What's in store for NFC East teams? We're going to talk about it on today's episode as we break it all down. We got offensive coordinator changes at the top of the division. What are the fantasy football implications? Who do we like in this division? And who are we going to make very, very mad if you're a fan of those teams? You'll find out very, very soon. Enjoy. This is Melvin Gordon and you're listening to the Fantasy Footballers podcast. Welcome to the Fantasy Footballers podcast with your h
ost Andy Holloway, Jason Moore and Mike Wright. Welcome in. Tuesday, July 25th, the Fantasy Footballers podcast. Jason Moore, Andy Holloway with you today. And a big old bear. Jay Griz in the building. Mike is out. Mike is perfect to be replaced by a big old bear. Mike's the kind of guy that can be replaced by a big old bear. Yeah. Well, a lot of hair. A lot of hair. You know, Mike's a tall guy. He's not like grizzly bear tall, but who is? Can bears get tattoos? For sure they can. They have skin
under there. You have to shave them? Yeah. That's got to be the most embarrassing thing that can happen to a bear. That was out of purpose. No, no. But like if you shaved a bear down, would they just, that'd be really embarrassing. I feel like their hair is everything. They would walk around so sad. They'd be like, look at what a loser I am. Speaking of losers, everyone's, Josh is here. Hey, I'm not throwing a deusers cam after that. The deusers are here. No, the best in the business. Al Borlan
d, Josh, Giamatti, Papa Josh with us today. Another divisional breakdown. We're almost through all of the divisions. We have a ton of news to cover today, Jason. Yeah. And it's actually finally important good news. Like, you know, the NFL has very few lulls, but probably the most real lull in the NFL calendar is actually after many camp and before training camp. And it's been so boring. And now it's like, I'm really looking forward to a lot of the information we're getting. Yeah, it's not all go
od news, but there is a lot of news to talk about. I also never thought I'd get to use a Melvin Gordon show introduction again. And yet here we are. So lost to talk about a couple reminders here at the top. Number one. I we haven't mentioned this in a while, but if you are a commissioner for a league, if you play in a league, and you know, everybody's got their league trophy or their championship titles, you got championship rings out there. If you need any of that stuff, I want to remind people
where they can go. That's fantasychamps.com. And you just put in our code. Put in our code ballers and that's 10% off anything on the site. Fantasychamps.com if you need any of that stuff. I think they also still have free ring available. So if you want to put in free ring as a code. I think at that point you got to put a ring and something else. Yeah, you get a trophy. You put a trophy in and put one of their like $60 rings in there. You get the ring for free. It's a good deal. We get a free r
ing. It's a good deal. We get all of our stuff from Fantasychamps. It's great. And then the ultimate draft kit is available right now at ultimate draft kit.com. We're just a few days away from the start of August. Went over the calendar with Bruxy today. And wouldn't you know we're recording every day. Yeah, I'm ready. My body is ready. We've added the Dynasty show on Wednesdays. We have spit ballers that comes out every Monday if you're not aware of that. A fun comedy show. And now we're going
to be adding five shows a week. So do your push-ups, Andy. I will do my best. Twitter at theFFballers. Let's jump into the news. News and Notes from Around the League. I don't know if you knew this, Jason, but Al Borland actually does a lot of push-ups all the time. I did learn that on the Spit Ballers podcast and dunked all over them. I want the people to know. All right, here's that news that I was teasing. The Ravens have signed running back Melvin Gordon to a one-year deal worth up to $3.1 m
illion. Melvin Gordon had the privilege of chilling on the bench while his Kansas City Chiefs won a ring last year. Super Bowl champion Melvin Gordon. Melvin Gordon. Really funny interviews with him about that, where he just basically said, I got carried. J.K. Dobbins in a corresponding move placed on the PUP to start camp. He has yet to participate fully in any practices off season, including mandatory mini-camp. He has not been around. There were a lot of rumors about whether he was doing a ho
ld-in, essentially, basically showing up because he's been kind of demanding a new contract. He understands the state of the running back market where you need to get paid, you need to get paid young, or you're never going to get paid again. There was a lot of thought. I think the predominant thought was that he wasn't really injured. He was just not participating so that he could get a contract. But this is a team that puts you on the PUP. This isn't him placing himself on the PUP. Yeah, it's t
ough. I was reading that he was at a training facility. There's talk of hamstring, but then the official statement out of Baltimore is that it's related to the knee recovery. Interesting. The hamstring could still be related to the knee recovery. Hamstrings connected to the knee. Yeah, it's important for all the listeners to know right now that the PUP in this time of year is very, very different than once you start the season. Being placed on the pop, a lot of times carries this horrific associ
ation where you're going to miss the first six weeks or something like that. The PUP right now, you can go on it, you can go off it, you can go back on it, back off. It is just really a helpful tool for the NFL teams. And so this means a couple different things. One, don't overreact to players being placed on it. That's going to happen and it means very, very little. On the other hand, when a player doesn't make it to the PUP, that might be a little bit more interesting this time of year. I know
we're not to that point yet in the news because I do think before we move on from the Melvin Gordon news, it's worth noting that this is not just J.K. Dobbins on the PUP. Gus Edwards has not participated in anything as well. He is still dealing. We presume with the hamstring injury he had last year, so they needed somebody. They have to have someone to practice. I don't know that Melvin Gordon makes the roster or not. We don't know how much is guaranteed. It's up to 3.1 million, but that was ki
