Latest / Let's Talk Football - Married Edition / Offseason Moves + Drew's Love for Kenneth Walker - Fantasy Football 2026 Ep. 01
Transcript
- Amanda: What is up? Let's talk football, fam. We are back for another season of helping you absolutely demolish your fantasy football league and of course take home the championship. We are back, but just a little bit differently this year. Obviously, sitting next to me is not my beautiful sister anymore, but instead, my In my various biased opinion, ruggedly handsome husband sitting next to me now. Let's Talk Football Sis was the absolute time of my life with Angela last year. And unfortunately, due to some personal reasons, Ange could not come back to the podcast this year. And I was hell bent on keeping this bullshit in the family. And that is exactly what we did. So we are with Welcome Arms going to welcome in my husband, Drew. Welcome to Let's Talk Football. Married edition this year, baby. What's up, Drew? Welcome to the podcast. Tell us a little bit about yourself before we jump in and get started. Drew: hey, I'm Drew, obviously, as my beautiful wife just said. I just love football, love fantasy football. I've been doing it for years. I grew up playing football, played it through high school, a little bit of college. and it's just I we obviously, my wife and I, watch football religiously every week. We talk fantasy football, we're super into it. I also on the back end last year did help a little bit with Amanda and Angela. I did a little bit of some research and some notes and just kinda helped them prep a little bit. that way we could keep this rolling and and yeah that's about it. And and for all of you that know, I also are all of you that know Amanda has, you know, another business. I I'm also involved in that with her. So now let's just you know add a second thing that we're doing together on top of that. So yeah, I'm ready to roll. Amanda: 24-7, baby. That's all we do is spend time together. So yeah, why not Drew: Yep. Amanda: add on something else, right? Also, Drew very humbly did not mention that he has won a shit ton of fantasy titles himself. You are a back-to-back to back winner, if I to back. I'm sorry. Back to back to back to back. So Drew knows Drew: Tobac. Tobac. Yeah. Tobac, yeah. Amanda: a thing or two about making some moves to win fantasy football. So he is a lovely addition. To the Let's Talk Football team. We're gonna go over just a little bit of an update for schedule release and all of that. So we are about to embark on obviously most of you getting into fantasy football drafting itself. Hopefully that's late August into September. If your draft is doing it correctly, if you draft early, may the force be with you because that's unfortunate with injury issues. But we're gonna get multiple episodes out ASAP. So this next week, you're gonna see multiple episodes from us over on YouTube. Those will be dropping. That way you can be prepared walking into your draft day. We're gonna talk obvious things like getting ready for the draft, being fully prepared. We're gonna talk about 15 top quarterbacks, running backs, wide receivers, tight ends, just all of the information that you need. In today's episode, we are going to talk more just about overall offseason changes. So really getting you fully familiar with the landscape of fantasy football this year and the implementation. Wow. Imp. Ooh, I can't say it. Drew: Implementation. Implications. Implications. Yeah, huh. Amanda: It no, that's not it. Implications. There it is. I say some off the cuff shit, but I couldn't get that one out of my mouth. We're gonna talk about the implications that all of these moves and changes have on fantasy, what's got us real freaking excited as well. and also multiple other episodes coming this week. So check it out on YouTube, Let's Talk Football. We're just going to call it Let's Talk Football Married Edition as we roll into this year. So without further ado, we're gonna jump right head first into this episode so you don't have to hear me blab at you too long. And we're gonna talk all of our off-season changes and the chaos that was offseason. Cause it was a messy offseason, right? Drew: Yeah, absolutely. It's there's a lot of changes. Some big names got moved. so excited to talk about those and I think just as equally as important is there are some big coaching changes this year that I think are gonna make a big impact. Amanda: Yeah, I think we always forget, like I know I'm always hyper fixated on where players went and how that impacts, but we also forget that domino of how much a head coach or an offensive coordinator can change how well those players are being used in the offense, therefore more valuable to us for fantasy football. so we're just gonna go ahead and dive in. We're gonna talk some quarterbacks, we're gonna jump around a little bit, we're gonna talk some position, but then how that also translates into head coach. So we'll kind of start and we'll just rip the band-aid off here with Kyler Murray. being transitioned obviously from the Arizona Cardinals to the Minnesota Vikings and officially being named the starting quarterback for the Minnesota Vikings. give me any any notes you have or feedback you have on that transition, Drew. Drew: Yeah, I think the the biggest impact there is obviously from the Vikings standpoint. I don't see a lot of impact from the Cardinals standpoint because he didn't play a lot last year. obviously we saw Jacoby Brissett for the the back half of the year. so we're gonna see that a little bit more this year, with with him starting the season. and then with Kyler and the Vikings, look, their quarterback situation was an absolute mess last year. they have a a great receiver and JJ, right? And and Justin Jefferson, who had a terrible year because he had awful quarterbacks throwing him the football. And I I think JJ McCarthy is a terrible quarterback. I've said it for since he was drafted. He didn't have to do anything at Michigan. They drafted him way too high. They wasted the pick and their general manager got fired. So I don't think that you can get much worse. Kyler, I have he has not been good for years. he hasn't been a top ten quarterback since twenty twenty one and it's been awful. so if we can just get halfway back to what he was, and I think KOC, Kevin O'Connell, their coach, I think he's a brilliant coach. So I I think it impacts the receivers a little bit more. I think Justin Jefferson has a a bounce back year. Can he rebound to be as good as he was? I don't know. but Kyler also hasn't had a top ten receiver since the 2020 season and that was DeAndre