Welcome to Fantasy Football Weekly, a production of iHeartRadio.
Time now for Fantasy Football Weekly from iHeartRadio, your weekly source for the nation's best fantasy football advice, speculation, and whatever stupid stuff they decided to drop into the show. Now here's your host, Paul Chargian.
It's Fantasy Football Weekly. I am Paul Charchian. Co host today, Brian Johnson. You had a week off, which is nice.
I know. I hope you.
Enjoyed it all.
Deserved week off, you think. So. See it was I listen to the show though I had to with Scott on it was Yeah. Now now it is Scott fish Bowl Week.
Yeah, I made a co I made a huge blunder in my Scott Fishball team. And I'll just I'll mention it briefly. So, when you originally sent out invites, I had picked three and I'm like, you know, I'm just gonna set my cue. So I've just you know, I'm set for three picks. But I hadn't even looked at the scoring system at that point. It was just right when the invitations went out, so I just, you know, threw a couple of guys in it and then totally
forgot I had done that. Then it turns out the scoring system is basically it's heavily weighted towards rushing quarterbacks.
Yeah, or running backs, but really in my first round, quarterbacks, yes reigned supreme.
And I had Justin Jefferson all queued up, and you never bet three he went off the board. I got him, and it all happened so fast, I didn't even know. I just the first two guys went right away, and then then I got auto drafted and I got Justin Jefferson.
So that's the Scott Fish bull in a nutshell. You're upset about getting Justin je.
Jefferson exactly, exactly. The theme for today's Fantasy Football Weekly is cheap starters. People won't like the term cheap. I don' want to ever be associated with anything cheap, right, affordable, affordable? How about value? Maybe value starters. You could also call these guys boring players. I think that's part of the
issue here. Also known as guillotine league saviors, because these are all guys that are ideal guillotine guys, maybe overlooked star So these are all guys that are starting players on their team, their NFL team, and they have an ADP that's weirdly lower than other starters of similar ability. So we're looking for cheap starters who can help round out our fantasy team.
As scholars say, it's helpful for your players to be on the field in order to score fantasy points.
Yes, it does happen, helps a lot. Yes, that's going to be a reoccurring theme here is going to be players that I have opportunity. Opportunity outweighs talent in fantasy football way more important. These are opportunity players you want to go first by We're gonna do it. A quarterback, a running back, a wide receiver, a tight end, and a flex flex. Just give me somebody else?
Can anybody you want, not not a super flex, but a flex.
Yes, won't be a quarterback, all right, you want to go quarterbacks, go first?
Okay, A guy I just ragged on mercilessly last year as pretty much anyone in the industry or just casual players. Everyone like Russell Wilson, who last year was going inside the top ten quarterbacks easily. Everyone was excited about his move to Denver. Now after this a disaster season, He's quarterback eighteen in ADP of one hundred and thirty two.
Which you know he finished his quarterback twenty five, so eighteen. People do feel there's some optimism there.
But it was a disaster season all around. Nathaniel Hackett was fired before the season ended in weeks one through sixteen with Hackett as head coach, and I believe he was calling the plays. He's essentially the offense. Yeah, he went Nator too. Wilson had an eighteen percent play action rate and was only outside of the pocket whether he was rolling out or scrambling sixteen percent of the plays in week seventeen through eighteen when he had really big games.
He did have good games down the way, like he could.
Have been a league winner if he started him in week seventeen thirty four percent play action rate, twenty four percent of his plays outside of the pocket. So the offense got a lot more creative. Now is complete overhaul with Sean Payton coming in Hiss head coach, offensive minded Sean Payton, Tim Patrick back, healthy, Marvin Mims and intriguing draft pick and wide receiver.
Of course, Jay Hammler might finally be healthy for a season. Who knows.
Jerry Judy's in town. Of course, Courtland and Sutton still there. Greg Dulcich showed some promise, So I don't know at QB eighteen, if I'm just gonna, you know, stockpile two or three quarterbacks, if I'm gonna sleep on quarterbacks weight on quarterbacks late in the draft. Wilson is definitely one of the guys that I think he's just going way too cheap right now.
I should have picked a different quarterback in retrospect and the guy picked because I think it's just too chalky. And people already know this, but maybe it's just because you and I keep talking about it. You kinda I feel like I gotta go Gino Smith here.
No problems hammering this home because it's it picked.
One hundred and fifteen quarterback, fifteen off the board. He finished his quarterback five last year.
Yeah, total points. What the how?
Why is he following ten spots when they added the best receiver in the rookie draft by the consensus of like everybody, and he's sliding ten quarterback positions. It's so absurd that Gino Smith is here. I mean, there's no case to be made. But here's the thing that really bothers me about Genoslide. Dude's legitimately good. This was no fluke.
