0:00An industry plant is someone who appears
0:01to have gained popularity naturally, but
0:03behind the scenes, the industry has been
0:05pushing them up the entire time, giving
0:07them attention, credibility, and
0:09opportunities that make everyone else
0:11believe the hype is organic. And fantasy
0:13football has its own version. A fantasy
0:16football industry plant is a player the
0:18entire community suddenly decides going
0:20to be a superstar despite the
0:22production, talent, or opportunity not
0:25actually supporting it. One analyst
0:27ranks them higher than ADP, the next guy
0:29follows, the next guy follows. It almost
0:31becomes a competition of how far ahead
0:33of ADP you can be of this player. And a
0:35good example of this was Jacquory
0:37Croskey-Merritt last season. If y'all
0:39remember with Jacquory Croskey-Merritt,
0:42I actually selected him in the final
0:44round of the Flock League. My thought
0:46process at the time was, "Okay, he has
0:48some training camp hype. It's a very
0:51empty backfield, and at the same time,
0:54it's a really good offense. So, I think
0:55he's a really good pick if you can get
0:57him in the last round of your fantasy
0:58football draft because it's very easy to
1:01cut him after week one or week two if he
1:03doesn't do anything, right? Well, what
1:05ended up happening with Jacquory
1:06Croskey-Merritt? Oh, he didn't really do
1:09anything early, right? I mean, he was on
1:12my bench. I wasn't able to start him.
1:14But instead of me having to cut him
1:16after week two when he only scored 1.7
1:19fantasy points, the entire community was
1:22hyping up JCM, giving him nicknames,
1:25everybody calling him Bill, making
1:27memes, putting them on Twitter. And
1:29instead of having to cut him, I was able
1:32to sell Jacquory Croskey-Merritt in the
1:34Flock League to Mr. Zachary Savage for
1:37Tony Pollard, and that was even before
1:39Austin Ekeler went down with his
1:41season-ending injury. So, of course, in
1:43this video, we're going to talk about a
1:44ton of these players that I think the
1:45fantasy football community is maybe way
1:48too high on. I mean, analysts are
1:50pushing them up for, in my opinion, not
1:52valid reasons. But I want to stick with
1:54Jacquory Croskey-Merritt Merritt 1
1:56second because a player can go from
1:58being an industry plant and the hype
2:01getting out of control to all of a
2:03sudden looking like a respectable pick
2:06in drafts. Like at the moment, Jacory
2:08Crosskey Merritt is in a backfield with
2:10almost no competition, right? I mean
2:13yes, Rashad White is higher in my
2:15rankings if you're looking at the site,
2:17and I would draft Rashad White over JCM
2:19because White has the receiving upside
2:22that Jacory Crosskey Merritt just simply
2:23doesn't. But
2:26here's what I do want to point out. The
2:27cost is actually pretty damn compelling
2:31given how much better this offense
2:33should be this season. We just launched
2:36onflockfantasy.com
2:37the consensus ADP page. Now, a lot of
2:40the stuff y'all got with the season pass
2:42last year was like Google sheets that I
2:44would have to manually update once a
2:46week, right? And the consensus ADP
2:48sheets were just that. I was only able
2:51to update them once a week. However, the
2:53dev team at flockfantasy.com, they have
2:56done an incredible job to just connect
2:58all the different fantasy draft
3:00platforms to flockfantasy.com so we can
3:02get all the latest real-time ADP for
3:05you. And in some drafts, yeah, he's
3:07expensive. Like CBS, you would have to
3:10take him as a top 100 pick, which I mean
3:12there if you miss, it actually is going
3:14to negatively impact you. But like your
3:16ESPN drafts at the moment, he has an ADP
3:19of 129.
