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 decide to drop into the show. Now, here's your host, Paul Chargian.
Welcome to Fantasy Football Weekly.
I am Paul Chargian, joining me like last week, Kent, Why Rock?
Hey Ken, Hey Paul, how are we doing? Glad to be back. A shorter off season for me this time, just one week as opposed to one year. But I'm glad to be back.
And how about you going to bat for Derek Carr in the podcast? And about the time I'm posting the podcast, he decides to hang it up.
Yeah, I mean, that's so tricky. And now, looking at that situation that the Saints have left behind in terms of the quarterback groom, that's truly missed a fine. I guess they're going to lean into Tyler Shuck and see what happens.
Seems that way, he doesn't it because they got long looks at Hainer and Rattler last year and I just don't think they got it now. Granted that was behind a bad offensive line. That would have been tough on anybody, including Derek Carr as it turned out. But still you get the feeling by the way Derek Carr just did not want to play football for the Saints anymore.
Yeah, he had been through a little bit of the ringer in terms of how he's been treated by you know, the different managements over the years and things like that, and how he gets respected from a media standpoint too. I think he's been dealt with in a lot of different ways where people are you know, he had his high year and then after that it kind of never really got back to that ceiling, and I think a lot of people held it against him, But I don't
think that was deserved. I think he was a solid player. He had a really good career and it's unfortunate that, you know, the medical stuff is making him hanging up a little early.
How much money would you guess he's made?
Ooh, I probably should know that off tom My head. But I'm sure it's plenty. Yeah, it is plenty.
But I I'm challenging you to take a stab at how much money Derek Carr has made in his career.
Let's see back of the Napkin math he was in the league for about ten years. Let's say he made it to two hundred and twenty million.
Yeah, you're very very close. Two million. Yeah, well done.
Well and you know he would have probably I think he played everything out. He'd gone a little over the two twenties. So yeah, nicely done, ken, nicely done. Not a bad not a bad earning for a guy who Boy, how many playoff wins for Derek Carr? That'll be that'll be your next question, and I'm gonna look it up while you're looking. Derek Carr playoff wins?
Oh my goodness, I my brain jumps to a very low number. Maybe zero. Is it more than zero?
Well, let's see playoffs.
He had done don don one playoff start and it was a loss. Okay, zero was the correct answer. He lost to the Bengals in twenty twenty two.
That's it. So that is it. Yeah, a two.
Hundred million dollars and zero playoff wins for Derek Carr.
There's more than one way to earn a living, and he found a very lucrative one.
So yes, he did, Yes, he did. Lucrative.
Today, the amount of knowledge, the depth and value of knowledge, You're gonna get as we go through the AFC and NFC East, highlighting the off season changes for each team and whether or not we think these changes will be a net upgrade or down grade for each team. And so we're gonna we'll look at free agency, We'll look at trades, we will look at the draft, rolled together all the new.
Things that have happened.
Now that lineups are effectively set heading into training camp which arts and now only a little over a month or we're really getting close, now, Kent, let's begin the AFC side. I don't know why we always work right to left, east to west. Is because the sun rises in the east. You know, everybody always starts with the AFC East or the NFC East, and they sort of worked their way across the country like time zones. But
we read left to right. You can make a case that we should be starting with the west, but nobody ever does. We always start with the east, and I'm not I don't know if there's any rhyme or reason for that, but that's how it's gonna work here too. And let's begin with the Miami Dolphins. Kent, this I have a lot of skepticism about and where was this last year. I have a lot of skepticism about this offense, but maybe things were so bad last year you.
Feel like, in totality it's going to be better this year.
Yeah. I mean, they pretty much for the talent that they had on the roster bottomed out. I would say, uh, you know, the head we talked about this last week, struggling offensive line. Now they've had Tarren Armstead retire. They signed James Daniels as a replacement, which I think is good but not going to fill the gap entirely, and they haven't done much else other than draft a second rounder guard to help accommodate for that. I don't see that being in net plus in terms of last year
to this year. So I would wager that their offensive line ends up in a worse overall situation. And you know, that's kind of the starting point. When you're looking at both passing and rushing. It's all comes down to how your offensive line can either buy your quarterback time or you know, help the running back open them holes, get
more yards before contact, stuff like that. So the name of the game in terms of what happened to the Dolphins last year and how they could improve this year based on the personnel they have a lot of the offensive personnel that's coming back is very similar. You still have Tu at the helm, you have Tyreek Kill Jalen Waddle as your main two pass catchers, You have John hu Smith as your tight end, and then your lead
running back is going to be Devani. So that structure is coming back, and besides the slight changing offensive line, over all, the offense looks very similar. Some tertiary options that have been added. They've improved their backup quarterback situation, which I would say kind of matters considering Sua had his own fair share of you know, more concussions last year. I think it was.
Okay, But did they improve their backup quarterback situation now Zach Wilson and Quinn Yours.
That's fair. I think that Zach Wilson is a good backup. I don't think he was a good starter. I think he's a good backup, but better than you know. They had Tyler Huntley, Skyler Thompson, Tim Boyle all made starts last year or had playtime, so it truly was a train wreck in terms of their backup quarterback situation. I think it's an improvement. Quin Yours you know, drafted in the seventh round, doesn't have a lot of capital behind him.