We got a.
Seventeen game sample of this and he looked completely legit. There wasn't like freak plays that propelled him to good box scores. He didn't like have weird rushing touchdowns that like artificially augmented his total. Not nothing like that. Gino was just a really good passer and he did it for virtually every game last year. Sneaky rushing competence, by the way, twenty two rushing yards per game. That's two point two fantasy points for free, and he only had
the one rushing touchdown last year. He could easily If you're rushing for twenty two rushing yards a game at the quarterback position, I think more often than not you're gonna have four or five rushing touchdowns at the end of the year. Those could become as well for sure for Gino Smith. But the guy that I sort of wish I had picked as a little somebody, it's a little further off the radar as a cheap starter.
This year's Gino Smith. Sam Darnold, No, not that far off radar.
Matthew Stafford, Yeah, he was.
I almost used him as my guy.
Stafford I mean, you know, he was I think he was quarterback nine when he went down with his injury last year. And he gets Cooper cup back, and you know, Sean mcvaye there knows obviously totally how to utilize him. So yeah, I just that was the other guy was gonna use, but I didn't ultimately do it with Gino Smith. You want to go running back next?
Sure?
Okay, who's your who is your cheap starting running back?
Currently going off the board as running back twenty six seems a little too late for me in Richad White of the Bucks as most No. With Leonard Fournette gone, his only competition for touches as of right now are Chase Edmonds, who's a non factor, and an undrafted free age named Sean Tucker who I kind of like, but again he's an undrafted free agent. So Rashad White has a clear path to early down work and he's still probably the best pass catcher on the team too. Yeah,
we might have a bell cow on our hands. Granted it's not going to be a great offense in Tampa Bay, but there is a new offensive coordinator, Dave Canals, I believe is how it's pronounced. Expected to place a lot more emphasis emphasis on the running game than former OC Byron Leftwich did, and like I just said, a very able pass catcher. Though White is caught fifty passes last year,
so he'll steal. Still see plenty of third down reps. Yeah, I mean RB twenty six for I don't care what team you're playing for, if you're going to be playing eighty ninety percent of the snaps right, probably not ninety, but at seventy five to eighty.
Yeah, verus shot White probably, and because he can pass catch, that'll keep up. They're going to be in third and long a lot that would have.
Been losing a lot lot, right, But he can stay on the field.
A running back who is losing for sure, My guy can't. Well, maybe he can. You're Rashad White going off the board is running back twenty six. I'm gonna give your running back twenty seven makes sense. James Connor, Yep, he was definitely on my list. Everybody rightfully, very worried about the Arizona offense well, and their defense too. Honestly, the whole team I mean, Cardinals have are indisputably the NFL's worst
overall roster as far as I'm concerned. I was doing an exercise for radio here in Minneapolis and Kfan talking about the the best non quarterback on each team, who is it? Even for the Cardinals.
It's like wah, but so yeah, it's it's it's it's gotta be Hollywood, right Mark, Maybe maybe clear cut and no, no, anyway, what the Cardinals do have is one of the few settled, workhorse led running back situations.
James Connor, your new offensive coordinator is Drew Petsing. And you might say, well, we don't know what Drew Petsing is going to do, but I think we do. He he has. He has been an an assistant under run heavy coaches Kevin Stefanski will obviously utilized Nick Chubb Aton and the run heavy Mike Zimmer with Dalvin Cook, so everything in all of his spots stops before this have trained Drew Petsing into a run first orientation and heavy workload. Guys the top of the depth chart here for Arizona
doesn't have anybody else who even deserves one carry. Corey Clements still in the league. Apparently Keyanta Ingram had his opportunity to look at anything other than awful last year and didn't take it six round pick last season. So, yeah, the Cardinals are going to be losing by a lot in some second halfs of games, but you're still going to get fifteen ish touches.
A game out of James Connor least.
And you know, as we like to remind listeners, for all of Kyler Murray's mobility, Brian, he's never been a goal line guy. You know who is James Connor.
Yeah.
So if you think you think Arizona's gonna get a meager touchdown total, let's say, on the season, like twelve rushing touchdowns, I don't know, eight nine, go to James Connor sitting on a nice season at running back twenty seven.
Yeah he should be inside the top twenty four at least, but yeah, even higher.
Not a special talent, but the volume, Yeah, the volumes there, that's what we care about. Okay, let's go to the wide receiver position. Give me your cheap starter.
