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

Welcome in.

Two more sleeps.

Okay, grandpa.

What?

I like it.

Yeah, we got football this week. Mike's not going to talk on the show today. That way, his football time can be maximized. Yeah. Volume, tone.

This is the first time ever. This is just realizing in my right now because we were talking about the schedule. There will be two It's Football Times this week for the first time ever.

Wow.

Because we're- That's Chris from walking there.

Yeah, I was.

Wow. Because there's a game on Friday. The NFL is trying something out, I guess. Well, they always do. Sometimes the first week, Monday, they do a double header.

I am laughing at the idea that they're trying something because, yes, they're having a Friday game in Brazil.

They I wonder how it's going to work.

That's all I'm saying. I bet you they know A plus B equals money. Yeah.

Well, they do weird stuff, like start two games on Monday at the same time.

That's true. We have criticized that.

They try things out. And generally speaking, Monday night does not get its own. It's football time. But I don't know, man, for a Friday standalone game.

You just said there's going to be two this week.

Yeah, it's happening.

Tuesday, September third, two days away from meaningful, actual, real NFL football that's going to account for your fantasy roster, and we're here to help you through the entire season.

It's amazing. So our week one rankings are live, and I was working on them more this morning. Just before the show, I'm literally looking at the order of these players and who I would start and all of this, and it dawns on me. I go, The answers are days away. We get to know who is the better player this week. You spend these months of just all this hypothetical, all this analysis, all this talky talk talk nonsense. And now it's like the points are coming. They're here days away. I'm just jacked.

I mean, this is not part of our normal plans today, but is there a singular player, and I'll give you a second to think about this, that you are the most excited to see play football in week one I- I know mine. Will put Malik Nabors out there. The rookies are always in that category, and then compounded with just the my guy and the anticipation for him on the field. Is he the next Jamar Chase? Mike?

It's Caleb. Yeah.

Team captain, Caleb Williams.

I currently have very little, personally, fantasy invested in the Chicago Bears, other than making my projections and everything. It hasn't worked out for me. Although we were in our League of Shadows, I did just double up my QB. I took Caleb with my second to last pick. Nice. Just in case. Just in case. But watching him The preseason was very impressive for Caleb making really difficult throws. What's going to happen, though, when it's an actual NFL defense and not a preseason defense? Will he still be able to do it?

I would say the My first player that just naturally came to mind that I'm very... I think everyone in the world needs it to work.

Let's say it together. Kolby Parkinson.

C. J. Stroud. Dude, you can't fail. I mean, you can, but please do not because there is so much writing on you leveling up and being that dude. The whole team, front to back, the Texans are supposed to be an awesome offense. Nico goes high. Diggs is- You got to build that foundation on rock, Jason. Can't be sand. I mean, it's just got to work. Please, C. J. Stroud. You're petitioning him to do what he does. Be great. Be the player that everyone thinks you're going to be because we were here. We were here with Baker going into year two when he was-Oh, don't say that. He was the dude.

He was-Oh, man.

What did he get? Odell Beckham added to the roster. Yeah, Landry was on that roster. He was going to be the next greatest quarterback.

Is there Was that Freddie Kitchens that year? Yes.

Kyle, the other was- I believe so.

Too many kitchens in the kitchen.

Yes.

We have a lot going on. We got news to talk about. We got a WaverWire segment where we're talking about the undrafted gems that you can pick up. I just took one of them. Actually, I don't know if it's in this list, but I took one of these guys with the last pick of our draft, our League of Shadows draft. It was a great pick. We'll talk about some names, some players that you may want to hot swap off of the back of your bench and maybe put somebody else in there that has some upside. Then we'll jump into the mail bag. We got voicemails you guys have sent in. We got tons of questions coming in to the show. As we get ready for the season to kick off, I can feel the energy in the room. It is palpable. We are ready for football. We are ready to see these teams and see our fantasy team succeed. But I just wanted to say in general, thank you for this past offseason. It's been awesome. Thank you for those that came out the live show. For those of you that have joined the Footclan over the last month, that have become a part of our community, this show is going into the 10th season of doing this.

I know I can speak for all three of us to say that we have-No, you can't. We have the same excitement, energy, and joy. Also, I can't stop buying more and more things to help support the draft. The draft? Yeah, good for you. Because I I am the champion. Good for you. There is a rule in fantasy football that you should be delusionally rude to your league mates when you're the champ.

Being the champ is- It is so good.

It's so good. It's the highest high, my friend.

It is. It's expensive.

You know what? That's it.

It's like- That's right. Fantasychamps. Com.