nd of like James Robinson where he could make up to 3 million was guaranteed nothing. But it's worth monitoring through Camp Dobbins and Gus Edwards their help. Just so I remember, help me remember Jason, because Edwards had tore his ACL, then he returned from that, played nine games last year. The quote I saw about many Camp was he'll be partially ready, which is a really hilarious quote. That's not ready. Was there a hamstring late in the season? I'm forgetting. Yes, yes it was. So he had a ha
mstring injury last year. He spent the OTAs and many Camp working to the side and now is not, he is going to be partially ready. I also caught something else when I was looking into the JK Dobbins news that I wanted to bring up, because recently there was a report of Zay flowers being the best wide receiver out on the field, Rashad Bateman still dealing with some injuries. And here we have Odell Beckham. I don't know if you've seen this. I have seen no news on Odell Beckham. His quote was, I'm t
hinking this is my last year. What? This is his quote. I'm going to give it my all this year, and then if something happens after that, we can go from there. But not the greatest thing to hear from a player that took a big paycheck and maybe kind of ending the end. Ending the end? Entering the end. Yeah, goodness gracious. I mean a $15 million contract. And I think that gives me confidence when he comes out and says something like that, that gives me great confidence in my ranking of Odell Beckh
am Jr. Which is pretty much where Alan Robinson should have been ranked last year. Yeah, yeah. There's not a lot of optimism. I don't think there's a lot of upside. Juice? I think he's the hardest part because you look at that situation with him. He had, he's just dealt with so many injuries. We have him ranked right around here. Oh no, that was his finish last year. We have him at 66. You know what? I'm the highest at 61. Crazy to think how quickly things change in fans football. Odell Beckham
early in his career, you know, when he's going into year three or whatever, he's the most valuable dynasty asset. He's going to be valuable and great and unstoppable for a decade. It's just never going to change and things happen. You know, like how do you feel right now about Justin Jefferson? He's going to be great forever. He's absolutely rock solid ironclad. Nothing can ever happen. That's how you felt about Odell Beckham. And then the career basically really just imploded with injuries and.
.. Yeah, and someone was reminding me DK Metcalf was the number two dynasty draft pick recently too, which is not that that is the end of the world. Like his career is great, but there was also a point, I think, where he looked like number one perennial, number two perennial. But moving on to the pop story you were talking about, Javante Williams was not placed on the PUP to start training camp. This is so shocking. Now, this does not guarantee that he will not be placed on the PUP. I mean, news
could come out tomorrow or the next day that, you know, now they've placed him on the PUP. And it's just, it just happens that, you know, the first couple of days they want him there, whatever. And so I'm going to hold for a week or two my... You know, I'm not going to like all the way lean into he's off the PUP, he's not going on the PUP, he's healthy enough to participate where it doesn't even need to be there. But should he stay off the PUP in the next two weeks and they don't place him on t
here? I want to remember Chris Godwin, who last year avoided the PUP and no one thought he was going to avoid the PUP. Because his injury seemed like he was going to, you know, they were talking about he'll be back by November. And then he didn't go on the PUP. And then he was there week one. And while he wasn't his full strength, great Chris Godwin self, he played 17 games. He was out there. So it's interesting to me for, I mean, all the news around Juventus Williams has been positive and I hav
e refused to buy in based on the just truth of his injury. I'm kind of buying in. Well, I did bring up even with my optimism around the most recent news before this news. I still think that there is a high likelihood this is a shared backfield for the duration of the season. This coaching staff handpicked Somaje P. Ryan to come in there. I think both players are going to get opportunities for a long time. And like you said, I mean, if Juventus Williams is sharing time for half the season, and th
en maybe he's two thirds in the second half, where does he belong in drafts? I mean, those are the kind of answers that you need. Yeah, if that's the case, probably fourth, fifth round. Yeah. And but the upside in the name, I don't know if he gets there. Jimmy Garoppolo also not placed on the PUP. He's going to be the quarterback for the Raiders. This is fantastic, fantastic news. If you're listening and you think, I don't care. Yes, you do. Yes, you absolutely do. You do not want. Who is it? Br
ian Hoyer out there on the field, whoever off the street. I mean, I don't even know who's behind Jimmy Garoppolo, but. Is that just the default name you'll throw out there for any team if you don't know their depth chart? No, I do. I think it actually is Brian Hoyer, which is why I threw it out. But it feels like Brian Hoyer shouldn't be in the NFL for about the last five years. The backup to Jimmy Garoppolo, Jason, just to let you know is Brian Hoyer. Oh, baby. So, yeah, you're happy. Jimmy Gar
oppolo is there. Devonte Adams can be relevant. You know, all the pieces there, they brought in Jacobi Myers. Yeah, the Devonte Adams situation is very interesting to me because four out of the last five seasons. So, like, when he's been healthy, he's been a top five wide receiver, one, three, and three the last few years. And now he's being drafted as the eighth wide receiver off the board. And I am starting to believe that it's stupid to do because he's probably, he could be, it could be argue
