PodcastFrom Yahoo Fantasy Forecast
Fantasy Rankings Refresh: 10 players that are ranked too high and too low
STACKED extracted the fantasy-relevant player signal from this podcast and kept the full transcript here for context.
58 min
Duration
Estimated from transcript
Jul 1, 2026
Published
Wed, July 1, 2026
6
Player insights
6
Players mentioned
Topics
Drake MayeIsaiah LikelyJustin HerbertPatrick MahomesQuentin JohnstonRashee Rice
Player analysis
Player insights
Drake Maye
NegativeValue11:00
Matt Harmon notes that while Drake May got A.J. Brown and Dobbs as great additions, making the offense much better in pieces around him, his fade is purely market-based, not skill-based or scheme-based. The market is pricing him too high relative to similar production available at more affordable prices later.
Insight pageIsaiah Likely
PositiveProjection12:00
Matt Harmon believes Isaiah Likely, currently TE11 at 108th overall ADP, should be ranked a few spots higher. With Malik Neighbors potentially starting the year on PUP and the Giants' ambiguous wide receiver room, Likely is positioned to lead the team in targets, similar to how Tucker Craft was positioned last year before injury.
Insight pageJustin Herbert
PositiveValue5:45
Scott Pianowski believes Herbert has MVP upside if things fall right with the Chargers' improved offensive line, new offensive coordinator Mike McDaniel, and fresh playbook. Currently consensus QB9, Pianowski sees him as a strong arbitrage play—you can get Herbert four or five rounds later than early-round QBs like Drake May and still get comparable or better production.
Insight pagePatrick Mahomes
NegativeProjection18:00
Scott Pianowski expresses skepticism about whether the Chiefs can bounce back to their dominant form, noting that the team has been a mediocre middle-of-the-pack offense for two straight years and the idea that Mahomes will just be the dominant player in the NFL is uncertain; he wants to see it before believing it.
Insight pageQuentin Johnston
PositiveValue9:20
Matt Harmon is intrigued by Johnston at his very late ADP, noting that his rookie year struggles are still held against him when he's improved beyond that. Harmon believes Johnston's improved play is undervalued in the market.
Insight pageRashee Rice
NegativeBust17:00
Scott Pianowski believes Rasheed Rice, currently WR12, has not come down nearly enough in ADP despite multiple red flags: he failed a drug test and will serve jail time, had a recent cleanup procedure, we don't know how healthy he'll be on opening day, he's had trouble staying healthy the last few years, and the Chiefs offense has been mediocre middle-of-the-pack for two straight years. Pianowski sees Rice's floor as wrecking your season as a third-round pick with no real floor, only upside.
Insight pageFull transcript
Episode Transcript
0:00Big show for you here today. I'm back. Vacation is over and it is time to lock in for fantasy football season.
0:06And on that note, Scott Pianowski joins me to look at some early consensus ADP and guys that we think need to
0:12be moved higher or lower up the board. We've got Chargers talk for you.
0:16We've got boring value veterans that you need to be a little bit higher on.
0:21All that and more coming up on today's show.
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1:49It is my good buddy, Scott Pianowski. Scott, what's going on, man?
1:52Oh, it's great to see. It's great to hear you.
1:55You are back in a Matt Harmon groove. And yeah, you get those reps in with Nate Tice.
2:00You're going to be back up to speed in no time.
2:03Just so glad to be teammates with Nate, teammates with you.
2:06And we got a really fun show today because we're going to give you actionable takes.
2:11We're going to give you guys that we like more and less in the market.
2:15You're supposed to sell it, but I'm kind of pre-selling it.
2:18This is a fun show. So when you guys invite me and call in producer calling, you know, lets me know what's going on.
2:25I'm able to do anything. But when I saw what we were doing today, I'm like, oh, this is just going to
2:31be a fun hour talking football with Matt. Sign me up.
2:34Yeah, listen, I've been gone for almost a month now and we're just starting to kind of turn our brains, you know,
2:40back into truly into fantasy mode here. Really, it's got to be a Scott says actionable.
2:45I was like, let's just hit a layup on this one.
2:48Okay, let's just let's just look at the ADP.
2:51Let's look at consensus ADP and talk about some guys we like more or less just typical, you know, Scott, I know you're an elite golfer.
2:58I believe if I can use that correctly, you're an elite golfer.
3:01So, you know, we just want to get one right down the fairway.
3:05That is what this show is going to be.
3:07Scott said we are talking 10 guys that should be higher or lower than ADP.
3:12I've got five names. Scott's got five names. We're just going to talk about these players here for the next hour or so.
3:18But Scott, I got to say, man, it's July 1st.
3:21How much did this sneak up on you that training camp is like right around the corner?
3:26It very much snuck up on me because again, I'm still trying to get myself back into work mode here and I'm
3:32very excited to be back in work mode. Honestly, the juices are flowing for football.
3:36There's no question about that. But it's snuck up on me, man.
3:40I don't know how prepared you feel, but hopefully more prepared than I am.
3:43Well, I think I've banked more vacation time than you have.
3:47I'm hoping to take a little bit of time off in July, maybe around the all-star break.
3:51And anybody who's played golf, by the way, with me knows I'm not an elite golfer.
3:56So I better check that one at the door.
3:58But, you know, much like golf where the goal is you don't have to shoot a specific score.
4:04You just get to be a little bit better than the field, right?
4:07That's what you have to do in fantasies. Fantasy football, especially.
4:10You don't have to be Nostradamus. You don't have to get everything right.
4:14You just get to be a little bit better than the market.
4:17You get a little bit better than the people next to you and you can have a successful season.
4:23July didn't actually sneak up on me because we're doing – I can't really talk about it in specifics, but we're doing
4:29so much back channel Yahoo fantasy stuff right now.
4:31Stuff I'm thrilled to let you in on. But it's just – again, the unveiling date hasn't come yet.
4:37But trust me, it's going to be a really fun year to be part of the Yahoo fantasy football family.
4:42And when the time is right, you'll be shouting it from the rooftops more than anybody.
4:47But I can't wait to share some of what we're working on.
4:50But because while you've been out doing whatever you did on vacation, I've been doing some of this work ahead stuff.
4:56And yeah, really good things are coming. Just trust me when I say that.
5:00I'll triple down on that and say yes, it's going to be a great year here at Yahoo fantasy.
5:06And that's like what you said, Scott. You got to be a little bit better than the next person.
5:11You're going to be a little bit better, maybe a lot more better than the other people that you're competing against if
5:17you're locked in with us all year. There's no question about that.
5:20But let's get into it here. Let's waste no more time and let's get these people started on what they need to
5:27know here, Scott, to be better than the folks around them.
5:30And let's start with your first player that you think needs to be higher or lower than the consensus ADP has it right now.
5:37Hit me with the player, what you want to talk about here.
5:40Should they be higher or lower? The floor is yours.
5:43Yeah, I'm going to hit you with a double shot of Charger love.
5:46I'm going to hit you with Justin Herbert, currently consensus quarterback nine and Lad McConkie currently consensus wide receiver 19.
5:52This is why you draft early, by the way, because these ADPs are not going to last.
5:57Last year, how did the Chargers make the playoffs when their offensive line basically disintegrated as soon as the season started?
6:03Herbert's running for his life. You had a congested target tree.
6:06You had a stale playbook. Well, the line's healthy.
6:08They bring in Mike McDaniel. I love down promoting somebody who didn't work out as a head coach, get them back to their coordinator roots.
6:15This is what we saw the Patriots do with Josh McDaniels.
6:19We saw Wade Phillips succeed North Turner. There are so many guys.
