GBF: Fantasy Football Preview

[0] You're listening to Draft King's Network.

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[12] It's a we thing and experience best enjoyed together.

[13] Whether you are at home or away, we rally together, we cry together, and we always rally cry together.

[14] Because in fandom, there's definitely no lie.

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[21] God bless football, Mike Ye.

[22] God bless football, Fuentes.

[23] God bless football, Stu Gauts.

[24] Thank you.

[25] I mean, a little more enthusiasm, perhaps, Fuentes, you know?

[26] I was wondering also if it was just me or not.

[27] Yeah.

[28] Okay, so it wasn't just me, good.

[29] It's early.

[30] I'm doing things.

[31] I'm looking up our line, you know.

[32] We're trying to figure out.

[33] What do you mean?

[34] It's Friday afternoon.

[35] What are you talking about?

[36] That's a good point.

[37] It's very early for a Friday afternoon.

[38] I'm doing things.

[39] I'm doing things.

[40] You're doing things.

[41] Busy guy.

[42] It's week zero, Billy.

[43] College football is here, man. It's no longer called week zero.

[44] It's week one, as Greg Cody explained to us on the Dan Levitarn show, Woodson, God.

[45] It is a week one that lasts two weekends.

[46] It's week one part one because we have like six or seven teams.

[47] I think eight teams that play twice in week one.

[48] So the rare doubleheader for some of these teams, I'll find out.

[49] It kicks off.

[50] By the way, Florida State, Georgia Tech, 12 Eastern, in.

[51] Dublin, because you think Dublin, of course, you think Florida State and Georgia Tech.

[52] You think of Atlanta, Georgia.

[53] Yep.

[54] Mm -hmm.

[55] So their problem was with the number zero, not with the fact that the word week, meaning two weeks.

[56] Like, that's what they feel like they had to change, the word zero.

[57] Yeah, I don't know.

[58] Listen, you have college football this weekend.

[59] The games mean something.

[60] It's Florida State and Georgia Tech.

[61] You have a Hawaii midnight game.

[62] I don't think Delaware State caught their plane.

[63] Delaware State make it to Hawaii.

[64] I was reading stories last.

[65] I'm concerned about this because my strategy every Saturday is lose as much money as possible and then bet it all in Hawaii at midnight.

[66] It makes you feel alive.

[67] I mean, it does.

[68] Not necessarily the most responsible betting advice.

[69] Maybe don't do that.

[70] I'm not advising that you do it.

[71] I'm just, I didn't say, hey, this is what you should do.

[72] I didn't say that.

[73] Football season is a marathon, Steve, God, it's not a sprint.

[74] Yeah, on top of, by the way, week one in college football, or week one, part one, whatever we're going to call it.

[75] also it is fantasy season and we have Mike Wright, our friend from fantasy footballers back this week and he's going to be helping you the listener set up your fantasy team and us too and also we love Nitro, you love Nitro.

[76] Nitro is not back because we thought that you guys would actually want some fantasy advice, not explain to Nitro why it is that you need a running back on your fantasy football team.

[77] We love Nitro.

[78] God bless them, but you know, we thought this would be more beneficial to you, the fantasy consumers than just picking Nitro's team.

[79] Yeah.

[80] So Mike Wright.

[81] Strokes here.

[82] Yeah.

[83] Mike Wright, fantasy footballers is going to join us.

[84] We do love him.

[85] We do love Nitro.

[86] We realized probably midway through the second go around with Nitro and Mike Wright that this was a tuneout for the audience.

[87] Yeah.

[88] I mean, no, no, unfair.

[89] I don't know if I would classify it as such because there are discussions to should we do it again at some point.

[90] But headed into the season, we thought, you know what?

[91] Let's have the focus beyond Mike Wright and not nitro.

[92] I know, but Billy, you will agree.

[93] It's not our best idea.

[94] The fact that we were having Mike Wright helped Nitro and only Nitro who pick his fantasy team probably doesn't serve our audience very well.

[95] Well, here's the problem.

[96] When discussing fantasy, I've learned the best way to do it and the most fun way to do it is calls or you know, you have like user, viewer submissions, whatever, right?

[97] What really happened with Nitro is Mike Yeh was getting mad and he's like, this is a waste of my time.

[98] I'm not getting anything from Mike Wright.

[99] I had access to Mike, right.

[100] All we're doing is learning about Nitro's team and the guy's asking all these stupid questions.

[101] Why shouldn't I draft two kickers was one of the ones.

[102] Why do I need, should I have two kickers as a question?

[103] So I'm concerned I have this tight end.

[104] Did I take a kicker in the third round?

[105] Why not take him in the seventh round early?

[106] Right.

[107] For the record, for the record, I love Nitro.

[108] I just didn't love that segment.

[109] That's it.

[110] No, it was also, you know, when Mike would ask him like, well, who's on your team?

[111] He was like, my quarterback is Jay Allen.

[112] It's like, okay.

[113] The guy from, the guy from was this.

[114] All their first names was their first initial.

[115] And it's always like the guy from San Diego.

[116] It's like, well, that's not a team anymore.

[117] Yeah, there is no San Diego.

[118] Anyways.

[119] We made it to the conference finals, I think, in his fantasy league.

[120] That's how good Mike right is.

[121] That's how good Mike right is.

[122] That's how good Mike right is.

[123] Well done.

[124] Not just that, but like, that.

[125] Honestly, is the secret to fantasy is that I've been in so many leagues where the person who knows the least, not that I'm saying that I know a lot, but the person that knows the least often succeeds because they have absolutely no emotional attachment whatsoever.

[126] And they don't overthink absolutely anything.

[127] They just figure out the scoring system and like, yeah, this person, I'm just going to plug them in.

[128] And it's like, oh, why would you get rid of this person?

[129] It's like, because they're not doing one.

[130] It's like, but they were the MVP of the season two years ago.

[131] Like, it's just a rough start.

[132] And they're like, nah, it doesn't matter.

