8 NFL Training Camp Storylines That Will Change Fantasy Drafts
STACKED extracted the fantasy-relevant player signal from this video and kept the full transcript here for context.
51 min
Duration
Estimated from transcript
Jul 23, 2026
Published
Thu, July 23, 2026
0
Player insights
0
Players mentioned
Player analysis
Player insights
No player insights have been extracted for this episode yet.
Full transcript
Episode Transcript
0:05Which players should fantasy managers be keeping an eye on at the beginning stages of NFL training camp? Theo Griminger, lead fantasy analyst, wrote a
0:13wire. Joined today by Zayn Dhani, who is just crushing it with his offseason content. Zayn, you did a whole lot with
0:20OTAA content. Uh, it was you become a really great follow on X. Your articles are excellent. We're going to break down
0:26some of the guys that Zayn is looking at at NFL training camps and how we can leverage that for fantasy football
0:31success this season. Zayn, let's talk about it. There's a backfield that printed last year, Jacksonville. Uh Travis ETN was one of the better picks
0:42at ADP last year. It sort of showed the power of the Liam Cohen uh offensive scheme where we got Travis CTN at a
0:51really fun range of drafts and he really provided some tremendous return. This year we're kind of back at it again.
0:58You've got Bashel Tutin who's climbing up into like the end of the fifth round and you've got Chris Rodriguez where there was some steam at the beginning of
1:06ADP season. It's sort of settled out.
1:08How are you viewing this backfield and what are some things we should look for when we get to NFL training camp?
1:15>> Yeah, right now I think we should be paying attention to the guy that's actually guaranteed to be on the field,
1:20right? And so that's Bashel Tutin. Um it's it's interesting. So there was one day during OTAAS where everybody was talking about what what's happening with
1:29Chris Rodriguez? Why is he not at OTAAS?
1:31Then you find out that he has foot surgery. um he's been working on the side for a long time and um you know the
1:38most important thing about that is people are speculating about what exactly that injury is. Um, I've heard that it's a Jones fracture uh from from
1:47actually inside sources, which uh maybe some people don't know this, but the Jones fracture is famous for making players way less efficient when it comes
1:56to fantasy um production and just running the ball and catching the ball, do doing different like athletic uh things in general, right? So, what I'm
2:05looking for is at training camp, I want to see if they're limiting Chris Rodriguez's reps, if he's actually out there. Liam Cohen said that he would be,
2:12but we don't we don't have any any guarantees on that. Um, if he's actually out there, if they're limiting Chris Rodriguez reps, does that make Bash
2:20Tutin have the ability to stand out and and really like take control of that back field? On top of that, Liam Co Liam
2:27Cohen has kind of talked about not wanting to tip his hand when it comes to the back field and and personnel,
2:32whether it's a run or pass, and that leans itself more into a guy like Bashel Tutin as well, right? because we've seen
2:38him be able to operate in kind of like a designed uh touch uh pass catching type of role uh in the past and even sending
2:45him on routes. There's some clips out there on X that I've seen that people have posted where hey this guy just ran
2:51like a nice little wheel route and caught a touchdown, right? So he definitely has that that kind of like more three down skill set. Um which
2:58would help Liam Cohen's offense not be so predictable when he's in the game. On top of that, we're talking about a guy
3:06who has a profile that is very explosive. You may not have shown it an explosive run rate last year, but we're
3:12talking about a guy who has when you look at like Raz or Spork or whatever your preferred metric is of athleticism.
3:19Facial Tuton is one of the top players when it comes to one of that. So, we're talking explosiveness. We're talking about someone that can catch passes. And
3:27if you're thinking about from a fantasy angle, um what are things that can be that can lead to league winning success?
3:33That's what you look at when you're talking about league winning success.
3:36The Chris Rodriguez um skill set is more of a two down skill set. And you know, at his price right now, he can pay off
3:43at ADP if he were to be the lead back.
3:45Obviously, if you're not going to get a first or second round value out of a player like that, Tudin has the profile
3:51to get you to that strong value.
3:54Yeah, I think you broke it down very very well. And I think you know like just the the health of of Chris
3:58Rodriguez, that's number one because he's also new to this scheme. People talk about the familiarity with Liam Cohen, but lacking reps as a new running
4:08back on a team. Uh that that hurts a guy like Rodriguez and then I think you sort of nailed it where I think Chris
4:14Rodriguez ultimately will end up becoming a better in baseball type selection where Bashel Tutin has reddraft potential here. It's the passcatching ability for me that stands
4:24out for him. Just what a Liam Cohen offense with all those designed targets to running backs. We've seen that at multiple stops and those designed
4:33targets I think have to go to Tuton. I think he could be lethal in the screen game. And the athletic measurables we
4:39saw coming out specifically at the NFL combine and how good he was like at the Senior Bowl. I think those could shine
4:44this year. And he's also going in a range where it's not a difficult click.
4:49I mean, there's some good players around him, but I think mixing in some BAL Tutin exposure in reddraft, that's something I want to do. The vibes for
4:56Toutin, you covered OTAAS kind of. What were you seeing like vibes-wise coming out of OTAAS with Toutin? Because everything I read was completely
5:03positive.
5:04>> Yeah, everything was positive. So, they talked about how he was able to really fulfill that running back role, look explosive in the run game, uh, catch
5:13passes, all sorts of stuff like that.
5:15All the things that you want to hear about a running back that is an upand cominging player. That's what that's exactly how they were positioning him.
5:22Um, you know, on on X, I I compared this situation to kind of like a Zack Moss versus uh Chris Brown situation or
5:29sorry, Jace Brown situation and um I think it kind of hits it on the on the head because we're thinking about a guy
5:37like Zack Moss who had a really good season with the Colts and then comes over to the Bengals, kind of takes on
5:43that presumable like, you know, early down grinder type of role and then uh you have a young guy and Chase Brown who
5:50has the explosive profile.
5:51that we saw do some incredible things in in short sample sizes. And now you've got basically the exact same situation where Chris Rodriguez looks more like
6:00that early down grinder um who had a really strong like success rate, solid season when you look at efficiency metrics, but then again, so did Bashel
6:08Tutin when you look at e efficiency metrics as well. Um, so now we're just kind of taking what we saw at OTAAS and
6:15then extrapolating that to training camp, especially if he's getting most of those reps because they might be limiting Chris Rodriguez's reps.
