Speaker 1: Welcome to Fantasy Football Weekly, a production of I Heart Radio.
Speaker 1: Time now for Fantasy Football Weekly from my 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.
Speaker 1: Now here's your host. It's another edition of Fantasy Football Weekly.
Speaker 1: I'm Paul charch In. My co host today Brian Johnson.
Speaker 1: Welcome back. We did talk a little bit last last
Speaker 1: episode about Stella. Our condolences. It's hard to lose a dog,
Speaker 1: sure is. So anyone out there listening with a dog,
Speaker 1: give it an extra pet for me. How about a
Speaker 1: pat can I have a pet or a pat can.
Speaker 1: I do both that pat treat walk. You know what
Speaker 1: you're signing up when you buy the puppy. But it
Speaker 1: doesn't make it hurt any less. When the time comes,
Speaker 1: I don't want to get too into wicks. I'm gonna
Speaker 1: get an emotional she had. She lived a long life,
Speaker 1: thirteen and a half years. Uh. It really is arthritis
Speaker 1: that did her in. So get ahead of that game. So,
Speaker 1: I mean, we did, you know, multi vitamin stuff like that.
Speaker 1: But she balled hard too. I should have got a
Speaker 1: calm down a little bit you know, the brain is
Speaker 1: always thinking they're a puppy. But so it was tough,
Speaker 1: but I appreciate the sentiment, and a lot of people
Speaker 1: on Twitter too, very kind with the absolutely kind words.
Speaker 1: So yeah, we're diving into the NFC North today. We've
Speaker 1: broken down many of the divisions, not quite all of them,
Speaker 1: and then the next three shows are dedicated to the draft.
Speaker 1: We please have the Draft. I'm so ready for this draft,
Speaker 1: Like it's been even more of an avalanche of just
Speaker 1: like rookie takes that everyone's this guy is calmed to
Speaker 1: this guy, and I'm so tired. That's every year, I
Speaker 1: know it is, but this year is just even more
Speaker 1: annoying than than years. I feel like, yeah, I'm ready
Speaker 1: for the draft, are you? Um? It's there's lots to
Speaker 1: talk about. We're going next week we'll hit on some
Speaker 1: of our favorite players from this coming draft. A week
Speaker 1: after that, we'll be recording on the Friday right after
Speaker 1: the first round, so we'll talk about the first round
Speaker 1: rookies and where they landed, and and the week after
Speaker 1: that will do the rest of the draft for rounds
Speaker 1: two through seven. I think people need to prepare themselves
Speaker 1: that last year we were spoiled from a fantasy football perspective,
Speaker 1: there were so many relevant fantasy players going in the
Speaker 1: first especially round one this year. Well, yeah, probably running
Speaker 1: back quarterbacks aren't there. There there's a chance that no
Speaker 1: quarterback goes for the first like eight picks of this draft.
Speaker 1: And you know, the quarterbacks don't look like their immediate
Speaker 1: fantasy No, no tight end, no tight end. And but
Speaker 1: the receivers are going to be deep and um, well
Speaker 1: the running backs. There are good running backs in this draft.
Speaker 1: I think we have more good running backs in this draft.
Speaker 1: We just don't have, you know, like that high first rounder.
Speaker 1: You know, we don't have the se Kwan Barkley in
Speaker 1: his rookie year or even a Naga Harris. And from
Speaker 1: receiver stand no, no Jamar Chase definitely not a jam
Speaker 1: aren't chasing this draft. I don't think, probably not hopefully
Speaker 1: might have been Williams if he did. We're coming off
Speaker 1: on a c L so, but we'll talk. We'll talk
Speaker 1: about workies next week. Let's look at the NFC North
Speaker 1: and and the idea here. Like the other shows, we're
Speaker 1: going to talk a little bit about we'll hit on
Speaker 1: each one of the notable fantasy players and a reminder
Speaker 1: for what they did and the one thing you really
Speaker 1: need to remember for each one of these guys. Let's
Speaker 1: start with the Chicago Bears, which to me is the
Speaker 1: least interesting offense in this entire division, including the Lions. Yes,
Speaker 1: speaking of teams that are going to draft a wide
Speaker 1: receiver or to the Bears of people, and we'll talk
Speaker 1: about that position in a minute. A new head coach
Speaker 1: for the Bears to get that out of the wake,
Speaker 1: like no more Matt Naggy finally and he was a
Speaker 1: dead man walk in all the eight seventeen plus a
Speaker 1: bye week. Yeah, Matt. Ever flus is it fluce or flush?
Speaker 1: Defensive coordinator for the Cults. So not too exciting from
Speaker 1: an offensive prospect to there, But they will have a
Speaker 1: new offensive coordinator to Luke gets saying he will run
Speaker 1: a Shanahan style offense with a heavy emphasis on play action.
Speaker 1: So let's be quarterback friendly. So I'm liking the prospects
Speaker 1: for Justin Fields going into his sophomore year. Only appeared
Speaker 1: in twelve games last year, but only started in ten,
Speaker 1: still finished fifth in rushing yards among quarterbacks. Didn't get
Speaker 1: to see a lot of him by the way, they
Speaker 1: didn't even unlock the rushing They let him rush for
Speaker 1: you know, until like I don't know, Thanksgiving. He was
Speaker 1: the guy barely ever ran I think, and when he did,
Speaker 1: he was really just running for his life behind that
Speaker 1: awful offensive line, which we'll talk about two in a moment.
Speaker 1: But we didn't get to see a ton from him
Speaker 1: in the passing game, only top thirty pass attempts three times.
Speaker 1: But when he did throw the ball, he could throw
Speaker 1: the long ball. It seamed he was accurate. I think
Speaker 1: he has all the tools uh to be successful reality
Speaker 1: and fantasy quarterback and right now a quarterback seventeen and
Speaker 1: Redraft best ball formats. That's a screaming value for a
Speaker 1: guy that has running outside, running upside and um his weapons.