[133] They end up being absolutely right more times than I always every time because you're so right like there's so many players I hold grudges against for bad seasons like two seasons ago and then they end up having a great season but I'm still mad about 2009 or whatever before we get to Mike Wright coming up here in just a minute one guy that I am high on at fantasy and he is worth a late round flyer he was named the starter this week I named him the start of this week before they named him the starter that is Bo Nix in Denver.

[134] I am intrigued Mike E .A. by both.

[135] Bonix in Denver.

[136] Can I ask you guys a question?

[137] Is Bonix good?

[138] New game?

[139] Is Bonix good?

[140] I don't know.

[141] I don't know.

[142] Is Bonix good?

[143] I don't know.

[144] I have a follow -up.

[145] Can I ask you guys a question?

[146] What?

[147] Is Sean Payton?

[148] I don't know.

[149] I don't know.

[150] I don't know.

[151] 25 and 21 without your breeze.

[152] Yeah.

[153] I don't know.

[154] Yeah.

[155] I don't know.

[156] I mean, listen, I know it's a football show.

[157] We're supposed to be experts.

[158] We're supposed to have answers.

[159] I don't know.

[160] I don't know.

[161] How about that?

[162] Mike Wright Next Welcome to the offensive line You guys on this podcast We're going to make some picks Talk some shit And hopefully make you some money in the process I'm your host Annie Yeager So here's how this show is going to work Okay We're going to run through the weekly slate Of NFL and college football matchups Breaking them down into very serious categories Like no offense No offense Travis Kelsey But you got to step up your game If Pat Mahomes is saying the chiefs need to have more fun this year We're also handing out a series of awards and making picks for the top storylines surrounding the world of football.

[163] Awards like the He May Have a Point Award for the wide receiver that's most justifiably bitter.

[164] Is it Brandon Ayuk, T. Higgins, or Devante Adams?

[165] Plus on Thursdays, we're doing an exclusive bonus episode on Wondry Plus, where I share my fantasy football ahead of Thursday night football and the weekend's matchups.

[166] Your fantasy league is as good as locked in.

[167] Follow the offensive line on the Wondry app or wherever you get your podcasts.

[168] You can access bonus episodes and listen ad -free right now by joining Wondry Plus.

[169] Mike Wright, the fantasy footballers podcast is exceptional.

[170] I hate when fantasy football season comes around, those podcasts, those football podcast, Billy, always jump ahead of hours.

[171] You know what I'm saying?

[172] Because everyone's in the fantasy.

[173] And so Mike Wright has the biggest and best, fantasy football podcast, fantasy podcast anywhere.

[174] He was kind enough to join us last year and help Nitro out with his first fantasy football draft and he's back again this year to help you out the listeners oh boys yeah i mean look you you can i get it i get it no one wants to be second place to a bunch of schlubbs like us i totally get that but we can all be in agreement that football is back it is the best time of year we and like we let's get this preseason out the way and let's play some real football and win some real fantasy games i feel like stu gotz you should apologize to mike because you made it seem like this is just like a gimmick thing like oh this time of year his little podcast just jumps ahead because everyone wants fantasy football advice when like the reality is your podcast is at the top of the charts year round which is kind of crazy because football season is you know however many months five six months long and then the rest of the time you're still up there so much so stu got and i have an admission to make and i don't think that i should be admitting this um and mike I hope that you don't hold this against us in any way, shape, or form.

[175] But Mike last year joined our show on a number of occasions, as you mentioned, to help with Nitro.

[176] And we have competed against Mike and his podcast in the Sports Podcast Awards the past two or three years.

[177] And we were in the same category.

[178] Mike's in a couple different categories.

[179] But in the football category, we were both there.

[180] And we won back -to -back years.

[181] and then last year we did not and I did a dirty little trick if I'm going to be honest with you and you're supposed to submit little clips that show the different range of your podcast and one of the clips that I put in there was a clip with you Mike and Nitro and I said look at how great we've covered fantasy where I was using you to compete against yourself for an award and sure enough your podcast actually did better than our podcast so the trick didn't work.

[182] Oh no that's that's that is fantastic Fantastic.

[183] Hey, don't hate the player, hate the game.

[184] I got to respect the sneakiness.

[185] I like it.

[186] But I still need to apologize, Billy.

[187] I need to.

[188] Yeah.

[189] Well, you know.

[190] All right.

[191] Sorry, Mike.

[192] There's room for all of us, man. How many drafts have you done already?

[193] How many drafts?

[194] Real drafts, I've only done a handful.

[195] They really are, they're sneaking up, you know, starting next week is when I'll really be drafting way too much.

[196] All right.

[197] So how many drafts do you have in your?

[198] future here.

[199] Oh, gosh.

[200] I don't know.

[201] They just, they did pop up like weeds.

[202] I mean, before it's all said and done, I'll have done probably 10 plus.

[203] And then I mean, if like there's people, I mean, there's real degenerates out there.

[204] What shout out to all you are playing, they're playing best ball.

[205] They're doing drafts as soon as like the Super Bowl is done.

[206] Like to be like, oh, I'm going to take care of next year right now.

[207] It's a wild world, man. Well, I was going to ask you, sorry, sorry, Billy.

[208] I was going to ask you, Mike.

[209] Like, do you ever wake up?

[210] Like, you just wake up one morning and you say you know what not today just not today uh that that happens a lot for the waiver wire where you're like oh good lord i need i need to go put waivers in over here how soon mike is too soon for fantasy draft because i'm in uh two leagues which is not that much honestly and i'm the commissioner of one so i'm kind of responsible for setting the date on this fantasy draft and i don't like doing it too early i don't like doing it after you know just one preseason game because you never know what can happen, you know, at training camp.

[211] You never know what can happen in these games.

[212] Obviously, the big starters are not going to be playing in week three of the preseason.

[213] So there's not really a risk there.

[214] But I always kind of like to wait until the last minute.

[215] So sometimes it's also just to get, like, who do I get in my last round of the draft?

[216] Like who's someone that's probably going to sneak on to a roster that may steal some points here or there?

[217] Do you want me to answer the how late is to draft or the player question?

[218] He did.

[219] He has two questions there.

[220] Yeah, you know.

[221] How late is too late to draft?

[222] I guess what is the right time to set up a draft?

