Welcome to the fantasy footballers podcast with your host, Andy Holloway, Jason Moore, and Mike Wright.

Welcome in. Tuesday, August 27th, The Fantasy Footballers podcast, back in the building. Lots to talk about, but not a lot of voice left. Jason has-I might or might not have over-screamed at the live show. You always do this. And Every live show we've ever had, you remind yourself mentally beforehand, don't destroy my voice running out on stage.

I don't know how it happens, man. I'm backstage. We're about to go out, and I'm telling myself, I'm not going to do it this year. And then I go out, and I think I am being conscious of it. When I was out there- I have pictures of you that say otherwise. Yeah. I mean, it's a fact because I black out, I scream hard, and then I can't talk anymore.

You did some things with the T-shirt gun?

He was firing.

He was firing on all sides. I mean, you jumped and did a split thing in the air, which I'm sure...

Extreme athleticism.

Yeah, I mean, it was a good time. So hopefully, you got to watch the Megalas show over on YouTube and take in some of Jason's adventures on stage. The big headline today, the big reminder, because there is still time left, the Megalibol is open, available. I just got to count this morning, 12,962 of you so far have joined the Megalable.

Play with us. Come be in the league with us. Their drafts will be going from the end of the month, August 31st through September fourth. So you go to meglable. Com. There is the link there if you're in the Footclan to sign up for your draft slot on Sleeper. And then you'll have your draft time established. Do that draft, play in the league. The league is going to be awesome this year. We've made a lot of improvements. It's our League of Records scoring setting, so you're going to play exactly how we play. Half of you get in the playoffs, and then whoever wins, whoever wins, you are in the Listener League next year with us.

You also get an ultimate tier membership for the rest of your natural life. So it's a pretty cool prize. We had over 25,000 competing last year. We're at 12,900 so far. So go over to megalobull. Com and join us in the largest, most fun league out there, the tournament-style Super League called the Megalobull. You can follow the show over on X at the FF Ballers to be kept apprised of everything going on here, along with breaking news, some of which I know Mike and I will be very excited to talk about today. Yes. That happened yesterday. The community, as always, the Foot clan, Mighty and Strong, is over at jointhefoot. Com.

Welcome to the WaverWire, presented by NFL Sunday Ticket on YouTube TV.

Well, I am excited to talk about all five of these names. We're jumping into the WaverWire before the season begins, looking We got some undrafted gems, as we like to call them, or players you should be very aware of. Maybe they're drafted, maybe they're drafted late, maybe they're not. We got some clarity in a few situations this weekend, which leads into some of these names. I'm going to start with a player that I have been propping up. Feels like by myself for a while, but Chuba Hubbard, the running back of the Carolina Panthers, who was the running- Excuse me, sir. Yeah, Mike, you've been at- It's really the- At worst neutral.

It's been Mr. J. Brooks over here telling us how great of a draft pick this guy who's going to not play at least four games is going to be sitting on your bench. It's true.

Yeah. Chuba Hubbard was not just the de facto accidental starter. He was the player that averaged over 13 fancy points a game for a six-week stretch to in the year last year with an offense that I think is going to be a little bit fixed, in part due to Dave Canales, in part due to the addition of Deontay Johnson, and Bryce Young looked very good this weekend. But Chuba Hubbard is the starter. Jonathan Brooks, as Mike's alluded to, he's going to be on the PUP for at least four weeks. So a Chuba Hubbard needs to be paid attention to, in my opinion, in the exact same breadth of the Zack Moss conversations.

Oh, that's mighty high praise. I'd put him more in the Jerome Ford conversation, but look, the six-weeks- Sure. The six-week stretch was great, and he will have at least four weeks to be like that, just a supplemental running back for you should you go real heavy wide receiver. Chuba will be there for you late in drafts to be that Rb2 for four weeks as you try to figure out who's going to be permanent because Chuba is not a permanent solution. For your fantasy team? Right, for your fantasy team. I don't think for season long, because Jonathan Brooks will come back eventually. The question for Brooks is, does he take over the volume, or is he slowly worked in and it's a time shift? That's what I mean by it's not permanent, where once Brooks is back, It's going to be messy in a timeshare.

Yeah, I don't mind at all taking Chuba Hubbard at the end of your draft, or if you've already finished your draft, swapping him out. Especially, we talk about if you went zero Rb, or if you don't have starting running backs because you were a little bit risky up top, Chuba should be able to get off to a hot start.

Jerome Ford is the perfect comp because we got where the nick Chubb is also on the PUP. Chuba Hubbard, we give that six-game sample. But if you actually look at the majority of the season From week 6 on, he was on pace for over a thousand yards, 90% of his passes. He can catch the football, seven touch downs in that anemic offense. It was pretty good. It was double digits. That's how Mike had often described Jerome Ford. It was like, he's going to get you double digits. It seems like that's on the table for Chuba Hubbard. We also got the release of Samajay P. Ryan in Denver, which means- The impending. Yeah. They're going to release him if they can't find a trade for nothing. Audric Estimey and Jaleel McGlafflin. Mcglafflin last year, 5.4 yards of carry, sixth best in missed tackles force per touch, and caught a bunch of passes. So McAfflin and then Estimey is their fifth-round draft pick who they have confidence in. Both of those players are very interesting late in drafts.

