On today's show, there was some breaking news and we break down all sides of the Stefon Diggs trade. And then we jump into some of these incoming rookie wide receivers and then a rookie tight end. And make sure you subscribe to this channel so you don't miss a moment. Enjoy. Another extraordinary episode of the fantasy footballers coming your way. Surprised by some NFL news we get to talk about. Big news. Big, big surprise news. We were all reacting to it immediately. Now we've had a little bit
of time to, I don't know, just sit with it for a second. To digest, to let the system work and then see what comes out. You normally fall asleep while you digest. Well, I metabolize. That's correct. Yes, that's what you do with your news? Yeah, no, I- You let it digest and then you pass it and then you- And then I pass it and I look through it and I say, what did we- you get the important stuff. Right. When we were younger men- Gross. And we were doing this show from an upstairs bedroom back alm
ost 10 years ago. It was tradition to have the three of us, we take a lunch break and go out in the car. Yeah. And we may or may not have frequented some, I don't know, fatty joints. Some delicious joints. Delicious food. But it was a regular occurrence to be like driving back to the studio. Mike and I would be in the front seats. And I'd be in the bed. And you would be in the back. No, no, no. Oftentimes in the middle seat. In the bed. And you would be asleep. Yeah. Yeah, my body shuts down aft
er I eat. So, but you've metabolized this news. Yeah, the big news, which I don't know if we're talking about it now yet feels like we're not in the news section. The digs news. Yeah. The big digs news. Yes. So, now we'll talk about it in just a second, but I'm sure we all have opinions. It was very much the type of move digs going from the bills to the Texans with tons of fantasy football ramifications, not just for this year, but for years to come. And we'll talk about all of them looking forw
ard to it, including our updated rankings in the ultimate draft kit, the dynasty pass, our view of players like tank del long terms, fun digs, Nico Collins, CJ Stroud, Kurt Samuel, Thalton Kincaid, Josh Allen, etc. All impacted by the move. And those are available at ultimate draft kit.com. We are three weeks from the NFL draft. Which just got more exciting. More draftier. It really did. Now the, I think the assumed first round wide receiver draft pick by the bills is going to matter so much mor
e. If they stay where they are at the back of the first, that means that there is a new wide receiver name that's going to potentially leapfrog to being the fourth draft pick after the big three wide receiver. So, you know, when we're really breaking down that news, we'll talk about it, but it just makes this coming draft more exciting. It's going to be fun just three weeks away. There's a new dynasty podcast available. Came out yesterday. So you can check that out. Apparently the champ champ ch
amp edition of the show. Yeah, it was good. And oh yeah, because you guys are both on it with Matthew Betts. That is correct. As Kyle skipped out on work this week. X at the FF ballers. If you want to follow the show, you can watch it on YouTube, youtube.com slash the fantasy footballer. Subscribe, click the bell. Trust me, you want to do that. We've got. Yes, you do. I'll just say you want to do that. And I would say you want to do that in the next 24 hours. Oh boy. News and notes from around t
he league. With me and Andy can be like the teaser trailer and you're like, and we try and do teasers. And then Jason's just like, no, here's the whole trailer right after. They still don't know, man, but they know they know they need that there's imminent. He's the movie trailer that gives away too much. Yeah, I'm the movie trailer that just tease me. That gets the people in the seats. You tantalize. And then when they watch mine, they go, all right, I bought my tickets. Okay. All right. Well,
here was the blockbuster trade. The bill is trading Stefan Diggs to the Houston Texans. The bills receive a 2025 second round pick. So not this year. And the Texans get digs a 25 fifth and a sixth rounder this year in the bills. They will carry $31.1 million in dead money for digs. And goodbye. Like the time has come digs disgruntly leaves another franchise. And I think, I mean, we could probably talk about this for the whole show. If we want, if we wanted to say enough information here to dig t
hrough. I mean, you could talk about the non fantasy implications first of just the actual bills wanted to get rid of Stefan Diggs and this contract. They're eating a ton of money and they're not getting that much compensation. They're getting less than a second round future pick. This year they're giving up a sixth and getting nothing back other than paying a large chunk of his salary. So clearly whether this was digs trying to get out the bills wanting to get out. This is a, we no longer wants
to fund digs as part of our plan to be the best team we could be. It's like getting out while the car still runs a little bit, right? And you can sell it. But if you wait a year and the car can't run at all, it's even worse of a situation. I want to give a shout out to Scott Barrett, great friend of the show. You know, he broke down the pre and post Joe Brady numbers. Diggs was at 86.8 yards per game. The wide receiver nine before the transition and offensive coordinator last year. He dropped t
he 45 yards per game after that, which was the wide receiver 58. According to Scott Barrett, he had asked NFL Insider about Joe Brady. The comments he was given, not well respected around the league because he doesn't know how to scheme guys open. The numbers were cut in half for digs. That would be either a concession by the bills part that digs is, importance on the team is no longer there. Right? Like, because maybe they obviously brought back Joe Brady and they liked what the offense was doi
ng with it. They want a lot of games. And they want a lot of games. So you're happy with your offense. But at the same time, you can analyze it and say, well, we needed 45 yards from this receiver to succeed. And so maybe we can get that moneyball. Yeah, maybe you can get that with a discount somewhere. Like maybe Khalil Shakira. Yeah, those steps don't lie. Can get it done for us. So there's that side of it and that could be an encouraging side for Houston because maybe it was scheme and maybe
digs has a year or two left of elite performance. And you go to Houston with CJ Stroud and Nico Collins and tank down and Dalton Schultz and Joe Mixon. And they upgraded their defense a lot this offseason as well. So you've got to be ecstatic if you are a Texans fan right now and feeling like your team is actually capable of a Super Bowl run. That's awesome. For digs, let's start with the fantasy value of him. I believe my biggest fear with digs, like he was very low. He was on my personal early
rankings prior to this news. He was my wide receiver 22. He was barely a wide receiver too because the Joe Brady system that he brought over didn't utilize him. Didn't use him down the field the same as he was in the first half. Like we just talked about after the bye week, the last five games where they ran the table and won all the games, he was fewer than five catches a game. 42 yards. It was like he was unused. So I didn't want him. I don't like there is the chance that he's starting to age
out. I don't want to play this year at 31. Maybe he's lost the step and they're getting out before, like you said, before the car breaks down. That could exist, but I actually was more afraid of Joe Brady for digs than seeing, like when I watched, I didn't feel like digs looked terrible. So moving over to CJ Stroud, getting down the field, getting in this open system that was up there in the league lead of passing yardage. He was number one. Yeah, very. That's way up there. Like all you looking