6:22Steve Sarkeesian was a guy like that. He's a head coach again now at Texas, but he had to rehabilitate his image.
6:28He did it as a play caller. Mike McDaniel, I'm not sure he's ever going to be a great head coach, but
6:34he's going to be a fantastic offensive designer. The Chargers get in the fresh paint just when they need it.
6:40And I think people need to remember that Lad McConkie looked like a difference maker, looked like a star in the second half of his rookie year.
6:48I give him an excused absence for last season.
6:50I still think Justin Herbert has MVP upside if things fall right.
6:53All that love I showered on the Patriots last year, I'm going to shower on the Chargers this year.
6:59I think they are a team that's good, a team that's expected.
7:02They made the playoffs last year. I can't say they're coming out of nowhere, so in that way, the Patriot comp doesn't follow.
7:09But I think this is the year Chargers can get back to the Super Bowl or at least be one of the final four teams standing.
7:16I want to draft as proactively into this offense as I can.
7:19And the two guys I really have circled because no matter where you draft, McConkie might make sense.
7:24No matter where you draft, Herbert might make sense.
7:27And I think that's the way to play quarterback this year.
7:30Let other people go vanity. And when somebody is all excited to get Drake May, Lamar Jackson, I'm going to say, well,
7:36you know, I just got Justin Herbert four or five rounds later.
7:40I think they could beat your guys anyway. I'll take that bet straight up.
7:44So, yeah, dial me on all the Chargers and let's start that with Herbert.
7:48Let's start that with McConkie. Yeah, I just want to build off your quarterback point here as well as I've been kind
7:54of looking through ADP, doing some of the back channel stuff that we're doing here right now at Yahoo.
7:59I think I'm with you on the quarterback take this year that the previous, I would say probably three years.
8:05I have been a vanity quarterback drafter. I've had a lot of Josh Allen.
8:09I've had a lot of Jalen Hurts, especially. And I do think Jaden Daniels is maybe one guy that I think goes
8:15after where those players go in ADP that I do think could be kind of the middle ground dish player there.
8:21But even then, there's just so many appealing late round quarterbacks.
8:24It feels like a good year for a late round quarterback.
8:27I know you're talking about another quarterback later on that I think also makes sense for this.
8:32I almost had Drake May as my guy that I think needs to go a little bit lower, but it didn't really
8:38make sense because I don't think that there's anything wrong with Drake May individually.
8:42It's just like a structural thing. Plus, I didn't want the first time you and I do a show together in a while.
8:48I come in and talk negatively about your golden boy.
8:51But the take here is, and Scott's on board with it as well, let someone else take quarterback early.
8:57Grab one of these guys here like a Justin Herbert.
8:59Because I really echo a lot of your sentiments here, Scott, that I think this could be the year.
9:05My hang up on the Chargers as a Super Bowl team would just be that they're going to take a step back probably defensively.
9:12Jesse Minter's out the door. Inexperienced play caller on that side.
9:15They've had some personnel kind of turnover and everything there.
9:17At the same time, though, that could honestly be good for our fantasy football outlook where Justin Herbert is going to need
9:24to push it a little bit more than maybe last year when their defense, I think, overperformed their talent because of Jesse Minter.
9:30Lad McConkie could get more targets because of that.
9:33I will say, Scott, I'm also like a little intrigued by Quentin Johnston at his very late ADP as well.
9:38I think his rookie year is kind of still held against him when I think he's improved beyond that.
9:44But I do think Lad's obviously the guy who should be the pivot player in the passing game.
9:49My question to you about McConkie at wide receiver 19, these are just some of the names that go ahead of him right now.
9:56I'll start at wide receiver 10 and make my way down to him at 19.
10:00George Pickens, Devontae Smith, Rasheed Rice, Chris Olave, Malik Neighbors, Zay Flowers, Emeka Ibuka, Tee Higgins, Teddero McMillan, Lad McConkie.
10:05Are there any? Actually, I know we're talking about one of those guys later, so we don't have to hit on him specifically.
10:12But anyone here that you're like, I think McConkie needs to go like, what's the number for McConkie to you?
10:17He certainly has to be ahead of McMillan. I mean, McMillan is tied to Bryce Young and Jalen Coker became a mouth
10:24to feed in the second half of last season.
10:26Carolina, another team that might hit some regression. So crazy that they made the playoffs last year as an eight-win team, but
10:32they could go back to being a five- or six-win team.
10:36Even though I do like Dave Canales, they're certainly going to try to run the ball.
10:40They have to kind of scheme away from Bryce Young and handle him, manage him, and not ask him to win games on his own.
10:47So there's one I definitely would prefer McConkie. There's one big name that I'm going to save for later because he's a
10:53guy I think we have to move down. I think the market is mispricing.
10:57And I just want to really quickly just put a bookmark in the Drake May discussion.
11:02So, again, it's nothing against Drake May. Obviously, he got A.J.
11:05Brown, the piece he's needed. Dobbs is a great add for them too.
11:09So this is a much better offense in pieces around him.
11:12It's just a market thing, right? And we spend so much time – and you are at the forefront of this –
11:18studying film, studying tendencies, studying pros and cons and skills and all that.
11:21And that's so important. But so is market behavior.
11:24And the reason why Drake May is a fade for me, it's nothing to do with anything skill-based, nothing to do with anything scheme-based or team-based.
11:31It's all market-based. It's how the market is pricing him and how you can find similar pieces at a much more affordable price.
11:38That's the whole fantasy game right there. Yeah, and I think Justin Herbert is a great arbitrage play off of Drake May in that regard.
11:45So love your point about the Chargers. I think we're going to talk a lot of Chargers here on this show over the course of the offseason.
11:52I'm very excited about that offense, specifically McConkie. So I like that one.
11:56I'll move into my first player that I think needs to be moved around a little bit.
12:01And I think this player does need to be higher.
12:04Isaiah Likely, tight end 11, which I think is fine positionally.
12:07But 108th overall is his overall ADP. I think he actually needs to be a few spots higher than that.
12:12I think I have him a couple of spots even in my positional rankings above this as well.
12:18And the reason, Scott, that I'm excited about Likely, the more and more I thought about it, I feel like the last
12:24month or so, we were potting and everything. A lot of conversation about the Giants wide receiver room.
12:29Malik Neighbors has heard. When Neighbors is going to start the year on PUP, potentially the same year.
12:34Which receiver benefits? I think this receiver room after Malik Neighbors has got some solid names to it.
12:39Some decent role players. I like Malachi Fields as a rookie there.
12:42But is this not the perfect team setup for a tight end to lead the team in targets?
12:47Which is what we're after in fantasy. It's a big reason why we landed on Tucker Craft last year.
12:53Me and you. Because we're like, this is a guy who could be the number one target on his team.
12:58And I think that pretty much was happening before he got hurt.
13:02I think Isaiah Likely, at least to start the season with Malik Neighbors banged up.
13:06And Neighbors, he might not be himself all year.
13:09It's a pretty perfect spot for Likely to end up leading the Giants and targets here in an ambiguous wide receiver room.
13:15I love that you brought this one up because one of my also receiving votes picks was moving down Neighbors.
13:20So I get to piggyback that in here as well.
13:23And there's somebody who his ADP has not corrected yet.
13:26I don't understand it. But he's an excellent chance he's either not playing in September or not anywhere close to 100%.
13:32He's hardly taken any reps with Jackson Dart too.
13:34It's going to take time for those guys. Neighbors, of course, are not big talent.
13:39But maybe we don't see him back to full throttle until the second half of the year.
13:44It could even be 2027. And you're asking all the right questions.
13:47You're looking at all the right frames with Likely.
