Latest / Let's Talk Football - Married Edition / Draft Values & Busts + Another Achane Debate - 2026 Fantasy Football Ep. 07
Transcript
- Amanda: What is up, guys? Welcome back to another episode of Let's Talk Football Married Edition, your new favorite place for all things fantasy football. NFL hot takes, questionable opinions, and just enough marital disagreements to keep things interesting. We are your hosts, Amanda Andrew. We're recording this episode on August 24th. And God, I think we say it every C or every episode, but like yes, fantasy football drafts are upon us, and some of you Oz included, have a fantasy football draft coming up this weekend. I know a lot of people do them over Labor Day, so it is, it's coming, guys. We're trying to pump out as many episodes as we can before your draft begins and before the season kicks off. And today, we've got values and busts. We're gonna talk about players we think are absolute steals and values in the draft, and some that we are labeling as big busts on the season that we just don't think are worth the value and. Full full disclosure, me and Drew do not agree on some of these. So it'll be fun to chat back and forth a little bit. But how you feeling today, Drew? I know we're coming off of a kid filled weekend that we are not transparently used to. Drew: Yeah, I'm absolutely exhausted. the weekend felt more tiring than work weeks do. we had three of our nephews this weekend and we've been watching him for I don't know what feels like four months, but I think it's actually only been three days so far. and we still have a couple more to go. But well we don't have children and boy this is exhausting. Also, boys are disgusting, Amanda: Disgusting. Drew: they're gross, they don't listen. They're just wild. Like just boys are a lot to handle and three of them under ten years old all at one time when you're not used to it is is a lot all at one time. Love to death. But really love my life choices. when you know when you're when when you're not used to having and whew. Amanda: Yeah. The central nervous system has been dysregulated for several days in a row now. And I have think I've assimilated to the chaos at this point. I'm just like, yeah, all right, I'm in. I got it. But it'll be a nice quiet escape here in a couple days when their parents come home and we can kindly not see them for several weeks. Anyways, let's get into news and updates from all the preseason crapola that's currently happening. Drew, kick us off with all of the updates. Drew: Yep. first one, it's pretty big one. Ash and Genty went down at practice. was not able to put any weight on it. they're saying it's a an ankle injury. we don't know the full extent of it yet. the early indications are that they don't think it's long term, meaning like full season or anything like that. Typically when you talk about ankles, you're A minimum of it's a high ankle, you're a minimum of three weeks before you can play. doesn't mean you're gonna be full strength by then. So that's one thing that I'm awaiting more information on, but I'm probably not willing to take him as high as he's going now if he's going into the season with an ankle injury. so keep keep an eye on that there. Makai Lemon back at full practice. He logged a full practice today, so that's good news. Unfortunately. Rookies who miss training camp, picking up a NFL playbook is very difficult. So any rookies that miss the the a large portion of training camp typically get off to a very slow start. I would probably expect this to to be very similar. not to mention that we're also getting positive reports out of Eagles camp on Dontavian Wicks, another receiver there. So again, he's got to slide pretty far for me to take him. Chuba Hubbard and Jonathan Brooks, Dave Kenalis, the Panthers head coach, came out and said that they're gonna go running back by committee in week one. So much like Chuba and Dowdle has been for the last year, Brooks and Chuba, it looks like it's gonna be that way this year. Jonathan Brooks is a guy that I'm I'm excited about later in drafts that if he does well, especially early in the season, you could see him take over a larger split. So and then the last one is very unfortunate. The Cleveland Browns have named Deshaun Watson their starting quarterback. So yay Amanda: There's that. Drew: to me and all of the Browns fans out there that look I they're gonna be terrible regardless, but I just it's not good news if you're a Browns fan. So but you know, had to say it. Amanda: Is a is anything a good like when's the last time you've genuinely got like good Browns news that actually panned out? Because like when you guys did get Deshaun Watson, y'all were on a high for a hot second and that was a fucking travesty. But when is the last time you legitimately got Browns news that you were like, Yeah, I'm really hopeful? Drew: I don't know, Odell Beckham Jr. maybe? Again, didn't didn't work out, but it was exciting. Like I like you gotta take the and has worked out part away, because like you still you still Amanda: Money Manzell, what do you g Drew: wanna no, no, no, that was that was a dumb pick. Like you you still gotta be hopeful when they make moves. You nobody knows if anything's gonna work out. What happens if Miles Garrett, who the Rams are real excited about getting, I mean, what happens if he ends up getting hurt a lot or something happens and he can't play? Like, I hope it doesn't happen, but Amanda: Don't speak that into existence. Drew: Your you're not gonna say that was a bad move if he ends up getting hurt. It's just things happen. But the last exciting thing to happen Amanda: I just think it's the curse of the Cleveland Browns. Drew: it's just not fun. Not fun at all. Anyway. Amanda: Not fun at all. All right, before we jump into the meat and potatoes of the episode, we're going to talk a little bit about handcuffing. So, goal is to really just get you familiar with what some of these words are before you go into draft day. And also some how we feel about them, right? Are they actually good things to be doing, when to use them? so handcuffing at its very basic Definition, right? Is basically handcuffing one player to another player based on injury. You typically tend to see this happen with running backs primarily. This tends to be the most popular place running backs get hurt a lot, obviously. And so you are basically taking the star player or the lead running back and handcuffing with their backup. I'm gonna have Drew kind of jump into a little bit of nuance around when you should be using it and what all of this kind of looks like. Drew: Yeah, so like Amanda said, it's picking a a star player's backup to be on your team. That way if the star player gets injured, you at least have their backup. So Christian McCaffrey and name whatever backup that he's had over the years, there's been a bunch of That's been a very common one. I I don't like it. I I never have liked it. I think it's a waste of a roster spot. one, you're just wasting the spot. in case someone gets injured. And for the most part, it doesn't really work out very well. Most of the time when a star player gets injured, the backup th they're a backup for a reason. They don't they can't take over the full workload and most of the time, they're they're less efficient. They score less points with less o with a with equal opportunity. And a lot of times the teams have to split that one role into multiple roles. So where Christian McCaffrey for most of his career, he'll be on the field for every down. He'll run early downs. He'll get red zone work. He'll