“What If” Players + Fantasy Fears - Fantasy Football Podcast for 9/3
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Welcome to the Fantasy Footballers Podcast with your hosts, Andy Holloway, Jason Moore, and Mike Wright. Welcome in. Two more sleeps. Okay, Grandpa. What? I like it. Yeah, we got football this week. Mike's not going to talk on the show today. That way his football time can be maximized. Yeah. Volume, tone.

This is the first time ever. This is just realizing in my brain right now because we were talking about this. Yes. There will be two It's Football times this week for the first time ever. Wow. Because... Because we're walking there. Yeah, I was. Wow. Because...

There's a game on Friday. The NFL is trying something out, I guess. Well, they always do. Sometimes the first week, Monday, they do a doubleheader. I am laughing at the idea that they're trying something because, yes, they're having a Friday game in Brazil. I wonder how it's going to work. That's all I'm saying. I bet you they know A plus B equals money. Yeah. Well, they do weird stuff like start two games on Monday at the same time. That's true. We have criticized that. They try things out and –

Generally speaking, Monday night does not get its own football time. I don't know, man. For a Friday standalone game? You just said there's going to be two this week. It's happening. Tuesday, September 3rd. Two days away from meaningful, actual, real NFL football that's going to count for your fantasy roster. We're here to

help you through the entire season. It's amazing. So our week one rankings are live, and I was working on them more this morning. And just before the show, I'm literally looking at the order of these players and who I would start and all of this, and it dawns on me. I go, the answers...

are days away. Like, we get to know who is the better player this week. Like, it's not all, you know, you spend these months of just all this hypothetical, all this analysis, all this talky-talk-talk nonsense, and now it's like the points are coming. They're here days away. I'm so, I'm just jacked. I mean, this is not part of our normal...

plans today but is there a singular player and i'll give you a second to think about this that you are the most excited to see play football in week one i i know mine will put malik neighbors out there okay the rookies are always in that category and then compounded with just the my guy and the anticipation for him on the field is he the next jamar chase mike it's caleb

Yeah. And I have. Team captain, Caleb Williams. I currently have, you know, very little personally fantasy invested in the Chicago Bears other than, you know, making my projections and everything. It's just it hasn't worked out for me. Although I did. We were in our League of Shadows. I did just double up my QB. I took Caleb with my second to last pick. Nice. Just in case. Yeah. Just in case. But watching him.

The preseason was very impressive for Caleb, making really difficult throws. What's going to happen, though, when it's an actual NFL defense and not a preseason defense? Will he still be able to do it? I would say the first player that just naturally came to mind that I'm very – I think everyone in the world needs it to work. Let's say it together. Colby Parkinson. C.J. Stroud. Oh.

You can't. Dude, you can't fail. I mean, you can. But please do not. Because.

because there is so much writing on you leveling up and being that dude. The whole team, front to back, the Texans are supposed to be an awesome offense. Nico goes high. Diggs is, you know. You've got to build that foundation on rock, Jason. Right. Can't be sand. I mean, it's just got to work. Please, C.J. Stroud. Please, C.J. Stroud. You're petitioning him to do what he does. Be great. Be the player that everyone thinks you're going to be because –

We were here. We were here with Baker going into year two when he was... Oh, don't say that. He was the dude. He was, you know... Oh, man. What did he get? Odell Beckham added to the roster. Yeah, Landry was on that roster. He was going to be the next greatest quarterback. Was that Freddie Kitchens that year? Yes. Kyle, yeah, that was... I believe so. Too many Kitchens in the kitchen. Yes. We have a lot going on. We got news to talk about. We got...

A waiver wire segment where we're talking about the undrafted gyms that you can pick up. I just took one of them. Actually, I don't know if it's in this list, but I took one of these guys with the last pick of our draft, our League of Shadows draft. So we'll talk about some names, some players that you may want to hot swap off of the back of your bench and maybe put somebody else in there that has some upside. And then we'll jump into the mailbag. We got voicemails you guys have sent in. We got tons of questions coming in to the show.