straight up. You're like, yeah, all the way up there. My neck hurts to look at that. It's like a per game. Stroud. Yeah. Yeah, I think I thought did Stroud get hurt. Stroud missed some games. So I'm sure it was might have been per game. But so I think this is great news for digs. This gives him new life that I did not want to have. Stroud missed games. And at least in camp at the beginning of the season, you presume that Stefan digs is going to be the number one of these three good options in t
he office. That's my presumption is that he will be given the chance to be the primary weapon in the CJ Stroud high flying office. Okay, so that would be that's one angle. If you want to take another angle, it can be look, the Houston's given it a shot. You're going to have to invest a lot to do it. And it's year 31 year 30 year 31 Deandre Hopkins situation. You know Hopkins in year 30 one of the best in the entire league 64 for 717 and three last year 75 for 1007. That's not a that's a I made a
n impact number. That's not a I won you your fantasy league number. Whether digs is entering that stage of his career or not. I think it's going to call into question the value of Tank Dell, at least in the one year window, Nico Collins in the one year window going into a free agency period for him. I know it's really, really good for CJ Stroud. Yes, and it's helpful and CJ Stroud was I mean just to be clear like last year he was a top 10 per game fantasy quarterback. And this year you bring in
Joe Mixon who can catch the football who can solidify your running game and you bring in Stefan Diggs and you bring back Dalton Schultz and like tank down missed time. So like CJ Stroud could make a leap. This could be a player that ends up top six seven. It's it's possible he would it's he still has the curse of the pocket passer of you got to be in the high 30s. Bare minimum you got to be in the high 30s of passing touchdowns if you're going to make that jump to being a true difference maker m
aybe Stefan Diggs can do that. The I'm more stuck on the side of a team in a championship win now window traded their presumed number one wide receiver eight an unbelievable amount of dead cap got very little in the return we know we were taking J and I were taking a look back at like. What what Devonte Adams got what Tyreek Hill got in the trade compensation chase Claypool got Claypool was trained in some more mistakes may have been made in that trade Andy and the chase Claypool one verdict is
not in yet. But I think some mistakes might have been made. But point being a team that's trying to win right now said we got to get you out of here and another wrinkle that I just was thinking of. What's what's the fun digs contract really look like after this and assuming I'm reading this right from over the cap. Diggs has no more guaranteed money after this year and would turn into a dead money of zero dollars that that is so they just had to write it out for one more year and didn't do it th
ey could again assuming I'm reading every contract are complicated. That's what I see on spot track as well so it's like that's a whole nother piece of this they're like you got to get off this team. So he is a he can burn your team down that's that's what I say did it in Minnesota and they didn't want to go through it this year but and to your point they even got rid of him in the in the conference to a contender like you don't generally see in conference to contender situations like that. So t
he they don't believe there there is so much on the bill side of we got to get out of this we cannot take it anymore and and honeymoon situation is the fund digs going into a high powered offense or maybe you get good positive Stefan Diggs who's helping things out. But at this point of his career I don't know him personally but there's just so much noise through the media through his soul through his personal social media we go this guy makes it about himself a lot. Both digs brothers now in Tex
as. Yeah. So there's that there are also implications for Josh Allen I think everybody would like to understand that for the long term. Not having somebody that is you know Gabe Davis is gone went to Jacksonville. Stefan digs. Goodbye. Right now the depth chart is Curtis Samuel free agent pick up Khalil Shakir. Matt Collins KJ Hamler and his about and concave. Yeah. Don't concave gets the huge bump there. It would be shocking if they don't take a first round wide receiver possibly even trading u
p for a wide receiver or trading for or yeah or you go after Brandon I you. Sure. I do think you take a breath. In the analyzing of that bills wide receiver room until we have it. More figure that I would agree on on the bills wide receiver room you don't want to make giant decisions say well Curtis Samuels there one coach you know trade for me is going to be special I definitely moved him up in dynasty rankings once he signed there and the prospects look good reunited with Joe Brady but I would
agree with you you take a breath there on the other side you've got to kind of decide. Now that it is solidified for the Texans. What do you think about tank Dell Nico Collins both from a redraft and a dynasty perspective we were talking on the dynasty show yesterday about I do I actually J. I. deleted it. Well well that's an eye we're talking about the part where Collins is a little bit scary even though he was so good and he's young and it looks like he you know he's part of this future he's
on the last year of a deal and they tried to go get Keenan Allen. Now they did get Stafan digs. So unless he gets that new deal from a dynasty perspective I moved Nico Collins down quite a bit he's still young he'll get another contract with a different team if he doesn't get resigned by the Texans but obviously the one time we've seen fantasy relevance was with CJ Stroud in this offense so he takes a hit. Dell to me tank Dell didn't move that much to me. Me neither. Both in redraft and in dynas
ty I think he is. No he made me he made him a target for me. Yeah. Now you can buy him lower. Yeah. And the the final thing I'll add in J. you alluded to it of just the adding some excitement to rookie drafts where it's for me the way the first round was starting to shape up for your rookie drafts was you know those non super flex those first three wide receivers and then kind of a tier two but it's like they're going to be first rounders but I don't know if they're all really exciting. This is
the combination of the Buffalo Bills now being a go to situation. The chance that the Kansas City Chiefs do one and now the with the Dallas Cowboys have done visits with essentially all the big name running backs. It's like man if we get a running back to Dallas in the second round or even even the third and now with this move with the Buffalo Bills you're later round first have appreciated in value. Yeah they're they're they're getting better and this is the perfect show to talk through this ne
ws on because we're going to be going through all these top wide receiver names. I think most of the casual listeners they're familiar with the big three names now. I was going to say that that's Mike assume that everyone's heard that but maybe not. Yeah Marvin Harrison Jr. Superstar Malik neighbors Roma Dunes those are kind of locked in as the top three. Yeah and then we're going to go through you know for through I don't know how many we're getting through on today's episode but these are the
