Fantasy Football - AFC West Breakdown + Mock Draft Promises - Podcast for 7/14

[MUSIC] Welcome to the Fantasy Footballers Podcast with your host, Andy Holloway, Jason Moore, and Mike Wright. [MUSIC] >> Welcome, man. [MUSIC] >> It's good to be back with you. July 14th, the Fantasy Footballers, Jason Moore is here. >> Yes, sir. >> Mike Wright, present to countered for. >> Chilo. >> I'm Andy Holloway, and this is the Fantasy Footballers Podcast. We got the doosters, Ali. >> Back there loaded up with all three of them. >> Doosters, Papa Josh is back there. Shining like the sun. Should realign that light. We got we got Al Borland and the Falcon as well. >> Apparently we're all in shades of like blue gray over here today. >> Are you, let me take another look at that. >> Okay, you kind of blend in with the background, just floating heads. We have another divisional breakdown show finishing up the AFC today. And this is a wild one. >> I think this is going to be very, very fun. We're talking AFC West. >> Still hard for me to look at that division and see that record for the chiefs. It just feels. >> Impossible. >> Impossible. So we get to talk about, among other topics, like a lot of fantasy football relevant players in this division. Tons of them. Tons of them with like unsettled projections, really. I mean, just situations where you're like, you know, guys like Rashi Rice and I'm already in Hampton. >> There's gold and then there hills though. >> Yeah, there is. >> Home, man. >> Yeah. >> We get to talk about all that and a lot of these teams like had crazy records when it came to one score games that we'll talk about. And yeah, there's, we're going to have some good debates. I know that for a fact. The ultimate draft kit is available right now. You can download the mobile app. You can get the draft analyzer. You can go to ultimatedraftkit.com. It is the number one way to get yourself prepped up. We've been refining and perfecting it for years on years on years. And the newest feature, a mock draft tool, yes, a proprietary fantasy footballers mock draft tool where you can load in ADP from different platforms. So that you can customize your mock drafts is coming probably this week. >> It is probably up right now when you're listening to. >> For real? >> Yeah. >> Okay. >> So check. >> You don't have to update your app. >> Go update your app. >> We hell update your app. >> I don't think that we have an approved version of the app that we can release. >> Go just go up to your app. >> No idea. >> No idea. >> Today is the day. >> I'll be there soon. >> It's been a while since Jason has done this to our company. >> That's sure. >> Yeah. >> We've got Monday, July 13th. >> The show is always the mock draft tool is available. >> That's a back date. You could have just said today. >> Oh, is this coming out on Tuesday? >> Yeah. >> It came out yesterday. >> Jason, stop it. >> That's right. I guarantee it's up today. >> No. >> No. >> The best part is our show gets broadcast in the lobby where the devs all work and they get to hear this and the beads of sweat forming and dripping off their faces. >> I can hear the door. I think they all just walked out. >> Yeah. >> Get your phone up. >> It's coming out next year. >> Get your children to the draft kit and play around with the new mock draft. >> It is so cool and it's going to get so much better. People have asked about supporting like keepers and stuff like that. That's not there at the jump, but we're going to be adding or working on for the next little while. >> Yeah. The mock draft tool is so fundamental to the way you prepare and we've always wanted one to create our own and people have asked for that forever and it's not a small undertaking and our team has done an incredible job and we're really excited about it and you're going to love it and yeah, that's all that ultimate draft kit.com. Let's jump right into some news, not a lot, but some interesting things to talk about. Some of the notes from around the league. >> Papa Josh by the way, who is among one of our producers, but he also is the community manager for the entire foot clan. And he's shaking his head because- >> You know what's coming in here, Josh? >> I know what's coming. >> Yeah, because he said RIP, my inbox asking where the mock draft tool is. >> Yeah. >> He knows that he is going to be- >> Get him. He knows that [email protected] is going to get just loaded up. >> Well, if there's an issue, that's when they will contact [email protected]. That's just if there's an issue. >> Right. >> So he just knows how loaded up that's going to be. >> What will be? >> Support@fantasyfootball. >> Okay. >> All right, cool. >> Shouldn't have shook your head, Josh. We will pile on you. >> He does take phone calls at 480- >> Man, that would be so brutal. >> Oh, man. >> Give out the real one. >> The athletics James Boyd is reporting that Daniel Jones is clear to do everything ahead of training camp. >> We're talking, standing, sitting, running, jumping, reading, writing, arithmetic, all of it. Joining back, coach Deandre Smith said, the team, quote, definitely needs to find ways to take some of that workload off of John of the Taylor. >> Was he saying this to Chris Ballard? Because it's like, dude, we got to find ways and work searching. Because DJ Giddens, Seth McGowan, like, I understand they-- >> Can I ask somebody else? >> Oh no. >> You list-- >> No. >> Bentley the Ford. >> What? >> You list these S? Bentley the Ford? >> I mean, you know, they do. >> That's a real person. >> That is a real person. This was an interesting quote. I wrote-- >> My gosh, that name is spectacular. >> I read the whole context and, you know, they admit it's hard to take. John of the Taylor off the field. They think he'll be better if they can manage his workload. This is real in the sense that they definitely want to give him less work than they have been giving him. >> You list these Bentley the Ford. Becoming something. Also, it will become push comes to shove impossible. >> It is as irrelevant as the 49ers wanting to take workload off of Christian accounts. >> Exactly. >> So-- >> You're not able to do it. >> It is, you know, obviously, when you see a report like that, it might scare you and you have to make a decision with John the Taylor. And I think there are-- we talked about this division. There are scary things about John the Taylor. >> Mm-hmm. >> One is the fact that he's been dominant and then not, and then dominant again. Like you do have variables with how often this team is leading games, whether the offense is moving. >> He's much better in wins, and this is a-- that's a tough division. If they don't win as many games as expected, then it could be a down year for John of the Taylor. But when this news came out, I went to the ultimate draft kit, went to my team by team rankings. I wanted to take a look and see-- because I believe it. I believe that they do want to look at that workload, and I looked at what I had John of the Taylor down for, which was already less than he had last year. And I couldn't move it at all. I'm like, there's no-- I just