s the best peer receiver in the game. You're saying stupid to be that low. It could be very stupid to be that low. I didn't know which way you were like that's, but this Devonte Adams, this is my point. Like last year, all the doubts pushed his ADP to a stupid place and he still finished at number three. He will get his. Yeah, he will always get his because he's that good. He's remember the plays last year. He was so open that like, you know, anybody could have got him the ball. He's that good o
f a route runner. He's that good of a player. I think he doesn't get enough respect because we see all that. We see Raiders all around him. So you're going to draft Devonte Adams where then? I do have them higher than both of you. We're at seven, eight and eight right now. Wow, you've got them way higher. Way higher. But let's go look for a second. Let's just have fun. Okay. Let's go look for a moment. Right now that means that Devonte Adams is so I'm looking at the rankings. I mean, AJ Brown or
Devonte Adams, CD Lambert, Devonte Adams, I'm on Ross St. Brown or Devonte Adams. I don't think I think Jefferson Cup, Hail Chase, those four should be locked ahead of him, but he should be at five. Really? Out of respect for his performance and finishing third after third after first. This is much respect as a player for Stefan Diggs who has Josh Allen or AJ Brown who has Jalen Hertz. But that is exactly what happened last year and both those guys finished worse than then Devonte Adams did. Th
at's my point is like last year, nothing we're saying is new. Derek Carr has been pooped on with equivalent volume as Jimmy Garoppolo in his career. So I just think it's. So genuine genuine you're on the clock. Diggs, AJ Brown, Devonte Adams, they're all there. You are taking. Yes. I'm going to change it. I was going to say Stefan Diggs. You said yes. No, no, no, I'm taking Adams. All right. I'm going to I'm going to make a you can see me here. I'm going to I'm going to get him up. And it could
be argued that it was we didn't know about Jimmy G. Until moments ago. Fair. All right. Josh Jacobs is boarded a flight heading out of Las Vegas, leaving Las Vegas. He's running backs, man. He'll come back sometime. He will. Josh Jacobs, take one. Barkley, there's going to be the next couple of months. We're going to be on running back watch franchise running back watch. They're going to hold out training camp. They're going to take it to the limit. I saw a video came out of a one talking about
he's considering his only card to play is basically to say five. I won't be there. You can play without me and show my value by not being there. I believe that these running backs will have to be there just in the end. Maybe they hold out one week to try to send a message, but it's not in their best interest. They need to they need to play. They need to have this contract. They need to earn another contract. So I believe that you will have these running backs out there. All right. To some less g
ood news. Chiefs wide receiver. Kaderious Tony who underwent an offseason cleanup procedure on his knee aggravated the injury. Fielding a punt. We'll miss time and training camp. Some reports say he should be ready for the regular season. Some say he won't be. He is. Let me do this because Matthew Betts delivered a just a horrible, wonderful, horrible tweet. Kaderious Tony was a first round draft pick in 2021. He's had three hamstring injuries, two ankle injuries, a quad oblique, a knee scope, a
foot, and now another knee injury. Yeah. I mean, look, I know that the Twitter doctors hate the injury prone label and they come out and they say Kaderious Tony is not injury prone. And I'm just going to say you sure about that? Yeah. I mean, he is. He is. And there's that wide receiver room right now is it's like we could wait. I think we could wait so much breath debating on which wide receiver thinks going to be best. Almost like last year. You don't need to do it. You just need two words. T
ravis Kelsey. You said receiver. Wide receiver. You said wide receiver. No, I think the answer to that question is Travis Kelsey. That's what I'm saying. Rushy Rice. No, I mean, that's not the answer. Well, I mean, obviously as a target, it's Travis Kelsey. But if you're saying what wide receiver there, do you take a shot on it's Rushy Rice? I don't agree with you. Well, you're going to take a shot on Skymore. Okay. But none of them is my whole point is we shouldn't be. We did this last off seas
on. It was stupid. There's also a lot of people that think it's Justin Ross. So to make the roster first. Yeah. I mean, he's already running with the he's running with the ones. You've got Justin Watson. Yeah. Richie James has been signed. MBS has been signed. You know. Yeah. I know. I get it. It's a nasty receiving core that take your shot, but don't be helpful. My homes. Yeah. Just pessimistically draft. Like say, I'm taking a really bad shot here. Right. You'll take Rushy Rice. But last year
you would have taken Skymore in that same situation. It would have been wrong. That's there. I mean, and so do I want somebody to emerge? Sure. But none of them are Tyree kill and Patrick Mahomes. I mean, he's even come out and basically said it's all going through Kelsey. He said it's all going through Kelsey and everyone else will help out. So I don't know. I just, it's so tantalizing to try to figure it out. But Tony was at the top of the list and now where is he? You taking Rushy Rice over T
ony? Over Tony. No, but you take, I mean, Rushy Rice is undrafted in home leagues and in best ball. Skymore. Super duper late. Well, but Skymore is not good at football. Oh my gosh. Just because you like one player doesn't mean the other one has to stink. My Skymore has nothing to do with Rushy Rice. It has to do with Skymore's rookie season. But Roshis is going to be great. I hope so. We could be. Nine minds can no longer be. Nine Heinz will miss the 2023 season. Oh, that sucks. There was an in
jury on a jet ski. He was struck by another rider. He will require surgery. He will be out. So, you know, that that's just so unfortunate for Naim Heinz. I feel bad for the guy. When you look at that backfield, I don't know how much you were considering Naim Heinz, but you know, you know, I've been excited about James Cook. Third down, Naim Heinz is not going to happen this year. And so if it's Damian Harris and James Cook, James Cook is going to be on the field more than he would have been. For