6:22And honestly, things may things may catch fire if if you hear that he's the first running back in. Don't you think
6:28his ADP is going to rise at least like, you know, at least a couple of spots, maybe a whole round?
6:34>> Yeah, it's an interesting one. I actually made that same comparison on a podcast with Scott Barrett like early on in the process. where we were talking
6:42about Toutin and and trying to make bull cases for him, but if everybody like kind of thinks about Chase Brown the
6:48last two years, his rookie season, the just the the sheer touch volume was so small um and just had this massive
6:56breakout and him and Zach Moss were going side by side. It's a really good good comparison and history does tend to
7:02repeat itself in fantasy football.
7:05Speaking of history repeating itself, another big name that we're keeping an eye on early in training camp is Kenneth Walker. And could this be a situation
7:14where we look back to 2024 where running backs like Saquon Barkley, Derrick Henry, Josh Jacobs all had absolute
7:23smash seasons, all were huge ADP winners where Kenneth Walker could sort of follow that recent trend of free agent running backs having careerhighs in
7:32fantasy uh uh numbers. But with Walker, is there anything specific we're looking for at training camp? and just how valuable could his role be?
7:43Specifically, how involved do you think he could be as a pass catcher out of the backfield? Cuz we know the volume's
7:49going to be fantastic as a runner.
7:51>> Yeah, I think the key thing here is that the Chiefs didn't really make too many investments when it comes from a pass
7:56catching perspective, right? Like they only signed Cyrus Allen or sorry, uh drafted or signed Cyrus Allen. I can't remember if if he was drafted in the
8:03last round or UDFA or whatever it was.
8:06Um, so they haven't really added much to their receiver room uh from last season.
8:11And you think about Patrick Mahomes coming back from this uh knee injury that he's coming back from. Um, all signs are pointing to him being ready
8:19week one, but at the same time, is that going to limit his mobility? Something that is very key for Patrick Mahomes
8:25when it comes to extending plays. And what does that lead to is probably even more checkdowns. uh watching uh a guy
8:32like Kenneth Walker leak out in the back field and just kind of like using the run game, using the pass game as an
8:38extension of the run game, which is kind of how they've used Rashid Rice. Um I can see a very strong role for him. The
8:44all reports out of out of uh Chief's OTAAS was that Kenneth Walker is going to have a featured role in this offense
8:51and they're going to lean heavily on him to do that. If you look at all the backups that they have, they drafted
8:55Emtt Johnson, but his profile isn't necessarily like, hey, we're gonna kind of put this guy in and grind away. And also, the Chiefs have never been a team
9:03that really hands the the keys over to a rookie. Um, it's notorious in an Andy Reid offense as well. So, uh, I think
9:12there's just ample opportunity for Kenneth Walker to have his, um, what I'd say like careerhigh in touches this season, uh, because they're going to
9:21feature him in both the run and pass game in order to, uh, accelerate this offense. They really want to have a
9:28respectable run game in order to really bring out more in the pass game.
9:32Something that they haven't been able to do. One of the points that I brought up recently maybe on Twitter or somewhere
9:37else um I was just talking about it like and and you know you've been playing fantasy for a long time. I've been
9:43playing fantasy since I don't know early 2000s. Uh Andy Reid Backfields they used to be printing money from a fantasy perspective. Like that was something
9:52that you wanted to invest in and then we've had what like the past three or four seasons where it's been a little
9:57bit less like that. Um, we've even seen guys like Damen Williams come out of nowhere and just be like, "Hey, this is
10:02an RB1." Uh, and so this is this is a situation where I want to invest because we're seeing a talent that is going to
10:10be more matching the type of talent that we've seen an Andy Reid offense have in the past.
10:15>> It's interesting and and I think you're right. It's sort of like if you've been playing this game a long a long time,
10:20you know, we even think back to the and and thank you for aging me to the podcast listeners, Zane. That was really
10:25cool. Um, but you when you think back to like the Andy Reid offenses like the Lehon McCoy, Jamal Charles early on in
10:32Kansas City and then you think about some of these guys who had their best fantasy production as pros in like this
10:39short sample size where they were like um opportunistic RB1s for like six games, eight games where Damen Williams, you know, the argument was he maybe
10:49should have been the MVP of the Super Bowl that season. Um but he was just terrific in terms of his production and
10:55short sample size. Jerick McKinnon was like a second half of the season um almost league winning value one season where he was like uh I think it was a
11:04top eight scorer over like the last eight games of the season. Uh really really strong people winner that year I think had the Momes and
11:12Jerick McKinnon stack and that was that was like the person that won the won the million.
11:16>> Yeah. And you also that those were back in the good old days when you could when running backs weren't all steamed up. So
11:21McKinnon was like a I think like a double digit uh double digit round like target. Um you know we're going way back
11:27there. Um and then Isaiah Pacheco who became sort of a little bit of like a like a punchline for fantasy managers at
11:34times like the last you know 18 months or so. But year two Isaiah Pacheco you were drafting him in like the seventh
11:41round and he gave you sort of low-end RB1 high-end RB2 numbers in terms of counting stats. So, I think Kenneth Walker is poised for just a monster
11:51season and I I I love the optimism that you have on him as a pass catcher because I think that's sort of been
11:58brushed under the rug. But Eric Benemy talked about this Zane where they want to use him in the screen game and most
12:04people just sort of brush this one aside. How much are you buying into it?
12:07I know you you're a data scientist and and you've really crunched the numbers sort of a season long. What do you think
12:13we could we could look at for a Walker like bullcase? Are you trying to make a guess at the raw catch totals if he
12:20stays healthy this year?
12:21>> Yeah, I I I kind of just like piece meal it all together to get to like a fantasy point number that I'm thinking like on a
12:27per game basis, right? So, when I'm thinking about that, like 20 points per game uh from a PPR standpoint is usually
12:34like a top three running back. Last year it would have probably been RB5ish.
12:37>> Yeah.
12:38>> Von Han line.