Yeah, I'm trying to ask myself, which one would I rather take the shot on with Samajay Pirine not being there. I think I leaned towards McGlafflin. I know, Mike, you were higher on Audric Estimey than I was, I think, then both Andy and I in the draft process. But I just look at Samajay, he caught 50 passes last year. So there's going to be room for a pass catching back. Even though Estimey He will have the goal line opportunity, he is always, from day one, Sean Payton has talked about Estimey as, Well, he's a first and second down back. He's their big bruising back, and they're going to use him. But I think I'm wanting to soak up the targets that are vacated here from Samajay P.

Ryan. Mcgloughlin will have the standalone value, where Esteban, he's probably just an insurance back for Javante, which it's a Look, the Denver Bronco's offense is not inspiring for fantasy football, but the running backs, just the whole group of them, they're going to catch so many passes because that's what Sean Payton does. It looks like that's what Bo Nicks is going to be perfectly fine moving forward with. So McAfflin has stand-alone value where if Givante should miss time, I think Esteban will be a real serious pickup.

And then one more name I want to bring up for sure is Isiah Likely, the Baltimore tight-in. This is a team that has a great deal of need in the passing game for reliable weapons. Mark Andrews, we brought it up at the live show, he has started as the tight-in two, three consecutive years through the first six weeks. The last two years, he has precipitously dropped. He's been outside the top 20 at the tight-in position from week seven on over the last two years, which you can blame on injury because that is a fair thing to blame it on, but it's still been a pattern. So, as he likely came in, well, Speaking of injury, right now, Mark Andrews is not on the field.

The Baltimore Ravens play the first game of the NFL season. It's a good point. They have the least amount of time for him to get healthy. And this is one of those, if you were later in your draughts and you grabbed Pat Friermuth, or even if you're the guy that has David Ajoku or Ferguson, for me, if I'm that type of... I've got that tight end on my roster, I'm going to one of my dispensable last round picks, and I'm going to pick up Isiah likely because likely when Mark Andrews is out is awesome. And if I get to have that, look, it's stupid, it's silly, but we do this for fun. When the ball is kicked off, I want players in that game. If Mark Andrews isn't there and I could put Isiah likely into my lineup and watch and enjoy, I'm definitely doing that.

It's More than fun. If Andrews is out, I would rather play Isiah likely, I think, for a couple of weeks, probably over Ferguson.

Mark Andrews, what is his consensus ranking on our website right now? Got the tight in position.

I haven't moved him yet.

No, we haven't moved him down. The news is just that he's still not practicing. You two have him at number two. I'm at five. The question is, if he was out for the year, where would Isiah likely slide in? I think he would be competitive with Dalton Kincaid for that spot.

Probably top six.for.

That spot. Yeah, it's a good name to bring up ahead of that first week game. He was a tight in three from week 14 on last year when he got that opportunity, 56 yards a game. Pretty important, and he's still out today. So Mark Andrews is.

I expect Andrews to play, but if Andrews is back on the field tomorrow, whatever, then drop likely and move forward with whatever tight-end you had. But just hold on to them for now.

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News and notes from Around the League, presented by USAA Insurance. We did it.

Ceedee Lamb and the Cowboys have agreed to aid.

You mean I did it? Sure. You take all your contracts and add them up. They're probably not even the one contract that I got my guy.

Now, see, he's my keeper, Mike, in League of Records. You don't know this, but it was me again. Four years. Gosh, darn it. $136 million, $100 million guaranteed.

Get our Yuka contract, man.

And so CeeD Lamb Get him a team first. He got paid. So that's good news. We can rest easy. We've got some time before the season, and CeeD Lamb will be back out there soaking up so many targets.

I think it's worth noting as well that Jamar Chase, while not getting the money, he has been practicing. He's been on the field. The worry to me with Lamb, Ayuk, and Chase has just been, are they going to be not necessarily really out of shape? I don't think they can get out of shape. But when you're not going full speed and then you snap your fingers and you're at game speed, we're about to hamstrings.

Yeah, some injuries. Then just what you wanted here, Mike, the Cowboys are hosting Dalvin Cook for a visit, which you'd say, Hey, that doesn't really impact the depth chart unless your depth chart already has Ezequia Elliott and Rico Dautil and unproven players at this stage of their career. So if Dalvin Cook does sign a contract and factor into a very dumb, dumb committee, you're starting to feel like Baltimore a couple of years ago. Could be. Where, what was it, Devonta Freeman and Latavius Murray and Lev Bell were a trifecta for Baltimore, and they're just fighting their way through the season with that. Some people like Royce Freeman, who's involved in that offense. That's four names that we're all draft picks 15 years ago.

The Cowboys' depth chart remains ambiguous. If they have Dalvin Cook, this doesn't change my upside stance for Rico Suabe. Dalvin Cook has been available to NFL teams all year long. At the end of August here, coming in right before the season starts, that's not the biggest threat. As I mean, it's not going to be Dalvin Cook.

Here are some players to add to the list we mentioned earlier that will start the year on the PUP and missed at least four games. Nick Chubb, four-game PUP at least. Jonathan Brooks, T. J. Hawkinson, And then Keaton Mitchell, who had a brief moment last year in Baltimore, and then a major injury. Tyler Higby had the major injury, and then Kendrick Bourne as well in New England. So opportunities like New England is They're a really interesting situation because it seems like Drake May is emerging as a favorite to start. And then Jalen Polk, who I think is very talented, seems like he's going to have an opportunity early with Kendrick Bourne on the shelf. And this is a team that let go of Juju. So they're moving forward with the youth movement. They're only projected to win four games by Vegas. So if you're the Patriots and it's about experience, it's interesting to see Jalen Polk to start the year.

