Take Swap! + Tilt Prevention Tips - Fantasy Football Podcast for 8/22
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Welcome to the Fantasy Footballers Podcast with your hosts, Andy Holloway, Jason Moore, and Mike Wright. Welcome in. Thursday, August 22nd. Andy, Mike, and Jason, the Fantasy Footballers, back for another episode. Very excited to be with you. Thank you for listening. Thank you for spending some of your day with us. We appreciate

Appreciate that. And we hope it's worth your time and that you get smarter and that you enjoy your day more. There's a chance. There's a chance that's all true. We do have a pretty fun episode today. We have some news to catch you up on. And we're debuting a brand new segment on the show today that I thought would be fun. And we're calling it Take Swap. So we have written some rather concise but interesting stories.

fantasy football takes for one another, and we have not read these takes. I think what we've done is we've just corrected...

you know, course for our fellow colleagues. We have, we see where they are just wrong. And so we have done our friends across the table of service and we have written them what they should be saying instead of what they are constantly saying. So yeah, we're getting one another to put some things on record today. Yeah. Against their will. And they have to read them no matter what. That's the rule, right? What's on these? I just, I'm just saying no matter what, you got to read it. All right. Okay.

Brand new take, Jason. Trying to get me canceled? What are you doing here? See, that would hurt me too. I think we're safe in that department. See you later, suckers. Fantasy Footballers with Mike. Yeah, this might have been a mistake. A couple of headlines as we get into the quick question. Just a reminder, the Megaloball available, open right now. Come and join thousands of Foot Clan members online.

In the largest fantasy football tournament on the planet. And that's megalobull.com. Every Foot Clan supporter gets a free entry. And you can learn all the rules about the league, the trades, the settings, the playoffs. The awards. Every week of the season.

We update a standings list, and we often comment about that on the show, so you'll be able to find out how you're doing in the big picture. But megalobol.com. And the Ultimate Draft Kit available right now. Go to ultimatedraftkit.com. Get all of the tools and resources you need to dominate at your draft if you want. You can use the app during your draft. The Mark Players is drafted to set some players aside as targets and a ton of other tools available at ultimatedraftkit.com. Today's quick question.

Jumping right in. This one comes in over on X from Trey Snoulder writes in. That's the handle, you know. Of course. Do you guys have any tips for preventing or dealing with tilt during your fantasy draft, which is a real thing? You've got a plan.

And the plan can go a little bit sideways. Yeah, we've all been there and we all have our plans and all of our, you know, break glass a case of emergency thing. And then sometimes that glass is like, oh man, it's already been broken. It's already been broken. Now, what do I do with this shard of glass? Uh,

What do you do? I shank people. Yeah, but oftentimes when you're on tilt, you shank yourself. You know what I mean? You're getting in your own way of successful drafting. I would just say, look, it's backup plans or cry. You either, you know, it's like. That's your plan? It can be both.

You're saying that your way of avoiding tilt is tears. I'm saying that if you don't have a backup plan for whatever's about to happen, you will cry and tilt. I got you. I thought those were like companions. Like if your backup plans don't work, then you cry. Yeah. So whenever you're a couple picks away, let's say you're four picks away and there's two guys you like, stop it.

Stop it. You're four picks away. Find four players that you like. Or I guess then five players that you like. You can't.

can't do that to yourself. You can still tier them. We want you to draft in tiers and have that successful, you know, that's going to also tier-based drafting, which we've got all of our tiers in the Ultimate Draft Kit. That will help you avoid these massive mistakes because you know where the value is still left over. And so you can usually have that value there when you come back around to your next pick. But really, when we tilt, it's because we're not giving ourselves

enough options we're saying that I'll only be happy if this guy or that guy's there and you're just setting yourself up for failure yeah and and my my answer was just acceptance because if you're in that situation where everything depends on one player coming to your team and that means okay my next picks a lot of questions come in they're like do I start running back wide receiver wide receiver or do I start wide receiver running back running back which what do I do like

That's not letting the draft come to you. That's not accepting what just happened and adjusting to what took place in the draft. That is really dependent on everything falling the right way, which will lead to you tilting. The sooner you accept that that player was taken that you were targeting, the quicker you'll be able to materialize a plan for the future. Just understanding that, look, the draft's going to go

Different than I thought. It happens every year in our league of record, and we've been playing with these guys for 15 years. So, you know, just accept. And I think just really knowing who your tilt players are, and look, they can't be first or second round guys. They like...

If you're tilting over players in the first or the second, then what are you doing? Get a hold of your life. You know where you're going to be drafting, and you know the range of guys that you're going to be able to get. And so after that, it's if you know that these are your guys, don't play stupid games because when you play stupid games, you win stupid prizes, as I tell my children, and just make sure you get those players. You might have to take a player around early, but if that is your guy that you got to have,

Take them in the fourth instead of the fifth. Or take them in the fourth instead of the sixth. I don't know. Just know who those players are. Because it shouldn't really be too many. We all have those few players where we're like, I've got to get that guy. Just make sure you do it. I would also add that you might make a mistake. You legit might panic pick somebody.