They didn't invest a lot. But in terms of a third person, I think it's a good kind of upside play. Maybe there's something they can turn them into, but it'd be a really long shot situation. But you know, like I said, I think having Zach Wilson there is better for the overall sake of the offense. But both Tyreek Kill and Jalen Waddle had their fair share of struggles and injuries last year. You know, Tyreek Hill's a year older.
But in terms of some backup wide receiver options on this team, they signed Nick Westbrook of Kinney UH and Dwaynette Eskridge, which again I think our role players at best. Yeah, nothing really that's going to move the needle in terms of the overall offense, but might be a slight bit of help at best. You know, it's unfortunate last year
Jalen Waddle, he truly disappeared. And the silver lining I would say is that he was actually fine when Tua was healthy and when turned Armstead was healthy and the entire offense was on the field, then then things were starting to shape up. But you know, in terms of any kind of personnel changes that are going to open things up for him, I really don't see a lot going on there.
Let me ask you this, if you believe, you know, we saw real signs of decline from Tyreek Hill last year, I mean eye test metrically, and he's thirty one years old.
Is there a scenario.
Where you could justify suggesting it's a torch passing year from Tyreek Hills the number one wide receiver to Jalen Waddle this season.
Sure.
Absolutely, And that's even if they're both on a team. And I also think it's a very high likelihood or relatively high likelihood, that he's still a trade candidate. I mean, there's all this discussion this offseason, maybe leading up to the draft they were looking to move him for some capital. It never came to fruition, but you know that that tension is still in the air. And I think that if the Dolphins are interested in kind of opening up their options post Tyreek Hill, this is where they need
to look. And he still has some value. You know, he could be a great receiver for another team. He could be a great receiver for this team. I mean he could instantly turn it back on as well. But Jalen Waddle has the potential to step up and be the number one in this offense. I don't think he's like a quintessential true wide receiver one, But agreed, I
think that these two intan and worked very well. And if you're moving Tyreek Hill, you know, there's always potential to get another player coming back to that, you know, if you want to balance things out. But the way the current state of the receivers are after Jalen Waddle, I would not recommend unless the season is truly lost, somewhere around week seven, eight nine range, you know, before the trade deadline, obviously, to move Tyreek Hill and then have Waddle finish out the years to one.
At the running back position, Devine eh Chan was the do everything guy last year. Caught a ton of passes. I think he ran gallantly behind a bad offensive line, and he stayed healthy, which you know, going into the season that was all the talk about e Chan was
Kenny possibly played play seventeen games, and he did. Then it goes to Jalen Wright, and then it goes to two guys who I don't even know they're going to make the team Ollie Gordon, who I dislike as a rookie, and then Alexander Madison, who I love is human being, but do not think that he's a requisitive of an NFL runner anymore. So, if if you want to if unless they're going to have to run a cham just as much this year, which I don't think they want
to do. They had to do it last year, Jalen Wattle gets to be a kind of an interesting late round drafted dart throat to me.
Yeah, I think that's true. They had some struggles running the ball last year for sure, and you know, well Hm was the lead back and was taking the majority of the work. I don't think there's any other running back on this team that could step up to take work to improve the overall situation. So you know, like Jalen Wright, he's probably the handcuff here because he's just been in the office for the offense for an extra year, whereas you know, Madison and Gordon both need to be
ramped up a little bit. So yeah, this could be a bit more of a passing team. I mean, even Hm himself can be a pass catching back. So if they're not going to try to just you know, run smash mouth football, which no one expects them to. But they're certainly gonna lean into their pass options, which you know, again, you need to stay healthy and you need that offensive line to outperform our current expectations.
I think I called Jalen right, Jalen Waddle.
Nice of you not to Oh yeah, okay, I actually wasn't sure, but I think yeah, I think both were.
Yeah, they're gonna why not.
They're the ones who put two Jalen W's on their own team.
So look, this is undemb not me. Uh.
Overall, is this Miami offense going to be better or worse than last year?
It's again, I think it comes down to health. I said worse by stagnation. I don't think they're really doing anything to help out their offense. I think that the changes that they made on the offensive line were valiant but falling short, and so I'm going with worse. If they stay healthy. You know, Mike McDaniel, he's offensive guru. He can pull it together and make it work again. And maybe there's an upside case, but I think just looking at personnel changes, it's worse.
Let's go over to the Buffalo Bills.
The big change for Buffalo is in the wide receiver room. Amari Cooper free agent right now today. Nobody wants him. Everybody assumes he's cooked at this point. Khalil Shakir got a four year, fifty million dollar extension. I love it. He drastically improved last year, doubled his production from the year prior.
A lot of it was.
Shorter passes, some which he turned into big plays. He led all full time receivers in yards after catch last year, right around eight yards per catch. He was top twenty and target rate among all wide receivers. But where Khalil Shakir was not able to help us last year and this might not change, is they just don't throw to him anywhere near the the end zone.
He had a ten percent end zone rate. That's it.
Target rate, that's it. And so I think he had three, maybe four touchdowns last year.
And that's that's caps.
The upside for Khalil Shakir. I love everything else about his game. They brought in those journeymen that I honestly don't care about, Josh Palmer, Elijah Moore, levishkas Chanot.
Ken Coleman returns year two.
