PodcastFrom Fantasy Football Today
2026 Fantasy Rankings: Top 12 Players in PPR Leagues (06/23 Fantasy Football Podcast)
STACKED extracted the fantasy-relevant player signal from this podcast and kept the full transcript here for context.
1 hr 13 min
Duration
Estimated from transcript
Jun 23, 2026
Published
Tue, June 23, 2026
71
Player insights
29
Players mentioned
Topics
Chase BrownCeeDee LambChristian McCaffreyDrake LondonJa'Marr ChaseJames CookA.J. BrownBijan RobinsonDe'Von AchaneJustin JeffersonNico CollinsTrey McBrideBrandon AiyukBreece Hall
Player analysis
Player insights
A.J. Brown
PositiveValue0:18
A.J. Brown was picked in a recent mock draft and no one commented negatively on the pick, suggesting it was viewed as an astute selection.
Insight pagePositiveProjection0:57
AJ Brown has been better than Drake London's 16.8 PPR points per game average, making him a justifiable pick over London.
Insight pageBijan Robinson
PositiveProjection0:04
Bijan was better than Gibbs last year in PPR (10.4 yards per catch vs. 8 yards), but that receiving yards advantage is unlikely to repeat given their career averages are nearly identical (8.8 vs. 8 yards per catch).
Insight pageNegativeRole0:05
Bijan Robinson is losing Tyler Algier in Atlanta, which is a significant loss for the offense, though elite players like him can still dominate touches.
Insight pageBrandon Aiyuk
PositiveRole0:01
Aiyuk is described as super talented by George Kittle, but there is some baggage associated with him that fantasy players should be aware of.
Insight pageBreece Hall
NegativeProjection0:18
Breece Hall finished as #2 overall in 2023 but was #6 in full PPR per game with 76 catches, suggesting he wasn't as dominant as his overall ranking indicated.
Insight pageBrian Robinson
NegativeRole0:06
Brian Robinson could potentially take over the Tyler Algier role in Atlanta, but elite players like Bijan Robinson tend to keep backup running backs off the field.
Insight pageCeeDee Lamb
PositiveProjection0:00
Lamb is in the consensus top 12 and is in the conversation for the back end of the top 12 (positions 10-12).
Insight pagePositiveProjection63:51
As long as Dak Prescott stays healthy, CeeDee Lamb should average 17 points per game or more and has the potential to be a 20 point per game player.
Insight pagePositiveProjection64:07
CeeDee Lamb has the potential to score 10 touchdowns in a season and is a first-round caliber player.
Insight pageNegativeProjection64:37
The analyst worries that an improved Dallas defense could reduce passing opportunities for CeeDee Lamb, as last year's terrible defense led to more pass-catcher opportunities.
Insight pagePositiveUsage65:02
In the seven games when Quinn and Williams were healthy in Dallas, the defense was better and Lamb still averaged 8 targets per game and 14.2 PPR points per game, with Dallas at 56% pass rate versus 61% in weeks 1-10.
Insight pagePositiveProjection65:24
The analyst projects CeeDee Lamb could finish around 15.5 to 16 PPR points per game, with potential for touchdowns and catches but possibly not reaching the 20-point ceiling.
Insight pageNegativeProjection65:52
In the last 10 games of the year when Lamb returned from injury, he was only the number 13 wide receiver per game despite being on pace for 156 targets.
Insight pageNegativeProjection66:10
Despite being on pace for 156 targets and 12 end zone targets, CeeDee Lamb was only on pace for 5 touchdowns last year, indicating poor touchdown luck compared to George Pickens' 4 end zone targets.
Insight pageChase Brown
PositiveBreakout0:01
Chase Brown has a lot of upside and is a close call with Christian McCaffrey for the 9th overall pick; if McCaffrey shows injury concerns, Brown could move ahead.
Insight pagePositiveProjection0:01
Over the last two years when Chase Brown has been the starting running back with Joe Burrow, he's averaged well over 20 PPR points per game.
Insight pageNegativeProjection0:17
Chase Brown makes Jamie a little nervous as a 12th overall pick, though anyone slotting in at that position is going to be nerve-wracking.
Insight pageNegativeProjection0:58
Chase Brown was one of the biggest busts in fantasy over the first 7 games of 2024, averaging 3.6 yards per carry with only 22 catches and on pace for just 206 carries.
Insight pagePositiveProjection0:59
Over the last 10 games of 2024, Chase Brown averaged 4.8 yards per carry and 21.6 PPR points per game, showing significant upside if the Bengals continue to feed him.
Insight pagePositiveUsage0:59
Chase Brown got 75%+ of snaps in three games when AJ P Ryan was out, and his numbers remained great even when P Ryan returned, suggesting the coaching staff wants to feature him.
Insight pagePositiveProjection60:49
When Chase Brown has been the starting running back with Joe Burrow over the last two years, he's averaged well over 20 points per game.
Insight pagePositiveRole61:02
The team appears to want to limit Chase Brown's workload, but they realize they can't sustain that approach.
Insight pageNegativeBust61:22
Among the top 12 players on the board, Chase Brown is the one whose talent the analyst doubts the most; he's not a first-round pick and lacks the pedigree of other top options.
Insight pageNegativeUsage61:45
Chase Brown had inflated pass-catching numbers in two games without A.J. Green and T. Higgins (16 catches in those two games), suggesting his value may be dependent on injury to teammates.
Insight pageNegativeValue62:02
If Chase Brown weren't on the Bengals, he wouldn't be a first-round pick, indicating his value is heavily dependent on his offensive context.
Insight pageNegativeProjection62:12
When Joe Burrow is not on the field, Chase Brown is significantly less effective.
Insight pagePositiveProjection62:22
Historically, Bengals running backs with Joe Burrow have finished as top-12 RBs per game; Joe Mixon finished as RB 10, RB 6, RB 6, and RB 12, while Chase Brown finished as RB 14 per game in a part-time role and RB 8 per game.
Insight pagePositiveProjection62:48
As long as Chase Brown doesn't lose his job and perform poorly, he should finish as a top-12 running back on a per-game basis, probably top-8 except in the first seven games last year.
Insight pagePositiveValue63:09
Chase Brown's ADP on Fantasy Pros is 15th overall, significantly higher than most other platforms, with players like Justin Jefferson, Ashton Gentry, and Saquon Barkley going ahead of him.
Insight pageChristian McCaffrey
NegativeProjection0:17
McCaffrey makes Jamie nervous despite being the best player in fantasy last year, suggesting concerns about regression or durability.
Insight pageNegativeInjury0:40
McCaffrey's injury history is concerning—he was hurt in both 2020 and 2024 after high-touch seasons, and the source notes 'his history is what scares me the most' given the pattern of missing significant time.
Insight pagePositiveProjection0:40
If McCaffrey plays 13+ games, he could be a league winner; even 10 games with 20+ PPR points would be a win given his draft position.
Insight pagePositiveDepth Chart0:41
The 49ers' backup situation is unclear with Kalen Black having a strong minicamp, Jordan James available, and Isaac Garendo returning from injury, making it difficult to identify a reliable handcuff.
Insight pageNegativeProjection0:43
McCaffrey's 3.9 yards per carry last year and 4.0 yards per carry the year before suggest he may not improve rushing efficiency, which could limit his fantasy upside.
Insight pagePositiveProjection60:37
McCaffrey still has a lot of upside, though the analyst will elevate Chase Brown overhead if McCaffrey shows signs of decline or misses time.
Insight pageDe'Von Achane
NegativeRole0:58
Devon Achane is not in the top 12 due to concerns about the Dolphins offense and his role in the passing game.
Insight pagePositiveProjection67:18
Devon Achane could easily outperform expectations and be the focal point of a Dolphins offense that needs him in the passing game.
Insight pageDrake London
PositiveProjection0:18
Drake London cracks the top 12 and should continue to be the top target getter on the Falcons, with solid expectations for his role.
Insight pagePositiveProjection0:53
Drake London was the number 3 wide receiver in fantasy over the first 9 games of 2024 before his injury, and the source believes he can improve to 18+ PPR points per game.
Insight pagePositiveRole0:54
Drake London will get fed targets under new coach Kyle Pitts, and the addition of Taonga Iloa should benefit him overall.
Insight pagePositiveValue0:55
Drake London belongs in a tier with the top 4 wide receivers and should be taken in the first round, ahead of players like CD Lamb, Justin Jefferson, Nico Collins, and George Pickens.
Insight pagePositiveValue69:09
Drake London is ranked 17th on Fantasy Pros ADP, and pairing him with James Cook at the 12th pick provides a solid draft start.
Insight pageEzekiel Elliott
PositiveProjection0:46
Ezekiel Elliott had 350 carries in 2018, followed by 301 carries in 2019 while playing 16 games and finishing as RB5 per game.
Insight pageGarrett Wilson
NegativeProjection0:18
Garrett Wilson was one of two Jets going in the first round in 2023 and was considered a bust despite the excitement around Aaron Rodgers joining the team.
Insight pageGeno Smith
NegativeInjury0:01
Police were investigating an assault allegation against Geno Smith, though no arrests were made and it's not an active case but still being reviewed.
Insight pageGeorge Pickens
PositiveProjection0:57
George Pickens is in consideration for the top 12 if you believe in what he did last year, but there are reasons to dissect his ranking.
Insight pageJa'Marr Chase
PositiveProjection0:10
Chase led the NFL with 11.6 targets per game last year and is expected to get right around double-digit targets per game; he has the potential to be the best receiver in fantasy and football.
Insight pageNegativeInjury0:11
Chase is tied to Joe Burrow, who has had durability concerns, and Chase himself has had a hard time staying healthy.
Insight pagePositiveProjection0:12
Chase averaged more than 23 fantasy points per game in 2024 when Joe Burrow was healthy, and that was the only year of his career where he's been that good.
Insight pageNegativeProjection0:12
Chase's 2024 season at 23+ PPR points per game was an outlier; it's the only year of his career where he's been that good, even when Burrow and Higgins are healthy.
Insight pageJames Cook
PositiveProjection0:17
Cook is locked into the consensus top 12 at #9, though the back end of the top 12 (positions 10-12) remains up for debate.
Insight pagePositiveProjection0:52
James Cook had nearly identical production to Jonathan Taylor last year (within 3 carries and 52 total yards), yet Cook is underrated; he was on pace for 326 carries and had 345 total touches including playoffs—more than any other RB.
Insight pagePositiveUsage0:52
James Cook gets 11-12 goal-line carries (inside the 3-yard line) per season despite splitting carries with Josh Allen, which is very good volume.
Insight pagePositiveValue68:45
James Cook falling to the 12th pick in drafts is a big plus, and pairing him with either Jefferson or London provides a solid start.