Speaker 1: I think they should have held onto Allen Robinson. He
Speaker 1: has gone, as we all know, on the Rams now,
Speaker 1: so Darnell Mooney. No way Robinson was even going to stay,
Speaker 1: no chance, there's nothing the change and head coach. I mean,
Speaker 1: he was dinged up last year. It wasn't like that
Speaker 1: he was played a full season. And anyway, he's gone.
Speaker 1: Darnell Mooney as of right now. The wide receiver one
Speaker 1: for the Bears last season. He was one of sixteen
Speaker 1: wide receivers with more than eighty catches and one thousand
Speaker 1: yards put up some pretty impressive numbers. With Andy, Andy
Speaker 1: Dalton and UH rookie Justin Fields, Mooney has forced twenty
Speaker 1: seven four UH. Mooney has twenty seven forced miss tackles
Speaker 1: on receptions since entering the league in twenty that's tied
Speaker 1: for seventh among wide receivers in that span. So he's
Speaker 1: a playmaker. And uh, right now he's going off the
Speaker 1: board at wide receiver thirty two, which is way too
Speaker 1: late in my opinion. I mean, even if they go
Speaker 1: after a big name wide wide receiver, which I think
Speaker 1: they will, he's still gonna be the top option at
Speaker 1: least this this season. So Darnell Mooney, I think we'll
Speaker 1: see him climbing. Uh. His a DP will be climbing
Speaker 1: as we get deeper into the summer. But right now
Speaker 1: he's going way too late in my opinion. And and
Speaker 1: now for the rest of the wide receivers, as I
Speaker 1: said multiple times, they're even Draft one or two, possibly
Speaker 1: make a trade Terry mcclorin makes a lot of sense
Speaker 1: to me. I think they have the draft Washington can't
Speaker 1: afford to lose him. Well, Washington can't afford a lot
Speaker 1: of things. Ver we will, we will get into into
Speaker 1: that whole story. But so Byron Pringle you couldn't, then
Speaker 1: I'm gonna let's stumb all that name you Quinn I
Speaker 1: always started off wrong. Equanimius st Brown, the other two
Speaker 1: wide receivers that we're just not gonna talk about on
Speaker 1: the pot. I like, I like Pringle in Kansas City,
Speaker 1: but I he's not going to carry an offense by
Speaker 1: any means. No. Yeah, he was much more interesting as
Speaker 1: a chief. So he's pretty much dead to us from
Speaker 1: a fantasy perspective. But Cole Commit should not be. Despite
Speaker 1: his zero touchdowns last season. This is tight end Cole Committ,
Speaker 1: of course. Uh. Commit was one of nine touchdown nine
Speaker 1: tight ends with at least sixty catches and six hundred
Speaker 1: yards put up great numbers in those regards, and of
Speaker 1: course the corpse of Jimmy Graham was stealing opportunities. Uh.
Speaker 1: Fourteen catches, one one hundred and sixty seven yards, three
Speaker 1: touchdowns for Graham. Uh, he should not be getting those
Speaker 1: numbers this year. He gone so Uh it's amazing Commit
Speaker 1: didn't score, given that the Chicago through the UH the
Speaker 1: ball to their tight ends over forty percent at the
Speaker 1: time in the red zone, his red zone target share
Speaker 1: was um going off the board is tight end fifteen
Speaker 1: right now. I think there's definitely top ten potential here.
Speaker 1: Don't know, I'm a fan. UM. I think he's there's
Speaker 1: gonna be positive touchdown regression, just like with dile pits.
Speaker 1: You know there is. I mean, he'll score more than zero.
Speaker 1: You're right about that, But I know I have just
Speaker 1: I've been waiting to see flashes of something special from
Speaker 1: Cole commit and I just I haven't seen it yet,
Speaker 1: nothing that really validates the draft position. And he was
Speaker 1: taken into this point. Now, that is a position that's
Speaker 1: always slow to develop. And the year three year threes,
Speaker 1: you know that that's year three is commonly a breakout
Speaker 1: season for tight ends. But I think that's already baked
Speaker 1: into his fifteen a DP at tight end because he
Speaker 1: hasn't performed anywhere near fifteen. He hasn't performed hear thirty
Speaker 1: to this point. So I think that's already baked into,
Speaker 1: baked into his average draft position. Brian feeling like a
Speaker 1: It's like this season's Dawson knocks something like that. I
Speaker 1: don't know. I think there's there's some sneaky cool commitment.
Speaker 1: We got to see what they do in the draft,
Speaker 1: of course, because they will be adding to that wide
Speaker 1: receiver group. Started the running backs, Yeah, David Montgomery closed
Speaker 1: one very strong for rushing touchdowns. Over his last six games.
Speaker 1: He caught at least five passes in four of those
Speaker 1: six games, so I looked like a true bell cow
Speaker 1: there On the season as a whole, the only average
Speaker 1: three point eight yards per carry. But again, that old
Speaker 1: line was very bad. Um where is the Bears are
Speaker 1: willing to spend uh three? They have three pitch since
Speaker 1: at the top seventy one they might go offensive line,
Speaker 1: offensive line, offensive line there Uh they're saying that's a possibility.
Speaker 1: I'm sure they'll take at least one wide receiver. And
Speaker 1: the defense is old too. They need to address a
Speaker 1: variety of spots on defense too, So David Montgomery, he's
Speaker 1: going in best Paul right now. RB twenty one seems
Speaker 1: a little late. Khalil Herbert is somewhat of a concern.
Speaker 1: He looked good when given the opportunity. He's going at
Speaker 1: RB forty seven, And that's kind of a I don't want.
