Wow, Wow, Hey everybody, It's Wednesday, August twenty eight, twenty twenty four. Welcome to the NFL Fantasy Football Podcast, where we desperately needed the season to start. It's been your rand MG Marcus Grand joined by Michael F. Florio and Lakwan Jones and uh Lakwan. Twenty four hours later, you are still with us after eating a strawberry. How has your life changed now that you have added a new fruit to the repertoire.
I'm a whole new man. It's really uh, it feels good. You know, I feel like, you know, the strawberries are in the fridge right now. I might get some later, you know, chop down on them.
I was curious when the next time you're gonna, like, I want text updates every time you eat a strawberry.
No, seriously, seriously, it was actually good. And you know, I think I gave my rating yesterday in the chat, but I gave it seven out of ten. You know, it made its way on the list.
Yeah, I mean, I know you gave us your rankings post show and it slid into the top five of fruits. So that's it's a solid entry. As for the rest of you out there, the listeners, the viewers, those who interact with us. I don't know how to feel about the fact that Lakwan eating a strawberry is like the most interactive piece of content that we've had in a long time, you know. Like, I know that a lot of you got to watch the show, listen to the show,
and we're grateful for all that. But the fact that we put out a video of Lakwan eating fruit and that gets as much or more engagement than any of our actual fantasy takes, Like, I don't I don't really know how to feel about that.
It does feel weird.
Yeah, for sure. Anyway.
By the way, thanks again to Mantiteo for hopping in. We've had him on twice now. It's been really, really fun. We are really going to make an effort to have him on periodically throughout the season as well.
It's just been a whole lot of fun to kind of have him in there. Here.
It is, this is we're coming up on the start of the season. By the time we get back to you next week, we will be on week one officially. So this is our opportunity to talk about our guys, the players that we have to make sure we leave with in every draft, or at least we are trying hard to leave every single draft we with. So we're gonna go running back, wide receiver that will do quarterbacks and tight ends. So we will go through all the
players that we are heavily targeting in our drafts. But first let's get to some news and we will start with a peak behind the curtains. So on Monday show, we opened by talking about the guys that we're holding out and what we were gonna do with them. We talked about Brandon Ayuk, We talked about Jamar Chase. We also talked about ced Lamb. Now chances are you didn't hear that on that podcast because thanks to the wonderful producer Susie, she cut it out because we talked all
about ced Lamb, and I kid you not. Five minutes after we finished recording the podcast, the news came through that CD Lamb and the Cowboys had agreed to terms on a four year, one hundred and thirty six million dollar extension. So CD gets his big payday. He is happy, he is back in the fold with the Dallas Cowboys. And so Michael lef Floya, I will ask you, does this mean he jumps back up all the way back up to the number two spot. Now, mind you, I
know he'd fall into like four. Does this put him back at the number two spot for you?
This is gonna sound like a maybe a little bit of a hot take note he goes to the number one spot. Oh like, let's go Christian McCaffrey. If you want to take him one, I get it. I'm not going to tell you not to. He was the best player in Fantasy last year.
All of that.
I like the builds so much better when I start with a wide receiver in round one, and if you don't take one at picks one or two, the ones that come back to you, the elite guys are pretty much washed gone at that point, so you're gonna be choosing between wide receiver twos. So to me, I would be taking him if you gave me the number one overall pick like we had the Fantasy Life later. I don't know a pick I get. If I get number one, spoiler alert, it will be CD Lamb.
All right. I mean for you, Lakwana, are you feeling the same way? Is CD number one for you?
Yes? Definitely? I can either go ceedee Lamb or Bjhon Robinson. And it sounds crazy not to put CMC in that conversation, but it is what it is. I mean, a lot of fantasy managers and all Cowboys Nation can sleep better at night. I mean, they still have the nightmares of not making the playoffs, but you know, not winning in the playoffs. I mean, but overall, I feel like it looks like, you know, Ceedee Lamb is a clear cut first top three picks. So him getting paid now, he's happy.
Dak should be happy for him. So the dude's gonna ball out.
Yeah, I mean, for sure, he's definitely a top three pick. Like I said, even through all of this drama, I don't think I've ever saw him slip further than four. So I don't know that anyone was super concerned about CD Lamb. It's just that, you know, maybe you didn't feel comfortable taking him at one or two. I think that part is over now for CD. And the fact of the matter is, look, guys, the running room got
worse in the offseason in Dallas. You mentioned that on NFL Fantasy Live, which you can check out of course, some Monday through Friday, six pm Eastern, they bring back Zeke, They've got Rico Dwell. They also go out and sign Dalvin Cook. You know, the twenty the twenty nineteen Cowboy Run game is gonna be fire, I know that much. The twenty twenty four Cowboy Run game not so much.
So that works out well for Cedee Lamb. Also this week on Tuesday officially was cut down day across the league, and we talked to man Tito about sort of what that means and how that feels. I know, it's just not a fun day for players, for organization's front offices. It's just a really hard day for a lot of people. But there were a bunch of notable moves now do
have some impact in fantasy. So I'm gonna read these off and I'm gonna ask you, guys, which of these sort of jumps out to you more than anything one. The Chiefs bring back Juju Smith Schuster, and eventually they go on and cut Kadarius Tony AJ Dillon because of a neck injury, was placed on season ending injured reserves. We will not see Quadzilla at all this year. The Broncos are moving on from Tim Patrick, both the player and team trying to find a trade partner so that
he exits Denver. The Titans trade Melik Willis to the Green Bay Packers for a seventh round pick Odell Beckham Junior, with the Miami Dolphins placed on the pup list, so he's out for at least the first four weeks of the season, and the Cardinals released Desmond Ritter, who lost the backup quarterback job to Clayton tuns So, Lawan, I will start with you. Of those six stories I just went through, which one jumps out to you as having maybe the most immediate fantasy impact.
