between.
Speaker 1: We'll talk off line, but you're gonna have to do
Speaker 1: a parlay Chargers a f C champion Justin Herbert m
Speaker 1: v P parlay formula. Oh I like that. I like
Speaker 1: that should hop onto Well, no, no way. But it's
Speaker 1: like if you have not heard me talking, I'm not hoping.
Speaker 1: I know you're on, but mom, literally hop on that
Speaker 1: ticket with me as well that that I might do.
Speaker 1: You already have the Chargers to represent the a f
Speaker 1: C ticket, but parlay with Herbert. I mean, if they
Speaker 1: get there, of course Ekeler could everywhere. Everything's gonna play
Speaker 1: a big role. But if they make it to the
Speaker 1: super Bowl, justin Herbert, that could be Um, he's gotta
Speaker 1: it's got to figure out a way to to be
Speaker 1: a pretty good quarterback in his own division, which is
Speaker 1: which is a challenge but possible. Don't let the team
Speaker 1: doctor bring a needle anywhere near you. I got Thanks
Speaker 1: for listening, appreciate getting to the end of the podcast. Uh.
Speaker 1: Next week we'll be back for we'll break down another division.
Speaker 1: I don't know which one yet. We've got we still
Speaker 1: need NFC South an NFC North. Let's say the North
Speaker 1: for last, since we're in Minnesota for last. Uh, talk
Speaker 1: to you in a week, everybody, Bye bye. Fantasy Football
Speaker 1: Weekly is a production of I Heart Radio. For more
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