That happens. Like you get on the clock and you're like, I don't know what to do. And then you make the pick and then you come to your senses and you're like, oh, no. And then you don't let that spiral. No way to recover. Right. When those things happen. Yeah. I mean, and what I'm saying is like redeem the draft. If you do make that mistake, try your best to just get back on the horse and make the right next pick. Implement some box breathing and like bring it all back. Yeah. Or run away from the draft screaming and never come back.

Sure. News and notes from around the league presented by USAA insurance. Well, Mike Tomlin said that running back Jalen Warren's hamstring injury is not of long-term concern, probably out for this week. So that's a, that's pretty big news. I did not make,

any extensive changes after the news of the injury because I figured week one was going to be okay for Jalen Warren I'm talking five or six carries danced around yeah I really just I think I took a little away from it but mostly just moved his risk rating up yeah I don't like I don't like camp strings while we camp strings yes um while we are giving all of this news and talking about you know how a player is doing this week if they're going to be back next week it is worth just

Bearing in mind, NFL kickoff is two weeks. It's in two weeks from today. So that is the timeline for when they say they're going to be ready week one. That is two weeks from now. Yeah, it's a good reminder. I just hear this week-to-week stuff, and now I start getting the... Yeah, you get to that second of the week-to-week, and you're playing football. It's either a week, or if it's week-to-week, then you're missing week one. All right, which is, I mean, Curtis Samuel.

Right. Week to week right now. Exactly. Jalen Waddle returned to practice on Wednesday. That's good. Tyree Kale held out as a precaution. Waddle had been out of practice since August 7th with undisclosed minor injury. Yeah. Don't like that. Don't like that. It wasn't really loud. Why are you no disclose? It wasn't very loud on social media. I went and I was like, what are you talking about? And then saw a couple, a few posts about it from like a couple days ago. But this was not like

Look, the people in Miami were not sounding the alarm about it, reporting about it all the time, at least the beat reporters I follow. So I do have to be like, okay, I guess it was a minor injury and they're just letting him be fully healthy. Dallas Goddard did not practice on Wednesday. Oblique injury. Injuries have been a part of his story for a while.

And not that we ever, ever, ever want injuries, but it is one of the things where when Dallas Goddard has gone down in the past, you just see what happens to Devontae Smith. It is wonderful for fantasy. Yeah, consolidation of targets. Yeah. All right, guys. Oh, man. I mean, I almost feel like sad music belongs here, but Kendra Miller, Saints running back.

early offseason hopes and dreams. He may be placed on injured reserve to start the season. It would rule him out for the first four games. He pulled his hamstring on day one of training camp. They were already changing offensive systems. The Taysom Hill buzz as a running back has been building. You already have Jamal Williams there, and Alvin Kamara is the RB1. And Uncle Cremudgeon. Dennis Allen. Dennis the Menace came out and also said, I know he's talented.

But I don't know if he can learn the system. I don't know if he can pick up the system because I haven't seen him out there. So now your barrier to success is health and a coach that doesn't believe in you. Sometimes being a leader means you protect the people who are under your leadership.

You just say he's a really talented guy. It hasn't gone the way that we saw it going when we drafted him in the third round.

Really excited to get him on the field, but it's been a struggle. You don't think that? Easy. You know what? I made that up off the top of my head. Really? Yeah. Just now, guys. Like if a microphone was in your face, hypothetically, you could come up with that. Just now. And I have no experience being a coach talking to the media. But you're also not stressed out that your job is on the line and that you don't know what you're doing. You don't have fears of those. Yeah. So Dennis Allen, I mean,

Get out of my life. Kevin Stefanski said Deshaun Watson had general arm soreness. This was yesterday. And so he was held out of team drills. Has not made a decision on whether Watson will play in the preseason finale. Monitor this. But if he plays in that preseason finale, you should be encouraged. And then... We are two weeks away. The NFL starts two weeks from today.

The whole thing about... I was hoping to avoid digging in here. Yeah, I know you were because you've talked up the Browns and the offense and some of their weapons. But this is a real problem. Deshaun Watson has been injured this whole offseason. His problem last year was injury. He didn't look good when he was on the shoulder. Deshaun Watson, I don't think you understand this. He can be inaccurate no matter how much practice time he gets. That is true. He can be, but I...

This is not good. I mean, you had a report like this on Anthony Richardson, you know, a month or two ago, which was kind of the expected timeline. But we're right here. I'm not overplaying it. I'm sorry. General arm soreness. I don't want to over. I know you want Jameis. I don't want to. Oh, man, I would love to have James out there just for fun.

It's one of those things where last year Deshaun Watson, I didn't think, looked good. Even though for fantasy he had some games. He looked like he had a sore arm. I don't think anybody thought he looked good. I agree with that. And so if he's still dealing with – We're waiting for him to look good. Arm problems in his throwing arm is very difficult for me to believe. He's going to be back to the guy he was many, many, many years ago. Only thing that can make that contract worse is him never playing on it.

Yeah. All right. And he's going to do his best. I didn't know this was happening when I brought Deonta Foreman up on yesterday's show in Hungry for More. But Pierre Strong Jr., the Browns running back who was running ahead of him. He was the backup. Suffered an apparent upper body injury at practice on Wednesday, June

He was placed into an ambulance. We don't have any more information as of this recording. There you go. It's just wild timing. And remember, Deonta Foreman, he had his own ambulance ride just a couple weeks ago. So hopefully Pierre is okay, but it's a situation to monitor. Andy's Hungry for More is correct. If it's Jerome Ford and Deonta Foreman, both of them should have some value.