[223] Honestly, it's really about the comfort for the comfort and knowledge of the fantasy football players and how much risk they want to take on because the injury thing is the biggest, right?

[224] Where your second round pick, whatever, first round pick, they go out and then they're hurt before the season even starts.

[225] And your team is toast because you've already burned that pick.

[226] So we're our main league, we call it the league of Reds.

[227] record we are for the first time ever we are drafting kick off Thursday like we're drafting we're scrambling to put our teams in and then we're all hanging out watching the opening night but like it there is an a there is an advantage or i should say a a strategy of if you really know football and everyone in your group knows football an earlier draft can be fun because it over the over august that's when these later players start to reveal themselves to the general public because the the casual players are trying to catch up.

[228] So a player, if you want my late round player right now, it's Rico Dowdell running back of the Dallas Cowboys.

[229] The Cowboys, despite all this C .D. Lamb nonsense and Jerry Jones just, someone needs to get, we got to get Jerry Jones out of there of running things for the Cowboys.

[230] It's time for the new regime to take over, Jerry.

[231] You had a good run.

[232] But they're going to be a good offense.

[233] That's what I think you can project confidently about them is they're going to be a good team.

[234] They're going to be a top 15 offense at worst.

[235] And I did a huge study of looking at running backs who aren't drafted to be great, but then end up sneaking into the top 24.

[236] And there's about five or so of these players every year.

[237] And the thing that all of them have in common is they're on great offenses.

[238] So I understand that Ezekiel Elliott is the name, and it's Mr. Cowboy is back with the team, but he hasn't been the Zeke that we knew and love for, it's been a while since we've really seen that player, and even all the Cowboys beat reporters, where the moment pads came on, Rico Dowell has been the best running back on this team, and he is being drafted after Zeke and just extremely late.

[239] I think there is a good chance that Rico Dowell emerges as the leader of the timeshare and the most valuable fantasy football back from that team.

[240] All right, Mike, so people who have a bad commissioner out there and they have to draft, you know, this week or next week, they're not doing it opening night of the NFL season.

[241] How do you handle?

[242] How do you go about if you're drafting in the next seven to ten days, let's say, how do you handle guys like Jam, C .D. Lamb and IU.

[243] What do you do there?

[244] So the big three wide receivers I'm not as concerned about, like they know the system.

[245] Nothing has really changed for those players.

[246] And it's not like the running.

[247] back position.

[248] I never played running.

[249] I don't know if you guys know this.

[250] I never played running back in the NFL, but I can make some assumptions about playing that your body has to get ready.

[251] You're going to be in a car crash every 45 seconds when you're playing running back in the NFL.

[252] And Josh Jacobs last year during his holdout, I was mentioning on the show, I'm like, guys, I'm a little concerned here that he's not out there getting the reps, getting his body really ready to play.

[253] maybe I just got to the correct result with the wrong process, but it still led me to be very concerned about Josh Jacobs.

[254] For wide receivers, though, these guys are the elite of the elite.

[255] I'm not concerned.

[256] They're going to play.

[257] Like, they're not going to hold out through the season.

[258] At least I understand there's whispers that Jamar Chase is like, there are people saying he won't step a foot on a football field without the extension.

[259] Once game checks are up in the air and you miss a game.

[260] you miss a game check, that's a whole different level of cash.

[261] Like, that's people's entire year's salary that they're going to skip out in a game.

[262] I don't think they're going to do it.

[263] You mentioned before that you created this list of running backs based on good offenses.

[264] How much stock do you put into a guy being on a good offense versus, say, a Deonti Johnson, who's going to be on probably a bad offense?

[265] Sure.

[266] For running backs, it's extremely important.

[267] You have to have, you know, like there's, there's, some key tenets that we need to have for our fantasy running backs.

[268] Number one is volume.

[269] The phrase volume is king for fantasy running backs.

[270] That has been true for a very long time.

[271] That's the reason why in the first round you're seeing just essentially three guys.

[272] You see Christian McCaffrey, Breast Hall, Bejan Robinson, because those are the only three running backs we can, well, number one, they're really, really good at football.

[273] But two, you can confidently project these are three down running backs who are only going to be taken off of the field when they're tired.

[274] You know, project it because Arthur Smith has been kicked out of Atlanta for failing to do that, in my opinion.

[275] So that's why they're up there at the top.

[276] So if you're not going to find a guy who has volume, which is the majority of the running back position now, it's all platoons, okay, now I'm going to factor in efficiency.

[277] I'm going to factor in how good is the offense, because I need.

[278] I need touchdowns.

[279] I need touchdowns and I need guys who are actually catching the ball because that's just, that's how fantasy scoring works in half point or full point PPR.

[280] Yeah, I get, there's some holdouts out there that play, they call it standard where they don't get a point for catching the ball, but those are like those are dinosaurs.

[281] Those guys are going, they're dying off.

[282] It's all half point, full point PPR.

[283] So it really is finding high scoring offenses and efficient running backs because it's not the 90s anymore where 20 plus running backs are going to get all of the work.

[284] They're rotating way too much.

[285] 12 team draft.

[286] Where does Mike Wright?

[287] Like, what's the preferred position for Mike Wright?

[288] So I'm good, I would say, to about maybe the 106, the 107.

[289] Because that way to me, you know, I tear, I put these players into like buckets.

[290] And those three running backs, I mentioned, those guys are in a bucket.

[291] And then the big.

[292] big time wide receivers of Tyreek, Seedy, Jamar, those are, I feel really, really confident in them.

[293] It sucks that I don't get to say Justin Jefferson's in that bucket, but with Sam Donald being the guy for the Minnesota Vikings, and you don't have the unknown hope of J .J. McCarthy coming to take over halfway through the year anymore because of the meniscus injury.

[294] The Donald numbers are scary, man. They are really, really scary.

[295] Not scary enough to drop Justin Jefferson, who, in my opinion, is the best wide receiver in football.

[296] Can't drop him out of the first, but it's enough of a tiebreaker that I put those other three guys above him.

[297] So if I'm at the 106, I guarantee I get one of those six players.