Well, Tim Patrick. To me, it's interesting to hear the rumors that he could be headed to Detroit, and I think this is great for him to actually try to carve out a role as the wide receiver two, as the third option possibly in this offense. And I don't think this is going to be good news for all the Jameson Williams fans out there, because right at Florida, the Straton Daggers like it's looking real nasty for him
right now. I don't think they're confident enough that he was able to develop more as a all around wide receiver this offseason, So therefore they're looking for some type of security, and we know what Tim Patrick can bring over. I mean a lot of people forget you know, I brung the stat up on the last episode that you know, back to back seasons twenty twenty to twenty twenty one, he led that wide receiver room in touchdowns and in red zone target. So he is such a huge red
zone target. If he ends up there with Detroit and Jared Golf, I think he can actually carve something out because they always been looking for a wide receiver too, I mean Khalif Rayman. They tried it out to try to get him involved, you know, try to get him to be the guy to help out, and then James and Williams obviously with him dealing with the suspension and injury. So it's like Tim Patrick actually has a path to be Fantasy relevant this year.
I mean I like Tim Patrick, and I actually a couple of weeks ago, in my Hype Trainer smokescreen column that you can find on NFL dot com, I actually wrote about Tim Patrick. I was like Hype Training, I think he's gonna be great, and now they're moving on from him, so, you know, boo on me. But it also begs the question Floya who is the wide receiver two in Denver? I mean Courtland Sutton's got the wide receiver one job locked down. It doesn't seem like Marvin
Mims is gonna get a whole lot of run. Maybe is at Troy Franklin, I don't know who their second option in the passing game is.
I think it's gonna be Josh Reynolds to start the year because veteran seems to be pretty popular right now with Sean Payton.
But this is a good thing for.
Marvin Mims and Troy Franklin at least an opportunity because Tim Patrick in the preseason looks like the clear cut number two for the Denver Broncos. I was shocked when we saw that they were moving on from him. But look, I don't think like Franklin or Marvin Mims are wide receivers that you could feel confident like starting Week one or anything like that. But if you're in a deeper league, you throw them at the end of your bench, or if you're in a shallower league, you just keep an
eye on them because if they get the opportunity. And bo Nicks, if he is anywhere close to as good as he's been in this preseason on the Broncos, a team that we expect to probably be trailing, have to throw a little bit more. They definitely could blossom into fantasy assets that we want.
And I'm gonna defend my man, Jamison Williams.
He quick, I know, gotta come back.
I don't think the signing is about Jamison Williams. I think it's about They have four wide receivers on the roster as of right now per hour lads, and one is Khalif Raymond and one is Isaiah Williams.
I don't know, man, it looks real nasty.
I think I think Patrick comes in. He's the wide receiver three, He's like the out wide guy when they when they go to three wide receiver sets, when they go two, I would expect that James.
Look, Dan Campbell has been doing nothing but.
Speaking of jameson Willis on him and Dan Campbell is as straight shooter as it gets.
Come on, man, you're a great locker room guy. Man, you have a great energy. Man. Just do this become a all around wide receiver other than a guy that could just stretch the field. And I feel like a lot of people are missing out that Jared goff. That's not his game to be throwing those passes down field like that every single game. Like he's one of those guys that if it doesn't work the first two times, he's gonna want to be more conservative in his play.
I've seen this a lot when he played for the Rams, where I'm like questioning his QB hard, his QB i Q and all this stuff, like, dude, throw it down now year, You're right, I'm having PTSD. You know, a lot of things are coming back up, a lot of emotions.
But we're good.
Me and Jared Golf are on great turns.
But all right over here, I don't think we do.
I know we don't have any lions over here. We get a lion, like a Funko Pop or something like that, maybe.
Mon Rock.
All right, I'm down here, I'm on rock. You know who do we who we have to talk to? Who?
What sort of requisitions do we have to fill out to get a funko pop around here? I don't know, uh, for any any of these stories that jump out to you though immediately that can I go off?
Yes, he signed with the Kansas City Chiefs earlier today, and it's no secret I have been a huge Isaiah Checko supporter.
I have him ranked as the RB four.
I'm gonna lower him a bit, uh, probably take him at least two RB six, which would put Saquon and Jonathan Taylor back ahead of him, which most people already were taking those guys ahead of Pachecko. After that, I still think there's a case to be made for Pachecko. But Samaj p Ryan was one of the very best
pass catching running backs in football last year. So it is concerning because at the very least he could play the same role that Jack McKinnon did, and that holds back Isaiah Pachecko in fantasy.
Yeah, I think that's a big one too.
I mean, I think I think we were sort of hoping that with Jack McKinnon gone and ce Is really being the only other competition back there, that we'd see more snaps, more opportunity for Pachecko. Now with pe Ryan there, he plays that McKinnon role, and I think we see Pachecko use sort of the way he was last year, which wasn't bad. It's just not the sort of usage you would want for a guy that you're drafting, probably
in the second round at this point. So that's one I'm gonna stay with Kansas City, and I do think bringing back Juje you sort of mean something.
Not in a sense.
Look, I'm not telling you you're gonna draft Juju, But for people who I think you have an interest in Rashi Rice, I think this cuts into that a little bit because they're gonna do a lot of the similar things. They're both gonna be sort of that underneath short yardage guy that you hope can get some yards after the catch. I think Xavier Worthy, I think Marquis Brown have their
role set and they're gonna be very different. But I think when you're talking about having Kelsey sort of work the middle of the field, having Juju sort of in the short to intermediate part of the field, and having Rashie Rice there, that's a lot going on, not to mention some AJP Ryan who can catch the ball out of the backfield. Now you have these four guys that sort of all work kind of within the same distance away from the line of scrimmage. That's necessarily going to
take away from each other. So I'm not drafting Juju. I'm not telling you to go draft Juju. I'm telling you that Juju might make you a little bit frustrated and salty because of the other guys that you have.