names where they're their potential first rounders. One of these guys is probably going to end up on the Buffalo Bills and that guy's probably going to be the fourth pick in your in your rookie drafts unless they trade all the way up on the big three. I think the drafts going to be have some surprises I mean in a world where T Higgins is traded someplace even if his destination isn't good suddenly since and now he's an interesting place for a rookie wide receiver to land or San Francisco. This i
s going to be a fun month. So that's three weeks away but yeah it is it has timed up well today is the second part of a rookie preview show we did the running backs and quarterbacks on the Tuesday episode of the podcast. Today we are covering the wide receivers and a tight end. And so before we close out the news I want to give you whatever the maximum opposite excitement level news is possible. How dare you. So if the digs news was really exciting to you I want to give you the last piece of new
s we have for the day which is the chiefs have re-signed Clyde Edwards a layer to a one year deal. This is right after meeting with J.K. Dobbins. I don't know if that's the best news for Dobbins. My big takeaways here are the Pacheco is even safer. That's true. And J.K. Dobbins the the recovery can't be going as well as you would hope they just signed Clyde Edwards a layer. You know it can be going well and yet the team might not think you're worth that money. You know if you if you come from a
place like Dobbins did of like I think I'm a top running back and then teams that that's possible. I don't see because that happens a lot teams don't see you at the value you see yourself. So who knows if you know Clyde's like oh gosh give me anything. I'd love to come back. Yeah. I mean he's going for a third Super Bowl. Gosh. Who was it Adam Morrison. Is that the guy that won the Lakers Lakers NBA Finals performances. Who made a bigger contribution. Melvin Gordon and Clyde Edwards a layer toda
y. No that's totally disrespectful. All right quick break and we'll jump into the rookies. One thing before we jump into the rookies I do want to ask one more question which is just and it kind of didn't come up so maybe that tells me something about your opinions. But Josh Allen like it's nice to have a premier number one and I know it didn't go that direction over the second half of the year and I'm guessing right now I'm watching Jason type into his computer and I'm almost positive he's going
to give me game logs of Josh Allen without Stefan Diggs's premier performances and then tell me why he's not worried. That's exactly right. You are 100% correct. Here is from week 11 on the fantasy finish for Josh Allen while Stefan Diggs was worthless and irrelevant. I think he had one game. So you have he was the quarterback five the quarterback one the quarterback nine bad game quarterback 17 quarterback two quarterback six quarterback four. So he's he was a top finisher. He's excellent. Exc
ellent. Yeah you're not worried about. So no panic dynasty trades of the challenge. No they're going to do something. Yeah I'm not too worried he's still going to run the ball he's still going to have so many rushing touchdowns and maybe even more. Okay. Let's get into the rookies we go. Hi rookie. Welcome to the NFL. All right as we said on Tuesday if you are just thirsty right like you want to metabolize and digest even more information about this year's rookie class please after today's previ
ew show avail yourself of the dynasty podcast. There are deep dives on all of these players and the dynasty pass at ultimate draft kit commis production profiles rookie mock drafts risers and followers and are ever evolving rookie and dynasty rankings starting with wide receivers today. If we're honest this is the most exciting group to talk about of all the positions. And so it's going to get the majority if not all of today's time there are a lot of teams out there that have desperate needs at
wide receiver teams like Arizona who shipped off Hollywood Brown and Rondale more and have really not even somebody that classifies as a wide receiver to on the roster for Kyle Murray. You've got New England in desperate need the chargers don't have anybody left the Giants they seem to be projected by many to take you know Malik neighbors in the first seven picks Denver needs a wide out New Orleans and several other teams and we're talking about the bills now right. The bills are on that list.
Yeah. And you know you want to see prolific quarterbacks connected to some of these targets. Marvin Harrison sits atop the list of prospects at wide receiver. One of the bullet points that Kyle wanted to put in the show doc today was created in a laboratory. I don't know if that's actually been vetted. But 6 3 2 0 9 seen him. Lightning speed. Yeah I've seen him. Yeah. I would like him on the Arizona Cardinals very very badly to consecutive years of 14 touchdowns 1200 plus yards. You know and jus
t being the dude for for Ohio State you know getting doubled frequently just Marvin Harrison is truly a stud. And he is a stud and like he is a prototypical outside wide receiver who can do basically everything on the field. Great hands. Great routes. He there will he will go in the top five picks of the NFL draft maybe at three but anywhere from three to five like it's it's happening it's locked in and you should feel very confident you should feel Jamar Chase levels of confidence drafting him
as the one. One in your rookie drafts or or as the first positional player if you're in a super flex. Yeah so you know he's one of the three guys that Jason mentioned earlier in the show that are. I think all of them if they were in their own draft class without the others. You know they classify as being worthy of a top five pick and the best wide receiver in that group it is a. Top top top heavy group of three superstars all in that same Jamar Chase coming out of college conversation. Right yo
u're talking about people that are prolific across the board physically their production their age. All the all the things that set superstars apart these three guys pretty much have it but to me Marvin Harrison Junior is in his own tier he's taller his route running is great his hands are in the same position. He has very polished almost zero yellow flags. I just I don't even know what the hole in his game is and you see the weakness that Kyle put down for us. I did not see it. Let me see weakn
ess perhaps have too high of hopes. That's fair because honestly if he becomes a really solid NFL wide receiver will 100% be a disappointment. If this dude is like wide receiver 15. Yeah you're you're not. That's not what the expectation is. For Marvin Harrison Junior the expectation for him is that he's going to follow his father into the Hall of Fame. This is a Hall of Famer son who's just taller and a better athlete than him being the son of an NFL Hall of Famer does not or or any sport does
not mean that you are great. It doesn't. There's plenty of athletes children who are not in the Hall of Fame. There's plenty of athletes children who you know aren't that good. Frank Gore Junior is in this class. He's not being talked about as the number one running back. But it is to me still a bonus when you are the best in college when you are dominant and you have the pedigree and the life coaching and everything from a Hall of Fame dad. That's a cherry on top Christian McCaffrey is the son
of Ed McCaffrey. You know it's like when you come out and you are supposed to be unbelievable and you have the pedigree and the heritage. It matters to me. Well and he is such a like kind of soft spoken consistent polished wide receiver. He's going to dominate unquestionably outside of injury. I think he's a he's a lock and that's what you're looking for. If you're going to draft a wide receiver in the top five or six picks you need to know that they're going to be your guy for a very long time.