I like Jalen Polk a lot. I was caping for him pretty hard during the rookie draft process. It's going to take some time. He's been playing with the twos. They're really making him earn it the Patriot way. So it could take a few weeks. I'm saying if you're drafting Polk, you're going to need to be patient. I think it might take a couple of weeks.

They have not named the starting quarterback, though, right? Correct. I loved the quote from Drod Mayo just recently of saying, he said, It's a true competition. I would say, At this current point, Drake has outplayed Jacobi, which at this current point is when you have to name a starter. Isn't that saying that- Yeah, there's another headline that basically said, Yeah, May has outplayed Jacobi, but other things factor in. I'm like, What factors in?

Other than playing football.

What also factors in is that Their offensive line is bad. Part of this discussion is Jacobi Briceet got dropped on his shoulder in a preseason game because the offensive line is so brutal. So there is, I think, something fair of, don't put the number three pick out there to be the sacrificial baby for the New England Patriots. Let a veteran be out there, try and calm some things down before you get them in, but it's still up in the air.

We mentioned the Broncos are expected to move on from Samajee P. Ryan, but they're also expected to move on from wide receiver Tim Patrick. Fireball Jones. This one's weird.

So wild because he had a great preseason. He looked like the number two target. He had established himself He had a good connection even with Bo Nicks. Then it's like, And we're done. I don't blame them in the sense that he's still got a bigger contract. He's not the future. This is a youthful, rebuilding Bronco's team, and if they could get something for Tim Patrick on the market, I would do that if I was the Broncos. I don't think they're going to get anything. I don't know that someone's going to trade for him, but it is a surprise.

It is. What else do we have going on? Marshawn Lloyd. The Marshawn Lloyd news. Expected to be on IR to start the year with the ham string. It has been, from the moment of the draft, every day, it's a little worse for Marshawn Lloyd. But they also have A. J. Dylan, who held out last week due to a stinger, who is the second role in the running back room, had that injury last year. And suddenly, you're starting to talk about in deep league, Emmanuel Wilson.

Oh, yeah, we are.

Because he's next man up, and he was 11 for 52 on the ground in the final preseason game.

And you're talking about Josh Jacobs. I mean, one of the reasons I had been against Josh Jacobs is how adament this coaching staff has always been that he employs a committee. Well, if you don't have other healthy backs, sometimes your hand is forced. Like, Josh Jacobs can start the year. He was a hot starter. We just talked about that on a recent show. If he starts the year getting a large volume while they're waiting for these backs to come healthy for a great offense, he might be- He might be real good.

Real, real good. He was the number one running back in all of football last year on percentage of his team's carries. So when you talk about capability to a workload, number one, teams are willing to give him everything, and he's able to handle everything. That's one of the big discussions. It's not today's not the day. But when you look at We look at the yards per carry and the efficiency on that team. But there should be some additional math done based on work horse runningbacks. It's not a surprise that Julia McAlaff is at 5.4 at carry or Devan Achan is at eight, or- Well, that's a surprise. 8 is pretty high. Or Lamar Miller was at six before he became a workhorse. There's nick Chubb and Jamal Charles, and then the rest of them don't really do that over 300 carries. When you look and you say, Josh Jacobs gets every carry of every down, of every situation on a team that had no offense, obviously, the packers, who we have a great deal of trust in their team building, looked at Josh and didn't go, Well, let's just hyper focus on his efficiency numbers right there.

They didn't. They went out and gave him the bag to be hit, the running back. And the confidence level is not in, Wow, did he... When they're stuck in the box against Aiden O'Neill, and he runs for one yard, it's all his fault. That's not how the team looks at it. And I think it'd be educational, I think, on some degree to look at workhorse and just total carries, short yardage, goal line. If you score from the one, it's one a carry. Sure. All those things factor in, and he gets a ton of those opportunities, too. I'm not just speaking about Josh Jacobs. I'm speaking about anybody who gets massive workload, and it looks like... I mean, Rashaad White got everything for that team with a bad offensive line. The team has a different view than we do on that number. I'm just bringing that up. Chief signed Juju, bringing him back. He knows the offense. They do this all the time. That's fine. They bring back guys that Neomal Cole-Hardman came back. Mike Williams returning to team drills, and we had Jameer Gibbs back at practice, Laporta back at practice, Najoku back to practice.

The only one that wasn't Mike, Jalen Waddle.

No, he was seen.

He's a noncontact jersey.

You couldn't miss him. He's at practice. You couldn't miss him because he's wearing a bright red jersey that says, Don't hit me.

What? Here's a- What? Yeah, he has a- What is happening? That's red. The panic alarm in his red, too. What do you mean what's happening? This is Jalen Waddle's entire career.

Oh, it is not his entire career.

I don't know if you noticed, half the games last year, he actually wore the red noncontact jersey out onto the field on accident.

That would be awesome. That would be awesome. No, you can't touch me. Having had the Waddle experience all year last year, he doesn't miss the games, but he misses parts of all the games.

Last year, and this year. He played 16 games as a rookie, played the entire season the next year, two out of three years.

I'm just talking about two out of three plays. I'm not talking about the... You know it. You know why he goes out injured every fourth play, and then he's back.

Last year, that did happen. But I'm saying more of what is happening of...

Knee soreness, back soreness, concussion.

It was an undisclosed injury. Where are the Beat reporters out of Miami when this is really starting to take off. It was just whispers. If the superstar wide receiver on any other team is missing that much practice, I feel like reporters should be saying very loud, Hey, guys, he's not here.