You know what keeps happening is I think of one thing I want to bring to the draft, and then I put it in my Amazon cart, and then I realized I need that $25 limit to get the-Oh, you got to get the shipping. Yeah, you do. So I'm like, Oh, what other thing can I buy? And then I just keep buying them. But yeah, I got some stuff in stock. Oh, very exciting. It's going to be very fun. But no, the point there was not that I'm the champ, although that's always the point. It's that we're very thankful to have you along for the ride. We do have two Megalable draft times remaining. The 05:00 PM tonight draft for the Megalable, which is the largest fantasy football league. It's the one with all the Footclan members. It's going to be super fun this year. I actually was talking to a ton of Footclan people this weekend, and one of the comments was like, I always love playing in the Megalable, but when you guys pulled trading out, I quit. I said, Trading is back, baby.

Yeah, trading is back. The playoffs are a little bit easier to make. A little expanded. We really mirrored the Megalibole to our League of Record format. So the scoring, everything is how we like to play. And the people that are in these league are awesome. They are our people. They are you. You listening are who's playing in it. I have not done my draft yet, so if you want to try to guess which draft slot I'm in, we've got one left tomorrow, and you can still join.

9:00 AM, September fourth. There is time. Meglable. Com. Sorry, Jay. What are the prizes?

And that's Pacific time.

Yeah.

The prizes are- That's very specific. The prizes are the winner of the Meglable, plays automatically. They are in our listener League in 2025, and you become an ultimate Footclan member for life, forever.

So that is awesome. Jason also mentioned at the top, the week one rankings are up on the site, the Start, Sit tool. All of the in-season things are happening right now at thefantasyfootballers. Com, and tons of free resources for you. Amazing articles from a really talented writing staff coming out every single day, and It's go time. If you're like me, just soak it up all day, every day, no matter where you're at. And your family will totally support that. You can follow the show over on X at the FF Ballers. Let's jump in. I think this is the button. Here it is.

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

I got to graduate my button pushing to in-season mode. That was still off-season.

It takes some time.

All right, we're looking at week one stashes. Some players, some undrafted gims, the what-if players, right? If something goes exceptionally well in week one or the hierarchy, maybe at the wide receiver room or running back room changes, and things that we're not expecting. What are some of these names in your mind for week one?

Yeah, it's really common for me to finish a draft and then look at the waiver wire afterwards and go, I would rather have this than that guy. You got a lot more time. That's normal. One of the first names I'll bring up is the one you drafted last in our league we just did, Andy. It's Samajay Pirine.

He's going to be very interesting.

He is extremely valuable This is a role. You know I'm all about Isiah Pacheco, and it seems part of the news this week is that Clyde Edwards-Alaire was put on the... What is it? The NFI. Yeah, the NFI. And so he's going to miss the first month of football, if not more. So now we know why they went and got P. Ryan. So I'm not as scared about P. Ryan for Pacheco. However, this is an important offense. We saw Jerrick McKinnon have value. This is a player who caught 50 balls last year for a bad offense, and now he goes over to the Chiefs. So he's just sitting there on the waiver wire as the backup to Pacheco, who will be involved. He's going to be active this Thursday already. So P. Ryan is, I think, a must, hot swap type of player.

Yeah, I'm just genuinely curious how the team uses him and how fast he gets integrated into the offense. Everything you said is right. The one thing about P. Ryan that's interesting to me is that you have respected coaches that seem to want him and trust him, where Zack Taylor, to our own demise, continued to trust him in Cincinnati. He was picked up by Payton last year. Obviously, they went out and they found McAfflin. That was an unexpected player in the running back room, and then they drafted Estimey, so there was no room for him. But then Andy Reid picks him up, where if there's anybody that can utilize less talented players for greater fantasy output, we often talked about Damian Williams and whether he was a legitimately good running back or not. He was almost a Super Bowl MVP on that team. So a fun player to watch for sure. Last year, this is the show where you could have brought up names like Pukunaku and Kyren Williams, Sam Laporta, who was only 54% rostered after drafts last year. I think that's a good one. I'd also bring up another running back in Marshawn Lloyd.

Yes, that was the next most important name to me.

Running back for the Green Bay Packers, rookie running back. We talk about it every year, somehow, some way. At least two rookie running backs seem to break into the top 24, and we're sitting here going, a couple of weeks ago, Well, how's that even going to happen this year? Then all of a sudden, Marshawn Lloyd is not put on the IR. Aj Dylan is.

He's also back at practice, which the timeline for his injury when he was going on IR, it seemed like he was not going to be ready for the season. I'm not positive he will be. He might not be. Even if he is not active week one, you should still pick up Marshawn Lloyd. He's an explosive running back in a committee with no A. J. Dylan in front of him for a good offense, so he must be rostered.

Jacobs has missed a little bit of time here and there, and it's the what if, right? Is that the offense where suddenly Marshawn Lloyd, if he was by himself, too, he would He's going to be an interesting player to add to the roster. The only problem there is I don't think Lloyd plays in the first couple of weeks. So that would be a longer stash. You might want some quicker return, Mike. Do you have some names?