As we get ready for the season to kick off, I can feel the energy in the room. It is palpable. We are ready for football. We are ready to see these teams and see our fantasy team succeed. But I just wanted to say in general, thank you for this past offseason. It's been awesome. Thank you for those that came out to the live show. For those of you that have joined the Foot Clan over the last month, that have become a part of our community, this show is going into the 10th.

season of doing this. And I know I can speak for all three of us to say that we have the same excitement, energy, and joy. Also, I can't stop buying more and more things to help support the draft. Yeah, good for you. Because I am the champion. Good for you. And there is a rule in fantasy football that you should be delusionally rude.

To your league mates when you're the champ. So I have got. Being the champ is. It is so good. It's so good. It's the highest high, my friend. It is. And it's also, it's expensive. Oh, and you know what? That's it. It's like. That's right. Fantasychamps.com. You know what keeps happening is I think of one thing I want to bring to the draft and then I put it in my Amazon cart.

And then I realized I need that $25, you know, limit to get the shipping. So I'm like, oh, what other thing can I buy? And then I just keep buying them. But yeah, I got some stuff in store. It's going to be very fun. But no, the point there was not that I'm the champ, although that's always the point.

It's that we're very thankful to have you along for the ride. We do have two Megaloball draft times remaining. The 5 p.m. tonight draft for the Megaloball, which is the largest fantasy football league. It's the one with all the Foot Clan members. It's going to be super fun this year. And I actually was talking to a ton of Foot Clan people this weekend, and one of the comments was like,

I always loved playing in the Megaloball, but when you guys pulled trading out, I quit. Yeah. And I said, trading's back, baby. Yeah, trading is back. The playoffs are a little bit easier to make. A little expanded. We really mirrored the Megaloball to our League of Record format. So the scoring, everything is how we like to play. And the people that are in these leagues are awesome. They are our people. They are you. You listening are who's playing in it. I have not done my draft yet.

So if you want to try to guess which draft slot I'm in, we've got one left tomorrow. And you can still join. 9 a.m. September 4th. So there is time. Megaloball.com. Sorry, Jay. What are the prizes? And that's Pacific time. Yeah.

The prizes are the winner of the Megaloball plays automatically. They are in our listener league in 2025, and you become an ultimate Foot Clan member for life forever.

So that is awesome. Jason also mentioned at the top, the week one rankings are up on the site. The start sit tool, all of the in-season things are happening right now at the fantasy footballers.com and tons of free resources for you. Amazing articles from a really talented writing staff coming out every single day. And it's, it's go time. I mean, just if you're like me, just soak it up all day, every day, no matter where you're at.

And your family will totally support that. You can follow the show over on X at the FF Ballers. Let's jump in. I think this is the button. Here it is.

Welcome to the Waiver Wire, presented by NFL Sunday Ticket on YouTube TV. I got to graduate my button pushing to in-season mode. That was still off-season. Yeah, it takes some time. Hurry up. All right, we're looking at week one stashes. Some players, some undrafted gyms, the what-if players, right? Like if something goes wrong.

exceptionally well in week one or the hierarchy maybe at the wide receiver room or running back room changes and we're you know things that we're not expecting what are some of these names in your mind for week one yeah it's it's really common for me to finish a draft and then look at the waiver wire afterwards ago I would rather have this guy you got a little more time that's normal yeah one of the first names I'll bring up is the one you drafted last in our in our league we just did Andy it's Samaj P Ryan he's

He's going to be very interesting. He is. He is extremely valuable. This is a role. I mean, you know, I'm all about Isaiah Pacheco and it seems part of the news this week is that Clyde Edwards Allaire was put on the, what is it? The NFI. Yeah, the NFI. And so he's going to miss the first month of football, if not more. Right. So now we know why they went and got P. Ryan. So I'm not as scared about P. Ryan for Pacheco. However, this

This is an important offense. We saw Jarek McKinnon have value. This is a player who caught 50 balls last year for a bad offense, and now he goes over to the Chiefs. So he's just sitting there on the waiver wire as the backup to Pacheco, who will be involved. He's going to be active this Thursday already. So Pirine is, I think, a must hot swap type of player.