12:39>> Yeah, exactly. So, I think I think that's actually like kind of the line where I see uh Kenneth Walker in like
12:45not not a full bull case, a full bull case like this guy could break fantasy in general. Um but like uh a higherend
12:54outcome for him is probably that 20 point per game line and that would that would easily in my opinion get him to
12:59you know uh an RB4 at least like position right behind your Jir Gibbs Bejan and then if CMC's healthy the full
13:08season like being the RB4 is is within the realm of outcomes for him.
13:12>> Yeah, it's it's super interesting. Um and I have him ranked pretty aggressively. You can see my full PPR rankings over at Rotoire. Use the code
13:21Theo20. It'll get you 20% off of any Rotoire sub. I've got some cool articles coming up that can help you win as well.
13:29Fantasy football season is right around the corner and DraftKings is bringing you their biggest baseball contest ever.
13:36We're talking a massive $20 million in total prizes, making this the largest baseball tournament in DraftKings history. And this year, not just one,
13:46but three players are going to walk away as millionaires. And right now, our partners at DraftKings are giving all customers a can'tmiss offer. Draft one,
13:55get one. Enter a lineup in the $20 million best baseball contest for just $25 and you'll receive a bonus baseball ticket to play again free for a share of
14:0620 million, giving you a second shot to be crowned a millionaire. It's simple.
14:11Just draft your team once. No weekly management. Let your top scorers automatically start each week. Every breakout star, every clutch play, and
14:20every touchdown counts towards your shot at a share of $20 million. Download the DraftKings Daily Fantasy app and enter a lineup for the $20 million baseball
14:29contest for just $25 and get a bonus ticket to play free for another shot to win big. That's two shots without ever
14:36setting your lineups again in DraftKings biggest baseball contest ever. Draft one, get one only on DraftKings. The crown is yours in partnership with
14:45DraftKings. Gambling problem, call 1800 gambler. New York, call 877 HOPENY or
14:52texty. Connecticut, call 888789777 or visit ccpg.org.
15:0118 plus in most states. Restrictions apply. One per customer. Enter the best baseball 20 million headliner contest to get one bonus entry. $25 entry fee
15:11required. Reward expires at contest lock September 9th, 2026. See terms at draftkings.com/promotions.
15:20Sponsored by DraftKings.
15:23Zayn, why don't you let everybody know about your work, what you have coming out, um, and what you've been doing.
15:30>> Yeah, so you can find my work on fantasypoints.com. Um, just search for my articles. I wrote an article about, uh, everything that I heard at OTAAS.
15:37Um, you can check that out. I did a podcast with Graham Barfield as well. Um I did one with Dwayne McFarland. I have
15:43many more coming up. I'm doing this awesome one with Theo, one of my favorite analysts out there. Not saying that just because I'm on your show. Um
15:51but then on top of that, I did a I did a really big deep dive in route depth as well and how that impacts fantasy uh
15:57value for receivers. Go check that out.
16:00I think this is something that might be a little bit more groundbreaking, something new to bring to the industry.
16:04uh being able to use fantasy points data to tell you uh what route depth what route depth tells you in terms of what
16:11uh receivers actually do and what their role is uh in an offense. And um yeah, that that was an article that I think
16:18caught a lot of traction on X and Reddit. Um and then I have my own show that I do as well. Um if you search
16:24YouTube or you search uh um Apple Podcasts or Spotify, you can find it.
16:30It's called The Cutup. Uh it's called the cutup show and I basically go through all my news and notes and analytics there on almost a daily basis
16:37and I will be doing it more daily uh throughout the offseason uh the rest of the offseason during training camp. Um
16:43so you guys can check that out. Uh really just catching you up, right? Like and they all build on top of each other
16:49sequentially. So if you haven't like actually kept up with the news, you can go back to the first show and be like,
16:55"All right, what what was the perspective on BLA 2 like we talked about here?" Um, so that's those are all the things that I'm trying to to to do
17:02right now. And then, you know, go into NFL training camp, see if I can find some some clips of Luther Burden doing
17:08some crazy things. Um, see if uh if Roma Dunes is actually uh his foot is actually healthy. Uh see if Coulson
17:16Lovelin's being stretched out into the slot. Who's playing that slot role for uh for Ben Johnson's offense? Th those are all the things I'm grinding this
17:23this off season. And Zane, let everybody know your Twitter handle or your handle on X, excuse me.
17:30>> Yeah, you can find me, Denani Zay, Dhja Nani, Z- A N. Um, yeah, I'm I'm probably one of the most active Twitter people
17:39right now. Uh, you know, we're in this lull of training camp or before training camp and I'm just trying to grind every
17:46little piece of news that there is out there. Um, trying to make sense of it.
17:49I'm kind of coining myself as the signal analyst. Other people have called me fantasy shfter. Um, it's been fun. Yeah, you guys can find me there.
17:57>> Yeah, there we go. And yeah, Zayn's very active. If there's anything sort of out there, Zayn is breaking it down. And
18:02Zayn, I I think your your your sleep is probably lacking at this point because you're you're grinding all these articles and like all these like like
18:09beat reporters dropping and and and then Zayn will drop a post on it on X. So, highly recommend following him. We
18:15mentioned Travis CTN, we mentioned Jacksonville. Um, we'll also look at sort of Javvante Williams last year where you find these backfields where
18:22the fantasy uh community doesn't really know what to do with them. They sort of chase the younger player. Um, you've got
18:30Javvante Williams at this time last year. People were sort of talking about could Jaden Blue be the guy. Then Travis Tienne, obviously the the Bashel Tutin
18:38kept him manageable uh manageable value pretty much all off season. this year.
18:44Minnesota, it's an offense where there is there is a little bit of optimism in in the fantasy community for a bounceback season from Justin Jefferson,
18:53a bounceback season really from Kevin Oonnell. Uh a lot of optimism with Kyler Murray recently where he's going in ADP.
19:00Could he end up having a bounceback year? Then you got the backfield where I think a lot of people are trying to
19:05figure it out. Is there a clear lead back in this backfield for you when you look at Aaron Jones, Jordan Mason, where
19:12are the vibes here and could we see a player who provides big ADP wins out of this backfield and what are we looking
19:19for at training camp?