The quarterbacks to pay attention to, like Will Levis from Tennessee, he could turn into a late-round guy who's really giving you points. Caleb Williams was probably drafted in your league, but now that casual league are going, I'm seeing him drop lower and lower where he was, ADP atop. He was like QB 11, which that's right on the fringe of may or may not get drafted, but I think that he is a really good pickup in C with your other quarterback, one. And then at the running back position, I'll say it again, Taysam Hill for the New Orleans. Did you say at the running back position? At the tight end. Because it should be. Yeah, it's whatever, man. He's everything. Taysam Hill is tight and eligible for a lot of platforms, and we I don't know what the Saints are going to do.

I'm telling you, Mike, I'm with you on this. I hate it. I have this feeling right now that we're going to come out and see so much Taysam Hill at running back in this game.

I think so.

They play against Carolina in the opening week. They're favored. They're at home. If you're talking about- I thought you were going to say it's their favorite.

It's their favorite team to play.

It's everyone's favorite team to play against. I was looking at the rank I was like, Oh, that's great for Alvin Kamara. I was like, They're going to be up. Maybe it's more of a grind game. Maybe it's more of a Jamal Williams. And I'm like, Oh, it's Taysam. It's Taysam week one.

And the other tight end, in our family league- Completely agree. I had grabbed. It was really late, and everyone had their starting tight end, so I took Hawkinson as I'm going to stash him, and then I was going to find someone else to play. Unfortunately, someone took Taysam Hill before I was able to go, and I had to scramble, and what am I going to do? Greg D, Greg Dulsich of the Denver Broncos, he's an electric athlete. We love seeing that. And who's established for the Denver Broncos' passing attack right now? Courtland Sudden. That's it. I mean, the runningbacks are going to get their targets, but no one else on this team is going to go out and that you would project, Oh, this is a 20% target type of player. He had a great target share as a rookie, just has been hurt. So he is a very late tight end that I think you should... If you have that one spot, I think Stash and Greg Dulsich isn't the worst idea.

Other players that I think might surprise you in week one, I think Michael Wilson and Greg Dorsch in Arizona, opposite of Marvin Harrison, might be a surprise in week one against Buffalo. Diami Brown is going to get an opportunity in Washington. Jalen Tolbert, what's his role going to be as a wide receiver in Dallas in week one as he's had a good camp. And so those are some other It was worth bringing up.

I'm so excited. Yeah, I would throw out a couple of rookies as well. Adonai Mitchell and Malik Washington. Those are guys that I think they're third on their depth chart, but they've got an opportunity. It's the surprising... When I look back at the breakouts every week one, a lot of times it's the rookies. I mean, last year's Puka, right? It was like, you just didn't know. You didn't know he was going to be involved, that involved.

Malik Washington is an excellent stash right now. I liked the player. Reports are now positive for Jalen Waddle and Tyreek Hill, but they're both coming off an injury.

It's like, Oh, they're both finally back to practice.

If Waddle goes out there, and it was a really bad calf injury that we didn't know about, and he tweaks it in week one, Malik Washington is going to be very heavily sought after on that Tuesday waiver wire.

All right. Thanks again to NFL Sunday on YouTube TV. Watch every game every Sunday when you bundle NFL Sunday Ticket in YouTube TV. Sign up today at youtube. Com/fantasyfootballers. A reminder, local and national games on YouTube TV. Nfl Sunday Ticket for out-of-market games excludes digital-only games. Device and content restrictions apply.

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

All right, Mike, I'm going to give you the power of telling me whether I hit this button or not. But Jamard Chase, he was present at practice on Monday. He did not participate. And Zack Taylor, who has learned a thing or two, he came out and said on whether Chase will play on Sunday against New England.

Are you asking about firing the full panic alarm?

Yes. I'm not at Sound the Sirens, but I am at the point of Let me get the quote in there. He said, We'll just take it day by day. Go ahead.

If you haven't drafted yet, I can totally understand the other big wide receivers that we've been talking about, like A. J. Brown. Yeah, he's the name. Would you take A. J. Brown over Jamar now?

If it was today, I would. Yeah. If I'm drafting now, I think both are great players. I love both players. Taking one that I'm not sure plays this week over what I- What are you talking about over there?

I am chuckling to myself because I think... I know you're not... You're giving your advice. Oh, you think? I just know that Jason is in a unique position on Thursday in our League of Record draft.

You think I'm being selfish over here?

It would be beneficial to him if Jamar Chase fell a couple of spots in the draft.

I don't think he's going to make it to you.

I'm too far for that to match.

But the point being, honestly, my true belief is Jamar Jamar Chase, week one, suits up and plays football.