13:49We're looking for a tight end who's affordable, who still may be on the front nine of his career, hasn't had his
13:56best season yet, who could be a dominant player, a dominant target earner, somebody who commands the ball in his offense.
14:02These check marks are all over. Likely, obviously, he was brought in surely at the behest of John Harbaugh, who knows him from Baltimore.
14:08And the only reason I likely never really fully broke out.
14:11We're always thinking he was an interesting kind of quasi handcuff in case Mark Andrews got hurt.
14:16They kind of play the role differently at tight end.
14:19But Baltimore doesn't throw as proactively sometimes as we'd like.
14:22They have a lot of spreading or crowding on that target tree at times.
14:26Andrews, of course, has been a Pro Bowl quality player for some time.
14:29So the dots have never really lined up for Likely.
14:32They do now. Everything you could want. He's on a new team.
14:36He's important. And the guy who was going to dominate the target tree may not be playing on week one.
14:41Isaiah likely is somebody I had misranked before this show.
14:44I had him at tight end 14. And just when you started twinkling the early tones of this discussion, I immediately opened
14:50up my rankings and bumped them up because you're absolutely right on this one.
14:54We need to move Likely up. And I'm not just going to say move Neighbors down.
14:59Neighbors is going to be – I'm working on a lot of fade pieces right now that will be coming out sooner rather than later.
15:06And Neighbors is going to be – not only is he going to be on my fade list.
15:11I think eventually he's going to become one of those players everybody fades.
15:15Maybe to the point that the market may overcorrect and you might find yourself sliding the other way in mid to late August.
15:21But right now, he doesn't make any sense in his ADP.
15:24I don't even see him on my board. But I couldn't agree with you more there on that one.
15:29Like, by the way, that's what these exercises are for is to like, oh, you know what?
15:34That's a good point. Like, I got to go and adjust my rankings now at this point.
15:39And yeah, with Neighbors, I've just – every time I've done an update, I end up moving him down.
15:44And it's mostly because I don't expect him to be himself until 2027.
15:48And by the way, like, Malik Neighbors, when he's himself, I wrote his reception perception profile last month.
15:53He's right there, like ready to crack into that, like, elite tier.
15:57And when I say elite tier, that's a very, to me, small, small select group.
16:01Like, it's just unfortunate now that we have this injury clouding him because – and that's why I think people will still
16:07want to take the risk on him and, like, wait for the payoff and everything.
16:11And it probably makes more sense in a best ball format than a redraft managed format.
16:16Maybe I'm wrong about that, though, where you – like, hey, you either get first in your league or you get last.
16:22Like, who cares if you finish in third? I don't know.
16:25Still, he's just a very interesting case. And somebody that, when he's healthy, I think could be – he could compete to be the best receiver in football.
16:33Like, he's that talented. But it's just going to – I don't know that that's going to happen this year.
16:39So that really opens up the door for Isaiah Likely, who I am with you that a couple of months ago I
16:45didn't really consider as this type of upside player.
16:47Now I'm getting more and more bullish on Likely, and I feel like he's under-discussed.
16:52We talked about Malik Neighbors, and he's a risky wide receiver pick in this range.
16:56I know for your next player here, Scott, you also think this is another one of those a little bit too early risk players.
17:02Yeah, Rasheed Rice. So when the news came down a few weeks ago that he had failed a test and he was
17:09going to go to jail for a month, he'd also had a recent cleanup procedure.
17:13I did a piece for Yahoo, and you can go find it if you search it, easily find it.
17:18Where I asked different people in the industry how they felt about Rice and how much were they going to move him
17:24down and how they felt about drafting him. And I was surprised.
17:28I thought I was going to be one of the few people who would really be kind of turning away from Rice.
17:34But I thought a lot more of the market was kind of agreeing with me.
17:38At least this is the industry market. That is not necessarily the drafting market.
17:42And I don't think Rasheed Rice has come down nearly enough.
17:45This is a guy who we don't know how healthy he'll be on opening day.
17:50It's not guaranteed he'll be in the lineup. And because of the stuff that's happened off the field, we have to bake
17:56that in as some kind of risk for him where there's been missteps.
17:59And I don't think a suspension is pending now.
18:02But if he does anything even slightly wrong, I think the NFL can easily come down with sanctions.
18:07He's had trouble staying healthy the last few years.
18:10And this Kansas City offense, this whole idea that, oh, well, when he's healthy, it's Andy Reid.
18:14It's Patrick Mahomes. This is a top five offense.
18:17Well, this team has been a mediocre middle of the pack offense for two straight years.
18:21Obviously, they weren't a playoff team last year and a lot of things went wrong.
18:26They had a losing record. But we have to be open-minded.
18:29The idea that maybe the Chiefs aren't the Chiefs.
18:31Maybe the days of Mahomes just being the dominant player in the NFL, I'd love it if that bounces back.
18:37We don't know that's going to bounce back. Obviously, there's a lot of teams that had quarterbacks get hurt last year.
18:43And we're hoping that Jackson's back to Lamar Jackson and Joe Burrow can play a full season and Mahomes can be a star again.
18:50But I'm kind of at – I'll believe it when I see it with the Chiefs as a whole and with Rice.
18:56There's just too many red flags here. There's too many things where I want my early picks.
19:01And I realize there aren't that many guys who are going to check this box.
19:05I want them to be floor as much as upside.
19:08I think with Rice, the upside is always there.
19:10But I don't see a floor at all. I think his floor is that he wrecked your season as a third-round pick.
19:16I'm not going to sign off on that. Nothing close to me.
19:20I'm not considering him at all in my early drafts.
19:23It's just too when you look at the board with both right now, Rasheed Rice, wide receiver 12, Malik Nabors at wide receiver 14.
19:29I think they're the two guys that I'm going to be lower than consensus on.
19:34I'm with you there. You just look at the names around them, man.
19:37There's so many appealing wide receiver names. Chris Olave, who I know has had the blood clots and everything.
19:43That's definitely a situation worth monitoring. But I think Zay Flowers has gotten really underappreciated.
19:47Emeka Buka is right there. T. Higgins, if T.
19:49Higgins is healthy and Joe Burrow is healthy, guess what?
19:52T. Higgins is going to outperform wide receiver 17 ADP.
19:55Lad McConkie, who we just discussed. Garrett Wilson, our good friend Garrett Wilson, is always a really talented player.
20:00Maybe Geno Smith is the best quarterback that he's ever played with.
20:04If you're a Luther Burden bro, he's not too far.
20:07There's so many appealing wide receiver picks. I understand that you look at Rasheed Rice last year, wide receiver 5 in points per game.
20:13But you do always have to do the points per or the per route because he never is available whether it is the legal stuff.
20:20And I'm glad you brought up the injury because that is the biggest thing to me, Scott.
20:25Watching him last year and charting him for reception perception, I just put his profile up.
20:30He still, by the way, doesn't run routes downfield.
20:32He doesn't beat man coverage. He's really, really good at what he does.
20:36He's much like Juju Smith-Schuster or Debo Samuel. Those guys who just weren't traditional man coverage beaters, but they were good against
20:42zone and they were good with the ball in their hands.
20:45He's that type of receiver. But I bring up the names Juju.
20:49I bring up the names Debo Samuel. Those guys went into physical decline very quickly because of injuries, right?
20:54And I just don't even think Rice even looked like his best version last year because he was coming off of a knee injury.
21:01And now he's coming off of another knee injury.
21:03So there's just so many red flags with him that I'm with you.
21:07He doesn't, when I look at all those appealing wide receiver names, Scott, I get that Rasheed Rice, the per route production,
21:13the per game production has been very good. It still just feels like too big of a risk to go back to
21:19a player that even when he was this productive, the offense was bad in Kansas City.