That is today's news and notes presented as always by USAA Insurance. Learn more at USAA.com slash insurance. We'll take a quick break and come back with the debut of a brand new segment.

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All right, it is time to jump in. This is what's funny over there, Keck. This segment. Yeah, this was... I'm looking forward to it. I have no idea how this is going to go. Yeah, I don't know how brutal or intellectually honest you guys are going to be. Oh, well, you're going to find out. Take Swap. All right, we are... We're going to start with...

Jason and myself we're swapping takes written for one another all right so Jason are you gonna read first I don't know what the strategy is yeah better to read first or second I'll go first since it's in my hand I have the script from Mr. Holloway yeah let's just hear what you what you've been thinking about lately okay hey everyone big shimmy here with a big time breakdown a long time coming it's time I came clean

I've put up a front for far too many years. It's time for the truth. If there's one thing I love about fantasy football, it has to be the way we score quarterback fantasy points, especially their rushing yards. Rushing quarterbacks are a true advantage in the NFL field, so why wouldn't they be in fantasy? I'm done kicking against this

entirely fair and upstanding scoring setting and finally coming out in favor of what we all know, a Russian quarterback is more valuable in real life

So they should be in fantasy. Jalen Hurts, Lamar Jackson, Cam Newton, Josh Allen. These guys were NFL MVP caliber players. So of course they should be our fantasy MVPs. Fantasy quarterback scoring is as perfect as my all black wardrobe. Nothing tends to change. And it's about time we started embracing the truth instead of complaining about it like big fat babies.

Russian quarterbacks are here to stay. And so this is the very final opinion on the matter, not to be nullified by any future comments on this topic. Whoa. Wow. Whoa. I'm a little surprised. I'm a lot surprised, Jason. Yeah, I mean, this is... It's a big about face. Yeah. You know what I mean? It is a very big about face. It's what apparently inside I've always believed is...

Look at the rushing touchdown scored inside the five by quarterbacks last year. Jalen Hurts, 13. Josh Allen, eight of them. Very impressive performances. These guys, more and more. I agree. I mean, a touchdown is worth a touchdown, just like it is in all of the leagues I play. Six points. Six points rushing, six points passing. You're right, Andy. Yeah.

We are right together. Yeah, we're just, we're very. I kind of, I tend to forget about that. When I get mad about the quarterback of 10 rushing yards as a point or 20 slash 25 passing yards as a point, I don't even factor it. My anger is not influenced by, no, there's leagues out there.

Where a quarterback throws a touchdown and it's four points or they run it in and it's six. It's the same exact touchdown. Here's a question for you. I mean, it's perfect because it lets, I mean, obviously if you look at the greatest of the greats, you're going to, I mean, who's the greatest quarterback playing right now? It's that listing that I just said.

It's not Mahomes. It's Cam Newton. Hey, by the way, do you think teams will adjust to the quarterback sneak situation? Because we've seen so many scoring on that play, that design play. That has become more prolific. There were 18 different quarterbacks that had more than two rushing touchdowns inside the five. That was an NFL record. That's 18 quarterbacks that got more than two on sneaks. Like we talked about the tush push, Kelsey leaving.

What happens when there's an adjustment to that? I mean, are you looking at it? It's not a sneak anymore. If you can see it coming, it's not really sneaky. Oh, I see what you're saying. It's now just a quarterback touchdown. It's just a quarterback run. Yeah, I mean, they're going to try to stop it, of course, but they've been trying to stop Jalen Hurts for two years, and they haven't been able to. All right, Andy, what do you need to get off your chest? Yeah, I've actually been thinking about something lately, and fortunately, Jason wrote it down for me. So here we go. I have not read this.

Have you ever had those great moments of clarity when you notice something about yourself that you need to change? I think I'm having one right now. Hey, hey, hey, hey. Stay on script. Thank you, Mike. And then you never, ever change a thing? Well, that's what I, Andy Holloway, like to do. Really? Years ago. What is happening? That's how I talk. Years ago, I talked about how I don't give enough credit to valuable wide receiver twos on their team.

But the cool thing is, the cool thing is I just keep making the same mistake. Oh, man. Year after year after year. Always the wrong decision. But now, thanks to my incredibly handsome and super funny friend in a black shirt, I'm going to write that wrong. Good for you, brother. T. Higgins is a very talented wide receiver. I just haven't given him enough credit because he's a wide receiver, too. Last season, he was a second-round draft pick.

And what has changed in his situation to make him drop so far in my rankings other than getting rid of Tyler Boyd and his 100 targets? Yes, last year he was injured and Joe Burrow was injured. It was a bad, lost year for the Bengals. But T. Higgins is really good. Oh, it's good to hear you say that finally, Andy. Joe Burrow is really good.

And this offense is really good. And wide receiver twos for good offenses tend to crush in fantasy football. And I am finally going to realize my mistake and become a man, grow some hair on my chest. Oh, yeah. And draft T. Higgins everywhere. Wow. Everywhere? Everywhere. That's your guy now. And that's my opinion on the matter. I'm happy to hear you say that since...