19:21>> Yeah, so uh Vikings insider Matt Coller.
19:24Um if you guys don't follow him, he's a really good follow for the Vikings information. Um he's a credentialed person that goes to all the practices,
19:31all sorts of stuff like that. Does his own podcast, has his own website. Um, I've been following him a lot lately,
19:36reading all of his content, and he's been pretty bullish on, uh, Jordan Mason being the lead back in this offense, right? Um, and I think it's really
19:45important to also note what this offense is looking to do this year because it's going to look a little bit different
19:50than what it has looked like in the past. So, um, Kevin Oonnell has been famous for doing kind of this midzone
19:56rushing concept uh, the past couple of years. What they're looking to do is more of a wide zone concept. they're looking at something more like a Miami
20:03Dolphins uh type of rushing scheme or a San Francisco 49ers rushing scheme. So, that's that's quite a change. And then you add in a guy like Jawan Jennings
20:11who's more of a blocking type of receiver that that can really accentuate these outside zone runs that they want to do um and be like a factor in that in
20:21from that perspective. And then we also talk about, hey, this offense has usually wanted to operate under center.
20:27Uh they're talking about doing more things out of the shotgun, not just from a run perspective, a pass perspective as well. Uh to to more fit Kyler Murray.
20:36They brought in um Frank Smith uh from the Dolphins as well to to mimic some of that Dolphins rushing scheme as well. So
20:44I think what you're going to see here is um this rushing game is going to look completely different. And I think one of
20:50my favorite ways to invest in fantasy is look for the ugly duckling. the ugly ducking duckling in this situation from most people. Nobody wants to invest in
20:59this in this Vikings backfield because most people see it as a split. They see Jordan Mason as a as a guy who probably
21:06can't catch passes. There's nothing like exciting about this profile in general, but then think back to what he did with the 49ers. Uh I believe the first few
21:16weeks of the season he was a top five fantasy running back. if this offense leans heavier into the run from which
21:21from all reports is what I'm reading is going to happen uh and they're changing the scheme to be more favorable and be
21:27more like a Shanahan offense.
21:30You're going to see a guy like Jordan Mason have the potential to put up big fantasy numbers. He's obviously going to
21:36be the goal lineback. He's also going to do a lot of the early rushing down work.
21:40And then they've also talked about, hey, maybe we'll we will get him involved in the pass past pass game. You never know.
21:46We saw what Javvante Williams did last year. he was going in roughly the same area of the draft. And then he didn't
21:52even com he didn't even really do much in the past game, but he still had a big season that paid off at fantasy value. I
21:57can see a lot of similarities with what what's going on with Jordan Mason this year. Uh potentially paying off. Uh the
22:03Vikings have had a strong offense in the past. the best way to invest is when you see a a down season from an offense
22:10because everyone wants to jump ship and now you're getting back into an offense that that could uh step up with adequate
22:17quarterback play.
22:20>> It's interesting because I think Aaron Jones like people have gotten so comfortable to clicking the button and now you're seeing like a later round
22:27double digit round Aaron Jones exposure for some in some formats. But Jordan Mason has had back-to-back seasons where he's had over 700 rushing yards. He's
22:38sort of just hanging around this year. I think there was like maybe more steam for him last off season than this off
22:44season when Minnesota acquired him and he was coming off of like that opportunistic RB1 stretch in San Francisco when Christian McCaffrey was
22:52banged up and now Jordan Mason's just sort of hanging out there. Um, like I think the fade of Aaron Jones makes a
22:59little bit of sense here considering he's older. He'll turn 32 this year. Uh, Derrick Henry is really the only back who's uh the similar age to Aaron Jones
23:09and is going to get like a heavy week one workload. And if Aaron Jones were to miss time, Jordan Mason, we've already seen him put
23:16it together and give us like a month of RB1 production. If you can time that correctly, maybe that's a second half of
23:23the year Jordan Mason runs with it. Or maybe we're just mis mis like managing this entire backfield and Jordan Mason should be valued a little bit more like
23:31a seventh round ADP if it's really guys internally in Minnesota looking for him to take that next step. So a lot of
23:37times we get excited about guys in year one on a team and they end up sort of being a post hype producer. Maybe it's a
23:44Jordan Mason does better as a second year as a Minnesota Viking. So, that's a really interesting one for sure. Zayn, let's talk about sort of the biggest
23:52name out there on the open market right now and a player that's going to have an impact no matter where he signs. Stfan
23:59Diggs has continually been a guy that has has earned a 20% plus target share.
24:06Uh he's certainly not a guy who's just going to blend in. He's a, you know, a guy who commands a lot of attention both
24:12on and off the field. Diggs was solid last year in New England, over a thousand receiving yards and averaged 12 and a half points per game in PPR. You
24:22go back to the season before in Houston where I believe he was like a fif correct me if I'm wrong here Zane
24:26because I didn't pull this one up, but I believe he was averaging like 15 points per game when he went down with with
24:31that injury. So, we've had Stefon Diggs, you know, sort of beating expectations for back-to-back seasons. Now, he's sort of just out there. Where are you
24:40projecting him to land and what sort of impact could he have to some of the pieces around him on that offense you're
24:46predicting?
24:47>> I'm not gonna bury the lead here. I think he's one of the best values on the board. If you're drafting right now, I
24:53would scoop him up because in within two or three weeks, he's probably going to be on a team. Um, by all reports, right?
24:59So, we're talking about the the biggest national insiders and all of them being very consistent about what they're hearing and then even going a level
25:06deeper going to every single uh beatw writer that um that writes for the Washington Commanders and then also the Ravens. Those are the two teams you hear
25:16his name come up the most. So, um what I've heard is essentially the commanders are very interested in having Sfon Digs
25:24services as part of their team, right?
25:27um they notably have a very deficient kind of wide receiver two uh position available. I actually and this this could come off as a hot take, but I
25:36think there's a situation where he might be the the leader in that wide receiver room if he were to join the commanders.