I think it would hurt Worthy the most because I don't when Marku's Brown returns, he's going to be in two wide receiver set a three wide receiver set, so is Rashid Rice. So like, where are those snaps if Juju gets on the I think Juju is the backup option for Travis Kelsey personally nice because because I kept joking that the Chiefs used him like a tight end when he was the.
Steelers sort of made him one. Yeah, at the end of his time in Pittsburgh as well.
So yeah, convert, Wow, converting early while you're still in the league.
Are you telling me I need to draft a tight end handcuff for Travis kelthan.
Hill can do it, Juju can do it.
Matthews is doing it right now.
Got a touchdown like a week ago, which is crazy.
A former Steelers receiver might not be right on much, but he might be right on you.
That's the name I've not heard, But Flora.
I got to pour one out for you, my boy, Like I'm literally pouring this out right now for you. Because Tony Brow.
Please don't even I tweeted yesterday I said I want people to respect my privacy.
Yeah, yeah, I mean, this is.
On I just had to pour one out for that was literally me pouring water on my floor.
By the way, this is a sensitive time for floor.
So we will move on from that.
What we will move on to the fact that it's time to drive your draft, presented by the all new hybrid Toyota Camery. One other piece of news that is going to have a major Fantasy impact. Nick Chubb is going to open the season on the PUP list. Jonathan Brooks is on the NFI list for the Carolina Panthers. That means both of these players have to set out the first four games of the season. So I mean, lakwan, these are guys that people were drafting. You know, I
was big on Jonathan Brooks. I know you were very optimistic and very aggressive on Nick Chubb. Knowing that they got to miss the first four weeks of the season. Does this change how you're drafting either of those guys.
The news is kind of expected, but I will say when I was aggressive getting Nick Chubb, it was kind of still you know, under the radar. But now we're hearing people getting Nick Chubb pulled up in those later rounds where it feels a little uncomfortable because even my friend, you know, we have a draft coming up on Saturday, He's like, oh, man, I can't wait to snag Nick Chubb in the fifth round. And I'm like, oh dude, I keep forgetting We're in our home league, like we
need the chills. I don't think I'm gonna getting Nick Chubb this weekend. But I think overall, when you're looking at if it's Jonathan Brooks or Nick Chubb, if you're interested in either one of these guys, I feel like Brooks would be the better one because I feel like he's going to be a league winner this year. Like I really feel like he's gonna come out of those four weeks. He's gonna, you know, start to get a
groove and then they have a late by. The Panthers have a late by in week eleven, and then he comes out of that by blazing as the starter, and he's gonna help a lot of fantasy managers into the Fantasy playoffs. So I would be looking more so aggressively looking to get Jonathan Brooks rather than Nick Chubb in this type of climate right now.
I thought, I mean, I've seen Round eight and I thought that was aggressive for Nick Chubb round five.
Dude, home leagues and the casuals are out.
I mean, look, we just man, Ti Tailor talked about somebody drafting the Niners defense in round seven.
So I guess it's the I love my home league because it's so unpredictable, but sometimes it's so frustrating where I'm and get the perfect build and it's like, why are you doing this?
I always you know, because I always say when you talk about homely, like, you know, the world's greatest swordsman has nothing to fear from the world's second greatest swordsman, because because there's a protocol that you follow and you sort of know what moves are coming, the person that you should be scared of is the person just wildly swinging swords around.
Right.
It's the way that button mashers always win in video games versus the person who knows the move.
Prior to the caribbean in the first one, like Jack Sparrow beats Will in the sword fight because he plays dirty right, no one else could beat him. Right.
So like when you're drafting folks who don't necessarily have the same set of rules in their head.
It is.
It's the wild West out there for sure, Florida, I mean, Nick Chubb, Jonathan Brooks. Any any change in how you're approaching those guys.
Man, the only change is with Jonathan Brooks now being like on fantasy sites it has an O next to his name.
Officially, I feel like he's sliding even for it.
Because the difference between the two in perception into people who don't live this is. Nick Chubb is a name that I know and is one of the best running backs in fantasy for years. I've never heard of Jonathan Brooks and he doesn't even spell his first name correctly, so like that. But to me, my perception is the exact opposite.
One is a twenty three literally just turned twenty.
One, coming off of a clean acl with nothing else. Once he is back on the field, I think it'll take a game or two for him to get going and then they're just gonna set him free.
He's fine. The energy's gonna behind him.
Nick Chubb is gonna be twenty nine come the end of the year, with a ton of work on that on his body, wearing taramine on his body to every ligament in his knee, and he already previously tore it. Like Nick Chubb is a player I'm not gonna have on any of my teams, and Jonathan Brooks I'm probably gonna have on most.
Yeah, I mean I've said already like I'm willing to be wrong on Nick Chubb.
I just don't want to be the one to sort.
Of rooting for it.
I'm rooting for him like I love watching Nickchubb play. I'm not gonna be the one to draft him at this point. I am sort of hoping that Jonathan Brooks falls a little bit. I mean, I know this is sort of always in the cards, but I'm with you. I'm hoping the ADP falls a little bit, and especially especially if I'm in a league that has an IR spot.
I'm absolutely taking Jonathan Brooks. I'm gonna stash him on the IR spot and I can go get somebody else off the waiver wire in the short term until he's ready to go.
I could tell you you'll get that off. You'll do it. Because I have a fan in my league and he's like, oh, Miles Sanders is still there, man, who's this Jonathan Brooks Brooks. I'm like, y know, I love these conversations.
Man, are there where that Miles Sanders was not even the RB one last year.
Therefore it's a familiar name and he still thinks he's good and he still plays for the Egospot.
I mean, and I love Miles Sanders. Miles Sanders was never I thought he could be in Philly. Like just all right, as on.
Black right, I'm not gonna who he is.
I'm not going to say his name, but he knows who he is.
You know who you are, and you know what you did.
All right?
There you go.
That was driving your draft, presented by the all new hybrid Toyota Camry. Whatever you're it's a camera vibe lear moy. It's more at Toyota dot com slash camera. Okay, we're gonna start getting.