sure. And then the Giants signed some mediocre players. Oh man. Cole Beasley and James Robinson. Welcome to the team. Cole Beasley. Why don't you play the slot along with Sterling Shepherd and Jalen Hyatt and Paris Campbell and Wandaille Robinson? I mean, why? Well, I mean, Waller's not lining up outside. I mean, it's the, there's not enough Spider-Man's for the Spider-Man gift. It's like there's too, there's too many of these guys. Maybe that's, maybe only likes short wide receivers. There you
go. Yeah, that was, now James and Crowder's there too. In case you were curious. It's kind of wild. Maybe they want to make the team, Jason. I doubt it. Also Tyree Kill is, let's call it all good from the situation of the marina. Yes. They have resolved their differences. Resolved their differences. I wonder how that got done. Yeah. Do you got that button over there somewhere? Hit some. There it is. We're going to take a quick break and come back with the NFC East. All right. We are down to two
episodes, divisional breakdown episodes. Here we go. Let's get divisional. All right. Let's jump in, Jason. The NFC East, first division since 2008 with all four teams at 500 or better. So kind of the opposite of the NFC South, which we talked about earlier. Looking at the changes from year to year, how the offenses are going to perform, what we can expect, and then we'll predict the division and the division winners, which, yeah, we'll see. We'll see if there's a surprise. I think this could g
o a couple different ways. The Eagles were 14 and three last year. They had a 9.5 win total heading into the year. It's up to 10 and a half for this year. There were seven and one in one score games. So we talked about how good Minnesota was in these one score games. They spent last offseason hopeful that they would become a pass first team, the addition of AJ Brown in the draft, right? They traded for AJ Brown, the chicken or egg thing where they were not a pass heavy team, and then you add a P
remier wide receiver. They started the year very pass heavy. Number five in early down pass rate. Slowed it down around the ball more in the second half of games, which this became a kind of a running thing on the show where you would get this monster performance, Jason from Jalen Hertz, and then you'd go into halftime and you're like, all right, let's go get some more. Let's, you know, and then it would just be kind of running out the clock. Yeah, they were extraordinarily dominant. I mean, the
y beat the tar out of most people that they played. They had 133 point differential in their total points scored on the season. So they would just come out, score a couple of big bomb touchdowns, and then in the second half, they barely scored like NFL points. They just didn't need to. They'd run the ball. They'd take up the clock. They'd win the game and then it's frustrating for fantasy managers, but also they did enough in the first half where you weren't disappointed. And so, you know, the p
ower of this offense is what you could have seen last year, but also I think it could be better. Like if they're in closer matchups, obviously they now have the number one schedule. They're going to have a more difficult schedule this season having finished first in the division last year. More competitive teams. They've got some losses on defense. And so you could end up with, I think, even more fantasy goodness from this roster than you had last year. And that's saying something. Yeah, I mean,
it'll be hard to go 7-1 and 1-score games, but they're a pretty clutch team with a good defense. They did lose their offensive and defensive coordinators. Yes. So Brian Johnson taking over on offense. Shane Steichen was there last year. Moved on to Indianapolis. Miles Sanders no longer a part of this offense. They out of Rashad Penny and DeAndre Swift both sort of castaways at the running back position. Players that had had really good film, really good performances, but neither with any sense
of consistency over the course of their career dealing with injuries, both of them. And so they, they're taking their shot at a couple of guys to go along with Kenny Gainwell, Boston Scott. I know Mike is a big Rashad Penny fan. I have not, I have not got myself to the point where I believe that there is a, I don't know that there is a reason why Rashad Penny is going to be the guy over any of these other players. Like I, I tend to believe they're going to give each guy an opportunity on a regul
ar basis. Do you disagree? Do you think, you know, Rashad Penny is odds on favorite here? Could it be DeAndre Swift? Kenny Gainwell? Yeah, I mean, I, I do put my chips in the Rashad Penny basket. Obviously, this is another guy like Kaderious Tony who's just never been able to stay healthy. But we have a lot more games of active participation with Rashad Penny. And when he's been out there, man, he has been a dominator. He hasn't been average or good. He's been on a per carry basis, the best. He
has had game after game after game. When, when, when, whenever, basically any game he gets more than 12 carries, he finishes the game. Freaking awesome for real life and awesome for fantasy. He's a world beater and the way that it comes for him is I think a way that works really good with the Eagles. They have the number one ranked offensive line. Jalen Hertz does not pass it to the running back very much. They are, if they weren't last place, they were bottom three at passing to the running bac
k. And so you have Miles Sanders last year who was already the running back 13 and that's based on touchdown opportunities and basically just rushing yardage. That's where Rashad Penny excels. I think if you're trying to look for a rollout from Jalen Hertz, Rashad Penny, he can get that ball and he gone. And so if he's healthy, DeAndre Swift, he's a great pass catcher and this will be a committee. I think Boston Scott will be involved. Kenny Gainwell will be involved. Swift and Rashad Penny. So,
you know, it's not like you're a super bullish on anybody, but they don't cost a lot in draft. So I want to take my shot on Rashad Penny late. Rashad Penny has 10 catches in the last two seasons. Both players are similar in total touches. DeAndre Swift has 364 over the last two years. Penny at 337. Both have been above average when they've had the opportunities they've been given. You know, you've talked about the push push and how unstoppable that is. You know, Jalen Hertz scores a lot of touc
