10 Things To Remember For Next August

season now. What was if? When you remember the twenty twenty two season, including all the way through playoffs, what are you gonna remember the most? What's your your one big like I'll never forget that? Well, you know this this one isn't even fantasy related ones. Honestly, it's nothing for the listeners. Really, It's just I will remember how much I enjoyed watching football every week with my son who became super involved in it. So I think that'll

be my number one takeaway from this year. How how investing, That's how I you know, that's how That's how I ended up a football fan as my dad was a football fan and the one day, you know, he worked Monday through Friday, and you know, the one day that I knew I could get time with my dad was

Sunday afternoons Vikings games. So for me as a Viking life life Viking fan, the for sure, the high water moments where that builds victory in Buffalo, the crazy ending, the fumble in the end zone, the Justin Jefferson one of the greatest catches in the history of the NFL, and then the come from behind thirty three point recovery against the Colts, and he just you know, unbelievable moments for a very special season for the Vikings that you know ended early in the playoffs but still had just

these moments of just jaw dropping. You're like, what did I just see some amazing week? So it was good to see so many one score wins. It you know, the year the year before we had fourteen one score games, but we did not have that win record or whatever. It was good to see so many close games come down to the wire, you're all stressed, intense, and you pull them out. That was that was pretty fun. It's fun.

The premise of today's show is the five things each that you and I want to remember next August, Right, everything is fresh in our minds right now, all of these and all you know all you know what all the players did, who's good down the stretch, you know everything. It's all it's all fresh now, and I feel like over the course of the sixth month off season some of it stays percolating at the top through the fantasy community. People are talking about it, uncovering new stats and stuff

and going back in analyzing season. Other things you just forget over time. And there are things I don't want to forget. So what I'd like to do is bounce the ball back and forth through the five things we each do not want to forget. And I will let you go first. Okay, I'm gonna start with one that uh, you know I I went to I went to Twitter to say, hey, I'm going to crowdsource this. What are your guys thoughts? That took some of the best ones.

Some of them were ones that I had already thought of as well, of course, yeah yeah, but this one came via Sam Wagman, Crystal scour and Spencer Hankle if you're listening. But the QB landscape has has changed now where waiting isn't as much as the strategy anymore. The top five or six can really be difference makers and

you might not want to wait on them. We saw, and I'm gonna elaborate here just a little bit, but we saw fifteen of championship rosters have the have the Mahomes, the Jalen Hurts, the Josh Allen, and I think you can piece something together with the late r on ones. But it's so nice to have that extra roster spot, to not have a backup and just have one of the studs and not worry about it, and they pull you ahead each week, like you can get massive points

out of those guys any week. It's it's worth it again. First round quarterbacks. Jalen Hurts is going to go in the first round? You think so? On a past show, maybe two three weeks ago, we built it. We briefly made a case for him at one one. I would not do that. But Josh first round, Patrick Mahomes first round you could get and all three of those are reasonable first round picks. Okay, I think I don't know if I could do it, but here's here's the best

reason for it. Here's the best case in my mind. Unlikely, like far less likely for injury than the other guys that we routinely grabbing the first where five of them get injured at some point in the season for a while, I think those three, those three are less likely. For that, people have to have figured out the quarterbacks get hurt in the pocket more often than they do up running

in the field. I mean, you know, the pocket is the most dangerous, especially now that quarterbacks know how to slide and get out of bounds and protect themselves a lot better than back in the day. Absolutely for sure. But all right, so I want to remember the qub landscape has changed, and I can I can avoid my uh, you know, my tendency is to just wait forever on quarterback. I gotta stop that now, I'm with you. My first thing to remember, cam Akers looked downright, spry at the

end of the year. I thought it looked great. And this is the guy that we warned everybody about, all you me, you know, everybody in the show. We're all we're all unified on that. We were right. For half a season, about more than half. The first fourteen weeks of the year, which is the entire regular season, cam Akers averaged three point three yards per carry, and he was running back fifty one. I mean you couldn't even start him for the first fourteen weeks, so it was

not drafting cam Akers was right thing to do. But then in weeks fifteen through eighteen Fantasy playoffs, he was five point five yards per carry and he finished as running back four running back four in the final four games. He had the three touch down game in Week sixteen against a good Denver defense, And keep in mind his offensive line was completely shattered by this stage of the season. Yet cam Akers still managed to be an effective running back.