Hopkins. So It's not like he's been providing a bunch of value for for anybody, but it's better than what he had last year. So I I think I think you can look a little bit to the receivers there and then maybe throw a flyer on Kyler late in the draft, but but we'll get to that a little bit later in the rankings episodes. Amanda: Absolutely, absolutely. All right. How about our next move? Tua Tungavaloa went from the Dolphins to the Falcons. And at this point, we do think that Tua is going to be their starting quarterback. I don't think Drew: Mm-hmm. Amanda: that's officially fully dropped just yet. but obviously that transition was in full force, and we now know that he will join the Atlanta Falcons, giving that team an interesting play because we also know that Kevin Stefanski is now the head coach. Of the Atlanta Falcons as well, which I think is an interesting transition from obviously new, potentially new head quarterback. I don't know if they fully announced it, and then also new head coach at the same time, creating some interesting moves for that that offense because it wasn't great last year with just their clusterfuck of quarterbacks too. Drew: Yeah, the Falcons. Yeah, it was I mean, Michael Penix was awful last year. Amanda: Awful. Drew: so I I can't imagine Tua's not the starter, assuming that he's healthy. I can't imagine he's not the starter. Mm-hmm. Amanda: Yeah, it's always our issue, right? Yeah. Drew: and then Kevin Stefansky coming in. Look, I I'm a Browns fan, so as you guys know, my wife's a Steelers fan. I am a br I am Amanda: Ooh, we're head to head there. Drew: a big Browns fan, so I've seen Kevin Stefansky firsthand for years. look I think he's a good coach. He had good offenses. prior to Deshaun Watson getting there, which we'll discuss that a different time. That was just a nightmare. But look look, I I don't think they're gonna be an awful offense, but I also don't think they're gonna be a great offense. Tua has his limitations. He's very accurate. However, he doesn't have the strongest arm and he's incredibly fragile at this point, unfortunately, with his head injuries. they got a great running game. The receiving core is basically just Drake London. And yeah, Kyle Pitts at tight end and there's a lot of opinions there. I I don't I don't see it as big a upgrade for the Atlanta Falcons getting to I just don't see it much of a downgrade either. I think they're gonna be pretty close to what they were last year. Amanda: Yeah. I also hope that with that transition to the silver fox himself, which is Kevin Stavansky, if you didn't know, because Homie can rock a little salt and pepper action like it ain't nobody's business. I do hope that opens up B. John Robinson even a little bit more. Some short check down passes to B. John, obviously to a not wanting to get hit, honestly to a not being able to take hits. I'm hoping that that can maybe break up a little bit even more value in B. John Robinson. He's one of my like obviously we know he's at the top of the running back board, but he's Extra my favorite this year because of that addition of Kevin Stavansky there and Tua as well. Drew: Yeah, just be aware that the offense will not be t Tua will not be Tua of the Dolphins. They will not throw the ball as much. It's gonna be a different offense. So Mike McDaniel and Kevin Savansky are they very different offenses. So expect a little bit more under center. He will check down the ball a lot, obviously 'cause he won't get hit, so that'll help Bijan a little bit more. But y the team he's leaving being the Dolphins, they got a new quarterback in Malik Willis coming f over as coming over from the Green Bay Packers. He was the backup to Jordan Love there. what do you think about the addition of Malik Willis with the Miami Dolphins? Amanda: Honestly, I think it's a moot point. I think that team is in shambles and I don't think Malik Willis is going to do anything because there's no there's no I want to say property, that's not the right word, but there's no assets around him in order to actually give him value. The only value in Malik Willis is his running and rushing opportunity. He likes to take off and use his legs. I think the Dolphins obviously yes replacing to a fine move, pulling Malik Willis in. He had a great moment to shine with the Packers last year. And I think he showed us that he is a valuable quarterback. But there's just no one around him at all anymore. You have Waddle, who is no longer on the team. And who is he going to throw the ball to? There's just no assets on the wide receiver side other than our running back and and Devon Achan. And they don't have Mike McDaniel who was the like offensive coordinator mind of that entire team. And I just think it's going to be a really extra shitty year for the Dolphins. And from a fantasy perspective, I'm not excited about anyone on that team. Not even as much of Devon A Chen as I used to be, because of just the mess that they have right now. Drew: Yeah, one thing I would I would look at here, not a big Dolphins fan this year. I think their team is terrible. As you said, they do not have very many assets out there to spread the ball around to. Justin Fields, 2022 with Chicago, was a fantasy league winner because he came out of nowhere, was undrafted in in drafts, and then all of a sudden, because he ran the ball so much, became incredibly valuable and he finished as a quarterback seven that year. I can see something like that Amanda: Yeah. Drew: happening with Malik Willis this year because they're gonna run the ball a lot. I just it's it's possible. It's it's definitely somebody I would look towards adding to my roster if you don't come away with a good quarterback in the draft, or for some reason the draft falls in a way that you don't pick somebody up in the first six, seven rounds and you just keep waiting and waiting and building value in other positions. He's not a bad little flyer to throw on your roster at the end, especially if you're going to do two quarterbacks on your roster, two late round quarterbacks, and we'll get Amanda: Mm-hmm. Drew: to strategy a little bit later on, but that's that's something that that maybe I would look at. Amanda: Yeah, I guess I guess I just also Miami's defense is also equally not as good. And so just having the offense on the field for what you would expect is an obscene amount of time and I guess. I don't know. They suck. Drew: That's valuable though. Bad deep bad defenses and good offenses are the best mix in in fantasy football. Unfortunate unfortunately, Amanda: Are they a good offense? Drew: you have a bad offense and a bad