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

Welcome in. Friday episode, MVP episode of the fantasy footballers, Mike Wright, Jason Moore, Andy Holloway. Excited Excited to be with you. Wishing you the very best on your fantasy drafts this weekend. It's our job to make you better, hopefully, and to get you ready to go.

We are in three different drafts going on right now, slow drafts. I mean, this is the season.

We're under a week from kickoff, and we have our League of Record draft for the very first time on the first game of the year.

Which is a dangerous proposition.

We just need to start it on time. We can't go too late. Make sure that I can import the teams properly because we do that offline. And don't stress me out too much. But you know what?

You usually update the schedule for the divisions, all that. It's all going to happen post-draft, pre-kickoff.

And all of it's going to happen while I sit at my desk with a banner that talks about the three championships, and then a variety of other things that have arrived in packages in the last couple of weeks.

All I know is Marilyn Monroe better show up or I'm going to be disappointed.

I'm a little excited. You know how Saturday Night Live does the, what is it, the five time appearance, you get the band, the jacket. Andy's in the three-time club now.

When you're in a club by yourself, it's a little lonely.

It's just me hanging out, playing video games all by myself.

You like that I'm in there with you?

Yeah, welcome in. I have a friend now.

I told him that there was a chance that I didn't do a bunch on draft day and just got an old hat because this is just getting habitual.

I understand. Is it habitual?

Because it's been, what, over a decade? I'm pretty sure in the last decade, the only multi-time champ is me.

Oh, my gosh.

If you guys want to go way back, that's cool.

All right, so the season is definitely ready to kick off. We've got an- You guys suck. We've got an MVP, a fantasy MVP episode. Super excited. All three of us are going to reveal our fantasy MVP. One player from 2024 that we think will be the difference between an okay season and a championship. And we have a ton of special guests sharing their fantasy MVPs on today's show, including Rich Rebar, Nathan Yonky, Ben Gretsch, Kyborg, and Betsey will share theirs. We got JJ Zachariezen back on the show today, and we've got K. Adams on the show today as well. So very, very excited to jump into it. The Ultimate Draft Kit, you need it for this weekend. Ultimatedraftkit. Com. And the Megalable, we are approaching 16,000 people.

Megal. Megal. Megal.

Megalable. I was going to let you just go. Megalable. Com. Hop in there. Draft start tomorrow.

I thought you were about to go McConaher again.

Was that from the live show? That was the live show, yeah. Jason was something else at the live show.

I was caffanated.

It's more than that. All right, here we go.

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

Well, well, well. We got here. What?

What?

Brandon Iyuk has- Yeah, baby. Signed a four-year extension- Never worried for a minute, guys. Worth $120 million. There's a lot to unpack here, but let's go back in time for a moment to pick up on something Mike said. Do we have a date?

Keep in mind, this was when the trade rumors were hot. He had demanded a trade or requested a trade. Teams had trades on the table. We're waiting for it to be done. People are reporting it's going to happen.

So this is back in July. Mike shared this with us.

Trading away, Ayuk- Just say it.

Just say it, you coward. Say it's a guarantee.

I guarantee Brandon Ayuk is on the 49ers this year. The contract extension, IClipping. I just believe it.

Freeze a cool take.

So we can play this with triumphant noise behind it? Yeah.

Yeah, there it is.

Pretty Mikey.

You never wavered. Now, the problem was you had them on your team, so it was hard to know how much was wishful thinking and how much was prognostication.

It was all about my team, guys. I'll be honest with everyone right now. I needed him to sign back with the Niners.

The reports coming out around this move have been very interesting, including the fact... I mean, this is a long two-month saga. It's been annoying.

It's been frustrating. And he was a coward.

Who was a coward?

Brandon Ayuk, you were a coward.

Oh, you're changing.

Why is he a coward?

Yesterday, John Lynch was the coward.

Yeah, and guess who back down? We found out that John Lynch didn't change his offer. John Lynch didn't push one more penny on that contract.

Ayuk- I saw I've got plenty of people saying that that's also not true.

Adam Schefter did report that. I'll just put that out there.

Schefter talked specifically about the contracts offered from three other teams as well as from John Lynch.

It was the 12th of... He did mention specifically that the offer hasn't changed since August 12th. This saga has gone on a lot longer, so it's very possible there was some negotiation before that date. Then maybe on that date, San Francisco said, This is the best we're going to do. You've already shopped. We already know what the market is. We've got a deal set up with Pittsburgh. We will not trade you. This is what's also being reported, unless we get back a top flight wide receiver, because we're in our window, our Championship window.

Yeah, that's why it never made sense to me.

It's been reported already that they offered a third rounder to Denver for Courtland Sutton. That was turned down.

Denver?

Yeah. Denver, what are you doing, baby? Denver, you're not- You could have got a third? You could have had a third in the future. You're not winning championships this year.

Could have gotten something for Sutton, but they didn't.

We also knew that- They said they'll get nothing.

Nothing for Sutton.

A little something-something.

Anything else we got?

That's it. We're dry.

They couldn't get back somebody. It's funny because this is the most businessy business extension of all time because Iuk wanted more money, and the 49ers were willing to let him go. Both of those are 100% true, and yet they came together on a deal. It was the reluctant partnership of two parties. It's a business transaction. It's a push towards the Super Bowl.

The thing that's weird to me, correct me if I'm wrong, vet me, I believe it was reported 27.7 million per year was the offer from the Steelers, which Iuk Iuk seemed ready to sign.

Ayuk was happy to go to the Steelers.

Right. But that was less money than he ended up getting from the Niners, which he reluctantly signed.

Well, what is the per year deal? Because there's guarantees of 76 million.

Yeah, I think the reports came out saying that the offer, the total offer hadn't changed. We don't know. Maybe the guarantee went from 70 to 76 or something like that. And then, Iuk's like, Okay, good. Because it really is for NFL contracts, the guaranteed money is everything. The 120 looks great. Maybe he gets there, maybe he plays out the contract. But once he's through his guaranteed money, then this is why the guys fight for their contract, because once the guarantee is gone, Then the team can just be like, You're out. You're too expensive now. We're not going to fulfill our part of the contract.