Insight pageJauan Jennings
PositiveRole0:55
The Vikings added Jawan Jennings to their offense, adding another mouth to feed alongside Jordan Addison and TJ Hawkins.
Insight pageJonathan Taylor
PositiveProjection0:16
Taylor had a monster year last year and could potentially crack the top 5, though it would require removing one of the current top 5 (Gibbs, Bijan, Chase, Puka, JSN).
Insight pageJordan Mason
PositiveRole0:42
Jordan Mason was a bell cow at the start of the 49ers' season but was never heavily targeted in the passing game.
Insight pageJustin Jefferson
NegativeRole0:55
Justin Jefferson faces potentially inconsistent quarterback play and has many mouths to feed in the Vikings offense, including Jordan Addison and TJ Hawkins.
Insight pagePositiveProjection66:41
Justin Jefferson could easily have a bounce-back season, with his numbers improving with Kyler Murray compared to his performance with Carson Wentz.
Insight pageKyle Pitts
PositiveProjection0:54
Kyle Pitts is expected to have a very solid season as the Falcons' tight end under new coach Kyle Pitts.
Insight pageLamar Jackson
PositiveRole0:01
Lamar Jackson is loving Declan Doyle's offense as the new offensive coordinator for the Ravens, with good buzz about explosive plays and creative schemes.
Insight pageMalik Willis
PositiveProjection0:58
Malik Willis was as dominant as any running back discussed, suggesting he has significant upside potential.
Insight pageNico Collins
NegativeValue0:18
Nico Collins went 10 or 11 in a recent mock draft, which was considered too soon by commenters who felt he should not be in the first round.
Insight pagePositiveProjection0:57
Nico Collins has averaged at least 17 PPR points per game in 2 of his last 3 seasons, but has health concerns that complicate his ranking.
Insight pagePuka Nacua
PositiveProjection0:00
Puka is in the consensus top 5 and is considered awesome with significant upside as a top-tier receiver option.
Insight pageRashee Rice
PositiveProjection0:56
Rashee Rice is the only player the source would argue could potentially be better than Drake London if there were no health concerns, given what he's done when healthy and his superior quarterback and coaching situation.
Insight pageSaquon Barkley
NegativeProjection0:45
Saquon Barkley declined by 35% last year and wasn't worth the first-round pick despite staying healthy, suggesting heavy workloads may not carry over positively.
Insight pageTrey McBride
PositiveProjection0:57
Trey McBride was 4 PPR points per game better than the second-best tight end last season (100 points better overall), but the source doesn't expect that gap to repeat.
Insight pagePositiveProjection67:01
Trey McBride is coming off an 18 point per game season and could be in contention for a top-12 overall finish.
Insight pageZachariah Branch
PositiveRole0:54
Zachariah Branch is unlikely to be the player that diminishes Drake London's target share.
Insight pageFull transcript
Episode Transcript
0:00This is Fantasy Football Today from CBS Sports. What a play!
0:03Can you believe this? He had no idea. It's time to dominate your fantasy league.
0:08Off to the races! And he stays at his feet!
0:11He's just gonna go the distance! Now here's some combination of Adam, Dave, Jamie and Heath.
0:15The 12 best players in the world! Ever! Today our consensus top 12 in PPR, they are Jameer Gibbs, Bijan Robinson, Jamar
0:22Chase, Puka Nakua, Jackson Smith and Jigba, Amon Ross St.
0:25Brown, then three running backs, Jonathan Taylor, Christian McCaffrey, James Cook, Drake London, CeeDee Lamb, and Chase Brown.
0:30That's our consensus top 12. Doesn't mean that Dave and Jamie have the same top 12.
0:35Heath is not- Where's Giannis Antetokounmpo? Giannis! How you feeling about Giannis to the Heat, Jamie?
0:40I think it's exciting. I mean, look, it's a fun trade.
0:43Dave, how you feeling about Julius Randle to the Nets?
0:46I Great. Almost as big of a deal as Giannis to the Heat.
0:50It's so weird that the NBA draft is, you know, a week after the NBA Finals.
0:55It's just so strict. Tonight! It's bizarre. Okay. Anyway, more important things to talk about.
0:59You know, for those of you who are just- maybe just starting to pick up the podcast, uh, hopefully these next few episodes will be helpful.
1:07We'll be talking about, I think the top 24, but the top 12 today.
1:11I just have a few news items here. Uh, police were investigating an assault allegation against Geno Smith.
1:16It seems like it might be close to close.
1:19No arrests were made. It's not- apparently not an active case, but still being reviewed before a report is released, according to Rich Simini of ESPN.
1:27Um, Brandon Ayuk said, go Commanders on social media.
1:29Yeah. And George Kittle was talking about Brandon Ayuk, and he said- he's- basically said he's super talented.
1:35He loved, like, just watching him, you know, his raw talent.
1:38But he's- I think he said, you know, good luck dealing with that.
1:42Uh, something to that effect. So, I think we know Ayuk.
1:45Very talented player. Hopefully still a very talented player, but some- some baggage, I guess we could say.
1:51And Lamar Jackson, this is not the first time we've heard a report like this.
1:55He is loving Declan Doyle's offense, the new offensive coordinator for the Ravens.
1:59So, you know, he thinks there's gonna be a lot of explosive plays, very creative.
2:03A lot of good buzz coming out of Ravens camp regarding their offensive coordinator, Declan Doyle.
2:08And that's pretty much all I've got. How you guys doing?
2:11Jamie, uh, how's it going? How we missed you yesterday?
2:14I missed you too. I had to think for a second.
2:18He wasn't on yesterday, was he? And I was right.
2:21Right. That would have been weird if you had been on the show yesterday and I had said that.
2:26Welcome back. Thank you. Heath will be back tomorrow.
2:29Um, CBS Sports HQ. Great time to be watching CBS Sports HQ.
2:33World Cup has been awesome. They'll give you all the updates there.
2:36NBA draft. Everything else you need to know. So, crappy Yankees team that's lost three in a row and all the other baseball storylines you want to follow.
2:44And today in the chat, we want you guys to help us out.
2:48Who are you worried about in the top 12?
2:51Gibbs, Bijan, Chase, Puka, JSN, Amon Ross St. Brown, Taylor, McCaffrey, James Cook, London, Lamb, Chase Brown.
2:56Who worries you in the top 12? Let us know, chat.
2:59Let us know, YouTube commenters as well. All right.
3:02First question for you. How many players could you justify with the number one overall pick?
3:07Jamie? Let's see. One, two, three, four, five. Really?
3:09Someone takes JSN number one? You're just like, that's cool.
3:12I mean, he was awesome last year and I think his situation got a little bit better this year.
3:18So, yeah, I could see him going first overall.
3:21And look, a lot of people think he's the number one wide receiver this year.
3:25So, if you're inclined to do that and you want to pass on the running backs, you're going to take JSN.
3:31So, he's probably the one I have to make the most of an argument for based on, you know, just where he's at right now.
3:39But I do think that, again, he was the NFL Offensive Player of the Year last year.
3:44He had an amazing season. He was one of the biggest breakout stars for fantasy.
3:48And I think that we're going to see Seattle throw the ball a little bit more this season.
3:54Dave, how many players could you justify with the number one pick?
3:57I don't know if I could justify JSN at 101.
4:00But Gibbs, Bijan, Puka, Chase, not necessarily in that order, but those four guys, I think I could.
4:06So, let's call it four. Well, this may just be a really stupid soundbite in six months, but I have a hard
4:12time justifying Bijan Robinson over Jameer Gibbs. I can't really come up with a statistical case.
4:17You know what I mean? So, I don't know that I could – it wouldn't be crazy to take Bijan Robinson number one.
4:24And he was better than Gibbs last year in PPR.
4:27You can't make a case for him? No, I don't think so.
4:30I don't know what the case is. I don't know why I would take Bijan over Gibbs.
4:35What advantage does he have? Well, are – Has he been a better pass catcher just from a raw number standpoint?
4:42Yes. And I do think it would – you know, like last year, for example, I was looking.
4:47I was like – they had basically the same amount of catches, right?
4:51He had 79, Gibbs had 77. And they were within .3 fantasy points per game.
4:55Bijan slightly ahead. Bijan Robinson averaged 10.4 yards per catch.
4:58Jameer Gibbs averaged 8 yards per catch. So, that was honestly the reason why Bijan was better.
5:03He just had so many more receiving yards. And he was the number two running back per game last year with only
5:1011 touchdowns, whereas McCaffrey had 17, Gibbs had 18, Taylor had 20.
5:13But that gap in yards per catch is not going to repeat itself.
5:17For their careers, Robinson is 8.8. Gibbs is 8 yards per catch.
5:21So, that advantage that he had over him last year in yards per catch I think will kind of disappear or get much closer.
5:28However, like I said last year, Gibbs was a much lower catch guy before the Laporta injury.
5:33So, it is possible that Bijan does have a lot more catches than Gibbs.
5:37That's the only argument I think, Jamie, that I could make for Robinson Gibbs.
5:41Well, I mean, I could see a touchdown spike for both guys.
5:45You know, whoever comes out with more probably depends on how you view the offenses.
5:49I would think Gibbs has more touchdowns than Bijan this season without David Montgomery there.
5:54But you're losing Tyler Algier in Atlanta. I think that's big.
5:57You know, so I see Mason in the chat says, you know, Brian Robinson.
6:01Again, please, when you make your draft picks, do not confuse the two B Robinsons.
6:06But when Brian Robinson potentially takes over the Algier role, that could certainly be a scenario that unfolds.
6:11But again, if you look at what Brian Robinson did in San Francisco last year when he was supposed to be the
6:18guy to spell Christian McCaffrey, like elite players keep everybody off the field.
6:21So, I hope that's the case for Bijan. So, I don't agree with what you're saying.
6:26I think Bijan Robinson can easily be better than Jameer Gibbs.
6:29Our commenters had a problem with Jameer Gibbs' offensive line.
6:32If you look on yesterday's YouTube show, that was one of the topics.
6:36I don't want to get into the other topics that were there.
6:40But one of them was that Gibbs' offensive line has gotten worse.
6:43They're starting a rookie at right tackle. They got a backup center from Carolina who's going to start for them.
6:49They're a rookie from last year, Rutledge. I still think he's got potential.
6:53He's a starter who didn't do well last year.
6:56And then they've got Panay Sewell, who I think we can all agree is one of the best offensive tackles in football.
7:02I don't know if we can just go and look at the Falcons' offensive line and say, that's a much better offensive line.
7:09I mean, they've got Jamar Taylor penciled in to start at right tackle to begin the year, and he was a problem in Kansas City.
7:17He can't help but think he's going to be a problem in Atlanta.