It felt like you have been off of T Higgins with dumb, dumb opinion. Like I, so basically I admitted my mistake years ago, but then made no changes. And now it's time for me to, yeah, you like, just not just admit it. Right. You got through the first step of the problem.

Yeah, admit you have a problem. Yeah, but there's a step two that you need to move on to. Which I believe is fix it. So fifth round pick right now, T. Higgins. Wide receiver 27. You're pulling the trigger then, both of you. In ADP, I am looking Joe Burrows, two healthy seasons. He was top 15 in points per game in 2021. Wide receiver 14 points per game in 2022. He was wide receiver 13 in points per game. The Cincinnati offense, they –

Since they have figured it out, which was a few years ago, they have been just, they let it rip. They let Joe Burrow be the man for this team. We don't have to get mad at their coaching staff for repeatedly running like cowards. It's just a good thing that despite the fact I'm not sure why, my opinion has finally changed on this.

Yeah, it is. I think the foot plan is going to appreciate it because he's a better wide receiver than you give him in the past credit for. Okay. Okay. Well, it's time for Mike and Jason to swap takes. All right. All right. I've already read one. So, Mike, I'm going to give you yours first. First. Okay. All right. This is...

I'm excited to. This is kind of cathartic today. Yeah, I mean, sometimes we got to get stuff off our chest, you know? All right. All right. What do you have to get off your chest, Mike? I love stats. I love a good behind-the-scenes metric. Some juicy numbers. That's going to help me know if someone is good or not. Yeah. You do.

All right, Mike, keep going. But sometimes I will finally admit I get too caught up in the advanced metrics and can't see my nose from my face. What? Your nose from your face? I just coined that phrase. What? It's going to be famous someday. You heard it here first. I can't see my nose from my face. So stupid. Anyway, I had a revelation. Joe Mixon, the player I have always thought was inefficient and not actually good, and just yesterday I said would be a bust, is, well, good at football.

Really? Joe Mixon is a really good running back. I know it might, I know it mind sound crazy. I got to read it. Me saying that the running back five last year is good, but he is. How good did you know that Joe Mixon is the only running back who's been an RB1 each of the last three years? That's right. The only one. Not Christian McCaffrey, not Derek Henry, nor any other RB in the NFL. Only my dude, Joe Mixon.

Yeah. And now he's the bell cow back for a top 10 offense again.

After getting a new bag of money, new big bag of money. What was I thinking? Of course, Joe Mixon is going to be very good for fantasy this year because Joe Mixon is very good at football. According to me, Mike, right? Wow. That's a big change. Yeah. That's a rapid change. Just had a bus episode yesterday. Yeah. Well, this is look, sometimes it takes us saying something wrong.

wrong to have to correct it and i think yesterday's bust take i'm proud of you for seeing it so quickly let's put the adp to the test for joe mixon james cook my guy joe mixon i think uh i think both of you are on the cook side of that one yes yes i am i mean no what about alvin camara who i feel like nobody wants to draft but everybody knows will be better than people expect

Or Joe Mixon, Mike. Because that one's one where you're getting kind of – you're dirty on both of them. Yeah. You can't keep getting away with this on both of them. Yeah, I will – between the two of them, I would take James Cook. I want to –

I want to chase some youth upside here over Camaro. Well, I think it was Joe Mixon. No, no, no. Sorry, Mixon or Camaro. Oh, well, that's not even a question. Oh, it's Camaro? No, Joe Mixon, very good at football. Oh, I see. But genuinely taking the

No, I will take Alva Camara. I'm curious for Rashad White because Rashad White is in his own right. Stop doing this to me. He is a can't keep getting away with it inefficient player. He's not on as good an offense and he's being drafted ahead of Joe Mixon. I have Rashad White. Yeah, where are you with Rashad White? He's impossible. He is 100% impossible because it's now been multiple years of

Him showing the team he can be a Belcal running back. I think he's just going to do the same thing. He 100% can. I do have...

But I have some fears that they finally have a player on the team in Bucky Irving who can come in and do the superpower that Rashad White has, which is pass catching. Rashad White is inefficient on the ground, but he's a good pass catching running back. He can make things happen in that part of the game. And I think that if Bucky Irving gets started to work into that part of the game, that's a huge, huge downgrade for Rashad White. The part...

about Bucky Irving can do that, but literally Rashad White's the best at it. And that's what kills me about it. Like when I think of what makes a running back special in the passing game,

I am drawn to the fact that he caught 91% of his targets. That number is insane. That sounds truly insane. Truly unrepeatable. Well, he was 86% the year before. Yeah, I mean, that's a great number, but that's very good. But I mean, 64 of 70 targets and then 86% the year before. What you're doing is like why, if you're a professional football team, you don't change that part of it.

That's just my opinion on the Bucky Irving thing. Don't change the best in the league. Very good at football. Joe Mixon has caught more than 86% of receptions in a season two times in his career. That's pretty good.

He is very good at football. I agree. But I'm saying that Rashad White, he might be that good at that part of the game. Yeah, that's why I don't... Depth is important, right? Chase Edmonds didn't get it done. Bucky Irving can fit a role, and I just think Rashad White does the same stuff. But the concern is...