[298] And then second round, I get the best player back.

[299] You put a lot of stock in, like, offensive coordinator changes in terms of, like, fantasy and what that might do for players, like a Cliff Kingsbury or Kellyn Moore.

[300] Like, do you, does that impact players greatly or not that?

[301] much to you.

[302] It is definitely part of the process.

[303] Kellyn Moore would be the name I would go to of while he's kind of floating around the NFL, can't seem to hold down a job.

[304] Sorry, Kellan.

[305] That does that does not affect what I'm doing over here.

[306] I'm playing a different game than you are at the last couple years.

[307] Kellanmore has given us greatness.

[308] Like, you know, C .D. Lamb, the real breakout.

[309] Last year, before Keenan Allen got hurt.

[310] Like, he was absolutely elite, and now we're looking at him over in Philadelphia.

[311] The big thing is bringing motion to the offense.

[312] You know, we've kind of started to talk about that a bit more.

[313] It's a deeper concept for fantasy football, but casual fans should get used to it.

[314] Looking at the teams and the offenses in particular, who use motion the most, just rattle off any top -tier offense that you can think of, and they are, they're They're using motion all the time, and Kellamore was a part of that.

[315] So he's going to bring that to Philadelphia with tons of reports of it already of moving guys like Devante Smith, moving him into the slot, moving them all over the field, creating actual mismatches.

[316] It's not the, we're really high tea.

[317] We're just man versus man, we're going to beat you.

[318] No, use some strategy, man. There's a reason that the Miami Dolphins get Tyreek moving because he's already at full speed wants the play starts.

[319] It's a huge advantage.

[320] So use that.

[321] So for the Philadelphia Eagles, we're very excited what Kellanmore should be bringing to this offense for a team that was, if memory serves, like they were near the bottom of the league in terms of motion.

[322] And you saw what happened to their offense.

[323] Like the second half of the year, it sure felt like people had figured out how to stop the Philadelphia Eagles.

[324] Hopefully they can't stop them.

[325] I am hesitant to bring Mike Fuentes into this conversation and allow Mike E .A. to ask another question because what I what I want for this segment is for Mike right to help the audience not to help the individual people associated with this show with their draft and their team and with that said I bring in Mike Fuentes to ask a question I'm sure has nothing to do in terms of positive information for the audience and is only concerned about his own team Mike Fuentes go ahead well actually me and Danny B are taking a look at Mike's desk and he has power line there next to him on his right to a borough, his Air Jordan coffee mug.

[326] It looks like Newman right here in front of the camera.

[327] And then I'm really in love with the huge Indiana Jones funkel pop there underneath the guitar.

[328] That's probably my favorite thing.

[329] My man. Yeah, I'm like, none of that matters right now.

[330] I'm doing a 16 team league this year.

[331] Jesus.

[332] Good Lord.

[333] That's a lot.

[334] That's a lot.

[335] Listen, you got off to a good start.

[336] You talked about his desk and all the things around it.

[337] What's the matter with you?

[338] He sucked me in.

[339] Do look, anyone who knows the icon, that power line.

[340] actually is, they're okay in my book.

[341] That's right.

[342] Darn right.

[343] Darn right.

[344] A banger.

[345] It's your book.

[346] My real question is, I feel like tight end is kind of one of the most shallow positions.

[347] It's basically you have Leporta and then you have Kelsey and then just a grab bag of guy.

[348] So if I want to like target somebody in later rounds, do you have a suggestion outside of like a McBride or somebody who might be a sleeper or even like a Kyle Pitts who's kind of in like a now or never type year?

[349] like who would you suggest would be a good sleeper for a tight end in this coming season?

[350] Sure.

[351] I would start off saying that this year at tight end, the at least guys at the top, it's way heavier than it's been in a long time.

[352] It has been Travis Kelsey, Mark Andrews, log out.

[353] It has been that for years and years.

[354] And now you got Kelsey Leporta, McBride, Andrews.

[355] And I'll even put Dalton Cade in there.

[356] Those are five players that none of them would shock me if they finish as the the tight end won at the end of the year.

[357] But I would say the 16 teamer is a little bit different.

[358] So this is a 12 -teamer sleeper.

[359] We'll start there.

[360] What is Jake Ferguson of the Dallas Cowboys?

[361] My second cowboy I'm going to mention here, but he led tight -ins in red zone targets.

[362] It just didn't come through as much as it should.

[363] Historically speaking, Dak Prescott has always favored the tight -end position going way, way back.

[364] But Ferguson, was essentially a rookie last year.

[365] It's his second year, but it was his first year really being the starter.

[366] So he can even improve from what he was, which was really a breakout for fantasy football.

[367] And if you're looking, let's see, a deep, deep sleeper.

[368] All right, I'll give you, I'll give you two.

[369] One of them I hate, but I have to bring it up anyways.

[370] It depends on where you play, I should say, depending on your platform.

[371] But Tassum Hill of the New Orleans States, I hate it because it's so gadgety, and it drives me crazy.

[372] But I'm not sure I love anything in this world the way that the New Orleans Saints seem to love Taysom Hill.

[373] This guy gets to line up all over the field.

[374] He gets to take snaps away from the starting quarterback sometimes.

[375] And there's platforms out there like Sleeper where he is still eligible to go into the tight end position.

[376] And then other than that, Dude, you got to start strong.

[377] I'll say that if you can start strong and buy a few weeks at the tight -end position and then figure it out on the waiver wire, one of my favorite guys to start that right now, at least.

[378] Just start Hunter Henry of the New England Patriots.

[379] He got off to a really, really hot start last year, and his opening schedule is opening three to four games, very favorable, at least based off of what defenses did last year.

[380] Defenses will change, of course.

[381] but Hunter Henry is a guy who I think that if you have completely punted the position, even in a 16 teamer, I don't know if anybody's really going to be on Hunter Henry, and you can pick them up and play in the first couple weeks, and then just make that your priority for the waiver those first couple weeks, grab a tight end.

[382] Mike, for me, I haven't done my drafts yet, but I've done a lot of mocks.