Yeah, that's normally when the player starts looking for another guaranteed extension. Of course. And, Ayouk, is he worth this?

For an NFL team, I believe 100%.

I think he proved it. The Patriots were willing to give him $32 million a year. That was the report.

Yeah, and he was easily like, No, I don't want to go there.

Yeah, it was It was a dance. So Pretty Mike, you got it right. Yeah, baby. When asked about the status of Pukunaku's knee injury, Sean McVeigh said he'll be ready to roll for week one. There has been a little bit of buzz around the fact that this injury could linger. It also It would be a re-injury risk. And so that's worthwhile, and it's not the last you're going to hear about it today. Robert Salah said, Mike Williams will be available to play in week one. He said he's feeling good.

That's pretty big news in the sense that this is If Mike Williams were fully healthy, if he was there in training camp and was practicing with this team in full, he was never injured. Let's just say he was never injured. What would you think of the number two wide receiver for Aaron Rodgers in this offense? He'd probably be what? Wide receiver, 36, 40?

Yeah, I was going to say seventh.

Right now, he's got to be wide receiver, 80 or something.

You can get him at the very end of your draft.

Yeah, the news was starting to bend this direction over the last week and a half. So I've been paying attention to him late in drafts.

I don't think you need... I'm not overreacting and overdrafting him from this news. But when you're in the double-digit rounds and you're looking at just nasty boys here, Mike Williams will have multiple spike weeks in a range of wide receivers that those guys probably won't.

Mike Williams or Michael Wilson?

I would rather have Michael Wilson for the upside of consistency. I like Mike Williams this in best ball quite a bit. He will have some long bomb touch downs. But despite what I just said, he is not uninjured. He is still coming back from an ACL. It will be a slow progress to get back on the field at 100%.

Now, Jason, we're really going to need your work on this one because we've heard it the other direction. Mike McCarthy has told reporters that Rico Dautal will get fewer special team snaps, not none, this season because Because of his expected increased workload on offense.

Yeah, no, this is great news. It's really clear. This time of year, when you're a week away from the NFL draft, if you are a running back and you're put on special teams like Kyron Williams, you're toast, you're done, you're career is over. If you're taken away from special teams, you're the best. You heard it here on the fantasy footballers, Rico Doudal, great, Kyron Williams, bad because of special teams.

Here's-you can go ahead and clip that one, too.

Here's where I will say, because the Rico Doudal love is... It is bold prediction stuff. It is low probability. It is yours. And it is mine. I will hold on to it. And this is just part of a drum beat of I'm hoping that talent wins out. And in my opinion, Rico Dautl, when pads are on and NFL games are being played, will be by far the best running back for Dallas. He'll have the most juice. And this is just the window was opening for him to take the job, as in he doesn't have to sit around and wait for Zeke to get hurt in his time. This is, if you go out and you're the best guy, you'll take it.

I'm not doubting Pretty Mikey. I'm not doubting Pretty Mikey.

He was on a hot streak, one for one.

He was right about the last thing.

He was. But don't go back to Charles Jarwin over there.

Acl.

Yeah, that hurt. That was today's news and notes presented by USAA Insurance. Learn more at usaa. Com/insurance. We are going to take a quick break right out of the gate because I want to jump into our fantasy MVP picks. All right, we are... Yes. Now, Kyle, that was a joke. Yes, it was a Charles Darwin, Blake Jarwin combination. It wasn't the right time for it. We never used it before. It wasn't... What? I just wanted When am I going to talk about Blake Jarwin again where I can try it on for a second? I know.

Look, that is... I mean, Charles Darwin, Survival of the Fittest, he was not fit. He tore his ACL. Thank you. I like it.

Mike has pieced it together for me.

I had no idea who you were talking about. Oh, you just moved on.

I just was like, I heard Jarwin.

You knew it?

Look.

Pretty Mikey's got me on lockdown over there.

You think my antenna don't fly up when someone says Jarwin still? Like, Oh, you want to talk about Blake Jarwin?

By the way, which calls What does he work at?

I believe it's the one on Happy Valley. Yeah.

He's an assistant manager, though, guys.

Yeah, he's worked his way up. He's doing pretty good stuff.

General is well within His grass.

At least sales manager.

Blake to clothing. All right, we're just jerks. It's time to jump in.

Who's your fantasy MVP?

All right, guys, how do you define a fantasy football MVP? Because this episode is one of my favorite every year. We get to share the difference-making player on our list and plant the flag.

I mean, that's really what it is. It's a player... Kyle has found Blake Jarwin on LinkedIn. Yeah.

Wait, Kyle is assistant manager. That's not real, Kyle.

Are you seriously a third degree away from Blake Jarwin?

That's a dick. He's right here. No. This is real?

What's he up to? Oh, he's an investor now. Guys, he did get some money in the NFL. But so back to fantasy MVP. When we invite these other experts on, I'd say, this is whatever you want it to be. It's your favorite early pick, your favorite value, sleeper, just the player you're the most confident in. I think for the three of us, and maybe I'm speaking out of turn here, but for me, it's pretty much who was my runner up for my guy? It wasn't in the top three for my guy, but it's an MVP pick.

That's true. I'll add the caveat that I personally wouldn't choose a fantasy MVP that was not capable of carrying a big load for your fantasy team. Because three or four years ago, I had Darnell Mooney as a My guy, and he was a ninth-round pick that year. That's not going to be my fantasy MVP because I don't think Mooney was going to go all the way to carrying my team. But that's just how I define it. That's why I asked the question.

Sure. Yeah. For me, it's different every year. Sometimes there's some explosive, I believe last year was Bijon, an explosive guy that I really think is going to make a gigantic impact. This year, I know for me, my MVP is going to be someone that I think fits into draughts perfectly. It's about where this player is going, what he represents for your team, and how you could construct a roster around him. So it can be anything. It could be a first rounder, it could be a late rounder. To me, it's, is he going to help you win a championship? Because at the end of the year, that's all that matters.