Into our guys. We'll start with a running back and wide receiver position.
That's after the break on the NFL Fantasy Football Podcast.
All right time year where we are flag planting.
We are talking about the guys that we believe in more than just about any other at least the guys that we are really trying to target in as mini drafts as we can So let's start with the running back position. It's sort of the wild West out there. We know there are those three or four really elite guys that are going at the top of drafts, and then there's sort of a step down as you go along the way.
But we'll start at running back. So la quand who is your guy at the running back position?
Now, I feel like when I say this name, Floria is gonna light up. But it's Brian Robinson junior man. Like, I feel like this season me and Floria are gonna be texting each other every Sunday, like every time Brian Robinson scores, and then every time Eckler scores or touches the ball period, He's gonna hit me up and I'm gonna hit him up. So I'm gonna love this back and forth this season.
It's gonna be fun.
No, it is, because I feel like he's my guy just based on the things that we've seen from He's a hard nosed runner. The dude can catch the ball out of backfield. He's so explosive, and I feel like he's more of a Cliff Kingsbury guy if we look back in the previous systems, Like I feel like when Kenyan Drake came over, he had a ton of fun with him where he was going off averaging like more than fifteen Fantasy points per game, and then he lands
James Connor. This is more so of his type of build, of these hard nosed runners, these guys that happen to be able to catch the ball. And I think Austin Eckler just fits in Cliff Kingsbury's dream of like a Chase Edmunds, but an upgrade, you know what I mean. Like he's always tried to have that pass catching back be more involved in the offense than he really need to be. When the hard nose runner, the RB one was able to really flourish and thrive in the offense.
I wouldmit, because I am very much now team Eckler, right, But I went back and forth because it felt like early in draft season it was Robinson way ahead of Eckler, and then the gap closed, and I think for a minute, Eckler jump ahead of Robinson.
Now I'm looking at ADP and they are like literally the same. They are identical in ADP.
Me in Florio, I mean it is I.
Mean, I just think I think as a community, we've come to a consensus that like we don't want It's like we don't really know. We're all sort of guessing at this point, and like, realistically, it could be that
they just split the opportunities like right down the middle. So, I mean, I do think it's gonna be funny if we're all texting each other about it in the end and of like you know, pretty much the same right, Like you know, like they both end up at like you know, Ones run running Back twenty nine, Ones running Back thirty. It's like, okay, sure, Harris, that's basically right, easily could.
I want to Like as much as I love Austin Eckler, I'm not anti Brian Robinson Junior. Like I think it's a good running back and everything, I'm just Austin Eckler has been my guy for like six years now, and I'm not I'm not letting going oil.
Plus, you know, he's one of us, one of us, one of us for sure, Florio, who is your guy? And the second question is has that changed in the last say, three to four hours?
Yeah, So literally.
We were on set for Fantasy Live and the news came out that the Chiefs signed a running back, and I said an expletive because I was like, not only have I drafted Isaiah Pacheck, he is my most drafted running back. I have basically done a media tour the last week, going around telling everyone he is going to be a top four fantasy running back. I'm going to
lower him in my rankings to six. I'm still going to be drafting him because I think other people who were already lower on him than I was are going to also lower Isaiah Pacheco, which means he'll probably be going. I'll still be willing to take him before his ADP or before other people are. But I love him as a runner. We know what he can do as a runner. He dominates the goal on work. Last year he had
the highest percentage of a team's rushing touchdowns. Samaji p Ryan is a big threat because of how good he is as a pass catcher. But let's not forget that the season starts in the Chiefs have a game in eight days, so he's for Like I know, for a lot of running backs, it's like you don't need to know the playbook for pass blocking and stuff you do. So I think Pacheco still could get a crack out of the gate to show that he could be a three down guy. And if that is the case, he
and he runs with it. Everything I have been saying still remains true, Like he could finish top top four or higher at the position. Because I think the Chiefs are going to be top two, top three offense this year. Like I think they get back to being that with those field stretchers, and those field stretchers are gonna help open up running lanes. He's never been on the Kansas City Chiefs where they had the downfield part of their game. He's only been on this new dink and dunk version
of the Chiefs. So you add that into it, and I think it just it raises his ceiling even higher.
Yeah, I mean, I think I think with pe Ryan there I said, I think the usage ends up being what it was last year. That's not how he jumped up to the second round. I think we all expected the usage was gonna go up because Clyde Very Deilaire was really the only competition there. But now some IJP Ryan's going to be sort of Jeric McKinnon ish at least in terms of how they use him in the
context of the offense. And so I think we're gonna go back to seeing kind of a you know, about fifty to fifty five percent snapshare for Isaiah Pacheco, most of the rushing work, not a lot of the receiving work. But you talk about pass protection, you know, when you've got a billion dollar quarterback back there, the Chiefs want to make sure they have somebody who can protect him and make sure you or get lit up at all. My guys, Raheem Mostered, I've been on Raheem Moster from
the beginning. I have not wavered on my desire to draft Raheem Mostered, mostly.
Just because of ADP and what he is.
And I I get why he's fallen down draft boards because everybody he's like, he's not gonna score twenty one touchdowns again. Okay, sure, the Dolphins are still gonna score a lot of points and most are still gonna get a lot of opportunity. The fact that they signed him to an extension pretty much right after the season shows that they're still committed to having him be involved in
the offense. He's still a guy that has explosive speed, and I know people talk about the age, but I don't know that it comes into play in this context, because this is the guy that early in his career was not getting a lot of opportunities, was not getting a lot of touches because he was always somewhere where they had another running back or two ahead of him. So it really wasn't until maybe the end of his time in San Francisco, and then obviously when he comes
to Miami, he takes over a huge workload there. He doesn't have the same level of work that a lot of other guys his age do, and so I think it's hard to say, well, he's thirty one years old, because I don't think it really necessarily applies in the same way to him. At the same time, Devon ah Chan, I think, you know, he's obviously a regression candidate. We talked on Fantasy Live today about the fact that he averaged almost three yards. It's three yards over expectation per carry.