Maybe you need to get Rashad White some more rest. So maybe he keeps doing the pass catching and they start working more guys in on the ground. I don't know. He's a very...

Difficult running back because so much of it was just volume, and he's not like a first-round running back that you're locked in, and I know he's going to get everything. Mike, do you feel as though Jason may have something to get off of his chest at this point? It looks like it from what I can see. Okay. Well, let's explore one of my best takes here. Make sure I gave you the right one. Yeah, we're good. All right, listen up.

It's way too early to give up on Austin Eckler.

He was a top eight or better running back in five of 14 games. He saw over 18 opportunities per game, including over five targets per week, scoring 11.4 points per game. That's a better mark than Swift, Najee, Warren, Javante. I really, really enjoyed having him on my team last year and was so thrilled Andy didn't accept my trade for him.

If he's got anything left in the tank, Cliff Kingsbury, offensive mastermind, will be the one to get the most out of him. It's like I've always said, I want old veteran running backs coming off their most inefficient season and partnered with rookie mobile quarterbacks. If that's not a recipe for success, I don't know what is.

Wow. I thought you had been kind of out, you know, after last year's experience. I didn't know you were like the bird was the first line. You just, the first line is it's way too early to give up on Austin Eckler.

And that is what my therapist has taught me, is that the scars and the burns from last season. Yeah, let it go. They're in the past. Wow. And you want to have a split backfield committee for a rookie quarterback for an aged veteran. And when you think about it, only 61% of his rushing attempts gained three or fewer yards. That is, when I think of it, what I...

So what I say you would word it only 31% of his carries went for 39. Oh, 39. Yes. Based on math. So Austin Eckler has been

Talked about very little on this show over the offseason. He's being drafted as the running back 32, the back of the eighth round. So this isn't a nobody in the draft right now. People are going after Austin Eckler. So Jason is in. Andy, where have you gotten to with Austin Eckler? Well, I'm in my...

I think my value pick was Brian Robinson, if that tells you anything. I mean, I look at Eckler like a re-roll of Antonio Gibson from last year, which is somewhat irrelevant. I do enjoy – have you seen this quote from Cliff Kingsbury? Yes, I have. I couldn't figure out – Do you want me to read the whole thing? Or just – maybe I'll get to the part that says, I didn't study him much in free agency.

I didn't think he'd be here. You're leaving out the best parts, Andy. When offensive mastermind Cliff Kingsbury said, I watch and I'm like, this guy's tremendous. So I'm not sure what it was last year, but he hasn't lost a step. He's as quick and as fast and as strong as I've seen him. This is a real quote. This was not a take swap with Cliff. No, that is a real quote. He does continue on to say, I didn't study him much in free agency. Here's the thing about

past catching backs, I will say, is that they don't need much to be relevant for fantasy. So when you are looking at him, do I want to take him in the eighth round? I probably will not do that. But could he be a usable flex on certain weeks or in PPR leagues? Absolutely. And in his defense, Eckler, it was...

On the ground, it was terrible. That's where it was 179 attempts, 3.5 yards per carry. Like, that is terrible. He was still 8.5 yards per catch, though, on 74 targets. Caught 51 of them. So a low catch percentage for Austin Eckler, and you didn't get those –

sweet, juicy receiving touchdowns like you're used to getting, but he was still making big plays. If he was the free agent pickup that Washington brought in to be their guy because they didn't have anybody else, we would be talking about Eckler completely differently. It's the fact of what Jason illustrated. Now, I'm surprised he's not doubting it, but a mobile rookie quarterback with a committee on a team that has got a new head coach and a new offensive coordinator and a tough division. All those things combined means that predictability...

Look, if we came out and Austin Eckler surprised with six catches in week one and a touchdown and he's a free agent pickup, I mean, that's not impossible, especially first half of the year. He's dealt with injuries. He played through injuries, we hope, last year. Because if he didn't play through injury, he has lost it. We watched him go down the sideline like a fullback. So he better have been playing through injuries for us to have any hope. All right, we're going to take a quick break and then come back with some thoughts from Mike and myself.

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All right, I'll take this. I will read first. All right, yeah, let's see what you're thinking. As a man known for both tradition and small talk, it's about time we had a little heart-to-heart about something near and dear to me. That is, of course, testosterone. Testosterone?

It's about time we talked about it. The big T, that gridiron tradition of high T football, is a man who likes doing things the way they've always been done. Playing the game the way it was meant to be played. It's time we got back to the roots of the game. Where are my leatherheads at? Last year, the seven teams that ran the ball the least didn't make the playoffs.

Last year, the seven teams that ran the ball, the least didn't make the playoffs. Well, seven of the top nine teams who ran it the most made the playoffs. That's a great find volume, grit, toughness, the fire in your belly, the pigskin in your paws, running that thing left and right and center until the cows come home. Wow. Do it like they've always done hand that rock off and let them churn out those first downs. Like the forward pass doesn't exist.

That's the way I like it, and you should too. High-T football is the way to go, and it might just be the way to go in fantasy football. I like that you still call it the forward pass. Yeah. Yes. Well, it's this new fangled invention. Where are my leatherheads at?