do passing work. He does all of it, right? Well, he's one of the best running backs of our generation. So he can handle that. Most other running backs can't handle that. So then that one role will then get split into an early down running back role and a third down running back role. And then maybe a third running back becomes the goal line back and like you just don't get very much value out of it. So very rarely does it work out, and I would prefer to have situations where I think that one player can break through and become you know, the star. I would rather use that roster spot for that. situations where you absolutely do not want to use this is situations where you have split backfields. I don't get both pieces of that backfield. So we just mentioned Jonathan Brooks and Chuba Hubbard. You don't want both of them. You want one of them and hope that person becomes the lion share of that backfield. You don't want both of them because you'll never start both. You'll end up starting the wrong one, an injury. It just just don't do it, right? Or Blake Coram and Kyron Williams. Like both are gonna get work. Both are gonna play. You don't need both of them. What you want is one of them and to hope that they take over the backfield. So the only situations I'm looking at going into a draft for something like this would be like the Raiders. We just mentioned that Ashton Genty is a little banked up, it's got an ankle injury We also know that, assuming that it's just his ankle, that time timetable's not super long. So if I draft Genty, if I come away with him early in the draft, I'm gonna look at targeting Mike Washington later in the draft. He's the clear cut backup. He will get most of that work. And if Gente misses time, you have a player to play in his place for a week or two weeks. And then when Genty comes back, you don't need to keep Washington on the roster. You Put Genty back in your lineup and then you cut Mike Washington. So it's it's more clear cut and then you can go out and get, you know, another receiver, another running back from a different roster and and hope that it works out. So handcuffing to me is too safe of a play. You don't win championships by handcuffing. Amanda: Yeah. I think we watched it last year. A lot of people handcuffed James Conner last year. because, you know, injury risk, James Conner got hurt a lot. Well, he did get hurt. Well then that backfield was just a mess. It was Drew: Worthless. Yeah. Amanda: worthless. You could never predict who was gonna be the guy. It was basically your last ditch effort. He would they were always a guy on free agency that you could pick up from the Cardinals and put throw in and it might be his week and you might get good points from. It was just messy. So it just Drew: Mm-hmm. Amanda: didn't work. you want it to be clear cut. I think the only other I don't I don't even know if I would consider it technically a handcuff, but I guess it would be is let's say now George Kittle looks like he's coming back for week one, but let's say he didn't come back week one. Could you handcuff with Tangis as his backup tight end? 'Cause we saw that clear workload be distributed to Tanges when Kittle missed time last year. Drew: Yeah, you absolutely could. I that I wouldn't draft excuse me, I wouldn't draft Jake Tonges. You can get him off of waivers. Amanda: No, you could get off free age. I would wait until Kittle went on to IR for that first week or something and then bumped it back or not what is it? Not IR. Yeah. Drew: Not IR, but you could put him you could put him in your injured reserve spot on your team Amanda: Yes. Drew: the week of and then pick up tonges. So technically it would be a handcuff, but like if it if you're just doing it like the one week, you just don't really think of it like that 'cause like you're not gonna keep tanges on the team. You're also not going to pick up tonges if Kittle's playing, regardless if it's you know, Amanda: No. Drew: it comes out, Kittle's only gonna play fifty percent of the snaps. Okay, well I don't want any tight end from their team. For week one to be in my lineup, then because you're splitting a not very large pie into multiple pieces. So I don't want any of it. but yeah. Amanda: All right, cool. Well, let's get into the values and bus segment here. We're gonna start with some of our values. We're gonna break this down positionally. So we're gonna go quarter quarterback, running hello, quarterback, running back, wide receiver, tight end, and then go into our bus from there. So let's talk about some quarterback values. I have a clear one. I've talked about it in some segments already, but a clear quarterback value for me is Trevor Lawrence. I actually think there's a good amount of quarterback value deeper in the draft this year, if we're being honest. but I think Trevor Lawrence is a great value. You can get him at the 902. That's where his ADP is at right now. And Lawrence is coming off of a year that rivaled none other than Josh Allen. He had 4,000 passing yards, 29 passing touchdowns, and nine plus rushing touchdowns in the same season. So we really saw him catch lightning this year. He was used appropriately. We watched him use his body. And I love A quarterback who will use his legs and also get in the end zone. Having that possibility as opposed to that pocket passing quarterback is definitely a yes for me. And the ninth round is even a higher yes for me for sure. So Trevor Lawrence would be my first value at quarterback. How about you, Drew? Drew: Yeah, he's sneaky with his legs. Amanda: Sneaky. Drew: Yeah, he's sneaky athletic with his legs. he's also, you know, eight feet tall and when he runs he looks like a giant gazelle out there. So like he Amanda: Mm-hmm. Drew: he just covers so much ground so quickly because his strides Amanda: Mm-hmm. Drew: are so long. but it also kind of makes him look a little less athletic, but he's not. Amanda: yeah. Drew: He's just tall and gangly. great offense. Liam Cohen produces really good fantasy value. Especially for his quarterbacks. He was there with Baker when Baker had his great year in Tampa. he went on a tear at the end of the year, twenty two point six points per game after the bye week and twenty seven points per game in the final four weeks. So if you're a believer in how the season finished with the Jaguars, which Amanda and I both are, then then the value's obviously great at that eight nine turn and you just get to fill your roster up with value before you get there. And that's this kind of the same thing with, you know, a couple of the other quarterbacks we have. Amanda and I are very high on leader round quarterbacks that provide a bunch of value. Dak Prescott, maybe the most disrespected quarterback in fantasy circles in ten years, just never seems to be respected enough and draft highly enough drafted highly enough. look, it's an amazing offense. third in yards last year, seventh in points scored last year at the Cowboys. And equally as important in fantasy is a garbage defense. Awful Amanda: Shitty defense, baby. Drew: defense. So they were thirty second dead last in the NFL in points per game given up at over thirty points per game given up. That means the offense has to be on the field and they gotta score a bunch of points. You got George Pickens, you got CeeDee Lamb. Ferguson's a decent enough tight end. Javante and the running back or in the backfield, serviceable running back. I I I just really like Dak. going QB nine in the eighth round, again, you get seven rounds of value before taking that quarterback. To me, Trevor and Dak also frees