25:42Um his targets per route run numbers have been higher than Terry McLaren's pretty much his entire career. Even last year, previous season, we're talking 25%
25:51uh targets per route run. And then in 2024 for McLuren, it was like 22%. So, I I don't think it would be too much of a
25:57hot take to say like who's actually the wide receiver one if he did join that team. Um, so I put his odds at roughly
26:0450% at going to the Commanders and then about 25% for the Ravens. Um, I do keep hearing things about him joining the
26:12Ravens. Uh, they're looking for more more depth. Uh, somebody that can come in there, provide more experience, obviously going for a Super Bowl run.
26:20And then I have a 25% kind of like is there a random team out there that that could just kind of come in there? Is the
26:26the Rams are they just like going for the Super Bowl and they want to add like a random another piece to the puzzle
26:31here? Um teams like that. I I haven't heard anything on the Chiefs. I know like there's been speculation that the Chiefs should add a guy like him, but I
26:39just think the fit uh with how their kind of roster is constructed. Um they kind of need more of like a deeper to
26:46intermediate type of receiver and that's not really Stfan Diggs game anymore.
26:49He's more of like the short to intermediate game. They they just have too many overlapping skill sets there.
26:54So, um I think most likely he's going to end up on the Commanders within the next two or three weeks. Um, Shfter said it
27:02himself that that he expects early training camp he'll be on a team. So, now is the time to buy if you're going
27:07to buy. I think his ADP is kind of in that like 120 plus range right now.
27:11>> Yeah, I've been drafting him a lot on underdog and I remember last year sort of doing the podcast with Scott Barrett
27:17when I was at Fantasy Points and Scott was sort of like patting the table for for you to for like people to draft
27:22Keenan Allen. It sort of feels a little bit like Keenan Allen, but I'd say that the ceiling outcome for Diggs will be
27:28better than what we saw from Allen last year. I I might disagree with you a little bit on the number one in
27:35Washington. I think McLaren, you know, we have the familiarity with with Jaden Daniels. Uh we saw the huge season from Terry McLaren uh two seasons ago in
27:44Jaden Daniels rookie season, but I do think it could be closer than the ADP market is is showing us now. Um, and I
27:51would say that Stfane Diggs would be an improvement over what we saw from Debo Samuel last year in Washington. Debo, they lost Debo, and Debo was sort of a
28:0111ish points per game type guy last year. So, I think Diggs kind of returning value to like similar numbers that we saw in New England. That is sort
28:10of a like a median outcome with a chance that if Zayn's correct, he could end up being a huge winner here. Um, and then
28:17we talk about like the regional ties.
28:19And I brought this one up with with Washington and Diggs before, but Diggs went to Good Council High School, which is in Montgomery County, Maryland. Uh,
28:27the Washington Commanders play in PG County, Maryland. So, like literally like 15 minutes away from where he went to high school. And then Owings Mills is
28:34where the Ravens have their practice facility, which is I think that's I'm guessing Howard County. That's right near uh that's right near Good Council
28:42as well. So, like a lot of like DMV ties to both of these teams. it would make sense for Dick.
28:48>> Yeah, he's he's he's out there.
28:51>> Yeah, he's he's he's practicing at the University of Maryland right now. You can watch clips on on you on uh on X
28:56right now. Like he's he's probably going to post something today where he's running routes at University of Maryland, which is I think like kind of
29:03like right between both.
29:05>> Yes, that's that would be know we're going we're going deep into the rabbit hole. That's PG County, too. So that's
29:10like right near where where Washington plays. So, it would make total sense for Diggs uh to sort of end his career where
29:16he sort of grew up and where he played his high school ball. Like a nice little homecoming vibe there. So, really an
29:22interesting one to keep an eye on with Stfan Diggs. And I'll say just regarding Mclloren, it would kill the Terry McLaren gets 145
29:31target like career year target numbers.
29:34It would kill that one. It would also have an impact on the Chi conquo bowl season where there'll be be people
29:40pushing back like in the chat on this one and they'll say, you know, Theo like Chig has big playability uh yards after
29:47catch. It could be a completely different thing and like sort of look what Zack Z was able to do target share-wise with Jaden Daniels. But Zayn,
29:54you know this where if I'm telling you that the tight end is doesn't necessarily have a pathway to being a top two target, it really limits their
30:01fantasy ceiling. So, I think Diggs would have an impact on multiple guys if he ends up there. And in Baltimore, I feel
30:07like it's almost a better fit because we're playing musical chairs with who the wide receiver two in Baltimore would be. Um, from a diggs perspective,
30:15Washington is a better landing spot for him, but in terms of keeping things clean for us as fantasy managers, him landing up in Baltimore would be like a
30:23much cleaner outcome. Would you agree on that one?
30:26>> Yeah, I agree with that. I I don't see the same ceiling case because I think Z Flower's a cut above in terms of talent
30:32than Tara McLuren. Um that I don't know if people feel the same way, but I I certainly do.
30:36>> Yeah. No, I'm Zay all day.
30:38>> Yeah. Yeah. Zay all day on that one. Um the big thing that I also think about is the impact on the quarterbacks. Like I
30:44still think that Jaden's a really good value even right now. And imagine if they add a Stfan Digs to that offense.
30:50Like it I think it elevates his ceiling as well in terms of outcomes that you could see from a Jaden Daniels
30:56perspective. And same with Lamar. Like both of these guys could utilize a guy like Stfan Diggs who brings a a really
31:02strong floor to your offense. So I'm I'm actually bullish on what it could do for both of those quarterbacks. And I think
31:08both of them are going at like very reasonable ADPs right now without those guy without diggs on the team. Then you
31:13add a Diggs and to me it's like yeah I I should be drafting these guys.
31:21>> Talk about Josh DS in Indianapolis. I know it's a player that you've been bullish on potentially for this season.
31:28What are the chances that he's out on the field in two wide receiver sets? Is it a given, Zayn, that he's going to be
31:34out there um and really play more of a full-time role this year? And what are also the chances you think that he could
31:40lead Indianapolis in targets this year?
31:43I've made the case for Tyler Warren. Um, but what are some things we should be looking at with Josh Down's usage in
31:49training camp and your general vibes with him as we head into the 2026 fantasy football season?