looked at the depth, and I'm like, not going to happen. >> Yeah. When it's DJ Giddens competing with Seth McGowan to be the backup, and they still don't know who it is. >> Yeah. >> You're like someone. >> Yeah. Someone show me something. >> I'm not putting a bunch into this, but John of the Taylor already has red flags. I think I mentioned last week. >> Who are the biggest free agent running back still of it? Like Najee. >> Okay. >> Najee arrived in Indianapolis. Would you care? >> Yeah. >> What? >> Achilles. >> Yeah. I mean, they love that. Daniel Jones. You know. >> A little bit easier for a quarterback. >> I don't know who all's-- I mean, you could maybe make a move for Camera, not a free agent. >> I'm trying to say, Kareem Hunt, Joe Mixon, Nick Chubb. >> Kareem Hunt. >> I don't really care that much. >> Kareem Hunt, just because he just scores touchdowns. >> Yeah. >> So, if you take away some goal line work, that's a problem. But there's no one-- I don't think there's anyone hanging out who can destroy the depth chart. >> All right. Well, we want to kick this off right away with the AFC West breakdown. There's a lot to talk about. I want to make sure we don't miss anything. So, we'll take a quick early break and come back with the last AFC-Divisional breakdown. All right, let's get into it. >> Let's get divisional. >> All right, Broncos, Chargers, Chiefs and Raiders. It is a fun division for fantasy and-- man, questions to be answered. The Chiefs before last year, six and 11 season, by the way, had gone 35 and three against the AFC West in the Mahomes era. That is insane. That record is insane. You basically had an L. If you face the Chiefs during his entire tenure before last year, the NFL taking L's. >> Yeah, that's true. I mean, last year, the Broncos, 14 and three, Chargers, 11 and six, Chiefs were six and 11. And the Raiders were three and 14. >> Yeah. >> It was fun. Come on. >> Yeah, it was. >> It was a nice reprieve. >> Yes. >> From like, okay, a breath of fresh air and get something different. That's great. >> Be good again. >> I don't care. >> Sure. >> We got to enjoy last year. >> What's crazy is when I think back the last year, the Chiefs season really went, you know, it went sour, eventually it felt like they knew they were not going to make the playoffs. They kind of shut people down, my homes got injured and they just kind of forgot the second half of the year, but really, like, I didn't remember until recently when I was preparing for this. I was like, my home's only missed the last two games. Right. It was a whole season. Yeah. Well, we'll, uh, we'll talk extensively about what happened and what you think is going to happen. But we get to start respectfully with the division winner, the 14 and three Denver Broncos, 11 and two in one score games, which, oh boy. If you want to talk about the chiefs again, really quickly. Last year, the chiefs were 12 and oh, or two years ago, they were 12 and oh in one score games. They went one and nine last year. So it just shows you that is the most volatile of stats. Now, if you had to ask me what, what makes you great at one score games, I would say a defense, the likes of the Denver Broncos and a head coach likes a Sean Payt. Yes. However, a lot of what happened in Denver last year was, you know, there was a lot of makeup put on the, the face of the offense. Let's put it that way. Like they were not, they were bad. Good looking. Um, because when you look at the, the, the metrics, they were dead in, they're in the middle, 15th and points per game. Fake. And, and fake that you think that numbers fake. Yeah. I think that numbers fake. I mean, it's like a number. No, I know. But I'm saying like, it's a statistical truth. I realized that. But like they put up 44 points against Dallas Cowboys. So it's like, oh, well, yeah. Okay. I see. Yeah. I'm saying the average points per game rank would be bad. Yeah. It would be like D plus C minus. Now the, the big part that stands out to me, a couple of things on this offense and I really, really want to talk about it because there is a temptation for me to make bonics. Am I guy this here? He's one of the players that when I went into my projections, I really, really look at what's going on. I love Sean Payton. They're, they're the only team who, uh, I don't look. No, no. Hold on. Hold on. Hold on. Hold on. I don't think the caro is on me, but my eyes went wide. We got to get that because when he said that, like Clip that he loved, Andy loves Sean Payton. I heard it here. I've made a horrible man. Fantastic. You have bad mouthed this man for the last four years. I hate Sean Payton, the man that I love Sean Payton, the fantasy producing head coach who I trust to make the right play. But that's not how I'm going to know that I wouldn't. Yeah. That's not what I heard. Falcon fly high. So let me, if I can possibly return to my poem, um, the temptation with bonics is that I love, I love the team. I think they're going to be a successful team. I think they're going to threaten for the division. And they're the only team returning 100% of their carries and targets from 2025. So they're bringing back this offense and then you just add to the offense, right? You bring back everybody and then you add Jay Lomato, who is an elite, like yards after catch guy. And this was an offense that struggled tremendously with getting the ball down the field. They had the lowest yards per attempt in the history of the national football league for a 14 plus one team. So this is what I'm saying, where there was a lot of makeup thrown on the offense. I don't think Sean Payton is satisfied. I do think that there is tremendous risk for bonics. Like if he falls on his face with all these weapons, right? There's not going to be an excuse when you have one of the best offensive lines in the league. Like he was sacked half as much. Maybe the best. Yeah. I mean, he was sacked half as much as Justin Herbert half like pressures, half like you've been given like Sean Payton is not a patient man. It's one of the reasons I hate him. So you hear that Jay? I did not. But he is not going to have you got the best defense. You've got all these elite weapons. You've got a great offensive line. And if you cannot complete passes in this offense and get it done, I'm telling you, if he falls on his face and starts throwing picks all year long, you're going to have a question about bonics. The good thing for him is everything is set up for him. And so for me, he laughed a lot on the table last year. And you're like, are you ready to come in here with all of those advantages and deliver? Because if you do, if you go in and throw four, five more touchdowns than you did last year and reduce your turnovers a little bit, sure. You're going to be an elite fantasy option. I would agree with you that the rope seems like it's a done deal as like a future franchise star, but it really could go the other way. Now, obviously that depends on him. If he comes out and proves it, he's good. Great. The first six weeks of the Broncos season is they start on the road in Kansas City, then the