Yeah, I'm just genuinely curious how the team uses him and how fast he gets integrated into the offense. Everything you said is right. You had...

The one thing about Pirine that's interesting to me is that you have respected coaches that seem to want him and trust him, where Zach Taylor, to our own demise, continued to trust him in Cincinnati. He was picked up by Peyton last year. Obviously, they went out and they found McLaughlin. That was an unexpected player in the running back room, and then they drafted Estimates, so there was kind of no room for him. But then Andy Reid picks him up, you know, where –

If there's anybody that can utilize less talented players for greater fantasy output, we often talked about Damian Williams and whether he was a legitimately good running back or not. He was almost a Super Bowl MVP on that team. So a fun player to watch for sure. I mean, last year, this is the show where you could have brought up names like Puka Nakua and Kyron Williams, Sam Laporta, who was only 54% rostered after drafts last year.

So I think that's a good one. I'd also bring up another running back in Marshawn Lloyd. Yes, that was the next most important name to me. Running back for the Green Bay Packers, rookie running back. We talk about it every year somehow, some way. At least two rookie running backs seem to break into the top 24, and we're sitting here going, you know, a couple weeks ago, well, how's that even going to happen this year? Then all of a sudden, Marshawn Lloyd's not put on the IR anymore.

A.J. Dillon is and he's also back at practice which the the timeline for his injury you know when he was going on IR it seemed like he was not going to be ready for the season I'm not positive he will be he might not be even if he is not active week one you should still pick up Marshawn Lloyd he's an explosive running back in a committee with no A.J. Dillon um in front of him for a good offense so he must be rostered and Jacobs has missed a little bit of time here and there and

It's the what if, right? Like, is that the kind of offense where suddenly Marshawn Lloyd, if he was by himself too, he would be an interesting player to add to the roster. The only problem there is I don't think Lloyd plays in the first couple weeks. So if you, that would be a longer stash. You might want some quicker return. Mike, do you have some names? I mean, the quarterbacks to pay attention to, like Will Levis from Tennessee,

He could turn into a late-round guy who's really giving you points. And I get it. Caleb Williams was probably drafted in your league, but now that casual leagues are going, I'm seeing him drop lower and lower where he was ADP atop. He was like QB 11, which that's right on the fringe of may or may not get drafted, but I think that he is a really good pickup in C with your other quarterback one. And then at the running back position, I'll say it again, Taysom Hill,

Did you say at the running back position? At the tight end. Because it should be. Yeah, it's whatever, man. He's everything. Taysom Hill is tight end eligible for a lot of platforms, and we don't know what the Saints are going to do. I'm telling you.

I'm telling you, Mike, I'm with you on this. I hate it. I have this feeling right now that we're going to come out and see so much Taysom Hill at running back in this game. Yeah, I think so. They play against Carolina in the opening week. They're favored. They're at home. I thought you were going to say it's their favorite.

It's their favorite team to play. It's everyone's favorite team to play against. So, yeah, I mean, you talk about, like, I was looking at the rankings. I was like, oh, that's great for Alvin Kamara. I was like, they're going to be up. Maybe it's more of a grind game. Maybe it's more of like a Jamal Williams. And I'm like,

Like, oh, it's Taysom. It's Taysom week one. And the other tight end, I just, in our family league. Completely agree. I had grabbed. It was really late, and everyone had their starting tight end, so I took Hawkinson as I'm going to stash him, and then I was going to find someone else to play. Unfortunately, someone took Taysom Hill before I was able to go, and I had to scramble. What am I going to do?