Well, I mean, Mike, tradition is something that we know about you. Oh, yeah. Doing things just because that's how we've done them, that's what I say is the best medicine. And those stats that still get you – I mean, they're great stats, of course, but those stats of –

Well, this team that won, they ran the ball 30-something times. All you got to do is if you run the ball 35-plus times, you win like 90% of the games. That's how statistics work, Mike. I mean, that is correlation causation at its root. Yeah, I mean, you and Guns Mahoney. I mean, it is – the interaction between the running game, fantasy football, and the NFL has always been very interesting to me because –

And we've had a lot of seasons where the most effective running teams, the ones that do commit to it the most, there's chicken or egg to a degree. You get up, you run the ball more. You're up, you run. But for a ton of years, I mean, New Orleans, Baltimore, San Francisco last year. And like I said, seven, or like you said. Yes. Like you said, seven of the top nine teams, it was the maximum rushing volume.

It has been a recipe for success at the NFL level, but at the same time, we look at efficiency. We look at passing around the goal line. We like it. Neutral game script. Correct. But I didn't realize you were such a traditional. Does this mean are you thinking about going running back, running back, running back, running back to start your drafts? That's what we're wondering. For running backs? People were just asking us about zero RB, and I say zero anything but RB. Yeah. Wow. Nice. Strong point. Is this my turn? It is. It is.

Oh, this is a nice big font. I like this. Jaden Reed. Oh, gosh. I wanted to say this to everybody. Jaden Reed was a product of opportunity last year. Wow, could have been. Tell us why. Well, he's a fine-ish player. His numbers are unsustainable. It's tough to admit. He topped four receptions in only four games. He massively overproduced in the touchdown department. And Reed scored a touchdown on 13% of his touches, a score every seven and a half touches.

Over the last decade, we've seen 16 wide receivers have 10-plus touchdowns on 75 or fewer touches like Reed. The average drop in touchdowns next year, 5.4. That's a lot. When both Reed and Christian Watson were playing together, nine games in total, Reed only managed them easily two quality fantasy games. And look at those playoffs. The biggest stage, the most important games of the season. Reed? Question mark?

A combined four receptions for 35 yards over two games. He's a part-time mediocre player surrounded by very talented players. Whoa. Okay. That's a scathing review. If I hadn't changed my opinion to this exact thing right here, I would be upset. Yeah. But now you know. You know what I mean? Yeah, but mediocrity.

Or Jaden Reed, I'll just put it that way. He's in a crowded backfield of other quality wide receivers. Yeah, and the important thing is that some of you out there would be blaming all of the injury struggles over the back stretch of the season. But I've come to realize that those are irrelevant. He just sucks. No, no, he's fine-ish, you said. Yeah, he's fine-ish.

You were mean to him. No, I'm sorry. I meant a part-time mediocre player. Oh, yeah. That's better said. Surrounded by very talented full-time players. And, of course, by full-time players, I do mean Christian Watson. Yes. Who is always available and on the field. I don't know what I think about my own thoughts. Yeah.

You know? Well, some of what you brought up is fascinating. It sounds like some things you've brought up before. The truth is that he did overproduce on touchdowns. It's not a sustainable pace for just about anyone. For the volume that he got. There is, to be fair to my own thoughts, John Dotson comes to mind. If you wanted to find the negative case for the Reed rookie season, it would be Dotson. Dotson overproduced.

touchdown wise was efficient flash as a rookie believed in the talent didn't produce as a sophomore one of the reasons i didn't make jayden reed my my guys because i knew later on i would write this scathing yes yes opinion where all of my scouting and opinions on him were kind of changed suddenly in the midst of an episode don tavian called take swap don tavian wicks is obviously better right i mean i think i might think that right this point

He's not mediocre. No. So, yeah, I mean, I guess I could be wrong and he might end up being amazing. And that talent shines through in this year. But we'll find out. Jump into the mailbag. Mailbag. How did we not mailbag swap?

Oh, yeah. Well, I mean, like make the deuces do it. It doesn't take long to get the Falcon in there. Oh, Falcon. Mailbag. Yes. Yes. Oh, yes. Yes. Yes. Oh,

Oh, his face. His face when it wasn't on camera. Vigorously shaking his head. No, no, no, no, no, no. Don't do this. And it was like the music was going. Good for you. You get some credit today, Falcon. You went all in on it. You...

Embrace the mailbag swap despite, I mean, Jason's right. He was. Vigorously shaking his head no. I've never seen someone sprint without moving before, but that's what he was doing. He was just trying to run out of this room to take a Falcon. That was great. Thank you, Falcon. You get mad props on that. If you have a question for the show, you can go to the website, thefantasyfootballers.com and click the submit a question button.

Yeah, Falcon said he blacked out. What just happened? You can dial the voicemail hotline 302-464-TFFB and here we go. By the way, what was your thought on our first Take Swap episode? Did you enjoy yourself? Yeah, yeah. There's some fun things to be had. Hopefully the audience can understand the difference and what we actually believe. And also, hopefully maybe a thing or two there

brought to light a different shade of our opinion that maybe is a little bit more reasonable in some of them. Well, probably not for Mike. He does what he's always done. He does what they always do. Yeah, high T. Why are you such a big fan of TD only leagues? Because that's the only time that they score in the NFL. Okay, that's a good point. That is the right answer. All right, our first question comes in from Instagram. Josh writes in, says, what is your view on Kirk Cousins?