me up to go get one of those top four or five tight ends that we really like and stay out of that tight end dead zone. so I'd much rather have a Bowers, McBride, Warren, Loveland, or in my case, Kraft early and not take a quarterback till the end. I I much prefer that strategy. so yeah, I I'm I'm incredibly excited about about Dak Prescott this year. and then the other one that we both have on here is Kyler Murray. Amanda: Fringe guy. It's our it's our hot take fringe guy here. But like Drew: Yeah. Amanda: I think we looked at a Minnesota offense last year that was just in shambles. They could Drew: Mm-hmm. Amanda: not get anything. Obviously, we dealt with JJ not being as optimal as we would have hoped. and then pipelined into injury and just like Carson Wentz and then Brosmer, and it was just a shit storm after shitstorm. Drew: It was awful. Yeah. Amanda: So I expect a very big, big bounce back season from Minnesota in general. They have all the freaking pieces there. They've got a running back room. They've got wide receiver room. And if they can just get a decent service, yes, and they have a wonderful head coach. If Drew: They have a great coach. Yep. Amanda: they just can have a serviceable quarterback in there who can do that. And I do believe Kyler Murray can do that. I think he can fill the role and be that guy in a well-schemed offense to play on his strengths, right? And really Drew: Yeah. Amanda: scheme him correctly is I think what Kyler needs. And you're you're stealing him. Like you you basically get him for free. Drew: Yeah, yeah. I I think that's the that's the biggest thing is like neither Amanda or I are massive Kyler guys Amanda: No. Drew: or Kyler people. like I think he's got top five quarterback potential still if everything goes right. I've also seen him play bad enough for years now that I don't believe that's going to happen. but he's basically undrafted. He's going so late in the draft that it it's a throwaway pick, so you might as well I mean, not many guys drafted in the double digit rounds do you have potential to be top five in any position. And I think that's possible here. I don't think it's probable, but look, if he doesn't work out by week three, you you cut him and you pick somebody up off of waivers. It it's it's not like you're really hurting yourself by doing that. I also am not taking Kyler as my only quarterback. So Amanda: No, I would neither. Drew: I'm I I know we've spoken in the past, we're not big double onesie position people, but if I'm getting a quarterback in the double digit rounds and that's my first quarterback, I'm I'm gonna take two of them and I'm gonna play weekly matchups. So again, it's just the value is in the fact that he is going so late and he does still have potential. so that's kinda where that's at, but Amanda: Great. I also think this year in general, when I look at how ADP's shaking out with players, I think if there was a onesie position that I was willing to take early, this year for me, it's clearly Lean's tight end in that aspect where there's so many quarterbacks deeper in this draft that I can punt that position to later and still feel fully confident with it. Like if there's a clear Drew: Mm-hmm. Amanda: draft strategy that like again, drafts can't be predicted. You can't predict what everyone else is gonna do. But if there's a draft strategy I was walking into this year with, it would be You know what I don't usually take either onesie position early 'cause I'm weird and I just never did it. But this would be the year for the tight end in my opinion. And waiting on that quarterback 'cause there's just good value deep in the draft in my opinion. Drew: All right, on to the running back position in our values section and we'll get the first one out of the way 'cause I vehemently disagree with it. So Amanda, why is Blake Quorum a value for you? Amanda: You know, Blake Coram is my first one up here. I was looking through a lot. Obviously, Blake Corum's going in about the ninth round of the draft. Last year, his target share was about 35%. So he did not get a full 50-50 split with Kyron. He only saw 35% of the snap count. But that was such an increase from his first year. So rookie year as opposed to second year, his target share increased tremendously. And I would expect to see that increase more this year. I would realistically see that becoming 45 to 50 p 50%. He's a useful back, and I see it playing out to be similar to the Monty Gibbs situation where when Monty and Gibbs were not, you know, this past year, where obviously Gibbs took over most of that backfield. we saw a a useful running, both could be played. And when I'm looking at ninth round, I'm looking at, okay, can I play this player? And is he going to be a safer floor for me in a running back position? Yes, I think Blake Quorum is a safe floor play. I'm not telling you that he's going to be scoring elite running back points at this point in the draft. No, but I think he's a play I can play weekly. I don't want both pieces of Kyron and Quorum. But if I want a piece of that offense, I think this is a great steal in the ninth round, as opposed to someone like a risky Jonathan Brooks, in my opinion. I'm scared of obviously injury coming into the league, immediate injury upon starting the league, and now he's coming back. It it worries me. I would rather take the safety of Blake Corum. And if for some reason I never want to bet on someone's injury, but if for some reason Karen went down, who's gonna be the guy? Blake Corum. And I like Blake Coram more than a, you know, Chuba and Jonathan Brooks conversation. I would rather take Corum over Chuba Hubbard or bet on Jonathan Brooks. It's just my opinion. But I like him in the ninth round and yeah. Drew: Yeah, that's where we disagree on is Amanda: Differ. Drew: look Blake Corum's a fine running back, but Kyron's there. I think Kyron's a better running back. Your only breakout upside case to me is injury to Kyron. Amanda: Injury. Drew: I don't think Corum can take over that backfield. So to me, your upside is limited to fifty percent of snaps. Okay, fine, serviceable. Have fun with your six to ten points a week. Awesome. If he scores a touchdown, he, you know, is worth having in your lineup, and if he doesn't, he's he's gonna hurt you. Right. I would rather take the Jonathan Brooks. If he plays well, he will take over the backfield. And that's a league winning type of pick in the ninth round. Or a Jakori Krosky Merritt. What happens if his snapshare can increase this year? If he starts to figure some things out, cause he had a little bit of run last year. The problem with him was he couldn't stay on the field because, you know, and this is where fantasy versus reality is a little different Amanda: Yes. Drew: is pass protection. Third down work. There's things that you need to do as an NFL running back that have nothing to do with fantasy, but it needs to happen for them to be on the field. And he wasn't picking some of that stuff up very well. So hopefully in year two, and a lot of rookie running backs start slowly because of that. So if he can kind of pick up on what he was doing, do be a little better, be on the field more, that's a league winning type pick. even in in the same area, like I would rather have the upside of Jordan Addison or a Quentin Johnston over having a back up running back, a split backfield where he's not the primary guy. I I want guys with upside 'cause I want to win the league. I don't just wanna be okay with six to ten points and maybe an injury comes along, but again, injuries can happen to anybody. So