I'm actually pretty optimistic about a breakout in his sophomore year. You know, he missed a month of development time last year with that risk injury Kent, and then he got saddled with a part time role because they had brought in guys like Amari Cooper that they were filtering in. And I want to believe Coleman is sitting on a much better year in year two, and he's got Fantasy Football's number one quarterback in ADP throwing to him. I like, Keyan Coleman is as a dart throw that you can
pick up in eleventh round of your league. What do you what do you think about Kean Coleman.
Yeah, I mean they drafted him as a traits guy, and I know that his production didn't quite match his traits, but you know, he needed probably a year or two to truly break out in the way that we're used to in a fantasy landscape. And you know, he doesn't have the pressure of being the number one guy. This is a platoon receiving court. We kind of touched on that last week as well, So you know, Sekuur, even Elijah Moore, Joshua Palmer, they're all going to play a
little bit. So kenk Colon shouldn't have any pressure on himself to be going out and taking the game into his own hands. Typically it's Josh Allen doing all that, and he's really good at that. So they're gonna spread around. Kean Coleman's gonna get his fair share if they need a big body in the end zone. Coleman's a dude who should have an uptick in touchdown potential this year.
I would think the running back room basically unchanged. Offensive line also basically unchanged for Buffalo. The at the tight end position, You'd like to believe this is the year that Dalton Kincaid really exerts himself over Dawson Knox. We saw signs of that at the end of his rookie year, and then last year was an almost even time split between those two, which frustrated a lot of fantasy owners, including me. So I gotta believe that Kencaid's going to
have more opportunities to distance himself from Dawson Knox. In totality, I think this Bill's offense is slightly better just because I think Keyon Coleman gets a little better. Ray Davis could have a bigger role now as a sophomore and Dalton Kincaid could have a bigger role and could be better in year number three. So we'll go slightly better for the Bills. Let's head over the Jets, Kent. We've got a whole new coaching staff to talk about.
Yeah, Robert sala is out and we're bringing in Aaron Glenn, the former defensive coordinator from the Lions, who is also bringing along with him Tanner Engstround excuse me, Engstrand, and he was the pass game coordinator for the Lions. So if we're looking to, you know, kind of the focus, there's definitely a defensive head coach is something that's I would say a concern for most fantasy players, whether justified or not. But this is a first time offensive coordinator
and that's going to be interesting to watch. It's you know, we'll get into it here. But a personnel that I think has gotten overall worse. They've made some improvements and we'll talk about him here. So the offensive line, you know, they now they've gone back to back years drafting first round offensive tackles Olufashawanda last year, our Man Membu this year. They have their full interior coming back and they all posted really good PFF blocking grades last season, So I
think we have an improved offensive line situation. Unfortunately, I think that's probably the only part where they've made improvements. You know, Aaron Rodgers has gone. Justin Fields signed a two year, forty million dollar contract, and you know, last season he got replaced by Russell Wilson up in Pittsburgh. It was a very interesting situation. I think a lot of people kind of wanted to see Justin Fields keep going.
He started the first six games of the year last year for the Steelers and he was QB six during those weeks. I mean, he was performing in terms of fantasy, it was just kind of the more NFL side that people had questions about his ability to win games. So, you know, that's a downgrade in terms of the quarterback. On the receiver side of things, obviously, Devon Adams is gone at him for eleven games last year after the trade, and now he's off gallivanting around on a new team.
So when you when when you go to LA do you get to gallivant?
Well, yeah, they do their fair share of gallivanting, and well if you do, if you do.
If you go to any p Diddy's parties.
Yeah, yeah, they're gonna be Yeah, you'll do a lot of gallivanting.
Let's hope that Adams didn't go to any of those. But uh, I digress. But Garrett Wilson is, you know, still the you know, left as the number one here again. And you know last year he was he was solid. One hundred fifty four targets, eleven hundred receiving yards, seven touchdowns. That's fine. He hasn't quite lived up to his hype that he had after he went in the first round.
A lot of people were really high on him. Ohio State receivers, you know, they got this kind of monkey on their back they're still trying to get rid of. But I saw a tweet recently, actually, I think that is very telling us from Heath Cummings, who works for US Fantasy. Sometimes you know the answer before you even asked the question. Two receivers have seen at least four hundred targets in their first three seasons and have averaged
less than seven yards per target. The first, Deontay Johnson, who as we know, has been kind of dealing with his own issues, can't seem to land on a team and establish a role anymore. And then the other is Garret Wilson.
So not but those guys are nothing alike. You know, I swear Gara Wilson is actually good.
He is, and I think you know Deontay Johnson. I won't go too deep into him, but he was always a volume guy. I think that's where most of his fantasy affinity came from. And Garret Wilson is a lot more dynamic after the catch and everything. So you're totally right there. I just it's it's again another sign he's just not quite what we've been what we wanted from him, and.
We're quarterbacks, or as quarterbacks for Garrett Wilson, have not been what we wanted. Aaron Rodgers threw his arm out of socket last year, all of it to DeVante Adams.
Yes, yeah, And you know, Garrett Wilson was the second fiddle there and now he's back to being first fiddle. But who's going to be second fiddled this year is the question. You know, we have Al Lazard left over from the Rogers recruitment campaign. He was a ghost without Rodgers in twenty three, so I'm not seeing Lazard stepping up this year. Josh Reynold was acquired for pennies on
the dollar and free agency. They have Malchi Corley, who he saw six targets in twenty twenty four, and you know, he was more of a gadget kind of guy coming out a lot a lot of usage in the screen game and stuff like that. But they didn't even try to get the ball in his hands last year. So if there's a breakout coming, I don't think many people see it. And I don't know of this particular group who's going to be wide receiver too. Do you have any guesses.