31:55>> Yeah, so all reports out of out of OTAAS were that he was working as an outside receiver. Now, that could just be, hey,
32:02they're trying to give him some reps, see if he can do it, what what opportunity exists for him. Um, I mean,
32:07famously, even games where Michael Pitman or Alec Pierce missed a game, he was not playing on the outside previously. So, uh, they would they
32:15would slot in a guy like Anthony Gold, who, you know, who who even knows who that is really, um, instead of a Josh
32:22DS. But, you know, I think coming into this season, they're open to giving him that opportunity. So, we're going to be
32:28watching that very closely, uh, at training camp and making sure that you guys know what the situation is there.
32:34Um, but I think the main thing there is that they're they're going to try to give him the opportunity to showcase
32:40himself. And then they're also going to think about creative ways to make sure that he doesn't see that press coverage that you would would that you would want
32:46a guy of his stature to be able to see, right? So, putting him at the Z receiver, a guy that could come in
32:53motion, a guy that's on the same side as the tight end where he doesn't have to line up on the line of scrimmage, so he
32:57can't get pressed immediately coming out of his route. That's kind of the opportunity that they they've talked about him in is being able to uh get him
33:06easier kind of like looks so that he doesn't have to take that press coverage. Um, I've I've talked about this a little bit, but I think that he's
33:13very live to see a 75% plus route share this season. And that would be huge because I think the past couple of
33:19seasons he's been closer to like 60 65%.
33:21Uh, getting that extra 10% gives him a lot more opportunities when it comes to target targets for route run, target share, all sorts of different things
33:29that that could come his way. Um, I'm with you that I think that this is going to be a situation where Tyler Warren's
33:36probably going to lead the team in targets only because I think that he just like there's just no way he's coming off the field. Um, but I would
33:44say that that that Josh DS is a dark horse to be that guy, too. So, where he's going right now, he goes I think in
33:51most drafts he's going close to like a Jordan, Jaden Reed. Um, I see more upside for him than than those two guys
33:57right now, just given the fact that he could actually be like the wide receiver one for this team. Um, as the season
34:03goes on, there's still the risk with Alec Pierce. They could bring in a veteran, but even when I've I've uh listened to what the beat writers have
34:09said about bringing in a veteran, they're thinking about those vets more of like a third down specialist type of role. Um, like a Keenan Allen, Debo
34:16Samuel type of player. So, I I see immense upside for Josh DS this year. um think that that he could have a career
34:24season for himself and he's I think he's also in a contract season too. So this is this is a big one for him.
34:29>> Yeah, he'll be a free agent next off seasonason. You can you could see a scenario where he has a career year this
34:34year and parlays it into like a big you know a new narrative sort of as a dynasty asset and heading into 2027 he
34:41could be in a really good situation. Um we saw you know outstanding play for him in 2024. It feels like it's like a post
34:49type sleeper Josh Down situation. I agree. He's a really fun click. He's wide receiver 43 on underdog. If he stays healthy, I feel like this is
34:58almost kind of below his floor. Um it's really like the can he provide you enough ceiling weeks to make a huge
35:04fantasy impact, but I think at the very least he's going to be the kind of guy that you want to roster to use as a
35:10potential wide receiver three, maybe a flex, especially in wide receiver heavy formats. So with you on Josh Downs, somewhat similar situation here in
35:19Philadelphia. This is a player that I was kind of arguing with. You know, a lot of my former colleagues at Fantasy
35:25Points when I was over there, I was very bullish on Mai Lemon. Uh had some arguments with some guys I really
35:31respect over at Fantasy Points. And really one of the arguments they were making was he's got a limited um ceiling because he's going to have to play the
35:39slot predominantly as a rookie. I sort of have read into what Philadelphia beat reporters have said about how we could see him out on the field in two wide
35:49receiver sets. Are you there as well, Zayn? And what are you uh hearing and what should we be looking for in
35:55training camp regarding Mai Lemon?
35:58>> Yeah, unfortunately uh at OTAAS's um Mai Lemon ended up having a hamstring injury. So that limited the exposure that we were all going to get and be
36:06able to see what happens when when they have everybody on the field. Uh but coming into training camp, he should be
36:11healthy. Uh so that that hamstring sounds like, you know, everything's good there. He's going to be fine. Um but the big thing here is watching and seeing
36:20what happens in these two wide receiver sets. It's a it's a factor because of the Shawn Manion offense where he's supposed to kind of like implement this
36:28more like two wide receiver, two tight end set that he wants to put in 12 personnel. Um and yeah, his profile
36:35coming out of college was more slot heavy, right? So everybody's kind of concerned like is this guy going to play in those two wide receiver sets? Can he
36:42play on the outside? We're just not certain that that's the case. Uh I think he has the opportunity to showcase himself doing that. Uh beat writers have
36:50said as much as well. Basically I think there was a report from Adam Kaplan uh who's a noted uh Philly insider who
36:58talked about hey this guy they drafted him in the first round. They've talked about using him on the outside. He's probably going to be used in that
37:05outside receiver role. Uh when they go into two wide receiver sets, they're going to find creative ways to make sure that he kind of similar to Josh Downs
37:12where he doesn't necessarily play on the line of scrimmage. They use condensed splits. They kind of use him in a way
37:18where he's in motion situations where he doesn't get jammed at the line of scrimmage. Things that that you don't want to see for a guy that can't ne
37:25hasn't necessarily had the profile of playing on the outside. So, um, the way that I actually see it is he's going to
37:32have the opportunity. It may rotate a little bit, especially at the beginning of the season, right? Rookie's coming in. Let's put him in the situation.
37:38Let's see how he handles it. If he doesn't handle it immediately out of the gate, um, in the most perfect way, I
37:45think they could use Dantavian Wix in that situation a little bit more. Uh, but as the season goes on, by the end of
37:51the season, we're going to see him a full route chair. I mean, that's what happens with rookies, right? like especially these back half of the first
37:57round rookies, you're going to see him basically get that expanded role whether whether he deserves it or not. So that's that's the reason why he's going to have
38:05it. Um Dantavian Wixs is is solid too.