I prefer the upside of these other guys in that in that situation or in those in those areas of the draft, but I understand where you're coming Amanda: Yeah. Drew: from. Amanda: No, I get the upside point 'cause I I I've got some players lower that'll talk about where I'll take the potential upside. I think, you know, I look at my roster and think I want a little bit of everything. I want a little bit of safety. I want a little bit of, you know, boom or bus style plays as well. But I agree with some of the players you mentioned that, hey, from a value perspective, they could could be league winners for you. there's always the could, right? Who knows? We never know what's gonna happen in the NFL at this point. So It's all up in the air, but I do not fully agree on your value of running back. So break into who you think is a value. Drew: Yeah, I've got DeAndre Swift. he's going 503. the no, the one that you disagreed with. Yeah, the one you disagreed with is J.K. Dobbins. And I also disagreed Amanda: that's not the one I disagree with, but that's okay. I I agree with him. I agree with him. Yeah. Drew: with it, so he is not a value. straight next to him. Yep, he's not on the list anymore. Nope. Da when I Yep, and there's a reason he's not on the list anymore, is Amanda: you took him off. come on, let me talk about how he's never had a full healthy NFL season. Drew: I decided, you know what? I can't actually make this case. So, Amanda: Never, ever since he was a rookie he's got hurt. Drew: No, so no, DeAndre Swift is the other running back we have. five three as his ADP. I I think it's just fine for where he's at. It's a great offense. You're year two under Ben Johnson, so the offense should be taking a step forward. Yes, Kyle Manungay's there, Kyle Manungay is not gonna take over the backfield. Not to mention DeAndre Swift played very well last year. look, he's got he's got some upside potential. So he's mid to high teens in touches per game. That's very good. That's what you want from a running back. Especially in today's day and age, you're not gonna get more than that unless you're an elite r elite player, a Gibbs, a Bijan, probably an A-chan. but you you don't see that outside of those top guys. a team should score a lot. You need that from teams where you have your running backs, you want teams to score a lot of points. and he's going as the running back twenty-four right now. So yes, it's the fifth round and that seems like it's high, but like well, twenty-four running backs are going before him. 'Cause running backs go high in drafts. and I I have him as RB eighteen on the year with a top ten to twelve potential. So I I think it's a very good value with where he's at. Amanda: Yeah, no, I I don't disagree with you on Swift by any means. I also think he's just a very steady type of guy. I think we've talked about vegetables a lot. I think I give him that vegetable crown. He's just a steady, secure running back. He's gonna see a lot of the work. And I also agree that I'm not worried about Kyle Manong guy coming in and taking over his role by any means. I think he will stay that leading running back situation. and also not dealing with a ton of injury issues. That also makes you feel a little bit better walking into the the year, not Already beat up like so many of the these other guys. that is those are our our bulk of our running back values. You have anyone else valued for a running back position? All right. Drew: Nope, that was it. We're on the receivers. Amanda: We'll go on to receivers here. Well, my first value out receiver is actually Alec Pierce, which is interesting because yes, he is dealing with an injury right now. I believe he's out until the regular season. I think they pulled him out of all preseason games, is what came out. nonetheless. Drew: He still might not be back week one. It literally just came out. Amanda: Okay, nonetheless Okay. he's not going till about nine five. So his value, his ADP is dropping currently. Obviously, injuries will drop ADP. I like a little dropped ADP situation because it means I can get him at a far higher value than I were two previously. Here's my point about Alec Pierce. We talked about like diversifying your fantasy roster. He is a boomer bust type of guy. He is not going to get he's not a high, he doesn't get as many targets as someone, let's say like as a a Tet McMillan or a a wide receiver in that regard, his target share is lower, naturally. But he gets more value out of his targets, meaning he gets longer, deeper balls. He's more likely to get those big plays, touchdowns, all valuable for fantasy perspective. So when I can get a boomer bust guy, which I want on my roster in an offense that I do like, we saw succeed last year, obviously It's dependent on Daniel Jones coming back healthy and Alec Pierce staying healthy and there's always gonna be a health conversation in play. Drew: So it's a lot of ifs right there. Amanda: I know it, I know it. But again, like if I play safe, nothing's ever gonna make it out of here. And I'll take my shot on Alec Pierce down in the ninth round for the potential value that he brings to my team, in my opinion. Even when I'm looking at value as like a Blake Quorum over Alec Pierce, I would take Alec Pierce every single time over Blake Quorum if I was asked to have that situation. Just because I I I value the potential potency that he could provide my team as well. Drew: Yeah, it's just the opposite though. I mean it's a different position, Amanda: Yes. Drew: which I understand that, like, look, maybe you're more comfortable with boomer bust receivers than running backs, Amanda: I sure am. Drew: but the exact argument for Blake Corum was that Amanda: It's the exact argument against, yeah. Drew: you wanted to be safer and you liked the steadiness of it and you didn't like Jonathan Brooks, even though that's the boomer bust play. So it's just the exact opposite here, I suppose. You just said too many ifs. There's too many injury concerns. It's not just for him. It's also Daniel Jones. but Daniel Jones, when healthy, is also not a high volume passing, high volume passing quarterback. So he uses his legs more, which he can't now. Chainstayking offenses are not the most high scoring, high flying offenses. So y you put all of this together in a basket and then you throw in that Alex Pierce has had forty seven receptions as his career high. I he I just don't I don't see I don't think he takes much of a step forward, but his ADP has essentially it got to a point it got it raised up because he now sh it was paid as the number one guy. Now you're right, it has since dropped a little bit because of injury concerns, but I I don't think it's dropped to a point that makes any sense for me. I would still rather have, and again, it's in the same range that we've talked about, some of the same guys. I would rather have a Jonathan Brooks or Jakori Krosky Merritt or you know, one of our next guys coming up is Jordan Addison. I would I would prefer some of these other guys on teams that have situations that I prefer that don't have injury concerns as much with the player and the quarterback. Amanda: I hear ya. I hear ya. I like a little what if. Drew: And that does bring us to our next person, which is Jordan Addison. Amanda: Or not a Drew: we both agree that he is a value this year. Amanda: Yeah. Drew: and a lot of the sim similar reasons we had in the Kyler argument, it's a good head coach that had a terrible quarterback room last year. So basically we're wiping last year away. And Jordan Addison was very good his first two