There are obviously a lot more wide receivers in fantasy football than other positions, so there was a lot of a lot of candidates here. So I kind of went with the guy and talked about a ton this offseason. But I've always liked him a lot. I didn't love the landing spot in Las Vegas. But it's Jacoby Myers who right now is like the ADP of one twenty three wide receiver fifty seven. It just seems that seems way too late for me. Again, I really finished last
year's like wide receiver twenty he did. Yeah, he only played in thirteen games. I remember we got injured early on against the Viking on Thanksgiving Night. It was on his way to a good game there. But he had a full season pace of eighty seven catches, one thousand plus yards, eight touchdowns, good size, six ' two, soft hands, caught nearly seventy percent of his targets. Last year he was graded he would have had a better quarterback there.
Again, more than that.
Yeah, the Patriots Jones was argued anybody the worst offense to be on for a wide receiver in the history of fantasy football, almost outside of two thousand and seven Randy Moss. But Myers was graded the seventh highest wide receiver by Pro Football Focus. He'll have an edge in Vegas two. He'll be familiar with their offensive scheme. Mick Lombardi served as the wide receiver coach in New England
from twenty twenty through twenty twenty one. He is now the offensive coordinator, like it in Las Vegas, and of course DeVante Adams is the wide receiver one there, but he's gonna draw a ton of attention, double coverage. Who knows what's going on with Hunter Renfro for now? I guess it seems like he's staying in. Yeah, Buttill's be running out of the slot per usual. They got a rookie tight end. Now he was gonna get most of the snaps. Michael Meyer and then Austin Hooper. They're no
Darren Waller, at least Meyer isn't yet. So I think people are sleeping on Myers right now in PPR leagues. I think he could finish inside the top thirty.
Yeah, I'm with you on that. That seems very reasonable. Jimmy Garoppolo does not excite fantasy owners, but Mac Joe. Yeah, but rather he's better.
Than Mac Jones. Yeah, and he's a He's a quarterback that we kind of cater to Myers play. DeVante Adams not so much now.
Adams is one of my big avoid guys this year. It's funny you gave wide receiver fifty seven. I'm giving wide receiver fifty eight. We didn't plan this, No, it's how it's worked out for both running back and wide receiver. Houston wide receiver Nico Collins. This is a long time me and Scott Fish have been waiting for our opportunity and it's finally here. So he's entering his third year. He is now the Texas undisputed number one wide receiver.
Nico Collins shown steady improvement over years one and two, and I get the feeling it's all going to come together right here. Late last year after remember when Brandon Cooks got hurt and then he like basically refused to play. Yeah, Collins had a chance before he got hurt. At the end of the year, he had a chance to be the Texans primary wide out in four games. In those four games, he averaged nine targets per game. Wait, wait nine times there it is five receptions.
No off season for Principal Mooney.
No, well, nine time. I think he's out of jail, which is pretty important. Five receptions, forty five yards and half a touchdown per game. And that was with Davis Mills and Kyle Allen and Jeff Triskoll. Remember they were mixing and matching quarterbacks for a while then Nico Collins
was in the middle of that bit. To give you a sense of fantasy wise, what Collins did in those four games, he gave you the same fantasy output as t. Higgins on the season to put a name on nine targets, five receptions, forty five yards and half a touchdown per game. So while it's super dangerous to extrapolate four games into seventeen games, you should know that it's fun.
Though.
It is fun, isn't it. As the Texans go too wide out For those four games, he was on pace for one hundred and fifty three targets, eight hundred yards, and eight and a half touchdowns. Now they've changed coaching staffs and blah blah blah and other things. But here's the important thing. Nico Collins gets better in his third year, and CJ. Stroud's going to be a huge and potentially huge upgrade of quarterback even in his rookie year over what Davis Mills and Kyle Allen and Jeffers Skulkuld bring
to the table. Nico Collins cheap starter. Let's take a break. When we come back let's talk about our cheap tight ends and our cheap flex players when we come back. Get stay tuned, Welcome back Fantasy Football Weekly. Paul Charging and Brian Johnson with you. We're going through our cheap starters. These are a team's unquestionable starting player, but his ADP,
for whatever reason, is strangely low. And we think you're gonna get You're gonna get valuable reps and opportunities out of these guys who've already given you quarterbacks, running back to wide receivers. Let's go to the always mercurial tight end position. Brian, who you got?
I'm going. I feel like I shouldn't be going this deep, but based on his ADP, it is deep because he's going off the board is tight end eighteen. No, we're not going Dan Arnold.
That's the perfect smot for Dan Arnold.
I will be drafted in the scott Fish Bowl. He's on the Eagles.
He's on the Eagles. Okay, got it.