In this draft you have three guys that could fit that mold certainly to Malik neighbors out of LSU comes in as the second name we're going to discuss. He's six foot Harrison six three. He's a little bit lighter. He ran a four three five. He has been just a dominator at LSU lines up all over the field fits the NFL perfectly. And you know I know it's it's like you know I don't know how much of it is just to be hot takey or just have something different to say some people like him more than Marvin
Harrison or think his game will translate better. I don't think that but I think he is going to be a an extremely valuable fantasy pick for a very very long time to me neighbors the neighbors versus Marvin comes down to just what. How do you look at the offer the future of offense in the NFL because Malik neighbors was in the slot over half of his snaps last year. Now that and generally you like a slot wide receiver it's easier to replace and it's not it's not normally the player that you run y
our offense through now things have changed. And we know that more and more players are are starting to be called slot players but they're dominating in the NFL so that that that's where it's the difference can come to me where if you prefer that then you're you probably want Malik neighbors if you want the the the larger guy on the outside then you want Harrison deep down the field slot production in college doesn't always translate we've seen that over and over and over but Malik neighbors has
intangibles and other things on film that just. Yeah he's absolutely that dude his explosiveness is crazy and the comp for me is and I I I don't know if it's just and it's just like kind of feel stupid to say it but the compass Jamar Chase and I don't know if it's just because it's LSU you know your what but he reminds me so much he's compact he's so explosive I mean you got he's six foot two hundred ran a pro day four three five with a thirty nine inch vertical that's I mean Jamar Chase is six
foot two oh one ran a four three nine with a forty one inch vertical like they're they're very similar arch types you can you can you know get him on a screen or you can get him downfield either way what's funny is I thought you're going to talk about a different LSU product yeah Jefferson which is Justin Jefferson because he was Jefferson ran five hundred seventy five of his five hundred and eighty three routes in the slot and that was the critique coming in yeah as a first year guy but you kn
ow that translated okay yeah I mean either one either one take your pick but I do think you can really turn out some wide receivers yeah terrorists Marshall come on man well we got another one in this trap right we do Brian Thomas we'll talk about it will be the probably the fourth wide receiver drafted and did you have something you want it out on neighbors Mike no just that it's the if you're going to put a knock on him it's that he was in the slot but it's it's very difficult to not point imm
ediately to Justin Jefferson yeah and say that I remember those conversations yeah what's crazy to me too is like I think if you're in a dynasty league and you're like darn I don't get Jefferson like this is the year to be really happy I think with the next couple of guys where yes they are technically competing but at the same time you can look at it like wow I got a top ten wide receiver at the four or the five in my dynasty draft well I'm very fortunate this year because that didn't exist in
previous seasons so Roma Dunes a out of Washington is the third name of those big three he okay yeah I was this is the number I wanted to grab by the way just circling back real quick I asked the guys for the slot rate for CD lamb when you think about the kind of player that Malik neighbors can be CD lamb was a fifty one point three percent slot rate guy this year so teams are being more creative yeah in moving people around to be able to get them the ball Roma Dunes a six three two fifteen big
boy absolutely dominated last year sixteen hundred and forty yards thirteen touchdowns as a senior in Washington a junior sorry and tons of big plays off the arm of Michael Pinnick's junior who can really throw it when I watched the film on a dunes a it was body control it was circus catches it was just body awareness what do you guys think his situation will be and you view him you know you said you have Harrison in a different tier but there's a dunes a with neighbors to you no he's not it it
it feels a little easy but it's but it's true for me I've got Harrison is on to your Malik neighbors at his own tier and then a dunes a in his own tier like and then the next like twelve guys are all together a dunes a is my number three but he has a few more red flags in the sense that you know we when you look at man versus zone and you know when you got a guy who's so good at contested catches you know where a dunes a is you love to see the trait you want to know that when you throw the ball
up to him he's going to grab but you also want that you don't want him to always have to be making contested catches because you want that separation and I saw plenty of times where a dunes a separate he's not a guy with a backpack on him like some college players are where there's just contender his contested target percentage last year was sixteen and a half of which he caught nearly forty eight percent of them which is a tremendous differential he is a wonderful athlete who is the size of a p
rototypical guy who can have a hundred and fifty targets over the course of an NFL season and he's a great player he's a great player and he's a great player and he's a great player and he's a great player and he's a great player so we love to see that his draft capital is going to be high he's going to go to you know he's usually mocked to the bears at nine and a long time I guess is it's just a game that I that I don't see in neighbors in Harrison alright anything to add Mike or do you want to
move on now even if you want the numbers so he was better is yards for route run in man was kind of what Jason was highlighting of No, we you the the league the NFL defenses are moving more and more to zone which maybe then you get a bounce back The pendulum swing back, but that's not so large of a gap that I'm concerned about it Brian Thomas Jr. Out of LSU is the next wide receiver. We'll talk about he's fourth in our rookie ranks He was a touchdown machine at LSU. He's 64 2 on 1 17 touchdowns
last year over 1100 yards Pretty impressive on film I do see Mike giving him a nickname Which is basket catch Brian? I just talk about that. It was just I mean for a guy who's I mean over 17 yards of catch 17 receiving touchdowns. It just felt like I I didn't see him high pointing the ball as much as me too many too many basketball. Yeah, too many try and catch it in the gut for me Not that that it makes them up. I'm not you know not completely knocking him for that the he's a very interesting
player of The size is there The final season production is there, but that's what he has so it's two years of being a 350 yard wide receiver One year of being an 1100 yard 17 touchdown guide making his breakout age being almost 21 That's a little bit higher than we want to see so those but his current age is also 21 and that is what we want to see Yes, so it's there He's he he's we're nitpicking here, but he's not in the same tier as the other guys No, no, no, he's certainly not when I watched h
im the first time I had concerns I saw the same thing you saw with basket catches that he were not needing to be made that way now He is a late he's no Xavier Leggette my right. Yeah, yeah He's a late bloomer at wide receiver He changed to wide receiver later in his athletic career doesn't have as much experience so the way he catches the ball is a little concerning I also had concerns of like well, how much has he benefiting from Malik neighbors? You know on the other side of the field you you