Greg D, Greg Dulcich of the Denver Broncos, he's an electric athlete. We love seeing that. And who's established for the Denver Broncos passing attack right now? Cortland Sutton.

That's it. The running backs are going to get their targets, but no one else on this team is going to go out and that you would project, oh, this is a 20% target type of player. He had a great target share as a rookie, just has been hurt. So he is a very late tight end that I think you should... If you have that one spot...

I think stashing Greg Dulcich isn't the worst idea. Other players that I think might surprise you in week one, I think Michael Wilson and Greg Dortch in Arizona, opposite of Marvin Harrison, might be a surprise in week one against Buffalo. Diami Brown's going to get an opportunity in Washington. Jalen Tolbert, what's his role going to be as a wide receiver in Dallas in week one as he's had a good camp? And so those are some other names worth bringing up and

Yeah, I'm so excited. Yeah, I would throw out a couple of rookies as well. Adonai Mitchell and Malik Washington. Those are guys that I think they're kind of third on their depth chart, but they've got an opportunity. It's the surprising – when I look back at the breakouts every week one, a lot of times it's the rookies. I mean, last year it was Puka, right? It was like you just didn't know. You didn't know he was going to be involved, that involved. Malik Washington is –

an excellent stash right now. I liked the player. And, yeah, reports are now positive for Jalen Waddell and Tyreek Hill, but they're both coming off an injury. Yeah. It's like, oh, they're both finally back to practice. Yeah, if Waddell goes out there and it was a really bad calf injury that we didn't know about and he tweaks it in week one, Malik Washington is going to be very heavily sought after on that Tuesday waiver wire.

All right. Thanks again to NFL Sunday Ticket on YouTube TV. Watch every game every Sunday when you bundle NFL Sunday Ticket and YouTube TV. Sign up today at youtube.com slash fantasyfootballers. A reminder, local and national games on YouTube TV. NFL Sunday Ticket for out-of-market games excludes digital-only games. Device and content restrictions apply. News and notes from around the league. Presented by USAA Insurance. ♪

All right, Mike, I'm going to give you the power of telling me whether I hit this button or not, but Jamar Chase...

He was present at practice on Monday. He did not participate. And Zach Taylor, who has learned a thing or two, he came out and said on whether Chase will play on Sunday against New England. Are you asking about firing the full panic alarm? Yes. I'm not at sound the sirens, but I am at the point of. Let me get the quote in there. He said, we'll just take it day by day. Go ahead.

If you haven't drafted yet, I can totally understand letting the other big wide receivers that we've been talking about, like A.J. Brown. Yeah, he's the name. Would you take A.J. Brown over Jamar now? If it was today, I would. Yeah, if I'm drafting now, I think both are great players. I love both players. So taking one that I'm not sure plays this week over one that I— What are you cackling about over there?

I am chuckling to myself because I think, I know you're not, you're giving your advice. Oh, you think. I just know that Jason is in a unique position on Thursday in our League of Record draft. You think I'm being selfish over here. It would be beneficial to him if Jamar Chase fell a couple of spots in the draft. I don't think he's going to make it to you. Yeah, yeah. I'm too far for that to matter. But point being.

I honestly, my true belief is Jamar Chase, week one, suits up and plays football. I guess that's the question. I think he does. I think he doesn't. I think he does. He has two years left. There's also still, look, we're at the 11th hour. There is a chance that a contract comes through. We were getting some rumors that they were close. I don't know what in the world is going on there. Like, CeeDee Lamb.

There it is. There it is, Cincinnati. You go, hey, look, Mr. Jamar Chase, here's what CD got. Would you like that as well? Because, look, we're not going to give you Jefferson's number, but we'll give you CD's number. Let's get that done. Sometimes it does seem that simple. And then this morning we got news that Trent Williams will be back

For the 49ers. That is gigantic. That is literally gigantic news. He was not looking good for him to start the season playing for the 49ers. And that dude will hold out.