I guess that's the question.

I think he does.

I think he's two years- I think he doesn't. I think he does.

He has two years left. There's also still... Look, we're at the 11th hour. There is a chance that a contract comes through. We were getting some rumors that they were close. I don't know what in the world is going on.

Like, CeeDee Lamb, there it is.

There it is, Cincinnati. You go, Hey, look, Mr. Jamar Chase, here's what CeeDee got. Would you like that as well? Because look, we're not going to give you Jefferson's number, but we'll give you CeeDee's number.

Let's get that done. Sometimes it does seem that simple. And then this morning, we got news that Trent Williams will be back for the 49ers.

That is gigantic.

That is literally a gigantic news. It was not looking good for him to start the season playing for the 49ers.

And that dude will hold out.

Yeah. He's already proven a year, right?

I'm saying If you don't give Trent Williams his money, he is not showing up to work.

He has set a precedent. But the 49ers got their deals done to the point that Mike was making. They got them done. Ayuk and Trent Williams back on the roster. That's great news for McCafee, who returned to practice today. So McCafee is on schedule. And again, he plays on Monday night football against the Jets. Oh, my gosh. Monday night football, 49ers, Jets? Yeah. What could go wrong? I want that game. I want that game. Yes. Oh, my gosh. All right. Mark Andrews, not on the injury report. So that's great. Hollywood Brown, ruled out, but they are talking like Hollywood's back in week two.

We'll see. I would be surprised. I don't know where the optimism is coming from. I mean, obviously, they know, but this injury in the timeline, to me, it made sense. Obviously, they didn't put him on the IR, so you expect that he's not going to miss four weeks. But I don't know, man. I am less optimistic just based on the actual injury in the normal timeline that that he plays in week two?

I think... Yeah, I thought that it came from Andy Reid, but I can't find the quote right now, so we'll see. Not that you would... Do you put Hollywood Brown on these? If you're not drafting him, I feel like he should be on a roster. I really do.

You think he should be on a roster? Yeah.

I mean, people are sitting here throwing all season long, Sky Morin, Justin Watson. These guys are landing on rosters. Hollywood is much better than them.

If you have an IR spot, that's fine. If you don't have an IR spot, I'm not personally wasting a bench spot on a guy that can't... Let's say he was active next week in week two since we know he's not going to play this week. Would you start him week two? First game back from this interview? No.

No, you're not drafting him as a player that you're going to start. I agree. I would put him on the back of the bench. I think that is a wise decision.

Clyde Edwards, Alair, we mentioned that he's placed on the NFI list. He's going to miss at four weeks. Ricky Pearsall.

Yeah, man.

Oh, my goodness.

I guess we went through all this all week and long, but Ricky Pearsall was shot in an altercation in San Francisco.

In the chest?

Yeah. Through the right side of his chest, he has already been released from the hospital, which is outstanding news that he was that fortunate from the incident. He has been placed on the NFI list, so he will not be playing at a minimum four weeks.

I think it'll be longer. Yeah, the bullet Went through clean, no organs, which is great. It came out the back, which is just wonderful. I mean, if you're getting shot, it's awful. It's best case scenario for terrible. I mean, he was an inch away from death. That's just, wow, just wild. Wow. Just insane.

Yeah, that news was absolutely wild. Jalen Warren, Practice, expected to play in week one. Dallas Godert also expected to get back in practice. He actually resumed on Sunday, so Godert It should be back out there. That was today's news and notes, presented, as always, by USAA Insurance. You can learn more at usaa. Com/insurance. We will take a quick break and come back with your questions. I bet we will. Still offseason mode. All right, let's jump in.

Mailbag.

It's week one.

All right, if you have a question for the show, you can go to the website, thefantasyfootballers. Com. Click the submit a question button. You can find it in the menu. You can also dial our voicemail hotline 302-464-TFFB. Lots of questions coming in, Jason. And all we've got to do is get them all perfectly right.

It's all we do.

All right, let's jump in. We'll We'll go to a voicemail. Hey, guys. This is T. From Pittsburgh.

My question is, when you're drafting in multiple league, do you try to diversify your teams, or do you want to keep them as similar as possible?

Thanks. It's a mix. So For me personally.

The question is, when you're in multiple draughts, are you trying to target the same players, or do you want to diversify just in case the players that you're targeting, they are the bus picks of the year, so you want to balance things out, or do you want to put all the eggs in one basket?

I'm not a coward, man. Well, when you say you're drafting in a lot of leads, obviously, it's very different if you're filling out 150 entries into the best ball mania. You want to diversify. That's just smart strategy to make sure your portfolio isn't just completely going to get wrecked. But otherwise, this isn't really a strategy thing. This is a personality. It's what do you enjoy. For me, basically, I've got two league types, the three league that really, really matter. I'm just going to try to draft the best players, which I end up getting the same guys because it's who I believe in this year. I'm going to win everywhere or lose everywhere. Then there's our family league where we're playing with our boys. I really don't care about being awesome in there. I grab the players that is fun, that I want to have, that I don't have anywhere else.