don't have the defenses focused on Brian Thomas but he is an exceptional athlete of you know one of those really better than you athletes ran sub 4 4 at you know 6 4 200 and When I went back and watched Jaden Daniels I was a little bit more impressed with Brian Thomas when I was watching instead of trying to focus on him and kind of watch the The offense go when the you know when the downs were needed. He was there a lot he He it's really surprising to me the games where he kind of was Extremely
important and or took over for a stretch Considering his targets per route run is the biggest red flag. Yes in his entire I mean his targets per out run 19.3 percent There are only four first-round wide receivers since 2015 below 22 percent and he's at 19 And you don't want those names. Yes, they do those names are Cadarius Tony. Yeah, Jalen Rager Gross Henry rugs and Philip Dorsett And they've all kind of got a type they're real real fast guys and That is his type So I have I have concerns wit
h Brian Thomas at first through the scouting process He wasn't even my wide receiver for when I went back through I do think because of where he's gonna be drafted His athleticism his young age and newness to the position. I think his His ceiling is is good, but I do worry like what if he just becomes in the end for fantasy purposes He just becomes a downfield stretch big-play guy where it's like You know those guys aren't that great for funny because that is exactly How I feel about the player
we're gonna talk about next after you after the break? So we just got done talking about 64201 Brian Thomas very slender Not as slender as this guy Troy Franklin 62176 183 Okay, so you can tell these two guys have them ranked higher than I know this is the first time We have a departure by the way in our rookie rankings of these guys Troy Franklin weighed in at 176 this Wow He weighed in at 176 at the combine Later as pro day he weighed in at 180 through and it came out that he had he was sick b
efore The combine so he had lost a bunch of weight and gained it back Yeah, he performed at the combine like a sick guy. He did he had a really really bad day At the combine weighed in under what we wanted to see ran slower than we Wanted to see he wasn't slow, but you expected him to be sub 4-4. Yeah, his film. He looks like a rocket ship His film is blazing. This is one of my favorite prospects in this year's draft. I love how open he gets At all levels of the field now you're talking about yo
u see him working primarily deep down the field I yeah, I think physically he's not built to be one of those top tier guys that we talked about earlier I think you know that some of the comps Size-wise is like, you know Robbie slash chosen Anderson Taekwondo and body size I saw the best of him to me at Oregon the best of him was Over the top down the field stretch the defense scorch them in the secondary But to me that it doesn't necessarily translate into You know and coming from Oregon that do
esn't necessarily translate into a consistent, you know wide receiver one caliber type of player Destination is going to play a huge role and I should say that now Like reiterate it now because we did on the last show, but like we're talking about our prospects based on what we're watching The destination for these guys is going to make a tremendous difference, you know if they come into a situation We believe they'll be utilized correctly higher volume Troy Franklin concerns me Sometimes you se
e him projected in the first late late late first more often than not he's not there So you're talking about a second or third round wide receiver, you know does big difference between landing in Kansas City or Carolina? Sure for sure. Yeah, I mean destination is going to make a big deal here But on the tape what I saw what I enjoyed he Is his routes to me were very good the way that he uses them to Combined with his speed like he has not everybody has a you know a trump card where it's like I j
ust you you can't keep up with me Troy Franklin on film can glide across the field in a few gazelle swoops and he's just Gone you're not catching him and whether that's on a slant Whether that's on a screen behind the line of scrimmage or whether that's on a bomb down the field I've seen him do it all He struggled with a few drops this year, but that was not how he was you know the year prior I Love his mentality too when you watch him play, you know, he's got that dog in him. I love that for a
wide receiver He was one of the most fun prospects for me to watch on a play-in play out basis I am curious though like when Adnan Manchuk is drafted ahead of him. How much will that hurt? It will feel so much better When he gets drafted ahead and busts because I will be right and the NFL will be wrong right right it is Unique you guys both have met five by the way. Yeah, I'm a ten. I like him Five not a sheep Yeah, but what if I did are you a turtle what if I do this? It makes him like it's gon
na say it was up to nine of the it's funny having the balance of His theme song being based off a very slow animal. He is such a fast man Laddler from a green school the organ. Okay. Okay. We're turtle color. All right. All right Thanks, uh lad mcconkey. Oh Oh, laddie. I think we are universally I Mean consensus wise were a little bit higher than most on lad mcconkey I just saw a mock draft with him projected as the receiver that the Buffalo Bills ended up with and it would be perfect at 28 He's
six six feet tall 186 pounds Ran a 439 And that shows up on film this dude is Really really fast, but he's also very quick. You know some guys a difference. Yeah, they've got a top speed this guy just starts and stops So jitterbug style. He was the best player at the senior bowl in my opinion He's in and out of his breaks at a Cooper Cup Pukinakua last year kind of level I think he's going to be a best friend of quarterbacks if he lands in the right situation So Jason I have him at six Mike. I
do have him. I had you haven't six. Yeah I moved him up six because I am calling my shot on the Buffalo Bills Or so that draft him. Yeah, the the strangeness though if you're not familiar with lad mcconkey is Watch his highlights and you'll go Whoa, like this guy's on a on Georgia like this guy's I think he do we have two championships for yeah So like is a multi championship wide receiver on one of the best teams or the best team of college Look at him go. He's absolutely incredible. This guy m
ust have been a huge part of the Georgia offense and then you you would be sadly mistaken because He was not you know, he Like Even his sophomore year 58 for 762 and seven that's not that's his best That's not the worst numbers in the world But then this last year 30 for 478 and two and it's he dealt with injuries. Yes. Yes, he didn't play him all but it still is very bizarre because his per route analytics are amongst the top of these wide receivers, but his overall total production in his Impo
rtance to Georgia Was not it doesn't match. She has it seemed like he was yeah, he has red flags in his Profile and and they are the production aspects because there is the argument to make if he is as good as we believe He is on film as plenty prognosticators believe put them in the first round in recent mock drafts Then why did the team? Why did Georgia not utilize him or as a primary weapon as a we've got to get this guy involved? They really didn't now can't really complain too much. They wo
n two titles Do I also have the best players at every position? Yeah, so There's also the concern. I've seen it said, you know one of the Things you look for especially in wide receivers coming out of college is their breakout age That is a really sticky important. He does not have one because he never broke out That is kind of not true though And I want it said because I've seen a lot on Twitter about you don't draft guys It never broke out and he never broke out the the breakout is an arbitrar