They're used to it. They're too used to it. They're like, This is not news. I had the same experience. It was very, very frustrating. And some players, for some reason, they just get banged up. I hope that's not the case. I hope that's not his story moving forward. It feels like we need some long stretch of healthy games. All right, that was today's News & Notes presented by USAA Insurance. Learn more at usaa. Com/insurance. We'll take a break, and we're coming back with a brand new segment, boys. It's going to be fun. All right, we are I feel like we almost had a consensus level of embarrassment moving Josh Jacobs higher and higher in our rankings as things work in his direction. He was a player that didn't get a lot of love from this show early on. But we are talking about players that we might not want to admit that we're into this year.

Players we're embarrassed to love.

Andy, why don't you start us off with Tank Bigsby?

That's not one of them. Sorry.

Did you or did you not, just this morning, draft Tank Bigsby?

I did draft Tank Bigsby. Let's go ahead and qualify that really quickly. No, no, no. Move on. No, no, no. Let me see what round.

No, we'll start it because he's on my list, Jason.

Okay, Mike- Maybe you should read the show, Doc, and see what's about to happen. So he was 15th round pick for me. This is the right place. Mike, go ahead and start. Yes.

I will start with Tink. Because look, watching Tink Bigsby play on an NFL field last year was embarrassing to all people who believed in him It was embarrassing to- Mr..

And Mrs. Bigsby were also embarrassed?

Yes. Anyone who was associated with Tank Bigsby last year watched what happened, and it was awful. It was the second-lowest rush success rate amongst the rookie runningbacks. He caught one of his four targets.

All of them were caught, though. He turned many of them into interceptions somehow.

But for me, for Tank Bigsby, it's going back to what I believed in him about when he was a collegiate prospect, and he has looked much, much better in this preseason. I will jump in before anyone else says it because, yeah, he looked pretty good last preseason.

5.7 a carry last preseason.

He was excellent. 97 of 105 rushing yards were gained after contact. That's per Jacob Gibbs. For me, about Tank Bigsby, it comes down to, again, I thought he could be a good player coming into the league. The Jacksonville Jaguars also thought he could be a good player coming into the league, spending day two capital on him, and just saying over and over and over, We don't want Travis Travis ETN to have to be this player. He has had to be that guy for them. They don't want that to be the case. And looking at the rest of the roster, if anyone is going to be the player that can actually spell Travis ETN, it has to be Tank Bigsby. I don't know if he can do it. It's embarrassing that I have to keep talking about him.

Super embarrassing.

But I like him, and I think that he could be a huge reason why Travis ETN is It doesn't come through with his ADP.

What does that mean for drafting Tank Bigsby? Andy just took him in the 15th round of a best ball. That's fine. You're drafting the insurance running backs who, if they get a week or two later in the season, then they hit. What are you doing in redrafts with Tank Bigsby?

Tank Bigsby is only an insurance draft pick.

Blake Corum or Tank Bigsby in a draft?

Corum. Okay. Blake Corum. Honestly, both of my players that I'm embarrassed that I am into their opportunity this year, it's more about what does it negatively do to the other player?

What was your second player?

It's Bucky Irving of the Tampa Bay Bucaneers. He was drafted in the fourth round. Bucky Irving, he's too small. He's actually the same size as James Cook, maybe even a little bit thicker than James Cook. And he excels at pass catching, 56 receptions, his final year at Oregon. I think that if Rashaud White doesn't come through, it's because of Tink Bigsby. 58% of his runs-You mean Bucky Irving? Sorry. Thank you. Bucky Irving. 58% of his runs this preseason have gone for five or more yards. This guy has gotten it done. Not in our news, because it's embarrassing to mention news. Chase Edmonds, the perceived backup for the Tampa Bay Bucaneers, is expected to go on IR and miss the entire season. So if anyone is stepping up for the Bucs, it's going to be Bucky Irving. And I think that he's going to come in and make Rashaad White, not torch him, but make it so that his ADP that you're drafting Rashaad White at, you're a little bit disappointed.

I feel like you're not embarrassed. This is embarrassed to love. These players are embarrassed to love. I feel like this is almost a reverse embarrassed to hate on Travis ETN and Rashaad White. Sure.

You can look at it that way.

You're like, I'm down on those guys because of their backups.

I watched every preseason Bucky Irving Snap earlier this morning, and Sean Tucker also had a really strong preseason. The biggest thing with Irving's size is not, to me, that it's prohibitive for him to have a role on the offense with Rashaud White healthy. It's more that taking him or believing in him, I don't think that there's any chance under the sun where if Rashaud White went out, it's all Bucky Irving. I would think it would be a committee behind them.

Yeah, I could agree with that.

He's 20 pounds under where Rashaud White is, a couple inches shorter. And he looked pretty good. He looked pretty spicy. I still don't see a world... I know I've been demonstrative about Rashaud White. I don't see the world where the team trusts Irving above White on third down. And Irving's one of his special skill sets, ironically, also one of Quisha Fonds, also one of Chase Edmonds, everybody that's been part of this depth and backfield. Edmonds was a prolific pass catcher in Arizona. Never really came together in Tampa Bay. They're trying to find a complement there. But Irving seems like a very talented player. I just don't know what spelling Rashaad White translates to for fantasy.

I think if he does spell him as a pass catcher, a little bit. Let's say a target and a half a game end up going to Bucky. That's a big deal. You're talking about 24 targets that you would lose.