defense. Yeah, that's teams that that this Amanda: Bad defense. I just think it's bad. Bad. Drew: team is bad. I don't think they're gonna win more than a couple games this year. I I I think they're pretty they're pretty poopy. Amanda: Absolutely. Next transition we had was Kirk Cousins, obviously going from the Falcons to the Raiders. Not a whole lot to touch on here. Only funny fact here is that I feel like Kirk Cousins is Mendoza. Mendoza? I said it right, right? I was Drew: Yeah, Fern Fernando Mendoza. Yeah. Amanda: like, you know what I was thinking of is the Mendoza brothers of like the like people who kill their parents. Drew: the show, the guys that killed their parents, yeah. Amanda: I was in crime show documentary and I'm like, am I like gonna say the wrong name here? I just think they are like this they're they're the same human different font. It's like watching like son and dad go out there to like to it's epic. Like just they're the same human Drew: Yeah. Yeah. huh. Amanda: and I think that's so fucking wholesome. Drew: Yeah, yeah. They're they're both very wholesome people. and it's literally the same person that's just, you know, fifteen years younger. and Willie V the one thing to look at with with that situation is look, Kirk's not a fantasy asset. Mendoza will not be a fantasy at this asset this year. It's more of just what value will they bring to the other players in the team, 'cause Gino was so horrifically bad last year. and the Raiders in general were terrible. So I I do think that it adds a little value to Brock Bowers. and Brock's amazing anyway, so as long as he stays healthy, he'll be valuable. but Kirk has had success with tight ends in the past in his in his career. I think Mendoza will also have some success throwing to Bowers this year because the way you can scheme up tight ends is a little safer. so I think there's a little bit of impact there, but other than that, I I don't think it impacts the team a whole lot. Amanda: Brock Bauer's value stays exactly the same in my eyes. He is that guy. Regardless of who has throwing to him, they're gonna get the ball to him. So I don't worry about his fantasy output being implicated by the quarterback transition either. all Drew: For sure. Amanda: right, well, we're moving out of quarterbacks into wide receivers, and we're gonna start with DJ Moore. DJ Moore obviously now is a Buffalo Bill, went from the Chicago Bears over to Buffalo, which maybe finally gives Josh Allen someone solid to throw the ball to, because we know that we've just kind of watched him. throw the ball to a potpourri of different mid tier wide receivers. How do you feel? Do you feel like DJ Moore falls with that mid tier wide receiver or is this actually going to be a wide receiver asset for Josh Allen this year? Drew: I do not think that DJ Moore has a lot left in the tank. I don't think he's looked very good the last two years. I don't know if that's the system they were in last year. He basically started getting phased out by Ben Johnson and the Bears. So I don't know if that was a disinterest, if it was he just wasn't I don't know. I don't know. It could have been a small injury. I I personally think DJ Moore is a wide receiver three this year. Somewhere around the, you know, twenty-five to thirty-five range, he'll have valuable weeks. He's a flex play in my opinion. I don't think he's a weekly starter. I think he's a flex play for you. He's fine. But honestly, I think it just helps Josh Allen a little bit more. I think that's the biggest impact here is Josh has another guy he can throw the ball to. Let's just hope it's not an Amari Cooper situation. When Amari came over from the Browns to the Bills and it was Amanda: Nothing. Yeah. Drew: completely worthless. So let's hope it's not that 'cause that that Amanda: Yeah. Drew: wasn't good. Amanda: Yeah. How about coaching changes over in Buffalo as well? Obviously, we know Joe Brady was promoted to head coach. so new coaching change, maybe another wide receiver, no no impact from a coaching standpoint. Drew: Nothing. Nothing changes there. I don't think no. I Sean McDermott didn't have a lot of say in the offense. The only Amanda: Mm-hmm. Drew: thing it could like Joe Brady likes to run the ball and command the offense. The only difference that you see when an OC takes over as a head coach from a defensive coach in a situation like this is sometimes defensive coaches tend to tell their play callers to, hey, we need to slow the clock down. We need run the ball, we need to hold the possession a little bit longer, give our defense a rest, because their focus is how can I stop the other team, right? 'Cause they're a defensive head coach. If you don't have that and you have an offensive coach, sometimes they get a little aggressive in their play calling and so you you could see a little bit of that, but honestly I it he was running the offense last year that I I wouldn't expect much change. Amanda: Yeah. Okay, cool. Next up we have Jalen Waddell obviously making his waddling, ha, waddling his way Drew: Mm-hmm. Amanda: from Miami to Denver. He has the best touchdown celebration in the league, bar none, Drew: Mm-hmm. Amanda: in my opinion. but now he is with the Denver Broncos, giving Bonex another person to throw the ball to. Obviously, we saw Sutton there last year. Didn't have the most immaculate output that we were hoping for with the Bonex Cortland Sutton combo. Now we've got Jalen Waddle in the mix as well. So there is some good wide receiver threats over there in in in Denver. And I think this is an interesting move that I I believe Waddle's is a good asset for fantasy football. More of that, like maybe a flex play, maybe wide receiver two type of situation. But it's an upgrade and it gives more options on the field for Bonex who didn't look they struggled a little bit last year, but It wasn't as bad as i he came back a little bit in the back end of the season, which I think redeemed him a little bit. But I think giving him more options and letting him continue to develop as a quarterback, this is a a move that I would keep my eye on a little bit in in fantasy this year. Drew: Yeah, I think out of everything that we've talked about so far and all the different moves, this is the first one that I actually feel is a big impact. you know, a all the quarterbacks are obviously big impacts for the teams, but for fantasy, I Jalen Waddle makes a big difference on that team. look, it was Cortland Sutton and a bunch of dudes last year. Just a bunch of Jags, right? and it didn't work. Bo Nicks did not look good last year, but when you go back and look at the tape, Bo