y line It is universally seen as 20 percent dominated rating in a season. He was at 19.9 in His sophomore season, so it's like okay. You're telling me he didn't break out because of 0.1% He had a breakout and that would have been a good age that would have been 21 or 20 20 year old break out just to break in on the breakout the college dominator is the percentage of a team's receiving yards and touchdowns Yeah, and so if you're over that 35% you're in incredible place which Marvin Harrison was 4
7% Yeah, he's because Marv is that guy. I mean my last notes for lad mcconkey is When you're talking about landing situation the guy Destroyed zone like his zone yards per outrun 4.27 I mean it's outrageously high compared to his man yard for a run, which is just over two So he if he finds the right spot he I just started Thinking about the Rams having him Sure. Yeah, I mean and the comedy of that Well, it was that trifecta. This wild is when I would watch watching him it There was so much of it
that was like Travis Kelsey esque of him just finding like yeah run it run in an intermediate route and then going Oh, there's nobody around me. I'll just turn around here and be a wide open target for the quarterback in so Football IQ yes good routes great hands. Oh, he's good across the board But I will say we'll see fantasy football perspective if he doesn't have the draft capital to kind of force him into being the lead of a team He could be relegated to a slot role that is You know it coul
d very easily become someone like a Christian Kirk a sterling shepherd really good players they had great careers But they weren't really fantasy dominators often. Yeah, they were they were used like lad mcconkey at Georgia Yes, exactly. So so there is a little bit of hesitation there from a ceiling outlook From from a fantasy perspective Well, let's talk about the pair of Texas wide receivers and then we'll throw out another name or two that we like from the remaining bunch Maybe as a sleeper d
raft selection. I'll uh, you know the Amon Raz of years past But let's talk about Xavier worthy out of Texas. You guys both have him ranked ahead of Adnan Mitchell who I have ranked ahead of worthy Both dynamic athletes Xavier worthy is a hundred and sixty five pounds He ran a four to one The fastest man in the history of the combine. So this is a burner He had more production at Texas than the Mitchell did Mitchell was a transfer Also did very little in the competitive Georgia environment as a
freshman in a sophomore But you know for me, I like Adnan Mitchell more. I think he's uh more versatile This was a player that ranked as the third most athletic at the combine ran a 434 434 at over 200 pounds at six foot two 40 pounds heavier than yeah If you looked at Franklin is disappointing at the combine Mitchell did the opposite of that in impressing him his way maybe into the first round I think he he combined his way guaranteed into the first round I liked him as a tackle breaker. I like
d him as a player that was great around the boundary Um off target throws. He found a way to catch them very very quick receiver Like you said six two two oh five I preferred him I think worthy is in that potential one trick pony category that I'm concerned about which You know, you're going to see that speed and then you're going to be the next Darius Hayward Bay But you guys long career That's that's true. That's true was in the league for a long time. We've been in the league for a while, but
MvS got another big second contract. Yeah, I don't want to uh to allow my opinion of Mitchell versus worthy to be the only one And you guys both, you know would be quick to point out worthy had the youngest Breakout age in the wide receiver class. He broke out at 18 years old Um, tell me some of the reasons you why why you might not be able to get a good start I mean, some of the reasons you why why you might believe that worthy could do more than just stretch the field Yeah, I mean it's it's i
ronic because Earlier in his career he was used down the field and then as he got, you know, this last year There's a lot of behind the line of scrimmage stuff and I think that's just a matter of knowing that For texas worthy was their number one wide receiver and he has he established himself two years earlier as like A really special athlete obviously the fastest test in the history of of the combine. He plays You know, he's just a little tiny rocket ship and so they wanted to get the ball in
his hand have him run away from guys Uh, you know special teams wherever they could get him involved It is concerning to have a guy who's only 165 pounds that doesn't usually work now We have adapted over the last few years, you know tank Dell is it is we haven't we've seen very few Wide receivers at that weight, but that is exactly tank Dell's weight. Yeah, so um, he gives a little bit of hope To me the the things I liked about Xavier worthy I felt like he was a more complete wide receiver than
adonai Mitchell Um when I'm comparing the the teammates together I am personally like way down on adonai Mitchell And it feels bad. It feels stupid because he's gonna be a first round talent or no, he's not he's gonna be a first round draft No, you said the right thing. He's gonna be the right thing I just remember scouting. I remember scouting going like how do people have a first round grade on this guy? And I don't know what it What the discussion out of it will be but like you and I both wa
tched adonai Mitchell a lot of film on him Yeah, we both watched a lot of Troy Franklin. We did not come away with the same opinion Not at all and some of that can be biased by what we like to see in wide receivers in general How are you a fan of football? What do you like from your wide receiver? What kind of prototype or archetype? Do you believe that these players can be common to me? It was like I brought up adonai Mitchell as the anquan bold in the The the tackle breaking falling forward ya
rd after the catch. He's not a yard after the catch guy He has a Good ability to break tackles. He's a great tackle breaker. I think he has a he doesn't track the ball well He quits on plays. Oh gosh. I mean, I just I didn't see it. There were there you watched the wrong games I mean that is true. We're not fair. That's a red flag for adonai Mitchell Is there was intensity levels in certain games that weren't in others? And so that is a red. I mean that was an actual weakness for him Is that som
etimes he just didn't put in the effort. So I think it's a fair critique I don't know where these two guys are going to go Mike So the you know, I think Mitchell is going to go ahead of where they go the my big red flag for adonai Mitchell It went and again, this is what are we looking for where and he's excited by the strength of like his contested catch Percentage was he caught 54 percent of them? that's amazing But nearly 40 of his targets were contested which Is telling me this dude is not g
etting Open the way that he needs to be getting open. I mean, I'm trying to talk about two fast receivers I'm 43 4 4 2 1. I'm trying to go back through my database and even going to like so Back to 2020 guys in their draft year, you know, they're their final season of college production and and then getting drafted There's like no one even close To adonai's 39.8 of his targets were contested Uh, speaking of the dominator ranking, uh for those guys, he was at 32 percent He had 44 of texas's touch