7:21But if we're going to split hairs, this is one of the conversation points you could have with Jameer Gibbs as well.
7:27That offensive line that used to be such a huge strength for Detroit might not be as good.
7:32I kind of want to give them the benefit of the doubt, but I get where people come from by saying, I'm
7:39worried about Gibbs because the line won't be as good as it was.
7:43Yeah, and maybe I said it wrong. It's not that I can't see B.
7:47John Robinson being better than Jameer Gibbs. I absolutely could.
7:50He's B. John Robinson. And I think the path to that is he has 30 more carries and 15 more catches, and just by touches, he's better.
7:58It's that I don't think I can justify drafting him ahead of Jameer Gibbs.
8:02I think if you just look at draft day, resume, and potential, it's like I said yesterday.
8:07Jameer Gibbs has been this good over the last three years, with David Montgomery having the second most goal line carries in the NFL in that span.
8:15I don't think I can justify drafting B. John over Gibbs, but I can certainly see him being better than Gibbs, yeah, if that makes sense.
8:23Okay, and then next question. Does your number one player change in a three-wide receiver league versus a two-wide receiver league, Dave?
8:30Nope, not at all. Your number one player is Gibbs, right?
8:33Gibbs. Yeah. Even with that terrible offensive line. Jamie, does your number one player change in a three-receiver versus two-receiver league?
8:39No. Okay, how about, because we're just talking PPR today, how about half PPR versus full PPR?
8:44No. Absolutely not. Running backs gain value if catches don't count as much.
8:48I might go entirely running back. I don't know about entirely.
8:51I shouldn't have said that, but maybe like, I could just check my rankings, maybe seven, eight picks in the first round
8:58will be running backs in a non-PPR league. I think the only thing that should change, and doesn't change it for me,
9:04but should change your thought process on who should go first or second overall, probably mostly PPR, but would be is if
9:11you are so sold on the players that are available at the 2-3 turn, and you're close between either of the two
9:17running backs and either of the two top receivers in Chase or Puka.
9:21So if you feel like Chase and Puka are close or better than Gibbs and Robinson, you're probably going to like the
9:28running backs that are available at the 2-3 turn more so than the receivers available at the 2-3 turn.
9:34So in your question, Adam, for three receiver leagues, if you want to start with Chase and then maybe hope that you're
9:40getting someone of the group out of Derek Henry, Ken Walker, Jeremiah Love, Kyron Williams, you know, those running backs that are
9:47typically going to be available at the 2-3 turn, then that might be just the strategy you want to use.
9:53Because if you're not comfortable with, let's say, I don't know, Jameer Gibbs and A.J.
9:57Brown, T. Higgins, you know, those type of receivers that are going to be available there, or Nico Collins potentially, like, you
10:04know, that's just something to consider if you're just looking at building out your team.
10:08Who's your top-ranked wide receiver? Chase. So what would be the case for Jamar Chase?
10:12Not factoring in who you can get in rounds two and three, but just make the case for Jamar Chase.
10:18Oh, can I keep the rhyme going? Make the case for Jamar Chase number one overall, Dave.
10:23You should have said make the case for Jamar Chase to be at first base.
10:28It's something. Way to pull that one out of your ace.
10:3111.6 targets per game last year led the NFL.
10:34You know he's going to get right around double-digit targets per game.
10:37Cincinnati's offense is awesome. He's awesome. He scores a bunch of touchdowns.
10:41That's the case for Chase. I mean, we're two years, I guess.
10:45I don't know, the one year. A full season removed from him being the triple crown winner, you know, which hasn't happened very often in NFL history.
10:53And he's still got that potential and that upside.
10:55You know, so we are talking about the guy who could be the best receiver in fantasy, could be the best receiver
11:02in football, depending on how you view it. And, I mean, look, there's a lot of is receiver safer than running back?
11:08I know you'll dispute that, Adam, based on the things that you've looked at over the last five or ten years.
11:15I forget the data point. So it's probably not the best argument.
11:18But, and Chase isn't probably the best one to make it because we know who he's tied to.
11:24He's tied to Joe Burrow. He's got a hard time staying healthy.
11:27Yeah. But I still think if you look at it, like, we know running back can still be volatile.
11:33We still, we've never seen Jameer Gibbs in a full-time role over 17 games.
11:37So, you know, if there is some concern about that, I don't, again, have that.
11:41But there could be some concern over that. Bijan's in another new offense.
11:45And maybe there are some people, like I think it was Mason, in our chat that said Brian Robinson could be a problem.
11:52Chase is just awesome. You know, I mean, Puka's awesome.
11:55You know, so it's easy to say, okay, again, and building it out, I think there's better running backs at the 2-3 turn than there are receivers.
12:03So if you want to just look at it that way, Jamar Chase has just as much upside as Gibbs and Robinson.
12:10He's got clearly a better resume at this point in his career than Gibbs and Robinson.
12:14And if he gets back to that 2024 level of production, you know, you're going to be thrilled by taking him first overall.
12:21Chase, yeah. I mean, that 2024 year was a healthy Joe Burrow year.
12:25And Jamar Chase averaged more than 23 fantasy points per game.
12:28He was amazing. But it is the only year of his career where he's been that good.
12:33Even when Burrow, when Burrow, Higgins, Chase are all on the field together, that's the only time he's been, you know, that good.
12:40That good. That good. He's been good. Top five, top three.
12:43That good for our season. I think you're stretches of 20 right per game or more.
12:48Right. There were six games last year when all three of those guys were healthy and Chase was averaging 20 PPR points per game.
12:55Yeah, but that's but that's not 23. Obviously, you're right.
12:58But it's still no that puts you in the conversation with the elite tier running.
13:03You have to when you sit down and think about who's first overall, the number has to be 20 points per game or better.
13:10I think I have that number in your head.
13:13Much better. No, I mean, I don't know about much, but I would say 22.
13:17Are we talking? Well, again, I'm thinking floor, you know, so the floor has got to be.
13:22It's not like, oh, yeah, I'm getting 18 points per game and I'm going to be happy with that.
13:28Like, you know, OK, if if you're trying to make the case.
13:31When you're listing your pros and cons, like the the number has got to be 20 or above.
13:37For as a floor. Yeah. And the number one player is going to average probably at least 22 points per game.
13:43Right. But like I'm trying to think, OK, if this goes wrong, where does it go wrong and where does it leave me?
13:50And it better leave me at 20 points per game or better.
13:53OK, I like that. If it goes wrong, it leaves you at 20 points per game.
13:58I'm saying like if I'm if I'm making the case of Gibbs versus Bijon, Bijon versus Chase, Chase versus Gibbs, Puka versus all.
14:05Like what needs to happen for them to be for me to justify taking them at first overall.
14:10So, right. If I'm looking at what has to go right, not what has to go wrong.
14:15No, no. What has to go? What what what could go wrong to drop them from 23, 24 points per game, which
14:22is what I'm hoping for by taking them first overall to knocking them down three or four points per game without anything being a complete disaster.
14:30Obviously, it was a complete disaster. Then you just screwed up or something really bad happened.
14:34But what I'm saying is like what what are what are the negatives that are going to drag this guy down enough
14:41that I made the wrong call because Gibbs wasn't as good as Chase or Puka was better than all three of those
14:47guys, you know, like we saw last year. You know, so I think just trying to rationalize it again, going back to
14:54JSN, like I think JSN could have a better year this year than he did last year by a little bit by a fraction of amount.
15:02And so if if I'm putting JSN in that conversation, if he does everything that he did a year ago, plus more
15:08targets, maybe a couple more touchdowns, whatever the case may be, and Chase doesn't live up to the expectation, then I failed.
15:15Why did I fail? Well, Chase or why? Why did my thinking fail?
15:19And I'm and I'm and I'm rationalizing that way.
15:21So, like, if I get Chase at 20 points per game and JSN was better, I'm OK with that because Chase still had an amazing season.
15:29Gotcha. All right. Let's take a break here. And we'll have a couple more questions for you.
15:34And then we'll kind of break down these players, any angles that we haven't discussed on them.
15:39And we'll be right back on Fantasy Football today.
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16:06Got a question from Johnny in the chat. How could JSN get more targets?
16:10He got all of them last year. It's true.
16:12He had about a 35% target share, which is outrageous.
16:15I think it was that. Whatever it was, it was super high.
16:19But they didn't throw much. And Jamie already said he thinks the Seahawks are going to throw more this year.
16:25So I think target share comes down a little bit, probably.
16:28Still amongst the league leaders. But this past attempts would go up.
16:32My next question, Dave, is the top five, which is Gibbs, Bijon, Chase, Puka, JSN.
16:36Is it set in stone? And I don't mean that in the order.
16:40But the five players, do you feel like they're set in stone?
16:44I think those are the five. I don't think you can make the case for – well, you could try and make
16:50the case for Jonathan Taylor to get in there.
16:53He had a monster year last year. But who do you pull out from that group of five in order to do that?
17:00Maybe you think JSN regresses, even if the target share stays the same.
17:04I don't think that's an easy argument to make.
17:06I think the top five is what it is, three receivers, two running backs.
17:10I mean, it's funny that you would go with Jonathan Taylor, and we haven't mentioned the guy who actually was the best
17:17player in fantasy last year, Christian McCaffrey. And then Jamie, which top 12 player makes you nervous?
17:22The guy's name you just said? Christian McCaffrey. McCaffrey, yeah.
17:25Chat, commenters on YouTube after the show, who makes you nervous?
17:28Anyone other than McCaffrey? We're talking at the back end, we have Taylor, McCaffrey, Cook, London, Lamb, Chase Brown.
17:34Chase Brown does make me a little bit nervous as well, but I think anyone who's going to slot in at 12th
17:40is going to be a little nerve-wracking. I think the first nine are probably going to be locked in.
17:4610 through 12 is probably still up for debate.
17:49First nine, Gibbs, Bijon, Chase, Puka, JSN, St. Brown, Taylor, McCaffrey, James Cook.
17:53Yeah, again, not in that order. I would probably say Drake London cracks the top 12, whether he's 10 remains to be seen, but cracks the top 12.
18:01And then it's going to be Lamb, it's going to be Brown, it's going to be probably McBride if you're going to
18:08put one of the tight ends in there. Jefferson will definitely be in the conversation.
18:12I think if there's enough positive reports coming out of Kansas City, you can see Rashi Rice in the top 12.
18:18I don't know if there's anybody else, though. Did you mention A-chan?
18:22A-chan will definitely be in the conversation, yes. Yeah.
18:24All right. Hear me out, guys. I saw that we posted our top 12.
18:29We posted the first three rounds of our last mock draft on Instagram.
18:33And most of the comments were Nico Collins in round one, which was a little too soon.