years in the league. He is a touchdown threat. He had ten his rookie year, nine his second year. he just he's got very good potential and at wide receiver forty-one in the ninth round, like if he's healthy and Kyler is just an average NFL quarterback, I I don't see how Jordan Addison doesn't go ten spots above his ADP. And that's just if they're an average offense. If Kyler happens to be really good and KOC unlocks him, like Darnold bad for years, went to the Seahawks. So if something like that were to happen, I could see Addison being a top twelve receiver. Every year one NFL team has two receivers finish in the top twelve. This is a potential, it not probable because you have a lot of other situations we like more, but I think this is Amanda: Mm. Drew: a potential that that could happen. Amanda: Who do you think if you had to place a a bet on who you think will be the top one, two receivers on the same team, who do you think it's gonna be? Drew: if I had to put money down, it would be like the the team that has the the top two, it'd be the Cowboys. Yeah, it'd be Pickens and CD because they're both incredibly talented. Bad defense, good offense. I like Dak. So it would have to be them. Obviously you have the Bengals there. they're obviously Amanda: Mm-hmm. J S and T. Drew: very high. T doesn't always play, you know. Well, he never plays all of the games. But Amanda: No, you don't need him though. Drew: if Joe if Joe Burrow is healthy And all if everybody's healthy the whole year on all these teams, it it is either the Cowboys or the Bengals. I don't foresee it being any other teams. Amanda: No, I agree. Specifically from a defensive standpoint, that just puts him at a highest probability to need to throw a lot of balls. Which we like. Decent defense, Drew: Correct. Correct. And the Vikings should have a better defense this year. Amanda: yeah. Drew: They've put a lot of draft capital into it. Amanda: All right, next up wide receiver, we have Christian Watson. obviously, Green Bay Packers moved some guys around. Christian Watson kind of showed us that maybe he was gonna be that wide receiver threat that used to be just kind of like a potpourri of random wide receivers who might have a good fantasy football week. We've narrowed it down though, and Watson looks like he is going to make his way into that realm as long as, and we'll use the word if now 85 times, if, if, if he can stay Drew: Mm-hmm. Amanda: healthy. That's been his biggest like. Achilles heel is that he just can't seem to stay healthy all year. And if he could, I think he'd be one of the wide receivers we're talking about far higher up the draft board. But now with less competition, obviously we still do have Matthew Golden there, which that was a, you know, a big sleeper for a lot of people last year was Golden in that offense. And he just struggled. He was a rookie. it there's been some great stirrings out of training camp and preseason that Matthew has looked really good. but I still think Christian Watson will be that guy and I personally would like a piece of the Green Bay Packers offense and this would be the piece that I would like to have the most if possible. just from a standpoint of the again, what if he could do if he does stay healthy and he gets good production from the year. Drew: Yeah, it's a mix of, like you said, health if he stays healthy, obviously. The other one's just consolidation of targets, which you hit on. I mean, last year he had six touchdowns and six hundred yards on fifty-five targets, which is an incredibly low target share, partially because he was out for some of the year with injury, but also because they had seven receivers they were throwing out there. So with the consolidation to three receivers and one tight end, that's pretty much all that they have left. And he is the best. receiver of the ones that are on the roster in my opinion. I I I think he can have a much bigger year. And I'm I'm not his ADP's a little high. It's in the sixth round. I know this is a values episode. It's creeping into the territory where I don't consider him a value anymore. But as long as it stays where it's at, I I'm comfortable. So but I I gotta have a piece of that offense and he just seems to be the one that I'm That I'm in on this year. So Amanda: All right, moving on to values in the tight end position. Not a ton here. We kind of talk about the large dispar discrepancy. I never use the right damn word. The right it's disparage. Discrepancy? Is it what do I want Drew: Discrepancy. Yep. Amanda: to use? Disparaging? Drew: Or disparagement, but that's not yeah, that's not what you're looking for though. Amanda: Spare. It's more fun when you say it and full chested, like it was the right word when it wasn't, okay? Anyways, there's two guys that stand out to us, one of them for me being Dallas Goddard. Drew: Mm-hmm. Amanda: Dallas Goddard mostly because you can get him in like the end of the 10th round, which is just basically a steal. So if you're punting the onesie position, you can really wait deep in the draft, load up on value elsewhere. I love that for you. Drew: Mm-hmm. Amanda: not only that is he's been a very large part of that offense, and we've seen him use in that offense consistently. Now we have one piece of that offense gone being AJ Brown. And again, Hertz and Goddard have had a great connection. He's utilized a ton. I just think that leaves a ton of value and opportunity from a touchdown scoring standpoint for Goddard as well. I think he'll be used way more often now that AJ Brown is also not part of needing to scheme around. Obviously, you still have great wide receivers there, but It'll be hard to to replace someone just as potent as AJ Brown. So I Goddard will definitely elevate himself in that offense and be an incredibly valuable pick that deep in the draft as a tight end. Drew: Yep. We've talked about him in almost every episode. It just he's such a late pick and it hurts const consistently every single year. Keeps throwing to to Dallas. I I he's just there. He's not a fun pick. Tied in four last year and half PPR, I believe. But yeah, it's Amanda: And he was what, the tight end three in twenty twenty five, yeah. Okay. Okay. Okay. Drew: just look, I don't expect him to be a top five guy. I expect him to be right in that middle of, you know, five, six, seven, eight. tight end finish this year, but like as we've talked about, outside of the top four or five guys, the next ten are really close to each other and final and you know, final fantasy points by the end the year. So why would I spend four or five rounds draft capital extra to go get a guy that finishes with ten more points on the entire season? It just doesn't make any sense. So for me, Dallas Goddard, especially in the red zone, AJ Brown's not there. It's one extra red zone threat. That's taken away. Devontae Smith, not of a large guy. Yeah, Amanda: Yeah. And he saw a shit ton of red zone targets last year too. Drew: I would imagine that he surpasses that this year because you also Amanda: Mm-hmm. Drew: took the big body receiver out. so, and that takes us to our next tight end who we believe is a value, especially me. It's Tucker Kraft. I get that he is still going a little bit higher than what some or that he's going a little bit higher than what some people may be comfortable with, but I think he's worthy of being in that conversation with those other top four tight ends. Last year he was breaking out completely before the injury happened. So through seven games last year, he was the tight end two in points per game. Not total fantasy points