Jacksonville Jaguars, then the Rams, then the Niners, then the chargers, then the Super Bowl champion. So that's that's reason. That is not to make him a my ex unbelievably hard games. They are only favorite in one, which is wild for a team that just won. That's why 14 games. They return everybody plus a couple extra pieces. They really didn't lose much. And to be favorite in one of their first six games, it's tough sledding. And their defense is crazy is unbelievable. So I think they're, I guess my opinion of of the Broncos offensively. When I went back and I watched Bonix film and I watched specifically, you know, you talk about the average depth of target being bad because, you know, he wasn't able to put some of that. If you can sit in the pocket as long as he did for sure, but he did not have the weapons as much as I love my man Troy Franklin. They needed Waddle. And when I when I was watching Bonix, what I left with was dead gum, it they need, they need a wide receiver like Waddle. So I do think Waddle could really unlock this offense, but it will be tough sledding for a, you know, if you want to draft players here, you're going to have some, some tight games that I think this team will rightfully rely on their defense to start the year. So Mike, the question to you is whether you believe Bonix will step up into what he should be for fantasy because despite all of our, the eye tests and the issues he had last year in disastrous performances on Thursday night football at home where he completed 150 yards and a touchdown against the hapless Raiders. He was still the quarterback six in counting stats at the end of the year. Well, he did throw the ball more than anyone in the league, which is so 612 with 10. So the, you know, it's got to remember what happened with which also, you know, Bonix is also coming off of, uh, of injury, you know, we do have that. You have the Davis Web, the OC is now calling plays like that's an official thing. When JK Dobbins got hurt, it was a huge problem for this offense. And they went like the, the pass attempts, that's because of, of JK Dobbins because they, you know, he gets hurt. You're hoping that RJ Harvey a seconder pick can step up and be the guy he could not. RJ Harvey was fine for fantasy because he was scoring a bunch of touchdowns and he can get it done in the receiving game. But as of right now where he is in his career, he's nowhere close to Dobbins and they knew it and they completely like they went to a very pass heavy offense. I'm with you, Jason of this team needed someone. And I think the addition of jail and water is, is huge. I, I think that water still has it last year on a per route basis, still, still elite, um, you know, yards per route run at 2.42, Cortland Sutton who was out there running, I mean, more routes than almost anyone in the, in the league was at 1.85 yards per route run as your top option. That's not, that's not good enough. That's not good enough. So you go out and you get water. I am very interested by the Denver Broncos, because I think everyone is either priced appropriately or at a value. I've talked all off season. JK Dobbins is one of my favorite picks. I don't, I don't get the discrepancy between Dobbins and RJ Harvey and ADP when you can get the starter in the middle of the seventh round around there. And Waddle in the back of the fourth, not a top 20 wide receiver at the moment, he can easily finish top 15, the way that I see him, the way that he can match up with Bonix. So, and, and then the potential for Bonix himself to bounce back and going at QB 15 seems egregiously low for what he is able to do. And not that he's, he's not the, the, the cheat code mobile quarterback, but he'll give you, you know, he can give you three hundred, three hundred, four hundred, but he rushes rookie year, three 56 last year. I don't know. Yeah, I don't know from the beginning of my well, well, heard him or not. But regardless, he was rookie year, quarterback seven last year, quarterback six adds Jalen Waddle. And now he's being drafted as quarterback 15. He's certainly a value, uh, Waddle. That's just a matter of what do you believe in in Waddle? He's appropriately priced. We're all fans of JK Dobbins. That seems like a very mispriced running back in the draft. Love that the one guy that I can't get myself to draft ever. And when I, when I charge a Harvey, isn't it? Well, yeah, but no, that wasn't bringing up. No, Corlan Sutton, Corlan Sutton, you know, Waddle shows up. And it's like, well, I would never. Oh, I, but Corlan Sutton was the wife of some of 13 two years in a row. And he's on, he's the Ramandre of that team. Yes. It's what I just popped into my head. It was like, you, you don't know how to draft the guy that is solid, but isn't the spectacular one. Yeah, he's not going to go out there. The thing is, is there's no chance he really wins you a fantasy championship. So do you want to Sutton? Okay, that's a great, I think Sutton has more opportunities for touchdowns. Interesting. Corlan Sutton right now being drafted around the seventh round, I received a 35. So I'm, I'm looking at trying to get a fresh view here of ADP. Dude, Harvey has plummeted. - It does work. - Was that our fault? - I mean, we're not the only ones who are breaking down Harvey. - Who are football last year. - But like, on Underdog right now, Harvey's 31. - Was he gonna get to a place now where we're like, - It's almost impossible to make the case for like-- - Please don't do that. - Here's the problem, he had everything in front of him. - Yeah. - And now it's like, how do you possibly get the amount of work where he wasn't as good as we wanted him to be? With Jonah Coleman there, if Dobbins goes down again, which he does every year, Jonah Coleman is now present. - I agree with him. - And so all of a sudden-- - And I think Coleman becomes the thumper. - Yeah, and so the best ball case for our Jay Harvey is a tough one now. - Right. - For what it's worth, after those initial six games, it is a juicy stretch for Denver. They get their favorite in the next eight matchups. And we're talking seven and a half, eight and a half, nine and a half in some of them. So maybe that's the redemption period of the year if they have some hard fought games in the first half. So, you know, we've talked about Waddle. We've talked about Bonix. We can talk about Dobbins and Coleman and RJ Harvey. I think we know that Peyton is willing to be kind of fluid at the position and give a lot of guys carries. When Bade and McLaughlin were getting opportunities on this team, we kind of rolled our eyes in the back of our head, but he's willing to do whatever it takes to get, you know, production. So that could mean Coleman getting more snaps. It gets off to a hot start. It could mean it could, but like Dobbins was great last year, especially when you factor in where you were drafting him. I mean, the first five weeks of last year, not under 11 fantasy points, running back 19 was his worst finish. Has a couple duds after that, but he just, he's a strong player. And here's how they, here's how they used him. The running