3:21Like if you were to get Jacory Crosskey
3:22Merritt in the 11th round, and Rashad
3:25White turns out to be the full-blown
3:27starting running back for Washington and
3:29you need to cut JCM, it's not harmful
3:31cutting your 11th or your 12th round
3:33pick. So, I'm completely fine drafting
3:36him with the uncertainty that we have in
3:37this backfield yet again this year, even
3:39if the hype got out of control last
3:42season. Now, moving over to a player
3:44that I think is the textbook definition
3:48of a fantasy football industry plant,
3:50let's talk about Josh Downs. Now, the
3:53easiest giveaway that the fantasy
3:56football diehards, right? The people
3:58making YouTube videos, listening to
4:01podcasts, reading articles, that that
4:05group of people are way higher than
4:08consensus on a player is if their
4:11Underdog ADP, their FFPC ADP is well
4:16ahead of where they're getting drafted
4:17on ESPN and Yahoo. And you can see,
4:20right now Josh Downs is getting drafted
4:23at pick 90 on Underdog. He's going off
4:26the board 91 in CBS drafts, 96 in the
4:29FFPC. So, you're having to take him here
4:32in the eighth round, sometimes the
4:33seventh round in those expert leagues,
4:35where if you miss on a pick like that,
4:37that is detrimental to your team. And if
4:40we go through and if we look at what
4:42Josh Downs has actually been in fantasy
4:44football, cuz I know a lot of people
4:45want to turn on the tape, and they go,
4:47"Oh, Josh Downs is a really good
4:49football player." Oh, Josh Downs is, I
4:51mean, all of a sudden going to be much
4:53better because Michael Pittman Jr. is no
4:55longer in Indianapolis. Obviously,
4:57Pittman going over to Pittsburgh. I
5:00don't know why that's that exciting. I
5:01mean, Michael Pittman Jr. ultimately
5:03averaged 11.9 fantasy points per game
5:06last season. It's not like there are
5:081,000 targets all of a sudden being
5:10unaccounted for.
5:11But anyway, what are you paying for?
5:13Josh Downs was the wide receiver 56 in
5:16points per game last season. The wide
5:18receiver 56.
5:20So, yes, I I I get it. I know people are
5:23excited that you have no Pittman. I know
5:25he looks good on film. I I know he
5:27grades out well.
5:29But, the fact of the matter is, this
5:31dude averaged eight fantasy points a
5:32game last season in his third season in
5:34the league. This was no rookie. And if
5:36we look at the updated sports book
5:38projections on flockfantasy.com, you'll
5:41see the Indianapolis Colts project to be
5:43one of the worst offenses in the league
5:45when it comes to their regression year
5:47over year, last season the Colts
5:49averaged 27 and 1/2 points per game, and
5:52this year they project to score 22.8.
5:55So, the offense is supposed to be way
5:57worse. They just paid Alec Pierce a ton
5:59of money.
6:00And at the same time, it's a rush-first
6:02team with Jonathan Taylor. Now, of
6:03course, I mean, he's decent at a certain
6:05cost. Like, I myself even have him
6:08ranked ahead of some of these draft
6:11platform ADPs. Like, Sleeper is an
6:13example. Sleeper has an ADP of 145.
6:17He's a lot higher than that in my
6:19rankings. But, actually, what we have
6:21just done with the custom draft sheets
6:23we put out there for y'all on
6:25flockfantasy.com, is we have not only
6:28won custom rankings for your exact
6:31league format, whether it's a 18-league,
6:3410-team league, 12-team league, 14-team
6:35league, whether you start two wide
6:37receivers, three wide receivers, full
6:38PPR, half PPR, non-PPR, over 50 custom
6:42variations for your exact league, but
6:44also for your exact draft platform. So,
6:46say you are using the draft sheets on
6:48flockfantasy.com or the live drafts
6:51assistance with flockfantasy.com,
6:53we'll take the average ranking of him
6:55saying be at like 95 on the site, and
6:58his Sleeper ADP like 145, and instead of
7:02us telling you to take him at 95, we'll
7:04suggest that you take him at pick like
7:05120 instead. So, I think that's going to
7:08allow y'all to build some of the best
7:10fantasy football teams this season. And
7:12of course, if you don't already have
7:14access to the draft sheets, the draft
7:15assistance, the season pass is still
7:17only $34 on the site. I don't exactly
7:20know how long that's going to last, but
7:22at least for the time being, 34 bucks
7:24gets you access to everything on
7:26flockfantasy.com for your redraft
7:28leagues. And if you use code flock,
7:30you're going to be getting free
7:31start/sit and trade questions you can
7:33ask me during the season as well. Very
7:35easily the number one way to win your
7:37league. Now, Parker Washington is
7:39another decent example, in my opinion,
7:42of an industry plant. Like let's just
7:44run through the Parker Washington
7:46profile real quick and let's look at
7:48what the actual production is and what
7:51the actual cost is at the moment.