So there's and I'm I'm I'm the Achilles doubter in the room. I'm always like, you have to show me before I'm going to believe that you're the same running back. With the Achilles and doubting, cam Akers was the correct call until December. Yep, I I agree he look good and if he keeps that role, which he should, I don't see any he wouldn't. Yeah, the contract, all right? What is your next thing to remember? All right? This one?

This one is one I thought about a decent amount this last year because this happened with a lot of rookie wide receivers. But from Scott Lord and Kevin Tompkins. Rookies are really the last true places to find bargain a DP and draft a handful of rookie wide receivers with upside who can ascend instead of the boring vets in those middle to late rounds, those Christian Watson types that were like that we're taking you know, a random vet over, don't do it. There's so much more upside

with the rookie wide receivers. And over the last few years, rokie wide receivers have made so many splashes. It's not like year three anymore. They're making splashes usually later in year one. And now, okay, let me ask you that the last three years have been an insane bumper crop of wide receivers. And this year looks like and it's the draft is still a couple of weeks. It's way worse. There may only be one or two drafted in the

first round this year. After we're getting you know drafts where there's like five wide receivers taken in the first round. So maybe we've just we happen to have run into this group that in totality has been really good lately. One of those that one of the one of those two uh two tweets did not mention wide receivers. They just said players, um, and I think that's fair to There are probably going to be a bunch of running backs like the Tyler l years from this last year

that are in those later rounds. Go for the upside plays instead of the vets that you know have been ho hum and you know what you're getting, Tyler. You watched Tyler L. Gear Yeah, August RB, that's going to be a DP. The average draft position of Tyler L. Geer is going to creep up, up, up, up up as people start to realize what he did down the stretch. And you know, that could have been one of these top five things that I could have been not on my list, but he yet he really he looked like

much improved running back. I'm going to message him in our league chat. So even in the I like that, that's good. My next thing to remember, Tyler Murray may not be fully recovered until mid season, and I think we'll be much more aware of that in August, but I didn't at the time. We're so used to people just coming back the next year from the a C l UM. His is a c L omniscus. Apparently it's pretty bad in there when they got in into the clean up. The timetable is being reported as mid season.

Josh Wine Fuss of ESPN also indicated that there's been rumblings that Murray could be at risk of missing the entire year. Albert Breer reports, Murray hasn't been the guy to set the tone for the organization. When your QB doesn't show up for half of the offseason program, that's a problem. These are now I've turned this also into reasons I'm not drafting Kyler Murray. Don't. There's that um and even when Murray comes back, what happens with his mobility? So is he gonna be you know, is he gonna

be like Dak Prescott last year? You know, Dak was so good as a running passing hybrid for all those years, then he had the ankle injury. Then last year, that ankle injury, and he's still He's never gonna be the same rusher off of that totally reconstructed ankle, and then you lose a lot of that. So I looked up Kyler Murray's just the passing numbers. We took his rushing numbers out of it, he would have been quarterback twenty I remember, remember what was it, it was last year

or whatever. He had that injury and he wasn't rushing anymore. And each week we're like, he's more of a C grade now because the rushing was gone. It's weird because he's one of those quarterbacks that could be like a five thousand yards maybe eight hundred to a thousand yards rushing quarterback went healthy, but he keeps he keeps getting hurt this year. Yeah, I think we're going to hear a lot more about his situation. You know, came August.

It will probably remember it because they'll be talking about a decent amount. But uh, I will say Joe Burrow had supposedly similar to slightly worse injury, had it a couple of weeks earlier, and he was ready by week one. So who do you Who do you trust more to be serious about their rehab all season? Burrow? That's a very good point. I think it's a factor. I really do. Yeah, all right, we've done four things to remember. Let's get

in a fifth one and then we'll take a quick break. Um, okay, let's let's go over here, and this is just might be almost anecdotal for me. But for the longest time, wide receivers switching teams was almost always a bad thing. Guys almost almost never lived up to what they were before. And then Stephen Diggs switched teams and he was just fining. He was even better. And then this year Diggs did it,

Tyree Kill did it. Um they did great, but other players the same result is before Allen Robinson, Judic Smith, Schuster. Just what where I'm going is? I want to remember to notice when a wider superswitches teams, were they a star, were they on the decline? Or were they underused in their offense? And under used example would be Christian Kirk. I can't put them all in the one bin anymore.