Out of those guys. I mean, if you make me pick somebody, I can't take Corley. He's just he's just not built to be at number two. I'll take Thizard and just yuck.
Yeah, Yeah, it's gross. And I think that's also a worrying sign for Gear Wilson, as he'll probably see more bracket coverage and stuff like that. So you know, if we switch up and talk about their running game a little bit, they're bringing back their same platoon from last year, Brailn Allen, Isaiah Davis, the same guys, and you know, it's Breese Hall's back field for now, and I think
that he has a tenuous grasp on the backfield. As things stand, he had some home run hits, but when he's not hitting the home runs, he's striking out a lot, and that's really tough to see, you know. Braylen Allen, they tried to get him involved and he was kind of ho hum, a little bit of a plotter at times. Isaiah Davis I think had the most juice. He had
five point eight yards per carry. He was plus one point four rushing yards over expectation per attempt, and all that was week fourteen and beyond, So they were getting involved late in the year. If you're gonna see any kind of transition out of this backfield, I think Davis
has the chance to leap frog Braylan Allen. And you know, if Breesol can't find a rhythm, there could be potential that they start either going full balanced a third apiece, or they give Davis a little bit more of the carries down the stretch.
I disliked.
I dislike Davis until the very end of the year, and I was really disappointed in what we saw for the most part, given how much optimism we had when he came into the league. But he started to show signs at the end of the year. But I am not ready to talk about Breeze Hall losing his job. I'm not ready to go there. You are on an island as far as I'm concerned, gone that cat.
I yeah, And that's we're talking like a five to ten percent scenario here. But in terms of, you know, we're bringing back the same guys, what changes could there be? That's the only one I could see a path for. That's kind of the way I'm putting.
It, all right, So in totality, Jets over, are they better or are they worse this coming year?
It's definitely worse. And the only way that they're gonna have a better outcome is if they have some miracle comeback season from Justin Fields as a passer, I don't. I don't see that as likely. So I'm just going straight up worse.
Okay, let's go to the Patriots, where everything is new, new head coach, new offensive coordinator, but names you already know offensive coordinator or new coaches Mike Rabel, your offensive coordinator is Josh McDaniels. There's you know, we've seen the good and bad of Josh McDaniels offenses. More bad than good, and that part worries me when he hasn't ed Tom Brady, Josh McDaniels hasn't hasn't shown himself to be a terribly
effective offensive coordinator. I think this team will be run heavy, like most people believe Mike Rabel Now, granted he had Derek Henry, but he ran the ball like crazy in Tennessee. We presume that's going to be that the Patriots will be focused that way this year, and that's probably why
they added Traveon Henderson in round number two. Now, Ramondre Stevenson remains the presumed starter, at least at the beginning of the year, because he has got all the you know, all the history and everything else that you get with with the starters, but with the veteran But sometimes you bring in a whole new coaching staff, they don't care, you know, like you know Ramondre.
They have no history with Ramondre. Maybe they won't care.
I do like Ramondre, and I still think he starts the season, but I do worry about Henderson at some point that this either goes platoon or Henderson.
Just beats him out at some point.
I always feel like Ramandre Kent runs hard, He does what he can behind a terrible offensive line, which is most of what he's had for his entire career. A reminder, when Mike Rabel was the head coach of the Titans, they ran the second most running plays. Only Baltimore ran more, and they had Lamar Jackson. So this is gonna this should be plenty of running plays coming in this new offense. And then the offensive line got better. They got three
new starters. They put the fourth overall pick into Will Campbell. They added longtime Minnesota starting center Garrett Bradberry and then journeyman right tackle Morgan Moses as well. They're all upgrades over what they had been trolling out on their offensive line for the Patriots.
So kind of excited about that.
The receiver situation did not get nearly the attention I thought it would, And I'm really disappointed about this as somebody who likes Drake may a lot Stefan Diggs, who knows at his age what his ability will be like to overcome an ACL. His availability for Week one is very much up in the air. They brought in mac Hollins, don't really care. They spent a third rounder on Kyle Williams.
And the thing is he looks like a project. He did not wow anybody in college after his freshman season, and he might have to you may have to learn the slot in the NFL. It's just there's he doesn't seem like he's ready to make an immediate impact. So really bummed out about the offseason that the Patriots had to receive. And I understand ken they needed to fix like everything except quarterback and you couldn't get to it all. But man, I didn't love the moves that they ended
up making it receiver. Do you do you see the receiver position for the Patriot it's any differently or more optimistically than I do?
No, I don't. I don't think Kyle Williams is going to be a dynamic change, game changer to this receiving corps. One thing to note is that they do love using two tight ends. Both Hunter Henry and Austin Hooper get involved pretty pretty commonly, so they're not going to rely on the receivers in a very heavy way. And I think, you know, if they get digs back, this this is overall a decent receiving corps, you know, And looking at the draft, they spent their four first draft picks on
offensive positions, whether offensive line, receiver, running back. They really wanted to make an effort to make things better for Drake May. I don't think it was as good as it could have been, but at least I'm seeing the effort and hopefully, you know, maybe we're a little bit wrong about Kyle Williams. Maybe he can step up and you know, be a larger role on this receiving corps.