[383] And one name that keeps jumping out at me where I can't believe he's still there, I mean, go back a year.

[384] Cooper Cup was going top eight picks probably and now i'm seeing him in the fourth round fifth round but like he was hurt and he came back and he still got his volume what do you make of like the pukua cooper cup share uh with with the rams i think that people are writing cooper cup off just too quick look pukinakua is it's extremely exciting what he did of breaking the rookie reception record and all that, like, the fact that he did that from being a fifth -round draft pick, I think that's part of, like, such of the intrigue.

[385] You know, when, when Jamar Chase, his rookie year is awesome for fantasy football, no one's surprised, but because of the whole story of Pukkahua, I think that really does, it gets in your bones, man. Fantasy football is emotional.

[386] We try to pretend that it's just, it's statistics, and I'm a robot, and I'm going to, no, man, I the guys who are on my team, those are the best.

[387] players in the NFL because they're on my fantasy football team and when they have bad games like it's personally affecting me so the fact that cooper cup who when he came back like you said from the injury he did have a couple good games i think both him and puka can coexist i think puka's being drafted too high and i think cooper cuts being drafted too low having said all that everything rides on matthew stafford who i mean like i think we're okay he had a little bit of hamstring tightness but His injury concerns, like if Stafford goes down, that whole everything, Kyran, Pooka, Cooper Cup, it's all ruined.

[388] And he has been a little bit more fragile dealing like just these chronic back problems.

[389] So that's the risk involved with the Rams.

[390] But Cups, ADP is sensational and hopefully we're not moving it.

[391] Mike, has there been a guy over all the years you've been playing fantasy football that you drafted?

[392] and he absolutely wrecked your season, wrecked your league, wrecked your team, and you swore never to draft him again.

[393] Yeah, there's, there are only those, those players.

[394] Recently, it's been T. Higgins, who, who, and he just keeps breaking my heart over and over, but I still pound the table and I say he's a really good player.

[395] He's not, like, he's not Jamar Chase level.

[396] He doesn't have to be.

[397] He's, he's a really, really good wide receiver.

[398] and my main league it's a keeper league so you get you know you get three players and you hold over and so these last two years I've had tea and it's just been emotionally draining for me and yet I'll be back over here saying he's got Joe Burrow everything makes sense for T. Higgins and then the other one was it wasn't a draft but it was D 'Andre Swift back when he was on not the Eagles year but the Lions year where I traded essentially at like all my big ammo to trade in my main league to go for a championship.

[399] All of it went into DeAndre Swift.

[400] It didn't work.

[401] It didn't work.

[402] And then I'm stuck with the bag because there's nothing I can do.

[403] I can't make good trades.

[404] My ammo's gone.

[405] No one wants Swift.

[406] We'll see how he does for the Bears.

[407] But him and T are the most recent fantasy burns all over my body.

[408] You seem to be very high on Anthony Richardson from what I've seen.

[409] I think I saw that in your rankings in a four -point touchdown league, you have him higher than Patrick Mahomes on your rankings.

[410] I can go and verify that, but I will say regardless of that, yes, extremely bullish on Anthony Richardson.

[411] And it's he is a, he is the difficult case where you can get mad that fantasy football is not real football.

[412] Like these guys that run, these quarterbacks that run, it's, it is a totally unfair advantage.

[413] That's like the reason why Josh Allen and Jalen Hertz are the elite of elite for fantasy quarterbacks is because they run so much.

[414] And that's just that's simple math.

[415] 10 yards on the ground, one point, 25 passing yards, one point.

[416] I'd rather a guy who runs for 50 plus yards every single game.

[417] And it's just, it's projecting what Anthony Richardson could do.

[418] obviously it's it's really high risk we've seen him play two games two full games we've seen him been in more but he keeps getting knocked out with injuries so it's it's a really high risk situation for him but i think that he's going to run so much and as long as he can you know give us 3 ,300 or so passing yards that with the amount that I think he's going to run especially around the goal line he's going to be one of these guys that maybe you don't necessarily want to watch it because he's completing 58 % of his passes.

[419] But when he's running that much and getting all those rushing touchdowns, you're not going to care.

[420] Is Jalen hurt someone we should be concerned about with Jason Kelsey retiring?

[421] So I think it's a combination of things, right?

[422] Because you have Jason Kelsey, we get to find out this year, the tush push, who was really responsible for it?

[423] Because the broadcasts like to remind you, each and every single time that he does it.

[424] You know, that guy squats 650 pounds?

[425] Yes, I know, Troy.

[426] You already told me that this game, that he is very strong.

[427] I get it.

[428] He has strong legs.

[429] But is it Jason Kelsey?

[430] Because other teams have tried to do it.

[431] And they can't seem to have the success rate that the Philadelphia Eagles have.

[432] You also have Sequin Barclay, who, like I just mentioned D 'Andre Swift.

[433] Swift actually had a ton of carries inside the five.

[434] He just was a professional at getting tackled and stopped at the one yard line, which gave all those rushing touchdowns to Jalen Hertz.

[435] He was Sigmund Barclay.

[436] I mean, you want to talk about guys that squat, Seguin Barclay could do that too.

[437] So I think that that will be the difference of, I think the rushing touchdowns for Jalen Hertz go down, but all that stuff I talked about with Kellan Moore.

[438] You're hoping it balances out with some more passing touchdowns.

[439] which should, it really should happen.

[440] It was, his touchdown mark was too low last year.

[441] Jaden Daniels seems to be one of those guys that you might want to get.

[442] Like, what do you do with him?

[443] Where is he going in mock draft, Jaden Daniels?

[444] So he is one of our favorite targets are, my favorite personal quarterback targets.

[445] It starts with Kyla Murray because you can get him usually in like the sixth or seventh round.

[446] And like he is back.

[447] The fact that he, the moment he can.

[448] came back last year for the Arizona Cardinals.

[449] They went from one of the worst offenses in the league to immediately a top 10 offense just because Kyler was back.

[450] Now you had Marvin Harrison, Jr. Kyler's my favorite target.

[451] But Jaden is right up there.

[452] He might even be my second favorite guy to draft because of the upside.