All right, we put the call out, and we've got some experts, some friends of the show, sharing their fantasy football MVP for 2024. So we're going to jump right in, and we're going to start with Rich Rebar. He was on last year's episode as well. He is the fake football meteorologist over at Sharp Football Analysis, and we love what Warren Sharp and that team do. So let's hear from Rich Rebar. My guy this Here is fantasy Baltimore. He who must not be named, but we are going to name him. It is Kyle Pitz. Let's take a step back a moment because I know he's been a disappointing asset, but he won't even turn 24 until this October. Travis Kelsey didn't have his first thousand-yard season until age 27 or catch his first pass in the NFL until a month before turning 25. Pitz is only three months older than Sam LaForda. We have a lot of meat left on the bone. This transition to Kirk Cousins and Zack Robinson cannot be understated. Over the past three seasons under Arthur Smith, the Falcons were 30th in the NFL in dropback rate. Since entering the league, Pitz, 16.2% of his targets have been inaccurate via the quarterback.

The only tight end of the higher rate is Darren Waller. Kirk Cousins had the second lowest in accuracy rate in 2023. He has the sixth lowest rate over the past five years, the fourth lowest in accuracy rate to tight ends. He also has the sixth lowest in accurate rate on throws 10 or more yards further downfield if we consider Pitz to still be a vertical pass catcher. We're going to see him just get more access to easy buttons in this Zack Robinson offense. 22.2 4% of his routes last season were go routes, the highest of any tight end to run 300 more routes last season. And 15.8% of his targets have been 20 or more yards downfield. Only Darren Waller had a higher rate since Pitz entered the NFL. Factoring in Zack Robinson, of Cousins, a depressed ADP that's pricing an ultimate upside for Drake London. This is the year to finally get on board with Kyle Pitz. Look, I heard one word, depressed. I heard that. It was in there, and that's a good word to I've described the Kyle Pitz managers the last three years. But I mean, look, I've been golden-ticketed. Obviously, I'm a big believer.

If you listen to the live show, we know that you are all in on Kyle Pitz.

There's a price for Kyle Pitz. I actually took him in my last two draughts, because he just kept slipping, there's a spot for him because he represents an upside, albeit a downside as well, because eventually, we're going to paint every possible picture for Kyle pits to be successful. If he doesn't do it in any of those, we'll give up.

It is worth noting that we talk about guys at their ADP a lot on the show who's a good value. We're talking about pics we like and pics we don't. But I think it gets overblown sometimes with the ones we don't. We have not been all in on Kyle pits where he's being drafted. Devante Adams, I've had as a guy that I see as a bad pick early on the live show. You talk about Anthony Richardson, Andy, about he's not going to be the quarterback five. And so if you're drafting in the mega bowl or just you're homely, And they all listen to this show, and they're used to the takes we have. When we have been doing our live drafts this week, our listener league- I've seen it. Dude, Stefan Diggs, Devante Adams, Kyle Pitz, Anthony Richardson, guys we have talked about being just a bad value, a bad pick. They've dropped so far, they're freaking awesome pics.

Yeah, we got them right where we wanted, boys.

I got Devante Adams in the fifth round of our listener lead.

That's incredible value. These aren't players that are... So I'm just saying, don't overreact to what we're saying. React appropriately. I still think Devante Adams is a bad pick at the one, two turn, but in the fifth round, go for it.

Well, the Pitz drum beat is building in the fantasy community because Rich is not alone. When we got our submissions from experts and friends of the show, we got the lead fantasy analyst at Pro Football Focus, Nathan Yonky, who is sharing his MVP. Who could it be?

I don't Hey, after listening to your Top 10 tight-end episode, I knew my MVP had to be Kyle Pitz. He's still a talented tight-end top five by PFF grade over the last three years and is still only 23 years old.

Will be 24 by this season, but he's still younger than some of the tight-ends in the rookie class, but he had a lot working against him last year. He was not running enough routes, he was not seeing enough short targets, and he did not have good enough quarterback play. He averaged 25 routes per game over the past two seasons, which a lot of that had to do with them being a very run-heavy offense, but he was also taken off the field way too much. Typically, he was seeing around 64% of offensive snaps last year, only two games above 75%. Expect that to increase significantly to around 30 routes per game, so a 20% increase. Also, his average depth of target of 12.7 is very high for a tight-end.

Expect that to be going down a bit. If you only counted tight-end's deep passing work and intermediate passing work, he would already be a top three or four fantasy tight-end. He just needs to see more of those short targets.

Tyler Higby, the Ram's tight end the past couple of years, averaged up the target 4.3 recently, so I expect him to see a lot more shorter targets. Then the quarterback play. He's had the second worst quarterback play of all teams just behind the Jets. Expect with Kirk Cousins that to be a lot better. We expect Garrett Wilson to be playing a lot better with a better quarterback, expecting the same out of pits.

So thank you for having me, and have a good one.

All right. Thank you, Nathan. Jason, you always give Mr. Yonky his flowers, right? The way he's handled all the preseason.

His preseason work is second to none. It's a must-follow. Yeah, it's a great follow. I try to tweet out his stuff and share it. He's personally doing snap counts on everyone. It's awesome.

So Pits part 2.

Yeah, you've got two guys.

He must be the MVP.

Well, these are two people who know what they're talking about. They're well-respected by us. We're having people on the show that we think have good, strong opinions that are outside of our own bubble. Except for one.

One of them we don't respect. We're not saying which one.

Yeah, you can figure it out. It's Kyle.

Yeah, I can't wait for after Kyle's take.

Yes.

That's going to be a special moment on our show.

A special final moment.

But it's worth saying we have not been in on Kyle pits, but that doesn't mean it can't happen. Kyle Kyle pits is obviously very, very... He is hopefully still a very, very powerful athlete. He didn't look like it last year, but at 24 years old, you can't write the guy off.

No question. If there's a player that has probably had delivered more burns to fantasy managers, it's hard to find one other than Kyle pits because the expectations were so high. The draft capital, what you saw as a rookie. Touchdowns have never been there. But those are all a ton of good points Rich and Nathan. We're going to turn now to... Where are we going? We're going Ben Gretsch.