Speaker 1: I don't want both of those guys. They're too close.
Speaker 1: I wouldn't handcuff them. Yeah no, yeah, back, he's kind
Speaker 1: of just been slipping. You know. I'm I've been a
Speaker 1: bit of a degenerate this year. I've been drafted since
Speaker 1: January and he's gone from like RB fifteen into the
Speaker 1: early twenties as people are certainly like the rookies a
Speaker 1: little more. But uh yeah, I'm buying Montgomery at that price,
Speaker 1: especially how he closed um only looked great and if
Speaker 1: they improved that offensive line justin fields and year two,
Speaker 1: I think there's a some sneaky upside in this offense.
Speaker 1: You're more opten mistic about fields as a passer than
Speaker 1: I am. I do agree with that he can throw
Speaker 1: a nice deep ball. It's the rest of his game
Speaker 1: that I'm not crazy about. As a passer. I saw
Speaker 1: slow decision making. I saw a lot of inaccuracy. I'm
Speaker 1: nervous about his overall passing skills. But you said that
Speaker 1: about other guys to you write Lamar Jackson in the past. Yeah, well,
Speaker 1: and you know, Lamar has also been an inconsistent passer.
Speaker 1: But if You're running is good enough, then it doesn't
Speaker 1: even necessarily matter that much. Taking the rookie, rookie and
Speaker 1: sophomore quarterbacks, just from a fantasy perspective, who would you
Speaker 1: want out of all those guys? I mean, so Trevor Lawrence,
Speaker 1: Zack Wilson, Justin Fields, Back Jones, Zack Jones, or any
Speaker 1: of the rookies this year. I think it's Fields for me.
Speaker 1: For the rushing. It might be, it might be Davis
Speaker 1: Mills might end a promoch, how dare I who knows
Speaker 1: it's possible. We're big Davis Mills guys. You know who
Speaker 1: I'm I'm a big fan of is Dan Campbell and
Speaker 1: the Lions. Lions of I think I think if you
Speaker 1: asked me right now to just pick the team that
Speaker 1: I think we most improved for win total, I think
Speaker 1: it's Alliance and they're on hard knocks. Can't wait for that.
Speaker 1: You know, here's the thing about Campbell and Alliance. They
Speaker 1: played hard virtually every game, even with so many things
Speaker 1: wrong last year, all of the injuries, the long, long,
Speaker 1: long time it took to get that first win, it was,
Speaker 1: you know, and then they got the tie, and you know,
Speaker 1: then eventually they got the win, and it was a
Speaker 1: brutal season, but they played hard all the time, and
Speaker 1: they won games down the stretch, playing with off the
Speaker 1: street cornerbacks and wide receivers. And if that's you know,
Speaker 1: if they're gonna play that hard with a team that's
Speaker 1: got all the draft picks that the Lions have got
Speaker 1: coming in and they get a healthy offense, I'm interested
Speaker 1: in the Lions, you know, you know, perhaps getting into
Speaker 1: the seven eight win territory range, which is to me
Speaker 1: very possible. I'm with you, all right, let's talk about
Speaker 1: this offense, beginning with Jared Goff when you're removed by
Speaker 1: the way, So last year was bad year for him, clearly.
Speaker 1: The year before that he was quarterback fourteen. Now, granted
Speaker 1: he's on the Rams and Cooper Cup to throw too
Speaker 1: and Robert Hoods, but really everything went wrong. He was
Speaker 1: hurt last year. All his receivers were hurt. He had
Speaker 1: to learn a new system. And you probably don't remember this,
Speaker 1: but it all started to click for Jared Goff after Thanksgiving,
Speaker 1: despite all the receivers that were down at the end
Speaker 1: of the year. In his final five games, he threw
Speaker 1: eleven touchdowns against two picks. Jared Goff. That's two touchdowns
Speaker 1: a game, multiple touchdowns and four of those five games,
Speaker 1: final five games of the year for Jared Goff, I
Speaker 1: was impressed. Like a top twelve quarterback. Then in the third,
Speaker 1: last third of the season, he probably was a top
Speaker 1: twelve last third of the season. Not many weapons at
Speaker 1: his disposal, No, um, his weapons begin with I'm on
Speaker 1: i'm on ross st Brown. Everybody else got hurt, and
Speaker 1: then st. Brown became the focal point of the passing
Speaker 1: game and he delivered the goods. He was a beast.
Speaker 1: His per game averages for I'm on ros St Brown
Speaker 1: over the final six starts and again those were those
Speaker 1: were Those are Jared Goff games, not Tim Boil games. Uh.
Speaker 1: Eleven targets, eleven targets per game, eight and a half receptions,
Speaker 1: nine three yards and just under a full touchdown per game.
Speaker 1: That was Jamaar Chase's season that I'm on Brown had
Speaker 1: in the final six games of last year. Yeah, I
Speaker 1: mean it was Cooper Cup, Deebo Samuel and I'm on
Speaker 1: ros St Brown carrying people of the fantasy change in
Speaker 1: order right and most in the same level you could,
Speaker 1: you know, and people were picking up I'm on Ross
Speaker 1: st Brown in late October early November because he had
Speaker 1: done nothing, didn't score. He didn't score it all until
Speaker 1: I think about week thirteen was his first touchdown. Now,
Speaker 1: the catch for all of this is, well, they didn't
Speaker 1: else to throw too, so that's what the e on
Speaker 1: the eleven targets per game. But let's not take away
Speaker 1: from the fact that st Brown made good on the
Speaker 1: eleven targets a game. He was catching eight and a
Speaker 1: half per game, so it's if he needed to carry
Speaker 1: the load, he could. Detractors will say, great, but here
Speaker 1: comes t J. Hockenson backup injury. Here comes d J.