back attempts of the running back rush share for Dobbins last year. Just his game looks 73%, 70%, 85%, 52, 80, 78, 78, 65, 83, 82. It really was hit, it was his role. And I do think that that's how they're gonna start this year, which is why we all think he's a value right now. But Andy's right in the past, Peyton has certainly been fine with a three headed time share. Coleman is very good. He's a rookie that we all really loved. Fell a little bit in the draft, still good draft capital. But, you know, if he gets the opportunity, I think he, he is the path for Dobbins to be a bad pick. Sure. I don't, Dobbins isn't a foolproof pick. He just, he looks like a very strong value right now. He doesn't get the receiving work to be a league winning type of player. But this could be a top half offense. And Dobbins could get a bunch of rushing touchdowns. And then the, the trio of, sorry, Jay, the trio of Pat Bryant, Sutton, and Waddle, is that that's a strong wide receiver crew, in my opinion, which if you're in on Bo-Nix. Kevin Ingram's there. Yeah, he's just, he's just there. What, one, one finished in the top 10 last year. Is there any, is there any chance that it's not Bo-Nix's fault? And it's that stupid Sean Peyton's fault? He is dead last and pre-stamp motion in the entire NFL. Yeah, we just talked about that last week. No, we don't mind it being an old Kermud Janine. That's a stick in the mud suck face. Nice. I've got so much ground to make up. You don't even know so much ground to make up. Galee, I'll probably have to make fun of Kevin James at some point during this show. Well, just by association. Yeah, I mean, it might change what Davis Webb actually call on the plays and being more involved. We'll, we'll see. Hopefully they have more pre-stamp motion play action with this offensive line. Any other Denver Broncos stuff you want to talk about? Nope. No, I would say overall slightly above neutral for me on the fantasy outlook of this. Yeah, I don't see any of them. I don't see any of them as real league winners, but I'm fine with just about everybody at cost. The Los Angeles Chargers went 11 and 6 last year. Here we go. Yeah. I'm hot. I think this is, this is such a. This team, it seems like every year we have. Yeah, that's what it feels like. I mean, how many this, this is the year, her bros, how many? This is the year. This is how many a broken clock is right twice a day. I find my conviction waning. Oh, no. My optimism is that in all times. Hi, like I'm exciting. I mean, I'm excited at the potential when you put Mike McDaniel and Herbert in Harbaugh and Hampton and, and Vlad and all these guys together. But it does feel like a team or something just goes wrong on a yearly basis. They were six and two and one score games. They were projected to win nine and a half last year. They beat that despite an offense that ranked 18th in yards per game. 24th and points per game. That's why Greg Roman got the boot. G row got to go, got to go. And Mike McDaniel, we know that this is somebody that, you know, we talked about. He's in the top five, I think number one or two in, in most pre snap motion. Ray, you know how to get his best players open and get them into situations to succeed. It gives me a lot of optimism that he can do that with, you know, specifically Omari and Hampton putting him in a position to become an elite running back. And then lad Maconkey and Cooge to be really relevant weekly stars for your fantasy team, even in a place where you can kind of say, Hey, lad, he let you down. But maybe he can be redeemed by Mike McDaniel in this offense. Jason, I know you are a, a, a her bro, yes. Is this another year of, of, uh, not quite there? Or you think this is a fantasy relevant year for him as a quarterback? When it comes, when it comes to Justin Herbert, I believe in the, the talent of Justin Herbert, uh, he is very good. What he had to deal with last year with the offensive line was a nightmare. He finishes the quarterback nine. I don't look at him specifically as the fantasy piece I want from this team. I look at him as a really good quarterback that can move and often get a ton of scoring opportunities. Um, you know, he's not going to go out there and rush for 500 plus yards and get eight rushing. He could have wanted to, he's got the, he's got the physical capabilities. But with this offensive line with a healthy Hampton, um, Mike McDaniel there, I, I just, this looks to me like a team that's going to score a lot of points. The offensive line is the biggest thing for me because this is not a small change. In fact, I don't remember any, it may be last year what the bears did to their offensive line when they brought in Ben Johnson. They completely took their guards and center and just, well, they opened the vault. Yeah, they went from one of the worst to one of the best. I expect this year genuinely the charges offensive line to go from one of the worst in the NFL last year, maybe, maybe the worst as far as when they actually played the players who were healthy because their two stars were gone and then they added one of the best centers in the league this year. So you're telling me you get a derriere to pronounce his last name. No, I professional NFL center. Yes, I'll be, um, but you're talking about like a high end top five left tackle, right tackle and center that all were not really there last year. So, so to your point, and Theo Ash tweeted this out, like even whether it was Sean Slater who went out in the offseason devastating, when Joe Alt was active, they were top five in the NFL and EPA per play. So just having Joe Alt there, it really fell apart after that. He was hit double the amount of times his bone X, like I said earlier. I mean, that is, again, we've been here with Justin Herbert. I know Mike is like, we've always had a reason why the season didn't go right for him. The, the chargers are the equivalent, that's the last name, be at it. Be at it. I think it's, be at it, be at it, be at it. Be at it, be at it, be at it, get a fancy, be at this, be at this. No, no, no, okay with it. It's my, so the chargers lately are like, they are the equivalent of final destination. You just, you know, it's, you know, you're the, I know, you know, it's the catastrophe. It's, you will not escape it. Lightning strikes that team. I will say of, I have, I'm not, I'm not critical of, of Herbert's potential in the player. Just the herb rose hive of every, this is the year, this is the year of any of all the years. This is the most optimism I would share with those who are, or with the chargers. McDaniel helps a ton for that. Let's look. Car boss, just he's too old school for me. And so the fact that you get, I mean, you get polar opposites like a hard dog is as high tea. Do you think those two guys hear each other when they talk? Or they're just, they just take Daniel and then Harbaugh even hear each other. Them. Is it like a foreign language back and forth? Them being matched up together would be interesting television. But I am, I'm optimistic that this is finally the year that things get put together for Herbert. And