Ben Gretsch, yeah.

From the Stealing Signals newsletter. My fantasy MVP is year three wide receiver, Garrett Wilson. As long as Aaron Rodger stays healthy and doesn't go off on an ayahuasca journey in mid-October. I expect Wilson to take his place among the elites of the position in 2024. It's not really there in his past data, in part because Zack Wilson couldn't read out defenses and get the ball down field last year, which led to Brees Hall leading the NFL's runningbacks and targets in 2023, even in a year where he was returning from an ACL injury.

But when you watch what Wilson does well, it's apparent it will translate with Rodgers.

I expect a massive target share in an offense that doesn't have strong secondary weapons. With the way Rodgers operates in the red zone with a high pass rate and the types of timing routes that Wilson can win on, I think double-digit TDs are just the beginning with a 15-plus season well in the range of outcomes. If Wilson does what I'm hoping for, he'll be the answer, given those tough draft slots at the end of the first round, a score that can match the top five picks. All right, That's crazy. Those are some big work. The 15 touch down stands out because you can't help but think of Devante Adams alongside Aaron Rodgers in the peak. And that was the name of the game with Adams and with Rodgers. Even if the yardage wasn't there, Rodgers would throw three or four a game, and you knew one or two was going to Adams. If Wilson is that guy for this team- He is.

He is that guy for this team.

Is Rodgers that Rodgers for this team?

No, he's That's the issue. If Garrett Wilson was playing with 2018 Aaron Rodgers, then Garrett Wilson should be picked right after CeeDee Lamb.

Well, I mean, what is... Wilson has seven- Seven total receiving touch downs. In his first two years, which is not going to get it done for the draft capital you have to spend on. You need to see the step up. But if you get it and Wilson ventures into the wide receiver 3-5 category being drafted where he is, that is fantasy MVP worthy.

There is a huge tear break to me, just gigantic. Once you get after the A. J. Brown, Justin Jefferson, Chase, Ammon Ross, St. Brown, those guys are awesome. I want them so bad in the first round. But you get to this break after those specific players. I think Puka has gone because of the knee injury. He's gone a step below that tier. So now When you're talking about, I want a wide receiver at the back of the first, the top of the second, and you're talking about Garrett Wilson, you're talking about Puka and Marvin Harrison, Devante Adams, Chris Olave. I feel like Garrett Wilson has risen to the top of that list for me simply because of hopeful ups. I mean, I guess I've still got Pukha ahead of Garrett Wilson, but the rest of those guys, we know for sure Derek Carr is not going to be 2018 Aaron Rodgers. We know that for Maybe Aaron Rodgers can get back to being old-school Aaron Rodgers.

Also, the Adam seasons were number one caliber seasons. So if Rodgers is 80%, but Now, think about what has Garrett Wilson had. He's had the equivalent of 4 % Aaron Rodgers in his first two years.

That's being generous.

I believe he had 1999 Aaron Rodgers throwing him the ball.

Young.

It was a little baby.

Little baby.

Little baby who could not throw the ball well.

High school, Aaron Rodgers might be better than...

Was 1999 high school for him?

I was trying to go to- I assume so.

Oh, gosh, I needed to go way... I forget how old he is. He's as old as- You forget how old you are. 1982 Aaron Rodgers.

Aaron Rodgers is older than me. Wow. That would have been sophomore, junior Aaron Rodgers. That would have been amazing for Garrett Wilson. That would have been incredible.

To be fair, I think I actually comped it perfectly. High school Aaron Rodgers is probably exactly what Zack Wilson is.

Here's what I'll say, because to give the counterbalance of the case, and we've seen it, Wilson's had a rough ride. There are not good vibes in New York right and they are the New York Jets. So you combine those things. There's talk of the locker room not really being what it should be, Rodgers being not a team player in terms of... We don't know. Sure. But what I'm saying is that if it goes bad in New York, it might go real bad. We're talking the end of Rodgers, the end of Salah, and a full reset again. If it doesn't work for them this year, think about where the Jets are at. They don't have a quarterback. You're not going to have a head coach. You're talking full reset for Garrett Wilson. You look at what's on the line for dynasty managers of Garrett Wilson right now. It's really heavy. Oh, you're playing a dangerous game. You're walking on that edge of the mountain. All right, the next two, we're bringing in House, and we're going to turn the page to Ky Borgenoni. He's our Editor-in-Chief. He's the host of the DFS and the Betting & Dynasty Pods.

Smart guy.

Here we go. Yo, yo, yo, yo, yo. This is Ky Borgenoni, all things stats-related with the fantasy footballers. And my pick for fantasy MVP this year is the Philadelphia Eagles's offense. We can often take a binary approach with teammates in fantasy, stating it's going to be this guy or it's going to be that guy. You might think that Jalen Hertz around the goal line is going to take away opportunities from Saquon Barkley, or that A. J. Brown, he's the alpha wide receiver in this offense, or maybe Devante Smith is the one getting those slot snaps in Kelenmore's new look pre-snap motion offense. But what if it's everybody? What if this is a rising tide, lifts all boat situation? What if Hertz ends up the season as a quarterback one? Barkley finishes as a top five back, and Brown and Smith both end up as wide receiver ones, something they did in 2022. This offense is going to roll, and I think it's possible that all their top options exceed their draft costs and make fantasy managers happy. Thoughts, Mike.

Now, Kyle, you're on the microphone. You can hear us and you can respond to us?

Correct.

What The acronym MVP, I just want to know, in your opinion, what does that stand for? I do what I want. No, no, no, no, no.

Answer the question.

A player.

Oh, okay. Who would you say your most valuable player would be?

I like Devante Smith. There it is.

That's the not coward answer. I know this whole offseason. Devante Smith was so close to being one of my my guys and talking behind the scenes. Kyle was all about that. Kyle has been in on Devante Smith this whole offseason. But the same reason I didn't take him is the same reason that coward Kyle comes out here and is like the Eagles because it's like, It might be AJ Brown is so good. I agree with your take, but MVP, Most Valuable People.