Speaker 1: Chark who they brought in, and you know how much
Speaker 1: does Aman Rob st Brown's target load go down? And
Speaker 1: DeAndre Swift Sure, although he played he on and off
Speaker 1: throughout last year too, but yes, and he'll siphon off
Speaker 1: some receptions as well. All Right, so let's talk about
Speaker 1: the other receivers. D J. Chark just alluded to only
Speaker 1: played three games last year. He broke his ankle in
Speaker 1: the third game, but he's scored in two out of
Speaker 1: those three games, and hopefully that broken ankle did not
Speaker 1: take any of his deep speed away. Because that's what's
Speaker 1: always made DJ Chart special with his ability to get
Speaker 1: some separation downfield get the long ball. But what worries
Speaker 1: me here is that Deared Goff isn't exactly slinking deep
Speaker 1: lasers down the field, and that's where Chark's best big
Speaker 1: plays come from. So I think that feels like a
Speaker 1: bit of a mismatch, and I think DJ Chart is
Speaker 1: just going to be a spot starter this year. Yeah.
Speaker 1: You can argue though that Golf is the best quarterback
Speaker 1: that I mean, Trevor Lawrence was not good, but that
Speaker 1: was only three games last year even though, But yeah, yeah,
Speaker 1: that's a fair point. Um. The only I know the
Speaker 1: receivers are really worth worth mentioning Josh Reynolds. Let's go
Speaker 1: to t J. Hockenson, who I think is gonna be
Speaker 1: a fascinating decision for fantasy owners. Painfully quiet year last
Speaker 1: year for Hockinson, although I'll mentioned he didn't bookend his
Speaker 1: shortened season with two with touchdowns in the two first
Speaker 1: games and touchdowns in the two last games, and they
Speaker 1: didn't score at l all in between those two games.
Speaker 1: He saw plenty of targets, but he just never got
Speaker 1: in sync with Golf. You know, you look at these
Speaker 1: box scores and it's like ten targets, two catches thirty
Speaker 1: yards and he had to literal not literal, but he
Speaker 1: had two goose eggs that are recalled to which is
Speaker 1: zero point games, which unacceptable. The Lions picked up his
Speaker 1: fifth year option. He'll make full recovery from the thumb
Speaker 1: injury that sidelined him after Week thirteen last year. And
Speaker 1: this uh, he's he's heading headings. We know the talent
Speaker 1: for t J. Hockenson former first rounders, extremely high. He
Speaker 1: can get separation, the big body, he can break tackles,
Speaker 1: he can do special things. It just should have materialized
Speaker 1: more last year. If I'm on Brown, Emma on Ross,
Speaker 1: Brown could have been you know, it was such a
Speaker 1: big focal and focal point of this offense. You know,
Speaker 1: t J. Hockenson should have done more with those opportunities,
Speaker 1: should have been more in sync. And it's not all
Speaker 1: on Hockinson. The quarterback play was not good enough. But
Speaker 1: from just a sheer talent standpoint, t J. Hockenson should
Speaker 1: be a top five tight end, should be. But for me,
Speaker 1: I mean he's he's getting drafted tight end more like
Speaker 1: six seven full fade from me right now. People seem
Speaker 1: to only think of the good when it comes to t. J.
Speaker 1: Hockson for some reason. And there are a lot of detractors,
Speaker 1: and and I'd rather grabbed Alice Goddard in that ranger.
Speaker 1: Wait on, my guy could commit several rounds later that
Speaker 1: there's a lot of a lot of balls to be
Speaker 1: shared in Detroit. So I think people are getting a
Speaker 1: little jumpy with Hockinson. For DeAndre Swift offensive coordinator Anthony Lynn,
Speaker 1: it's it's clear he is not going to let DeAndre
Speaker 1: Swift be a workhorse back period end a story, just
Speaker 1: like he did with Austin Ekeler. Austin Neckley was by
Speaker 1: far the best charger running back, Anthony Lynn never used
Speaker 1: him like a workhorse. Same deal with Swift, clearly the
Speaker 1: best back in the backfield. Yet every box score it's
Speaker 1: a twelve carry game fourteen nine, twelve ten. That's just
Speaker 1: that's who Anthony Lynn is. He only lets Swift run
Speaker 1: the ball more than fourteen times once all last year.
Speaker 1: The other troubling thing is that Lynn pulled way back
Speaker 1: on Swift's receive evening role at the halfway point of
Speaker 1: the year and granted Swift was injured for much of
Speaker 1: November and December on and off. But listen to this.
Speaker 1: His receiving numbers in weeks one through seven for DeAndre Swift.
Speaker 1: His average game receiving six catches fifty six yards. There's
Speaker 1: twelve fantasy points right there. That makes up for the
Speaker 1: five or six or seven carries, extra carries you want,
Speaker 1: right So that was fine. But then after that his
Speaker 1: average game three catches, ten yards, four fantasy points. No
Speaker 1: touchdowns after week seven either through the air for DeAndre Swift,
Speaker 1: And it's is it because Anthony Lynn saw something in
Speaker 1: Swift's receiving that he didn't like. And again, there was
Speaker 1: nobody else to throw two in this offense down the stretch,
Speaker 1: and they still didn't go to Swift. So that's gonna
Speaker 1: be one of the things that I think is gonna
Speaker 1: make Swift very polarizing in fantasy drafts. Do you believe
Speaker 1: the receiving is gonna come back? Because of the receiving
Speaker 1: comes back, Swift is a top ten fantasy running backs
Speaker 1: without those receiving numbers. He's a guy who average four
Speaker 1: four point one yards per carry and rarely put up
Speaker 1: the kind of rushing numbers requisite of an RB one
Speaker 1: or in some cases even RB two. Clearly you're gonna
Speaker 1: ding Swift from playing standard non PPR to full PPR.