18:38And Drake London was the other one. Where did he go?
18:41Drake London went nine, I believe. And Nico went 10 or 11.
18:44I know I got James Cook at 12. I don't remember who went in front of him.
18:49Okay. No one said, boy, that A.J. Brown pick was astute.
18:53I did not see an A.J. Brown comment. Okay.
18:55Hear me out on this, though. Two years ago, there were some questions.
18:59Man, we have two Jets going in the first round, Brees Hall and Garrett Wilson.
19:04And they were basically, well, I think Brees Hall, I think they might have had a good year just because he had a lot of catches.
19:11But they were busts. 2024? Three. Yeah. No, four.
19:14You're right. 2024. They had a good year in 23.
19:17And that encouraged us to at least... Well, that was the year Wilson got Aaron Rodgers.
19:22So there was a lot of excitement. And Brees Hall did finish as number two overall, but number six in full PPR per game.
19:29He had 76 catches. He wasn't really that great.
19:32But anyway, there were some concerns. Two Jets in the first round, and they were warranted.
19:362025, we had two Raiders going early. I don't think Bowers was quite in the first round, but he's probably like top 15.
19:43This year, we have two Falcons. And we do have two Bengals as well in our top 12.
19:49But we have two Falcons. Now, that's not ADP.
19:51Right now... Oh, wait. Sorry. I'm looking at 2025 just to see where Bowers went.
19:56Bowers was about 20th overall. But there were some concerns about two Raiders that high.
20:00Let's see. Drake London right now. Yeah. He's actually 17th in ADP.
20:04So our top 12, though, our consensus top 12, not ADP, does have two Falcons in there.
20:09How worried are you about their offense? That is going to come up a lot between now and then, Dave.
20:15I'm not that worried about it. I'd be worried about their defense.
20:18I think their defense could be really bad this year.
20:21And I don't think they're going to win a ton of games.
20:25But I think that Bijan has proven himself. I think we all know what to expect from him.
20:30And I think we know what to expect from Drake London as well.
20:34Should continue to be the top target getter on that team.
20:37I actually like the move to Tua as far as London's targets go because Tua is just now programmed to get the ball out quick.
20:45He's not looking for downfield shots. That's right into where London's targets are usually on the field.
20:50These are going to be short area throws. He's going to be a pretty good PPR player.
20:55And he's worth taking, I said yesterday, between 10th and 15th overall.
20:58Okay. All right. So is there any other team with the Bengals and the Falcons are the two teams that have two?
21:05Oh, and the Lions. Yeah, duh. Two of the top six are Lions, Gibbs and St.
21:10Brown. Okay. Without any further ado, let's break it down.
21:13Gibbs and Bijan are the top two. Break it down.
21:16Yeah. Sorry. Not the break it down I was going for.
21:19Nothing. What were you going for? DX, man. I don't know what that is.
21:23I got two words for you. Let's go. All right.
21:26I'm going to put something in the notes. You don't know what DX is?
21:30Degeneration X? Oh, no, no. Sure. Now I know.
21:33Okay. I'm going to put a music thing on my Word document here because I want to talk to you about a
21:40music thing later that absolutely blew my mind. Blew my mind yesterday, Dave Richard.
21:44Oh, my God. Anyway, is there anything else you want to say, Jamie, about Gibbs and Bijan Robinson at the top?
21:50How do you not know DX? DX? I don't think so.
21:53I mean, we've probably covered it enough. You know, Gibbs, what he did the end of 2024 when Montgomery was out over 30 PPR points per game.
22:01Like, that's what you're hoping for. I mean, obviously, if you take him in this range.
22:06And I do think Bijan will benefit as a rusher, you know, with just Kevin Stefanski as the coach.
22:12So, you know, we've seen him coach some pretty good running backs, Nick Chubb, for example.
22:16And Bijan has, you know, got an opportunity to be just so dynamic across the board.
22:21So it's going to be fun to see how these two guys go.
22:25And I think we're actually still probably in the minority that Bijan is going to go first ahead of Gibbs.
22:31You think so? Yep. Interesting. ADP right now has them tied.
22:34Well, I mean, we just did a draft last week with Sam, you know, one of our new producers who took Bijan first overall.
22:41What? Sam, what are you doing? That's cool. All right.
22:44Then let's talk about the next three, the wide receivers, Chase, Puka, and JSN.
22:48Dave, what would you like to say about Chase, Puka, and JSN?
22:52I'll start with this, actually. Puka was about four points better than Chase last year.
22:57He was. So why would he not be not just the number one wide receiver, but the number one overall player?
23:03Puka had nine receiving touchdowns his first two years in the NFL.
23:06He had 10 last year. That's the difference between a guy that would average around 20 PPR points per game and then exceed it.
23:13So when Jamie was talking earlier about what could go wrong for a guy to fall to 20 PPR points instead of
23:20being around 22, 23, 24, that was the first player that came into my mind.
23:24Because if Nakua doesn't get a ton of touchdowns, if Stafford doesn't have the MVP type year, then we're talking about Puka,
23:31oh, boo-hoo-hoo, he's still going to get 10, 11 targets per game, still get 150 some odd yards per game, but he's
23:38not going to get the type of touchdown volume that we saw him get last year.
23:42That's the type of thing that could make him, oh, just a good top five pick and not the guy that wins
23:49leagues, crushes, dominates 24 points per game, that type of thing.
23:52But all three of these wide receivers are touchdown getters, double-digit target getters, focal points of offenses.
23:57And in the case of the Rams and the Bengals, offenses that we feel really good about in terms of just overall,
24:04you know, 30,000 foot view of where they're at.
24:06And the Seahawks are a little bit different. Sam Donald's the quarterback.
24:10I think he does deserve the benefit of the doubt, but it's still just a little bit of a concern that Seattle
24:16does take a step back offensively overall. And that's why maybe you don't consider JSN.
24:21You consider him on the same tier as Puka and Chase, but not necessarily ahead of Puka and Chase.
24:27One thing that Puka had going for him last year, 10 carries, 105 yards and a touchdown rushing.
24:32Yeah, that's nice. I think he usually does get you a decent amount.
24:36CeeDee Lamb was kind of the same way. I can't remember.
24:39I always forget. He had a Puka had a rushing touchdown in 2024, just not quite as many yards.
24:45I think he had like, I think the difference is one long run that he had in 2025 compared to 24.
24:51Well, in 2024, he only played 11 games. He wasn't even healthy for all 11 games, but he's going to get you
24:58maybe, maybe about a hundred rushing yards. You know, if he plays a full season based on precedent.
25:03Jamie, your thoughts on, on these three receivers? On Puka and Chase or Puka and Jason?
25:08Well, all three. Oh, I, again, I think we made the argument for Chase, you know, just if he gets a healthy
25:14Joe Burrow can easily be in the mix to be a triple crown winner again, you know, 17 total touchdowns, 1700 yards.
25:21Two years ago, he's got that upside and we've seen it again in pockets.
25:25I think the case for, for Puka is I do like the fact that they did not give him a contract extension yet.
25:32So he's still playing for that motivation. Um, I am curious to see if, you know, they were in the AJ Brown mix.
25:39They seemingly were in the Makai Lemon mix, um, on draft night.
25:42Do they still go out and add another receiver?
25:45I don't think that takes Puka out of the conversation of being a top five overall pick, but it probably could hurt
25:51him a little bit if there's somebody else added to the mix.
25:55Uh, it seems as if, you know, I, I guess I've probably been, you know, based on some of the YouTube comments
26:01saying too much about Puka's off field stuff this off season.
26:05Um, seemingly everything's fine, which is great, you know, so that's, that's positive.
26:09So we don't really bring that up anymore. Uh, but let me look, Puka's awesome.
26:13You know, his track record since coming into the league, he continues to get better.
26:17Last year was a career high season for him.
26:20And again, I think if the motivation is still there from a contract perspective, that helps him to get to a, you
26:27know, another level when we were somewhat concerned about maybe Devante Adams taking too much away.
26:31And if Devante Adams touchdowns come back a little bit, maybe Puka stay at the same level.
26:37Uh, while Matthew Stafford has another big season, there's lots of love about that scenario as well.
26:42The one concern could be is that the Rams defense could be really, really dominant, you know, with the additions that they
26:48made of, um, you know, miles Garrett and Aaron Donald.
26:51Well, Aaron Donald still, uh, I was, uh, Trent McDuffie was the name I was searching for.
26:56Um, but, um, you know, having, you know, better secondary and obviously a much better pass rush.
27:01Does that take a few more pass attempts off the plate of Matthew Stafford and hurts the production a little bit of Puka in the case of JSN?
27:10I think just looking at it, like I said, um, we don't know what this run game is going to look like.
27:16And there is a change in coordinator, you know, which could be a problem, but my guess is you're still going to feed JSN.
27:23The, the, the fact that they didn't really do anything to their receiving core, you know, you've heard a lot of positive
27:30reports about Rashid Shaheed, which is nice. And I do think getting Torrey Horton back at a hundred percent will help.
27:36Uh, but you have a 33 year old Cooper cup who did play very well in the playoffs.
27:41You know, we shouldn't take that away that he's did step up and have his best stretch of games for Seattle toward the end of the year.
27:49Uh, but I think we look at this offense and you see, he's clearly the best player.
27:54He was the best player last year, even as well as, um, Ken Walker played in the post season in the Superbowl
28:01and was deserving of a Superbowl MVP. Uh, JSN is going to be how this Seattle offense works.
28:06It's where the offense is going to flow through, uh, Jadarian price has to do a lot.
28:11George Alani has to do a lot. Emmanuel Wilson has to do a lot.
28:16Like they really lost so much of what their offensive engine was with Walker leaving and Charbonnet getting injured.
28:21Like, can they rely on their run game to the same level?
28:25My guess is no. And so I think we see, you know, um, maybe 11 to 12 targets per game for JSN.
28:31It's not out of the realm of possibility. Wow.
28:34So he could just be an absolute superstar. And again, I'm not taking him first overall.
28:39I don't have a problem if somebody does though, if they believe that he's going to take even a step in another direction in the positive next year.
28:47Okay. Uh, quick point of clarification. Just, I know we're talking about the Seahawks run game.
28:52It's definitely going to be different. They don't have Kenneth Walker there anymore, but they were 25th in yards per carry.
28:58This is just overall at 4.1 yards per carry.
29:01And that was while they were third in the league at running the ball, 29.8 total rushes per game.
29:06That's the number that I think gets impacted the most.
29:09Right. But I, and, and so let's just follow up on your point.
29:13Then if that number goes down and their efficiency gets worse, then obviously it makes sense that they throw a little bit
29:20more in JSN would be one of many who would benefit.