Yeah. Strategically speaking, if you have conviction about players, that's what the offseason is all about. I don't approach it with cold feet about, Oh, man, this is going to be the third league I have Cooper Cupp in or Calvin Ridley in. I'm always thankful to get those guys at the spots that I'm getting them at. And your roster is never mirrored top to bottom. If you've got the same players Maybe you have two or three or four of the same players. So I would not go away from them for... If you were drafting number two in five draughts, maybe I'd split Tyreek and Ceedie up a little bit. Sure. Stuff like that. But later on in the draft, I'm not doing that. Yeah.

On Sunday, when you don't know if cheering for a player, if a player scores, is this good or is this bad? I don't know because I have everyone, and I'm playing against everyone. You can avoid that.

Youtube question from Joseph writes in, Do you think Christian Kirk's involvement in Jacksonville is concerning? Coming from a scared Christian Kirk manager. He has not been on in two wide sets. That's the same thing that happened last year.

I'm not worried.

I'm not worried about Christian Kirk. He has turned into one of those invisible players. I believe he was dealing with an injury over these last couple of months as well. What it comes down to for Christian Kirk is, I believe in the talent of Christian Kirk. I think that the Jaguars do as well. So you You can't keep him off the field. You gave Gabe Davis the money. I understand. Christian Kirk is actually good and will help your team win football games.

Yeah. Last year, he played with Calvin Ridley. And in the healthy games, he got injured in week 13. Up to that point, he was the wide receiver 23. His 17-game pace was 130 targets for 1,100 yards. He's going to be super involved in this offense. Yeah.

I think the thing with Kirk is, like what you said, this is a to me, a low-end two type of player with some upside on a week-to-week basis, but he's not a dominator. He has career high in receptions in the year is 84. That's nice. But we know what Christian Kirk is six years into the league. Sometimes he can feel blase to select because you can be taking... He's going to go in every draft ahead of where Brian Thomas is going. I enjoy drafting Brian Thomas way more.

It's just the truth. You're getting 10 fantasy points in a half PPR. Just book it. You got Chr. Kirk in there, he's 10 fantasy points. That's good in some scenarios, but his ceiling is definitely a little bit more capped.

But this team does not have enough options to eliminate Christian Kirk outside of injuries. Ingram and Kirk are going to soak up so many targets.

I think the rise of Brian Thomas, the noise of- The rise of Thomas. The noise of his second half of training camp is helping to squeeze out your excitement for Christian Kirk.

What is your biggest fantasy football fear heading into the 2024 season? That's the next question that we have. What is the biggest fear? Jason might have accidentally mentioned his.

Yeah, I think I did. Which was Stroud failing. Yeah, it goes to Tankdell as well. I'm very bullish on his unstoppability. And so So if he gets injured or gets John Dotson for some reason, that will be devastating.

I think that it's the CMC 101 working out the way it's supposed to. He's been there, and it's hard to repeat. We take it for granted with CMC. Everything should be fine. I think the 49ers in general are a question to me of, does everything just come together perfectly? The signings this week are going to help tremendously, but at the same time- The vibes have been bad there for a while, and now everything's coming together at the right time. It does feel like it's working out. And then Philly, a lot is dependent on Jalen Hertz, just like C. J. Stroud. If Hertz cannot step up his game in this offense, which is a... He's going to have to make more decisions in this offense. There's a lot more option routes. There's a lot more movement. This is not as straightforward as what he was used to, and he's going to have to handle protections. He's going to have to handle things, and you're depending on him for A. J. Brown and Devante Smith, so that's an interesting one, too.

Mine is selfish, but it is also related to the group of the elite wide receiver who didn't practice, who have not done training camp. Are they still elite wide receiver to start the year?

How are there hammies?

Brandon, I. U. Ceed. Lamb, Jamar Chase, And I'll just toss Justin Jefferson in there. Not that he's not practicing, but he's an elite wide receiver who we have some concerns about. That's four guys who are very early picks, and three of them have not really practiced. For the most part, they, for the most part, have skipped training camp.

All right, let's turn to another voicemail question. Hey, Ballers. For keeper league, do you prefer keeping players at their previous year draft value or making everyone use their first and second round picks as their keeper pick.

Thanks. Keeper question, do you get to keep a player for last round's draft cost, or no matter what, it's your first or second round pick?

We have hotly debated this a thousand times over the years. Maybe not hotly, but just different opinions of what we think.