Speaker 1: But I think you still you significantly ding him even
Speaker 1: in half point PPR to full PPR. I mean I'm
Speaker 1: talking like dropping him from like RB fifteen ish RB twenty,
Speaker 1: Like I'd rather have David Montgomery all day long over
Speaker 1: DeAndre Swift and half point PPR. I think a lot
Speaker 1: of people would share that sentiment. That's not how what's
Speaker 1: going right now? Believe it a lot yeah people, or
Speaker 1: I wanted to ask you real quickly when we're talking
Speaker 1: about GoF some people mocking, uh leek willis most to
Speaker 1: the Lions at number two, do you think they take it?
Speaker 1: I don't think it's happening. I don't even really I
Speaker 1: think they're gonna ride or die with golf, at least
Speaker 1: for this year. I think I think the Lions are,
Speaker 1: and I think a lot of teams are doing this.
Speaker 1: This is just my personal and I'll probably be wrong
Speaker 1: about this. Is probably the biggest contrarian take of of
Speaker 1: this draft is I don't think any quarterback is gonna
Speaker 1: go before eighteen. I think most of these teams No.
Speaker 1: Two things. One, no quarterback deserves to go higher than eighteen.
Speaker 1: And next year's draft class, baby, I mean, it's just
Speaker 1: so many good quarterbacks coming that a lot of teams
Speaker 1: that don't figure that figure to be drafting in the
Speaker 1: top ten next year as well. And the Lions might
Speaker 1: be thinking this way, um, we'll just they'll they'll wait
Speaker 1: for next season. They'll get by with Jared Goff and
Speaker 1: I think they waited. I think they end up waiting
Speaker 1: one season on quarterback. If they do take a quarterback,
Speaker 1: I think it's gonna be at the end of the
Speaker 1: first or beginning of the second. They got those two
Speaker 1: picks in the first thirty for thirty four of the draft,
Speaker 1: like Sam Howell Carson strong type, No, I think somebody.
Speaker 1: I think you're gonna see better quarterbacks than that available
Speaker 1: at the end of the first round, beginning of the second,
Speaker 1: because don't think anybody's going before a team. So I think,
Speaker 1: you know, I think you're gonna have I think there's
Speaker 1: gonna be there's going to be better quarterbacks available, including
Speaker 1: potentially Lee Willis could be there at the end of
Speaker 1: the first round. It's possible that is quite the contralt
Speaker 1: I just can't see yuck. I can see the Lions passing,
Speaker 1: but I can't see the Panthers not taking quarterback. Yeah
Speaker 1: I can, I can. I just don't think it's quarterback
Speaker 1: requisite of that or even close. We'll see, yeah, I
Speaker 1: mean they need a quarterback, you know, by need. Absolutely
Speaker 1: both teams could do that. Nobody'd be surprised. I am
Speaker 1: probably wrong. We next show too much again. By the way,
Speaker 1: a reminder of this offensive line for the Lions. Last
Speaker 1: thing I want to say about the Lions. There's a
Speaker 1: great offensive line. Well, okay, they don't play great. They
Speaker 1: play good. They're an above average offensive line. They at
Speaker 1: first rounders and Decker rag now Sewell, this is a
Speaker 1: good offensive line. They didn't always play like it last year,
Speaker 1: but still a good line that I think Ken set
Speaker 1: up better things to happen with this offense in the
Speaker 1: second year with Dan Campbell. Let's take a break. When
Speaker 1: we come back. The Green Bay Packers no wide receivers
Speaker 1: right now, but the draft is going to yield some.
Speaker 1: We'll talk about Aaron Rodgers and there's less to say
Speaker 1: about this Packers offense. I think you're right. We'll be
Speaker 1: back in a moment. Welcome back Fantasy Football Weekly, Paul
Speaker 1: Charging Brian Johnson with you. Green Bay Packers offense is
Speaker 1: in no small amount of disarray, with massive question marks
Speaker 1: pre draft at wide receiver and tight end. Running backs
Speaker 1: are set, quarterback is set. Let's talk through this and
Speaker 1: I begin. I assume we're going to begin with Aaron Rodgers,
Speaker 1: will skate him out of the way, but stock his
Speaker 1: stock clearly falling after the Davante Adams trade U uh
Speaker 1: in best fall right now. He's going around quarterback Elevin.
Speaker 1: So you're seeing Matt Stafford, Tom Brady, those kind of
Speaker 1: guys going well before Aaron Rodgers right now. And that's
Speaker 1: because I mean, we're not gonna dive into Aaron Rodgers.
Speaker 1: He's still an elite quarterback. He's great, but yeah, clearly
Speaker 1: a downgrade without Davante Adams, and they're not going to
Speaker 1: replace him, certainly, not with uh newly acquired Sammy Watkins,
Speaker 1: um who really doesn't have an a DP right now.
Speaker 1: That will that will likely change. I will say this,
Speaker 1: I'm gonna throw Watkins in my Week one DFS lineup
Speaker 1: right now. That is usually how it goes for him.
Speaker 1: I've been forgetting a good game and been forget he
Speaker 1: exists after that, UM, nothing more than a late round
Speaker 1: best ball flyer. He could prove me wrong, but I
Speaker 1: don't know. He's a good blocking wide receiver. That's about it.
Speaker 1: So many teams have needed Sammy Watkins to step up
Speaker 1: and he never does it. Yeah, so that's it for
Speaker 1: Sammy Watkins the UM. We'll talk about two other receivers.
Speaker 1: Of course, we'll talk Allen Zard, who right as of
Speaker 1: right now is the wide receiver one for the Packers.