7:53Because we can see very similar to Josh
7:55Downs in these expert fantasy football
7:57drafts where the absolute die hards are
8:00drafting at the moment. Parker
8:01Washington has an ADP of 68 on Underdog.
8:05I mean you look at Yahoo, Yahoo is going
8:07to pick 108. He's going four rounds
8:10later. And let's see what's more
8:13realistic. Parker Washington was a
8:15sixth-round NFL draft pick, right? So
8:18let's start off there. Parker Washington
8:20very little to no pedigree. And then
8:23let's go through and look at 2023, 2024,
8:252025. Parker Washington in 2023 was the
8:29wide receiver 84 in points per game. In
8:322024, he was the wide receiver 92.
8:35In 2025, he was the wide receiver 39.
8:40He was the wide receiver 39 last year.
8:43All his production came when Travis
8:45Hunter was already out for the season.
8:48Keep in mind with this as well, the
8:50Jacksonville Jaguars were one of the
8:52best offenses in the league in the
8:54second half of last year. If we go
8:56through and look at the updated sports
8:57book projections of how the Jags should
9:00score this next season, very similar to
9:02the Indianapolis Colts, they're in line
9:04for major regression year over year. And
9:08you're going to have added target
9:09competition
9:10with Travis Hunter being healthy again
9:12this next season. We'll talk about
9:14Travis Hunter in one second. Let's just
9:15talk about him right after this, but
9:17and if we go through and look at the big
9:19weeks we've had from Parker Washington
9:21in 2025, he had one game with 20 or more
9:24fantasy points. In 2024, he had one game
9:27with 20 or more fantasy points. In 2023,
9:30he had zero.
9:31So all of a sudden in Underdog drafts,
9:33you're having to take like a round six
9:35pick, take a wide receiver going into
9:36your four that's had two games with 20
9:38points. That's the deal with a healthy
9:40Brian Thomas, a healthy Travis Hunter
9:41now in an offense that's supposed to get
9:42worse.
9:44I I I don't get this one. I at least
9:45understand the Josh Downs one to some
9:47extent, cuz Michael Pittman Jr.'s gone.
9:49I've no idea why the industry's high on
9:51Parker Washington.
9:53Now, I'm going to include Travis Hunter
9:54on this list, right? Because I can't sit
9:56here and say, "Oh, I'm the ultimate
9:58contrarian. Everybody that every other
10:00fantasy expert loves, I hate." Of
10:02course, I mean, guys in the fantasy
10:04football industry fall in love with
10:06players for good reasons. Travis Hunter,
10:08I think, has very
10:11interesting things about his profile.
10:13Travis Hunter
10:15has all the team investment into him.
10:17The Jacksonville Jaguars went out there
10:19and traded like the fifth overall pick
10:21and a 26th first to go ahead and select
10:23Travis Hunter second overall in the 25th
10:25draft.
10:27Like, unbelievable to see a team invest
10:30that much into a player, whether it's a
10:32wide receiver or whether it's a corner.