21:24Like feeding him the football this much without another threat to go along with him didn't go very well for the Kansas City Chiefs.
21:31Their offense was very disappointing even when he got back on the football field.
21:34I could also put Patrick Mahomes in the fade bucket.
21:37I think Justin Boone might have used him as one of his fades in a recent group piece.
21:42The idea that Mahomes barely got by as a fantasy player last year and a lot of it was from rushing that
21:49is unlikely to sustain year over year. Again, if you take nothing but one thing from this take, I want to leave with this.
21:55Just because, don't be fooled by the decal on the helmet.
21:58Andy Reid is in the Hall of Fame already as far as I'm concerned with the resume and he's built great offenses.
22:05But that doesn't mean he's infallible. And the last two years he hasn't been able to fix it.
22:10If they had answers, people go, oh, Andy Reid will fix it.
22:13Well, he didn't fix it the last two seasons.
22:16And I realized there were injuries. And once Mahomes gets hurt, basically the season is over anyway.
22:20But when Mahomes has been on the field, it's still been an ordinary offense to just be open-minded to the idea that
22:27the Chiefs can't just show up and beat people by the color of their jersey.
22:31My sense based on the Chiefs offseason, Scott, is that they actually I don't think have come to terms with – look,
22:37Andy Reid knows more about football than me. Of course, we know that.
22:41He got the Rasheed Rice evaluation correctly in the way that he's used him in the NFL.
22:45I got it wrong as a prospect. There's no doubt about that.
22:49But I don't think they've come to terms with some of the issues in their passing game.
22:54Based on the offseason, though, it does seem like they've come to terms with the issues in their run game.
22:59And they did try to address that this year.
23:02And that leads me to my next player that I think needs to be higher.
23:06But this is one I kind of want to take shop with you because I don't know if I actually believe what I'm about to say.
23:13But I do think that Kenneth Walker at running back 10 and especially 20th overall, I think needs to be slightly –
23:20not dramatically, but slightly higher on the board here.
23:22And the big reason is kind of what we were just talking about the past game.
23:27I think the Chiefs passing offense is set up to kind of struggle again.
23:31I don't think they're going to get some big plays.
23:33I don't think they're going to use Rasheed Rice in the same way of like an extension of the run game because
23:40I think they might actually be trying to run the football traditionally this year.
23:44I think their offensive line is set up to be pretty good.
23:47And Kenneth Walker, we know, can be explosive. We know he can be more – I think can be more than what
23:53he was used with Seattle last year. And I just look at some of the running backs ahead of him.
23:59I kind of think I feel better about him certainly than a Devon Achan.
24:03I think there's a lot of risk with Devon Achan at 14th overall.
24:06I think Amarian Hampton at 15th overall. I think that's like a toss-up with Kenneth Walker to me.
24:11Chase Brown, I think that's pretty – to me, I just think that he probably fits as maybe – again, it's slight.
24:18We're splitting hairs here in the first two rounds.
24:20But I think he probably should be going in the early second round as opposed to the late second round.
24:26Maybe even ahead of guys like Trey McBride or Drake London.
24:29Even Brock Bowers, I think. I think I could slot Kenneth Walker in maybe at least in the middle of the second round.
24:35But do you have any concerns about Walker moving from Seattle to Kansas City?
24:39Again, I'm kind of take-shopping this one. And it's a loosely held take here for me.
24:44Yeah, I'm glad you brought him up and put him on the program today.
24:48I was surprised to see I had Walker – and again, my rankings in the spring are – they're preliminary.
24:53I'm starting to hash them out as I start to get into drafts.
24:57But I had Walker ranked a lot higher than the consensus market.
25:00And I'm not sure if that reflected how I felt about him.
25:04It was more a comment on the tier of running backs.
25:07Now, we have to follow the money. Ken C obviously paid him, lured him away from the championship team in Seattle.
25:13And just look at the backfield behind him. I mean, Di Mercado is just always going to be an NFL backup.
25:19Emmitt Johnson was a fifth-round pick. So, we have to be reasonable about what we expect there.
25:24You can tell me a story where this is going to be the busiest season, the heaviest snap share, the heaviest touch share season of Walker's career.
25:31And an offense that's going to need to have that running component you mentioned, the offensive line being fortified.
25:37Although, I want to be careful when I say that.
25:39I talked about the Chargers improving their offensive line.
25:42I talked about the Chiefs fixing their offensive line.
25:44I feel like this time of year, you want to believe that every team has quote-unquote fixed their offensive line.
25:50Every team had a leaky roof and it doesn't leak anymore.
25:53Some of these lines are going to be bad anyway because there are a number of different things.
25:58And, of course, guys will start getting hurt because the NFL is the NFL.
26:02But I'm with you on Walker, actually. He's the player who, if you ask me, it's first week of September.
26:08I'm looking at my rosters. What Kansas City Chief player do I have the most of?
26:12It's a little bit of a by-default answer, but I think it's going to be Kenneth Walker.
26:17Because, again, we're going to follow the money. We're going to follow the depth chart.
26:21And we're going to follow an offense that has to have a different tempo to it.
26:26And he may be the most important. Obviously, the quarterback is the most important player in the field.
26:31But the most important fantasy player on this team this year might be Kenneth Walker.
26:35Yeah, I like that. I just look at a guy like Ashton Gentry going 12th overall.
26:40Is there that big of a difference between Ashton Gentry's outlook this year on what's going to be a far worse offense?
26:46Most likely, even if we have questions about Kansas City than a guy like Kenneth Walker.
26:50I'm not so sure. So, yeah. I feel like I take shop that out a little bit.
26:55I don't know how high I'd move Kenneth Walker up above 20.
26:59But I do think next time I refresh the rankings, which, yes, Jason Klabaka, my boss, I do know I'm well overdue for a rankings refresh.
27:06We're getting to it. I think I'll be moving Kenneth Walker up a few spots.
27:10But with that, we are going to take our first break here.
27:14When we come back, we have more players that Scott and I think need to be moved up or down the board.
27:20We will get into that right after this. All right.
27:23We're back. Scott Pienowski and I are continuing to run through some players here that we think should be ranked higher or
27:29lower than the consensus has it right now. Scott, your third player.
27:32Who is it? Let's hear it higher or lower.
27:35Yeah, again, I'm trying to do an entry here.
27:37I'm going to go to San Francisco. I'm going to try to draft Brock Purdy, currently quarterback 12.
27:42Mike Evans, currently quarterback, wide receiver 22. I think I made a mistake with Devontae Adams when he first got to the Rams.
27:49And I focused on the mileage. I focused on the age.
27:52And I didn't think, wait a minute. Devontae Adams put on this earth to score touchdowns.
27:56Sean McVay, one of the best offensive designers in football.
27:59Let him cook. Matt Stafford, of course, a plus quarterback.
28:02And isn't that the same frame with San Francisco, right?
28:05I mean, Mike Evans, back nine player? Sure. Put on this earth to score touchdowns.
28:09I think Devontae Adams is a no-doubt Hall of Famer.
28:12I think Mike Evans is probably right there with him, maybe a toe behind him.
28:16But I think they're both going to be Hall of Fame guys, even though wide receiver can be a glutted position for that Hall of Fame discussion.
28:24And Brock Purdy, man. Again, another reason why – sorry, I'm not drafting Drake Maye.
28:28I'm not drafting Lamar Jackson. I'm not drafting Jalen Hurts, even as that's an interesting offense this year.
28:33Because I want to draft Brock Purdy, who I think has been grossly underrated.
28:37He was a four-year starter in college. Mr. Irrelevant, as we all know, becomes the starter in San Francisco, gets paid.