29:23Uh, one thing about Puka. So I'm chase over Puka.
29:26If you told me they were going to get the same amount of, and so you guys are too.
29:32Uh, if you told me they were going to get the same amount of targets, all three of them, I would take Puka Nakua.
29:39He is, um, the, you know, arguably the best, most efficient receiver in the NFL.
29:43Uh, he's, he's unbelievable. Doesn't score as many touchdowns typically.
29:46And it's worth pointing out that he played three games without Devante Adams in those three games.
29:51He had two end zone targets in the first fifth, 14 games of the year.
29:56He had four end zone targets in those three games without Adams.
29:59He had six red zone targets in the first 14 games.
30:03He had 10 red zone targets. So Adams really did affect, you know, Puka's targets near and in the end zone.
30:09The same story with green zone targets. So that's why I'm chase over Puka because of that concern that you said, Jamie,
30:15of, um, of the, of the defense being so good that the past volume goes down.
30:20They've only had one top 10 defense in the Matthew Stafford era.
30:24They've, they, I don't think they've ever had a top five defense maybe once.
30:28Um, so this could certainly be the best defense that they've ever had in the Stafford era.
30:33And they like to run the ball, but they, they run a lot of plays.
30:37So, you know, it should be fine. But I think, uh, that's kind of, I, I, the target volume scares me a
30:44little bit with Puka and it does not with Jamar chase.
30:47And then with JSN, I talked about it yesterday.
30:50Just, I love the guy. He's amazing, but I just kind of feel like Seattle had a dream season last year and everything went right.
30:57And they lost their head coach and their O-line mostly stayed healthy and they ran the ball really well, which made him unbelievably good on play action.
31:05Like I mentioned yesterday, like five and a half yards per out run on play action.
31:10Um, just kind of feel like it was this magical season and things won't go quite as well.
31:15Yeah, I get that. They lost their offensive coordinator, not their head coach, but, but, but for their sake of their offense,
31:22I think that that matters a lot. And we talked about this on Monday.
31:26Jamie touched on it a minute ago that Brian Flory taking over, uh, adopting the Kubiak playbook, which is the same type
31:33of system that he's been brought up in under Kyle Shanahan might not be the best thing overall, but at bare minimum, he should know.
31:40All right. When in doubt scheme away for JSN to get open, call one of a hundred plays you've got that gets
31:47him open and let JSN do the rest. All right, let's go to a break here and talk about the guys that
31:53are worth debating more six through 12 in the consensus rankings.
31:56We'll be right back. I'm on Ross St. Brown.
31:59Yeah. Is he almost in a tier of his own, Dave?
32:02I suppose so. If not, you know, just fudging him into the top tier, but at the bottom of the top tier,
32:09just so consistent, so good with the targets he gets used in the red zone, finds a way to get 18 plus PPR points per game.
32:17What is it? Each of the last three years, four years that he, he, he is definitely separated from the London's lambs, Jeddas, Nikos of the world.
32:25I don't think he can fall that far down.
32:27And so either he's in his own tier or he's at the bottom of the elite tier.
32:32And the fact that we're so comfortable taking him as a top six or seven player, and I'm not trying to be cute.
32:39Then that just to me tells me that he's in that elite tier of wide receivers, just not at the top of the tier.
32:46And I think what's amazing about Sam Brown and what he did last year is wide receiver four per game.
32:52He played four snaps in week 13. It's easy to forget about that.
32:56If you take that game away, you're talking about a 183 target pace, 124 catches, 1489 yards, 12 touchdowns.
33:02I mean, crazy good numbers. That game crushed me in fantasy.
33:05Was that Thanksgiving? I needed him that game. Uh, week 13, I believe was maybe the week after.
33:10I don't know, but. Um, do you know what his average is without that game?
33:15If you A's are statted out, man, how many points did he score?
33:19I think he played five scored zero. So let's, uh, let's give it a proxy.
33:23Give me 30 seconds. I'll tell you what 20, 20 point.
33:27Let's just say 20 basically average 20 points per game without that game.
33:30Um, downside I would say is, uh, two years ago, Sam Laporta and Jamison Williams stayed healthy and targets were way down for him.
33:38Um, Jamie, do you see any downside for, uh, Amon Ross St.
33:41Brown? Minimal. I mean, I, I, to me, he's the easiest player to take at six overall, you know?
33:47So once you get past the first five, it's like, you know, you don't, you feel like you're missing out on a player.
33:54Cause I do think, yes, you're at, you're right at him.
33:57He kind of belongs in a tier of his own.
34:00Um, but like he, I said this last year, I'll say it again.
34:04He's, he's the safest player in the first round of all these guys.
34:08You know, just, you kind of know what you're getting.
34:11You're going to get a guy who's going to get a lot of targets.
34:15You're going to get a guy who's going to be featured in his office.
34:19You're going to get a guy that's, you know, got a chance to score 10 plus touchdowns that got a hundred plus
34:25catches and, you know, hopefully 13 to 1400 yards, you know?
34:29So, I mean, there's just exactly what you're hoping for if you believe in, you don't lose your league.
34:34Uh, if your first round pick sucks, you know, he's, he's not going to lose your league.
34:39Now he doesn't have, in my opinion, the same upside, at least for this year as chase or Nakua or JSN, um, and not the two running backs.
34:48But I mean, if I'm sitting in the middle and somebody decides to go McCaffrey or Taylor, you know, another running back
34:54ahead of JS of, of, uh, St. Brown, like, thank you.
34:57I'll take him at seven, eight, nine. If he falls, same just based on us.
35:02Sorry. Good. Good. I was just going to say, you were right.
35:06I'm taking out that week 13 game, 20.3 PPR points per game, 12.9 non PPR points per game.
35:11So if he had played well in that game, obviously his number would be even better than that over the course of the season.
35:18He was, he was as good as chase last year and half PPR and better in non PPR.
35:23He absolutely belongs in this first tier. I shouldn't have even hesitated a little bit.
35:28Yeah. I think just one difference with him is his yards.
35:31I'm on Ross St. Brown's yards per catch have, have never been good.
35:35I would have been call it below average. It doesn't really matter, but it's hard to see him having, you know, like an 1800 yard season.
35:43And sometimes you get those and those guys when you, your league, uh, St.
35:47Brown, I would guess best case scenario would probably be like a 1500 yard season, low 1500s.
35:52It's really, again, like someone said it, we're splitting hairs when you're talking about someone said it in the chat.
35:58When you're talking about these guys, you have to split hairs.
36:01They're all great. So the next three players are running backs, Jonathan Taylor, Christian McCaffrey, James cook, Jamie, do they, do they have more upside?
36:09Obviously the answer is yes for McCaffrey, but in general, Taylor McCaffrey and cook, do they have more upside than I'm on Ross St.
36:16Brown in a full PPR league? Only McCaffrey. I think you look at Taylor and cook, you kind of know what you're getting.
36:23They're really good. They could both lead the league in rushing yards.
36:26They could both lead the league in rushing touchdowns.
36:29They're obviously limited in their reception totals. And I think that's what keeps them down in PPR.
36:34So, you know, hopefully Taylor will take a little bit of a jump because of the lack of receiving talent that they
36:40have in Indianapolis after moving on from Michael Pittman and not really replacing him with anybody of significance.
36:46So you're asking a lot of Alec Pierce, a lot of Josh Downs, a lot of Tyler Warren.
36:51So hopefully Taylor can maybe get close to that 50 catch mark.
36:55I don't know if that'll be the case with cook, even with the coaching change because it's still the same play caller.
37:01So, you know, Joe Brady's not going to necessarily, I think make cook a dominant pass catcher.
37:06I think it'll help a little bit, but I mean, look, those guys are, are, are very, again, kind of exactly what I said about St.
37:14Brown. Like, you know what you're getting, they're safe.
37:17They're, they're, they're awesome. You know, I don't, I don't want to use the word safe as like something that's a negative
37:23because it's not, but like they're, they're obviously the, the type of running backs that you, you know, hope for.
37:29And I would say if, if there were no concerns about Derrick Henry and, and is this the year that he falls off?
37:36Like he belongs in this conversation too, just because you know what you're getting from him as well.
37:41Very similar profiles, rushing yards, leader, touchdown leader. Like he can still do that as well.
37:46Um, in the case of McCaffrey, look, you know, if we could look into the future and say, he played X amount
37:53of games that would tell you where he should be drafted.
37:56It's really nothing about what his role in the offense is, what his skillset is, anything he's capable of doing.
38:02Like we know all those things it's, it's tried and true.
38:05And he's amazing. It's the fact that he, he might be 30 already.
38:09I know his birthday was in June. He'll be 30.
38:12Yeah. He is 30 June 7th. No, I don't know if he turned 30 already or not, but you know, he's, he's 30 this season.
38:19He's coming off a year with 450 total touches.
38:22We went through this in 2023 going into 2024.
38:25It was 400 some odd touches. He was two years younger and he played four games the next season, you know, so
38:31go back to the conversation we had with Scott Turner.
38:34Who was obviously very pro Christian McCaffrey understand, you know, the, the context and the source.
38:39Um, but McCaffrey is if healthy, we are making a mistake, putting him in eighth overall.
38:44Yeah. Yeah. I've, I basically did similar type of research with McCaffrey that I did with Barkley last year.
38:49Jamie was first to it with Barkley last year, but we came to the same conclusion that when you've got so much
38:56work under your belt from one season, it's really hard to represent it.
39:00There's a story that'll come out on CBS sports.
39:02I invite everyone who does not have a top five pick or who's just in love with the idea of drafting Christian
39:09McCaffrey to read it because you need to know what the downside is.
39:13But in a nutshell, it's simply will he, or won't he play a lot of games and it's not just 2023, 2019.
39:19He had a lot of work and then he was hurt for 2020 and 2021.
39:24So I, I, I do get a little bit worried about him, but even if there's a drop off in terms of
39:30his, his PPR average, it's still first round worthy.
39:33He might not get 24 points per game. That's what he had last year.
39:37But if even a 20% drop is still 19 PPR points per game.
39:41If you're getting that in the back half of round one, it's, it's a huge win.
39:46And if you manage to stay healthy and play just as good as he did last year, you're probably going to make
39:52the playoffs and, and have a great shot to win your league when you're drafting them amongst other players that have a
39:59profile of maybe 17 PPR points per game, which is James cook and chase Brown and maybe Drake London and maybe CD lamb and maybe Justin Jefferson.
40:07So it's, you've got a lot to weigh with Christian McCaffrey, but if you're averse to older players who do have a
40:14track record of falling off the year after a lot of work, you're probably going to be squeamish about drafting CMC.
40:20I think the thing that you got to weigh is how much will he, how many games could he potentially miss?