Yeah. He's already proven a year, right? I'm saying if you don't give Trent Williams his money, he is not showing up to work. He has set a precedent. But the 49ers got their deals done to the point that Mike was making. They got them done. Iuke and Trent Williams back on the roster. That's great news for McCaffrey who returned to practice today. So McCaffrey is on schedule. And again, he plays on Monday Night Football against the Jets. Oh, my gosh.

Monday Night Football 49ers Jets? Yeah. What could go wrong? I want that game. I want that game. Yes. Oh, my gosh. All right. Mark Andrews.

Not on the injury report. So that's great. Hollywood Brown ruled out, but they do. They are talking like Hollywood's back in week two. We'll see. I would be surprised. I don't know where the optimism is coming from. I mean, obviously they know, but this injury in the timeline, to me, it made sense. Obviously they didn't put him on the IR. So you expect that he's not going to miss four weeks.

But I don't know, man. I am less optimistic just based on the actual injury and the normal timeline for that that he plays in week two. I think – yeah, I thought that it came from Andy Reid, but I can't find the quote right now, so we'll see.

Not that you would. Like, do you put Hollywood Brown on these? Like, if you're not drafting him, I feel like he should be on a roster. I really do. You think he should be on a roster? Yeah, I mean, people are sitting here throwing all season long. Sky Moore and Justin Watson, these guys are landing on rosters. Like, Hollywood is much better than them. If you have an IR spot, that's fine. If you don't have an IR spot, I'm not personally wasting a bench spot on a guy that can't. Like, let's say he was active next week.

in week two since we know he's not going to play this week. Would you start him week two? First game back from this injury? No, you're not drafting him as a player that you're going to start. I agree. I would put him on the back of the bench. I think that is a wise decision. Clyde Edwards, a layer. We mentioned that he's placed on the NFI list. He's going to miss at least four weeks.

Ricky Pearsall. Yeah, man. Oh, my goodness. I guess we went through all this all weekend long, but Ricky Pearsall was shot in an altercation in San Francisco. In the chest. Yeah, through the right side of his chest.

He has already been released from the hospital, which is outstanding news that he was that fortunate from the incident. He has been placed on the NFI list, so he will not be playing at a minimum four weeks. I think it'll be longer. Yeah, the bullet went through clean, no organs, which is great. It came out the back, which is just wonderful. I mean, if you're getting shot, it's awful. Best case scenario for terrible. I mean, he was an inch away from death. That's just...

Wow, just insane. Yeah, that news was absolutely wild. Jalen Warren, practice, expected to play in week one. Dallas Goddard also expected to get back in practice. He actually resumed on Sunday. So Goddard should be back out there.

That was today's news and notes presented as always by USAA Insurance. You can learn more at USAA.com slash insurance. We will take a quick break and come back with your questions. I bet we will. Still off season mode.

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Terms and conditions apply. You need to hire. You need it indeed. This episode is brought to you by Uber Eats. It's football season, and Uber Eats is dropping undefeated deals on all your game day favorites like Little Caesars. This week, enjoy buy one ultimate spream, get one extra most bestest pepperoni pizza free from Little Caesars only on Uber Eats.

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You can go to the website, thefantasyfootballers.com. Click the submit a question button. You can find it in the menu. You can also dial our voicemail hotline, 302-464-TFFB.

Lots of questions coming in, Jason. And all we've got to do is get them all perfectly right. That's all we do. All right, let's jump in. We'll go to a voicemail. Hey, Ballers. This is TJ from Pittsburgh. My question is, when you're drafting in multiple leagues, do you try to diversify your teams, or do you want to keep them as similar as possible? Thanks. Oof. It's a mix for me personally. The question is, when you're in multiple drafts,

Are you trying to target the same players, or do you want to diversify just in case the players that you're targeting, they are the best picks of the year, so you want to balance things out, or do you want to put all the eggs in one basket?