But it's it's still falling short of what you would hope to have in place for a guy like Drake May, who has showed all the trades of I think a really great quarterback, and you need to be able to put the team around him to make it work.
The word I was using around Drake May is gallant. I think he played gallantly while trying to overcome the worst offensive line in football last year and the worst set of receivers all on the same team, and he was still fantasy viable in part because of his running, in part because he heaved up some bombs, because he does have the big arm. I think he is he is a candidate for a big jump this year if he's not under constant duress and it turns out any
of his receivers can catch. We don't know that that's the case yet, we'll find out. So overall, you know, they finished thirtieth in points scored last year. They'll be better than that this year. Just with the improvements on the offensive line. Maybe Diggs will come back and be a you know, if you can just be two thirds of what he was a couple of years ago, that would we would we'd be very very happy with that.
Can't. Let's take a break when we came back.
Let's turn our attention to the n f C and uh, let's uh, let's dive into those teams, including the Eagles.
We'll find out what changed, what is new in the super Bowl city of Philadelphia when we come back.
Welcome back, Segment number two Fantasy Football Weekly Paul Charchian and kent Y Rock Kent. People can follow you on Twitter. I do, but then they have to spell your name.
Yeah, and it doesn't the same way it sounds. So I'll go ahead and get other people out here. Yeah. Absolutely, So it's uh kent k e n t y rock w E y r a U c H and yes, it's super German.
It's super German. Some people would say all Germans are super mm. That is not an easy one, and I'm not. Don't ask even I, who know you and have your name frequently, full name right in front of me, even I would struggle to nail that one down. That's in many ways worse than charging in I always feel like with charging, if you if I gave you three cracks at it, you'd probably get it.
Yeah, I rock, I would be like twenty.
And I've heard all twenty from various round half around the block, So yeah, I've heard them all. I'm not offended any way when it gets mispronounced.
So yeah, you can't be you'd be a ball of rage all the time. You absolutely can't do that. Let's go to the NFC. Speaking of rage, that would be your Philadelphia Eagle fans typically, but not this year, enjoying the aura of a Super Bowl victory. They're second in six years, I believe, So let's talk about Super Bowl champs. Not a lot of change here, but one of the big changes was that offensive coordinator.
Yeah, I mean, if it ain't broke, don't fix it, right, And the Eagles have built up this roster, they've really done an excellent job with their team building over the years. But the new offensive coordinator situation is because Kellen Moore left to take the Saints head coaching job, which is its own interesting storyline we'll get to when we get
to that division. But he's replaced by Kevin Patulo I believe it's pronounced, and he's been the Eagles passing game coordinator since twenty twenty one, so there's a lot of familiarity here. I have a feeling this is not going to be a major effect on the offense. A lot of the same tendencies and styles are going to be replicated from last year. So one thing that's really important to note, you know, talk about the Patriots drafting only
offensive players early in the draft. The Eagles didn't touch offense until they got to round five, so they started defense, defense, defense. They really put a heavy heavyweight on the defensive side of the ball. And why not when your offense is so good, your offensive line is still really great. You know,
it's mostly the same. They have a slight downgrade at right guard because as they lost Mecky mackay Becton to UH and they downgraded to Tyler Steen, but he is their third rounder from the twenty twenty three NFL drafts. So again, he's been in the building. This shouldn't be a major downgrade. Could be an upgrade. We're not really sure. We haven't seen a lot of him yet. But this is the same offensive line that's been able to handle the tush push, been able to handle you know, Saquon
Barkley breaking two thousand rushing yards. This is a great offensive line. So how that applies to their passing game. You know, they're bringing back with the core Jalen Hurts, A. J. Brown, Devanna Smith, Dallas Godeer. They signed Terrace Marshall. Can you believe it? He was a raided year And I must have deleted that from because exactly I didn't you know, see him on the field whatsoever in any kind of meaningful capacity. But you know one thing that they did
do is they brought on some tight ends. You know, Dallas goder there's again they're talking about maybe trading him very recently here, but they decided to rework his contract. He took a little bit of a downgrade and pay, and they brought in k Kylin grantson from the Colts and Harrison Bryant from the Raiders as well, So they've got a little bit better of a tight end room. I guess you could say behind him. You know, last year he missed some time and uh Calcutta, what was
his first name? I don't even remember, Kata cal Katara, the rant Calata Grant cal Katara was the backup and he was just okay. So they needed some more depth at the tight end position. I think that's the main reason they brought those guys in.
Calcutt a clipper, Yes, cut a clipper. That's what we'll do.
Uh.
A J. Brown and DeVonta Smith remained great.
Funny John Dotson still on the team and you wouldn't even know it if you watched any of the games. It's uh what you know, Howie Roseman's the best GM in football, one of the two best, probably the best.
But wow did he got you know? I think it was a fourth rounder that he gave up for Dotson and that was a that was bad. It was bad.
Jerry Jones, not to be outdone, gave up that fourth rounder for Jonathan Mingo.
Those were goodness.
All of those wide receiver trades that we had last year, like none of them worked out. It's a it's a tough position to just drop some somebody new into.
Unfortunately, so with.