28:43And even if you don't want to buy into Evans because of his age and trajectory, you might say with Purdy, well,
28:49what version of Evans is he getting? What version of George Kittle is he getting?
28:53Who is Christian McCaffrey as he navigates the back nine of his career?
28:57My point is some of those guys are going to be good.
29:00I didn't even mention Ricky Pearsall. They fortified their receiver room in the draft.
29:04Shanahan will figure it out. And Purdy, just one of those Drew Brees point guard type quarterbacks, right?
29:09Sometimes his favorite guy is the guy who's open.
29:12Bottom line is this. Mike Evans is scoring 10-plus touchdowns this year.
29:15And I want pieces of this offense. I also think the defense might be bad.
29:19So there could be some shootout potential, some carnival potential with the 49ers.
29:23Sign me up, man. I want this passing game.
29:26And also, McCaffrey is not the same runner. He lived last year on receptions and on touchdowns.
29:30But he wasn't anywhere near as efficient as a runner.
29:33I'm curious to see if they can find something as a second pitch in that offense in the backfield.
29:39Something they've been reluctant to do. But give me all the Purdy.
29:42Give me all the Mike Evans. And I'll even be open-minded to some of the other guys.
29:47Although, George Kittle is coming off that major injury.
29:49He's probably my favorite player in football. I hate saying anything negative about Kittle.
29:53I can't draft him proactively. But Evans and Purdy, yes, I will draft them proactively all summer.
29:58Same. I'm totally with you on Brock Purdy. He's another guy that I think is a perfect late-round quarterback this year.
30:04This was something Boone was 100% on last year.
30:07No shock. Boone was on this dead-on about Purdy late in the season last year.
30:11From weeks 13 to 17, weeks 15 to 17, 26 points against the Titans, 30.9 points against the Indianapolis Colts, and 36.9
30:17points against the Chicago Bears last season. He was awesome late down the stretch.
30:21And now, obviously, if you look at the last two games against Seattle before the two Seattle games, week 18 playoffs, of course, that does matter.
30:28He wasn't quite as good there. But when the cast was together and they were playing some of those cookie-cutter defenses, he
30:34was not just having big fantasy games. He was having the biggest fantasy games in that stretch.
30:39Not only is he that Drew Brees point guard type of quarterback, I like the way you outlined it there.
30:45He's a very underrated rusher as well. He'll give you a couple points there.
30:49Obviously, 248 yards we have projected here this season.
30:51I think he could finish with more than that.
30:54And, yeah, Evans, not only do I echo all of your points there, Scott, about Mike Evans, I think his presence opens
31:00things up for Ricky Pearsall to be a little bit more of a higher volume player this year, which could help Brock Purdy.
31:07And also for Mike Evans, really just a perfect fit for the Shanahan X receiver specifically, where it's less vertical routes and
31:13more breaking routes, which I think is where Mike Evans wins at this point.
31:17So hard to deny that these 49ers are in a pretty good spot if everybody can stay healthy.
31:22But look, if everybody gets hurt, Brock Purdy, QB 12, you took him.
31:25You just cut him and find someone else. I think he's in a really good value spot this year.
31:31Important to recognize that, as you outlined, Seattle saw this offense last year, but nobody else could stop it in the final quarter of the season.
31:38I would say they were the NFL's best offense in the fantasy playoffs.
31:42Looking at the schedule, a little bit disappointed. I was hoping, as a San Francisco believer, at least in their offense, that
31:48the Seattle game would be tucked into week 18.
31:51So it'd be fantasy irrelevant. But actually, the 49ers play the Cardinals in the final week of the season.
31:56So both of the Seattle games will be on the field, although you would think the Seattle defense has to have some regression.
32:02I mean, it's just hard to play at that elite level year over year.
32:06And Aaron Schatz told us many years ago that defense year over year is not as reliable.
32:11It doesn't translate as well as offense does. Offense is just more reliable year over year.
32:16So keep that in mind as well. Don't be the first person to draft a defense.
32:20It's almost always a mistake. But yeah, San Francisco's offense is going to be a top five unit.
32:25I'll be refreshing the power ranking soon, probably come talk to you about that as well.
32:30But I want to invest in this passing game.
32:32And the great thing is there's a lot of different ways to do it.
32:36Yeah, no question. A lot of different ways to get into the Niners business this year.
32:41Even Dejan Stribbling is a pretty interesting pick. And he can very, very late round pick more waiver wire speed dial.
32:47But he could potentially have a role this year as well.
32:50Christian Kirk signed by the team as well. So they got some more depth than usual.
32:54Mike Evans, wide receiver 22. I'm going to go one spot down here at Terry McLaurin and say he needs to be higher on the list here.
33:02Here's the reality, Scott. I think I can actually keep this one pretty short and sweet.
33:06If Jaden Daniels stays healthy, which I realize is an if, but if he stays healthy and if Terry McLaurin stays healthy,
33:13I think the odds that Terry McLaurin is a low end wide receiver to like 5%.
33:17Like it's very, very low that that would happen because he's in position to dominate targets in this offense.
33:22You know, we're showing on the screen right now the depth chart.
33:26I think Chico Conquo is an interesting late round tight end pick.
33:29I think Antonio Williams could hit the field and be pretty active early as a rookie third round pick though.
33:35So Traylon Burks, Deami Brown, like that's who's competing to start outside.
33:38This is an offense I think it's going to look pretty different under David Blau, which I think will be good news
33:44for Terry McLaurin moving around the football field after being very stationary under Cliff Kingsbury the last few seasons.
33:50So McLaurin to me is a great bounce back pick this year after an expected slow season because of the contract holdout and injuries last year.
33:57Totally excused absence, right? I mean, not just the contract.
34:00He signed like basically right before the season and you just can't expect a clear lift off.
34:05And then once Daniels gets hurt, all bets are off.
34:08Zachary is gone. He was a mouth to feed.
34:10We know that offense love to feed him with those little five yard.
34:14The defense doesn't even care passes over the middle of the field.
34:17And even though we can say good things about McCaffrey or Williams as prospects, I mean, we don't know what they're going
34:23to be ready to do opening day. McLaurin, if healthy, has a path like 140, 145 targets and they would be Jaden Daniels targets.
34:30You just have to give these guys a pass for what happened last year.
34:34And I feel like it's mandated every time we talk, we end up giving some love to McLaurin, one of our all-time favorites.
34:40Third round pick. I don't know why the Patriots didn't take him, but they thought Nikhil Harry was the guy to get.
34:472019 draft is always going to have scar tissue with me.
34:50But Scary Terry at a discount sounds awfully appealing.
34:52Haven't thought about Nikhil Harry in a minute. Actually, that's not true.
34:56I was just melting my brain scrolling Instagram reels recently and I saw a funny video.
35:00I was like, oh, that was really funny. And then I noticed Nikhil Harry liked it.
35:05I thought about Nikhil Harry there. So that's two times in one.
35:08I guess it's a new month now. It's July.
35:11That's two times in the last couple of weeks I've talked about Nikhil Harry.
35:15If Nikhil Harry likes it, you should just go back and unlike it.
35:18I mean, come on, man. I just like football's hard.
35:21Hey, no. Hey, no. Football's hard. I mean, look, the Patriots took to kill Harry because there weren't that many good receivers in that draft.
35:28I mean, wait, A.J. Brown was in it? Wait, D.K.
35:31Terry McLaurin. Oh, Devo Samuel. Okay. I think Deontay Johnson, who was good for a minute until he decided to become the second coming of Juju Smith-Schuster.
35:39Also, the great Deontay Johnson season where he had like 5,000 targets and no touchdowns.