I'm not a coward, man. Well, I mean, when you say you're drafting in a lot of leagues, obviously it's very different if you are, you know, if you're filling out 150 entries into the best ball mania that you want to diversify. That's just smart strategy to make sure your portfolio isn't just completely going to get wrecked. But otherwise, this isn't really a strategy thing. This is a personality. It's what do you enjoy? And for me,

Basically, I've got two league types. The three leagues that really, really matter, and I'm just going to try to draft the best players, which I end up getting the same guys because it's who I believe in this year. I'm going to win everywhere or lose everywhere. And then there's our family league where we're playing with our boys. I really don't care about being awesome in there, so I grab the players that are fun, that I want to have, that I don't have anywhere else. Yeah, strategically speaking, if you have conviction about players, that's what the offseason is all about. Like you...

I don't approach it with cold feet about, oh, man, this is going to be the third league I have Cooper Cup in or Calvin Ridley in. I'm always thankful to get those guys at the spots that I'm getting them at. And, you know, your roster is never mirrored top to bottom. Like if you've got the same players, maybe you have two or three or four of the same players. So I would not go away from them for anything.

If you were drafting number two in five drafts, maybe I'd split Tyreek and CeeDee up a little bit. Sure. Stuff like that. But later on in the draft, I'm not doing that. Yeah, and on Sunday when you don't know if cheering for a player, like if a player scores, is this good or is this bad? I don't know because I have everyone and I'm playing against everyone. You can avoid that.

YouTube question from Joseph writes in, do you think Christian Kirk's involvement in Jacksonville is concerning coming from a scared Christian Kirk manager? He has not been on in two wide sets. That's the same thing that happened last year. I'm not worried. I'm not worried about Christian Kirk. He has kind of turned into one of those invisible players. I believe he was dealing with an injury over these last couple months as well.

What it comes down to for Christian Kirk is I believe in the talent of Christian Kirk. I think that the Jaguars do as well. So you can't keep him off the field. You gave Gabe Davis the money. I understand. Christian Kirk is actually good and will help your team win football games. Yeah, I mean, he was last year played with Calvin Ridley.

And in the healthy games, he got injured in week 13. Up to that point, he was the wide receiver 23. His 17-game pace was 130 targets for 1,100 yards. I mean, he's going to be super involved in this offense. Yeah, I think the thing with Kirk is like what you said. This is a, to me, a low-end two type of player with some upside on a week-to-week basis, but he's not –

a dominator, right? Like, his career high in receptions in a year is 84. That's nice. But this is... We know what Christian Kirk is six years into the league. And sometimes he can feel blasé to select because you can be taking...

He's going to go in every draft ahead of where Brian Thomas is going. I enjoy drafting Brian Thomas way more. It's just the truth. You're getting 10 fantasy points in a half PPR. Just book it. You got Christian Kirk in there, he's 10 fantasy points. That's good in some scenarios, but his ceiling is definitely a little bit more capped. But this team does not have enough options to eliminate Christian Kirk outside of injury.

So Ingram and Kirk are going to soak up so many targets. I think the rise of Brian Thomas, like the noise of his second half of training camp is helping to squeeze out your excitement for Christian Kirk. What is your biggest fantasy football fear heading into the 2024 season? That's the next question that we have.

What is the biggest fear? Jason might have accidentally mentioned his. Yeah, I think I did. Which was Stroud failing. Yeah, it goes to Tank Dell as well. I'm very bullish on his unstoppability. And so if he gets injured or gets John Dotson for some reason, that will be devastating. I think that...