Nicks looked worse because he couldn't connect on deep balls with anybody. But you're also throwing the ball to Troy Franklin and I can't remember the other guy's name. Pat Bryan on the outside who I do like. Marvin Mims, yes. Deep Amanda: Right Bryant, yep. Yep. Drew: shots to Marvin Mims and Troy Franklin are not the same as deep shots to Jalen Waddle, who is a great receiver. So I think it's gonna be massive. I think they're gonna connect on some big big shots this year. Sean Payton is also not calling plays, at least to start the year. He brought an Amanda: Mm-hmm. Drew: OCN and is gonna have him call plays. the big thing for fantasy, and this is what you have to what are you gonna take the shot on, right? Is Jalen Waddell gonna get back up to 120 plus targets and gonna get back in the conversation of a top twelve receiver? He was a top twelve receiver, his rookie season and the second season, I believe he was wide receiver 13. Can he get back up to that level? Possibly, but it's gonna take 120 targets. I think that's going to happen. So I'm very in on Jalen Waddle this year. and I do think he boosts Bo Nick's value this year as well. Amanda: Absolutely, 100%. Well, my most excited wide receiver changeup was the AJ Brown shift. Obviously, from the Eagles to New England. Incredibly disappointing season for most last year from a fantasy production. He did kind of come back alive near the back end of the season, but that entire Philadelphia Eagles offense just was hard to watch last year. And so the move of just a very not appeared, not happy AJ Brown. To the New England Patriots is personally what I'm the most excited for. We have babyface Drake May now able to have an elite wide receiver one to throw the ball to. This elevates, in my opinion, sure, AJ Brown's that guy. It's AJ Brown. This elevates Drake May even more, in my opinion, which actually moved him up on my quarterback rankings, which we'll get into in a further episode. But this single-handedly moved Drake May up in my, in my wide hello, quarterback rankings. So I think this is a Beautiful transition is going to make the Patriots that much of a scarier, unfortunately, again team because they had like one drought season and you know, whatever. Mm-hmm. Yeah. Drew: Mm-hmm. Yeah, a couple. And a Bill Belichick and then they you got you gotta remember they had Gerard Mayo in there as a head coach for a year, which was a complete disaster. yeah, let's just be honest. AJ Brown, that boy was pissed last year. he was absolutely enraged to the point of didn't even care anymore. Didn't want to play, didn't finish routes, didn't wanna be on the field, fucking seems like he hates Jalen Hurts, which, you know, if he's throwing the ball forty feet over your head or missing you or throwing you into into a safety to get destroyed. I I understand it. look I yeah, to your point earlier, Jalen Waddle is a big impact. I think AJ Brown is the biggest impact of any player Amanda: Great. Mm-hmm. Drew: in in the NFL this year. I am really high on AJ Brown. I think personally, I think he finishes, you know, obviously health barring you know injuries, I think he finishes as a top six receiver this year. I think he's incredible. And currently going at you know two six ADP I think he's still a a steal there. I I think Amanda: God, yeah. Drew: yeah, I think he can he's gonna be a a a huge guy, huge impact. Drake May throws a beautiful deep ball. AJ Brown is a very good deep ball receiver. so I I think he's incredible and he is by far the alpha on this team. So I I think it's a great change. how about in a similar vein, you've got Mike Evans changing over, similar ish type of player, older later in his career. Amanda: older. Drew: Yep, coming from the Buccaneers, he's going over the forty niners. What do you think Amanda: Weird. Drew: about the if let's start with the impact on the Buccaneers? Mike Evans leaving the Buccaneers after a decade there. What do we think about the Buccaneers wide receiver room room minus Mike Evans? Amanda: Yeah, we we got to see a little bit of that early in the season last year when Mike Evans was hurt. We got to see what the Buccaneers looked like without Mike Evans. And it started decent. It kind of fell off a cliff a little bit there. I think we were dealing with a pretty banged up Baker Mayfield. And so we didn't get to quite see exactly what was happening with that receiver room without him for a little bit. The Buccaneers, I'm not as excited about this year as I had been in in years past. Obviously, Omeka Buka. Came out really hot and then essentially did not get the targets, dropped some passes, just wasn't as electric as we were hoping to see him through the entirety of the year. I think he now has to step in and be more of a relevant factor on the Buccaneers, but less excited there, honestly, not excited about Mike Evans to the 49ers, mostly because the get man's already getting hurt left and right. He got hurt multiple times last year. And now they put him on the team in which just seems to always get injured. Over and over and over again. So you you Drew: It's the substation. It's the substation. Amanda: put this fragile ass man on the Drew: huh. Amanda: scariest team in the NFL from an injury perspective. I mean, Mike Evans does he even start the year. Like, does he get hurt before they even take the field in game one? We don't know. I don't I'm not. Drew: Yeah. Amanda: That's a player I full pass on. I full pass on a Mike Evans in my opinion. Yeah. Drew: Your full pass. At at what point so for those of you that don't know, there's a electrical substation right next to the Forty Niners practice facility that they've had since they've moved to this practice facility. and I think it's been since Levi Stadium was built. So it's been a while. It's a lot of data. Their injuries are higher, and I don't know if it's actually playing a factor or not. People seem to believe it does. but they've had a ton of injuries and a lot of soft tissue injuries and I look, I think it's a thing, so you can, you know, do a little research on it yourself to see, but I I think it's an issue. if he is healthy or even if he plays half the games, I think the biggest impact is not like I'm I'm with you. I'm out on Mike Evans. I'm not gonna draft him. I'm too worried about him not playing enough games. The two things that I think it does impact is I think it impacts Brock Purdy in a positive note, because when Mike Evans is there, it's a good receiver, it's a good red zone threat. So I think it's positive for Brock Purdy. And I think it's a negative for George Kittle when he comes back from his