hdowns in the red zone. That's where my concern arises is third down is going to be DeAndre Swift. That's going to be him or Kenny Gainwell. It's not going to be Rashad Penny. It will not be Rashad Penny. And so, and then goal line is going to be a guy named Jalen Hertz. And so, could you get the big plays? Yeah, absolutely. I mean, you got those from Miles Sanders, red light, green light last year, but you didn't have a player like DeAndre Swift to compliment Miles Sanders. So I'm a little more
reticent of placing any trust in those guys, but late round shots, kind of fatigued fantasy players passing on them. You might as well take a bite out of the best offensive line. Yeah, I think it's worth it because it doesn't cost you much. It's a lottery ticket that's, you know, you're playing the nickel slots here. If one of those two goes down, which both have always gone down, the other one seems like they would be really valuable. Good. Or both will go down and then it'll be Boston Scott a
gain. Kenny Gainwell. Because he was pretty good later towards the playoffs. AJ Brown, Devontae Smith, two of the best in the game. AJ Brown leading the NFL in receiving yards and vertical routes, fourth in air yards, fourth in yards per target, Devontae Smith. An absolute beast. He's one of five sophomore wide receivers with 95, 11, 10, and seven over the last decade, which is Beckham Jefferson, Juju and AJ Green. Yeah, it's a good list. I mean, he's a phenomenal player. I will say that a lot o
f, you don't know for sure. He had like a level up mid season last year and it coincided with Dallas Goddard not being on the field. And so in those situations, a lot of times you go, well, he was a, he was a second year wide receiver. So of course he's going to be better in the second half of last year. And what he did established himself as what he was, right? But then when Dallas Goddard comes back, does it revert or not? There's a little worry there. To me, I just think this offense is going
to be great. They all cost a lot. AJ Brown is at the end of the first. He's at the one, two turn. Devonte Smith's in the middle of the third round. That's pretty pricey. If you want, Jalen Hertz, you're, you're paying a second round pick. He's at the two, three turn. They're all costly. I'm willing to go in on every single one. I want pieces of this office. Interesting. I don't, I don't see a world where this offense doesn't score a ton of points. Play Dallas twice, really good defense. New Yor
k's defense is not bad. The commander's defense is improving. They did it all last year. Well, yeah, but I mean, they're going to do it every year, no matter what. With this 14 and three every year. With, not 14 and three, but with this offensive line and the, and the weapons there. I mean, Jalen Hertz isn't going anywhere. The, the offensive line isn't going anywhere. And these two wide receivers and tight end. Yeah, I'm, I'm in. I, I'm, I'm, You mentioned the tough schedule. They are going to
face that. And speaking of Dallas Goddard, I have them at three. I think Dallas Goddard is an extreme value. We have them in our, in the ultimate draft kit. And he's coming into the season healthy. So I am excited about Goddard. Cowboys were 12 and five last year, despite going through some ups and downs. The wind totals at nine and a half this year was 10 and a half last year. We lose. Kellan Moore. So we'll begin there. Pour one out. Yeah. Kellan Moore was very popular in fantasy football circ
les. But not in blank McCarthy's mind for some reason, too many points. Yeah, it is interesting. You look at what Kellan Moore has done with the Cowboys. Their offense has been great. They've scored a ton of points and around the NFL, Kellan Moore is widely considered to be one of the best young offensive minds. He is someone that, you know, this wasn't, he got fired because he wasn't good enough. This was a guy going around interviewing for head coaching jobs over the last couple of cycles and
just didn't land any. And I think he wanted to move on from McCarthy or McCarty. I don't know the inner workings. I don't pretend to like have inside information there. But I love that he went and said, I'm going to see what I could do with Justin Herbert. And now we've got to go. Okay. Well, so how's it going to work with Brian Schottenheimer? Are they going to slow it down tremendously? Because that's his MO. That's what Mike McCarthy has said he wants to do to save his defense. But you look a
t the roster and you go, well, that's not the makeup of this roster. Tony Pollard is not a grinded out 300 carry type of player. There's not a lot of running backs behind him of no. And yet you've got C.D. Lamb, Michael Gallup and Brandon Cooks and Dak. So you should be throwing the ball here. Yeah. I mean, I think the answer of are they going to slow down is absolutely yes. They were number one in pace of play last year, fourth in points per game. If you have a lot of nice things to say about K
ellen Moore, then it's proportional to say you lose that impact onto this team. They're not going to be the same without him. You also mentioned like, you know, they did lose Dalton Schultz this offseason, who was a go to receiver for for Dak Prescott. Michael Gallup has not proven it since he came back off of the injury. And I think they're signing Zeke. I think Zeke will be back on this team last I saw because that's how I thought the last couple of months. I've just been way. I've been drafti
ng Zeke in plenty of leagues, but I recently saw a report that it seems like it's very unlikely he resigns with the Cowboys now. So I don't remember the source on that, but they need someone else. I mean, Malik Davis, Ronald Jones, Deuce Vaughn, that's who's there right now. Ronald Jones has never been very good. Malik Davis is a question mark. Deuce Vaughn is a sixth round rookie pick. And Tony Pollard is not the type of player that you think is truly built for workhorse Brian Schottenheimer wo