10:34Now, you go ahead and you look at
10:36contracts NFL teams give to both of
10:38those positions, indicating which one of
10:41them's viewed as a more valuable asset
10:43for teams, cuz obviously teams want to
10:45invest more with draft capital, where
10:47they invest their dollars in free
10:48agency. And wide receivers get paid way
10:51more than corners do. So, this type of
10:53investment told me in year one, Travis
10:55Hunter's probably going to use
10:56offensively a considerable amount. What
10:58happened year one for Travis Hunter? He
11:00ran over 30 routes per game, 30.3 routes
11:04per contest. And yes, we had the report
11:07in like March or April that Travis
11:09Hunter was going to play a ton on the
11:11defensive side of the ball, primarily
11:13defensive side of the ball, at least
11:14that's what they said. And then Liam
11:16Cohen came out and went, "Oh, I don't
11:17know where you got that from. No, Travis
11:19Hunter's playing on offense." And then
11:20Travis Hunter came out and said, "Yeah,
11:22I've no idea where that report came
11:23from. I'm planning on playing on
11:24offense, just like I did last year."
11:27And if we go through and look at Travis
11:29Hunter right now with his cost, again,
11:31we looked at Parker Washington going in
11:34like round six of some drafts right now.
11:36Travis Hunter is the exact opposite of
11:38that. Yes, in some of these he's
11:39expensive. Like in ESPN, he's going to
11:42pick 113. I probably want to take him
11:44there. Like if that's where I have to
11:45draft him in the Flock league, I'm not
11:47taking Travis Hunter. But in Sleeper
11:48drafts, he's going to pick 169.
11:51So, there's a good shot that in your
11:54fantasy league, you're able to take
11:56Travis Hunter where the kickers and
11:58defenses are being drafted. In the range
12:00of drafts where you're like, "Oh, okay.
12:02I'm going to go through and I'm going to
12:03cut these players anyway for my
12:05interesting week two or week three
12:06waiver wire pickups." So, I am in on the
12:09Travis Hunter hype of the fantasy
12:11community and that I think he is a
12:13perfect late round pick that we could
12:16comfortably cut after week one if we go
12:19through and look at the snap data and we
12:22see that he primarily played on the
12:23defensive side of the ball, right? Like
12:25if we see week one, he only runs 13
12:28routes, bye-bye. You're going to the
12:30waiver wire, buddy. But if week one, he
12:32goes out and runs 30-plus routes like he
12:35did in his rookie season,
12:37I think he could be a league winner at
12:38cost. Now, of course, all comes down to
12:40your draft platform. Again, use the
12:42consensus ADP sheet on flockfantasy.com.
12:44It's going to be constantly updated for
12:46y'all. And there you'll see that ESPN,
12:48his price is out of control, but Sleeper
12:50as well as Yahoo, very reasonable.
12:53Now, moving over to Khalil Shakir.
12:57Shakir historically has gone as a top 10
13:00pick in fantasy drafts. And he has done
13:02absolutely nothing. I think it's also
13:05NFL players that really like Shakir as
13:08well because I mean, I went through and
13:10I got put on a TikTok edit a couple
13:12years back when I said the only reason
13:14we even know Khalil Shakir's name is
13:16Josh Allen. So, maybe it's the NFL
13:18community uh and the fantasy football
13:21community that really like Shakir. Um
13:23right now, the cost of him is
13:24respectable. At least in Yahoo drafts.
13:27Yahoo drafts, take him if you want. He's
13:28going to pick like 180. Sleeper, ESPN,
13:32Underdog, there he's going in like the
13:34120 pick range. And at that cost, it's
13:36probably going to be a little bit too
13:38much for me if I have to take like a
13:3910th round pick on him. Cuz there you
13:41can take like a Rashad White, a Jahmyr
13:43Gibbs, a Raheem Mostert, a running back
13:44that has the upside to be the starter in
13:46their own backfield. And I'm just going
13:47to keep it stupid simple with Shakir.
13:502025, one game with 20 or more fantasy
13:53points. 2024, one game with 20 or more
13:56fantasy points. 2023, one game with 20
13:58or more fantasy points. 2022, zero
14:01games. So, he is going into year five
14:04now. He has only had three games in his
14:07his NFL career with 20 or more points.
14:10And at the same time, he now has more
14:12target competition than he has seen
14:13since like 2023 with Stefon Diggs, with
14:16DJ Moore coming in.
14:18So, I I can't imagine drafting Khalil
14:21Shakir in a regular redraft league.