I think he's a quarterback. Yep. I don't know if you guys saw the playlist, but there was a playlist where Kirk Cousins, it was his birthday, he got to put it out there. And you know what? It was a good playlist. I had no problems with it. But it's hard to get overly excited about Kirk Cousins because we just don't know if he's going to be truly healthy. You know, it's like...

Let me bring a point up if this is okay, just to answer the question for us. Kirk Cousins and Aaron Rodgers are both coming off of devastating injuries. Different legs, same injury. Both have, I'm going to just say changed teams. Rodgers got to play zero, basically zero skills. So new offense, new situation. Both have two of the best running backs in the game of football, B. John Robinson and Reese Hall. Mm-hmm.

And both have had prolific fantasy seasons. Rodgers more than Cousins. Yeah. But both have done it in the past. Both have same year up and coming superstar wide receivers. Yeah. Drake London and Garrett Wilson. We do not bring up very often or haven't. I haven't heard it. The fact that the Jets offense could be prolific. The Jets offense could be incredible. Despite the fact that they have all of those same attributes that Kirk Cousins has. Right.

But it does get brought up around Atlanta. You know, the thought that Atlanta could just turn everything around. They have a worse defense. Maybe that means you think they'll throw the ball more. But the situations are wildly parallel. Yeah, I agree. From running back to wide receiver to injury to how you've established. I just feel like nobody, like has anybody whispered Aaron Rodgers' name in a fantasy conversation? No, it hasn't.

When he has all those same things. There's a lot of similarities, but it was just like the upside of the Falcons' skill position players. I just talked about Darnell Mooney. I think that he is still a quality wide receiver. It's hopes and dreams. I get it. But Kyle Pitts still deserves hopes and dreams because of the talent. At least we saw his rookie season.

And over a thousand yards as a rookie tight end, nearly impossible to do, but he managed to do it where the Jets, like who is the second, not naming Brees Hall, who's the second best pass catcher for the New York Jets?

Probably Gibson until Mike Williams comes back, I'm guessing. Yeah, and I'm not really factoring Mike Williams into the offense as a total. It's kind of funny. Williams and Mooney feel similar. But one of them is not recovering from an ACL.

Correct. So that's what I'm saying. Not this year. That's what I'm saying. I'm not factoring Williams in as much as Mooney. They are back-to-back in drafts. I would add to that, you've got an age gap here, right? 36 years old versus 40 years old. So you're 40 years old coming off of an Achilles injury. And when he was 38 years old, when Aaron Rodgers was not injured,

He wasn't that great his last season in Green Bay. I know he lost to Vontae Adams, but 3,600 yards, 26 passing touchdowns, which is very not Aaron Rodgers-like. So I think it's like, well, he's got to recover at age 40 and get back to prior to what he was when he was healthy,

That just seems like a tall task, especially for a team that is so darn good on defense that you don't have to push the ball downfield enough for fantasy purposes to have, even if they are one of the best teams in the league. Rodgers has never been a yard guy, though.

No. No, but he's been a touchdown guy. He's been a touchdown guy. And that's what I'm saying. When he was 38, he threw 26 passing touchdowns. His career average per year, points per game for Rodgers, is 20.5. Cousins' career, points per game, is 16.2. Yeah, and in the final year of Aaron Rodgers' healthy career,

It was 14.1. Right. That's why I... You've given a lot of weight to that season for now two years because we didn't get to see Rodgers on the field last year. Yeah. It's just he's old. Isn't that going to be fun, though? Oh, I can't wait. We missed it last year. I mean, I'm always rooting for all these quarterbacks to do well. But to get back to the original question of Kirk Cousins, if he's healthy...

he should be pretty darn good. I mean, this is the Rams system that fits his play style. You know, he's not going to be mobile, so he's going to be one of those guys that's a low-end quarterback one or just a good super flex QB two type. Coming from the Rams system, there's a guy in the Rams system right now named Matthew Stafford that has two prolific pass catchers, Dan McVay already. Mm-hmm.

And I look at Cousins in that lens. I think Cousins and Stafford would be the more, like, occasional weekly upside, but probably not every week and probably not top 12 guys. Yeah, that's where I said you're – I look at Stafford the same way. He's a low-end quarterback one or probably a quarterback two in super flex leagues that you're happy to have. Yeah, that's right. Instagram question from Mike562. Do you believe that George Pickens can be a league winner? No. No.

But I'm probably alone there. No. League winner is... To actually receive the moniker of league winner, he would have to finish top five. Can he be top five? He's being drafted as the wide receiver 29 in the back of the fifth right now. The Steelers, as of this recording, a little bit early, the Steelers and the Patriots are the only team to not name a starting quarterback. Now...

because Bo Nix was named the starter for the Denver Broncos. Did you guys... Which we should have talked about. Yeah, well, I'm mentioning it right now. The Steelers quarterback situation, that's a little strange to me. Russ has missed a bunch of time with injury, and everything out of Steelers camp has been...