Kyle is wanting it to be Devante Smith, but if A. J. Brown is the wide receiver one. He's just going to slide in there. Remember what I said?

Most valuable.

Yeah, I have- Get out of here, Kyle. You know what? Thank you for entertaining us. Look, when we got your MVP audio yesterday for the show, I knew when I pushed that button, it would be Devante Smith. To hear the hedge, I get it. The Eagles are one of the most interesting story lines in football to me.

Yeah, You've been talking about the Eagles a lot behind the scenes, off the microphone. I don't know if- I don't know how public I've been with my doubts, but I have money on them not making the playoffs, and I put money on two or three things before every season.

Almost nothing. I don't bet. But I bet on that because I'm very concerned. I think the loss of Jason Kelsey is massive, and it's going to put so much more on the shoulders of Jalen Hertz. If they had a great season and then they lost one playoff game that got ugly, I wouldn't be feeling that way. But the fact that the head coach and the quarterback didn't talk for a really long time, the fact that- That collapsed the whole second half of the season. Yeah, they lost six of seven games, I think. That's hard to do.

Kelsey chooses to walk away, which is more- She's so old. No, I know.

I don't know if you've heard, he's doing okay.

Yeah, he's doing okay. But I think to Andy's point, if the vibes of that team, if they were having fun, Travis, Kelsey could have walked away. He's old enough to walk away, but they're winning championships, and the locker room is fun. I think Jason, Kelsey was like, This was a tiring, exhausting season. I don't want the vibes.

He's going to be 37.

No, but I mean, look, we don't have to speculate on what Jason, Kelsey said because he came out on an interview and literally said it was bad. He said, It's not just one thing. It wasn't one player One situation, it was coaching. Here's what we know about the Eagles. They don't get Shane Steiken back, and they don't get Jonathan Gannon back. They tried two new coordinators last year. It didn't work. They're trying it again this year. There's going to be a new coordinator. It could work. It could be great. But a lot's going to be put on Jalen Hurt's shoulder. And we saw at least a long enough stretch of bad football to know that Bad football is in the range of outcomes, even when you have the talent. It's easy for us in fantasy to be like, You've got maybe, legitimately maybe, the best trifecta of wide receiver in the game with A. J. Brown, Devante Smith, and Jehan Dotson. That might be the best three. But even with the best players on the field, they struggled. So to say that they're going to struggle, look, they have the upside of being the best team in football.

I just have my doubts that it's going to be as smooth as people... He does have to learn in a new system.

That's all he does every year of his entire life is learn a new system. Genuw, there's only been one time since high school, one year, one season, where he had the same coordinator for the second time, and he was the MVP of the NFL that year.

Who was the famous quarterback Campbell? What's his first name? Jason Campbell. Jason Campbell. You remember this? I remember Jason Campbell. Jason Campbell, I believe, had a new offensive coordinator for 10 consecutive years. It just reminded me of that where he never got a fair shake.

Here's since 2016, Jalen Hertz, offensive coordinator. Lane Kiffin, Brian Dable, Mike Loxley, Steve Sarkisian. Loxley. Sorry, go on. No, I love it. Doug Peterson. Had to be done. Shane Steiken. Shane Steiken, there's the one, Brian Johnson and Kelen Mohr. So he's used to this. I will say this, and then we'll move on. The news that Kelsey was doing all the protections, that he was the one in In charge of calling out the protections, making sure that reading the defense in that sense. That came out recently that it was verified as truth, and Hertz was talking about how that stopped his learning. And you could spin this one of two ways. You can look at this as a really bad thing. This is something Hertz hasn't done before, that he's going to have to add to his plate, and it could really not work. Or you could spin this the other way and say, I think Hertz should be the one calling the protections, and I I think he's capable of that, and he should be better now that he's in charge of more. I think we are separate because I've always, since college, I've always been a Jalen Hertz believer.

He was a my guy a couple of years ago when he had that breakout season. I think he is that dude. I think he is the hardest working, smart, capable, talented in every facet of his life. I'm putting my belief, I'm with Kyle here in that I'm in on the eagles. It'll be a fascinating thing to watch this season.

You sharing those offensive coordinators, I couldn't help but notice that the elite Super Bowl year was the first time he got to be in the offense a second time. It makes me wonder a little bit about acclamation this year. Does that happen? How fast does it happen?

That happened to Matt Ryan, too. That was happening to Ryan, right?

Yeah, Kyle Shanehan, when he was his coordinator.

It was just over and over.

Until he got to repeat. Yeah. It happened with Bruce Arians and the Carson Palmer offense, where year two, Two, everything came together. So it will be very interesting to watch. Time to turn it over to Matthew Betz. What's up, Footclan?

This is Matthew Betz, host of the DFS and Dynacy podcast.

And my fantasy MVP for the 2024 season is none other than Rashi Rice. I'll admit, I do feel like I'm cheating a little bit with this answer because if it weren't for the off the field issues, Rice would be going a lot higher, probably in the third round of draft. But right now, over on ESPN and Sleeper, he's going in the seventh round.

That is an absolute steal for a player who developed into Pat Mahomes' top option down the stretch. And look, is there some risk with this pick?

Yeah, of course there is. He could get suspended late in the year.

The legal issues could come back.

But that's already baked into the ADP, and we just got news this week that they will not place him on the Commissioner exempt list, and they're going to let the legal situation play itself out.

That means this thing could easily get pushed to the 2025 season. As I mentioned, Rice was awesome last year as a rookie, averaging 2.2.

One-yard throughout run, and a 27% target share down the stretch after it became a full-time player. The target competition, yes, it's more difficult with Xavier worthy and Hollywood Brown. Of course, Travis Kelsey's there. But Rice proved he's a talented player. If they do continue to limit Kelsey's snaps this year, as they've said, they will do with their eyes on the postseason.

Rashe Rice should be the direct beneficiary of that, getting those shorter area targets as Mahomes' go-to guy. And look, the Chiefs last year, their offense was not what we're used to, but their moves tell us they want Pat Mahomes to throw, throw, throw.

You get Xavier worthy.

You sign Hollywood Brown.

You got Rashe Rice still there.