35:43We'll always have Deontay Johnson award to hang out.
35:45By the way, Deontay Johnson's award winner last year was in Minnesota, right?
35:49With – why am I not thinking of their star receiver?
35:52Justin Jefferson. We have two touchdowns. Jordan Addison, right?
35:55Well, I don't know that that was Justin Jefferson's fault.
35:57By the way, I just want to defend Nikhil Harry here for a second.
36:01Maybe not the best NFL receiver. Converted to tight end.
36:04That didn't work out. Maybe he's got a really good sense of humor, Scotty.
36:08So, let's give him the benefit of the doubt on his Instagram reel activity.
36:12And I will say, speaking of suspect, your next one here hurts my heart a little bit, Scott.
36:17So, you got to talk – we just went from one of our favorites to somebody who was certainly our favorite last year.
36:24But you're potentially getting out here. Talk to me about your fourth player you think needs to be higher or lower.
36:30I'll also say about Harry. He was drafted by the Patriots at the wrong time.
36:34If he was drafted with the Drake May Patriots, he probably would have had a much better chance to succeed.
36:39Tucker Craft, I got to move him down. It pains me.
36:43Tucker Craft was our spirit animal last year. I loved him.
36:46You loved him. Justin Boone loved him. And Boone is basically right 99% of the time.
36:50You and I don't maybe have the same hit rate.
36:53But Tucker Craft was our right answer for two months.
36:56And then he gets hurt. And there's this assumption.
36:58And I got to admit, I feel a little bit of a pang where I see all this Tucker Craft hype on social media.
37:05And I just want to be like, where were you guys last year when all this stuff was true and yet it was more affordable?
37:12Now you have to pay for it. And you have to draft him like he's healthy in week one.
37:17I can't do that. And the other thing about Craft, again, a player I love and a player I'll probably try to
37:24double back on next year when the price is more reasonable.
37:27One of the things we loved about Craft last year is the very reasonable story you could say that he could be their target hog.
37:34This is a team we always talk about. They've never had anybody go past 100 targets since Devontae Adams left.
37:39But a lot of that has been Matt LaFleur playing the hand he's been dealt.
37:44Rotational receivers. They've changed that modus operandi now. Watson, Reed, they've been paid.
37:47Dobbs isn't here anymore. It's a more tight target concentration.
37:50So the idea that Craft is just going to lord over everybody else and get 130 targets when the receivers hope to get 75, that doesn't exist anymore.
37:58Or I just think it's going to be a slow lifting playing with Craft this year, the slow developing Polaroid.
38:04Maybe he'll be up to speed in the middle of the season.
38:07Maybe it's just a case of wait until 2027.
38:10I think the market justly is appreciating how great he was last year, but not appreciating the rehab cycle and the arc
38:16for a player coming off this type of injury.
38:18Man, I'm like teetering on the edge here. I don't know if I fully agree or if I don't know if I
38:25fully disagree with you on this one. So tight end five, 69th overall ADP on Tucker Craft.
38:29Just for context within the tight end position, he's in a little bit of no man's land ish, if not just like the start.
38:36Actually, to be honest, more Tyler Warren at tight end for 50th overall is kind of more that no man's land because there's the early guys.
38:43Then I would say Tucker Craft starts off kind of the mid tier.
38:47So Warren's just sort of in that no man's land as mentioned.
38:50But I would say the one pushback I would give you about the receiver room is and I, by the way, I'm
38:57very fond of what Christian Watson showed last year.
38:59I am a big Jaden Reed guy. I don't have a strong take on Matthew Golden.
39:04I thought he had kind of a whatever rookie season on film and was a mixed prospect.
39:09So I could see it going one way or another.
39:11They definitely have cut down the target competition. But are those guys how good are those players?
39:16You know, like how is Christian Watson now like after a really good season last year, his best season as a pro.
39:22Is he a set it and forget it wide receiver one?
39:25Is he a guy we still have health questions with him?
39:29Jaden Reed, he's been banged up a decent bit.
39:31Like there are scenarios where, yeah, the receiver room is more consolidated, but it's still an opportunity where Tucker Craft could be
39:37the best pass catcher on the team if he's healthy.
39:40You know what I'm saying? Like I think there's I want to draft these Green Bay receivers, but I do still think
39:46there's a chance that craft ends up leading the team in targets or receiving yards and everything.
39:51So I don't know. Again, I go both ways on this one.
39:54Do you find that to be a convincing argument about the Packers receivers?
39:58Again, I challenge craft to be at full throttle in September.
40:01And also we have to follow the money here.
40:04I mean, Watson got a big bag. Reed got a decent size bag.
40:07And I have to think that if they were going to be rotational players, would they be eager to sign these contracts?
40:14They'd be thinking, I got to get out of town and go to a team that appreciates me and a team that keeps me on the field.
40:21That's always been the frustrating thing. If you rostered these Packers guys, if you needed them, you'd be watching them play Sunday night football, Monday night football.
40:29Let's go. Let's get some points going. Wait a minute.
40:32Is my guy on the field? That's the game you've always played with the Packers.
40:36There's Malik Heath. Right. Because they couldn't wait to get a touchdown to some, you know, Bo Melton or, you know, whatever.
40:42And I don't know what to do with Matthew Golden either.
40:45That's a really tough question. And at the end of the day, maybe this always feels like a cheat.
40:51I talked about it earlier with Purdy. If you want to be proactive with Kraft, I'm not going to do it, but
40:57I see why people might do it. If you see the upside for some of these receivers, maybe it just points to Jordan Love.
41:04Another screaming value. Another reason. I'm going to pound the table.
41:07I just pounded on it. Don't draft a quarterback early.
41:09There are so many. You can forget about quarterback.
41:12You can take a nap in the middle of your draft.
41:15Don't take a nap in the middle of your draft.
41:18At least set your cue. And you'll still solve quarterback because it's just not that hard.
41:22And Jordan Love is one of those right answers.
41:25You can get the rest of the room is going to shrug.
41:28Nobody will compliment you. It's not a hipster pick.
41:31You're not going to win the room. You're not going to win the marketing.
41:35But end of the season is going to have 32 touchdown passes and 4,000 passing yards.
41:39Yeah, I think that's right. And I do actually really like both Reed and Watson, especially Reed, just because he goes later.
41:46And I want to believe that he can have an expanded role this season and not be so rotational.
41:51So, yeah, I'm actually – that was kind of like a devil's advocate argument here for me on the Packers receivers.
41:57I do actually like that room a good bit.
41:59And I think I could throw the ball more this year with Josh Jacobs sort of – his status up in the air.
42:06So, just real quick before we move off of Tucker Craft, how are you attacking tight end this year?
42:11Like, you're not taking early quarterback. You're taking early tight end.
42:14Are you kind of waiting to the Isaiah Likely types?
42:17Or tight end is just a position this year I don't have a strong stance on, I've found, by looking at my rankings right now.
42:24I'm hoping to be in a room where I can find some people who don't want to draft close to Lovelland.
42:30That's becoming very difficult to do. Maybe pivoting to Tyler Warren if the price makes sense.
42:35And then regressing win with Kyle Pitts. Tight end two last year.
42:38He's being drafted at tight end eight. I almost put him in this exercise.
42:42The quarterback room couldn't be any worse. Maybe it gets better.
42:45So, Pitts is a target. Lovelland is kind of a hope-forward target because, again, the whole room is in love with him.
42:51And at some point I have to do a fade for every team.
42:55Who am I going to fade on the Bears?
42:57It's just so hard to fade anybody. Can I fade the defense?
43:01No, I can't do that. That's a cheat. But I'm going to have a lot of Warren.