we get back to what we saw with, what was that year two of him is Hampton is Hampton going to be an elite running back with the the ovens of the line you talked of yes i i i that's where i That's where I'm most excited like I love lad McConkey. I love her and I love Hampton, but I'm not a hundred percent sure that it's going to be lad on the field in two-eyed receiver sets, which they'll see a ton of 12 personnel and that's taken over the NFL. I see that this is a team that is I expect them to win more of their close games this year with Harbaugh and this offensive line. So to me the big winner of the offense that I can personally project is Hampton. I know they brought in Keaton Mitchell and he's an exciting back and some people are really really pretty poster Jason. Yeah, the wanted poster, but this is a guy who's not going to touch the ball ten times in the game Keaton Mitchell. I mean they're talking about getting him eight touches. That's the type of and they'll be valuable. They'll be good for the team, but I don't see him as someone that it's a reason to be afraid of Hampton. Also, you know, it's really fun to get off to a hot start in fantasy football, right? Good golly Miss Molly. What if I told you that they open the season against the Cardinals and Raiders? That's pretty solid. I mean you're telling me that when you're basically a double-digit favorite two games in a row Hampton's not going to get off to a hot start. I really like. I mean that is a that is an incredible start to the year. Quentin Johnson will be out there. That is. But then it's road versus the Bills, Road, Seahawks, Denver, Kansas City right after that. Yeah, I mean, all teams in this division will unfortunately have to play the division twice. That's the biggest argument against any of these teams having in great years that you have a tough division with three teams that could easily win the, you know, win the whole thing. I mentioned Quentin Johnson. He should be out there all the time, even in the 12 personnel sets. That is an encouragement for him. But there is a lot of optimism around Makonki. Yeah. And I do trust McDaniel putting him into position to succeed. I trust McDaniel as well. Lad Makonki is shaping up as one of the, I think the most difficult things. Well, because everything makes sense. Just like everything made sense last year for when a when a second round pick goes 82 for 11, 50 and seven. Like, that's a, that's a guy who's on a rocket ship to be a superstar in the NFL. And he's so good. And he is so good. I mean, he can just destroy his own. He gets open. He has a really high football IQ. And then they bring in Keenan Allen. And he's like essentially benched for Keenan Allen. Keenan, I mean, that's, that's another point though heading into this year. 22% of targets gone with no Keenan Allen 122 total targets to Keenan Allen that are gone. Now I will, but I will go into the season full of that they were there were like no problem. We're just deleting that because he's back in the fourth round. Yeah, he's being drafted right now as the wide receiver 18. I think that's probably about where he finishes. But he does have the talent and upside and opportunity to smash that now is just about say I'm I'm until Keenan Allen has a team this year. I'm going to half assume half worry that he's going to be a charger. He's just going to sign late and then ruin lad. So if you're doing early drafts right now, I don't know about that. But I huge, I don't think huge has the same upside as lad because he doesn't have the same talent, but he's being drafted as the wide receiver like 49. He has the last two years he's been in the 30s as a wide receiver. I'm super happy to take a shot on him. Lee. Are you still in on Gadsden as a breakout candidate at tight end with the 12 personnel with the fact that a joke who was added, but really faded down the stretch last year and seems he's on the back of his of his career. Yeah, as much I was really bullish on on Gadsden as soon as we finish the UDK stats, but it certainly hurts him to have the joker there. However, as a last round type of pick, that's that's where I'll go. I mean, we talked about this all the time. All right. Talk about all the time. I'm not taking those middle tight ends. I just want shots at those late guys, whether it's you we brought up Dallas Goddard. We brought up some other guys. I think Gadsden is one of those where you take a swing and it just might be a really, really talented. I mean, his rookie season was awesome. He should be on the field of time. He shouldn't be leaving the field very much. All right. We'll take a break and we'll talk about the 6 and 11 Kansas City Chiefs. All right. The last the last season for the Chiefs, that was a rough one. 6 and 11. They were projected to win 11 and a half games. They went one in nine and one score games. They went O and eight against playoff teams. And then to just put a, you know, be the capstone of the season, you lose your half a billion dollar man to a torn left ACL, waiting the season. All the recovery reports right now are very, very positive. But then you also had, you know, Rashi Rice had missed the first six weeks last year with the suspension, then missed three weeks with a concussion. He had his own sort of drama this off season again. Like there are, there are a lot of questions about this offense in terms of the weapons for Patrick Mahomes. When Mahomes will be back as a, you know, fully loaded version of himself. Last year, they only had four offensive plays of 20 plus yards that resulted in a touchdown. That is the fewest in the NFL. It's the most opposite of what we used to have in Kansas City with the likes of Tyree Kill and the big plays. There were 20 at the points per game, 20 at the yards per game. You mentioned that he only missed two games. This was an offensive just plain didn't work. It was a running game. They didn't work at all. No, not at all. And so, you know, you look at the entirety of the chiefs and there's only one player on that team that I have tremendous, a good amount of confidence with producing this year. And is that Rashi Rice or is that Ken Walker? Okay. It's Ken Walker. It is. I just don't, I think it was a definitive statement by the team to go out and invest in him. And again, that's not me saying he's the number one running back or anything like that. It's just that I don't he'll say that. I see Rashi Rice's production, my home's production, Kelsey's production, other ancillary weapons vacillating all over the place. I would agree with you other than Rashi. Maybe, maybe, maybe rice is the right rice to me. He may vacillate between active and enact. That's true. That's true. Whenever you, whenever you really always have to lead with when he's on the field, when he's on the field, he's great. When he's on the field, you know, okay, that, that is an important distinction. That being said, most of his not being on the field has been suspension over injury and right now does not seem they've already suspended him for what he had a problem with. We haven't heard any news or buzz about the