14:23Maybe like an Underdog draft, sure, cuz
14:25you need the floor of those fantasy
14:27points, and you know he's going to be a
14:28contributor weekly. But in like your
14:31ESPN league, what the hell would you be
14:33doing drafting this guy? Like, where is
14:35the upside coming from if he hasn't been
14:37able to do it over the past few years?
14:38Why would we assume that he gets it done
14:40in year five now that he has more
14:41competition?
14:43Now,
14:44you know the number one fantasy football
14:47industry plant, and I don't really think
14:49it's up for debate, is Luther Burden.
14:53Now, there is a wide range of where he
14:55is getting selected. I think the ESPN
14:58and Yahoo drafters at the moment,
15:00they're on the ball. They know what
15:02they're doing. ESPN, Luther Burden is
15:04going in the sixth round. Luther Burden
15:07is an extremely high-upside player,
15:10where we saw the yards per route run and
15:14the yards per target be at the very top
15:16of the NFL his rookie season. And he was
15:18an incredibly inspiring prospect coming
15:21out of school as well. and he's attached
15:23to a good coaching staff with a good
15:25quarterback. So, the upside is
15:27incredible, but the downside is very
15:29much real for a wide receiver that
15:32couldn't jump Olamide Zaccheaus in the
15:34pecking order in his rookie season. It's
15:36not like this is a Justin Jefferson,
15:38Ja'Marr Chase level talent guaranteed,
15:41where we know they got to the league,
15:42they were the alphas on their team
15:44immediately, they broke out immediately.
15:46No, with Luther Burden, I mean, we can
15:48go through and look at this. He had one
15:51game with more than 15 fantasy points
15:53before week 17 this past year.
15:56Like, Luther Burden, if we are just
15:58looking at his game logs, didn't see a
16:01week with more than 51% of the snaps
16:05until week 12. Like, they didn't trust
16:07him getting on the field.
16:09So,
16:10I think the ceiling is incredibly high.
16:14The floor is incredibly low, as well.
16:18With that in mind,
16:19where am I willing to take a boom-bust
16:21wide receiver? Am I willing to do so at
16:24the end of the third round, the
16:25beginning of the fourth round, with
16:26where he's going in sleeper drafts at
16:28the moment? No, because at that cost,
16:31you can't miss.
16:33Right? You take a third-round player,
16:35and he's a bust, well, GG's, you may not
16:37make the playoffs.
16:39In the sixth round, or at the end of the
16:40fifth round, you can take a swing there.
16:43You can miss, and it can end up being
16:45okay. So, I think Luther Burden, in your
16:48ESPN, in your Yahoo drafts, he's a fine
16:50pick. But, in your sleeper or your
16:52underdog drafts at the moment, I there I
16:55I can't take him at the beginning of the
16:56fourth round.
16:58Now, I really appreciate you. I really
16:59hope I was able to help you out with
17:00this. And, of course, I like some of the
17:03names on this list, like Zay Flowers,
17:04Quentin Johnston, and Travis Hunter this
17:06year. I think they're compelling prices.
17:08It's not like I'm fading everybody the
17:10industry loves. But, again, if you want
17:13to win your fantasy league this year,
17:14it's extremely simple. We just made it
17:16only $34 for you to do so. We have all
17:19the real-time draft assistance that you
17:22can use in your ESPN, in your Yahoo, in
17:25your Sleeper leagues. And we have all
17:27the real-time draft sheets that you're
17:29able to use as well with constantly
17:31updated ADP for your platforms, with
17:33constant updates to my rankings that
17:36will match your exact league settings.
17:38We're making the adjustments for you,
17:40whether it's a half PPR, non-PPR, or
17:42full PPR, whether you're starting seven
17:44guys, starting eight guys, double flex,
17:46single flex. It's all being accounted
17:49for. And the link to the season pass is
17:52in the description. It's in the comment
17:53section. Make sure you use code Flock.
17:55That way you get free questions you can
17:57ask me during the live streams this
17:59year. But I think that's all I got for
18:00you. I really appreciate you. And I
18:02really hope I get to see you on the live
18:03stream later tonight.