All everything else being so similar or well, I should mention this, they lost Kenneth Gainwell, and to my eyes, Kenneth Gainwell was coming off his best year by mile. I thought he looked really, really spry and efficient in that offense in a way that he hadn't before. I you know, obviously I'm not trying to jinx anything about Saquon Barkley, but I think they would miss having Gainwell if anything were to happen to Barkley.
Yeah, I could see that.
You know.
They brought in aj Dillon is kind of a I don't know, replacement. He's not he doesn't run the same way as not All or anything like that. But in terms of having a backup there, that's the most likely option. Or they still have will Shipley as well. So I know it's it's it's not a good situation if Barkley were to go down. That's certainly the main takeaway here. And you know, we're talking about how things are affecting
the future. Can we look at if Barkley is going to be able to repeat the success he had last year. I don't know that he can almost you know, right, almost can't act. And I think that's the larger takeaway from the Philadelphia Eagles, is that because they brought back all the same people, you could say, well, how could it get worse? And I think that the argument would be that they played at their ceiling. They played the
best possible version of this offense. You know, Jalen Hurts, who is a very very good passer, very good runner. He kind of hit some high benchmarks in terms of you know, his yards per attempt a just a completion percentage, his run game or excuse his PFF run great, and then passer rating. So those are all highs for him. And you know, if you're telling me, or if you're asking me if I think he's going to repeat that, I would say probably not. He's just he's not the
elite level of a passer. He's a very good passer and a very good runner, possibly elite runner as well, just maybe a shade behind kind of like the Lamar Jackson Jayden Daniels t here, but still very very good.
All right, So Eagles as a team do they get but they almost can't get better. But you know, I'll give I'll put it in your hands. Do the Eagles offense is, in totality get better or worse this year?
If I'm a betting man, I'll say worse. I don't feel good about it, but that's that's where the money should go.
I think.
Yeah, I mean, just you know, like Barkley gets hurt, you know, or you know, Ag Brown gets hurt, who never misses time, rarely misses time. I'm with you, almost, you know, not that there's any reason for them to get worse. It's just they almost can't get better than what they were last year.
All right, let's go to the Cowboys.
That'll be your first game of the season, right, It's it's Eagles Cowboys Thursday night.
Yeah well, yeah, yeah, I believe that is correct.
And oh it's so exciting that they're putting the seven win Cowboys on national television in week Number one is the kickoff game. Because everybody loves America's team. Everybody's second favorite team.
Is the Dallas Cowboys.
I feel such a sense of patriotism when I think about America's team at they.
Got to lose that Moniker. I don't know if that's so much the case anymore.
I think it never was.
Well, that's certainly possibility.
Just me. All right, let's start at the quarterback position.
Dak Prescott comes back currently going off the board around quarterback nineteen or twenty.
I think that's a little light. I like him a little bit better than that.
And I believe that the addition of George Pickens will help get more downfield passing out a Dak yet a really short a dot last years twenty eighth in average distance of throw just eight yards last year. I think Pickens will unlock more downfield passing because of his go up and get it stylings that he has, And it really is different. You know, neither he nor ceede Lam or Burners, but we know that Pickens can do some really fun stuff downfield when he can dominate shorter, less
physical cornerbacks. Maybe that ultimately ends up up helping Dak. And I think I think the quarterback upgrade certainly helps George Pickens as well, who becomes much more fantasy viable here than he was in Pittsburgh. They also added Paris Campbell, but I think at this point he's officially and we can officially deem him to be a journeyman. I'd liked him coming out of the draft, but then he had all those injuries in his first couple of years and just hasn't been able to put it together.
Unfortunately.
The biggest story for the Cowboys, though, ken without a doubt, it's the running back position. We all thought this team was going to invest in this the mother of all running back drafts, that this team was going to invest some real equity into the running back position, and they didn't. They brought in Javante Williams. Let's talk about in for just a minute now. Last year was his second year off ACL, so I mean, you don't get any You can't keep blaming the ACL forever that that's done with.
He was third to last in rushing yards over expectation, well under expectation, about negative point six yards under expectation per carry. Among runners with at least one hundred carries. Last year, Williams ranked forty first in yards, forty sixth in yards per carry, and forty first in broken tackle rate, all of them very near the bottom of runners with at least one hundred carries. For Javonte Williams, I don't understand why they made the move to pick him up
at all. I think if they hadn't, he'd be a free agent right now. They also brought in Miles Sanders, we know how his stint in Carolina went, and then they did draft a rookie, Jaden Blue. But the problem is, Jayden Blue looks just like a change of pace runner. He does not look like a special runner. He doesn't look like somebody who's gonna carry the ball more than six seven times a game.
He wasn't in college.
I don't see his game really translating to other than some scattershot, potential big plays now and again, I don't think Jayden Blue is going to be an answer. So I did not like what Jerry Jones ended up doing at running back, and I didn't see any significant change here. In totality, Cowboys will be better this year with Pickens getting Dak back, but I don't see this team getting
a lot better. Dak could have some big games Kent, because I think the running game is going to be just awful again, and that's going to give an opportunity to pass a lot, and we may see Dak throwing the ball a ton. I should mention, by the way, before we move off to Dallas. They did put that first round pick into right guard Tyler Booker, and you never, you know, we always love teams that fortify their offensive line at the end of the day. That always almost
always helps. And when Zach Martin retired, they had they had to do something. They had nowhere to go, so Tyler Booker goes in there. But to me, Zach Martin was so good for so long that's at best just sort of like a push on what was a mach offensive line last year.