All the moves they were going to throw more when we did it a year ago and really get that explosive element of our pass game back.

Mahomes is going to bet as anyone to lead the league in passing touch downs and yards. I want a piece of that passing offense. Rashi Rice is a great way to get it this year. It's a good pick. I feel like every draft right now, it's who's going to pull the trigger first on Roshy Rice.

That's everything because my chips are all in. I have Rice now projected. I'm I'm projecting the full season.

He's your wide receiver 17.

Yeah, he's in my top 20. To the point of I'm drafting him that if a suspension happens at the end of the year, I don't care because my goal is to get into the playoffs. If I have to deal with that later, I will deal with that later. It's to the point of he's great because his ADP is still low. He's not going to go there. In casual league, he might go there. If you're in a competitive league, he will go higher. Again, as he said, Where are you willing to take him? I'm willing to go fifth. I'm even willing to go into the fourth because in the fourth, that's where ADP-wise, you're talking about, that's the late teens of the wide receiver, and that's where I have the range.

Adp, he's at the back of the seventh on sleeper, the wide receiver, 38. So I think you should be able to nab him in the fifth round if you like him there. And I would do that every time. Yeah.

Yeah, I'm literally making some rankings, tweaks to my position listening of Rashi Rice, because while there's the risk, Mike outlaid it very well. It's too valuable a commodity for the potential that he's there all year, which I think is... I don't know how we would handicap him, but I would say probably 75, 25 is where I'm at in terms of being there all year.

I'd be in the 80%.

I think it's a really important name to bring up. I just want to applaud Matthew Betz for just not going with... He said a lot of things about Kansas He did. But he didn't choose the offense as the most valuable player.

You know what I mean? Well, that's not a player. Right. Mvt.

All right, we're going to turn it over to great friend of the show, JJ Zachariezen. Hey, losers. Hey, JJ.

Hope everyone's doing well. Nice picture.

My MVP pick this season, look, I went back and forth on a handful of guys. I could call out Kyler Murray here, but everyone's probably going to call out Kyler Murray.

So I'll switch things up and I'll go with Brian Thomas.

Let's get a little weird. Thomas scored well in my ZAP model, my prospect model. He had a score of 94.5. Since 2014, we've had 23 rookie wide receivers get drafted in the wide receiver 40 to wide receiver 60 range with a ZAP score above 90. Over 39% of those rookie wideouts exceeded average draft position expectation by three or more PPR points per game. That's an absurd rate. A normal sample would be around the 21, 22% mark. Thomas could play the Calvin Ridley role in this Jacksonville offense this year. And while Ridley had some struggles last season, he was a fringe wide receiver one and expected fantasy points per game. So we've got a good prospect in a good situation evaluation. To me, he's a great pick at his current cost. Well, look, I'm so in. I love Brian Thomas Jr. Now, unfortunately, JJ did not put the Jr in there, so I'm pretty sure he chose his father.

That's right. That's going to be a problem. Dumb pick, JJ.

Not on a roster. Terrible 40-time.

Yeah, and I think he's past the H-cliff, too. It's just a stupid pick, JJ.

Yeah, you didn't endear us with the Hey, Losers start.

That's the only reason the picture stayed.

Yeah, that's true. If you're on YouTube- I was ready to turn the page on that, but then he called us losers, and that hurt my feelings. Honestly, yeah, youtube. Com/fantasyfootballers. Go over there and make sure that- You see his beautiful It's a beautiful picture.

It is a picture of JJ.

It's youtube. Com/thefantasyfootballers JJ.

We love you, JJ.

Brian Thomas has a great opportunity. We brought up names yesterday. Trevor Lawrence, the fact the offense can get going at various times, and the fact that Brian Thomas is the... He's the explosive weapon in that offense, so it makes a ton of sense. All right, we had the chance to hop on to Up & Adams, the K Adams show over on YouTube the other day.

Jason got- I got golden ticketed.

You got golden ticketed into a wonderful take on Sam Darnam, who you love.

I love him, man.

So we asked Kay to come and share her fantasy MVP pick. Hey, Footclan.

It's Kay Adams from the Up & Adam Show.

My fantasy MVP, thanks for asking, is Justin Jefferson. It's about value.

It's about production, track record.

It's about belief in a high volume offense. He's going eighth overall in average draughts. Did I read that correctly? That's crazy. He's fifth at receiver. There's a great chance. Feeling very confident that he outproduces everybody at the position. The man played in eight full games. Read it and weep. Eight games for a different quarterback, still put up over a thousand yards.

So sure, is it fair to have questions about Sam Darnold?

Fine. I know that Jason doesn't. He golden ticketed his way into falling in love with him, but I love him, too, in this offense. I believe in Kevin. I don't think this is one of those receivers. It doesn't matter who's throwing him the ball. As proven last year, he's going to put up his numbers no matter who's back there. And he actually averaged the most yards per game of his entire career last season. We love Justin Jefferson. By the way, he'll be on Up and Adam show. Check it out on FanDuel TV and on our YouTube Thanks, guys.

Love you.

Yeah, this is the... It's crazy. Justin Jefferson of the Do We Get to the End of the Year? And we all go, Oh, why are we so So stupid.

Nope. Probably.

Well, look, the fact that- Jason's holding on. The fact that Jefferson can be in this show and be in this discussion and not have it be a goofy pick. You know what I mean? You're just taking the top guy off the board. Jefferson needed to be brought up. It's the great debate. What's happening right now is he's not going very high relative to previous seasons, and when you take him, you feel like,. Okay, I settled for the best receiver in the national football industry.

I took him on our mock draft yesterday, and I didn't feel great about it. I would have rather have had A. J. Brown, who has a good quarterback, any one of the other top guys. But I think we've got him appropriately placed in the sense... I've got him down for 16 1,600 yards. I'm not anti- Justin Jefferson. I just think he's going to end up with six touch downs. And if that's the case, a back, or really not even at the end of the first round. He's sometimes going as the fourth wide receiver off the board in the middle of the first round, it's going to be tough to be happy with that if you end the season with six touch downs. And so that's the real question. It's just, can Darnold throw enough touch downs?