43:06I'm going to have a lot of Pitts. And also, we talked about likely earlier, Jake Ferguson is part of a Dallas team that looks carnival-ish.
43:13And they're not going to have meaning there's going to be high-scoring games week in, week out.
43:18Although the Cowboys are also a carnival in the soap opera way.
43:21It's just the way things go with Jerry World.
43:24But Jake Ferguson would be kind of a boring pick.
43:26Also, if Kittle isn't ready to go week one, and this hurts my heart, Jake Tongass will be actually a decent play for the first couple of weeks.
43:34Yeah, I like that. There's definitely some... There's a lot of solutions that tied in this year.
43:39And I'm still not 100% sure how I... Jawan Johnson?
43:42Yeah, he was super productive last year as well.
43:44Okay, final name here for me before we go to break.
43:48My fourth player. And I'm going to finally get negative here.
43:51I've saved my negative ones towards the end. I think Jadarian Price running back 26.
43:55Got to be a little bit lower here to me.
43:58I say that though, Scott. And again, I'm take shopping this one.
44:01I don't know how strongly I feel about this.
44:04I do start to look at some of the names after him.
44:07Like Shuba Hubbard, Jalen Warren, Ramondre Stevenson, RJ Harvey, Tony Pollard, Rico Dowd.
44:11I actually don't know how many more of those names I'd put above Jadarian Price.
44:15But I think he probably needs to go just in the 70s as opposed to the 60s here for me to account for some of the risk.
44:22I don't know if you've seen some of the reports out of...
44:26And most of what happens or happened in June doesn't matter at all.
44:30But we're showing the quote here from Hayden Winks right now.
44:33ESPN's Brady Henderson on Jadarian Price. They did not draft Price with the thought that he'd become a high-volume starter right away.
44:39He's going to share time with George Helani, Emmanuel Wilson as Seattle waits for Zach Charbonnet to return.
44:44And I kind of buy this a little... Like most stuff that's said in the offseason just doesn't mean anything, especially when it's speculation.
44:51But I will say, Scott, like, yeah, they drafted Jadarian Price in the first round.
44:55They were trying desperately to trade out of that pick.
44:58Like they weren't saying, oh, we're taking Jadarian Price and set it and forget it, baby.
45:02They tried to get out of that pick. They were okay just not getting Jadarian Price and figuring the rest out later.
45:08I don't know. Again, I just don't... I don't know that he needs to go so much lower here.
45:14But I'm a little skeptical on Price being a...
45:16I think he's going to rise throughout the summer.
45:19And I don't know if that's what I would go for here.
45:22How do you feel about Price falling in a range, by the way, for late first round backs in the NFL draft?
45:28We talked about this after the draft back in April.
45:31That can be a little bit of a trap area.
45:34I think your hesitation, I think your reluctance is warranted.
45:37There's going to be games early season where Price is going to have like six or seven carries.
45:42We're going to be doing shows. He's going to be in the coping corner.
45:46He's going to be in the trust-don't-trust discussions, right?
45:48Yeah. Because they want to use multiple backs. And maybe Helani is a better player than giving credit for.
45:54Emmanuel Wilson at times seemed to flash in Green Bay.
45:57We'll see how healthy Zach Charbonnet turns out to be.
45:59The early rehab reports are positive. But just remember my golden rule of summer quotes.
46:04If it's positive, take it with a grain of salt and run it through your BS detector.
46:08If it's negative, believe everything they say. Because the negative stuff is almost always honest.
46:13But I don't know who knows how really healthy Charbonnet is.
46:16But I just think it's going to be a don't overextend Price.
46:19Obviously, he was a secondary back at Notre Dame because they had such a great player in love ahead of him.
46:25You don't want to hold that against Price. But I just want to be careful to not overcook.
46:30Oh, he was a first-round pick. Of course, they're going to lean into him.
46:34They're going to hitch the sled up to him.
46:37They're telling you that they probably don't want to do that.
46:40So I think he's asking a guy that you might want to get in the middle of the season when people get frustrated with him.
46:47I don't know off the top of my head when Seattle's buy week is.
46:51But if he's got off to a slow start and then they have a buy, maybe you trade for him then.
46:57And you see an amped-up workload in the second half of the year.
47:00But right now, he seems like he's about a round overpriced and somebody who I'm not going to draft at the moment.
47:07As is pretty much always the case here, Scott, I gave a long meandering like, oh, I don't know.
47:12And then you perfectly summed up the exact right take, which is probably a guy that's going to go in the coping
47:18corner in the first month of the season and then be somebody that you really want in the second half of the
47:24season after he sort of figured out the NFL game and they trusted him more.
47:28Because, yeah, tale as old as time. You're going to tell people do this on social media.
47:33You're going to tell me that they're not going to use their first round pick and they're going to give this coach's pet UDFA guy.
47:40They paid $500,000. Yeah, that's what NFL teams do literally all the time.
47:44So I do think that could be the destiny for Jadaron Price early.
47:48And then he's really somebody that you want in that back half of the season.
47:52Scott, as usual, summed this one up perfectly. We're going to take our last quick break.
47:56We come back. We've got two more players, one from each of us that we think needs to be higher or lower up the rankings.
48:03We will get into that right after this. All right, we're back and we're wrapping it up here with one more player
48:10from each of us that we think needs to be higher or lower in the consensus ADP right now.
48:15Scott, your fifth and final player, higher or lower, who is it?
48:18Boring veteran value is often my jam. And who's more boring than Tony Pollard?
48:22I get it. Age 29 season. All right, Matt's going to laugh for the next 20 minutes and we'll come back and join you.
48:29And producer Collins probably laughing because, of course, he went through the Tony Pollard experience.
48:33In Dallas, last four years, running back eight, running back 18, running back 22, running back 23.
48:38The Titans were a joke last year and Pollard was still very effective, very playable.
48:42I actually thought Cam Ward showed some things. I thought he survived despite not a lot of help.
48:47Now they've improved the receiver room. They've improved the coaching room.
48:51They have adults in the offense, adults in the offensive room, adults to run this team.
48:55The Titans are going to be a competitive, scrappy little six or seven win team.
48:59And don't tell me. Look, Tajay Spears is somebody who can't be trusted to handle a heavy workload because of the physical limitations he has.
49:06Yeah, they drafted Singleton in the fifth round. He's not an immediate threat.
49:10Tony Pollard is boring. I get it. Tony Pollard maybe has a capped upside.
49:14I get it. He's going to be running back 15, 17, 19 when the season ends.
49:18Does that win your league? No. Do we need a second running back on all our fantasy teams?
49:23Yes. And he fits so many builds. If you're going zero, if you're going hero, where you need to get affordable with
49:30how you fill out your running back sheet. Tony Pollard makes a ton of sense to me.
49:34I get it. He's not excited. Nobody's going to compliment you.
49:38He's not a hipster pick. He's not a young player.
49:40But I think the competition on this team has been overblown.
49:43I think the quality of this offense can only go up.
49:47I like Ward. I like Dable, another guy who maybe wasn't a great head coach, but let's get him back with a play sheet.
49:53Tennessee Titans aren't going to be bad this year.
49:56And Tony Pollard is going to be a screaming value.
49:59I want you to draft him proactively. So I think it was like in November last year, at one point late in November.
50:05I can't remember if it was to Boone or to Nate on the show.
50:09I was like, I can't remember a team that has just been so irrelevant for fantasy football than the 2025 Tennessee Titans.
50:15Like truly, I think it was probably to Boone because they would be in my nobody's games of the week every single one of the preview episodes.
50:23It's like Titans and whoever they're playing. Like they don't matter for fantasy, but like let's talk about the game a little
50:29bit because there's just truly was nothing going on.