38:08He's a he's a good like separation guy, right? Like we were at Fantasy Points, we talked to a guy like Brett
38:14Whitefield, like this is a guy that most people like from a film perspective. Um, and he he knows the Shawn Manion scheme,
38:20which is great, but at the same time, you know, you just invested a first round pick. Uh, Mai Lemon has shown that
38:28he can do a lot of things from yards after a catch perspective. So, he brings something different than a Devonte Smith
38:33does. And that's the reason why they want to utilize him in that way is just get him like easy looks off the line of
38:38scrimmage. Um, have him in motion. And I I think there's a lot of opportunity for him this season. It's really just a
38:44matter of if he fits the way that Jaylen Herz like where Jaylen like Herz likes to throw the ball. That's the only
38:50concern that I have right right now.
38:53>> Yeah, it's a really interesting one because the the opportunity cost is so low to draft Mai Lemon versus where we're used to seeing some of the wide
39:01receivers that are drafted in his range.
39:03I mean, certainly Casey Conpsion is is way lower and he's cheaper, but we have huge question marks about Cleveland quarterback situation. Philly. It seems
39:14pretty clear to me that Lemon could end up being in a situation where he's pretty heavily utilized. And you bring up the internal pressure that Philly is
39:21going to have to sort of show a return on their investment. You've got that factor in your favor where it's almost
39:26like Lemon's job to lose. Um, and the fact that Dantavian Wixs has been sort of a a guy that we've seen put it
39:33together in a very short sample size, but it's not like some guy that's come in with like a bunch of like great years
39:39put together uh competing with Lemon.
39:41So, I think Lemon's a really fun click right now for me. It's really the hamstring and I'm looking at it Zayn
39:48where if he's fully ramped up and fully healthy in training camp and there's no limitations then I'm going to continue to sort of click that button in baseball
39:56but I'm also mixing in some exposure in reddraft as well. So he's a really really interesting one. Let's pivot over to the tight end position. You've got
40:04George KD who's coming off of the Achilles injury. He was tight end three in points per game last year. Again played a a limited season but he was the
40:13tight end three in points per game. sort of a an evergreen type thing to say about George KD who's always seemingly
40:19top three to five in tight end points per game every single year uh pretty much of his entire career. He's going
40:26off the board as tight end nine in ADP.
40:28So if you're drafting in a format like FFPC that might mean the sixth or the seventh round. If you're drafting in a
40:35format like NFC or Sleeper or Yahoo or ESPN, he's going lower than we've seen George KD pretty much ever. Um, and in
40:43best and in best baseball drafts, he's a pretty easy click as well, like on underdog and draft kings. Where are you
40:48at in terms of what we want to see from George KD? And what are the vibes on whether or not he'll be back for week
40:56one or really Zane? I would call it a win if we see him in in week three. Are you there with George KD? We all see
41:03like the videos on X of him doing like trap bar deadlifts. We we saw like a a treadmill thing, but it's a little
41:11different than playing football.
41:13>> Yeah. So, I think the big thing was coming out of tight end university, seeing him do some cutting, like even
41:19those kind of like half speed, like three/arter speed, seeing him do some of those things were were big. Um, and then
41:25people probably don't know this about me, but I have some like medical background as well. So, uh, just talking to other people in the industry, um, I
41:32I've been talking to doctors about this, like orthopedic surgeons about this for quite some time, actually, dating back to when Cam Acres had a Achilles uh,
41:41tear. The way that this is all trending nowadays for these Achilles injuries is it's not the same concern it used to be
41:48in the early 2000s where we were like, man, this guy's career is basically over. Um, there's a new procedure that people are doing. This is called the
41:54speedbridge procedure. Um that basically speeds up the time here uh by you know probably like 2x from what it used to
42:02be. Um so and then on top of that George KD's injury was higher up on the calf which from all reports and talking to
42:11doctors everything that has to do with that makes this injury recovery so much cleaner so much better that you can come
42:18back to full performance within 6 months. And he's I think he's at about like a five to six month timeline already right now. Um, and he talked
42:25about how how he was hitting 16 miles per hour on the treadmill probably about two months ago. Um, they're going to
42:31take it easy with him right at training camp. So, we're not going to see like a full-on, hey, here's George KD. We're
42:37going out there and and he's taking all the reps and everything like that.
42:40That's just not going to happen. Um, the timeline is expected to be ready for week one. Now, whether he plays week one
42:47or not, it's it's a bit of a nuance situation, right? Their first week is in Australia against the Rams. So there's
42:54all the talk about what from a recovery standpoint coming off like your first ba major like load on top on your Achilles.
43:02Do you really want to go on a big long flight coming back to the US and then you know having to do all the all the
43:09rehab stuff that you would have to do?
43:11Um so I think that you know we talk about FFPC. I keep I keep saying this. I don't think he's gonna actually play
43:16week one. I think that he will sit out that first week. And from a FFPPC perspective, Jake Tongs makes a great
43:22like late last round pick because you get that free look. And so I keep thinking about, hey, week one, I just
43:28want Jake Tongues in my lineup uh or on my roster. But for week two plus, uh they have a home stretch. I think it's
43:34from week two to week four at least. Um I think he's a great pick. Like he I I think he's going to be playing at least
43:42at least week two. And then let's talk about gaining that explosion back. Maybe it takes a couple of weeks to ramp up.
43:49Uh you can't find guys like this where you can basically get it all in a draft, right? Um FFBC, you said, you know,
43:56round six, but in Yahoo, like reddraft leagues, ESPN leagues, or or again in baseball, you have the ability to go get
44:04elite running backs, elite wide receivers, even elite quarterbacks at the same time and then tack on a guy that can be top three at his position in
44:12George KD. That seems like a cheat code to me. It's it's it's honestly one of my my hottest takes of the year that I
44:17think that you should be scooping him up as much as you possibly can right now.