rkhorse levels of touches. Yeah. And that's why I still think Zeke will be back on this team. And if it's not Zeke, it might be one of the other big backs to compliment. But I think that there is the potential we're really disappointed with players on this roster, Pollard included. I think maybe, you know, CD-Lam will be fine. I don't look at Dak as a value. I don't like Brandon Cooks as much as Mike does. I think no one does. Well, because Mike likes him that much. Yeah. Yeah, I think that this
team has some challenges ahead of it. You see the wind total going down, despite all the personnel things that you're talking about. I mean, we like the defense, but I think Mike McCarthy knows you can win with that defense. And letting Dak turn the ball over is not part of his plan. So, you know, Brian Schottenheimer has a way of doing things that is a lot different than Kellan Moore. And you can win a lot of games with this defense. I mean, personally, I am, this would be the team I'm out on
for fantasy options outside of, I think CD's target share will be enough, even with a reduced pace of play to where I'm comfortable. Number six overall last year, but he's being drafted at that number. Yeah. So even that could be a lower production. I don't blame you for having a somewhat negative outlook. There are easy to envision paths to where that doesn't work out for the Cowboys. That being said, this is a team while the offensive coordinator is changing. There's been a lot of continuity h
ere. You know, you've still got Dak and Pollard and CD Lam and Michael Gallup that have been together and have a rapport. So I don't think it's going to be a bad offense. Really, it comes down to the value of these players in the draft. Dak is being overdrafted. Pollard to me is still worth taking. He's not, you know, he's in the third round right now. I'm willing to take that shot. He was great last year with Zeke. Now he has an opportunity CD Lam. He's going to be good, but he is being drafted
at his ceiling. I haven't got a lot of him. Honestly, the only player that I think has a shot of really, really, really outperforming his ADP is Michael Gallup. Two years removed from the ACL injury. I think he could easily be the two for this team over Brandon Cooks. I'm with you on that. That's where I don't like. I don't have the confidence that Brandon Cooks is going to come into this situation and supplant Michael Gallup a year removed. And then a tight end, you care because Dak has always
targeted his tight end. You got the schoon man. Thank you. Luke Schoonmaker, rookie tight end. But more than likely, it's going to be Jake Ferguson, who is not a rookie. Rookie tight ends. Don't get it done. And Zach Martin is holding out right now. Great offensive lineman. Yeah. So I mean, that's a problem for this offense. If he ends up, you know, not at training camp and not playing for this team, they face the Giants on the road in week one, then the Jets, then they get to a free game again
st Arizona and then New England. So the Giants are next 9, 7 and 1 last season. Their win total was seven going into last year's eight and a half going into this year. They won a wild card game. Yes, they did. And then they got trounced by Philadelphia. So here we go. The New York Giants. I, you know, last year, it felt like the difference was a brand new head coach. Yeah. And Brian Dabble, but that difference just barely got them over the hump. I know they were, they were a huge surprise. They
deserve a ton of credit. Daniel Jones played better. You know. What Dabble did with what I believe was a very low end roster. I don't think he had a lot of talent on either side of the ball really. What he was able to get out of this offense when you're talking about a hodge podge of no name wide receivers and injuries. I mean, their injuries galore. They're, you know, Wanda Robinson and Sterling Shepard, maybe their best two receivers, they didn't even have them. And so to, to squeak out those
wins and get the most out of Daniel Jones, I thought Dabble did such. Isaiah Hodgins was making play. Yeah. Dabble did such a great job and I want to give them all the credit in the world. And I think there's hope in New York that now that you're going to take that next step forward, I believe that it is a hollow fools gold of a season last year that is going to come crashing down. There are giants fans who just toss their phones out the car window. They can't even hear you defend your point rig
ht now, which you shouldn't do that. Hold on to those phones. But there are people that are not going to react kindly to that with the optimism that they have. New Yorkers? What? They added Darren Waller to this team, a huge weapon dealing with the Saquon situation. But you think last year was a mirage of a 9-7 and 1 and they're going back down. I do. I believe, I mean, they had a negative point differential. You know, we talked about the Minnesota Vikings who had a negative point differential d
espite a good record. Yeah, 8-4-1 score games for the Giants. Yeah, the ball bounced the right way for them and those are very non-sticky. You know, usually when you're winning just all the close games, it just doesn't happen year after year after year. And then it felt you've got to take a massive step forward. And while I do think Darren Waller is a great addition because it gives a creative play-caller like Brian Debal a little bit more opportunity to kind of… That's a first elite weapon he h
as in the passing game. Yeah, and to mix up the looks and I think that's a great addition. But I don't believe it is enough and the fact that they paid Daniel Jones and they're sticking with him… I think it's going to come back down. You don't have the confidence. I don't. I don't have any confidence. What about the fantasy storyline of Daniel Jones which is, look, you get him an elite weapon and… In Darren Waller, you draft Jalen Hyatt, a deep ball threat, you bring in Paris Campbell, very prod
uctive last year in Indianapolis, throwing Shepherd back, Wondale back, Hodgson, Slayton, Barkley and then you say, hey, Daniel Jones runs the football. Yeah. I mean, he is one of 12 quarterbacks in 73 to rush for 700 yards and 7 touchdowns in a season. Isn't there an untapped ceiling for Daniel Jones that we maybe… Maybe you're like Vegas was last year where they didn't believe. Well, you can argue it one of two ways. You can certainly take the approach of he is a mobile quarterback that is uti