That's dropping you from 70 down to the high 40s and the 50s.

What are your thought processes with these two guys, Jason? Because Mike might be embarrassed to love them, but I would like to hear what you think.

I don't personally think that Bucky will really spell White. This team views Rashaud White, I believe, as their bell cow. They He drafted Bucky Irving because he's a talented, explosive, short-area burst guy that I think just at value where they were in the draft and they needed depth.

Seems like a smart pick with Chase Edmonds being out on IR for the year, probably.

I don't think it's a bad pick at all. But when push comes to shove and the games are being played, and this is also a team that is... They're not that good, but they are fighting for playoffs. Obviously, they made the playoffs last year, shockingly. But they're going to want to do everything they can to retain their jobs. This staff thinks that White is their best chance to win these games. So I have a hard time believing that he's going to be pulled off the field when he wasn't last year.

Yeah, I think the point there is great. I mean, this is a playoff team. They didn't just make it. They destroyed Philadelphia in the playoffs. That's what happened. This was not a failure of a team. This was team that had a recipe for success that they literally spent the offseason committing money and capital to repeat. They believe that the weapons that they have are what they needed to win games. So if this was a team that really needed a Change. I think that would be a different discussion. I thought Rashaud White was incredibly successful for this team.

Yeah, he was, and it was great for fantasy, for sure. But I do totally understand the point that what Bucky Irving does well is the exact thing that caused Rashaud White to be good for fantasy. If that does, if that is what is changed, then Rashaud White will be a disappointment. But I go back to the Things to Remember episode where it was like, if someone is really good on the field, them drafting a backup is not going to pull them off.

But I don't apply that here. I don't look at what Rashaad White did on the field last year and go, That's elite player. He is excellent in pass catching. Absolutely. But on the ground, I know, Andy, the workhorse, you're talking about it. But for a workhorse to be under four yards, you destroy Najee Harris whenever you possibly can for his inefficiency. He's more efficient than Rashaud White on the ground.

Well, but I don't question Najee Harris getting the workload in Pittsburgh to some side backup. You know what I mean? Najee gets to work.

Yeah.

It sounds like you should love Najee.

Well, look, I would be embarrassed to love Najee. That's for sure.

And just to wrap it all up, I still have Rashaud White at 14. He's being drafted as the 13. So this is not a panic alarms in the streets. I'm looking towards the end of the season, and if things go wrong for Rashaud White, that That is what has happened. I get it. And because of the inefficiency on the ground, his situation to me is more fragile.

I think there are definitely people in your camp of being very worried about Rashaad White.

Yeah, I mean, That was us last year, and we took the L on that. I'm going to learn my lesson, and I'll be in on White. Barry White, that is.

Yeah, you will become him.

Let's I'm going to talk about another guy. I am embarrassed to love this guy. He's a nasty boy of summer. Another running back. It's Zack Moss.

Oh, no.

I've joked this whole offseason that he's my dude, and I've always loved him. If you are new to the show or you didn't understand the joke, I did not like Zack Moss as a prospect.

I think that's not telling the whole truth.

I I thought Zack Moss as a prospect was terrible. Yes, there we go. I loved being proven right for his whole career until all of a sudden, last year in backup form for Jonathan Taylor, he was awesome. He started the season, he was really, really good. Obviously, when Jonathan Taylor came back, the whole Zack Moss experiment was over, and now he goes. He signs a new contract with the He's 26 years old. He's entering his fifth year in the NFL, and I like him. I really, really do. I think that he's going to be the replacement of Joe Mixon. I think he fits the Zack Zack Moss fits the bangles running scheme really, really well. I think there's two camps. You're either on Chase Brown or you're on Zack Moss. I'm on the Zack Moss side. I think he is the veteran that they will put in place for protection, for short yardage, for everything. I think Brown profiles as a change of pace, explosive backup, versus having the veteran presence of Moss in there.

What do you do when Samajay P. Ryan ends up back on this team?

That will be very-Vomit.

He vomits. Jason vomits.

I will no longer be embarrassed to love Moss because I will not.

The Zack Moss history is so wild. We've talked about Devin Singletary in New York. Devin Singletary lost the battle with Zack Moss in Buffalo. You got to go back and remember that. Zack Moss was the one that kept Devin Singletary off the field. He seems to be beloved by these... We didn't like him. We thought he was slow and Jason made it very vocal. But Zack Moss has... He earned that role in Buffalo, then he moves on. He's a backup, and he takes over the league, and now he goes to a great situation. I won't lie. I put a lot of stock in what Zack Taylor said about Chase Brown. He has shown a great deal of giving them a lot of praise as far as what the expectation is. I'm mostly worried that there'll be a committee of disappointment.

Yeah, that's the truth. You don't have to be in one of the two camps where you're either Chase Brown or Zack Moss. You could also be in the third camp, which very well might be the right camp to be in, which is these two guys are going to platoon and make it irrelevant. But Mike talks about how bad Joe Mixon was, how inefficient. It's like Joe Mixon was the running back five with all of his inefficiencies because the offense is good. They're going to pass to their running back. I think that'll be Zack Moss. He's so late in draft. So that's one of my two guys that I'm embarrassed to love.

And who's the other one?

The other one, I'm hanging with Mr. Cooper, Amari Cooper.

I'm hanging with Mr. Cooper.

I think he's really good. I think the reason I'm embarrassed is- Let's just say I don't think that's an embarrassing statement at all. No, it's Deshaun Watson. Because I don't think Deshaun Watson is good. I do not think he's good. I think he's lost it.