40:26Because if you get a four game season out of them, it was a complete disaster.
40:31Right. If you get a 10 game season out of him, which you don't typically see from him because usually when he
40:37misses time, he misses a lot of time. But if you get a 10 game season out of him and he's still
40:44north of 20 PPR points, that's a win. If you get a 13 game season out of him, it's a huge one.
40:50That might be a league winner. Wait a second.
40:5310 games. Unless it's, yeah, 10 games will help set you up.
40:5710 games or 20 plus PPR points in that, in the range where he's going, I think you, you, you take it.
41:03Oh, I don't know. Yeah. But if it's the first 10 games of the year and then he's out after that.
41:09Yeah. Again, I agree. It's over. It's putting it in context.
41:13You know, it could be three games, miss three, four games, miss three.
41:17You know, like it could be awful for you.
41:19It could be the latter 10 games of the season.
41:22Then you're rolling into the playoffs with superstar. It could be the first 10 games of the season.
41:28He's got you off to a great start. The, the, the, the, the second part of this, which is hard to, you
41:34know, define right now is who's the backup. Right.
41:37Because we now have questions because Kalen black had a very good mini camp by all accounts.
41:42And is it just the, the, the 49ers PR system?
41:45Hey, this is why we took this guy. He's going to be the, the, the, the de facto number two, or maybe
41:51the guy that we use a lot to spell McCaffrey, or is it going to be, you know, Jamar James, who is not Jamar James.
41:59Jordan James. Um, is, is he going to be the one that is the, the guy who, who we use if McCaffrey
42:05misses any time because, or even worse, both of them or, and, and throwing Garendo when he's healthy coming off the pectoral injury, you know?
42:13So we have, we have a lot of things that play here.
42:16And I think the difference is like you take Jameer Gibbs and you want to handcuff him.
42:21You know who that guy is. You take B.
42:24John Robinson. You want to handcuff him. You know who that guy is for McCaffrey.
42:28If you know who that guy is and you know what that system produces, you can justify it a little bit easier
42:35because you know what you're going to get as a replacement.
42:38If McCaffrey does miss any time, you know? So what we saw in 2024, once it eventually settled on Isaac Garendo, like
42:45he was getting you at times 15 PPR points per game.
42:48Is that Chris McCaffrey? Is that first round worthy?
42:51No. And Mason too, right? I mean, even Jordan Mason was at the start of it and then Garendo was at the end of it.
42:58So Mason, they weirdly this, they'd never threw him the ball, but he was a bell cow.
43:03I mean, he was pretty much at the start of it.
43:07And they'd never gone with, I don't feel like they've ever gone with two guys.
43:11That's just not Shanahan's thing. No, I don't think it's going to be two guys.
43:15I think they'll, they'll go with whoever they feel is the best.
43:19I would still lean toward James right now, but if again, they drafted Kalen black to, to be that, I think even Scott Turner touched on it.
43:27You know, that, that black is somebody that they, you know, feel comfortable with using.
43:32So I think that sort of ties into, you know, if you're drafting McCaffrey, um, just knowing what you're, what you have to deal with here.
43:39I listen, I hope he stays healthy and we just get a little bit of a decline as opposed to any injury concerns.
43:46Yeah. And actually that's a funny thing. It's like, he only averaged, uh, what was his yards per carry last year?
43:523.9 yards per carry last year. I, I usually think he'll probably be better now.
43:57He only averaged four yards per carry on 50 carries the year before, but I don't know that he's going to score
44:03more fantasy points per game, but I have a feeling McCaffrey's going to improve his yards per carry.
44:09If he doesn't, then we might be in some trouble here.
44:12Well, you also had Trent Williams dealing with a bunch of injuries last year.
44:16He's such a huge part of what their whole scheme is, let alone what he does for the offensive line.
44:22The thing about, you know, to Dave's point about, you know, comparing him to Barkley and, and what the fall off could
44:29be, this is where McCaffrey gets tricky because he could still get a lot of touches as a pass catcher.
44:35And so the difference is like, usually you see the wear and tear come from how much they, how much work they
44:41get in the run game, like McCaffrey getting over a hundred catches.
44:45Like that's something that matters a lot here. There's been eight running backs.
44:49This is a little teaser for the story. Eight running backs in the 400 plus touch category over the last 15 years
44:55who had 350 or fewer carries as part of their 400 touch campaign.
44:59It's exactly what McCaffrey came off of, of those eight, four stayed healthy, really not worse.
45:04The second season, they were good to go. That's half the other half.
45:08One sat out the full year. That's Le'Veon. One was Ray Rice, who was coming off of back-to-back huge workload seasons.
45:14He fell off. The other two instances were both Christian McCaffrey hurt in 2020, hurt in 2024.
45:19I know, but that's, that's his, his, his history is what scares me the most.
45:23Like you could tell me about all these other running backs that have fallen off, but it's, it's like, we've seen it
45:30twice now from him where he's gotten hurt after it.
45:33It's like, are we, are we really just going to say, oh, he's McCaffrey's too good because that's what we said about.
45:39That's not what we said. That's what other people said about Saquon last year and Saquon declined by 35% and wasn't worth the first round pick.
45:47But he stayed healthy. And the whole offense, I don't even know what to make of the Barkley thing.
45:53Like, was he bad because of that workload or the whole offense really stunk last year and their offensive line was super beat up the Eagles.
46:00So I, you know, I can, and now you're making excuses.
46:04He just, he, he wasn't as good of a fantasy player.
46:07You're right, Dave, but I think I think. Multiple reasons.
46:10And I think the workload was certainly part of it.
46:13All right. Well, that's the thing. I don't know if it was.
46:17I remember asking a player. I mean, I feel like I remember who it was, but I don't want to say just in case I'm wrong.
46:24It was like 10 years ago, this very subject.
46:27It was a guy who had a lot of work.
46:30And I asked him, like, does that carry over into the next year?
46:34And he just said, no. And we're really dealing with small sample sizes here.
46:38Because I can tell you, Derek Henry, Derek Henry in 2019 had 386 carries.
46:42And the next year, he had 378 carries in 16 games.
46:45And he was even better. He had a 2,000.
46:48He was awesome. He was one of the ones who was great.
46:52Ezekiel Elliott had 350 carries in 2018. 2019, he'd played 16 games, 301 carries.
46:56He was RB5 per game. The guy who brings this all down is McCaffrey.
47:00So it's like, I don't know what to make of that.
47:03It could have just been a fluke with him.
47:06He, I don't know. Again, it's small sample size stuff.
47:09And yes, he's, I'm sorry. He's probably going to do worse than he did last year.
47:14And all those guys are probably set up to do worse because they're coming off amazing years.
47:19The standard's so high. Correct. There's a lot that factors into it.
47:22And I don't want to say it's a small sample size, Adam, because there's a lot of history of running backs when
47:29they turn 30 and what that's been throughout the course of NFL history.
47:33It's not 100%, obviously. Yeah, I was just talking about the workload thing, but you're right.
47:37No, no, but it's also the workload. You know, for me last year, it wasn't so much just the workload.
47:43It was the historical data for Barkley. At least it was a historical data of 2000 yard rushers and just what they, the decline had been.
47:51And that's a very small sample size. But Barkley fell into that same scenario as well.
47:56You know, just, you know, losing 500 yards per game or 500 yards per season.
48:00It on, on average, like there were guys that lost over 800 yards and it was a lot of different factors.
48:07It was their health. That was their team health.
48:09It's just a lot that goes into it. And I think you said it best.
48:14It's not always just on them. It's what the offense and the situations around them.
48:18Now, I think in the case of San Francisco, you like what's around them better.
48:23Brock Purdy missed the majority of the season last year or a good portion of the season last year.
48:28The receiving core was absolutely decimated. You know, George Kittle missed the first four games of the season.
48:34We know what he means just as a blocker.
48:36Forget about what he means as a pass catcher.
48:39Trent Williams was banged up. So I think the scenario around McCaffrey is actually better.
48:43If you just look at the totality of what the 49ers have at their disposal, but then you got to factor in 30 years old, 450 touches.
48:51Can he hold up? You know, it's, it's, it's really tough.
48:55Again, whatever number you want to associate to how many games he plays, if he plays to me north of, of 13
49:01games, he's going to make us look silly for taking him in this spot.
49:05Okay. And if the 49ers offense is better and healthier and it stays that way, then it would stand to reason that
49:12McCaffrey comes down from the 7.6 targets per game.
49:15He had last year. They didn't have anybody else to lean on at times.
49:19I mean, he, he had the high by 1.7, almost two targets per game last year in San Francisco.
49:24I don't know. Everybody else is healthy. Maybe that means that they don't use McCaffrey as much.
49:29He, he, to me after 2024, I mean, I have him in my longest running dynasty league.
49:35So I watch a lot of McCaffrey for, for work, but obviously for, you know, my own personal, you know, scenarios as well.
49:41I think just in the case of he's the one player, the entirety, the entire season last year, after what we saw
49:48in 2024, it was like, just make it through the game.
49:51Just make it through the game. Just make it through the game.
49:55Like it's very stressful. Yeah. More of that this year.
49:58Yeah. Or not. It reminds me of Dalvin cook.
50:00Dalvin cook would always come out like, Oh, he's Dalvin cooks on the sideline.
50:05And then he'd come back in or, but you never got that from McCaffrey last year.
50:09It was just like that 2020. Like I can remember getting just so excited when he came back and then the four
50:16games and it was like, Oh man. Here's a great question.
50:19What is the farthest you would let CMC fall before automatically pulling the trigger?
50:23So I think you took him in the draft last week, right?
50:27Me? I don't remember. Honestly, I already stole the draft with AJ Brown in the second round.
50:32So I hope I didn't steal them. Let me, let me check.
50:35But that would have been eighth. I think, I think anytime you're looking at a player and you go, that guy would
50:42be lucky to have 18 PPR points per game.
50:45You slide McCaffrey ahead of them. And we don't have a lot of those guys in fantasy this year.
50:50And that's why he's ninth for me. He's making this bear case for him and why I'm saying that I'm nervous about him.
50:57And yet I would still take him as a top 10 player.
51:01So unless you're just like, Nope, don't want to take the chance.
51:04I'm out. Nope. He's too injury prone and he's too old.
51:08Like, unless you, unless you feel specifically that way, you're taking him in round one.
51:12Uh, just to that point, Dave, like I was very much out on sake one Barkley last year because of everything that I saw.
51:19I don't feel the same about McCaffrey, not quite the same or just not the same whatsoever.
51:24I don't feel the same. Like I'm not completely out on McCaffrey.
51:28Like I was out on Barkley last year. Interesting.
51:30Where did you have Barkley last year? If you're, I think I had him 11th or 12th.