lized in the running game which is so valuable for fantasy. You add these weapons and absolutely, if you want to take a shot on that because he doesn't cost much, then take a shot. There is a clear path where if he keeps that… Russell Wilson or Daniel Jones. Russell Wilson. If you keep the ability of running, if you keep that rushing baseline that he had last year which was 700 yards and he didn't play in week 18 and you add to that in the past game, that's great. But what I believe is that he w
ill not keep that level of rushing. I think that they had to utilize his rushing game when they didn't have any weapons to throw to. So now adding Darren Waller, adding Paris Campbell, I don't think they want Daniel Jones to run that much. And Daniel Jones has really never ran that much before. I mean the last few years, tell me which one of these things isn't like the other. 279 rushing yards, 423 rushing yards, 298… 708 rushing yards. I mean obviously his first year at Brian DeBall and you cou
ld say well that's just what he's going to do. He missed several games last year. He's not a 700 yard rusher, I don't believe, on an ongoing basis. Okay. If they beat Dallas in week one though, will you hang a Daniel Jones fat head above your bed? I'll take it down if they lose. It's already there. It's already there. Yeah, because just at a celebration of the 700 yards. Okay, yeah that makes sense. Where is value to be had in the wide receiver room? Or are you are you punting trying to make tha
t decision right now? I think I have made the decision personally that I don't want… A lot of times ambiguous wide receiver and running back rooms, that's where there is value to be had. This to me does not seem like there is a player on the roster who can really break out and step forward. To me this is going to be a shared experience among so many different wide receivers that I'm just OUT. I don't believe that Darius Slayton or Isaiah Hodgins or an injured Wanda Robinson or an old coming back
from injury sterling shepherd can truly break out and say I'm an alpha, I'm great, I'm going to be at least a wide receiver too or better. I don't think that happens. I think in PPR leagues Paris Campbell may be more relevant than people would like to believe. That would be the shot I would take in a PPR league with Hodgins right behind. Because Hodgins had that six week stretch of relevance towards the end of the year. But I'm with you on doubting those other names and I certainly don't think
Hyatt will have opportunities early. Especially with Darren Waller, we were just talking about the chiefs and the fact that which wide receiver are you going to go to? And that's with Patrick Mahomes, they're probably all going to be worthless because it's going to run through Travis Kelsey. And I think that's, you know, this is Daniel Jones, probably close to 2000 fewer passing yards. And it's going to, Darren Waller is probably the number one target in this off. Yeah, there were 25th and pass
attempts last year and 26th in passing yards. So it was a manufactured offense that got them through. But yeah, there are some definite question marks and it'll test Brian Dable to do it again in a tough division where everyone was above 500. Anything else on the Giants front that you want to discuss? Saquon, right now you're in a holding pattern on Saquon and like dynasty players, I'm sorry. I'm one of them with Josh Jacobs. Like you have to sit around and hope that they show up, playing on the
m showing up. And then if they don't, I mean, spend a draft pick on the backups, whether it's Zemir White or Matt Breida right now. Right now, as we're recording at the end of July, you have seen Saquon go from a mid to late first round pick like on underdog. And just this week, I've seen him in multiple leagues drop to the third round, in which case I am drafting him every time. I'm usually getting him at the back of the second right now. I believe these players play and the news is only going
to get worse and worse and worse. The fear is going to grow higher and higher as they miss camp. One other comment, it's worth saying because he just couldn't do it to begin his career. Do you realize Paris Campbell, as you call him the awful tower? He played every freaking game last year. 17 straight games for Paris Campbell. Was he a top 24 wide receiver then? He had 92 targets. That's a lot. So he was a top 24 wide receiver. He had 92 targets. So he wasn't. Was he a top 36? 92 targets. Oh, ok
ay. Top 48? I honestly don't know, but I know he had 92 targets. Okay, so he's really good. Washington, the commanders, 8-8 and 1 last year. 7.5 win total in 2022. This year it's 6.5. How dare you, Paris? They got 1-4 and went 6-1 and 1 until the bi-week. 1-3 in the final month. They beat the undefeated Eagles in week 10. And here we go. I think this is... I'd love the commanders in the NFC South. Yeah? Yeah, I'd love them to have that chance. But I don't love them in this division because you h
ave the worst quarterback in the division. You do. And it doesn't matter which one plays, whether it's Jacobi Bresset or Sam Howell. Howell! You've got the worst quarterback. 24th in points per game last year with Heineke and Carson Wins. 20th in total yards. 4th in rush attempts. So they tried to get it done on the ground with Brian Robinson and Antonio Gibson. But Sam Howell, Jacobi Bresset, look, you're going to see both of them. Nobody has played more quarterbacks than Washington has. You're
not going...this team cannot win enough games consecutively to not see both of these players this year. That's what I truly believe. I haven't both started. I just don't see a scenario where, you know, they're going 6-7, 8-1 with Sam Howell and Bresset never gets an opportunity. No, you're 100% correct. I've got both guys started it despite my love for Sam Howell because of what you said. If you don't win enough games, there's going to be a coaching staff that's on the hot seat. You've lost a c
ouple games. You're going to switch to the other quarterback. Thankfully... And he's proven he will. Yeah, for sure. And you have a somewhat proven backup in Jacobi Bresset. Thankfully, you've got the Widers' Averwan here, Terri McClourin, who's used to playing with a hodgepodge of quarterbacks. He expects to play with two quarterbacks every game. Carson Wins, Taylor Heineke, Alex Smith, Ryan Fitzpatrick, Dwayne Haskins, Colt McCoy, Case Keenum, Kyle Allen. That would be McClaurin's... I don't k