I have to. I have to take a closer look at where was their trajectory before the switch, because it seems like that man is more because teams are letting wide receivers walk just because of contracts. A J. Brown just because the contracts now it's not it's no longer because we don't want you anymore, right the cop because the big the position has become so expensive. Elite wide

receivers command thirty million dollars a year thirty. That's Davante Smith and that's our sorry, Davanta Adams and and Tyreek Tyreek Hiller thirty million dollar guys. Scott Justin Jefferson might be a thirty five million dollar guy. So we even saw it when Tyree Hill left there, like will he be the same with two and with Wattle taking etcetera. No, no, just let's let's just assume that these players are on a certain trajectory and let's try to let's try to

see when in Allen Robinson. Allen Robinson's numbers were nearly identical from Chicago to the Rams, So maybe that bad he was right, especially at that age, at that stage of the career, those two got me like that. Maybe it's because those are with my worst calls of the year is I thought ju Ju to the Chiefs, and I thought Allen Robinson replacing the Odell Robert Woods role. I thought, great, No, they were declining, That's just what it was, and Juju shouldn't be declining at age seven

or whatever. But you know, and he's it'll be a free agent this offseason, ju will and I think the markets for him is going to be pretty soft, even though there are a lot of great receivers free agent wide receivers. I think the market's gonna be pretty soft. You know, they're gonna look and go okay with Ben Roethlisberger and Patrick Mahomes. You were a mid production guy, so you know, what are you gonna beat? What's Houston

gonna give him much? I don't think. All right, let's take a break when we come back the five other things we want to try to remember or try not to forget between now and next draft season. Welcome back Fantasy Football Weekly. Paul Charchi and Scott Fish with you. We're going through the things we do not want to forget between now and next draft season. We've done five, We've got five left. That means I'm up. Derrick Henry's offensive line was god awful last year. Scott and completely

injury ravaged. Um. You know, I think those two might have had a thing to do with each other, correct, Yes, no doubt. Taylor the one, Dylan rad Dunce, Ben Jones, Nate Davis, all hurt Um and Ben Jones mostly backup anyway. But um Luan set to make fourteen and a half million dollars, and he he said this last week he expects to be released because of his contract, and also he's thirty two and you know whatever. You know, sometimes

just things just sour with an organization. He'll probably he'll probably land on his feet somewhere else and help somebody else. But I think Derrick Henry's ADP is gonna slide pretty far, and if they can rebuild that offensive line, I'm kind

of back on board. What are your thoughts on not on Eric Henry, where I think he's ADP is now going to drop into like pick ten, pick twelve, somewhere in that range where I think we might be starting to hit the last couple of years of Zeki Elliott for Derrick Henry to where people are like, oh, he's kind of old hat and where he'll start slit an age, so he'll just start slipping even though he's got these

ears left. I'm with you on this and and more than just like, can I make up broader statement on the offensive line thing? I feel like we need to pay better attention to the offensive line, and because it seems to have really mattered this year for both passing and run games, Like there's a lot's a point at which if it's bad enough do you just can't succeed? And Tennessee's wasn't good to begin with. That's what I mean.

Are You're throwing a couple of injuries and now they're like the thirtie best offensive line and Derrick Henry, even Derrick Henry can't do anything with that. Yep, I'm I'm I'm with you on this. I I will buy the I will buy the dip. I actually was buying him last year too. I don't I feel like I've always just been buying in on Terrick Henry. The last most part of what is your next thing? Not to forget? Okay, let me let me get back over here, and I'm

gonna go with um. I need to pay closer attention to the contract to your players because and we talked about it a lot on the show about we talked about it last year with se Kwan and Jacobs and like maybe they just run him to the ground. They did. They did. Look at Tony Pollard and Miles Sanders on their contract years this year, like the contract to your players, it's it's been a stereotype because it kind of happens