44:22>> Yeah. I mean, again, George KD is George KD. It's every time we doubt him, he ends up crushing it ADP-wise. I was sort
44:29of a a KD fade maybe like two months ago. I've started to try to like really play catch-up in my exposure. Um I took
44:36him in in a 350 and FFPC a couple months ago for super cheap. Now we're starting to see him go at like the early sixth
44:43round. Um, but I'm with you, especially in these baseball formats where you're playing against a large scale field and you're trying to find ways to find, you
44:52know, like an an ADP that could absolutely smash. He's a really really easy click and completely with you. It's just a if you have apprehension on
45:02whether or not he plays early. I mean, I've sort of taken the maybe San Francisco is lying to us, but I feel
45:08like I'm looking more and more wrong as the weeks move along with KD. Uh just taking Jake Tonis, great call out, Zayn,
45:15because you get essentially a handcuff where the ceiling outcomes won't be there, but I think Tanis gives you like a floor play that's absolutely free in
45:23most formats. And if you're an NFC uh or FFPC drafter, you get that little fun free look in game one. Maybe Tanjis,
45:30they find him twice in the end zone and you cash out just right there. So, really fun one. Uh let's finish up by
45:36talking about one more tight end. Let's talk about a big-time sleeper here. And the LA Rams last year were fifth overall
45:45in tight end targets and they were first overall in tight end touchdown catches.
45:50We all saw sort of the discourse all offseason long about just how heavy their use of 12 and 13 personnel were,
45:58but it feels like it's a work in progress. Are there some things we should look at when we look at training
46:04camp for LA? And who is the best bet to lead this tight end room in fantasy points? And could that player end up
46:12being a weekly fantasy starter for us, Zane?
46:15Yeah. So, another guy, Sean McVey, who typically likes to do like kind of like a red shirt season. That's This didn't
46:21happen for Puka, but it does happen for a lot of players on that offense, right?
46:25There's a lot to learn when it comes in to coming into the NFL and learning that scheme. Uh Terence Ferguson's a really
46:31interesting one, right? Coming into year two, had a really nice profile coming out of college that people were really excited about. um didn't play as much as
46:39most people had hoped uh because even though the the uh tight end room didn't sound like it was any sort of world
46:45beaters. You're talking about Tyler Higgby and and Kobe Park Parkinson types, but got some playing time closer to the end of the season, they started
46:52throwing in 12 and 13 personnel. Um and then coming into this off seasonason, every article you read from the the Athletic and even ESPN talks about how
47:01they want to deploy Terence Ferguson, right? They want to up his usage.
47:04they're hoping that he can can do more for them. And a lot of it comes back to they don't have like a really strong
47:11wide receiver three. And so the way that they want to utilize him is kind of in that wide receiver three role. People
47:16used to draft a guy like 22 Atwell at the end of drafts just to, you know, hey, this guy's more of a deep threat.
47:22He's going to catch on maybe for best ball like he'll catch a deep ball, something like that, right? Um and that's essentially the role that they
47:28deployed for him uh last year, but in small doses. And now this year they're kind of talking about it and talking
47:35about it more and saying, "Hey, that's kind of the role that we want him to play right now." And then you think
47:39about the contingent upside as well, right? So, um, playing that more like slot style receiver that he's going to he's going to be in. Um, what if Devonte
47:49Adams gets hurt? What if Puka gets hurt?
47:51Then there's more target opportunities for a guy like this that can do some something big. Tight end's always a crapshoot in general. So, you want to
47:58lean into these offenses that are one projected to score a lot of touchdowns because that's how you score points at tight end, two, a guy that's going to be
48:04on the field a lot and running deep as a tight end. There's really not many profiles that you look at when you talk
48:09about a deep threat tight end um out there. Uh I think Terrence Ferguson last year is kind of like an outlier and you
48:16think about like a Kyle Pitts 2023 season where it's like, hey, this guy's running vertical routes and not even doing as much underneath. um you can get
48:23some major spike week points out of a guy like Terren Ferguson running in that type of role. And yeah, we talked about
48:29the upside, right? There's there's the contingent upside uh factor as well. Um the year two growth that you see out of
48:36tight ends out of a lot of tight ends most times just given the fact that the tight end position is one of those ones
48:41that um doesn't translate immediately in the NFL because you got to there's a lot to do when it comes to being just a
48:47notable blocker as well. So, he's a guy that I think at his price right now in in reddraft leagues in um you know, even
48:55FFBC, like he's going later than most tight ends, you could do better. You can do worse than just like throwing a dart at
49:02a guy like Terence Ferguson who I'm expecting to see, you know, a major elevation in what his role is this year
49:08based on everything I've read from uh from Rams camp.
49:12>> Yeah, he's he's tight end 28 right now on underdog. So, he's been a player that I've been clicking on a lot, but I've
49:17also mixed him in a ton in FFPC, and I'm open-minded also in like an NFC, ESPN sleeper format to taking him super late.
49:25We talk about elite athleticism translating at the tight end position.
49:30And with Ferguson, a 9.84 Raz score, ran a 46340 at 247 pounds. So, really, really, really athletic tight end. And we had a lot of really positive coach
49:41speak from Shawn McVey when they drafted him. Sort of making comparisons to guys like Chris Kulie who he had in Washington as a potential Ferguson uh
49:50outcome. And Zayn, tight ends are allowed to uh give us year two and year three breakouts. They don't all have to
49:57produce as rookies like we see some of these guys these days. So really, really fun one. Uh you crushed it today, Zayn.
50:03Let everybody know what you have coming out uh and where they can find your work.
50:07Yeah. So, I'm doing a whole series on SiriusXM right now with Fantasy Life.
50:12Actually, um you can catch me on Mondays from 10:20 a.m. or 10:20 a.m. Central for about 15 minutes doing these training camp updates. Um I've got some
50:22more articles coming out on Fantasy Points coming soon. Uh and you can catch my YouTube show, The Cut Up Show on
50:28YouTube. Uh you can also find it on Apple and Spotify as well.
50:31>> Yeah, make sure >> doing a lot of content med im media tour right now.
50:34>> Yeah, make sure to check out everything Zay's doing. And Zayn's definitely uh blown up this summer for a reason. He's
50:40putting in a ton of work behind it. Um I mean really one of the better follows on X right now in terms of dropping
50:46information that can help you win in fantasy football. If you enjoyed this show, u make sure that you stick with us. We're going to be dropping daily
50:54shows all throughout July and August.
50:56Stick with us at Rotoire. We're going to help you crush your fantasy leagues this season.