51:36So why, what's the difference? The difference was that the, the data that I saw and the fact that McCaffrey to me
51:42can still get by with his receiving totals. If in fact, his rushing numbers continue to crater.
51:47Yeah. Yeah. Okay. Well, there is still some bad data.
51:50No, it's definitely concerning. Yeah. I don't know. It's right there with sake one.
51:54Well, uh, McCaffrey, I took eighth. I could have taken James cook ahead of him.
51:59I'm guessing that's the one guy Dave has ahead of McCaffrey.
52:02I do. Yep. Uh, it's amazing that cook and Taylor had almost the same year last year.
52:07If you take out week 18 for cook, where he played two snaps.
52:11If you look at that, I mean, they were on pace for basically the same amount of carries within three carries of each other within 52.
52:19Total yards. Uh, Taylor, 20 touchdowns. Cook was on pace for 15 touchdowns and Taylor on pace for, or Taylor had 46
52:25catches cook on pace for 35 catches. But we never thought of James cook that way.
52:30And now he's a guy who, who again, remove week 18.
52:33He was on pace for 326 carries last year.
52:36And honestly, he had 345 total carries. If you include the playoffs playoffs.
52:40Yeah. I more than any other running back last year.
52:43And yes, he splits carries at the goal line with Josh Allen, but the bills, uh, a lot, who are we talking about?
52:50Like, I guess I mean, the lions are the, Oh, we're talking about the Rams doing it.
52:55The bills now year after year after year, they get to the inside the five yard line all the time.
53:01They run the ball all the time there. And even though James cook splits pretty much evenly the last two seasons with
53:07Allen near the goal line, he's still getting 11, 12, uh, goal line carries, which is, which I consider inside the three yard line, which is really good.
53:15All right. So we're running out of time here.
53:18Let's talk about the last three guys on the list.
53:21They're all wide receivers to round. Oh no, I'm sorry.
53:24We have chase Brown as well. So we have two wide receivers, Drake London, CD lamb and chase Brown.
53:30I guess it's a little strange to see chase Brown here.
53:33Jamie, um, you could argue he has, I love, I love him.
53:37I think when he's, when burrows healthy, the numbers stand speak for themselves, but he hasn't really done it over a full season necessarily.
53:44And then I see it in the chat today.
53:46I see it all the time. People doubt Drake London.
53:49They're like, he's never finished that high this and that last first.
53:53I said it yesterday a hundred times, but first nine games of the year before his injury was the number three wide
53:59receiver in fantasy, but people doubt Drake London. Then you have CD lamb in there as well.
54:04So give me your take on London lamb and Brown.
54:07I mean, London last year was awesome. The end of 2024, when Penix first took over, he was awesome without Mooney there when he was injured.
54:15You know, I know there's been a lot of buzz about Zachariah branch.
54:19Good luck. If that's who you're expecting to be the guy that ruins Drake London, um, Kyle pits, I think is going
54:26to have a very solid season because the fancy is the coach.
54:29But again, we know Kyle pits track record, like Drake London is going to get fed targets.
54:34I agree with what Dave said at the start of the show, just in regards to a tongue of Iloa.
54:40I think that would be a benefit for London just overall.
54:43And we've seen to a support, you know, two wide receivers at a very high level one and an elite level.
54:50I don't want to compare Drake London to Tyree kill because there are no way, shape or form in the same realm of conversation as football players.
54:58But again, just from a number standpoint, you know, he's proven that he can have a receiver, have a dominant campaign.
55:04And so I think Drake London's in a good spot.
55:07I think it's interesting to compare him to CD lamb and Justin Jefferson, who I actually put in the top 12 over chase Brown.
55:14Um, but in the case of lamb and Jefferson, their resumes are obviously better than Jake London's, but you see where the
55:21pitfalls can come from with lamb having to share the field.
55:24Now with George Pickens, we saw that last year and then obviously Justin Jefferson with what is still potentially inconsistent quarterback play
55:30and a lot of other mouths to feed in this offense.
55:34Now that they added Jawan Jennings to, you know, have Jordan Addison and TJ Hawkins is still there.
55:39So I think London's a little bit of a better spot.
55:42I think he has an opportunity to build off what we saw some of the highs last year.
55:48I hope he stays healthy. Uh, I think that we're going to see a lot of shootouts for the Falcons because I
55:54do think their offense will be good, which is why it's worth taking, you know, two guys on their offense in the first round.
56:01B John's obvious. I think London should be obvious as well.
56:05So, you know, once you get past those first four wide receivers, uh, I'm counting right, right.
56:10One, two, three, four. Uh, he belongs in that, you know, end of he's, he's in a definite, you know, new tier.
56:16Um, and you know, ahead of, for me, uh, lamb, Jefferson, you know, Nico, any other about any, you know, George Pickens,
56:23any other guys you want to put in there.
56:25The only one I think that you can make an argument for potentially being better than London.
56:30Again, if there were no issues, no health concerns is Rashi rice.
56:34Cause rice, what he's done, uh, when he's been healthy, when he's been on the field, I think gives you a little bit more reason for optimism.
56:42Plus you trust his quarterback and probably his coach, uh, better than Drake London.
56:46So, uh, rice would be there for me if he was, uh, you know, no concerns.
56:51Okay. London. I guess, I guess I could just play devil's advocate best year of London's career was 16.8 PPR fantasy points per game.
56:58That's what he averaged last year. The year before that 16.5, he needs to do better than that to justify the 10th overall pick.
57:05Nico Collins and AJ Brown are two guys who have been better than that.
57:09Um, so is there really no justification to take them over Drake London, Nico and AJ Brown?
57:14You can certainly justify it. I mean, again, Nico's had some huge pockets of seasons.
57:19He's got health concerns. Um, I don't know. Two of his last three, uh, two of his last three seasons.
57:25He's averaged at least 17 PPR points per game.
57:28Nico. Yeah. I think in the case of Nico, you know, um, there, this is where this starts to get muddy, you know?
57:34So London lamb, Jefferson, Nico, AJ Brown, um, pickings, you know, again, if you want to believe what he did last year,
57:41um, there's, there's reasons to sort of dissect all of this.
57:44And so, you know, is there a right answer in terms of who should be, you know, 10th overall for just considering the top nine locked in?
57:52I don't know. I mean, look at what Trey McBride did.
57:55He was four points per game better than the second tight end last season.
58:00He was a hundred points better than the number two player at his position overall.
58:04Does anybody think it's going to happen again? I don't think so.
58:08Um, you know, he, he probably belongs in this range of, of players.
58:12You know, we don't have Devon H and here because we're concerned about the dolphins offense and what that's going to look like.
58:18And maybe his role in the passing game as well as Malik Willis.
58:22I mean, my God, he was as dominant as any running back that we've already discussed.
58:27So I think once you get past nine, it's who do you like and what you consider to be either safe or safe plus upside.
58:34And I think London can be better than the 16.8 per game points per game that he had.
58:40I think he could be in that 18 point per game range, if not higher.
58:44So for me, that's why he's in that 10 spot.
58:47Chase Brown's interesting. You know, the first seven games of the year, he was pretty bad.
58:52Now, Drake, uh, Joe Burrow barely played there, but he averaged 3.6 yards per carry.
58:56He had 22 catches in seven games and was only on pace for 206 carries.
59:01Chase Brown was quite frankly, one of the biggest busts in fantasy.
59:04And then the last 10 games of the year, he averaged 4.8 yards per carry, which is definitely out of the norm for him.
59:12Um, he hasn't been the most efficient guy in his career.
59:15Last 10 games of the year, Chase Brown averaged 21.6 fantasy points per game.
59:19Only six of those games, I believe were with Joe Burrow.
59:22Um, and then he even had a game before that stretch week seven.
59:26He only scored 12 PPR fantasy points, but he ran 11 times for 108 yards against the Steelers.
59:32And just really season kind of took off from there.
59:34So yeah, some AJ P Ryan had an injury that took him either.
59:38He barely played or was out. That happened in week nine, but he actually started to take off in week eight.
59:45And then once, once he P Ryan was out, we saw Chase Brown get 75% or more of the snaps in those three games.
59:52And it's almost like he reminded the coaching staff.
59:54Yeah, this is what I can do. Now play me.
59:57And he, he didn't necessarily play 75% of the snaps even when P Ryan came back, but boy, his numbers were great.
60:04You just said what they were. I, I think you're hoping that that continues and that the, the Bengals coaching staff just
60:10says, all right, let's, let's feed this kid the ball.
60:13He's very good with it. He can be the engine for our offense and make our rushing threat.
60:19Good because defenses have to play safeties back against Cincinnati when Higgins and chase are on the field.
60:24They cannot play those guys one-on-one and expect them to win with Burrow under center.
60:29So I, I love chase Brown. I think he does have a lot of upside and it's, to me, it's a close call between him and Christian McCaffrey.
60:37And the second that things come out that McCaffrey doesn't look right, or he's missing time.
60:42I'll put chase Brown overhead over Christian McCaffrey, but until then McCaffrey still has a lot of upside, but chase Brown does too.
60:49Okay. Uh, and it's basically the last two years when chase Brown's been the starting running back and play with Joe Burrow.
60:55You're, you're talking about well, lots of numbers, well over 20 points per game.
60:59I mean, it's just, it's one of those players.
61:02Like it feels like the team wants to limit him, but then they realize they can't.
61:07But it's also one of those players where if I look at, if I look at that board, so it show it
61:13one more time, Thomas, uh, the top 12, uh, Gibbs, Bijan, Jamar, Puka, JSN, St.
61:18Brown, Jonathan Taylor, Christian McCaffrey, James Cook, Drake, London, CD lamb, chase Brown.
61:22He's the one I, I would say the, the, the, the word I say, the word worst, but the least good player, right?
61:28He's the guy whose talent I doubt the most of this group.
61:32He's not a first round pick in the draft.
61:35I know Puka isn't either, you know, I don't think he's a superstar player.
61:39So I think that should make people a little bit nervous here, not to mention he had big games as a pass
61:45catcher without some Ajay P Ryan and two games without T Higgins.
61:49He had like 16 catches in those two games.
61:52Um, so, you know, chase Brown is not, he's not Brock Bowers in terms of talent and pedigrees.
61:57He's not, most of the guys are going right after him.
62:00Uh, so I put it this way, if he weren't on the bangles, he wouldn't be in the first round, right?
62:06Right. His offense obviously matters here and his past production should matter here as well.
62:11I mean, like, again, you just referenced it, like what he's done, but will they continue to limit his work in some capacity?
62:18And then as we've seen when Joe Burrow is not there, he's just not as good, but you can make the case.
62:24Then why should he be drafting Jamar chase or T Higgins where they're going as well?