Yeah. And he will be positioned commissioned to and given the opportunity in the offense to see what he's got. You made both cases on her show, Jason. And so there is a case. Do you believe in the Vikings offensive play calling? Yes.

I do, too. I believe in myself. If I were the play caller, and I'm down at the 10, if I'm down at the 5, if I'm down at the 15- If you're on the football field, I am, yes.

Regardless of the hashmark.

Do we have the ball? No. My point is, when we get to a condensed defense, I'm going to focus on running the ball and not put it in Sam Donald's hands.

Oh. I thought we were saying the same thing of if we're on the football field.

Yeah, but you're not going to be able to do that because Aaron Jones is over the hill. I don't think so. And you're down four scores.

That's true.

So we'll find out. We're going to take a break and come back with each of our MVP picks to finish up the show. All right. Last year's fantasy MVP picks, Jason mentioned it. He had Béjian on this episode. I went with Debo Joe, he had a good season, ended up in the top 12. Mike had Zé flowers, which-Yeah, baby. It was really good that first part of the year for Zee flowers. He was a difference maker for your team.

And Championship Week.

And Championship Week.

It It did help.

I don't think- I needed to refresh my memory, though, on who we picked. I couldn't remember.

I don't think there's a chance that either myself or Mike can go first. Andy has been looking forward to this show because he has been excited to talk about this player.

I just felt like he was a player that was on the board as a my guy for a long time. Unfortunately, the my guy episode lined up with an injury to his quarterback, and it gave me the heebie-jeebies. It got me a little bit nervous that I was going to pick a player with dependency on a currently injured player. Like you're going to- Like Waddle.

Like a player who has an undisclosed injury for two weeks?

Mike's super happy about that.

We're at three weeks now.

Well, it's finally disclosed.

Okay. All right. Now he's got a disclosed injury.

How happy will you be when he runs out onto the field on play one with a red jersey on them?

Can you do that?

He's going to try. Of course. He's Jayland Waddle, and he needs that. My fantasy MVP for 2024 is none other than Cooper Cup, wide receiver for the Los Angeles Rams.

Cooper Cup of coffee.

Cooper Cup. I have taken everywhere in all my draughts, even in the Listener League, a round ahead of Devante Adams, because I was afraid of not getting him.

In our League of Record, I just did a mock draft of our League of Record, Keeper League. I had him mocked going to you in the first round at pick nine. And I'm telling you right now, look at me in the eyes. He's not getting to you. Sorry.

What are you? Yeah, what is going on? You control one team, Jason.

I control a pick right before you. And Cooper Cup is not- You have picked five. And he's not getting to you.

For the record, then that's Jason. He's going to take them over Pacheco. I know that. That's good to know. You get one pick, Jay. You get one in that draft.

I'm talking to our entire league right now.

I know you are.

Don't let him get there. What are you doing? I'm just saying I think Cooper Cup is going to be really good this year.

I shared on our live show in Los Angeles that I believe the Rams will win the West. I think the 49ers, albeit they made the move, they got Brandon Ayuk. I think it's hard. It's very difficult to just maintain that dominance year after year after year. Sean McVay is a crafty fella, and I love what this team has on offense. I believe that Puka and Kup can both finish as top 10 wide receivers. And the value you get on Cooper Kup right now, it's outstanding. There were areas last year where Cooper Kup already edged out Puka Nakuwa despite the injuries in the limited season. That was in the slot. He had more receiving yards, touch downs, yards after catch, higher target share than Puka in the slot. And also inside the red zone, he had more targets, more receptions, more touch downs, higher percentage of first reads. We've had the report this offseason. This offense runs It's through Cooper Cup, and it still does. Puca did amazing things last year, but none of them were in replacement of what Cooper Cup does. From a game planning standpoint. They were in replacement while he was hurt.

But this is Sean McVeigh. He's not a fool. He's not going to go and discount the former number one overall player who broke a ton of records just because he missed some time. To me, it's about the pick and the value. Obviously, with Cooper Cupp, you can sneak him into the fourth round. That's the storyline. He is ranked above his ADP by all three of us. I think we get back to a very high value fantasy option, a fantasy MVP at a discount price. That's what makes an MVP to me. A lot of it has to do with the draft cost. Cooper Cupp is my fantasy MVP for 2024.

All right, Jay, you're up.

I'm up. Look, this is a guy I talked about it at the opening of the show. My MVP this season is not someone I think is going to break fantasy. I think he's just going to help your roster construction better than just about any other player in the draft. I think there are three guys in the draft this year that at value, roster construction-wise, are unbelievable. Two of them are my guys. It's Mike's Kyler Murray, it's Andy's Jaden Daniels, and now my MVP, Dalton Kincaid. Dalton Kincaid is going to allow you to have an elite tight-end this season and depth at running back and wide receiver. We all want a great quarterback. We all want a great tight-in. But when you have to take him in the second or the third round, I look at Travis Kelsi. I just pulled up his ADP right now. And as of this moment, right before him is Devon Achan, one of my guys. Right after him is Isiah Pacheco. I I want those players. I want those runningbacks. And if you're telling me that the gap between Travis Kelsi and Dalton, Kincaid is the same as the gap between these top-flight runningbacks in a fifth round, let me look at a runningback that's going there.

Deandre Swift. No, it's not the same. Kincaid has a chance to be the number one tight end this season. He's connected to Josh Allen and his usual 4,400 passing yards. Who's it going to? I have him down as the target leader for this team. Dalton Kincaid is really talented. Because of Sam Laporta, Sam Laporta is the reason that Dalton Kincaid is undervalued, because you didn't realize what a great rookie season Dalton Kincaid had for fantasy, not great, which is why I'm always like, Rookey tight ends don't work. But for rookie seasons, it was really good. He had the fourth most receptions ever for a rookie. And then Gabe Davis leaves, the wide receiver one for this team. And then Stefan Diggs leaves, the wide receiver two for this That's stupid. I was trying it on for size.

It doesn't make no sense.