fact that his parole came up, costing him games. So as of right now, my expectation is that he's there week one. He is coming off of his own injury. However, it always takes remembering how many fantasy points he scores when he is on the field. How many targets he gets from Mahomes? Mahomes last year was the running game. He would scramble. He would drop back. He couldn't find anybody if, if rice wasn't there and he would run. That was really what saved his fantasy production. I don't expect that to happen coming off of a late ACL. He's going to be dumping it to Rashi Rice all the time. Rashi Rice last year in the games played eight games played all with Mahomes. Who's on pace for 165 targets from Mahomes? Double digit touchdowns, 1200 yards, 112 receptions. That's, that's top three wide receiver type of numbers. Is that what you truly believe he would be over the course of an entire season? Yes, I truly believe over a course of, if he plays 17 in Mahomes, play 17 for this version of the team, we've got an old Kelsey. You can run now. Ancillary pieces. I think that helps. I do too. I think I think Walker really, really helps this team. And generally, I'm on the team of a running back edition can't really come in and save an offense. They, they were awful. They're, we mentioned how bad the ground game was. But so last year, as a team, one 20 plus yard run. That's what the Kansas City chiefs had. Ken Bone Walker, even in limited snaps last year, had 10 by himself. Like Walker is a piece of, of an offense that this team has not had for a long time. And I think him being a, a true threat, an explosive threat. Where's not like, oh boy, it's cream hunter. Pacheco. Okay. Fine. They're not, defenses are not housing anything. Defenses are not worried about those guys breaking off a huge run. Ken Walker is one of the players of every time he goes to the edge, you're like, oh, someone better tackle him. And I really think that opens things up for rice. And I, Rishi Rice, the wide receiver, that's just a different conversation of how good is he actually, how good are his routes. I don't care. He has, he has the mind meld with my homes. And so I will just lean on that. When I look at, he is obviously a dangerous pick. His risk rating in the UDK is going to be plenty high because he might just do something in the middle of the season that jails him. Yeah. You know, but if I look at where he's going, it's like, okay, Chris Olave, George Pickens, Rishi Rice, T Higgins, Tatt, there's only one of those guys that could finish like they'll want the number one or top three wide receiver. They're all good wide receivers, I mentioned, but if you're really wanting to swing for the fences and get a fantasy championship, I could see Rishi Rice being at the end of the year like he was one of the best. Yeah, it's wild because you know, I like and Patrick Mahons was something to prove after last year. I do like that. Eric BNME is taking over the offense from Matt Nagy, and we're taking over in the complimentary sense to Andy Reed. - No, that BNME, this is great news. - Maybe. - That was a BNME or was a Tyree kill? - Okay, that's a fair question, but we know that the offense with Matt Nagy is the OC over the last couple of years. We're like, where the heck to Patrick Mahons go? What is going on here? Like the high flying good times Mahons, you remember? That's where BNME was on the stage. - Did you guys have a question for you Mike? - Okay. - So coming up here really soon, we're gonna be talking to Jackson Dark, Camp Scataboo, we're going into the fanatics fan fest. How much crap should we talk about Matt Nagy? - To their faces. - To their faces. I mean, obviously we're gonna talk infinite behind their backs, but should we in that moment bring up our disdain or should we just be gentlemen? 'Cause I keep vastly. - Well, you have to do, oh, he just, we have many of these there. - We have so much. - I would like you to find a way to ask, who was it that JSN gave the answer about the offensive coordinator? Walden? - No. - Shane Walderin. - Walderin, yes. - Find a way to get an answer like that. - Well, but he's still on the team. He has a nice-- - It would be next year when he's gonna be able to say that. - Last year, Kansas City, 25th and pre snap motion, 30th and play action rate. You can't play action when you have no threat of the run. Ken Walker gives them a threat of the run. I laugh at the player subtraction list for the chiefs to see her because it is a laundry list of players we talked about like 10 years ago, Kareem Hunt, Hollywood Brown and Juju, three of the names departing along with Pacheco. They didn't-- - The Star has set. - I will say this, they didn't, they didn't, yeah, the Star has set. They didn't really add anybody in like, other than Ken Walker, they didn't add everybody in free agency in the draft that are offensive weapons. It's not something they invested in. They are gonna be a very good defensive team. It lends itself to, look, and we, like Patrick Mahomes coming back from NACL, you wanna protect him, you wanna get the ball out of his hands, you wanna have a running game that protects him. That could be part of the recipe to start the season. They have a wonderful first six weeks, favored, favored, favored, favored, by week favored. That's nice to see. Two home games to start the year, then you go on the road against Miami-Los Vegas. So yeah, I mean, I'm excited to see if I can become a Ken Walker fan on a weekly basis. - Brother, this is best case scenario for everyone. It doesn't matter what side of the walker argument you will run. This is because if he fails this year, though us Walker truth is we're gonna lock the door. - Step out of the journey. - We will be done. We will admit, we were wrong. But if he goes to this team and dominates. - Oh man, we're never gonna hear the end. - Proof all but hey. - Michael get a new tattoo. - All welcome on the express. - You care about worthy and Kelsey. - And Bone Walker. - Kelsey more than worthy. I think worthy and Thornton with the fact that Ken. - You guys saw the worthy video, right? - Yeah. - You know, yeah, still wrote it though. - We're a tight corners. - Oh man. - That looked like some thick grass, man. - Why did, why? - Why post that? - Why was that posted? - Yes. For those who haven't seen it, worthy was running the most ridiculous. I don't even, you can't call it a row. - He's running circles. - He's running big wide circles. - He is just. - And it looks worse than, I would expect my kids to have had it. - As not a professional wider seeer, perhaps something's going on there that we don't know about. But optically, why are you posting that? - Yeah. I agree. I think that the deep threats in worthy and Thornton will have their games, but it's tough for me to want to draft them because I don't think they will be reliable enough. Kelsey is another one of those guys that, I mean, look, he's got it. - Kelsey has at the end of the drafts. - Again, some of these, - Kelsey can be top five again. - Not everybody that we mentioned in this like handful of late round targets at tight