[453] Everything I just said about a quarterback running, it applies 100 % to Jaden Daniels.

[454] Plus, Jaden Daniels, like, I'm more confident as Daniels, Daniels being a good passer in the NFL than I am for Anthony Richardson.

[455] The numbers at LSU are outrageous.

[456] Meanwhile, the college tape on Richardson, it's tough, man. You would see him throw a pass that only he could throw.

[457] And then the very next pass, you're like, has this guy ever thrown in football?

[458] That's how wild the accuracy jumps were for Richardson.

[459] But Jaden Daniels just absolutely John Madden football type numbers from LSU last year.

[460] Cliff, I know him well because I'm an Arizona boy, so I've watched his offenses.

[461] They're not the most creative things in the entire world, but I think that you'll get enough that drafting him is a really good idea.

[462] We've been telling people, even if you invest, you know, whenever you invest in a quarterback, you might want to draft Jane Daniels at the end just in case.

[463] He is the prototypical late round quarterback.

[464] that can break fantasy football.

[465] It's a long time ago, but Lamar, Lamar's MVP season, he was being drafted right around where Jane Daniels had him drafted.

[466] Yeah.

[467] And it was like, you could have screwed up eight picks, but because you got Lamar right, he turned into a championship team.

[468] Mike, when should you start thinking about a quarterback?

[469] Not in the first round, not in the second round, right?

[470] Yeah, no, don't do it that early.

[471] But the numbers are actually, It plays out more of take the early guy, you know, Josh Allen, Jalen Hertz, you can take them in Mahomes.

[472] I'll go, I'll go, Alan Hertz, Mahomes, Lamar.

[473] If you're going to go early, it's okay because the hit rate, historically talking about quarterbacks drafted in that range, the hit rate for them to at least be a top five quarterback is very strong.

[474] Obviously, if you draft a quarterback, the first one you wanted to be the first overall.

[475] quarterback, but just saying the percentage chance that they will not destroy you is pretty good.

[476] It's actually those middle quarterbacks.

[477] Those are the guys that historically are not coming through with their floor and it's not coming through with their ceiling.

[478] So those middle round quarterbacks, that's actually where I avoid it.

[479] I either jump in early or I wait later and I'm leaving the draft with like Jared Goff and Jaden Daniels.

[480] The fantasy footballer's 10th anniversary Megalus show is going to be held this Saturday in Los Angeles Live at the Palace Theater for tickets.

[481] Go to ballerslive .com.

[482] Mike, congratulations first on 10 years.

[483] When you started this you seemed surprising.

[484] It was this Saturday, by the way.

[485] No, no, it's that I just, I'm wondering if Mike is surprised that 10 years on, this is where he is right now.

[486] Yeah.

[487] Not on this shitty show.

[488] It's not what I meant.

[489] So this show started where the three of us all works together at a tech company.

[490] making video games where all we wanted to do was spend our time talking about fantasy football that company actually goes under we're all trying to find jobs the other guys are working like getting their real estate license i'm trying to start a a beard oil company and trying to like what are we going to do boys and then it's and we're like hey it's three guys upstairs in some in a kids converted bedroom just sweating our balls off because it's arizona and you have to turn the AC off to record because that's how loud it was in that house the fact that it's there to 10 years later and we have like a big office we have multiple employees we have an incredible team yes it is extremely surprising what is your personal favorite fantasy I guess you know type league like is it you know is it individual teams like what is your preference Mike my preference first off is the ones that I win I like those ones the best yeah of course but I I I like keeper leagues I I hate keeper leagues, man. Oh, get on board, man. Dynasty is really fun because you get to, like, I mean, I had, so I drafted Evan Ingram in our dynasty league at in the rookie draft.

[491] I just traded him this year.

[492] So his entire career was on my team.

[493] So it's like Evan Engram is one of my guys.

[494] I'll love that guy forever.

[495] Hard to let go, huh?

[496] Yeah.

[497] Oh, very.

[498] very, very difficult.

[499] But so it's, but those can be tough.

[500] Like if your team falls apart and you're trying to rebuild and actually trying to win, it can take a while where Keepers gives you just a little taste of that where maybe you find lightning in a bottle.

[501] Like our main keeper league, I got Antonio Brown right before he turned into Antonio Brown and I kept him through that whole entire run and people hated it because they knew in that league, no one else is ever going to have Antonio Brown.

[502] He's mine.

[503] on my team.

[504] So getting a taste of that, the attachment to some of the players, I like that more than the full start over.

[505] And I like it a little bit more than I just have everybody forever.

[506] All right.

[507] So give me a guy who's worth a flyer at each of these positions.

[508] Late in the draft, okay, you're reaching.

[509] You're just trying to find the guy that has some upside or is an injury away from becoming the guy.

[510] Let's start with running back, the running back position.

[511] Give me a flyer at running back.

[512] Okay.

[513] So I threw out Rico Dattle for you.

[514] The other one, I'll throw out, is, let's go, man, it's tough, but I'll go J .K. Dobbins, Los Angeles Chargers.

[515] One, because when he's healthy, his talent is unbelievable to me. I mean, we saw him a couple years ago, returned from an ACL, gets hurt, misses like six games, and comes back and he still hurt, and he averages over seven yards of carry.

[516] We called him JK1L, because it was, J .K. One leg.

[517] If you watched him running out there, he's literally throwing half of his body forward, just willing it to go down the field.

[518] But he's one of those players, like I talked about Rico Dowdle of the Chargers are going to be a good offense.

[519] It's going to be high T. It's going to be the Greg Roman hardball way over there.

[520] It's going to be run, run, run, run, run.

[521] But it's going to be effective.

[522] It always has been effective for Greg Roman offenses.

[523] So the fact that J .K. Dobbins is really late and could take over, he could be a steal really late.

[524] All right, give me a flyer at wide receiver.

[525] Okay, at wide receiver, let me think here.

[526] The name, it jumps to, I'll give you two.

[527] I'll give you two guys.

[528] One is Don Tavian Wicks of the Green Bay Packers.