downs Yeah, his dominator is insane because it's all touchdown. It's not it's not the yards But worthy was at 39 percent. So he he had he you know got it done as well In terms of the yardage. So that's where they alternated. It was like, you know, you kind of saw it from brian thomas Sometimes they just you get around the end zone and he just caught a bunch of them You know when looking at some other names before we get towards the end here I mean It's perfect to me that michigan would have a wi
de receiver That is exactly like the running back in the draft like quorum, right? That is exactly like the quarterback in the draft jg mccarthy Who is roman wilson? Who look those are like all three of them were were like work pale type of players they don't have these perfectly prototypical combine numbers And yet all three of them production wise eyeball wise like roman wilson is the player to me That profiles is the next almond raw st. Brown type of Um better than you thought he was kind of
play. I love roman wilson. I really do When when you look he's similar to lad mcconkey in that I'm so confident in a Long valuable career in the nfl. I'm not necessarily confident that he's going to be a superstar fantasy asset But of that same like sterling shepherd type. He is a very Very his hands are great. I think he has the second best hands of this entire draft class. He is tough as nails He's very very fast. And so, you know, if you can if you can run a good route and catch a ball You sh
ould be an info wide receiver. Um, I like him a lot the the other name I'll throw out there from me Is xaver leggett. We talked about him comically on the dynasty podcast a few times This is a guy who found the cave of wonders after his fourth year in college Of being an unproductive worthless non-existent wide receiver wished upon that lamp to become the Best wide receiver he could be and was granted that wish and then all of a sudden in his fifth year Which is a giant red flag as like a 23 yea
r old playing amongst teenagers, which is a giant red flag was dominant I mean, he was so powerful so fast his hands were good his athleticism is he might be the best athlete in this entire draft class sub 4 4 at 221 pounds He makes no sense because there's no way that the guy who did what he did in 2023 Could have been so non-existent for the four previous years But that's that's what you get so I tell everybody don't draft Xavier Leggett because of all the red flags I will be drafting him beca
use I'm a you love red blood for punishment here Jason and I pretty much had the exact same experience with Leggett of watching his most recent film and Then going back and looking at the stats and going how how is this possible to go from? Absolute nothing as I think it was like 150 yards Jim I remember that I think it was 160. I think you might have got it to 160 and then to a guy who is The opposite of Brian Thomas of of high pointing every ball Perfectly it his tape this year is absolutely i
ncredible this last year who's 71 for 1255 and was dominant here are his Yards not in a game. These are yards in the seasons prior 80 total yards in a season 113 total yards in a season 63 yards in a whole season 167 yards. He should be really happy for his most recent season Yeah, it don't draft him. It's not gonna work It is so wild and just a a deeper name that analytically Is it's exciting to me. It's germane Burton out of alabama and this guy it's a another explosive athlete But it's just h
uge monster catch after monster catch 20 and a half yards per completion his Uh his a dot so averaged at the target was almost 18 yards almost. Yeah, dude everything he got was fully downfield and he his you know like production wise Touchdowns is actually a good market share percentage and his dominator is is good as well because of the touchdowns But it's like this is an alabama wide receiver Who I mean played two years also at georgia then went to alabama Is this a dot huge yards per completi
on guy? He won't I don't see a pathway. You know, we're excited about this germane Burton's turn into a superstar But someone who should go in the middle rounds that Has already proven that he can be a huge catch player I've got my eye on him All right, there's one tight end. We'll talk about at length because he has the greatest fantasy implications and relevance And that's how we roll Um, did you guys talk about a lot more than one tight end on the dynasty show? We sure did Well, that must hav
e been fun. Uh, Brock Bowers We'll talk about Brock Bowers because because he is a he is a weapon. He is a force really he was the best weapon at georgia as a freshman and Just multifaceted skill set. He's the only two-time john mackey award winner since the title was awarded That's best tight end in the country 6-3 243 broke out at 18 years old 30 dominant a ranking only 21 years old right now So why do you want to? You know kind of probably poo poo on him jason because I know that's what you'r
e known for is just kind of squashing the potential and the hopes of young tight ends and luckily some Tight ends like sam la porta. They say, you know, they double middle finger throw the birds at you and Then they just say I you know what you say is he's kind of stupid But why do you think Brock Bowers is going to suck because I know you do I think Brock Bowers is an exceptional talent Um, clearly the best tight end in this draft class Coming in the pre nfl draft Period of scouting. I would sa
y he's probably the second best tight end that we've scouted over the last several years I would personally put him behind The appearance and production of what we saw in Kyle Pitts People could put him ahead Brock Bowers is absolutely Sensational he will I can't imagine him drop him past the jets at 10 I've seen plenty of mocks where he does he goes to the bangles. I mean there's there's also great landing spots here that from a fantasy perspective Could be really really valuable for even his r
ookie year Outlook for me you want to talk about the poo poo because I will I'll I'll fall over here. No, we know is From a game theory perspective Drafting first round rookie tight ends is a losing proposition. It just is how many tight ends in the league in fantasy Are your league winners? Travis Kelsey Um, you're forgetting there's uh There's I mean there was a year of George Kittle. Yeah Uh, Laporta was really good last year. Yeah, he was yeah, he was a mark. Andrews had a year. Laporta was
a league mark Andrews had a year jimmy Graham had years Right, this is my point like there's no I mean we've done the show like nine years and that's like nine years named like And I named five over nine years exactly so it's just like I'm almost always happens, but not always you're you know It's like Brock Bowers is a great talent but whether he will Pay off on you know what you're giving up at the fifth or sixth spot in a rookie draft to take that shot On that tight end. This is gonna be the
one. Well, no, you're not taking that shot on it for him to be the one If you're in a dynasty rookie draft you are those players work out over time There's a different discussion because you always point out year one might be a problem for a talent to tight end I was not talking about rookie years. I was talking about total Career actual difference making fantasy titles. Yeah, there's just not a bunch There's usually two or three every which is why they're so valuable and why I think Much like q
uarterbacks in a super flex you take your shots because the value to your team is so exceptionally great And you saw it whether it was ground kowski leading people the titles for multiple years or Kelsey for multiple years Or Andrews for multiple years or Laporta this last year like it does make such a difference to the team That I I think it's a philosophical decision if you can make new if you knew the Brock Bowers was going to be Kelsey Absolutely, absolutely if if you're talking about the di