62:29Sure. Right. Poster child for right guy, right place, right time.
62:32Okay. Last thing on chase Brown, uh, in the Joe Burrow, that's six seasons, full PPR, Joe Mixon finished as RB 10,
62:39RB six, RB six, and RB 12 per game.
62:41And chase Brown finished as RB 14 per game, you know, kind of at a part-time role and then RB eight per game.
62:48So you have basically nothing but top. That's a great track record.
62:52It's great. It's not, it's not 12th overall great necessarily, but it, it at least says you are going to have, as
62:58long as he doesn't like lose his job and really stink, you are going to have a top 12 running back on a per game basis.
63:06Probably top eight, except in the first seven games last year.
63:09I think it's look, it's a, it's an easy argument starting with James cook and then Devon H and then Ashton Gentry,
63:16you know, maybe a Martin Hampton and maybe Ken Walker.
63:19Like where does chase Brown come in? Because his ADP is nowhere near this and most other places.
63:24Yeah. And neither is, is London's chase Brown, chase Brown on fantasy pros is 15th.
63:29Drake London is 17th guys going ahead would be Justin Jefferson, Ashton Gentry, Saquon Barkley, who we'll talk about in the next couple of shows.
63:36All right, Dave, I gotta tell you about the music thing that blew my mind.
63:41Oh, we didn't talk about lamb. Let's talk about CD lamb.
63:44Not even a little. Give me, um, I'm sorry about that CD lamb.
63:48Um, why will he be better than he was last year?
63:51Jamie, I mean, hopefully health and touchdowns. Those are the two things that haunted him last year because, you know, sharing the
63:58field with pickings was, was a little rough as we saw at times.
64:01But if you go to the start of the season, small sample size, first couple of games before he got injured, he was still that guy.
64:09But look, as long as Dak Prescott's healthy, CD lamb, I think is going to be 17 points per game or more.
64:16I've said this many a time going back to last year.
64:19If you're chasing the end of the 2023 season, you're making a mistake, but he's still got the potential to be a 20 point per game guy.
64:27So it's hard to overlook that. It's a reason why he's around one pick.
64:31I wouldn't let the George Pickens production last year scare you off completely from CD lamb.
64:36I don't think he's going to be 14 points per game.
64:39I don't think he's only going to score three touchdowns.
64:42I think this is a guy that still has a 10 touchdown season in his resume almost every time or in his,
64:49his arsenal almost every time he steps on the field.
64:52And so as long as Prescott stays healthy, I think that CD lamb is a first round caliber player.
64:57I worry a little bit about this Dallas defense being better because last year they were terrible.
65:02And it just led to so many more opportunities for all the pass catchers in Dallas.
65:07In the seven games when Quinn was healthy in Dallas, the defense was better because Quinn and Williams was there.
65:13Lamb still had eight targets per game. He averaged 14.2 PPR points per game.
65:17Dallas was 56% pass in those games versus 61% pass in weeks one through 10 before Quinn and Williams got there.
65:24I'm a little nervous that that could be what ends up happening this year.
65:28I don't know about 14. And that seems way too doom and gloom, but maybe like 15 and a half to 16
65:34for CD lamb where he can still score a lot of touchdowns and get a lot of catches, but not necessarily have that 20 point ceiling.
65:42I think something needs to go wrong with George Pickens or CD lamb just needs to get open a hell of a
65:49lot for him to get to 20 PPR points per game.
65:52And he's kind of in that same range for me as, as Drake London and a bunch of other wide receivers where
65:58you say, okay, yeah, there's potential for him to be good.
66:02And we've seen those bouts of him being great before, but he might just end up right there around 15 and a half, 16 PPR points per game.
66:10Yeah. The last 10 games of the year when he came back from injury, lamb was only the number 13 wide receiver per game.
66:17Uh, but he was on pace for 156 targets.
66:20That's fantastic. Yeah, but he was on pace for only five touchdowns despite 156 targets and despite 12 end zone targets compared to only four for George Pickens.
66:28So touchdown luck, as Jamie mentioned right out of the gate with this conversation, it was not on CD lamb side last
66:35year and, uh, you know, should, should improve in 20.
66:38This is where the draft starts. It's really 10th overall, you know, so who are going to be the five or six
66:44players in contention for this and how much will they sway or swing?
66:48How the drafts and seasons unfold for these teams?
66:51Because again, just Jefferson, you could easily see having a bounce back season.
66:55What we saw from just his numbers with the great Carson Wentz, you know, that should give you reason for hope that
67:01he's better with Kyler Murray, which tight end. If either of the two can get into this range, McBride coming off an
67:0818 point per game season, Devon H. Chan, if you know, there was a comment in there after I made the case
67:14about him, people saying, what about the quarterback situations for some other players?
67:18Like it's true. I mean, look, he could easily outperform and I'm sorry, he easily be just the, the, the focal point
67:25once again for a Dolphins offense that needs him in the passing game that we just keep saying that they're not going
67:31to throw him the ball as much. Because of what he did when two, it wasn't there.
67:36And because of Malik Wilson's, you know, small sample size, but the track record that he doesn't necessarily throw to his backs.
67:43I think there'll be a surprise running back. I don't know if it's surprised, but you know, there'd be another running back in this mix again, gente.
67:51If he can take that step forward with Kubiak and, and just a better offense and offensive line as a whole, not
67:57that Linderman Linderbaum and, and just, you know, just a healthy left tackle.
68:01Hampton was, could be awesome with Mike McDaniel calling plays.
68:04I think if Ken Walker stays healthy and, you know, does what Andy Reid running backs do that are elite, like easily
68:11could finish as a top 12 player. Like there's just so many different, you know, guys that could be in this range
68:17and really this is where it's like, do you want these picks or do you really want one?
68:23Just, yeah, I don't know who I'm going to take.
68:25I want the top five pick. Definitely. Cause I had the 12th pick.
68:29Back into the first round. I had the 12th pick.
68:32First time that I had it, uh, in any of the drafts that we've done, you know, I've probably done about 15 to 20 drafts so far.
68:40Uh, first time that I had 12 and cook falling to 12 was a big plus.
68:45Uh, but going cook and Jefferson, I was fine with that start.
68:49Well, yeah. I mean, look, your top 12 is very different than, than fantasy pros ADP.
68:53Cause if you had the 12th pick, you could take cook in London, you can take cook and Jefferson and you're fine with that.
69:01So yeah. Yeah. Um, all right. Uh, can I, can I mention the music thing now?
69:05Dave, have you heard the new sublime album? No, no.
69:08Did you know that were you a sublime fan to Jamie?
69:12I figured Dave was, I mean, just the, the one song probably is the only one I know.
69:17Which one? Uh, I guarantee, you know, at least three sublime songs.
69:20Santeria. Santeria. Yeah. Everyone knows that one. Wrong way.
69:23Wrong way. And what I got, you know, all.
69:26Oh yeah. Yeah. What I got. So they have a new album called until the sun explodes.
69:31And I didn't know anything about it. You're listening to it.
69:34Like, what is this? It's like AI recreating. Cause unfortunately the, the lead singer died in 1996.
69:39His son is the singer in the band now.
69:42And his son sounds exactly like him. I mean, exactly.
69:45It's, it's insane. And it's really good. It's like, you're listening to sublime and it's like, you're just grooving.
69:51It's really cool. So, um, check out until the sun exposed, but I couldn't believe it.
69:55Cause I, I, I was a big fan. Um, and I, I will not that big obviously, but I was, um, big.
70:02I'm obviously not a very knowledgeable, uh, music fan, but, uh, so I was on a cruise over the weekend and, uh,
70:08went with three other couples and one of my buddies, huge music fan, uh, loves music trivia.
70:13And so we, we did like almost all the trivia competitions that there was sort of sports trivia.
70:19There was music trivia. There's movie trivia, uh, general trivia.
70:22So we did a lot of the trivia competition.
70:24I think we finished second in like four of the six.
70:28Oh, we just got second. Uh, we just, yeah, missed, missed on all the prizes.
70:32Um, the one that, uh, is going to haunt me forever is, um, and I, I was basically like naming everything that
70:39all the characters that, uh, who played Tommy DeVito in Goodfell.
70:42Tell us Tommy DeVito. Yes. That was a guy's name.
70:45Yes. Oh, I have no idea. Yeah. Who's Tommy.
70:48So that's Joe Pesci. So I kept getting, I kept getting confused.
70:51I was like, not Tommy DeVito. That's the quarterback.
70:54It's Tommy DeVito. Really? Yeah. I don't think they ever say his last name, maybe in the beginning, but, um, Oh, wow.
71:00So, uh, unless they read the question wrong. Um, but I, uh, I was like, no, it's his, his character was Nikki
71:07and I kept getting confused with casino. I was like, and I'm like, I kept trying to think like, I was, I
71:13was like, yeah, what was, cause it wasn't Ray Liotta.
71:16I was like, well, what did Ray Liotta scream in the shower when he heard the radio report of the, the, the,
71:23the, the concept of whatever the, the robbery, the airport robbery.
71:26And I was like, like, I can name you everything.
71:29I'm like, I'm like, okay. Okay. If my mind wasn't blown enough by the sublime thing, the fact that Joe Pesci's character was Tommy DeVito.
71:37And I, this is the first time I'm hearing this.
71:40I didn't know. Like, that's the name of the quarterback.
71:43How did this not come out? That is the same, or maybe it did.
71:47And I just never heard it. That is the same name Dave.
71:50Like, because the only name that anybody knows from Goodfellas is Henry Hill.
71:54Right. And that's who Ray Liotta played, obviously, you know, and then, uh, Lorraine Bracco, uh, the therapist from Sopranos was his wife, Karen.
72:01I don't even know her name. And she would always say Henry funny.
72:05Oh, it was Karen. Karen, Dave. Come on, bro.
72:08Karen. Um, yeah. So I was like, it's gotta be Robert De Niro's character.
72:12I couldn't think of what Robert De Niro's character.
72:15And it was Jimmy. Jimmy. Yeah. And so like, we were, we were debating it and that cost us, uh, tying for first place.
72:22Did anybody on the cruise ask you if I was on the cruise with you?
72:26No. That happened to me on a cruise that I went on and someone saw me and they're like, Hey, Dave Richard, fancy football.
72:33Is Jamie on the cruise? Literally. And don't feel bad about not getting that question.
72:38Right. Hashtag flamingo. Yeah. Uh, fun show today, guys.
72:41Good stuff. Good discussions. And we'll continue them, uh, on our next two episodes.
72:45Thanks for watching and listening. Talk to you tomorrow on fantasy football.
72:48Podcasts. Now streaming only on Paramount plus Chicago. It's my home.
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