injury because the red zone threat, Brock Purdy loves throwing to his tight ends, right? George Kittle's a great red zone receiver. So is Mike Evans. So I think it might have a negative impact on George Kittle from a red zone threat, how many touchdowns he can score. but I I I'm out on Mike Evans. I'm not drafting him, I'm not dealing with a 30 plus year old receiver. That has had hamstring injuries for years and goes to the substation team that, you know, keeps getting hurt. So I'm I'm out on that. Amanda: Full out on the Evans as well. Our last wide receiver here is Michael Pittman Jr. making a transition from the Indianapolis Colts over to the one and only Pittsburgh Steelers. yeah. I am actually really excited about this. Obviously, Michael Pittman last year showed us that he still has plenty of life left in him. And I think he's going to be a really nice target for Aaron Rodgers, specifically for those more short check down. Routes, obviously, we have an old man, Aaron Rodgers, here at the helm. Drew: Yeah. Amanda: But Pittsburgh did also get a new head coach in Mike McCarthy. And Mike McCarthy and Aaron Rodgers teamed up and have won a Super Bowl in their past. So coaching experience with Aaron Rodgers, I think that is a huge highlight. In addition to that, I think giving Aaron Rodgers a receiver that he's going to feel more comfortable getting the ball to in those short routes and then still having that deep threat of DK. I just don't think Aaron Rodgers and DK Metcalf. connected last year. It's it's not a it's not a it's not a s it's not a secret. It wasn't great. Drew: No, they haven't. It was awful. It was terrible. Aaron Rodgers was terrible last year. The Steelers were terrible. The Hold franchise is terrible. Amanda: Listen, let's take a deep breath. Kevin Gain c Kenneth Gainwell was our second leading wide receiver as a running back. We put a little Michael Pittman in his place, utilizing that wide receiver role, having to cover a valid threat a little bit more. You know what? I'm gonna ride on my hopeful high horse and say, I would. Drew: Y yeah, you better. I can't wait till you guys no, you guys are gonna win seven games again, not Amanda: Yeah. Drew: get a high quarterback draft, and you guys are just gonna be stuck in this place of just being too good to be bad to get Amanda: Whatever. Drew: good quarterback, but yet not bad enough to get it's you're just in this it's the worst place to be in the NFL. I love that you guys are there. Amanda: Yes, we are in Narnia. We are in Narnia. It is okay. But yes, Michael Pittman. Yeah. Drew: From a fantasy standpoint, yes, I do think look, I I think it's semi valuable. like he's a flex play in my opinion. He's he's gonna run short routes that Aaron Rodgers will throw to. Amanda: Agreed, agreed. I think he's an interesting late round pickup though that could give you a very sustainable amount of fantasy points every week. I think he's not gonna go out there and goose egg you. Like I do like having a little bit of like diversity on my team where I've got my deep threat guys who are going to get less targets but have the opportunity to score me like big booty touchdown points and all of that good stuff. I like a short route guy too. Just to have a little bit of that like safer option on my roster too. Cause you never fucking know. You need a little safety out there too. Drew: Yeah, you're right. I was just checking the rankings. Look, I Pittman and DK, mid thirties in the wide receiver rankings, mid to late thirties. Like, again, they're flex plays. I think Pittman will free up DK a little bit more because defenses last year essentially, like, take DK away, and that's the entire offense because they had no one else really at any position. Like, their line was okay. They had okay running backs. They had a quarterback that was below average at this point in his career. They don't have good tight ends. They didn't have good receivers outside of I believe DK's a good player. I also think that's a weird fit, DK and and Aaron Rodgers, because of the playstyles are different. Amanda: Yeah. Mm-hmm. Drew: But I I'm not excited about either one of I'm more excited that McCarthy's there, but honestly, with a forty something year old Aaron Rodgers who hasn't been good in three years, four years, I I'm not excited about it. Amanda: Yeah, that does lead us. We'll kind of start with our running backs, but we'll start with obviously the team we're ending with is the Steelers. There's two transitions there. So we know Rico Dowdle went from the Panthers to the Steelers, and Kenneth Gainwell went from the Steelers to the Buccaneers. So two big change ups there. Obviously, Kenneth Gainwell going over to the Buccaneers. That does make it interesting. He got paid. so we now think about obviously we had Bucky Irving, we have Kenneth Gainwell, we have Rashad White who's still there. It's just an interesting dynamic of who's going to get most of those snaps and what that snap count's going to look like in the Buccaneers. How do you feel that that running back snap count is gonna look like? Drew: Well, he Rashad White is not there. Rashad White is with the commanders, Amanda: he's not there anymore. Drew: correct. So he basically replaces Rashad White. I think he could be a sneaky play for later in the year. I y track Bucky's injury. Bucky Irving, track his injury. He's still Amanda: Always. Yep. Drew: not healthy from last year. There's a lot it's yeah, Amanda: I was disappointing when he came back. Drew: he's he's Bucky I'm out on Bucky. However Amanda: Yeah. Drew: If you're in on him, you're gonna get him out of value if he ends up being healthy. So like I get people that are in on him this year. but I think Kenneth Gainwell is just he's gonna eat into Bucky's work. I I I honestly just see it as a net negative in total for him going there because I think it's gonna lower Bucky's production possibilities, but yet he's not the main guy, being Kenneth Gainwell's not the main guy. So I I'm pretty out on the Buccaneers running back situation altogether. and on the Panthers standpoint. No Rico means that Chuba is going to get more work. He didn't look great last year. Amanda: Yeah. Drew: I'm really in on Jonathan Brooks as a Amanda: Mm. Drew: later round running back that I can throw on my bench. If he happens to be healthy coming back from another ACL injury, for those Amanda: That was rough. Drew: of you that don't know him, he was their running back they drafted a few years ago from Texas. They had high draft capital. He had torn Amanda: He was hurt though. Drew: his ACL at Texas the year before. His draft And then