[529] His, like, the super nerd metrics that we talk about in fantasy football, like yards per route run, targets per route run, these types of things that most casual NFL fans have never heard of, he scores really, really well in them.

[530] And these are metrics that we use to find guys that can truly break out.

[531] The question for him is, will he be on the field?

[532] Where they, I mean, they have an embarrassment of riches at the wide receiver position.

[533] It just comes down to if Dantavian gets an opportunity, I think that he will come through.

[534] And the other one would, I'm going to throw out Khalil Shakir of the Buffalo Bills, had an awesome yards per reception this past year.

[535] the whole wide receiver crew for the Buffalo Bills is in flux.

[536] What you know is the offense will be good.

[537] Josh Allen will probably throw for 4 ,500 passing yards, 30 plus passing touchdowns.

[538] It's just who's going to benefit from it.

[539] Curtis Samuel already dealing with turf toe.

[540] Keon Coleman is a rookie, and I think he'll be pretty inconsistent.

[541] So Shakir is a deep flyer.

[542] Dantevian Wixtegots was one of those guys last year that we would pick over, under on on receiving yards, because he'd get like one or two targets a game and he'd break out like a 15 -yard reception if he caught the one target that he would get per game which is why he was crazy.

[543] By the way, a staple of Billy's Big Board, yes.

[544] Exactly right.

[545] In addition to the 10th anniversary, if you want, you can get the Ultimate Draft Kit at Ultimate DraftKit .com.

[546] A portion of that will go to St. Jude's, which you guys have done a great job raising money over the years.

[547] You're going to like this.

[548] As part of the Ultimate Draft Kit, you can get a risk and upside meter to be checking it on players.

[549] Oh, wow.

[550] What does that look like?

[551] Just like explain that to me. That's exciting.

[552] Yeah.

[553] So it's with all the players, you can see out there, their projections because that's how we do it.

[554] Like we, we take, start at the quarterback and then start divvying things out to the, to the rest of the team.

[555] But, but those are like median projections.

[556] Like, you know, I can't, I can't project that Devon A. Chan is going to run for eight yards a carry.

[557] Like, I can't do that because it's just not being intellectually honest.

[558] That's such an outlier.

[559] But what I can do then is in his upside meter, I go and I put, he's at a nine.

[560] So what it looks like when you're looking at the players, it's just an easy little, there's a green bar and a red bar.

[561] High red bar means high risk.

[562] High green bar means high upside.

[563] Wow.

[564] Make it easy.

[565] I mean, send me the entire kit, if you don't mind.

[566] Hey, boys, we can work it out.

[567] Send them money.

[568] Send them money.

[569] That's the point of this.

[570] Everyone can get it.

[571] that's the point of this I'm not going to send you money I'm just asking for a kid I mean it goes to children's hospitals and I'll give you the money I'll get 100 % go to the children's hospital or no no I paid for a portion a portion man I got a business to run too okay all right I would like my 100 % to go to the children's hospital if you don't buy it like okay I'll tell you what you make you make a donation I'll get you a free draft kit okay wow wow that is a bill you're going to have to show me how to make a donation I've never done it before.

[572] I think you're telling on yourself, man. Yeah, I don't care.

[573] I've been telling on myself for 20 years.

[574] It's a lot of just telling on himself.

[575] Give me a flyer quickly here, like a late round guy that you might like it, tight ed.

[576] Ooh, tight.

[577] I mean, Hunter Henry's about as nasty as you want to get there.

[578] Okay.

[579] But I'll throw one more out for you.

[580] Let's go.

[581] Like, we don't know exactly what the Baltimore Ravens passing attack is going to look like.

[582] But Isaiah Likely, the other tight end for that team, he was very serviceable.

[583] He had some games last year.

[584] Yeah, when Mark Andrews went down, Isaiah Likely was an excellent pickup and just a full plug -and -play tight -end.

[585] And just with the progression of his career, it wouldn't be a surprising thing if their focal point of the offense is Zay Flowers, Mark Andrews, and then they've been trying to find that other wide receiver for years.

[586] The reports on Rashad Bateman have just, they've always up, always down, getting hurt all the time.

[587] It wouldn't surprise me if they switch things up and they feature Isaiah likely a little bit more.

[588] Do you ever give your fake team, your fake players, a fake pregame speech?

[589] Like, how does that, how does that work?

[590] Oh, yeah.

[591] You got to order them in your starting lineup appropriately.

[592] You got like you, you move a guy up to RB1.

[593] Like, like, I'm giving you the confidence boost today.

[594] Man, I'm putting you with my RB1.

[595] Don't let me down.

[596] You've been promoted to RB1.

[597] Yeah, and they care.

[598] Act like an RB1, yeah.

[599] Are you mean like Brian Flores, or are you nice like McDaniel?

[600] Too soon.

[601] I'm sorry.

[602] I'm more of a McDaniel motivational with positivity.

[603] What is the thing since Fuentes brought it up earlier, we haven't heard from him since, the thing that you are proudest of around that desk?

[604] Oh, I mean.

[605] I love the power line, and I don't know if you can see, I might be blocking it.

[606] Oh, I'm the weatherman right now.

[607] If you can see, if you can see Bill and Ted back here.

[608] Oh, that's who that is in the orange jacket.

[609] I didn't know.

[610] Yeah, big time Bill and Ted.

[611] Is that Donovan McNabb on your bookshelf running?

[612] I don't know.

[613] It might be.

[614] Right next to the vans.

[615] Oh, number six?

[616] Yeah, is that, no, Smith then.

[617] It has to be Devantza Smith.

[618] Yeah.

[619] And I like your retro buck's helmet, too.

[620] Oh, that one's signed by Mike Evans.

[621] Oh, there you go.

[622] I'd like it more now.

[623] Send me that too with the kit, all right?

[624] Yeah.

[625] All right, the fantasy footballers.

[626] You can check them out on Spotify, Apple.

[627] You can check out their website, fantasy footballers .com.

[628] Mike Wright, we appreciate this.

[629] We're sorry Nitro couldn't make it.

[630] He parlayed his success with you last year into his own fantasy show.

[631] So thank you, though, buddy.

[632] I know.

[633] I appreciate it.