Yeah, the Cowboys, they had the pristine vision of what an offensive line should be for so many years, and then it kind of fell apart on him a little bit. And you know that's going to happen. You go through waves and cycles and I totally get it. But one other thing I wanted to note in regards to the Cowboys that you know, last year their defense was horrific, and I think that they did not make many meaningful additions there too, So you could see a lot of
high over undertotal. That's the games that these guys are playing. It So in terms of fantasy, you know, you got decks slinging the ball either from behind or just trying to get ahead. So I'm with you. I've been in on Dak. I've been drafting him quite a bit recently here in Best Ball drafts, So I'm with you there.
All right, let's go to our next team, Washington Commanders. Now suddenly the thrilling what and another team that I thought was going to make a move at running back and much to my frustration, did not because I am just I am not a Brian Robinson believer.
Well you know, I get it. But also they were third in rushing yards last year, so if it ain't, don't fix it once again.
That's that was their quarterback, and Austin Eckler helped.
Sure, yep, that's fair, I know that. You know, some of the advanced measures that were on the Commander's running backs were still pretty good. In fact, all of their running backs, Robinson, Eckler, McNicholas Rodriguez, they were all over expectation on rushing yards. So they were able to use their offense and their scheme in a way to make
their running backs work well. In addition to Jane Daniels, who's obviously the cherry on in terms of transforming this into a really strong rushing offense, you know, and even so that they were so focused on rushing despite being near the back of the league and passing attempts they were ninth and passing touchdowns too, so they're scoring a whole bunch on the ground through the air. They drafted
Josh Connerley at the end of the first round. I see that as more of a succession plan to Laramie Tunsel, who has I'd have to look, but I think another year or two left on his contract and he might get a shot at right tackle. They don't have a true starter right now on the right side, so that could be a camp battle kind of situation.
Uh.
You know, they were second in run block win rate of this offensive line last year, so again, I think it's all coming together under the scheme. Cliff Kingsbury really did a great job as the offensive coordinator here. I have to give credit where it's due despite his you know, head coaching. You know kurb Bunkle that he went through recently. So you know Jane Daniels, he yeah, Jane and Daniels. You know, he was the second Olverall pick. But obviously
he lived up to the hype. He was sixth and EPA per play that's going to continue that he's so dynamic pass catchers that he's throwing to.
Now.
They signed Noah Brown, which is a good third option, I'll say, And then they traded a fifth round pick for Deebo Samuel, which might sound like a load trade compensation. That's more of a contract age offsetting type of thing when it comes to the trades in the NFL. So I wouldn't put it past them to still be using Deebo Samuel quite a bit. He's coming off a little bit of a down year, but very much a down year from a fan. I downplayed it, or maybe uplayed it,
whatever the correct way to say that is. But it's a down year for sure. And I think that this is a good offense for him to come to. And I think that if you know Kingsbury's going to continue with his offensive success, that he can scheme up Debo, get him some screen looks, get him out in space the same way he was used in San Francisco. So I think that he's a good fit for this offense.
He pairs well with Terry McLaurin, who's kind of, you know, somewhat similar to and I, you sort of prototype, And I think this is a good combo of one two wide receiver.
Let me ask you this about Deebo Samuel.
I'm working on my guillotine player rankings now we're gonna post him fairly soon. I really really thought long and hard about zach Ertz, who was a terrific guillotine tight end. Not really explosive, but you know he was helping you out with like, you know, four catches and sixty yards a game and really really safe.
But here comes Deebo.
Samuel, and we know Deebo Samuel lines up in the slot a lot.
He's about built like a tight end.
And I'm a little bit worried that Deebo Samuel is going to eat into zach Ertz's just sort of game in and game out productivity that we saw last year.
Do you have any thoughts about that?
Yeah, I don't see Ertz being replicating the success he had last year. He's already got Benson at behind him, kind of champion at the big.
And it had like one catch last year. I'm not worried about that.
Sure, that's fair, but you know, if if they're wanting to, you know, zech Ertz is up there in age, so they're gonna need some someone to step in once he is done playing. And and that's the current game plan. So maybe they change that in the in the coming years, but for now, that's the way I think they look
at it. And yeah, I you know, Debo is going to cut into that if they have any you know, reduced success in terms of their overall offense, passing, rushing either way, you know, all of a sudden, Earth's becomes kind of a second option in this overall offense. They're going to go to their main guys like Debo McLaurin and then you know, Brian Robinson and maybe Eckler. But it's it's it's not someone that I'm I'm particularly interested in drafting a whole bunch this year for sure.
Okay, I'm I'm really I'm torn on that because guy he made he helped me in so many Guillotine leagues ers did where you don't need explosive output, you just need to have solid numbers for you know, up until about Thanksgiving, and I I want to believe that he could do that again in this in this offense, Washington's got so many different ways to score and hurt opponents, and you know, he could be you know, he could be remain a big tool in that, but we'll find out.
So sorry, sorry to cut you off there. I'll let you continue, but I just wanted to get to a little zach Ertz chatter in there.
Yeah, no, that's fine. The only point to touch on is the rushing game. You know, they bringing back the same group, so there's not a whole lot of changes. Eckler's getting old, so maybe they reduce his touch work a little bit. I'm not sure, But overall, I think this offense is better just for adding Deebo Samuel to it. And I think Noah Brown is a good addition as well. So I'm gonna I'm gonna look on the positive side for this one.