Speaker 1: Can you guess? I want to get so many touchdowns
Speaker 1: he caught last year, I think it's going to be
Speaker 1: more than people think. Seven eight, which that's pretty good,
Speaker 1: pretty good. Uh, but it's not pretty good. He's Uh
Speaker 1: he owns the third highest drop percentage among wide receivers
Speaker 1: over the last three years. Uh. So, as you said,
Speaker 1: green Day, certainly, Well, we feel like we've been saying
Speaker 1: this for years. They're gonna be drafting wide receivers, but
Speaker 1: they better this year. They better be and not another
Speaker 1: quarterback the run out of town if they walk out
Speaker 1: of this draft without a meaningful selection at the wide
Speaker 1: receiver position and clinging to being meaningful. Randall Cobb he
Speaker 1: had his moments last year. Scored twice in two games,
Speaker 1: but that accounted for eight of his touchdowns. He basically
Speaker 1: had three good games. So no, Randall Cobb pretty much
Speaker 1: dead to us from a fantasy perspective. Someone who's looking
Speaker 1: to be resurrected from a fantasy perspective is tight end
Speaker 1: Robert Touny In. Uh. The eleven touchdowns sure feels like
Speaker 1: a long time ago. Uh for Tony In. A lot
Speaker 1: of people are buying back into the hype, and it's
Speaker 1: basically because of the depleted receiver corps. Um. I'm more
Speaker 1: on the skeptical side with with Tonyon though coming off
Speaker 1: the major a c L injury, Josiah Deguara was decent. Uh.
Speaker 1: Once Tony went down. Deguarra was a third round draft
Speaker 1: pick two, so they have sunk some draft capital into
Speaker 1: him Tony and went undrafted in seventeen by the way,
Speaker 1: just saying, but uh, right around tight end seventeen. So
Speaker 1: you're not risking too much right now with Tony there
Speaker 1: there is the upside there. Um, Aaron Rodgers doesn't have
Speaker 1: a lot of people to throw too, and you assume
Speaker 1: Rodgers is gonna throw for at least thirty thirty five
Speaker 1: touchdowns and it's pretty much the top target, especially in
Speaker 1: the red zone right now. So I'm still kind of
Speaker 1: glass half empty on Tony and but we shall see there.
Speaker 1: But he should be ready for the start of the
Speaker 1: regular season, they're saying coming off the blown A C.
Speaker 1: L um. And lastly, we gotta talk running backs of
Speaker 1: was Aaron Jones and A J. Dillon as a team?
Speaker 1: Green Bays running backs rushed for just ten touchdowns last year.
Speaker 1: That was the bottom bottom third of the league. Jones
Speaker 1: only had four of them. Uh. The Packers were tied
Speaker 1: for the league leading running back receiving touchdowns with eight.
Speaker 1: Jones had six of those. Gonna say it had to
Speaker 1: be almost salt Jones. So he's kind of almost like
Speaker 1: Kareem Hunt right now, it feels like but running back
Speaker 1: thirteen Uh is current a DP not getting drafted like that.
Speaker 1: And yes, you'd assume all the receiving work went to Jones,
Speaker 1: but A J. Dillon thirty four catches yards, two receiving touchdowns,
Speaker 1: Like wh he steals some receiving work. As you can
Speaker 1: just imagine, he had more rushing yards and rushing touchdowns
Speaker 1: than Aaron Jones. So Aaron Jones RB thirteen right now,
Speaker 1: a J. Dillon RB. This is a situation and you
Speaker 1: certainly are not going to be drafting Aaron Jones and
Speaker 1: like cancuffing him to A J. Dillon because that's two
Speaker 1: of your top six picks right there. So if I
Speaker 1: gotta pick one, I'm gonna go with A J. Dillon
Speaker 1: at the at the discount because I think you're paying.
Speaker 1: I think it's a discount on Jones, who last year
Speaker 1: went off the board at one running back five. Last
Speaker 1: year you said he's going off the board at thirteen.
Speaker 1: This year. Offensive line was in disarray with injury all
Speaker 1: last year. Everybody comes back healthy, right box trs back
Speaker 1: Jenkins is back. This offensive line is gonna be good.
Speaker 1: They don't have adequate receivers and the young kids that
Speaker 1: they are going to draft are gonna take time to
Speaker 1: get better. This is gonna be a run first offense
Speaker 1: for a lot of early next season. And I'm getting
Speaker 1: I'm gonna get a last year's first rounder and Aaron
Speaker 1: Jones in the third or fourth round. Third round running
Speaker 1: back thirteen will be roughly the third round I'm interested
Speaker 1: in buying at that price. He's really good. Also, he's
Speaker 1: really good. I think he. Uh. I don't want to
Speaker 1: jump to Calvin Ridley, who knows suspended for gambling. But Aaron.
Speaker 1: You know, after that happened with Ridley, like all these
Speaker 1: clips came out where people like we're basically insinuating that
Speaker 1: he was shaving points because he like ran backwards a
Speaker 1: little bit. Yeah, I remember that. Do you remember that
Speaker 1: Aaron Jones playing the playoffs the long pass? I don't know,
Speaker 1: late in the game, third or fourth quarter, he reeled
Speaker 1: off like a seventy yard reception. He could have been
Speaker 1: gone if he just went more to that, he like
Speaker 1: kind of stopped and cut to the inside. Yeah. When
Speaker 1: just when I saw that Ridley stuff, I was like, Aaron,
Speaker 1: if anyone's gonna be pointing fingers, that's someone who was
Speaker 1: potentially cheating. Was Aaron Jones just because of that play,
Speaker 1: Just because of that play, they cost him the game
Speaker 1: or a chance to win that game. Legally, we are
Speaker 1: not making any accusations of cheating for Aaron Jones. Let's
Speaker 1: be clear about that. I'm sure, I'm sure as a
Speaker 1: lawyer will be contacted. Probably, Yes, Let's go to the
Speaker 1: Minnesota Vikings former Rams offensive coordinator, Kevin O'Connell takes over.