I think there's only one hot part because both of these formats are great. I don't really have a preference between either. Our League of Records is basically- I thought you were pretty against last round. What I am very against is waiver wire pickups being used as a last round pick. That is the part. If you're in the format where you keep a guy at the value of last year's cost, I can't stand when you get to get a waiver wire pickup that wasn't drafted.

Yeah, but then what's last year's cost for a waiver wire pick?

No, you shouldn't be able to keep them. You didn't draft them. They weren't drafted. They're not a keepable asset.

I hate that. Or keep them at ADP. You're the guy that had the foresight to go get Kyren or Puka or I guess I should say Puka.

You're right. I did. I drafted Puka last year.

Or Laporta last year. But you don't get to keep them because you're in a keeper league and you're the one that... You pick them up off the waiver wire and you don't get to keep them? You can keep them. That's part of being a great manager.

But not for a last round draft pick.

I am fine for waiver wire- Two rounds buying ADP because you did something great.

How about that? That's fine.

I'm totally fine with that.

Let's put that in pin to paper.

That's the hotly debated part of this question.

Either ADP value for the waiver or if you want give one to two round bonus because you picked them up and kept them.

But is that what you just said, Falcon? Do you play in a league with two rounds behind ADP? No, but that would answer the question.

It makes sense. Personally, though, the first for a second round, I don't love that because there's going to be teams out there that they don't have a player that's worth being kept for a first or a second round pick. And now you're already behind the eight ball against these strong teams. So I have my concerns there. I like at where you drafted them, because in a keeper league, you're rewarding players for the future for drafting them.

By the way, our league of record is a keeper league. There is not a cost. No, we do- In our league, what we do-We're freebies. We give you three players. One, you lock in as yours, guaranteed, and then you pick three more from your roster that don't match that franchise player's position. And we do a lottery, and two-thirds of them come back to your team, and one goes into the draft, and we don't have a draft cost associated with it. You just have the restrictions. Yeah, I guess part of the fundamental reason why there's not a draft cost is because we try to encourage players to trade their picks all over the place. So if you are... You could work that into the mix, right? You can still trade your picks, and then if you don't have your second, and you're a keeper, you're drafted in the second, you don't get that a chance to keep them. But we just do three and no cost. All right, Kyle in Indianapolis. We'll get to your question in just a second. We'll take a quick break, come back with more mailback. All right, Kyle's question. I have James Connor in a redraft league, but not Trey Benson.

Should I trade Chuba Hubbard for Benson to get the Arizona backup or keep Hubbard since he looks like a great depth piece and a late round pick at the moment? I would be very on the Hubbard side.

Yeah, I think I'm keeping Chuba. The player that drafted Trey Benson, you're going to be crossing your fingers, of course, but if three to four weeks go by, and James Connor is the James Connor that has been the Arizona Cardinal's running back for the past couple of years, Trey Benz is probably going to hit the waiver wire. A pure insurance running back takes a lot of will and commitment to hold onto that player.

Yeah, it's hard when you are rostering those guys to see a player on the waivers that pops and not just drop them. It's really difficult. I've been the most, I think, anti-Chuba. Not that I'm super against Chuba. I think he's a good pick at value, but I would rather roster him than Trey Vincent. One of these guys is the current starter.

Every year, you're shocked at how thankful you are to have any depth at running back to start on buys and injuries. And all of a sudden, if you have a starter or a high role player, you're so thrilled because you just need them so often. And the problem with Connor is like, okay, if Connor went out for the season, Trey Vincent is a spend it all. If James Connor went out for a game, it's going to be a committee. It's not just going to be Trey Benz and the rookie taking over every snap. There's going to be other players involved. So that complicates it. All right. Tom writes in on Instagram, Where will DJ More finish? Well, what a great question. That is going to need the time machine. I love DJ More. I think that he's not going to be at number 6 again, like he was last year with Justin Field. But I don't think... Let's ask it this way. Do you guys think he can compete to get in the top 12? And then where do you think he'll finish?

I would be surprised if he does. I think he'll finish closer to wide receiver 16, 17, 18, somewhere around there. You've got more target competition, which he didn't have last year, and a rookie that, historically, they won't throw as many touch downs, and that will be the one thing that hurts his fantasy production.

Yeah, I'd put him at the... Looking back at his career, he had a season of 12.5, then 11.9, 11.2. I'd put him in that 11 points per area.

All right. I have a question for the Deucers today because we just finished, I think, three draughts recently, the three of us, or two or three of them. First of all, have you guys knocked out any draughts? How many have you finished, Sal?

I've got two down, two to go.

All right. What about you, Papa? Two down, two to go. All right. Four down. Four down. So we got eight draughts over there. All right. I want to know because You're regular people. How do you feel about your draft so far?

I'm thrilled so far.

So thrilled, but yet monotone. Papa Josh, how do you feel?