[634] Again, I love cutting it up with you guys.

[635] you're a good group of guys to talk with so anytime you let me know all right we'll do it again soon uh my biggest regret is not starting a fantasy show that's don't worry i'll clip this for our award nominations too guys we're good thank you mike happy 10th anniversary to you man thank you stugats here for my friends over at draft games we had the appetizer last week now it's time to feast but i do love a good appetizer college football is back don't miss any of the action jump in with Draft King's Sportsbook, it's a full slate of games for week one, including the big matchup in Atlanta between the preseason number one and number 16.

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[652] And we're back.

[653] Godless Football is presented by Smyranoff.

[654] We do game days.

[655] Please drink responsibly.

[656] The Smyranoff Company, New York, New York.

[657] Yeah, go ahead, Billy.

[658] I have a question for you.

[659] It's a game I'd like to play.

[660] I don't know if you want to.

[661] Is this a new game?

[662] I have a question for you?

[663] I mean.

[664] No, no, no, no. This is a different game.

[665] We have that game.

[666] Yeah, you want to play a game?

[667] We have so many games.

[668] No, no, just go ahead.

[669] You were talking, go ahead.

[670] Oh, you don't want to.

[671] Well, what I was going to do is play a game.

[672] If you don't want to play a game, we won't play a game.

[673] All right, let's play a new game.

[674] I think Mike E .A. is disappointed with our performance in that last segment, but go ahead.

[675] Let's play a game.

[676] Well, this game's called Mike right or Mike wrong.

[677] And here's how it works.

[678] Here's how it works.

[679] We had Mike right on for a long time.

[680] I feel like we did a better job by not having Nitron.

[681] We love Nitro.

[682] We'd love to have Nitro's.

[683] Again, we'd love to check it on Nitro's fantasy.

[684] your criticism of Nitro by saying you love Nitro?

[685] Just it was a best idea.

[686] I love Nitro.

[687] Every time you have to put a qualifier, though, it's like never good.

[688] Like, hey, I love Nitro, but the man was an American gladiator.

[689] I don't want him thinking I didn't, I don't like it.

[690] Okay, we love him so much that we didn't invite him back.

[691] Anyway, go ahead, Billy.

[692] I think that American Gladiator, and I could be wrong, and maybe someone can look this up, I think that American Gladiator is like a Nobel Prize.

[693] Like, you were always an American Gladiator, right?

[694] So like, always Nobel Prize award.

[695] You're always an American gladiator.

[696] Once a gladiator, always a gladiator.

[697] So I am saying how much I love him because I still want to have him on into a fantasy segment with him later on, just not this week.

[698] So in that situation, I think we made the Mike Wright decision, right?

[699] But I also believe, like, we may have boxed out Mike Ye.

[700] So I think we may have been Mike Wrong in that situation.

[701] So Mike Yeh, how would you grade the interview that we did with Mike Wright?

[702] Mike Wright or Mike Wrong?

[703] It was a little C -plus -ish.

[704] I mean, it was okay.

[705] It was good.

[706] Mike Pass.

[707] You got a lot of good stuff in there.

[708] No, I like this.

[709] Mikey A, Mikey B, or Mikey C. How about that?

[710] And I'm Mikey F. Billy threw a bad.

[711] Mikey F if it's really bad.

[712] Oh, Mikey F too.

[713] Mikey D. Mike F. Bruttle for me. We stumbled on a new game in our first segment called, I don't know.

[714] Well, Mike Wright knows.

[715] And there's so many guys I want to ask about because, I don't know.

[716] I don't know.

[717] Is Devin A. Chan going to be really good this year, or is he going to take a step back?

[718] I don't know.

[719] Mike, Mike, no. But I never got to ask.

[720] That's a good question.

[721] Never got to ask.

[722] Yeah.

[723] Well, sorry.

[724] I think we should do a segment, Billy, where we have Mike Wright back on and only Mikey hey ask questions, okay?

[725] You'll win your fantasy league.

[726] I mean, listen, Mike EA has been great to both you and I and this show for many, many years loyal and we love him and he just wants this one goddamn segment where we ask the right questions that's all he was i lost my fantasy league and i had to make a calendar for everybody in the league featuring myself shirtless did you do that we never we never got that oh yeah i definitely did it so you have i really need i do have one for me where is it possible it's right no i'm definitely not going to get it uh yet um they they haven't seen it so i can't show you guys yet but when do you give it to them i i at the draft at this year's draft uh what what months are we doing are we doing like a september september to august okay interesting i had a theme so so i lost my fantasy league so mike the mike right segment is personal to me because i can't do that again okay well to be honest with you i'm more interested in your calendar than your fantasy team of course you are everybody is where did you take these pictures people flying i i learned photo shop for this.

[727] Billy, I'm going to tell you a secret just between me and you.

[728] Yeah.

[729] I had myself animated.

[730] I'm not for one picture.

[731] Really?

[732] I paid a professional illustrator to animate me. That seems like cheating.

[733] Billy, if you saw the picture, you wouldn't be upset.

[734] No one would have said, you know what?

[735] You know what?

[736] You cheated.

[737] They'd say, thank you for doing this.

[738] So there's a theme?

[739] There is a theme.

[740] Can you tell us the theme at least?

[741] Yeah, I'll tell you that.

[742] It's called a loser through television and film.

[743] So it's all famous TV and movie scenes replacing me with the star of the movie.

[744] Are they all shirtless TV and movie scenes?

[745] At least six of them are.

[746] And then others.

[747] Were others just scenes that you decided to recreate shirtless?

[748] I think I chose well.

[749] I will say that.

[750] Did you choose running, you know, sprinting on the beach as Rocky or Apollo?

[751] It was, it was one of the last ones to get the ax.

[752] It could only be me. Like, I couldn't have somebody else in the scene.

[753] I didn't spend, we didn't spend any time on Tua.

[754] I didn't ask for Billy's reaction.

[755] I didn't ask Mikey A for his reaction from before.

[756] And the reason is Joe Rose, the big dog, said it perfectly a day ago.

[757] Why are we still talking about this?

[758] God was football.