That is an absurd number. It's an absolutely absurd number. There's no reason to think he can continue that. I don't think you can continue eight yards per carry. I think these guys are going to have very similar production when it's all said and done, and I can get moster prettywhere from five to six maybe even more rounds later than I can get a chan, but I'm I'm still.
Here both absolutely just referenced the yards over expectation and the yards per carry were the best in the like for the next stats ever and the best ever.
Yeah, that's a natural regression.
You can't continue to be the best ever, like statistically, I.
Mean like yeah, I mean like there's a few guys I guess you can, but like it's just.
It's hard, like hard, how can we put at Moster's twenty one touchdowns not happening, but ignore the record breaking not all sports history with Devon ah Chan and not think progression like it's a little wonky, like I'm I'm really so e turned, Like I have Devon eh chan name muted on Twitter right now. I don't want to see it anymore. Like I just wanted the season two happen so we can honestly get the answers we need
from this backfield. And it's obviously going to be raheem mostered as the RB one being that we already heard from the horse's mouth and from McDaniel that the backfield will follow him. So it's like everything that you were saying, markcus I was just smiling, grinning the whole time, like I love it.
You know what's gonna happen, right, his first carrier of the year, Devon e Chan is gonna rip one off for forty yards and all the eight chance truth.
I told you, I'm gonna log off of all social.
It's go.
Or he'll like get hit and get knocked out of the game and be done for the year and they'll still victory.
Lap. Oh You're like, oh, he was gonna be amazing.
It was gonna be amazing. You never know, you will never know, you never know.
Yeah, all right, so those are our running backs that we're all really planting a flag for. Let's go to wide receiver, uh quhen. I was a little bit surprised to see the wide receiver that that you are ready to die on a hill for. Not that I don't like him, I just I'm just surprised, that's all.
Listen.
I'm going to plant my flag like I've been back and forth in my rankings, like I can't watch hard knocks and try to get some you know, some juice from there to feel like I'm putting a flag on him because I can literally see that he is still the best pass catcher on this Bears team and it's
Keenan Allen. Man, we have to stop disrespecting old man Keenan Allen because I feel like he's in that tier of the Mike Evans where their ADP's constantly year after year get disrespected and these guys end up in the top fifteen, the top ten, the top five. And Keenan Allen is a pass catcher. He's one of the best pass catchers that's on the Bears right now. You can't tell me anything different. That makes him such a reliable target.
And he's going to be playing that slot position. Manti talked about on Good Morning Football how much how Keenan Allen is such a huge threat that he plays that slot position because he's a constant mismatch. He's going to be a headache for a lot of these defenses and he's going to remind a lot of people why he is going to be that wide receiver one for the Bears.
First off, Twitter told me he's fat. Patrick Mahomes is fat. Well, Patrick Mahomes has for sure Dad Bod. Twitter told me that Keenan Allen is fat, although someone else told me that maybe because now that he's moved from California to Chicago, that he's got to put on a winter coat. And that's sort of what that's what it is. I mean, look in Jersey. Keenan Allen's California through and through right.
He grew up in southern California. He went to school at cal he was drafted by the San Diego Chargers, he moved to the LA Chargers. Now he's got to go and experience a Chicago winter on the shores of Lake Michigan.
You know, you got to bulk up a little bit. That's all. I know. That's it. But I was, I was.
I will say I was a little bit surprised because I think a lot of people are sort of like, you know, how does he fit in? Who's going to be the number two after DJ Moore. I have started to go over more to the Romo Dunes a team. But I do have I have love in my heart for Keenan Allen. You know, I just I didn't. I did not expect you to be planting the flag for him.
That's all I'm gonna do it, man, all.
Right, all right, uh Florio, I love yours.
He would have been my one A after the guy that I took, but your guys is certainly right up there on my list as well.
Just like with Isaiah Pacheco, I've kind of been going around to any show that will let me talk about Deontay Johnson and talking about Deontay Johnson for months now.
But I'll say what.
I keep saying, elite separator, one of the very best at the NFL last year, had the third highest rate of uncatchable targets.
It wasn't his fault.
Look at the quarterbacks he was playing with, and even more than that, Matt Canada, as the OC was he was not doing a good job play calling wise, in my opinion. In Pittsburgh now he has Dave Canalis, who not only is a quarterback whisper and helped revamp the Seahawks two years ago and the Bucks last year, but he also gets the most out of his wide receivers for fantasy purposes. And he himself said this offseason, the whole point is like two steps and then where's Deontay Johnson.
Like that's what he wants going in Bryce Young's head, And to take it one step further. Bryce Young was eighth in completion percentage last year when his wide receivers had enough separation to be deemed open. Deontay Johnson does that routinely, so I expect this connection to be a lot better. You get him as a wide receiver for and I think he's going to be a top twenty wide receiver this year.
I'm I'm all in on Deontay Johnson. I keep saying that.
I like what the Panthers did in terms of trying to build around Bryce Young. I mean Lakwan Last year, Adam Feeling came out of nowhere for the first six to eight weeks of the season. It was legitimately a top ten wide receiver. So I mean, I gotta we gotta think, right, if Adam Feelin could do it at you know, I would say the advanced age because I'm older than him, so but you know he was he was football old.
How about we say that right.
Being football old, he's not too old for the earth, you know from knocked up? Yeah, like not even too old for the Earth, just you know, too old to be in the club. Like, if that's what he was able to do, why why shouldn't Deontay Johnson be able to do that?
And maybe more absolutely and even in the preseason, the limited time that we saw Bryce Young play, he was looking really really good, Like he looks smooth in the pocket, looked more alert in his reads. And then honestly, that one throw which was very Caleb Lake side by side that he threw to Deontay Johnson, he was able to find him. And that's the thing that's so important about Deontay Johnson, his ability to separate. So you need to have a guy like that, at least one on the
offense that could be that explosive. So I'm with Florio screaming from the mids round, screaming up to the people up there like draft Deontay Johnson, like this is must have wide receiver in those later mid rounds.