now. Is it a hit list now? That's his all-star list of quarterbacks that he's received targets from. But Johan Dotson, very talented, a sophomore wide receiver. And I think that having Terri McClourin and Johan Dotson, second-year Johan Dotson, on the field, together and healthy, will open things up and make it a little bit easier for whichever quarterback is in there. And I believe in them. I think there's going to be a consolidation of targets. You believe in McClaurin and Dotson. I believe in
McClaurin and Dotson. And I also believe in Eric Biennamy, the offensive coordinator who left Kansas City and Andy Reed and Patrick Mahomes, because he wasn't ever able to get the head coaching job, because, you know, it's like, well, how do we know it's you? And he said, well, let me go to the commanders. And I will show you what I can do. And so I'm excited to see what this offense looks like. There are valuable weapons here. Antonio Gibson is a really good NFL player. Terri McClourin is a re
ally good NFL player. Johan Dotson is a really good NFL player. So if Sam Howell can get it together, be what I believe he can be, then you've got a pretty good defense here, too, because one of the least sticky stats on defenses is defensive scoring, like touchdowns on defense. And if you remove that stat, the commanders are actually among the best defenses in the league. Here's my concern for McClourin and Dotson, who I love the talent of both players. My concern, Jason, is having consistent e
nough opportunities. This team showed last year, like their defense, I think, is going to be better this year than it was last year. Do you agree with that? I think it'll be as good as it was last year. I don't know. It was a pretty good last year. And I think that to make a younger quarterback have success, you have what they did last year. They ran the ball the fourth most in the league. So I think if their defense is keeping them in games, they're not going to put the ball in the hands of Sam
Howell to cover you, Berset, to throw it. And the people in the teams that are in their range last year of pass attempts, it's wide receiver rooms that were scary. Unless you have a true Alpha, you know, McClourin's an Alpha, but he's had inconsistency at the NFL level. So I just, I guess I yearn. I yearn, Jason. I yearn for opportunities. I yearn every time I go to the bathroom, brother. No, that's a different word. But I hope it's a different word. But McClourin and Dotson, I just worry about
them not having consistency because this team is going to run the football, not throw the football, and rely on their defense to try to get by. Yeah, I mean, it's a Ron Rivera versus Eric Biennamy-led offense. That's the way I see it. Because I think Ron Rivera wants to protect it, it wants to protect the defense, protect the rookie quarterback and run the ball. And I think Eric Biennamy came over here, of course, to win games. And with this roster, you can make an argument that you got to run
the ball more. But he came over here to get a head coaching job. And he came over here to get a head coaching job by opening up an offense, taking a young, unproven quarterback and saying, look what I can get out of my quarterback. Like, you want to get a head coaching job, you take an unproven quarterback and you make them something. And if you can do that, you got a golden ticket for a head coaching job. And you're not doing that by protecting them running the ball. If you want to cash in on W
ashington Commander's performances in Week 1, you might have a chance. They face Arizona at home in Week 1. Arizona is depleted talent-wise on the defensive side of the ball. They can't rush the passer. I would not be surprised if the quarterback for Washington looks quite good in Week 1. They will then go to Denver, play Buffalo and go to Philly. Yikes, eponymous. So there may be a root awakening for the heavily favored in Week 1 commanders for the following three weeks. So it's just something,
those little top of the season schedule things are worth paying attention to because, you know, you may want to cash in on a big Gibson or Bryant. I mean, Bryan Robinson might have a monster week against Arizona in Week 1. I was going to say, if I had to say one player on this roster who has an abnormal performance because of that Arizona home matchup Week 1, it would be Bryan Robinson. He was very inefficient as a runner and honestly, he's a plotter. He's a big, good, strong, average running b
ack that can get the job done, but he's not super athletic or talented. And against Arizona, I think he can look talented. Yeah, and I remind people just because most of the sentiment around Bryan Robinson has been very negative. He was coming off a injury where he was shot in the booty and his final five weeks of the season, he was on pace for 1500 rushing yards. And he also averaged four and a half a carry over the final five weeks. So we have not seen all of Bryan Robinson's repertoire in the
league. I will say that. I get it. I get it. I know what you're saying. He's coming off a gunshot injury, which we don't have a lot of data on. But he reminded me on the NFL field of exactly what he looked like at Alabama, which was a solid sluggish running back. All right. Who wins the division, Jason? I've got the Eagles winning the division, Andy. Give me the rest. After the Eagles, I've got the Cowboys, then the Commanders, then the Giants. Sorry. Eagles Giants Cowboys Commanders. Ooh. Just
to be different. Just to throw some love. Yeah, just so that the Giants can. Wait, who did you have? You had the Commanders at the bottom? Yeah. Oh, yeah. Yeah. They're going down. They're going down. They're going down to Caleb Williams Town. That's where they're going. I think you're going to be one of the worst teams in football. I'm sorry, Commanders fans. You can throw your phone now. Back with the NFC West on Thursday. Take care, everybody. Thank you for listening to another episode of th
e Fantasy Footballers podcast. Join our fantasy football community on jointhefoot.com and follow us on Twitter at theFFballers.
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