Say better all right, I'm I'm I probably would say better, But Raminson just doesn't do it for me fortieth and avoided tackle. Right, He's just you know, for a guy his size, I want him to shred some dudes.
I want him to break tackles, doesn't break tackles. Just not a power runner. Despite as you know, eye test, you think he's gonna be. Yeah, he's just a guy. I don't know.
I don't just.
I just I wish, I wish this team, and you know, they put a first rounder in their offensive line, which I always love and that ultimately, at the end of the day, I respect that part of it. But man, there were some game changing running backs that they passed
on that I don't I don't understand. Let's go to the Giants, our fourth thought, well, eighth and final team for this podcast, saving the worst for last, I guess, so a lot of change a quarterback, right, So we have Russell Wilson, We've got Jameis Winston, and then in the first round they took Jackson Dart. Now, everybody believes that the ideal scenario here is Dart doesn't touch a
starting NFL game this year. He is widely viewed as a project who is best learning from the bench for a year, in part because he came from the Lane Kiffin shotgun system, which is all all about building a skill set that does not work necessarily in the NFL. You get all these advantages of misdirection and false tells, and then all you have to do is go make your first read and Dart was good at that. But a lot of times those traits do not translate to
the NFL right away. When you have to methodically make your reads. And the hope is that Dart would have to start that the Giants offense can be just fine with Russell Wilson, that it can be good enough, much like Russell Wilson was last year in Pittsburgh.
At the White opposition.
No notable changes tight ends, no notable changes running back though, Cam Scatapo's landing spot, and I liked this pick. I feel like he was an ideal pairing to go with Tyrone Tracy because Tracy converted wide receiver, not a great inside runner, not somebody you'd want to you feel comfortable giving the ball to at third.
Down and two at the goal line.
Scatabo, though, he's just he's going to bring the boom to that offense that Tracy just can't. I love how he is just out there looking for contact. He's trying to find defenders he can mow down, and you just don't see many players like that. And Scatabo is gonna get the goal line work that's going to eat into
Tracy's upside. I'm down on Tracy. I've taken him in zero best ball drafts so far, and Scatterball, on the other hand, there's gonna be games or he's gonna get a couple of a couple of rushing touchdowns.
He's gonna be all those guys.
He's gonna have like six carries for four yards and two touchdowns in some games. Now, Scatabo is slow, he's short, and he's twenty three years old, which for your dynasty players is pretty old for rookie. I don't think you're gonna get a lot of explosive plays at the NFL level. But he's gonna break some tackles and he's going to get you some touchdowns. And I don't think Devin Singletary's going to make the team. We'll see maybe as a third running back.
He was he was not too bad. He's kind of the same deal as that he's He shouldn't be a lead back and you know, Tyrone Tracy was better suited for that last year. But camp Scattabo is a great addition to this running back room if you are going to go platoon style. And you know who he kind of reminded me of was a modern day version of Mike Alstadt.
Yeah, that's what I said.
Too short, Mike Alstott. He's really fun to watch. I hope that they use him a decent amount this year, at least for our viewership sake.
Thor comped him to David Montgomery, and I begged him to comp him doll Stott.
He wouldn't do it. He could knock it off, he would not. He would not let me influence him that way.
He kept his comp to Montgomery. But I just I see small all stop written all over him. Giants will be better this year thanks to the upgraded quarterback. Right, So no longer do we have to see Tommy DeVito and Drew Locke and Daniel Jones. We're going to see We'll see Russell Wilson probably most of all of the year, maybe a little dash of Jameis Wins and in there if it's something goes wrong with Wilson again. Hope we hopefully we do not end up seeing Jackson Dart. Well done Thor not Thor.
Oh well, I know you've been hanging out with Thor a lot, But it's.
Been a lot of Thor, a lot of Thorp, you know what I mean?
And for good reason. He is his second to none when it comes to just spitting out information on any human player prospect team. He's got it all, man.
He does have it all.
Sorry about that, and you know you both have got your you have a much.
Fuller, more manly beard though.
Oh I think you know listeners can't necessarily tell that, but I think it's I think it just goes without saying.
I appreciate it.
Yeah, really really lustrous. I'm very impressed.
Ken'd yes, and I don't. I think you're not back next week. I believe somebody else is handling. I believe we're going to the AFC and NFC North, and I don't believe you're on the docket next week.
Well, I hate to ruin your day here, charge, but you got me for one more week and then I think we're cycling back to matt after that week. So all right, we're gonna talk AC, NFC North, excuse me South next week?
Is it South?
Yep, Okay, we'll do the fine, We'll do the South next week. The scott Fish needs to make an appearance some point.
Now.
I've heard he's pretty busy with all his various pots that he sticks his fingers into it.
He's a pretty busy guy. Yeah, you know, I got plenty going on. I'm in the middle of moving. I mean, I've got a lot going on. You know, I make time for the show. We got we gotta get fit. We need to get fish out here on one of these shows. I'm worried it's going to be like August or something before it gets out here, because we're going to turn into Scott fish Pull season. That's right around the corner.
Oh, it's coming up fast, I know, I know.
Great job, Kent. We will talk to you next week.
All right, it sounds great. Excited to break down some more divisions.
See you. Let everybody bye bye,