I think that it's the CMC 101 working out the way it's supposed to. He's been there, and it's hard to repeat. We take it for granted with CMC. Everything should be fine. I think the 49ers in general are a question to me of, like, does everything just come together perfectly? The signings this week are going to help tremendously, but at the same time, like,

The vibes have been bad there for a while, and now everything's coming together right at the right time. It does feel like it's working out. And then Philly, like, a lot is dependent on Jalen Hurts, just like CJ Stroud. If Hurts cannot...

step up his game in this offense, which is a, he's going to have to make more decisions in this offense. There's a lot more option routes. There's a lot more movement. This is not as straightforward as what he was used to, and he's going to have to handle protections. He's going to have to handle things. And you're depending on him for AJ Brown and Devante Smith. So that's an interesting one too. Mine is selfish, but it is also related to the group of the elite wide receivers that

who didn't practice, who have not done training camp. Are they still elite wide receivers to start the year? How are their hammies? Brandon Aiyuk, CeeDee Lamb, Jamar Chase, and I'll just toss Justin Jefferson in there. Not that he's not practicing, but he's an elite wide receiver who we have some concerns about. That's four guys who are very early picks that –

Three of them have not really practiced. They, for the most part, have skipped training camp. All right, let's turn to another voicemail question. Hey, Ballers. For keeper leagues, do you prefer keeping players at their previous year draft value or making everyone use their first and second round picks as their keeper picks? Thanks. Keeper question. Do you get to keep a player for last round's draft cost or...

no matter what it's your first or second round pick. We have hotly debated this a thousand times over the years. Maybe not hotly, but just different opinions of what we think.

I think there's only one hot part because both of these formats are great. I don't really have a preference between either. Our League of Records is basically... I thought you were pretty against last round. So what I am very against is waiver wire pickups being used as a last round pick. Like, that is the part. So if you're in the format where you keep a guy at the value of last year's cost, I can't stand when you get...

to get a waiver wire pickup that wasn't drafted. Yeah, but then what's last year's cost for a waiver wire pickup? No, you shouldn't be able to keep them. You didn't draft them. They weren't drafted. They're not a keepable asset. I hate that. Or keep them at ADP. So you're the guy that had the foresight to go get Kyron or Puka, or I guess I should say Puka. You're right. I did. I drafted Puka last year. But you don't get to keep them because you're in a keeper league.

And you're the one that... You pick them up off the waiver wire and you don't get to keep them? You can keep them. That's part of being a great manager. But not for a last round draft pick. I am fine for waiver wire picks. Two rounds behind ADP because you did something great. How about that? That's fine. I'm totally fine with that. Well, let's put that in pen to paper. That's the hotly debated part of this question. Either ADP value for the waiver or...

If you want to give one to two round bonus because you picked them up and kept them. But is that what you just said? Falcon? Yeah. Do you play in a league with two rounds by an ADP? No, but that would, that would, yeah. Yeah. So it makes sense. The, I don't,

Personally, though, the first or second round, I don't love that because there's going to be teams out there that they don't have a player that's worth being kept for a first or a second round pick. And now you're already behind the eight ball against these strong teams. So I have my concerns there. And I like at where you drafted them because in a keeper league, you're rewarding players for the future for drafting them. By the way.

Our league of record is a keeper league. Yeah. There is not a cost. No, we do. In our league. We're freebies. We give you three players. One, you lock in as yours, guaranteed. And then you pick three more from your roster that don't match that franchise player's position. And we do a lottery. And two-thirds of them come back to your team and one goes into the draft. And we don't have a draft cost associated with it.

You just have the restrictions. Yeah, I guess part of the fundamental reason why there's not a draft cost is because we try to encourage players to trade their picks all over the place. So if you are, you know, you could work that into the mix, right? Like you can still trade your picks, and then if you don't have your second and your keeper you draft in the second, you don't get that chance to keep them. But we just do three and no cost. Yep.

All right, Kyle in Indianapolis. We'll get to your question in just a second. We'll take a quick break and come back with more mailbag. This episode is brought to you by Prime Video. Thursday night football is on, and it's only on Prime Video. This Thursday, it's a Sean Payton homecoming as his Denver Broncos take on his former team, the New Orleans Saints. Coverage begins at 7 p.m. Eastern with football's best party, TNF Tonight, presented by Verizon Live.

from New Orleans. Not a Prime member? Not a problem. Simply sign up for a 30-day free trial, and you can cancel at any time. Restrictions apply? See Amazon.com slash Amazon Prime for details.