I feel really good. Ask me after Thursday, though.

Is that your big draft? That's the League of Records. Oh, League of Records. But I don't have any pics.

Are you not showing up?

I'm showing up.

I'm talking to Andy. He's like, What's Thursday?

I hired a celebrity to do a proxy for me since I'm the champ. Oh, I'm getting a massage. And then what about you, Falcon? I feel really good about two teams, but my Megalobull team is not... Oh, no. Not good? So you're increasing the odds of the Footclan to make it into the Listener League. Exactly. That's good. All right. What about the ones that we just finished? How are you guys feeling?

Pretty good so far.

Listener League, League of Shadows?

I feel awful about my Listener League. We told the story of that.

You were driving, don't drive and draft. Was that the advice?

Don't Don't hospital and draft, don't drive and draft.

Now, was that Al or not Al?

Those are harder ways to succeed.

Falcon, didn't you drive and draft your Megalibold team after he gave you that advice? Yes, I did it, and I also hot tub and drafted, too.

Oh, hot tub and draft.Oh.

A hot tub. That's fine.

A hot tub and draft.

Honestly, you're giving me a new idea for Thursday.

Oh, yes. Please bring in a hot tub.

How cool would that be?

He's committed to staying in the entire draft, and by the time it's over, it's just wrecked. I'm just dead.

Ig question from Brooks Fangs. Talk about the path for Drake Lennon to be a wide receiver. One.

The path is very clear. Kirk Cousins is very good. The offense surprises. They've got an easy path, a great... If you look at strength of schedule tools, obviously, the defenses that they play, they're going to change from last year. But as of now, and including just win totals and expectations going forward, especially in the playoff stretch, they remind me of what happened last year, how the schedule lined up for the Cowboys, where you could look and you could say, Man, they're playing good. Defenses against the run, bad defenses against the pass. So if Kirk Cousins is healthy, and Drake London is his main target, he could easily, easily be a wide receiver one this year.

You were very close on one of your bold predictions to being very bullish on Atlanta. Yes. You have talked about that a lot. There is a little bit of me that looks at Atlanta like we did when Matthew Stafford and the Rams, and we were all spending the offseason. We weren't willing to hand the baton to them yet. But if you just concede that Cousins is fine, if you say that out loud and carry it to its ends, Drake London should be great. Kyle Pitz should be good. Béjon should be great. Mooney should be involved. If you just said he's fine, I don't think we've been willing to really say that.

Yeah. Who is a better wide receiver? Let me ask it this way. You're a general manager, and you are on the clock, and you get to draft either Chris Olave or Drake London. Who would you take for your franchise?

I am so upset that you said that out loud because That is the... Those two have been the most difficult thought process for me.

And I lean a lot. I'm going Drake.

There you go. I think I lean Drake. And so it's one of those- You do get the benefit of no Derek Carr if you lean that way. But That's what I'm saying is the quarterback, if Kirk is healthy, he's clearly a better quarterback. So if you're saying that these guys are the same tier, the same talent, or even that London is better- If he's unhealthy.

Yeah, if- He might be a better quarterback. Fair.

Yeah.

Do you remember when I was a defender of the car?

Of Derek car? Yeah. Yeah. We all make mistakes.

I just feel like watching that offense last year was so painful. There were times Amari Cooper and Michael Crabbtree, that combination together, all that he did for Darren Waller. Awesome. Very fun. Last year, it was just awful to watch.

It was the hardest to watch team. If If you take the Jets out that didn't have a quarterback, they were the hardest to watch team because the actual offensive system was like they didn't have one. That's what it felt like. It was like, What are you doing? What is this offense?

He does. Bad vibes.

I've been really trying to get my head around what Chris Olave is capable of doing in this offense because we all love the talent of Chris Olave, but we have to acknowledge the tendencies of quarterbacks and offensive systems in the schedule and the fact that you think Dennis Allen will be on the street soon. Carr has been able to throw the ball deep successfully in his career, but last year, they were not on the same page for the first half, could not get into the end zone. There are a lot of people out there that think Olave will be one of the bigger busses in fantasy. That is a prevailing opinion.

It could easily happen. Thankfully, Clint Kubiak is in town. You got Kubs bringing his system. So Hopefully, the offense is just dramatically different looking than it was last year.

Is this a real question, Kyle, from Instagram about why don't you work on Labor Day? I believe President Grover Cleveland had something to say about that when he signed that into law in 1894.

Yeah. By the way, just for the record, a bunch of us did work on Labor Day.

We have been rushing to get everything Everything for week one, so a bunch of our team did work.

And I get it. Not everyone is afforded the holiday off, but there is something very ironic about, let's celebrate the labor of America by working.

What?