end will be there at the end of the draft. But for sure, some of them will be because there's enough of those tier of guys where they're just undrafted. And maybe Kelsey goes a little earlier 'cause he's first belt hall of fame and people hope for the upside. But when he slips in a draft of those double digit rounds, - Le Porta for your team or Kelsey? - Like I would much rather have Kelsey in the 12th or 10th than Le Porta in the 5th. - Le Porta's going in the 5th? - No. - No, but I would much rather have him. I don't know. Where is Le Porta going right now? - Six or seven. - Kelsey in the 15th and Le Porta in the 1st. I'll tell you that. - Yeah. - No, dude, me too. Me too. - Let me look at that. - With my mind for a second. I bet he's going in the 9th. - E is 8th. - Okay. The Raiders. Last team we get to talk about in the AFC West. Projected in total last year was six and a half. They ended up with the worst record in the league. Despite having, according to Jason League's best quarterback, in Geno Smith. - Only comparatively to the last one. - I know, I know. I just didn't have him fun with it. Two and five and one score games. They won Week 1 against the Patriots, which is wild. The Patriots go to the Super Bowl. - Oh, Week 1. - In Foxborough. - Week 1. - I mean, beyond that, they were two and 14. They're win total this year, five and a half. So they're only favorite in three of their 17 games. They were the worst offense in football last year. They were one of the worst defenses in football and you have a head coaching change because Pete Carroll. Goodbye. It was fun. But the flavor in that bubble gum, it's fine. - It was really gone. - Yeah. - Cubiac though. I mean, this was, this was. - It's exciting. - It was the time to capitalize. You go and you do what you did in Seattle. It was impressive. And he gets the head coaching gig. They add Kurt Cousins. They obviously drafted Fernando Mendoza at 101. - They added an elite ed rusher in Max Crosby. - Yeah, that dress. - From the Ravens. - Yeah. - Two first round picks. - Yeah. - Do you realize by the way that like, you know that Mendoza's not under contract? - I did not know that. - He hasn't. - What's? - Yeah, go. - That's why he's out on that. - Go Google, Alaskan. - Yes it is. - You're saying he hasn't signed? - I do not believe he has, I believe they thought he was going to sign. - I see, he's signed. One day ago, Marcus Allen talking about the Fernando Mendoza situation, the fact that he is not in the building. - He was supposed to. - Yes. - This is what I'm saying. It's been very under publicized. - It's been under publicized because it will be irrelevant. - Well, it's relevant to your snaps and your OTAs and your chance to get reps on this team and your confidence from your head coach. - I would agree. The difference, and I think-- - This is why he was on a cruise with me. - Right, from our perspective, everyone expects Kurt Cousins to start the season. And everyone expects Mendoza to finish the season. - I believe that's what's gonna happen no matter what. But I just, I didn't realize it. I feel like it hasn't been talked about because these are normally slotted situations. And the money's pretty set. So then you're talking about things like signing bonus differentials or something? - Yeah, there's always weird things. - And I'm not the expert on what's going on 'cause this is sort of breaking news the last week. - I, my, it also looks like their fourth round pick McCoy hadn't signed. - Well, they are the Raiders. - Yeah. - So then you wouldn't have got certain figured out. So it is, it is gonna be Cousins to start this year. Which-- - I think it's good. - Cousins loves to throw the football to the running back position. That's the thing that jumps out to me. Like if you wanna get off to a hot start, I'm already in love with Dash and Gentie this year. But give me a professional quarterback that's already played and some, like there are just metrics rookie quarterbacks don't hit. They don't hit certain touchdown totals. They don't hit certain yardage totals. The, the pass attempts per game are gonna be lower. I like that it's Cousins to start the year. - I do too. We've talked a lot about the research that we've done, Mike's done on the fact that pass catching weapons don't usually do well in fantasy with a rookie quarterback. So if you give half a year of Cousins and half a year with Mendoza, and specifically the second half of the year with Mendoza, obviously they're gonna be better than having to start the season slow. - I mean, that's, that was it. There's some risk of Ash and Gentie if you're saying that Mendoza's inevitable. - Yes. - It's just at what point, you know, they have, there's been whispers of they want an entire year of red-shirting. - That'd be great. - That would be great. - Would you be able to, you're not gonna do that if you're too, and, you might, you might. - But like at what point? - If the season's lost, you also have to make that decision about, what I was getting to is I will always be on the side of, I'm worried about rookie quarterbacks, they're skill players, 'cause rookie quarterbacks just don't produce as much. - If you have a switch halfway through, and now it's like, - Bowers. - Genties wanting your guys, and you're heading into the playoffs, you're like, you want, if you have a down first half and an elite second half, that's so much better. - Yeah, I mean, I, I, I see what you're saying, but I think that when we look, and maybe we can do a study on, on second half of the year, rookie, you know, and they're receiving options in the second half of the year, 'cause it's very, very common where we come in and talk about a second year quarterback, and we say, let's throw out the first month of their play. Let's, let's look at the second half of the year, and it's significantly better. Makes just all the sense of the world. - If he didn't get a first half. - It's his first half, if he's taken over at the back half. - I mean, obviously it depends on what week he goes in, but I don't think he makes it all the way to the fantasy playoffs before he gets his first shot. - I don't like, it is interesting, because both of the elite titans that you want the most on your team this year, do have quarterback change variables built in. - Sure. - If Bowers gets off to a rock solid start, - Bowers is gonna be awesome. - He is gonna be awesome, but you are gonna have, look, we spent the entire time talking about the Cardinals when we broke them down, what the target totals and the numbers look like for Tramick Bride with Jacobi Berset. And the Cardinals are a team projected to win almost nothing. There's a chance they take a shot on Carson Becker, somebody the second half of the year, or the second cone, you know, the last third of the year. - That would be surprise if Carson Becker doesn't get some starts. - So that is something that's built into both these guys. If Mendoza takes over for the last third of the year, you're gonna be underdogs in all those games, you're getting your first snaps, you're gonna put pressure on the quarterback, it is