50:32Cam Ward was giving you no weeks like the receivers.
50:35You never wanted to use those guys. Again, I said this in late November.
50:38And then from December on, Tony Pollard was second in the NFL in rushing with 500 yards behind only the great Derrick Henry, who we mentioned.
50:46Like it just he was he was really good to finish the season.
50:49And nobody talks about it because Tony Pollard was so just fantasy relevant for the vast majority of last year.
50:55And to your point about the competition, again, this is like an offseason quote.
50:59Maybe it doesn't matter. But yeah, everybody's something old Nick Singleton, a really interesting day three draft pick Nick Singleton.
51:05They asked one of the members of the coaching staff or it was some report from June.
51:09You know, again, nobody cares about practice. But like, yeah, maybe the coach like me, I mean, he can be a kick returner for us.
51:16But we're not thinking about him as a running back.
51:19Tony Pollard is the team starter for sure. So if you buy at all, Scott, any sort of offensive progression and they
51:26can't get much worse for Tennessee, although I am skeptical of day ball a little bit more than you are.
51:31I mean, yeah, Tony Pollard can certainly be better than a could certainly be better than sort of a middling.
51:37I mean, running back three for sure. Like could just be that boring value running back to.
51:42So boring value running back, man. I'm telling you, he's going to be close to my most rostered player because I'm not trying to market my team.
51:49I'm not trying to win social media with the way I draft.
51:53I'm just taking values. I'm taking market inefficiencies and I'm exploiting them.
51:56And the market is giving you something with Tony Pollard.
51:59Just thinking he's a bad team. He's an old back.
52:02He's got a lot of competition. The team's not that bad.
52:05He's not that old. And the competition isn't as great as you think it is, man.
52:09Everything connects. You would have been really proud of me in one of my recent write-ups.
52:14I wrote, hey, by the way, if you employ this strategy, don't put your screenshot out on Twitter.
52:19Nobody's going to like your team. But just remember, nobody cares about it.
52:22It doesn't matter. It's not about having the cutest screenshot in September.
52:26It's about winning games in December. So that's what fantasy football is.
52:29That's a problem we have now. Matt, we have one of the great things in Yahoo's draft applet is you can see projected standings.
52:36And it's so hard to not want to win that.
52:39Or you do a mock draft and they'll grade your draft.
52:42Or you're going to get that grade in your email, right?
52:45And you want it to be an A or at least a B.
52:49Don't – my friend Mike Salfino, who I used to do podcasts with forever, used to say people don't really want the truth about their fantasy teams.
52:56They just want to feel good. But I'm saying, seek the truth, man.
53:00Try to win. And again, it's not about winning on social media.
53:03We're going to see it, Matt. We're going to have the fishbowl start in a few days.
53:08The great Scott Fish industry, just an unbelievable great idea that gets all drafted at the same time.
53:13And you always have the fear whenever you wake up, did I miss a pick?
53:17Did I get auto-picked? Beautiful thing. We'll enjoy it all through July.
53:21But so many people will be putting their rosters out there and they want to look good.
53:26They want to win the public opinion. I don't care about – I'm not being a daredevil contrarian just for the sake of doing that.
53:33That's silly. You still want to make smart decisions.
53:35But you don't have to win the overall favorite.
53:38Again, I talk about these hipster picks. Don't fall into this idea that, oh, everybody feels this way.
53:43I have to feel this way too. You're missing an opportunity to get value swimming ever so slightly against the current.
53:49You don't have to take Pollard in an early round.
53:52You take him when nobody else in your league wants to.
53:55And there's going to be drafts where that opportunity presents itself.
53:58I totally agree with you on that. And by the way, I'm going to be in Richmond this year for the live Scott Fishbowl draft.
54:05So I'm going to be doing a live Scott Fishbowl draft.
54:08It's going to be super, super fun here the next few weeks.
54:11No, I'll pick for you. So no. Let's hope not.
54:14That would be pretty embarrassing. Too many beers if that's the case.
54:17Okay. Last one here for me, a guy I do think needs to be a little bit lower.
54:23And this is, again, less about the player and more just about the structure of the wide receiver position this year.
54:28Cortland Sutton, wide receiver 36, 86th overall. My advice to people this year is honestly just to look at probably about like
54:35– and there are players that I think are decent in this range.
54:38But I would say for wide receiver 33, which starts at Parker Washington, Jordan Tyson, Alec Pierce, Cortland Sutton, DK Metcalf, Michael Wilson, Mekhi Lemon.
54:45Just pass on that range because I don't feel like there's really any difference between those guys and then the receivers in the 40s from a ceiling perspective.
54:53Now, floor-wise, yes, guys like DK Metcalf and Cortland Sutton especially probably project for better floors than maybe a Chris Godwin, Quinton Johnston, Jaden Reed, Jordan Addison.
55:01Shoot, Wondale Robinson, Michael Pittman, Ricky Pearsall, Jaden Reed, Josh – like I think just you want to shoot.
55:06Shoot for the ceiling cases of the guys that go in the 40s and not the floor cases of the guys that go in the 30s.
55:14So that's my just advice and why I think Cortland Sutton, I think, needs from an overall perspective to be lower.
55:19And some of those ceiling bet guys in the 30s, I'm going to have – in the 40s, I'm going to have
55:26more so those guys ranked in the 30s. Even projections-wise, yes, Sutton will likely have a better floor than those players.
55:32Yeah, we need to go speed around on this because I had to talk 20 minutes about Tony Pollard.
55:37Look at the depth chart. Waddle, most likely to be the alpha.
55:40Franklin can play. Bryant can play. Mims can play.
55:43I think he's maybe a little bit better than Sean Payton wants to admit.
55:47And they have three running backs who are all going to get reps.
55:50And then Bo Nix, if healthy, is a mobile quarterback too.
55:54Awfully crowded. I've been a Sutton guy. But this is the year to take a step away.
55:58He's a reactive, not a proactive pick in 26.
56:01Yeah, and my stance is just like Waddle. He's a guy that is way too low in ADP, but I just didn't
56:07want to use him again for this episode because the last pot I did back in June, early June, about a month
56:13ago now, that was like a whole Jalen Waddle show.
56:16So I don't think I need to double down on that, but I will double down on it many times throughout the
56:22course of the summer, Scott, because this is a fun show.
56:25We got a lot of fun shows coming up.
56:28Scott, you mentioned it earlier. Big stuff coming up from Yahoo this offseason.
56:32I could not be more thrilled to sign me up, Scott.
56:35Another season of fantasy with you, buddy. I'm very, very excited for this offseason.
56:39I know you are as well. So we got tons of great stuff here coming up.
56:43That is going to do it for this show here today.
56:46Appreciate you all. However, we got another show coming up next week.
56:50Yes, we're still just one pod a week through mid-July.
56:52Hopefully that is enough to satisfy all of your fantasy needs right now because, like I said, it's only up from here, baby.
56:59Things are going to be happening fast as we get into training camp.
57:03Less than a month from now, things are happening.
57:05So enjoy the 4th of July weekend out there, everyone.
57:08Stay safe. Put some good barbecue on the grill.
57:10Have a good time with the friends and family.
57:13And then our next show is going to drop next Wednesday at 4 p.m.
57:17Eastern. Rich Rebar is going to join me for a good look back and look forward on the 2024 wide receiver class.
57:23Marvin Harrison, Roma Dunze, Malik Neighbors, all those guys.
57:26What do we expect out of Brian Thomas Jr.?
57:28What's he going to do this year? That is going to come out next week, Wednesday, 4 p.m.
57:33Eastern. Until then, we are out.