You think he was good?

I think he was- No, he's not good. A good football player. Yeah, Amari Cooper, you look at his 17-game pace with the five full games that Watson played last year. I mean, it was world-beater stuff. It was 95 for 1,632 yards and seven touch downs. That was the guy he was looking for in the offense. And even when Deshawn Watson was playing putridly, he still found Amari Cooper because Amari Cooper is a really talented wide receiver. I don't think he's aged out. But every time I'm on the clock, I'm like, Do I really want to put the eggs in the basket of Deshawn Watson?

You would have to watch Watson play quarterback in order to watch your wide receiver.

Yeah, and I don't want to do that.

Yeah, Amari Cooper is- You could put your hand up, cover half the screen.

I guess usually the quarterback's in about the same spot. Just put a piece of tape on the screen.

Can AI blur him? So you just see the ball come out of his blur mark on the screen?

You could see the offensive line, and then all of a sudden, the ball is...

What if we AI in Joe Flacko? It's the same play, but we just put Joe Flacko on the camera. Would that be...

Because that was a good time. It was. But also, Amari Cooper, he was good with both players. The reason is because Amari Cooper is super... He is a very, very talented wide receiver. He's always open. He's always in the right spot. He's got great hands. This depth chart, I know They're trying to fix it. They go out and get Jerry Judy. Jerry Judy is not that good. He is just a guy. He was supposed to be this great otherworldly wide receiver, and he's not. He is an average NFL wide receiver. He's a starting caliber NFL wide receiver. But Watson has his eyes set on Amari Cooper.

Amari Cooper or Tee Higgins?

Tee Higgins.

Higgins is two spots later than Amari Cooper.

I I'm big fan of Tee Higgins.

George Pickens or Amari Cooper? Amari Cooper. Terry McLaren or Amari Cooper?

Amari Cooper.

Zee flowers or Amari Cooper?

Amari Cooper.

Calvin Ridley or Amari Cooper? Amari Cooper. Rashi Rice or Amari Cooper?

Rashi Rice.

Okay.

It's not as bad as you thought it was.

I am embarrassed to love a player that has finished wide receiver 28, 21, 25, 14, and 28.

Fourteen? All right.

I am I'm embarrassed to love Terry McLaurin this year. I think it's going to be the year for Terry McLaurin. I'm also embarrassed to love Will Levis this year. I think Will Levis is- That one is way more embarrassing. I think it would be impossible for me to be as bullish about Calvin Ridley without believing in Will Levis. I don't think- Bananarama. Thank you. Yes, Bananarama himself. I think he's way better than people think he is. I think you're going to see it this year. I think if you're in a two-quarterback league and you're deciding how late to wait for that second quarterback, which is something that Mike loves to do, is to push that down the draft a little bit.

I just like to feel alive.

Yeah. Well, Look, Will Levis will make you feel alive.

Yeah, he will. Never been so close to death as drafting Will Levis.

Tennessee was a different team last year. This was Derek Henry. This was Mike Vrabel. This was a disappointment of a season. It was also a season in which Will Levis took over halfway through the year. No offseason, no practice, no Calvin Ridley. To me, he's exciting. He has the opportunity to come out and be a gunslinger. That's what you want to see. Is he dangerous? Horribly dangerous. Is he going to make some mistakes? Yeah. Oh, yeah. But so does Jameis Winston, and we love the ride. Will Levis, to me, I think he's sneaky. I think when you look at the very last third of quarterbacks in ADP and you say, Can this player do anything for my team in the range of outcomes? Like, Derek Carr's range of outcomes. Right? Bryce Young's range of outcomes. Bo Nicks' range of outcomes. Gino Smith's range of outcomes. To me, Will Levis has some of the... You look at him and Matthew Stafford. Stafford, despite the weapons, we've been on the ride for a really, really long time with Matthew Stafford. Matthew Stafford spent the first seven weeks of last year almost repeating quarterback 15 every week. Will Loves is going to have some games, man.

He's going to have some three or four countdown games this year. I'm booking it.

Like his first game when he tricked us all and he goes out there and first game as a starter, just throws for four touch downs. He is a gunslinger. He is not afraid to throw the ball downfield. He has much better weapons this year in adding Calvin Ridley.

He was under pressure so Much less.

Not if you ask him.

Yeah, he had no idea.

No, he had no idea.

He can't see it. But they did improve their offensive line. I don't mind taking a shot on Will Levis. I am curious, though, where he's going in drafts. Would you rather have Baker Mayfield or Will Levis?

They're going on the edge of undrafted territory in a regular redraft. Levis is two spots behind. I think I'd take Baker still.

What about Deshawn Watson or Will Levis?

That's a good one.

I would take- I think I'm going- I would take Watson because despite the frustration displayed, he played a handful of full of full games. In three of the five games he played, he was a top 10 quarterback.

Yeah, for fantasy, he was all right. You would have to cover your eyes and watch it, but he ended up okay.

But Terry McLaurin, we saw DJ More emerge from the mist, this perpetual, we know you're good, but it doesn't matter list. And there are certain players on that list. Dj More came out last year with Justin Fields at quarterback, and and redefined his story as a fantasy weapon. And McLaren has four straight 120 plus target, thousand-yard seasons. He just hasn't had the ability to put it together week after week. No Jahaun Donson, Diami Brown on the other side. We're figuring out Luke McCaffrey. There's one guy. Yeah, there is one guy. There's one guy, and then there's a big- Zack Ertz. There's a big gap. Oh, man. I believe in Jaden Daniels, obviously. He's a my guy. So these both have correlation. Jaden Daniels is my guy, and so inadvertently, I love Terry McLaurin, Calvin Ridley is a my guy, and inadvertently, I love Will Lovis. I'm embarrassed because I've spent most of those five years telling you that McLaurin wasn't going to produce for you as there was hype going into every season. So we got to stay water with what you believe about these offenses. I think Washington is going to be a little bit of a better team than people think they will be.