Speaker 1: He's got experience with Kirk since from their time together
Speaker 1: in Washington. Highly personable, very smart. I had the opportunity
Speaker 1: to interview him once. Incredibly handsome too. I know that
Speaker 1: that's all handsome and the women are very excited people
Speaker 1: in positions to to know. Tell me that he blew
Speaker 1: away all the other coaching candidates that they interviewed with
Speaker 1: his understanding of offensive principles and even of the Vikings players,
Speaker 1: which he had gotten clearly up to speed on, and
Speaker 1: O'Connell's belief that he can immediately take the Vikings offense
Speaker 1: to the next level. There was no there. O'Connell did
Speaker 1: not equivocate whatsoever about rebuilding or anything else. He wanted
Speaker 1: to take this existing offense and make it great. Any
Speaker 1: concerned that he technically wasn't calling the plays in l A,
Speaker 1: you know, not necessarily did. He did call plays in Washington,
Speaker 1: and it is a skill that you have that takes
Speaker 1: some time to get to get better at. So but
Speaker 1: he does have some experience there. I wish you were
Speaker 1: a play caller, but that does I mean he can't
Speaker 1: do it, and you know, we'll find out, and you
Speaker 1: know he's learning from one of the really masterful play
Speaker 1: callers of all times, so in Sean McVeigh. So I
Speaker 1: think O'Connor will be okay. There we'll find out. Let's
Speaker 1: talk Kirk Cousins. He's the top ten quarterback nobody ever
Speaker 1: wants to draft. He's the quarterback you settle for, and
Speaker 1: then he just puts up top ten numbers. He finished
Speaker 1: his quarterback nine last year, quarterback ten the year before that,
Speaker 1: throwing thirty five and thirty three touchdowns. That two year
Speaker 1: spike of productivity for Cousins coincides with Justin Jefferson. Yeah,
Speaker 1: we'll talk about in just a minute. Minnesota has made
Speaker 1: very few changes on offense, but they did plug one
Speaker 1: hole at right guard for Jesse Davis. Every places, Holy udo.
Speaker 1: The Vikings past protection has been ranked in the bottom
Speaker 1: six by Pro Football Focus every year. Kirk Cousins has
Speaker 1: been here hoping the Vikings as a Viking fan, hoping
Speaker 1: the Vikings end up shoring up their past protection in
Speaker 1: the draft. Um and least sie I'll mention with Mike
Speaker 1: Zimmers run heavy approach now gone, you know, Cousins should
Speaker 1: see quite a few more attempts. You know, I could
Speaker 1: see ten percent more attempts, more attempts, and that could
Speaker 1: unlock you know, QB six Upside and Kirk Cousins. Potentially
Speaker 1: things go right and you're gonna get to all these guys.
Speaker 1: But I mean, he's never had a healthy Jefferson feeling
Speaker 1: kJ oswe who was healthy, but he was a rookie
Speaker 1: last year. Smith and Dalvin Cook's always been like, get
Speaker 1: all those guys on the field for pretty dangerous offense.
Speaker 1: But everybody's when everybody's healthy. You know who has never
Speaker 1: missed a game in two years. Justin Jefferson wide receiver
Speaker 1: five last year, played the full season, finished second in
Speaker 1: receiving yards, and even with Adam Field absorbing all his
Speaker 1: touchdowns we'll talk more about that in a minute, Jefferson
Speaker 1: found his way to ten touchdowns of his own in
Speaker 1: the first two years. Justin Jefferson has three thousand receiving
Speaker 1: yards in his rookie and off more years. There is
Speaker 1: no downside with Jefferson. He is a you know's going
Speaker 1: off the board in the second round right now. I
Speaker 1: think you just make that pick with the confidence to
Speaker 1: know you've got your wide receiver one for the rest
Speaker 1: of the year and you can plug him in and
Speaker 1: play him. Yeah, it's it's it's no apparent downside whatsoever
Speaker 1: from Justin Jefferson. It's cup and then he People are
Speaker 1: assigning between Jamar Chase and jeff Justin Jefferson basically, and
Speaker 1: I would take Jefferson and I have in personally. Jefferson
Speaker 1: gives you the game by game consistency. Chase gives you
Speaker 1: the blow up game prospects might depend on if you're
Speaker 1: in Best Baller, if you're in a standard league. Let's
Speaker 1: talk Feeling. He played twelve healthy games last year. You
Speaker 1: know what he his wide receiver rank was through those
Speaker 1: first twelve weeks, Top ten, keep going, top eight, keep
Speaker 1: going six four ide receiver for a while. When Adam
Speaker 1: Feel went down, he was I knew you wouldn't and
Speaker 1: nobody does. Uh. He he got ten touchdowns those twelve games.
Speaker 1: He um get this. Over the last two years, from
Speaker 1: inside the ten yard line, Adam Theeland has been targeted
Speaker 1: twenty one times. He's caught nineteen of the twenty one
Speaker 1: passes for sixteen touchdowns. This is just inside the ten
Speaker 1: yard line. Feeling is the league's most efficient goal line receiver.