Yeah, we did have a really cool Labor Day release on YouTube that I should mention. We had the biggest loser, Brian Ketrin, and then, Brooks, put together a 2023 highlights video, which, just spoiler alert, my favorite highlight is when I sniped you in our mock draft, and you literally raised your fist with fury and said, You're driving me insane.

Yeah, you were.

So that's part of the highlight video, but you can check that out.

That's a fun watch.

Don't worry. We're going to have five days a week for the entire rest of the season. And an extra episode as part of the Food Club.

We're going to take off Christmas, too, guys. Get prepared.

I'm trying to get more Labor Days on the schedule.

Talk to Grover. Not enough kids named- Got to give me a Ouija board. Not enough kids named Grover anymore. No. I wonder how many. There's got to be some. In my head- Grover Cleveland.

In my head, I had flipped it. I was like, His name was Cleveland. But no, his first name was Grover?

Yeah.

Isn't Isn't that the Sesame Street character?

That's what I was wondering. I was racking my brain. What's that name?

Grover is... Yes, that is Sesame Street. I don't know. He was Mr..

President to all the professionals. The little blue guy, the blue elbow. Yeah.

Okay. No, he's much larger than the elbow. Is he?

I don't know these things. Yes. I don't know these things. Man, he's just a photograph.

I think that once your name is used for a Muppet or a very well-known Puppet- What do you mean, Josh looks like Grover?

Josh He looks like a Grover.

Oh, he looks like a Grover?

He could pull it off if his name was Grover.

Not a shower. Got you. Jason's jaw just dropped. A YouTube question, Shane Falco or Johnny Utah?

Now we're picking fake quarterbacks.

These are fake quarterbacks. Make it quick. Shane Falco.

Come on. Johnny Utah is way cooler. If you need an actual football player, you got to go Falco. But Johnny Utah.

The replacements, right, with Shane Falco? Yeah.

And Johnny Utah is point break.

Instagram question from Gabe Holden. Chase Brown or Brian Robinson for 2024? I'm on Brian Robinson's team.

I'm on the Brian Robinson side as well.

Man, I'm going to go Chase Brown. I don't mind Brian Robinson. It's very difficult for me to see the path to actual real upside. He'll be a very competent fantasy player, but if Chase Brown can take over, then his upside is is why.

Yeah, I get picking the better offense, right? You think the bangles have a chance to be a really good offense?

Their depth chart just came out, and Zack Moss is the starter.

Yeah, that's the thing. I'm still on the Zack Moss side. When I look at those two, both players are in middies. And I believe that Brian Robinson is the back I want out of Washington, and I believe Zack Moss is the back that I want for the bangles.

Cole in Tucson has a pretty good question, some names we haven't brought up a lot. When Greg Roman was the OC for the Ravens. All I heard about was how he schemed tight ends in the passing game more than wide outs. You have Will Disley and Hayden Hearst, both sitting on waivers in most weeks. Hawaii.

Yeah, it is a Fair question. I think, Andy, you just brought up Hayden Hearst.

I just drafted him with the second to last pick of my best ball draft, looking at another tight end. But Dizly was paid offseason money to come in there as well.

It's also worth noting personnel. Mark Andrews might have been why he schemed tight ends so heavily because he had one of the best ones out there, and now it's Will Dizly and Hayden Hearst.

It's fair, though. They don't have the wide receiver room with experience and ability that it actually imitates what Baltimore dealt with for so many years was- That's fair.

They don't have them. Which one would you take?

Between the two? Yeah. I would take Hayden Hearst. I would as well. Because I think Disney is just going to block the pants off of people. Wait a minute. What are we doing here?

We got a big Montana question. The show was going to want a big Montana to come through for the charges.

Will Disney, big Montana.

I don't think we need to change that jersey on there, by the way. That was close enough to Charger's colors.

The Sound of Football. Was doing a quick look back because it was Mark Andrews, Vernon Davis. Of course, we're going to use these guys. The couple years of Buffalo, I couldn't put my finger on it. Is it? Guys, it was Mr. Necessary.

No. Charles Clay?

Yes. Yeah. Okay.

I think that this-Yeah, this is a great point.

This should be brought up. Greg Dulsich, the reason why I think he's interesting is, who are the established pass catchers for the Broncos? Who are the established pass catchers for the Chargers?

Lad Mokonky.

Unestablished. Yeah.

So I don't know. One of those guys could come through.

All right. We're going to wrap it up for today. We'll be back with another episode tomorrow. And a reminder, there are two remaining times for Megalibold draughts. 05:00 PM Pacific tonight, if you're listening on Tuesday, and 09:00 AM Pacific, Wednesday morning. The final two draft times, you can get in there still, megalable. Com. That is going to do it for today. Just going to be one day away tomorrow, Jason. Yeah.

Two more sleeps.

Goodbye.

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