I think McLaren is that guy. He's a dog. He's going to go out, and he's going to give you wide receiver one opportunities every week with a much better quarterback, plus probably 24% target share in the offense. I hope it comes together for him. I mean, the touch downs have been a major problem. That's not something you generally get from a rookie quarterback, but you're telling me you can't get to six, you can't get to seven? If you get to seven touch downs, which is well within the range of outcomes for a rookie quarterback, you're going to have a much, much better year than his ADP. He is going in the late sixth round right now, and he's also a player with great fatigue in the fantasy community, so I don't think people want to take him.

Yeah, he seems I think he'll be a wide receiver, too.

Let me see who's going around him and who's sexier name-wise. Okay. Pickens. I would probably take Pickens, but much sexier. I would go McLawn in there. Okay. Pickens is currently three spots higher in ADP.

Keenan Allen I'd go McLaurin.

I'll take Terry.

Yeah. I mean, Christian Kirt.

Mclaurin.

Then you got to decide between McLaurin number one for Jaden Daniels or Tee Higgins. Tee Higgins. That's a tough call. Tee Higgins has- I feel like Tee Higgins needs to be in this list for you, Jason.

I'm not embarrassed, man. You know what I mean? I love Tee Higgins.

Tee Higgins has 2,000-yard seasons. Last year was the disappointment with the only playing 12 games, but they're similar. Higgins normally scores a touch down or two more than McLaren. He'll catch fewer passes. He'll get fewer targets.

We talked about this last week of just whether or not wide receiver twos on good offenses are worth it, and they're usually very good picks.

Who should be most embarrassed about the names mentioned today, Al? I want to know your opinion because you've heard all the names. Who should walk out of here most embarrassed that this was put onto a podcast?

I think I'd have to go with Mike. Yeah.

Yeah, he went deep. Yeah, because I put myself out there. The players I talk about are Juros.

Why do you love them?

I'm embarrassed. I already told you why.

No, that's fair.

I have put my shame out into the world.

Yeah, I hope Tank Bigsby can redeem himself from last year.

Yeah, you know what? And you don't get to be on the ride.

You're banished. I will watch from afar.

No, you are banished.

Yeah, he's my guy.

That's true.

All right, let's jump into some mailbag.

Mailbag.

Okay, we have some questions here. Erika in Palm Beach, Florida. What's everyone's temperature on Brandon Cooke's this year? It's a good question. I just saw him go in that 15th round as well. He's currently on my bench as a wide receiver for a redraft. I haven't heard anybody talk about him, and I was wondering if I should drop him for somebody like Wix or Mooney. I wouldn't drop him for Mooney. I wouldn't drop him for Wix either, honestly.

I think he's in the same tier as those players. I think that if everything works out for Brandon Cooke this year, he'll be He'll be a solid player. It's just if you're going to chase the upside, where Dontavian Wicks, if it works for him, a lot of things have to happen on the chess board. But if it works for Dontavian Wicks, then you're like, Oh, I mean, I stole a top 24 wide receiver, where I don't think Brandon Cooke, he's not going to jump into that range. He'll just be a solid flex player.

Yeah. Brandon Cooke, to me, is a very good best ball pick. If you look at how he's converted into more of a countdown guy, not a volume play. So if he gets a countdown, you're happy. If he doesn't, his lows are really, really low. Last season, he finished as the wide receiver 36, but he had games of 5.7, 4.7, 2, 1.8, 1.2, 2.7, 3. He's just not an integral part of the offense. So you get the spike weeks when the touch downs happen, but I don't I would rather have a guy at the end of my bench be more the Don Tavian Wicks personally, where I'm going to move on from this player no matter what, unless he comes out and says, Oh, he did level up. He is on the field. He is the guy that is the next big thing versus the used to be a thing.

I can keep either Kyron Williams, Aaron in Nashville writing in. I can keep Kyron Williams in round 10 or Sam Laporta in round 11. I've been going back and forth. Kyron Kyren. I think we'd all say Kyron in that one. Logan in Utah. Hey, Ballers, just wondering if you are avoiding players with the same buy week or avoiding onesies with the same buy week. Well, I'm- Onesies being tight in and a quarterback in most league.

I mean, generally, I'm not drafting multiple onesies. There are times when I'm going to have two quarterbacks if I take them very late.

I mean, I imagine.

But I don't really care.

I think what What he's asking is, you draft multiple onesies every draft because you draft a quarterback in a tight end. And so because you don't have depth at those two spots, you would have to sign off the waiver wire. So maybe you avoid having them on the same by week because then you got to sign two guys.

No, I'm not worried about it. I'm not worried about that at all. I'm trying to grab the best players for the weeks that are on the field, and my roster is going to look so different. If this is not a best ball league, if this is just my home league, my roster is going to look so different by week four than it did leaving the draft. I don't know what my buy weeks are going to be by the time buy weeks start rolling around.

Unless you spent up on the two onesies. That would be the one situation you might want to keep in the back of your head if you spent up on them both. But I'm not really thinking about it either.