Yeah, you know, I'm all about it. I've been all about it as many places as I can be. Again, he remains your favorite fantasy analyst, favorite receiver. He's that guy that you know that more casual players look at and you're like, I don't get it.
You gonna score touchdowns.
I made my first gift off of based off of Deontay Johnson. Follow the volume and that's it.
There is.
There's gonna be plenty of volume. There speaking of volume, Drake London, Ladies and gentlemen. Look, we are all in on Falcons skill position guys, right, Bjeon Robinson's going in the top four or five, and a lot of drafts. You know, this is the Kyle Pitts show of record. I can't even say that because I think a lot of fantasy analysts are still in or back in on
Kyle Pitts this year because of the situation. But Drake London, Drake London has been the primary read, the first read on about thirty percent of the routes he's run since he's been with the Falcons, and that you know, shout out to the guys at Fantasy Points for a great data suite of tools for putting up that one. Look, this is a guy who's been a really good wide receiver despite really bad quarterback play for his first couple
of years. If we're really excited about Kyle Pitts because of the upgrading quarterback play, because of the change in offensive coaching, then why wouldn't be we be in on Drake London and who really has been the primary target for all the weirdness that Arthur Smith did. They never took Drake London off the field. They just never had a quarterback who could get in the football consistently, right,
So so we have solved that problem now. You know, like, am I crazy with quant if I say, Drake London is a top ten.
Receiver this year?
No, because he's literally my wide receiver seven and my rankings right now. I'm that aggressive with you with Drake London because we know the talent is there. He just wasn't able to hit his full fantasy ceiling just based on the lack of quarterback play. And I think, you know, Drake London is one of those guys that is really
going to shock some folks. I mean you got to look at you know, the times where he did have those highlights, you know, reels with Taylor Heinekey or Desmond ridd He was bailing most of those catches out of like how did he catch that? There's no way that he was able to like bring that down And that's still embodied in his play. So I'm really excited for him to be playing with Panix or with Kirk Cousins.
Yeah, I love like through Pinnix in there too.
Like, got to look, he played well in the preseason but I think you know, short of an injury to Kirk Cousins, I don't. I don't expect we're gonna see my Pinnicks at least this year for sure. All Right though, Yo, there's our running backs and our wide receivers. We still got quarterbacks and tight ends. We will do those. After
the break. On the NFL Fantasy Football Podcast, we are talking about our guys, the players we are targeting in each and every draft and trying to get as many shares of them as possible, and it's time to.
See who will deliver.
Presented by Uber Eats, let's talk about the quarterbacks that we love. Lakwan, your guys, a name that I've talked about, I think we've all talked about on this show. I'm gonna go out on the limits that you're not talking about this guy as a QB one, but more as a secondary option.
Correct note, we are on the QB one train.
Baby.
I'm going to plant my flag that Will Levis will be a top ten quarterback in twenty twenty four. And this is so based off of the limited play that we'd seen. But Calvin Ridley looks ridiculously dangerous after to catch I know we always known that Calvin Ridley could be a highlight reel, but oh my god, just in that preseason game, seeing how dangerous he is on a simple slant. Those are taken to the house abilities where
Will Levis benefits those points as well. Now we're looking at this offense where they had pieces last year that were missing. The supporting cast was terrible. Now you're getting a Calvin Ridley with a Tyler Boyd to help will Levis on third down to convert. I've thrown that stat out plenty of times about Tyler Boyd being one of the best third down wide receivers for the Bengals since twenty twenty. So I'm looking at this offense as a whole.
And when DeAndre Hopkins comes back from his injury and he's up to speed with this offense while is gelling, will Levis has no options to lose, even with Tony Pollard and Taj Spears there to bail him out in those checkdowns, because we know it's going to be difficult at times, even though that O line looked okay in preseason, but maybe times where will Levis have to get out of that pocket and run. And you love when he's
on the run. He's one of the angriest runners. I mean, he's like a Josh Allen, but just a little bit more reckless. Like those two are the quarterbacks that scared.
That's a wild that's a wild statement. By the way, He's Josh Allen, but a little more reckless.
It is like some like, dude, you gotta be cautious of your throwing shoulder, Like why are you running full speed into a corner? Like I understand you feel bigger than this perte. You can still get hurt, but it's like you love that he brings that attitude out of the pocket when things collapse too. So Will Levis Top ten Fantasy Quarterback twenty twenty four.
Wow.
I was gonna save the hot takes edition of this show for next week, but apparently we're we're doing it right now.
Let's I did not expect that to happen.
Uh, floyda, your I feel like your guy at quarterback has not changed in months, like you were here kind of Look, it's not a criticism. You were here a couple of months ago. You are here right now in late August as well.
Yeah, since the draft process, I've been like jayd and Daniels is gonna be my guy this year. I just everything that he does is good for fantasy. He can throw the deep ball and his legs like that is the key is what he can do with as a runner over twenty one rushing yards and oh no, I'm sorry, with two thousand rushing yards and twenty one rushing touchdowns his last two seasons in college.
His OC Cliff Kingsbury, we know him well.
He led to Kyler Murray not only being a QB one every year that those two were together, but even as a rookie he finished as a QB one and Jade and Daniels, he he's kinda I don't want to compare him to Lamar, although that was I said, like he's like a He's Lamar Jackson in Tyrod Taylor's frame is what I kind of kept saying throughout the draft process.
But he's gonna be a production wise like Lamar.
I think, like you're gonna get a ton of rushing yards, like eight hundred two thousand, I think is what we could get if he if he as long as he plays seventeen games this year, but you're not gonna get the double digit rushing touchdowns, but he could give you five six rushing touchdowns. Then I like some of his playmakers around him.
Like I love Terry McLaurin.
After that, it gets a little thin, but the rushing is what we want, and he's going to be a top ten fantasy quarterback.