a lot. Okay, Okay, but wait, you put in the past, the thinking was always the player tries harder in their contract year. For many of these guys, it was the team team wants to put all of this workload on a guy that they're going to go exactly. It's it's one of those you can have a couple of different names for it, but it's the same end result in fantasy uptick, especially running back, where they they're trying to put my pals on on the guy on that exactly

where I was going. I mean, I think this is mostly and someone on Twitter Saturday I believe too, But um, it's mostly for the starting level or at least time share high level, you know, the one a of a timeshare one whatever. Running backs like the defined role running backs is more of what this is about. My next thing I don't want to forget justin higher maybe draft

him high for sure. Justin fields passing didn't improve as much as people are going to think it improved, so you know, there's I just think there's still some risk with fields passing, which August drafters are going to be quick to overlook because of his incredible running and the fantasy upside that is running gives you, um and the upgrades that are assuredly justin Fields is going to get me. They're going to have receiver upgrades in Chicago in this offseason.

They're coming. I don't don't know who they are yet, but they're coming. I mean now, ideally it's gonna be just like what A J. Brown did for Jalen Hurts. I think A J. Brown was pretty instrumental in Jalen Hurts getting a lot better. I think that certainly helped that whole, that whole offense and giving him that target and then also drawing less coverage to other players. And you know, Hurts got a lot better and Fields could. But and I'm not saying you won't, but I think

in our minds we've decided that. And J and I also, by the way, I expect Chicago to trade out of one one that first pick of the draft because they're going to settle on Hurts. And I really think the narrative is gonna build that Fields is a better passer than than he was this year. So let me give you some data to back this up. Fields finished sevent in expected completion percentage. He finished dead last in passes

into tight windows. That's the next gen stat which makes you question just his judgment as a passer um and also by the way wide receivers weren't gett open, so you know, I don't think those guys were getting a lot of cushion, so that might have been part of it too. But he was throwing. He threw them. He was dead last and passes into tight windows. He was thirty feet in turnover worthy plays when under pressure he was thirtieth, and adjusted completion percentage when under pressure he

led the leagues in league in sacks absorbed. Justin Fields, who obviously has the mobility to get out of these sacks right and get out of trouble, but Scotty didn't because it's just positional awareness and you know, holding the ball too long. Things like that bad offensive line pressured him some, for sure, but its offensive line it wasn't as bad as we thought. In fact, get this first half it was bad. Get this, the quarterback with the most time to throw in the NFL, justin Fields, yet

he absorbed the most sacks. I want to know if that I would love to know if that counts after he's outside the pocket to the time he delivers the ball, Like I'm not sure it's a that is a Pro Football Focus T T T time to throw stat and I'm not, you know, I don't. They don't clarify that part of it. But presumably if you have to break the poel, you're not you don't have time. That's when the time to throw in. I feel like, yeah, I

feel like it's that would make sense. If it's snapped to bald Leave's hand, that would make sense to me. Sat And the last thing I'll mention her fields passing. Just again, on the passing part. He ranked thirty six among starting quarterbacks by Pro Football Focus in passing for last year. Now he's certainly got better, means there was there was some backup quarterbacks that did better, that did

better than Justin Fields. It is a passer, so well, Justin Fields is going to be in the top five of everybody's quarterback rankings because the running is absurd and they will continue to run him. I have no doubt about it. The passing isn't as complete as it is for Josh Allen and Justin Fields and guys that are also gonna be sitting in that rarefied ranking. I think Fields is the type of guy you I don't He's not there yet in ADP justin fields, he's closer to

the ten to twelve range. But I feel like he's the kind of guy that once that one on one trade happens, they're probably going to either draft a wide receiver, get a wide receiver, free agency wide receiver, and that's that's when he's gonna get pushed up. So if you like fields and Wade fields, you probably want to get it before the draft that trade. All right, what is

your next thing that we should not forget? So many to choose from, but I'm gonna go with three players who ended the year well, sometimes it hits, sometimes it doesn't, Um, but I don't want to forget that they did the first cold come at. We're gonna stick with the Bears here for a second. He was tight end thirty one. Weeks one through eight he was tighten he was me but tight end six, yes, you are correct. It depends on your scoring, but yes, tight end six at top