gonna be a variable there for Bowers and Tramick Bride that are like, McBride's numbers were so outlandish with Berset, we're like, oh, well, they'll just be good with somebody else. It's, how many touchdowns does Mendoza throw? How many touchdowns does Carson Becker throw for Arizona? That's the concern. McBride's always been great. It was the touchdowns that destroyed him. I do not, it doesn't stop me from drafting Bowers because who else are you gonna take if you want elite production that tied in. But I know that Caleb Williams is gonna be the starter for the entire year for Colson and Lovelins. Daniel Jones, Barring Injury is gonna start the entire year for the Indianapolis Colts. It's just something to keep in the back of your head. - Yeah, that's fair. I think that the talent of Bowers and McBride just usurp the quarterback issues, especially Bowers because, well, Carson Becker, I mean, Carson Becker, if he gets starts, that's gonna be really, really tough sledding. Mendoza's the number one overall pick for a reason. Maybe he doesn't throw as many touchdowns, which nerfs the true upside. But the number one target for this team is Bowers. I mean, by the widest margin ever, you don't have that same certainty with McBride. Like, maybe Marv becomes the number one target this year or whatever. - I did laugh at your statement about that they don't, we did research on how like pass catchers don't do good with rookie quarterbacks. And then the Raiders like, yeah, so we won't have any. We decided we'll just not have any other than Bowers. We're just not gonna worry about a nailer in Tucker Investion. - I actually love the Raiders here because their defense is bad and their consolidation of talent is perfect. You have Bowers, you have Gentie, and you have no one else to even consider looking at or-- - For fantasy. - You don't even have someone else, in my opinion, to consider thinking about considering. Like, I'm not gonna be worrying about a nailer. - They're a tier below consideration, correct. - So, I really like both Bowers and Gentie. They're going to have so much volume and they have so much talent that that combination, when you're that good and you get that much work, yeah, it's gonna be tough sledding. Yeah, you're gonna be playing down and you might not score as many touchdowns, but you're just gonna volume your way to fantasy points. - Mike, you know where Jason and I stand on our love of Gentie going into the year, but does the upside of Gentie and that workload outweigh the risk to you for a team that's projected to only win five games? - So Gentie is like, I'm a few spots behind you guys 'cause I just, I think he's, the situation is risky. I have no problem, Ash and Gentie, the player is awesome. You know, he did handle a huge workload last year, which is somehow it's an ability. I mean, I don't know how to quantify it, but there's just guys that can do it and there's guys that cannot. He, you know, when a play actually gets going, he's electric, he will force a mistackle. I think, you know, they took Mike Washington, Junior, just size speed freak, they took him in the fourth round. The way that Cubes handled Charbs and Ken Walker gives me at least a little bit of pause that a backup might be in there more than you want. So it's, I think he is a sketchy pick at ADP where I can see everything going right and he's just truly, truly a dominant player because he's the talent wins out. Like, do you think he could lead the league in rushing? Yard? No, not in rushing. And if you're saying like yards from scrimmage, 'cause maybe he has to catch a whole bunch of passes. I got you. You know what I mean? I'm like, you can't lead the league in rushing. I like that start to the year, man. Chargers on the road, Saints on the road, Chiefs, New England and Buffalo. With their situation and they're going to win, I'd be like, let's, let's say they have a great year. They win six games. Like this, the first overall pick to winning six games with a quarterback switch. That's a solid season. You can't lead the league in rushing with that. That'll be a good. Kyle, that's an interesting trivia question. Like what's the worst record for a Russian leader? I wonder if you could get it. Get that stat for us before the show ends. I don't know if he's that talented. I think, I think two things left to consider. We saw last year Kurt Cousins. When he took over, Drake London was injured for most of those games. B. John, and Kyle Pits, the tight end in the running back. The consolidation for Kurt Cousins was unbelievable. 106 target pace for B. John during those final games. Pits was great. So you've already seen, like when I watched Kurt Cousins film, he has lost it. He does not, he does not have the deep ball. He's not, I love Kurt Cousins. We've always been a big stand of Kurt Cousins. Back in the Vikings day, we felt like he was so under respected, but he is not that guy anymore. But to the tight end and running back, you know, not the deep shots, those aren't gonna happen, but he's going to support these two phenomenally. And then the other thing that I don't think we've made enough big a deal about is the offensive change here. Clint Coupiak coming in is not just a good offensive mind coming in, sure he's replacing any napped situation where you had this weird nepotism with Pete Carroll hiring his two sons as like an offensive assistant and an offensive line coach and then ends up firing other people, but not as sons and it was just like, it was a really bad situation they were in and they're going to swing the pendulum to a really good situation. They still don't have the talent on the offensive line, but I believe that there will be, I mean, I really like those two players. I think, I mean, I would, I have no fears of either one at value, I think genty returns on value this year and I and Brock is so I must stand corrected as there was a player on a six-win team who led the league in rushing in 2010. In 2010, you want to guess? Oh, I could never. No, you couldn't, but his name's Aryan Foster, baby. Oh, you're dreamboat. That's that's how good Foster was. All right, Thursday show is a mock draft episode. You do not want to miss that one and then we'll start jumping into the NFC on Saturday. Yeah, get into the UDK. Jason is guaranteed a new feature that we're not sure is even going to be there. Update your app immediately and give us feedback. And let us know how those mock drafts are going at support at Fantasy Footballers.com. How in the world does a running back have 1,600 rushing yards, 16 rushing touchdowns? So he averaged over 100 yards per game on the ground and you're six in 10. How was that even possible? I wonder what they were in one score games, Mike. Probably pretty crappy. All right, that is going to do it for the day show. Shout out to Aryan Foster, my main man. Maybe we'll get one of those years from genty. Goodbye. [MUSIC PLAYING] Thank you for listening to another episode of the Fantasy Footballers podcast. Join our Fantasy Football community on JoinTheFoot.com. 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