I mean, I like Jayden Daniels a lot.
I have been on record as saying I have since moved Caleb Williams ahead of him, But that doesn't mean that I'm out on Jayden Daniels for all the reasons that you mentioned.
Right, we love the rushing upside. I keep saying he's a.
More polished passer now than we saw from Anthony Richardson and Justin Fields and a lot of these other guys that we love because of their rushing upside. So I think there's a lot there. I'm sort of with you that we know Terry mclaurin's gonna get targets. After that, it's a little bit dicey. I mean, Lakwani, like you know, I know you have been very much on the Luke McCaffrey train. I have sort of cautiously got on board
that train as well. But I also think LQ that sort of speaks to the depth of pass catching options there in Washington that we're talking about a guy like Luke McCaffrey as somebody who could potentially be an impact player this year.
Yeah, definitely, he's gonna be running that slide. Lot of people have Diammy Brown on their radar as well, and like that's going to be a competition. We just have to sit with, you know, the early early games of the season to kind of see how it kind of comes together. Because those two players, man, I feel like they're going to so late in drafts or they're on your watch list, Like you won't really be paying a hefty price for either of those guys on this offense.
You just have to be buying into Jaded Daniels and Cliff Kingsbury that this offense is going to be able to create some opportunities to put some points on the board. And it really feel as though Luke McCaffrey, Deammy Brown, these guys that it's great that they had the depth that they can go into the season this confident with. So obviously they saw something that in practice or in the preseason that we haven't really had our full lenses on.
But I think the Commander's offense is going to surprise folks too.
Yeah, very curious how this works.
One thing I did see that was very encouraging was talk that Terry mclaurin's going to move around over the formation of the One of the criticisms of Cliff Kingsbury is that his primary receiver was always on the left.
In preseason, Terry was on all of it, was always on left right.
You played like ninety eight percent of his snaps on the left side. But there is talk that in season they're gonna move him around. And what we saw in preseason was just sort of a watered down version of what the Commander's offense is gonna be.
I hope that's the case.
I do as well.
I think though, like as a fantasy community, we're all like every conversation I see about these pass catchers are like McCaffrey.
Or Brown or no one talks about Terry. I think we have Terry McLaurin fatigue. But like, you get him.
Outside the top thirty wide receivers right now, he is a screaming value. And look, I don't dislike those other guys, but give me Terry McLaurin at that price, and that's who is gonna get all the volume.
I think, Yeah, no, agree, I agree. And he's the one guy that is locked in in Washington. Everybody else is up for discussion.
I got a draft coming up, Floria. That's why I'm not talking about him, like I'm pulling the MANI right now, just like my.
Twitter timeline is all about the other two, and I'm like, okay, let's keep overlooking.
Terry McLaurin Like.
Yeah, for sure, my guy. I know it's sort of chalky. I don't care. It's Lamar Jackson.
You know.
I have become accustomed now to, you know, taking my quarterback in a round four or five, you know, like that's where I want to go. Usually it's you know, it's either a tight end quarterback in four or five or flip flop on the other way. More often than that, Lamar Jackson is sitting right there for me. He's the guy that I want. You know, we know what he can do as a rusher. It's another year in Todd Monkin's offense. He's gonna get more comfortable.
You know.
Look, I still think his passing yards are probably gonna be capped around thirty eight hundred or so, maybe he gets to four thousand passing yards, but because of what he gives you on the ground, you can sort of live with that and the fact that now if you're a defender, if you're a linebacker, if you're a edge rusher, you gotta make that choice. Am I going to stop Derek Henry Or am I going to stop Lamar Jackson.
I think that's gonna mean bigger runs for Lamar. I know he doesn't necessarily get used down near the goal line, but that's okay because every now and then he'll break one from twenty yards out and find himself in the end zone. That's fine too, Like I'm okay with that, So I willing to take and I think the beauty of me for me targeting Lamar is I was saying.
It's it's sort of like.
A Pokemon strategy, right, Like you can get evolutions of Lamar Jackson. So if you miss him, then there's Anthony Richardson. If you miss that, then there's Kyler Murray. If you miss that, there's Jaden Daniels. There's like you can sort of sort of stay in that same you know, Pokemon family, if you will, you know that.
Is such a great person.
Yeah, I love that.
Also, I don't think people like full like Lamar got so much better as the year went on. Last year, from week seven on he was on pace for forty one hundred yards and thirty two passing touchdowns like that would be a career high in passing yards.
Yeah.
He was also on pace during that for eight hundred and fifty rushing yards. So like QB one season is still in the car, very much.
In play for Lamar Jackson for sure. All Right.
That was who would deliver, presented by Uber Eats, where you can get almost almost anything for game day, the official on demand delivery partner of the NFL.
Order.
Now one last position to get to and that is tight end. And so lakon, we were trying to remember what exactly was the wager. Is it that if John new Smith is not top ten you're gonna die your hair blode or if it is top ten, please refresh our memories.
I said, top five. You guys are lowering the bar over there because you're trying to get me to go blonde.
Not happening, But okay, wait, if so, if he is top five, you're gonna die your hair to celebrate.
Okay, let's cool.
I said, it's just that Floria and I could not remember, and so we were just yeah, I figured I put it out there, so I guess I spoiled it though.
John new Smith, Yes, John new Smith, I'm.
Playing this flag man. Like we look at last year was probably like it wasn't even probably. It was his most productive year, multiple career highs in multiple categories. And I think that's what kind of turned on McDaniel's eyes, like, oh wow, I have a speed demon at the tight
end position. I've now collected all the Infinity speedstones. This is what we're gonna be looking at going into this next season where he's obviously a target or the dude had seventy like when I told like when I was talking to one of the fantasy friends that are out in the fantasy streets out there, shout out to fantasy fit, I was talking about John new Smith and like, the dude had seventy targets, Like how how did he do this?