because his bye week was early, but in total points per game, he was the tight end two last year through seven weeks with two tight end one finishes, thirteen point one points per game as a tight end. That is worthy of a fifth, sixth round selection. worthy of more than that if you want a position advantage. he had a great connection with Jordan Love, and I believe that the team is going to have to score points early in the season. I don't think the defense is going to be great until Michael Parsons gets back. And all indications are they're going to take their time and let him be fully healthy before he comes back because they're expecting to be a playoff team. And when he got hurt last year, I mean Michael Parsons and Tucker Kraft get hurt and their team went from looking like the Super Bowl favorite to not looking like they were a good football team anymore. So, Amanda: Mm. Drew: yeah, I I love Tucker Kraft this year. I know you're not so into it. Amanda: Just the value, I mean we talked a lot about like, you know, that is the tight Drew: To high draft capital. Amanda: end dead zone, right? And you're taking a tight end in that dead zone, knowing that he's obviously the only one, but then in that situation, you're between craft and Watson, you're taking Kraft over Watson. Okay. How about like BTJ Kraft? Drew: Yes. Yeah, pzi because of positional. Excuse me? Amanda: BTJ and or Tucker Kraft? Drew: Tucker Craft. Amanda: Roma Dundee, Tucker Kraft. Okay. Drew: Tucker Kraft. Yeah. It's all Tucker Kraft because positional advantage. I believe like to to have a true positional advantage, you need to be three fantasy points per game higher than all of the rest of the field. And I believe he is the one of the five that can do that this year. I I personally, if he's healthy enough to play week one, I I think at this point I'm probably higher on him than I am I think I probably have him as tight in three, if he's back and ready to go. I think I bump him ahead of Loveland and Warren. I just I I think he's a great player. Amanda: You believe in craft mac and cheese himself, huh? Give Drew: I do. Amanda: him the craft mac and cheese, baby. All right, let's move on to some bus options. We're gonna go through same order. We're gonna start with some quarterback bus. And honestly, maybe slightly controversial, but we are talking Drake May as Drew: Mm-hmm. Amanda: a quarterback bus as our first one. But again, I want you to remember that like when we say bus, this doesn't mean we don't think he's a good quarterback, right? This means that we think that where you have to draft him and the value you give up is a bust for what you might get. Drake may couple couple things here. Number one, coming off a pretty easy schedule last year, walking into a much more lucrative schedule, it's gonna test him quite a bit. If he can thrive and persevere, he will be perfectly fine. Yes, he got a wide receiver one in AJ Brown that will only elevate that offense for sure. all of that stuff is great. I just think I have to give up too much elite talent of players that I have to play multiple of every single week to take a Drake May. It's just not worth it for me. There's a few quarterbacks in that range that I I just don't that's not how I like to to view my fantasy football draft. I'm just gonna wait because I think there's quarterbacks more valuable deeper, but that's how I also I I throw Joe Burrow into that conversation as well. Cause I just there's a lot of value to be given at that point in the draft, and I don't know if I'm willing to do that. Drew: Yep. again, but like I mean I said, Bus can go multiple ways. This is not a we don't think he's a good quarterback 'cause we do. It's just that's high draft capital for a quarterback coming off of a great season against bad teams who is now playing a first place schedule. It's gonna be harder this year. And it's just I I would prefer to take a quarterback later in the draft, as opposed to spending that draft capital. Amanda: Yeah, absolutely. And and kind of same vein to this next quarterback, which is Jackson Dart. I mean, big one for us. We talked a lot about this is like injury rick risk for Jackson Dart. He is not a safety quarterback. He's not sliding. He's not trying to get out of bounds before we'd watched him like run into hits and s not slide and take a hit. obviously he was a rookie last year. I I do worry about like if they can't back him down and get that out of him as an NFL quarterback. He will not last very long as an NFL quarterback because he will just get absolutely pummeled and hurt. I mean, it was already in concussion protocol and preseason. It looked like a pretty like safe call for them to pull him and take him through concussion protocol. but nonetheless, it's it's happened already. So who the hell knows what that will look like as he moves into season. and I just think there's other quarterbacks deeper in the draft that I feel a little bit more confident of and less scared about. which you never want to play fantasy football scared, but it does scare me quite a bit. Drew: Yeah, this is the only one that I, you know, I don't fully agree. I I do with all the the injury and the risks and everything else. The only thing that I don't fully agree on is the draft price is still really low. Like ninth round, I don't f I think his upside is so high that it's worth the risk because he's a player that if everything does go right, he can be a top three quarterback. And I don't think that a lot of the guys you can get in the ninth round can be that. I I think he can. He was averaging tw over twenty points per game last year as a rookie. Should be better in year two. Again, there is a lot of risk, so I understand where you're coming from. I don't know that I'm gonna be targeting him. I just don't know that I I don't know that he would be a bust, but I I can see definitely where you're coming from. Amanda: Yeah, I think where he's being drafted at right now, I see his ADP as eight two. so I think like in that same realm is a George Kittle is going in that in that same vein. So in my opinion, I'd rather take a shot on the has it dropped? Nine three now. Okay. Drew: His ADP has dropped to nine three. Yep. Mm-hmm. Amanda: nonetheless, I think that still if I'm looking at my options there and that's the same vein as Trevor Lawrence, I'd rather go Trevor Lawrence over over Jackson Dart if I had to make the selection. Yeah. Drew: Yeah, and they're about the same range. So again, I I don't know I mean, Dak's around earlier. I think I'd rather have Dak even around earlier. Amanda: Yeah. Even if let's say Kittle did end up getting hurt and drops low or it comes out he's not gonna play week one 'cause he is already hurt. and drops even lower and goes into the ninth round, I I I'm still I would rather have Kittle over Jackson Darn. Drew: Yeah, understandable. Amanda: Yeah. Drew: Yeah. Yeah, we're not too far off on that one. Not as much as we are off on this next player, which we have argued about this entire preseason so far. running back bust that I have, is Devon Anchan. Not because I don't think he's a good running back, but because I refuse to pick a running back on an awful football team, maybe the worst I've ever seen. Amanda: So your only concern is the offense, yes? Like that's it. Not like Drew: Yeah, yeah. y yes, in multiple ways though. It's not him. It's Mike Mike McDaniel's gone and Tua are gone. So and you're bringing in and you're bringing Checked checked the ball down. That's the whole point though. Amanda: What it what did Tua do last year? What did Tua do last year