Sure. I mean, obviously, if you spend up and you get that Mahomes-Kelsey stack, I promise they have the same buy week.

Yeah, that's a good point. Hey, we'll take a quick break and answer some more questions. All right, the next question comes in from Brandon, Have you ever left a fantasy draft where you were unsatisfied with your team? And what did you think about it?

Oh, yeah. Of course. I was the auctioneer of an auction draft that I was participating in. That was impossible for me. I left that draft going, I don't know why I drafted any of these people.

Generally, if it happens, it's because there was a player in the middle of the draft that that was my target. I'm not prepared properly for them to be drafted. Then I tilt. When you make a tilt pick right in the middle, it usually turns into a second tilt pick, and then you're upset with yourself in your draft. That's why be ready. It's okay. If your target gets taken from, you have the other players ready.

All right, Bob writes in from Ohio, Where are your tier-based draft rankings located?

Yeah, so the ultimate draft kit, you can go to myudk. Com if you have it, that's just a quick URL, so you can always pull up the UDK. But all of our rankings by default in the ultimate draft kit are going to show up in their tiers based on your scoring setting.

Yeah, positional rankings. Yeah. I think that's worth mentioning because people ask about where are the tiers in dynasty? Where are the tiers in top 200? The reason we don't have tiers in dynasty is because you can draft your team for about 100 different potential strategy types. There would be a different tier grouping if you were going to build a long-term team. There's a different tier grouping if you were to build a team to win tomorrow. Yeah.

At some teams, Derrick Henry is an incredibly important dynasty asset. At some teams, he is a very expiring, not valuable dynasty asset.

Jose writes in, Mike. He says, Hey, Ballers. Love to show. What would be the biggest change in strategy between drafting in a 12-team versus a 10-team league? I'm going to throw one more in there. Somebody had asked recently on Twitter about a 16-team league. What's the biggest difference in strategy that you find between a very large league or a smaller league like 10 and 18?

The 10 and the 8, that's where everyone's team, their starting lineup is going to be awesome. So you have to find the small edges, which is the easiest one, is your quarterback in your tight-end position. When you are in the larger teams, I'm a little more focused on... I I don't like the cost of spending an early round pick on a quarterback.

Because depth, you lose it so quickly.

Yes. And then that might be a league where I'm more likely to take the two quarterbacks at the end. I'm taking Jaden Daniels. I'm taking Jared Goff, just trying to find some upside at the position because I bypass it. And this may sound like common sense, but you need to be more informed about the NFL. You need to be deeper in the weeds of paying attention to all the cuts that are happening because there's movement happening right now in fantasy players. It's not usually top-tier guys who are getting affected, but it's those depth guys that are getting changed right now, and you need to be on top of that news.

In a 16-team league, suddenly you're talking about Josh Reynolds in Denver. Suddenly you're talking about Greg Dorge in Arizona. Those are names that are going to be not just, Oh, maybe it's a last-round pick that gets lucky. No, these are players you're probably playing. That's a good point, Mike. I don't think we say that enough with the big team. The big league is just, You need to go deeper. You're going to have to have more intel. All right. Website question from Garrett in Wyoming says, How many fantasy league are you guys in, and how many of each kind?

Yeah, it depends on... My number is always depending on what do you mean? Because Because are these the league I really care about? Then there's four. There's four league that I really care about. Well, I'm probably in six, seven, eight, league total, but there's a big four.

We try to keep it that way. It's a hard thing to maintain, but I think this show is going to always benefit from us being dedicated and committed to a core small group of league where we are emotionally invested, like every one of you. And that's what we enjoy about fantasy. There's not a lot It was fun to me about having every player on every single team in every single league. Because then- Because I'm in 20 of them.

Yeah. So this play that, Oh, he got a countdown. That's good for me. That's bad for me. For every player across the league. I think seven or eight years ago, we all started adding more and more and more of the league, and we experienced that. We've cut down, and we're trying to always be committed and dedicated to our primary league.

My tip for people ask, say, How do I know if I'm in too many leads? If you get to Tuesday's Waver Wire and you're not excited.

Such a good point.

If you're not excited to go in to each and every league and be in the weeds. Because waiver wires, to really be successful, you have to have a view of the entire league. It's not just your team looking at what do you need. You have to be looking at what everyone else in the league needs because that's going to affect what you should bid. If you're in FAB, that's going to affect when you know to... I'm burning the priority this week. So if you are not excited, you're in too many, caught them down.

If I have to go into 20 different waiver wires and cut Tink Bigby in 20 different waiver wires.

All right, that is going to do it for today's show.

A reminder, the ultimate draft kit available right now for your weekend draughts, for your weekday draughts. I mean, people are drafting all throughout out this week with the NFL starting next Thursday. So head over to ultimatedraftkit. Com. Get yourself equipped to dominate your draft. Set that foundation for your season so you can go win a fantasy Championship. We have the fantasy Time Machine this week on one of our episodes. Great. Great Scott. I got that. Great Scott. Thank you very much. We got another mock draft, our final mock draft of the draft season. And then we've got a fantasy MVP episode, which is always very fun. And Then next week, guess what? It's going to be football time.

Oh, man.

It's going to be football time.

I can't freaking wait for football. I need the real thing.

It's coming. It's coming very quickly. All right. Catch you tomorrow.

Goodbye.

Thank you for listening to another episode of the fantasy footballers podcast. Join our fantasy football community on jointhefoot. Com, and follow us on Twitter at the @theffballers.