six in every scoring really most scorings. Well, the touchdowns finally started. The touchdowns finally start a hit. You have to expect the offensive line to get better fields. Fields. I would hope to improve, but maybe not um another wide any other option to draw coverage, any other option to get him open in the middle. Um, I want to remember how he ended the season, especially since tight ends are really Kelsey or wait six years, because it's

really just Kelsey. Um. The other two are Chicken kN Ku and Rashid Shim for the Saints. If Derrick cargoes that he ended with really good metrics, both of those guys ended with really good metrics, especially for rookies, especially a conque for being a tight end. Um, if you get Card of the Saints, I think that only improves him, and I think a conqu he has a good chance to be a really good player for at the Titan position. You're forgetting my We're forgetting my other rookie tight end

that I love. We're talking, we're talking late round guys that I don't want to forget about. Gillanni Woods and I believe mo Elly Cox is a free agent. I believe who's the Paris Campbell, which we could open up the middle of the field a little bit for Woods. I mean, Johnny Woods had some splashy moments, so I'm excited for his. Leson will still be there though, oh no, oh no, he's a small sucker though weird that he takes snaps. That's what I mean. Uh, my last thing

to remember, Trevor Lawrence is really good. Um, I think you and I both agreed that in the Urban Meyer year, Trevor Lawrence was playing badly and it wasn't all just like scheme and everything else. It was bad. It took him half a year to to take the funk out.

In his final ten games of the year, including the playoff loss or playoffs excuse me, the two playoffs, the playoff win and the playoff loss, he averaged two d fifty four passing yards and two touchdowns and he had just three picks other than the four in reception half that he had against the Chargers. So we had that. But aside from that over the final ten games, three

interceptions that's it, which is really impressive. And so because what is so what is two fifty four yards for Trevor Lawrence and two passing touchdowns put him on par with well that was right in the area of Kirk Cousins, Jared Goff to Ah Josh Allen's passing not as rushing obviously is passing. I mean those are you know, that's like he was in QB eight, QB nine, QB ten, territory and deport Lawrence looked like a top ten fantasy passer in the second half of the season, and I

think he was. And he chips in some rushing yards to seventeen rushing yards per game. He scored five rushing touchdowns. That stuff adds up. Uh, yeah, I agree with that. Um right now in a an underdog ADP, he's going QB eight. Yeah, that's about That's about where he finished this year for the second half of the season, So that makes sense. But do you think he can go higher? He's got I think he's for sure. Do you think

he's got to? It's really just his second year in the in the league, you know, you know, yeah, right here, the first year doesn't count, but then you know, so, yeah, he has the potential to get even better based on the college pedigree and his second year in the Doug Peterson system. Yeah, I'm I'm a big fan. And we are two guys that talked routinely about Trevor Lawrence the last two years because we we watch a lot of

a lot of the games. We watch a lot of games more than he was really in the first week he wasn't that great, and then starting week two, Yeah, he really turned it up. By the way. I feel like I mispronounced Rashi Shahid's name a little bit ago. It's Rashi Shahid. I don't know. I don't know what to say. I don't know what you did. I felt like it did. I thought I had a either Rashim or Shahim. I think I had an m. It's funny you say that, because when you said it, my mind

would is that right? And I purposely didn't say his name because then you built himself down in me as as to whether or not I was saying like on one of them, I accidentally miss I liked his big play potential. Yes, I mean he was that kid can run after the catch. He's got he's got some gallop. Yeah, that's what I'm saying. In such a small sample size, him and a conqu in their small sample size, looked legite.

Thank you, absolute conversation with you a little bit there. Uh, thanks for thanks for coming by and doing the show. Appreciate it. Uh, not positive who's on next week at this stage, but I don't know. I don't know either. I was impressed. I remember all three riddles when I was to cross the Yeah, that's right. It's like, is it the minotaur who makes me answer the riddles? I think it's a minutea they're not. You gotta grow. You gotta grow on yourself, can't You can't just go to

the zoo and steal a minotaur. Scott got the employed by a minute time. He got a W nine gnatar independent contractor minotaur to guard the house. Thanks everybody, We'll talk to you next week. Fantasy Football Weekly is a production of I Heart Radio. For more podcasts from my Heart Radio, visit the i heart Radio app, Apple podcast, or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.