he tore it again immediately with the with the Panthers. So then I'm in on him as a late round guy, and Chuba, you know, middle round guy. You know, if you need a guy that and he's there, you can take him, but obviously I'm not hot. Amanda: Yeah, how about Rico Dowdle now pairing up with Jalen Warren over in Pittsburgh? I think that There Pittsburgh is such like a a ride or die. They ride or die for players. They're ride they ri will ride or die for Warren. Obviously, I don't think that's a given backfield. I think that Rico could win that backfield and yeah. Drew: it's fifty fifty. Yeah, it's a fifty fifty split. Rico also was the running back for the Cowboys when McCarthy was there. He split Amanda: Mm-hmm. Drew: time with Tony Pollard. I I I like Rico a lot. he's Amanda: Mm-hmm. Drew: been on my fantasy teams. He's produced really well. I think he's a great bench guy, but honestly, it's a fifty fifty time split. I I don't think either one's gonna be super valuable unless they take a commanding role or one of them gets or one of them gets injured. Amanda: Change the offensive yeah. Gets hurt. Drew: Otherwise I Not not super interested in either one. Amanda: Yeah. All Some other big running back changes. Obviously, probably one of the biggest ones was Kenneth Walker going from the Seahawks to the Chiefs. Kenneth Walker specifically looked great, obviously, in that Super Bowl win from the Seahawks last last year. and this is very interesting for the Chiefs because they have not had a true dominant running back for a while. They've really been struggling to fill that role for a hot second here. And when they acquired Kenneth Walker, I think that's going to make Such a large impact on that offense. And I think Kenneth Walker really thrive in the Chiefs' offense as well. So this is definitely one of those running backs that as long as he can, again, like we always say, stay healthy because he is injury prone and has faced injuries in his past, this is one of those really solid running back options for the year in a new offense that if they finally have that option, is just gonna free up that whole offensive unit, in my opinion, too. Drew: yeah, I think Kenneth Walker is i it's a huge move. for for those that haven't been playing fantasy football for a long time and they only know the Chiefs as this high flying offense that threw the ball a lot with Tyree Kill and Travis Kelsey and then kind of had a couple down years, they they don't realize that Andy Reid loves running the football all the way back to his days in Philly. So there's a guy named LaShawn Shady McCoy. Look him up. If you don't know who he is, look up his highlights. The dude was electric, right? Super fast, super agile. He was a fantasy dominator for years with Andy Reid as his head coach. So I think we have the possibility of coming to some type of Shady McCoy-esque player with Kenneth Walker. I'm a huge Kenneth Walker fan. I have been for years. So glad that he's away from Seattle because They were idiots and they wouldn't give him the ball and they kept playing. Zach Charbonnet. I hate, hate Zach Amanda: The Zach Charbonnet bullshit was the downfall of Drew Black. Drew: Charbonnet with everything in me, and it has nothing to do with the man. It's all the Seahawks' fault. Stop Amanda: It was no, it was so hard. Yeah. Drew: giving him the ball and give it to Kenneth Walker. And now that he's free of that, I'm so happy. So huge on Kenneth Walker this year. I I I have him, I believe, as my number three or four ranked running back on the year. I'm really high on him. Love him. and from the Seahawks standpoint, Jadarian Price, they draft or they traded up to the first round, 30 second pick, picked a rookie out of Notre Dame who was the backup to Jeremiah Love last year, who obviously went in the top ten. I think he's a great player. I'm really high on him this year. Sharps is hurt. I don't expect him to be back early in the year. I think it'll take a little bit of time. So big on Jadarian. Amanda: No. And also even when Sharps played, he wasn't that good of a running back in general. He Drew: He was fine. Amanda: was just average, okay? Drew: Look, he's he does what an NFL coach wants him to do. He's not great for fantasy because he's not gonna bust these big runs, but he also doesn't take losses. He'll get when you need three yards, he will get you just over three yards. When you need two yards, he'll get you two yards, right? He will not bust a long run, he will not bust a long touchdown, but he will get what he needs. He's not a bad running back. I just I can't stand the guy 'cause he took all that work from Kenneth Walker. So Amanda: Awesome. All right, David Montgomery made the transition from his Sonic and Hedgehog duo from the Lions to the Texans. Gibbs and Montgomery were in their prime when that first happened. They were just Drew: Mm-hmm. Amanda: so much fucking fun to watch. So it is hard seeing David Montgomery, who just seems like a good guy. If you guys didn't know, David Montgomery is a full ass fucking vegan. Like does vegan, full blown. He one time in a Thanksgiving episode was just nominating a carrot after they won. And that's how I found that out. And I think, yes. Drew: Instead of the turkey leg, yeah. Amanda: Instead of the turkey leg, because he doesn't eat meat. Love that. But he went from the Lions to the Texans. Honestly, it for the Lions that it changes nothing. Gibbs, we saw it last year. He became their guy. They weren't doing a 50-50 split anymore. It was the Jameer Gibbs show. It will remain the Jameer Gibbs show. they brought what Isaiah Pacheco to back him up and to give him a little bit of rest. So I'm not worried about that. David Montgomery's over to the Texans. It gives him an opportunity to split time with Woody Marks, and we'll see how how that. Count count ghosts. Drew: It's not a time split. It's it's not a time split. It's it's Montgomery's backfield. Woody Marks Amanda: Yeah. Drew: will split a little I mean, yes, they'll they'll play sixty forty. I believe Amanda: Mm, mm-hmm. Drew: Monty I believe Monty will be the main person in that timeshare. Look, Monty he replaces what Joe Mixon was two years ago and what he was supposed to be last year before he had that weird foot injury that now has ended his career that was like it's shrouded in mystery of how it happened and what and what went on. but no I like Monty. I think he's I think he'll be right in that running back to mid to late running back two, you know, running back fifteen to twenty-four range. He's a guy I believe that you will be able to draft a little bit later. And you set him in