to give you any you don't think they're gonna scheme up to check the ball down to Jiovan E Chen, watch what it did and do it again? Drew: There's a difference. There's a difference between a schemed pass play to a running back, which they will still do some of, and a pass play where your quarterback immediately checks it down because he can't get hit. And then you're going to a quarterback who can extend plays with his legs Amanda: Who runs? I get it. Drew: and run the football. There's a massive difference there. Achan is not going to get the check downs. He'll get designed plays, which are not the same. He will not get checked downs because Willis will run the football, use his legs more. They will throw the ball less. They will have less passing attempts. They will also have more rushing attempts that are designed by the quarterback, including in the red zone, because you've got it. It's really hard for a defense when a quarterback can run the football in the red zone because now you've got to either key on him or key on the running back. Well, you're going to key on the running back. So all of those things combined, mixed with his ADP, is it's too high. I just, I can't do it. He's going at. The two two is his ADP right now. I don't want him there. Amanda: You know what? Every fantasy football bro on the internet is downplaying Devon Achan. I think everyone's listening to that. People are gonna sleep on him. He's gonna drop even further. I will fucking take my chances on an elite running back talent. Drew: I if you're so into him, I get what we're here's what we're doing we're in one we're in one fantasy league together that we do with some Amanda: Draft him. Drew: some random friends. No, you won't be able to draft him because you Amanda: I know. Drew: have the one one. Switch me. I'll take the one one. You can take my pick at the one eight and you take HN. Say it with your chest. Say it with your chest. Amanda: No! Fuck off. No. I'm not switching you. I want the first No! I'm not doing that simply to prove my point. I shut up. This asshole. No No I'm not taking Drew: You don't care enough. You don't care enough. Mm-hmm. Then take then take one one. Do it. Okay. Amanda: him one on one. I'm not saying he's one one worthy. I'm saying that I think Drew: I don't Amanda: his pure talent is being fucking slept on. Cause yes, he's gonna be in a shitty offense, but he's still gonna get all the work. He's gonna get all the work. Give him the work. Drew: Has nothing to do with talent. It Yes, but if the team doesn't score points and he doesn't score if this okay, if if HN was on the Browns team right now, would you say the same thing? Amanda: Yeah! Fuck Drew: No, you wouldn't. Amanda: it! Drew: Yeah, uhhuh. No, I I would rather take Chase Brown, Derrick Henry, I Kenneth Walker, for instance. Like there's just there's too many guys that I would take above him and I I'm not Amanda: Yeah, you freaking love for the walker. Drew: giving up my first round draft pick or early second for a a terrible team. I j I just won't. I I can't do it. So Amanda: AKA friends, he's scared. Just call it what it is. Drew: Uh-huh. So that's that's the the you know, one of the way that a bust can Amanda: When my tape and glue team wins Drew: that's one one of the way a bust can happen is love the talent, hate the situation. The opposite one, which is our second running back that's a bust, is we don't really like the talent of the player, and that's RJ Harvey with the Broncos. Yeah, I just Amanda: Wasn't a big Harvey guy. No, I agree. Drew: he didn't look very good last year. He was incredibly inefficient, and you're in a murky situation where there's not one, not two, but three running backs that are probably going to get some play out there with the addition of Jonah Coleman. They use Amanda: And they use all of them, yes. Drew: all of them. Sean Payton, it's just it can get aggravating unless it's clear cut. Here's one and here's two. Amanda: Mm-hmm. He's messy, yeah. Drew: Yeah, so don't like the talent and don't really like the situation. So we're both busts on Harvey as a do not draft. We won't draft him no matter what. We just we're out on that. So that's about all we need to say about RJ Harvey, I think. Amanda: Yeah. Yeah. Sometimes you just have a player that you just aren't aren't there for, right? Like and and everyone has different opinions and and all that kind of jazz. It's just we both can kind of consensus there. All right. Moving on to some wide receivers here. There's some clean clean clean cut ones and some dialogue, but we'll start with Drake London himself. Yeah, I I think there's better options where Drake London's being drafted, so I doubt value him as a bust. I just I think there's way too much around him that gives me a little bit more certainty than what Drake London will provide to me. I personally think what I if we look at London versus Walker, Walker and London are in that same realm of where their ADP's at. And I would take Walker over London, in my personal opinion. and I know my husband who might be in love with Kenneth Walker would also say the same thing. I also think in that realm you're also looking at elite tight end, you're looking at McBride, you're looking at Bowers. I would prefer either of them. over Drake London in this situation. Unknown offense. We still don't know who the quarterback's gonna be just yet. yeah, I would lean elsewhere, in my opinion. Drew: Yeah, I I think his ADP is close to where it should be. I think Drake London is a good player. I just kind of similar. I I like people around him. So to me, Amanda: I just don't like him enough. Drew: I I I don't think he can go higher, but I think he can definitely go lower. And at the you know, middle of the second round, I I would prefer to take somebody that I think can be the number one in their position or top three. And I don't think Drake London can do that. So that's where kind of where we we lean on that one. let's pop down to Mike Evans. So Mike Evans have him as a bust this year, and this to me is I don't believe his body's gonna hold up. So I'm not willing to spend a sixth round draft choice on a a player that I've Amanda: No. Drew: loved forever. I think he's a good receiver. He's been Amanda: Mm-hmm. Drew: dealing with an increasing amount of soft tissue injuries over the last two years, which are injuries that continue to pop up. So When people an ACL happens. Well, in today's day and age an ACL is i it's typically fine. Like you you're you're done Amanda: Full cure, yeah. Drew: for a you're done for in a year's time, you are back a hundred percent of what you were before. Soft tissues, especially when you get older, they tend to nag longer, they start popping up a little bit longer, and he now he's with San Francisco where the substation is just destroying people left and right. And I believe that that has a factor to it. So I'm Amanda: Yeah, I mean yeah. Drew: personally not in on him in the sixth round. If he was a eighth round pick, I'm in. But two rounds of value, I just I I think it's too high and there's too much risk involved. And in that same scenario, same draft range, I like a Roma Dunze or a Jameson Williams, you know, Byshal Tutin, a Jadarian Amanda: Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. I was gonna say, yep. Yep. Drew: Price. Like I I like other guys in the in the area where I think You know, I'm just not comfortable with with the injury risk associated with Mike Evans at this point in his career and where he's at. Amanda: Yeah. He already had one injury and then it was okay and now