fference he makes to a team You can't replace it. It's it's humongous that difference of having Travis Kelsey dominating year after year after year If you had Antonio Gates dominating year after year after year if you could get that guy it is worth it But my point is only in the hit rate the hit rate of all these prospects I mean it doesn't every every draft season. There are the best tight ends in the draft and it's you know, it's it's OJ Howard and it's Kyle Pitts and it's David a joke who fin
ally broke out in year seven And it's Evan Ingraham who had a great rookie year, but has not been a difference maker for fantasy. It's every single year I mean, it was like one when was the last sample? Let me ask you a different question Let me rephrase it Okay, which tight end from this year's draft has the best chance of Brock potentially being the next Kelsey for sure And that's all I'm saying. I'm saying like you're in a dynasty league. Kelsey's gonna age out Right. There are a handful of d
ifference making tight ends If you want to take a shot at getting a difference maker Brock's the guy I would love do not hear what I'm not saying I would love to have Brock Bowers on my fantasy team I would not sacrifice the opportunity of a higher hit rate at a wide receiver The first you know second round Brock Bowers and Brian Thomas. Yeah, you can't be saying that Brian Thomas is is You know, I think that's an equal risk Brian Thomas is to Brock Bowers The reason why that hit rate is so repu
lsive to you is because there's very few tight ends that go in the first round ever There's piles of first round wide receivers that don't do stuff Jalen Rager And you know the Darius Hayward Bay like we talked about earlier Justin Blackman or you know, all these guys that get drafted Corey Davis like there are a billion failures, but there's a billion successes at wide receiver tight ends They're very much on it on a pedestal of observation where it's like when they fail the world watches and w
hen they succeed The world watches. Yeah, I mean I I get it. I think you would take Brian Thomas Jr over Brock Bowers Yeah, I mean without knowing without knowing landing spot. Yes with knowing Lane. My wife. Where are you at with that? Uh, I lean more on Jason side of Feeling that the percentage of that the wide receiver will hit you're out the sniff that farty dropped earlier than I I have drink it in Enjoy That's not the best so small popcorn. There you go. There you go It it I'm on Jason sid
e of the hit not just first round wide first round tight ends. It's just tight ends that they They often you and Don't come through and you have to wait on them. So it's unless you don't Right like if you get a sam la porta. Yes, of course. You don't I'm right, but everyone who drafted Sam LaPorta was the consolation prize. Yeah. Oh, I get it third round I I get it. I'm just saying like I like looking at a guys on a case-by-case basis Because there's not been that many of them over a long span o
f time drafted in the top 10 Yes, I think you do a disservice to it now if you individually look at Brock Bowers destination and talent and you say well, he's probably not going to do well That's fine. But Brock Bowers is his own thing man and as a prospect He's incredible if he lands in is in the right place. I'm not going to not draft them because Kyle Pistin worked out with Arthur Smith That's not going to be my reasoning because it has no they have no bearing on each other Yeah, they don't a
ffect each other in any real way. I I agree with that but there is also the just factoring in the the history of everything and if if it hits like I mean, it's uh The difference that it makes if it hits and you get that one guy that does hit is like it changes you changes the whole future of your team for These things are always very interesting because there is a front end every trend Right, there is the beginning of the undersized wide receiver having excellent production at the NFL level And
then you observe it four years later. Are you saying Sam LaPorte is the beginning of getting tight in? I'm saying it's possible that it's possible that in an evolving NFL that doesn't let you touch Uh, the defense, you know the offensive player, you know, Brock Bowers is is next level elite We're talking top five potential in the draft. So, um, but there's a reason we're only talking about him though He's the one that jumps out the names. So here. Yeah, Kyle assembled us the names. I assume thes
e are just like the highest Uh, rookie picked tight ends. So Kyle Pitts If you spent the 103 on Kyle Pitts Are you disappointed? Probably so far. Yeah. OJ Howard didn't work out Dalton concade. You're feeling okay with that TJ Hawkinson at the 110. I don't remember who else was there, but you're feeling good with that. I'll say it's good I'll say his career has worked out more than it hasn't and joku This year aside very very disappointing. No offense. Uh, didn't work Evan angriome Michael Micha
el mayor Hunter Henry Mike is sicky Hayden Hurst pat fryer muth and sam la porta. That's a that is a much larger list of Misses now there there are only six of them. No five total that were drafted in the first round of one qb drafts, right? Is that what that says? In terms of rookie drafts in terms of like recent memory. Yeah, so that's five names As your history lesson Yeah, and out of those five names you were disappointed. Oh, it's very small. You're disappointed twice. You're kind of a happ
y twice so Very small. I lean on the side of just view it in a vacuum one time situation But I understand if you're on the other side of that. Let me ask you this because I think I think what people are in their drafts. This is the decision. They're going to come to wherever you are Where you're past the wide receivers you're in love with and there probably isn't a running back. You're in love with Would you rather have Brock Bowers or Caleb Williams? One quarterback. Yeah, because of two qb. It
's obviously Brock Bowers He's my four You're saying in a Fourth in a row with the top three wide receivers and then Brock Bowers. Yes, because I genuinely think all four of those guys Are not going to fail. I don't lad McCartney goes to the bills. Don't care. No, I would still take bowers Yeah, I think all four of those guys are not they don't have a chance to fail. I really do. I believe that I really do. I believe that I think you have three jamar chases and then one tight end that your worst
situation is He's a solid top six guy and your best situation is maybe you get two But look, I'm not saying people didn't talk about cop. It's that way. So are there ways things can go wrong? Yeah, arthur smith Arthur smith is the way everything can go wrong in the whole world So if Pittsburgh drafts do they still ship like people to like different countries like Didn't a lot of prisoners get dropped off in Australia a long time ago. Oh, yeah when the by the Brits just asking Where who's going?
I just think Arthur Smith might oh Like they do you have to think he has the funds to get like a long time ago people used to get instead of being killed They'd get banished exiled they didn't get exiled from a land and you don't you know, we're not talking capital punishment here You just go get to enjoy the beaches. Yeah, check out this. You got an island. Yeah, you you've got this really cool island You live on now. Yeah, see you later. But instead of that. He got another job Oh, and then he
brought in cordial pats. Okay Not how I wanted to put a you know exclamation point on the show But that'll do it for today's episode of the fantasy footballers podcast. Thank you for joining us We'll be back very very soon Goodbye. Goodbye Thank you for listening to another episode of the fantasy footballers podcast Join our fantasy football community on join the foot calm and follow us on twitter at the ff ballers
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