your lineup and you forget him. He's just he'll get you seven, eight, Amanda: Consistent. He's a consistent guy. Drew: nine, ten points a week. He might spy you know, if he scores a touchdown, you'll be really happy. And if he doesn't, he's not gonna kill you. but when you're building a fantasy lineup, You you need guys like that. You can't have all your players are that are gonna go off for forty points, right? It's just not gonna happen. So you need to build lineups with some consistency and then some guys that are boom bust players. He's a consistent player that I love this year. Amanda: Yeah, he's that foundation player that you can feel confident with year-round. I agree. Travis Etienne going from Jacksonville to the Saints definitely, I think, created a little bit of just pause for a lot of us because Alvin Kamara is very much still there. now the Saints in general are just an interesting team, to say the least. but How do you feel about that obviously addition of Travis Etienne, who had a really good year last year with Jacksonville Jaguars and really created a lot of dominance on that offense? Was your very consistent running back last year? You plugged him in, he was scoring big points. How do we feel about how that workload will get split between Kamara and Etienne? Who Kamara's old and he's didn't have much to show us last year either. Drew: Yeah. Screw Alvin Kamara for coming back. I love Alvin Kamara. He Amanda: Yeah, yeah, I know. So do I. Drew: was on multi of my fantasy football championship teams, so I've got a special place in my heart for him. The dude just Amanda: Well, he won that one year. Didn't he score like fifty points in a fantasy football final? And basically won everyone the year that year. I played against him Drew: Yeah, he was on my team. Amanda: in the finals and I was like, I fucking hate you, Alvin. Drew: Yeah, I was playing y he was on my team. It was I think it was like what Christmas Day game or Christmas Eve game or something. No, it wouldn't have been yeah, yeah, it would have been about that time. It would have been yeah, it was Christmas, Christmas Eve, something like that. Amanda: No. Was anywhere on that? It was bad. It was you were just you just walk he scored five touchdowns, didn't he? Drew: Yeah, I that was a sixth touchdown game. And he single handedly won my fantasy championship that year. I was Amanda: It was six and you just sat there like Drew: super happy and I happened I went out to a bar to watch the game with the guy that I was playing in the fantasy championship, one of my good buddies. and I don't remember If this was the first or second year, because I won back to back titles at that time, and it was I beat the same other manager, you know, my buddy Dan. I beat him two years in a row in the finals. I can't remember if it was the first or second year, but at about halftime, he had two or three touchdowns and he was just distraught. And I could not have been happier. It was amazing. So I love Alvin Kamara. I just retire, get out of the way. I was so Amanda: Yeah. Drew: happy when Etienne went to the Saints. I was with Kalen Moore. As c yeah, I just I loved it and then now that happened, I it's just gonna take receiving work away and receiving work is so valuable in fantasy that it just yeah, Amanda: It's muddy. Mm-hmm. Yeah. For yep, PPR leagues it's yeah. Drew: it's just gonna eat into his work. from the Jag standpoint though, Byshal Tutin, Chris Rodriguez, the two guys, Amanda: boot scootin' tootin', huh? Drew: which one which one do you prefer between Byshal Tutin? Obviously he split time last year with Travis Etienne or Travis it's a Travis A Chan Jr. in case you didn't know. Travis Etienne was what he went by. His name is actually Travis A Chan Jr. That's how you pronounce it. It's weird. It's gonna be really hard to get used to. He's Amanda: Very confused. Okay. Drew: from Louisiana, he's from New Orleans. So that they say it in that accent. So it's spelled Etienne as we would say like up here in in Ohio. However, E Chan, Echien, Amanda: Well Drew: that's how you would actually say it in their dialect. It's Amanda: Etchene. Drew: that, you know, New Orleans accent. So it's it's Amanda: Interesting. Drew: Travis Etchyan Jr. So that's actually how but not to be confused with Devon A Chan, who plays for Miami. No, it it's it's different. Yep. But anyway, Amanda: A Chan. Yeah, I was like, wait, is there does A Chan have a brother? Hey, I'm all for a per correct pronunciation of name, so I'm here for that. Drew: so he's gone. You have Byshal Tutin, who split time with him last year, or or in addition, now you have Chris Rodriguez coming over from the Commanders, who secretly had a great year last year over four yards of carry. Amanda: He did have a sneaky good. Yeah, he was one of those Drew: Mm-hmm. Amanda: players we talked a lot about of like throw Chris Rodriguez in. And they were also dealing with like three running backs in the commander. So you just never knew who the hell was gonna get the opportunity that week. gosh, I don't know. I s I can just say I I would prefer Tutin over Chris Rodriguez. And there's really not a ton of validity for that, other than he's been in the offensive scheme, he's got experience there already. They had a really successful season last year, and I think they're gonna roll on that. I think that it ends up being more of like a 50-50 split more than anything, but I would I'm gonna put my eggs in the Byshall Tutan bucket just because I like his fucking last name. Okay? Cause that's funny. That that's my Drew: Let me ask Let me see here real quick. Let me check the ADPs. So you've got Bichal Tutin is going five twelve right now, and then you've got Chris Rodriguez going thirteen point one. So Amanda: shit. Drew: Chris Rodriguez in the thirteenth round or Bichal Tutin, are you gonna take him in the fifth round? Amanda: Who else is going around like who else is in that ADP range with Byshell Tutin? Drew: From a running back standpoint, you've got DeAndre Swift at the five eleven. See here. Amanda: Obviously, you know, when you're deciding this too, you're looking at like your overall roster. Cause like I don't Drew: Yeah. Amanda: think waiting and like taking a late, if you like already have a pretty solid running back room and you want to take a flyer on Chris Hart, you're you're getting him for a steal in the 13th. Even if he ends up splitting 50-50, that's still a valid running back option when you know running backs will be in poverty at some point this year when people start going down and you need a guy who is at least on the fucking field. Drew: Yeah, you're looking DJ Moore, Mike Evans, Carnell Tate, Terry McLaurin, kind of that range Amanda: Mm. Drew: of receivers that are going i in that in that range. Amanda: Yeah, I mean, that's interesting to see him split like that. I I like that offense. So I'm excited by the Jacksonville Jaguars offense. So I think that if you're looking at your roster and at that point you're you're in that Bichal Tutin range and you need a wide receiver, obviously then take the flyer on Chris Rodriguez later. I think that's a an insane steal for him later in the draft. Cause again, he's gonna get time. He had a good year last year. Drew: Yeah, if I don't get Tutin I I'm gonna target Chris Rodriguez later in the draft because I think he can have an impact, especially if if Tutan gets hurt at any time. Amanda: God. And that's too, you're playing on like a guy who's gonna get playing time and a potential injury risk. You want some of that to fill out your roster in in late later in that draft too. You gotta think a little bit deeper there. all right, or Drew: All right, let's look at these tight ends real quick. Amanda: Okay, cool, let's move on. Drew: Yeah, we've got there's three tight ends that changed teams this year, and I want to know if you care about any of them. Isaiah likely going from the Ravens to the Giants, Chiga Conquo going from the Titans to the Commanders, David Njoku, Browns to Chargers. Amanda: Yeah, the only person that I am mildly intrigued by is Isaiah Likely. I'll be honest, I don't know enough about Chik Chickakonquo to understand what his dominance might be in the commander's offense. So I can let you speak a little bit on how you might think about him. I'm not excited by David Njoku over from the Browns to the Chargers. we know that Aronday Gadston's over there already. I think that David Njoku's gonna just maybe not be used as much in the passing offense over there. That offense is also ran now by Mike McDaniel's, not S. Mike McDaniel. Mike McDaniel I always question it. I'm like, it's not Mike McDaniel's and LaF LaFleurs Drew: Mm. Mike McDaniel, no S. Yep. There's a lot of McDaniels and McDonald's and yep. Amanda: and Flores, and there's a lot Drew: Yeah. Amanda: of fucking similar names out there. so I'm excited for the Chargers offense, not excited for J David Nojoku in the Chargers offensive scheme. I am more excited about Isaiah Likely. I feel like we've been talking about Isaiah Likely behind Mark Andrews now for a couple years of like. could be this great elite tight end and he just didn't get immersed in that offense the way anyone had hoped for. but I do think that he could get utilized more in that Giants offense. And the Giants team, I like that team. They're an interesting team to me. I think it could be a good opportunity. So if there's any like very flyer tight end, because these are not tight ends I'm taking early in the draft. They would be like deep, deep, deep late tight ends. If I'm putting the tight end position, I might be taking a shot on someone like an Isaiah likely he would be my only intrigue out of those three though. Drew: Yeah, I I'm not interested in any of Isaiah Likely's gonna split time with Theo Johnson. They're gonna run a lot of two tight end sets, the same thing that they did with the Ravens Amanda: Mark Andrews, yep. Drew: la or yes, with with the Ravens and and Andrews. It's gonna end up being likely scores two touchdowns and has twenty eight fantasy points one game and then doesn't score another fantasy doesn't score more than five fantasy points. Yeah, for s for six Amanda: Doesn't touch I'm sorry, doesn't even get a target and you're pissed off the entire game. Yeah. Drew: weeks and it ruins your entire team like it did to me last year. or two years ago. And then y like Chega Conquwo is semi interesting. He's more of a guy to keep on your radar for waivers after the first week or two 'cause Ertz is gone now and that system, the commander system, throws the ball to the tight ends a lot. Jaden Daniels does it a lot. But again, I'm not drafting him. David Njoku, I definitely not drafting him. I I to me that just lowers a Ronde Gadston to a point where I'm probably not gonna draft a Ronday either because it's just splits it up. Amanda: Been some interesting reports of him coming out of preseason or training camp that, like, he wasn't performing very well with the team. Drew: Arande. Amanda: Yeah. Drew: I have not seen anything on that, but Amanda: I thought I heard some aspect of like they weren't intrigued by Aronday Gadston sounds like a a Prince Charming name, so that's what I think of when I think of him. but I don't think Prince Charming was performing all that well with the team anyways. Drew: Yeah, I just I'm not really interested in any of those three tight ends anyway and you know, I either take one early or I'm just gonna figure out somebody late. I've got a target we'll talk about in the tight end rankings episode coming out here in the next week or so, Amanda: There we go. Drew: so make sure to check in on that one and and I've got a guy that I'm targeting in every draft. Amanda: Absolutely. Well, we will start breaking down more positionally here in the very near future. Like we said, obviously, we just wanted to get an episode out that really kind of went through some offseason changes and really just a potpourri of information of what we're excited about, what we're on the lookout for, what's not exciting us as we get ready for fantasy football season. But here soon you're gonna see some breakout episodes of obviously quarterback rankings, running back, wide receiver, tight ends to fully get you prepared for the season. If you guys have any questions at all, make sure you comment them below the videos. If you want us to cover anything, players you might be targeting, questions you might have. Those are the things that we love to see interaction with so we can add them to episodes. As always, make sure you like and subscribe to Let's Talk Football. That way you can get notifications for when new episodes are released. And follow us on all of our social medias because we're back, baby. Football's almost back. And we're gonna keep making sure that you feel fully prepared to dominate this fantasy football season. And Thank you all for welcoming my wonderful husband to the podcast this year because like I said, we're back just a little bit different and we are going to make sure you guys feel super prepared for fantasy this year. Drew: yeah, we're gonna have a hell of a time this year. I can't wait. Amanda: All right, guys. Talk to you soon. Make sure you tune in for the next episode. Bye.