he's hurt again and it's just there's too much the the the vibe, okay? The vibe is not correct right now with Mike Evans. Drew: Yeah, I I also believe that team will be more cautious with him because they should be a good football team. they have an easier schedule this year because they ended up finishing third in the division last year because they're in it with the Rams and yes, they're a playoff team, but they finished third because of the Rams and the Seahawks, so their schedule's easier, so they can afford to rest guys a little bit more this year. so I I I I think they'll do that. That way they have him ready for the playoffs. And I don't think there's a chance in hell he plays seventeen games, so Amanda: No, no. How about our friend Ladd McConkie? I have him as a full blown bust for for draft capital in my opinion, not because I think he's a fundamentally bad player, but because I think there's a lot of value around him that I would much more prefer over Ladd McConkie. But give me your opinions on how you feel about our friend Lad. It's just such a funny name. I can't I can't Ladd. Drew: Yeah, I I think this is a shoot your shot player. This is one of the situations that we talk about where we desperately want someone from good offenses that we just don't know who it's gonna be. So is it gonna be Ladd? Is it gonna be Quentin Johnson? is it gonna be Trey Harris? Sorry, I couldn't remember the name. they're they just have different options. We'll see. we'll see what happens, you know, when the season starts. But I'm fine with taking a shot on Ladd. I know you're not because of where he's going. Amanda: Yeah, just like I like a a T Higgins, a Tet McMillan, a Chris Olave in that same realm. Drew: Yeah, look, if it works if it works out, it it's gonna really work out 'cause he's got a chance to, you know, have a hundred plus receptions and twelve hundred yards and thirteen, fourteen touchdowns. Like it is Mike McDaniel's offense. So it could be amazing. Amanda: Mm-hmm. Drew: so I I'm not in the best category for him, but it is a lot of draft capital for a guy that could end up being the wide receiver thirty like he was last year. So Basically the upside's kind of already built in, which isn't really fun. so that you know, I'm not as down on him as you are, but I do understand where you're coming from. Amanda: Yeah. I I mean even like Travis Etienne's going in that range and now with Camara being hurt and definitely missing time, like you're just making decisions, some some people who are we know are going to be valuable in the offense. Drew: Yeah. So Amanda: Yeah. Again, I I agree on the shoot your shot moment though. all right. Well, it appears you might have taken someone off of your wide receiver list. Mmm. Mmm. Okay, Drew: I did, yeah. So we'll get to tight ends. this one will be I know we're getting a little late in the episode. Amanda: Drew Black. Drew: The the tight ends it's gonna be pretty simple here. Any middle round tight end is pretty much our bust, right? So sa Tuckercraft, because he shouldn't be a middle round, he's only a middle round because of injury. But we Amanda: Except for who? I get you. I'm just giving you shit. Drew: I mean we put down Sam Laporta, Kyle Pitts, Harold Fannon Junior. We will talk about Harold Fannon Jr. just slightly, but Pretty much any middle round tight end we're out on because it just doesn't make much sense in our opinion to take a middle round tight end. the only one that we didn't agree on in that middle range was Harold Fannon Jr. you can try to defend him all you want. Coming from a Browns fan. Amanda: It's no, listen, I get it. I know. Fundamentally, it's too much draft capital. Don't get me wrong. Like, it's too much draft capital for where he needs to go. If he fell a couple rounds, it'd be a whole different conversation. I think he'd be a steal. I just think like somebody has to do something in that offense. Harold Fannon is a talent. He's a a Drew: Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Amanda: very talented tight end. we saw him thrive in the clusterfuck that was the Browns last year. and it's gonna be another clusterfuck season. It is what it is, but I don't know. I I g I don't get me wrong, he's not someone I'm I'm jumping for because his value's too high. He technic he is fundamentally a bust. but if you have Drew: Problem Amanda: a steel pit of a stomach and you wanna go for it, I suppose it could work out for ya. Drew: So out of all last year, let me look this up real quick. So Harold Fannon, you said he worked out, right? He was the tight end sixth last year. this is. no, no, no. I don't care where he was drafted. Amanda: Huh? Where was he drafted? He was undrafted. Drew: I'm going into this year. What I'm saying is like, you're going to give up that draft capital for a guy who's going to score the same amount of points as Dallas Goddard going in the tenth round. No, my Amanda: No, i that's what I'm saying. No, I agree. I agree. Like I I don't wanna give that much value up for him. If he could maybe Watson's being listed as a quarterback would drop him a little bit. Drew: I I love the talent of the player. I I have n here's the two words why I I wouldn't draft Fannon. It's Deshaun Watson. Amanda: Deshawn Watson himself. Drew: Yep, that's it. Nope. Hate the guy, hate the player. Just he's awful. Amanda: Yeah. Just an unlikable dude, man. You even look at him, I'm like, You're a terrible dude. I don't I just like you as a human. Drew: Yep, talked about how the fans booed him the other day. Yeah, because we don't want you in Cleveland anymore. So just get out. Amanda: Well, listen, Cleveland is a brutal, it's a brutal fucking organization. Like, I will be honest, like as a Steelers fan, brutal place. Like not a fun, not a fun watching the game experience. And God, though you guys are ruthless. No, no time spent. It's like you suck, one Drew: W watching a g Amanda: bad throw, you suck. Bye. Drew: No, watching a game they're not we're not the E we're not Philadelphia fans. Those guys are brutal. Amanda: god. Drew: Cleveland, if if you play well, even if you don't win, if you play well, we'll be you know, they're they're happy for you as a player. They'll cheer for you. It's just I'm sorry, we haven't seen multiple championships in my lifetime like you have with the Steelers. Amanda: yeah, we're we're we're pretty good. Mm-hmm. It's been a rough for years, but all right, guys. Well, that's all we got for you on our values and bus episode. But we have some exciting episodes around the corner, including our sleepers episode, and we will be doing some mock draft episodes really, really soon, which are great. I know some of you have been asking, like, hey, I'm drafting from this position. What would your strategy be? We will do some mock drafts and walk you through what our individual strategy would be drafting from that position based on what goes off the board as we go. And then, of course, we have our ride or die episode coming out. And these are the guys we're planting our flags on this year. Guys we believe in, guys we are excited to watch, some of which you probably already know the answer to, but we will fully make those announcements in our ride or die episodes. Make sure you subscribe to our YouTube channel, subscribe to our podcast on Spotify and Apple Music. Follow us on social media. We will be getting some more social media content out here soon. And if there's anything you want to see or see from us, Comment, let us know, and we will be happy to put it out. But we will see you guys in the next episode. Bye. Drew: Peace.