One one misstep by Dallas Goddard.
That's it's easy. Yeah, dan Arnold season baby, but last year he was it was one misstep for Evan Ingram, right.
Yeah, and you know he would have done what Evan Ingram did. If they didn't sign Evan, it might have been better. Arnold hasn't just had his chance, but it will not none of the fourteen. But we're talking Gerald Everett here.
Oh yeah, yeah, the fantasy experts are all over Gerald.
Ever, it was just an underachieving offense overall for the Chargers last year, but Everett had career highs and targets, receptions and receiving yards if you forgot in the playoffs sense of the Jaguars. The Chargers lost, but Everett went off six catches, one hundred and nine yards and a touchdown, And I just think that's scratching. You know, the career highs. They weren't eye popping numbers, but it was his best
year as a pro. But I think that's just scratching the surface of what ever it can do in this revamped offense that again underachieved last year. But now they have new offensive coordinator Kellen Moore, come over from the Cowboys who let him go because he was scoring too fast whatever, but a prize acquisition for their coaching staff, that offensive coordinator, and last year Everett didn't see a ton of volume. But I think we've seen an uptick
in it. I know we all kind of like Donald Parham, but they do.
But I can only wait so long for him to stay healthy and put it all together, and maybe it's just not gonna happen.
And then there's there's Trey McKitty too, But man, Everett really flashed at times last year. One of nine tight ends with three hundred plus yards after the catch.
Yeah, he's really good that way.
He was one of eight tight ends with at least one hundred yards after contact. So he's kind of a beast too. He's mobile, He's a beast. So I don't know. Tight End eighteen, if you know the cards fall in its favor, he could. I don't see. It's not too far fetched. He finishes as a top ten tight end this year in that often.
Ye, it's possible. So everyone think Justin Herbert's gonna bounce back healthy. Played last year on the broken sternum and the shoulder injury that needed surgery after the season. Everybody thinks Herbert's sitting out a much better year this year. I've been reaching everybody gets better.
I've been reaching around on Everett many times, and if I'm doing the Chargers stack I've been reaching two rounds just to ensure I get ever it makes sense heir with Herbert and Friends. Oh yeah, I love Effett right now and I hope I continue to love him throughout the year.
I'm going with the aforementioned Evan Ingram, who finished last year's tight End six going off the board at pick one hundred, and there aren't that many good tight ends to go around. Why are people waiting on a good tight end? I assume that people think he's not gonna do tight End six again because Calvin Ridley's back, you know, and maybe that Ridley's going to siphon off some reception.
Thing is the price tag on Ingram was what it is on Everett right now right last year? That much people, you know, they pump the brakes a little bit. That's probably a factor too.
But even if Ridley's great, I'm just as you know, because you've been on the show for a long time and our listeners have been listening this long time. I just think, you know, rising tides raise all ships, and I think Ridley just makes the whole offense better, gives everybody more opportunities, including Ingram. Now he's under the franchise tag this year. He will not get the franchise tag again next year. And because you got to pay like a I don't know, like a fifty percent bump or
something in year two. Right, So it's a contract year for Ingram.
We like that. No thread of Dan Arnold, right, I mean.
The constant thread of Darnauto is not there anymore. They drafted Strange, Yeah, Brent Strange Range, right, But he's uh, but he is. He's viewed as a long term project. So not not it can to be a factor this year now, So Trevor Lawrence, now year two of competent coaching. We're gonna throw out the year one. This is effectively his sophomore year. Lawrence gets even better. Doug Peterson's gonna trust Trevor Lawrence to pass even more than he did
last year. They were the twelfth highest pass rate last year. They could be the They could be a top five pass rate this year. Peterson's always loved his tight ends too. You know, he used Dallas Goddard with great results. He's I don't know, this is his new Dallas Goddard. It's
Evan Ingram. And by the way, both of those guys that looked up there how often they were standing in the slot to just see is the usage really the same under under Doug Peterson forty four percent for Goddard and Ingram standing in the slot as a receivers.
Who was, of course Zach was in Philly with Peterson, but who was the one tight end who had the pretty good year with Eagles and then he got a big contract like with the Bears, and then it turned out to be nobody. Oh this is gonna bother me. This is recently, you know, this is the last four or five years. I know, you know what I'm thinking of.
God, I don't remember, and I can't. It didn't happen. Last thing I'll mention about Ingram targeted one hundred and fourteen times last year. I mean that's you know, that's the kind of volume you want. It's hard to go wrong with the tight end who's seeing the ball one hundred and fourteen times come their way. That was fourth most among all tight ends. And if you're gonna get that kind of use in your Doug Peterson offense, evan
Ingram very safe. And I think that's a cheap starter compared to where he's being drafted.