It doesn't make any sense. But he had seven top finishes as a rookie, Dalton Kincaid did. That's as many as Jake Ferguson or Trey McBride had last year. I project him to be the number one target earner in the Buffalo offense. I have him down for 133 targets, 93 receptions, over a thousand yards, and only six touch downs. If he ends up with eight or nine touch downs as a tight-in for Josh Allen, he can be the number one tight-in, regardless of if he's the number one or if he finishes as the number five tight-in. From a fantasy perspective, week after week after week, you're locked, you're loaded, you're good. You're going to get enough targets, enough yards, to be happy with him at the fifth. And then you look at the rest of your roster, and it's good because you didn't go with Sam Laporta, because you didn't go with Travis Kelsey. You let the value drop to you. Every week, you're good at tight-end, and the rest of roster is loaded. To me, that's how I'm defining my fantasy MVP this year.

Obviously, I'm taking him at 9, along with Cooper Cupp. What a great pick.

Will you get both?

I can, yeah. I'm the defending champ.

Now I see how you are the champ.

All right, well, one more fantasy MVP pick to go. Mike is up, and why is it Rico Dautil?

It is not Rico Dautil for all out there guessing. He was already on the bold predictions.

I was I was really upset that we didn't have drops announcing our pick because I really wanted to tank Bigsby, Andy, here. Oh my God. I really was like, How can we tank Bigsby again? But all right, go with tank Bigsby.

All right, my fantasy MVP is Ken Bone Walker, Seattle Seahawks running back. He is going in the back of the fourth.

That's just his name now. It is. It certainly is.

It feels good, guys.

You'll get a chance to try it on when we're talking about him in the studs and duds.

Can Can I just jump in momentarily because it's worth it? Mike has been calling him Ken Bone Walker for way too long. No, I got to share this because we're about to get back into the studio watching these games every Sunday. Let me tell you, when the Seattle Seahawks, when they get inside- The red zone gets a new name. When they get inside the 20, Mike will scream, He's in the Bone Zone. Okay, so if you want to play along- Oh, man, it's true. You just know that Mike is somewhere, especially if they're within the 10, it's the Bone Zone, okay?

For all the political junkies out there, this is a super sick, really current reference.

Yes, Ken Bone.

Ken Bone-Walker, go on. You're MVP.

So here's the deal. The Bone zone. From weeks 1 through 10, we forget. Weeks 1 through 10, he was the running back 6, guys, and he had already been through his buy week in that time. He's sitting at Running Back 6. He gets hurt in week 11, unfortunate. But so in that time, he was seeing 77 % of the Running Back attempts. If he had finished there, that would be tied for the fifth-highest R. B. Share at the end of the season. He gets back from his injury. 82 % of the running back attempts went to Kenneth Walker. That would have been the third highest mark on the season. Yes, here is the part that needs to increase for him. Again, all the explosive plays, all that's built in. Only an 8 % target share. We need a little bit more than that to get him to be a truly elite difference-making running back. The Pete Carroll era, as a whole, that wasn't part of their system. Running back targets were just not something that they went with. And the new offensive coordinator, Grub, he's already talking about, We need to up this. It could be coach-speak, but he's We're talking about Kenneth Walker, he's like, He's a good pass catcher.

We need to get him involved in that area of the game more and more. The Seattle Seahawks were dead last in offensive plays last year, partly because the defense couldn't get the other offense off the field, but it was also just this is part of the way that they were playing football. I expect the tempo to go up under grub. I expect running back targets to go up. And my point is, if Walker can maintain that high 70 percentile of running back attempts, and if you get just a 10 % target share, he will be a true difference-making running back, and he's going in the back of the fourth. So he is right now, Ken Walker, Young, explosive running back. He is sandwiched in between Joe Mixon, who's 28. Then we got Kamara, who's 29. Got Aaron Jones, who's about to turn 30. Yeah, Aaron Jones is about to turn 30, I'm sorry. And James Connor, 29. And then there's Ken Walker, right there in the mix of those guys. Running backs is always about youth. I'm not saying I'm out on those other guys, but just they're old. If they fall apart this year, it will shock nobody.

So Ken Walker is just sitting here. He keeps falling to me. I'm getting him in the late fourth, getting him in the early fifth as a running back two, or even to me as a running back one, if I load up on three wide receivers in a tight end in those first four rounds, he just, to me, is such a good, juicy pick.

Well, you look at the explosive place. Just looking back at his game log last year, and you're like, Okay, you've got a game where his longest run was 36 yards, his longest run was 31 yards. His longest run was 45 yards. I mean, he's constantly hitting big plays.

Yeah, look, it makes sense. I've started to feel like when we get into these drafts, he just sits there. He just sits there as a value.

He is a name that people don't want to draft him. He feels like a reluctant pick for a lot of people.

All right, so then if you break it down, what do we got? We got Ken Walker, Dalton Kincaid, Cooper Cup. That's our three. K Adams went with Justin Jefferson. Jj went with Brian Thomas Jr, I assume. Matthew Betz with Rashi Rice. Kyle, the Borgoggan went with, I think, the NFC. Ben Gretsch, Garet Wilson. Then we had two Kyle Pitz MVP pics from Rich Rebar and Nathan Yonke.

I had thought a lot, guys, about just saying round two. That's my MVP. You're your MVP. Round two. If anyone in that round hits- That's dumb. I told you. I told you to make a pick in the second.

I'm going to take round one. That's going to be so much better than yours.

All right, the last chance right now to get into the Megalable. Go to megalable. Com for all the details. It's your chance to play with over 16,000 Footclan members.

And all of us. I think everyone in this studio is in different leads. We're all out there playing in the Megalable.

There are a ton of draft times. The draft start tomorrow. They run through September fourth, and kickoff is September fifth. We'd love to have you come and participate. Half the team make the playoffs and the prizing. You win a spot in our 2025 Listener League. You also win a ultimate Footclan membership for Life, which is pretty special. Megalable. Com. Head over there right now And ultimatedraftkit. Com if you need help before the weekend. Thank you for tuning in. Shout out to the Deucers. Great job back there. You're our MVPs. That's the truth. Goodbye.

Goodbye.

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