Being behind Kyle Pitts. And it's because he earned every single target and every opportunity, so he's dangerous af there to catch. He had five hundred and eighty two yards. Sixty one percent of those yards were after to catch, which was the fourth highest in the league last year. He's dirt cheap, there's a path. There's obviously an opportunity for him with Odell Beckham on the pup list, even
though he wasn't gonna be on the field anyway. But Phil like John new Smith, has an honest opportunity to actually be a target earner for this Dolphins offense.
I look, I loved John new Smith during that time in Tennessee. I was sad to see him. I was sad interesting to see him go to New England. I was sad to see him go to New England at the same time as Hunter Henry, right, him both going at the same time. Right, That made me really really frustrated. And you're right, it's funny because you know, as much as we focused on Kyle Pitts, Johnny Smith had a
career high in receiving yards last year. Breakout the season, he was, I mean, career high end receptions, career high in receiving yards. But we were upset because he's not the tight end that we wanted for the Atlanta Falcons, right, Like we weren't expecting you know Michael Pruit to be throwing him passes or the other way around. However, that went at the goal line, in which were where we all wanted to punch our television.
Sets overthinking at maximum capacity at the.
Goal line, it really was.
But uh yeah, hopefully now being in Miami and the Mike McDaniel offense does make a difference, make a difference for him this year for sure.
We'll see. Uh but remember.
If he's in the top five, Lakwan's dyeing his hair blonde, I should scould probably write it down.
So I should write it down somewhere. I'm not going, right, it.
Should be if he's not, because you're that confident, right, can't.
You might also have to clear this with the wife too, if he's gonna do some man, I won't lie.
I've already been thinking of like the slim shady puns that we can firing off.
Oh man, uh speaking, Okay, So your tight end, I was trying to make a slim shady p There's none. There's none right here in front of me. But who is your tight end, Florida that you are planting a flag for.
I'm just gonna say that Marcus's tight end is also very much so my one of my guys a tight end this year. But Trey McBride is one that I think I've kind of flag planted on because I have him ranked as the tight end one, and in most people's rankings or drafts he is not. I know a couple other people do, but not a lot of people value him as that. And it's like I went on The Insiders the other day and Ian Rappaport was like, what, and I was like, let me explain. Kyler was the
tight end one. I'm sorry, Trade McBride was the tight end one last year with Kyler Murray. He was the tight end one and target share with Kyler Murray. On the course of the season. He was third in yards per route ran of the top ten quarterbacks. He had the fewest percentage of his points come from touchdowns. So I think a better offense with Kyler Murray here the full year, Marvin Harrison, all those guys will lead to
more scoring opportunities. And then even just factoring in the quarterback play he had and everything last year from the day he took over from Zach Ertz, his seventeen game pace was for over eleven hundred yards and almost one
hundred and fifty targets. Like, I know he's not going to get that many targets with Marvin Harrison there, but I still think he could get twenty two to twenty five percent target share, And if he gets a couple more touchdowns going his way, which I think will happen, I think he'll be the best tight end in fantasy.
I mean, I think that's definitely in the realm of possibility.
And I know a lot of people were having that conversation about moving him up to the number one spot, so.
I don't think it's ridiculous.
He's also that guy that's certainly earlier in draft season you were getting knowing you could get high level production without paying the high level price. I think unfortunately, you know, the hype has caught up so for him, for Mark Andrews, like the ADP gone up. But LaQuan, I'll say this, you still aren't having to necessarily pay the Kelsey Laporta type price. You know, You're still you can wait maybe a couple of rounds and still get those guys, and I think that alone gives them great value.
Yeah.
Absolutely, I definitely feel like, you know, flag planning Tray McBride is the way to go this season because you have to believe in this Cardinals offense, and I don't want to pay the high price, you know, for the kel season Laporta and stuff like that, because I think Trey McBride is kind of falling in that tier where it's like, I rather him who's available at the running back or even at the wide receiver position where he's going at. So I feel like he'll be able to
perform at a high level this season. I mean, honestly, we already know the connection between him and Kyler is going to be one of those things that might be off and on, but it's going to be very on once he gets to that red zone and where it comes to the touchdowns, No hundred percent.
So I'm in on on Trey McBride for sure.
I save this for the end because I feel like I'm speaking for all of us here in that The tight end I'm flag planting for is Kyle Pitts.
Let's go, right, if.
We're gonna finish it, if we're gonna finish out a show about our guys, we got to finish it out with Kyle Pitts and we have sat and talked forever and ever about why we love Kyle Pitts. Everything coming together, the quarterback change, the coaching change, uh, the the healthy clean bill of health after finding out that he was not one hundred percent last year. Everything is coming together. It is the perfect storm of opportunity for Kyle Pitts.
I know that for the most part, the fantasy community has kind of gotten back behind this.
Look. I get it. There are some people who were just.
Out right that Kyle Pitts burned you one too many times over the last couple of years. There's some people who are just out But I think everybody who's taking a step back and sort of looking at this with their heads and not their hearts can make the case.
For why Kyle Pitts is the guy.
So I'm glad you're here, man, I'm glad you're on board now, laqual And I know you weren't. You weren't here a while. You're on Kyle Pitts, you eat strawberries, You're gonna be unrecognizable by the end of the year.
It's gonna be wild.
Well blonde hair. I guess too, huh right me?
The whole thing, Like you're gonna be a whole new man by the time we get to December.
It's gonna be crazy.
Oh my gosh.
Yeah, so can't wait. Uh there it is. Uh those are our guys, fellas we are. We are one step closer to football.
Lakwan Flora and I were talking this morning that like I think we're at O.
My take O meter is it's on E.
Yeah, it is. It's like tapenee right now. It's like, all right, let's just get on the field, let's score some touchdowns and let's see what we got.
I am running on take fumes at this point, like I just need for something to happen.
So there it is. In the meantime, that will do it.
For this edition of the NFL Fantasy Football Podcast, The Happy, Safe and Healthy, Do good, and live well.
Enjoy the weekend, everybody, and we'll talk to you again real soon. WoT help, don't help, yah,