Speaker 1: The only one who's comparable and I'm going to guess
Speaker 1: he's slightly inferior in this regard is Davante Adams. Adams
Speaker 1: has more volume and Parpecauseland missed this, you know, the
Speaker 1: final third of the season last year. Um, but not
Speaker 1: the efficiency. I mean Theeland catches everything that's thrown to
Speaker 1: him inside the ten yard line. Unbelievably productive for the
Speaker 1: other receiver for the Vikings to talk about is Irv
Speaker 1: Smith tight end flashed at the end of the twenty
Speaker 1: twenty season. Brian and he rolled into last year with
Speaker 1: a lot of hope and a lot of optimism, but
Speaker 1: then he missed the whole year with meniscus knee injury,
Speaker 1: and um, now he enters his fourth year. But he's
Speaker 1: still only twenty three years old, and going into his
Speaker 1: fourth season, they're gonna be rookies hitting the field that
Speaker 1: are twenty three years old. And there's the expectation now
Speaker 1: with Tyler Conklin gone, that er Smith will take over
Speaker 1: as the team's full time starter. There's no competition for
Speaker 1: the job. This is er Smith's job right now. Some
Speaker 1: talk here in Minnesota the Kyle Rudolph could come back
Speaker 1: at some point um, but it would probably be as
Speaker 1: a backup and maybe a goal line role, but that
Speaker 1: would probably be it the Vikings um with the Vikings
Speaker 1: really only having Jefferson and Theland to throw to kg
Speaker 1: Osborne a little bit. You know, er Smith could get
Speaker 1: a significant number targets. He could be sitting on a
Speaker 1: sixty seventy targets season. Back to Theland, you would be
Speaker 1: you would be six year stomach. I guess to put
Speaker 1: it that way, knowing where he's getting drafted right now,
Speaker 1: major major discount twenty five, it might be a little high.
Speaker 1: Other than that, mid to late twenties, even early thirties.
Speaker 1: Like I mentioned, Darnielle Mooney was our wide receiver thirty two.
Speaker 1: I think I'm seeing Mooney going before Theeld. Well, that's ridiculous.
Speaker 1: I know, jeez, I've been pouncing Dalvin Cook. You know
Speaker 1: exactly what you're gonna get from Dalvin Cook. At this point.
Speaker 1: He is a lock RB one, incredibly dependable except for
Speaker 1: the games he misses completely, but regardless of his status
Speaker 1: going into the game, if he's hobbled, if he's questionable,
Speaker 1: he just produces and when he suits up or when
Speaker 1: he's suited up. I mean they just they run him,
Speaker 1: saw him. Do you think that changes? Now? It's possible
Speaker 1: that you know that Kevin O'Connell will not maybe use
Speaker 1: him the same way or not as much. I think
Speaker 1: O'Connell's twist on the offense probably means a slight decrease
Speaker 1: in total carries for Cook, but considering how banged up,
Speaker 1: because you know, maybe he's healthier and more efficient on
Speaker 1: a few fewer carries, that's possible. I don't believe Alexander
Speaker 1: Madison's role really changes. You know, he's a guy that
Speaker 1: he's just a handcuff. You you never start him otherwise,
Speaker 1: and I don't. Madison just doesn't pop off the tape
Speaker 1: the way that Dalvin Cook does. Cook it when healthy,
Speaker 1: is a very special runner. Madison really is not. So
Speaker 1: you know what you're getting in Dalvin Cook currently going
Speaker 1: into first round in most fantasy drafts roughly RB seven.
Speaker 1: Talk a little gambling. This might be the most wide
Speaker 1: open division in the NFL when it comes to who
Speaker 1: is the favorite, you know, like who could win it? Yeah?
Speaker 1: His favorite? But I don't get right. I mean, you know,
Speaker 1: defense got in part gutted and loss of several key
Speaker 1: players in defense, several on offense. It's just Aaron Rodgers
Speaker 1: and the and the perception that the rest of the
Speaker 1: division is weak. Um, but that's replaying a lot of
Speaker 1: last year, where I think the Vikings looked worse than
Speaker 1: they probably really are and probably get better. I already
Speaker 1: told you I think the Lions could double their win total,
Speaker 1: so you know then I don't I don't care for
Speaker 1: the Bears, but yeah, there's uh, this could be a
Speaker 1: little bit more wide open, a little tighter race than
Speaker 1: people think. Thanks for listening Fasty Football Weekly. We appreciate
Speaker 1: you getting to the end of it as always. UM,
Speaker 1: thank you for all of the chocolate chip cookies from
Speaker 1: a few weeks ago, everybody that was That was a
Speaker 1: lot of fun for the faithful that got to the end.
Speaker 1: We'll turn our attention to rookies beginning next week. We'll
Speaker 1: talk about some of our favorite players. Two weeks until
Speaker 1: the draft, right and two weeks two weeks from now,
Speaker 1: we'll be talking about the first round in the books.
Speaker 1: It's a big stretch for me. I do the Thursday
Speaker 1: night live draft party US Bank Stadium for the Vikings.
Speaker 1: Then I have the Friday morning radio show and then
Speaker 1: we come in here and we talk talk about talk
Speaker 1: about the draft as well. I'll be worse and parched,
Speaker 1: but remind me, it's it's just round one on Thursday, right,
Speaker 1: and then two and three Friday. Yeah. Remember the olden
Speaker 1: days when the time started probably noon, but yeah, and
Speaker 1: then it was just run. Yeah, that's kind of is that.
Speaker 1: I do too, because it was the weekend. Man, I
Speaker 1: just hit the couch and never moved for the whole weekend.
Speaker 1: It's great. That was great. They I'd like to go
Speaker 1: back to that. I understand why they parcel it out.
Speaker 1: It's more attention, It draws it all longer and everything.
Speaker 1: But they want to be in primetime. That's a huge
Speaker 1: part of it as well. It's a in fact, it's
Speaker 1: a massive part of it as being on primetime Thursday
Speaker 1: night Friday night rather than weekend TV programming, which frankly
Speaker 1: they just can't charge as much for. That's all. It's all,
Speaker 1: but it all comes back to the money. Thanks everybody,
Speaker 1: We'll talk to you next week. Fantasy Football Weekly is
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