No, Russ is going to be the guy. But then you get or getting the whispers of, well, the quarterback competition is actually a little closer than most people would think. So do you guys have a read on that? Because that affects the outcome of George Pickens in a big way as well. I mean, I saw the report that, you know, it was like they're the only two teams that haven't declared a starter. Right.

Is that really true? Because I feel like Tomlin from day one has said quarterback one is. No, it is true. So he has come out and said that Russ is no longer the starter. I just haven't seen that actually happen. They never named Russ as a starter. They named him as the. As the quarterback one. That was the phrase he always used. He's the quarterback one. And I don't know what that means if not starter. Means you're first up in practice.

I think it's a bad sign that he hasn't come out and declared that and reinforced it. I do. That's where I was bringing it up. I absolutely do. I think most teams have done it.

They haven't done it, and frankly, both guys look like they're not very good. Well, they are the reason why I say no. It's not Pickens. If tomorrow CD Lambs contract negotiations go sideways and there's a Pickens for CD trade, yeah, Pickens could be a league winner playing with Dak as the wide receiver one there. But I don't see a league winner for whoever is the wide receiver one

between Russ and Fields. Yeah, it does seem challenging. And I don't even know. I honestly don't even know who I'd prefer. Like Russ provided nothing to Denver's pass catchers. And at least Fields gave you DJ Moore's big season. Right. But Fields is a problem behind center too. So I still am blown away that

Cortland Sutton had 10 receiving touchdowns from Russell Wilson, 10 double digit touchdowns. And he was the wide receiver 36. Yeah. It seems impossible. It does. All right. Um, this is a website question from Caroline in Huntington beach. Hey ballers. I play in a half PPR league that also awards half a point for a first down. Nice. How do I take that into account when drafting my positional players? Should I be looking at full PPR rankings? Thank you. Um,

It's a great question. This is an interesting topic. There are those out there that would like to kind of push us towards a point-per-first-down format versus point-per-reception because...

A screen pass for zero yards is not as valuable as a pass for a first down. This is interesting of the half for the catch and another half. You complete the PPR if you actually get a first down. I'm totally fine with that. Yeah, I think it's cool. As far as what rankings to look at, I think looking at PPR rankings are fine for this.

But what you want to do is go just Google like first downs, you know, last year and see which types of players and which players led the league in first downs and, and, and rank them and, and just kind of sort them mentally a little bit within themselves. If, if they're a behind the line of scrimmage type of screen game guy, that's not going to be the, the sticks mover. I'll give you some data. Yeah. If, if we want it top five,

receiving first down leaders. So receptions that were for first downs. I bet it's all the high PPR guys. Tyree kill. Yeah. CD. Check. Amon raw. AJ Brown. Okay. Puka Nakua. Those are the top five. No one is surprising. Those are not. Yeah. How far, how far does the list go down that you're looking at? As far as we want. Is there any, who's 356? Well, Jason. Okay. At what point in the order is there a name where you go, Oh,

Godwin with 53, which was right at the same level as Nico Collins is interesting. That's yeah. Feeling at 56. Yeah. Um, is interesting. Somehow they had 56 first downs. Feeling it. The Panthers. Oh, the team. Um, maybe interesting. The Hawkinson had 48 where it's, which was the same amount as Laporta despite missing time. Yeah. Hawkinson was having a good year. Um,

I'm not seeing anything. I mean, 46 for Jacoby Myers, who is, that's more than Drake Lennon and Rashi Rice, George Kittle. So that's kind of interesting. Yeah. It's, it's more of the, the PPR guys at the top are going to be the first down guys. Cause they're catching a bunch of passes and the, and then the players who like Nico, it's gonna, it might be a little bit lower because they're, they're big play guys. Um,

Not surprising, you know, rushing first down-wise, McCaffrey lapped the field. Yeah. So McCaffrey, and this includes quarterbacks, any rushing first downs. McCaffrey had 83 rushing first downs. The next closest was 68. And this is a wild one. The fifth highest rushing in the NFL, quarterbacks included, first downs, Chuba Hubbard. Wait.

Carolina had that many first downs? That one's wild, right? Yeah, it is. More than Mostert, more than Josh Allen, more than Montgomery. That's a high number. That is. Touchdowns are essentially counted as a first down, so I figure Mostert had 20-some of those. That is the name that jumps out at the top 20 at the rushing for rushes. Interesting.

All right. We are going to wrap things up today. We've got a mock draft episode tomorrow. We've got our live show on Saturday evening. A few straggling seats remain, and you can go to ballerslive.com if you want to come see us live in Los Angeles on Saturday. We would love to see you. The place is going to be packed. We've got tons of special stuff in store. We're giving away literally like 20 autographed jerseys that we're going to be throwing out

into the crowd and the mezzanine. Yeah, shout out to Pristine Auction for providing all those. Shout out to Sleeper for presenting the show. Absolutely. And we're also raising money for Fantasy Cares with the live show as well. So it's going to be just a really good time to connect before the season and during draft season. So ballerslive.com for tickets. Get into the Megalobowl at megalobowl.com. And we will be back with yet another episode tomorrow. But we will not be doing pick swap during the mock draft.

Just so you know. Okay. Goodbye. Thank you for listening to another episode of the Fantasy Footballers Podcast. Join our fantasy football community on jointhefoot.com and follow us on Twitter at the FFBallers.