And he got hot at the right time to last year he got hot towards the tail end of the season.
Yeah, we always like that too, as an added bonus. It doesn't always mean it's gonna carry over, but I'd rather have somebody who rolls into the season coming off big game games in December. All right, let's go to your flex player. I told I set this up and just said, give me one other guy at any position that you think is a good cheap starter. Whould you pick?
All right? I strayed from the running back. I did a lot of running backs today, so I went with a wide receiver who the delta between this guy and his You know, the next spester receiver on the team is his co starter or everyone to put it is one hundred and thirty plus fix geez, okay, it's Van Jefferson. And of course I'm talking about Cooper Cup his playing partner of a Van Jefferson going off the board. His wide receiver sixty two, one hundred and fortieth overall pick
didn't play until Week eight. Last year started the season on the pup list or I already had a knee issue, but by the time he came in the Rams, Stafford was out and that Cup was hurt. And again Cooper Cup being hurt does not help Van Jefferson.
Van jos on the.
Field right to take a lot of the attention off of him. But Jefferson performed pretty well under the circumstances you know they had. They were starting Baker Mayfield, John Woolford, and he was essentially the wide receiver one. But he recorded at least sixty yards or scored a touchdown in more than half of his games played. I know you don't think much of Alan Robinson. I like a little more,
but he's not in LA anymore. There's really not a ton of competition for targets at the wide receiver position. That's fire Cooper Cup of course, So I don't know. Van Jefferson has some big plays. I've been watching with Baker Mayfield, some long touchdowns. I mean, he he was the third round pick not long ago, so they put some you know, sunk some equity into him. So I think at this price tag, he's gonna be on the field for ninety the snaps and in a offense is
gonna throw a lot one thing. So I don't mind kicking the tires on Van Jefferson. This league in the draft.
All right, my flex cheap starter Washington.
Sorry, Trey Burton was the Tray Burton nicely done, yeah, even under but when he left the Eagles, nobody career was like over.
It was the Bears have a lot of historic sign like that. My flex cheap starter is Washington running back Brian Robinson going off the board at pick one hundred and thirteen. Now, I wasn't very impressed with Robinson's rookie year, but as we mentioned at the outset, opportunity way more important than talent when it comes to fantasy football production, and the opportunity is going to be there.
And he was also coming off a gun shot.
Coming off a gunshot wound, you know. And I'll give him, you know, he missed a bunch of training camp. I'm gonna give him some maybe all I don't remember exactly when the gunshot happened in the middle of this. But last year, by the way, just to give you a sense of it, wasn't great. Twenty fourth ranked runner by Pro Football Focus, just three point nine yards per carry. He was twenty eighth in yards over expectation and fifty first in yards after contact per carry. So it was
not great last year. But here's the reasons for optimism on Brian Robinson. He's got room to improve, right, So the rookie year with the gunshot and everything else, now he's a sophomore. Most players get better in year number two, his first full training camp that he's gonna have. I like that part. New offensive coordinator Eric Benemy should be a huge upgrade and he could usher in a lot
of improvement for Robinson. Better coaching, better play for Robinson, and almost certainly better schemes for Robinson than what they had last year coming from Eric Benemy. And there's a lot of talk of Antonio Gibson getting converted into a pure pass catching running back and that if that happens, now Robinson is good for volume and the goal line
carries he was already getting. So I like that idea that if Eric b Enemy's gonna convert Antonio Gibson into his new version of Jeric McKinnon, then Robinson could be two hundred and seventy carries this year. I mean, he'd be like top easily top ten in total carries.
He's got to avoid the landmine of a I know there's been whispers that the commanders could be one of the teams that like Fournett or Kareem Hunts goes to.
I'm so I did, but that's every day. There's some new connection on those guys. But yeah, I mean if that would look if that happens, then all bets are off. I mean, this is all about volume. It's all about volume for Brian Robinson, and at two hundred and seventy carries, you kind of can't go wrong at pick one hundred and thirteen.
Of your draft.
No, I'll take that all day, every day. All right, there's a cheap starters, Brian, all right, sons of fun. When uh, next week, we'll be back with more Fantasy Football Weekly. We appreciate everybody who's tuned in and subscribed it to Fantasy Football Weekly. If you haven't played in a guillotine league yet, highly encourage you to do so.
It's the funnest, freshest way to play fantasy football. You know how guillotine lead leagues work already, and no time like the president to jump into a league and take advantage of the other people that are drafting early. But you're way smarter than there because you're listening to this show. Thanks everybody,