What's up, Foot Clan? This episode is brought to you by Viore. Viore is performance apparel that's designed for working out, but it doesn't look or feel like it. And let me tell you, the Ponto Performance Jogger, it's a game changer. It's part of Viore's Dreamknit collection. It's soft. It's super soft and lightweight. And it's a great apparel for working out.

And what I like about it is I can wear it. It looks casual. And then I can go, I can play some pickleball in those things. It's a performance jogger. It looks great. It's perfect for them. The low impact workouts, or maybe, maybe I'll play some one-on-one, maybe that high impact workout too. Or maybe you're doing some yoga or some stretching or even sitting at the desk in the studio, whatever you do, it'll keep you comfortable for hours.

without sacrificing style. And they're my go-to for relaxing days at home. Go to viore.com to get 20% off your first purchase. Exclusions apply. Visit the website for full terms and conditions. All right, Kyle's question. I have James Conner in a redraft league but not Trey Benson. Should I trade Chuba Hubbard for Benson to get the Arizona backup or keep Hubbard since he looks like a great depth piece?

and a late-round pick at the moment, I would be very on the Hubbard side. Yeah, I think I'm keeping Chuba. The player that drafted Trey Benson, I mean, you're going to be crossing your fingers, of course, but if three to four weeks go by and James Conner is the James Conner that has been the Arizona Cardinals running back for the past couple years, Trey Benson is probably going to hit the waiver wire. A pure insurance running back takes a lot of –

will and commitment to hold on to that player. Yeah, it's hard when you are rostering those guys to see a player on the waivers that pops and not just drop them. It's really difficult. I've been the most, I think, anti-Chuba. Not that I'm super against Chuba. I think he's a good pick at value, but I would rather roster him than Trey Benson. One of these guys is the current starter. Every year you're shocked at how

you are to have any depth at running back to start on buys in injuries. And all of a sudden, if you have a starter or a high role player, you're so thrilled because you just need them so often. And the problem with Connor is like, okay, if Connor went out for the season, Trey Benson is a spend it all. If James Connor went out for a game, it's going to be a committee. It's not just going to be Trey Benson, the rookie taking over every snap. There's going to be other players involved. So

Um, that complicates it. All right. Tom writes in on Instagram, where will DJ more finish? Well, um, what a great question. That is, uh, I'm going to need the time machine. I love DJ more. I think that he is, uh, he's not going to be at number six again, like he was last year with Justin field. But I don't think, I think he can, let's ask it this way. Do you guys think he can compete to get in the top 12?

And then where do you think he'll finish? I would be surprised if he does. I think he'll finish closer to wide receiver 16, 17, 18, somewhere around there. You've got more target competition, which he didn't have last year, and a rookie that historically they won't throw as many touchdowns, and that will be the one thing that hurts his fantasy production. Yeah, I'd put him at the – looking back at his career –

He had a season of 12.5, then 11.9, 11.2. I'd put him in that 11 points per game area. All right, I have a question for the Ducers today because we just finished, I think, three drafts recently, the three of us, or two or three of them. First of all, have you guys...

knocked out any drafts that like, are you done with like, how many have you finished out? I've got two down, two to go. All right. What about you, uh, Papa two down, two to go. All right. Four down, four down. So we got eight drafts over there. All right. Um, I want to know, cause yeah, you know, you're regular people. How do you feel about your draft so far? Oh, I'm thrilled so far. So very, um, so thrilled, but yet monotone, uh, Papa Josh, Papa Josh, how do you feel? I feel really good. Uh,

Ask me after Thursday, though. Is that your big draft? That's the League of Records. Oh, League of Records. But I don't have any picks. Goodness. Are you not showing up? Oh, I'm showing up. No, I'm talking to Andy. He's like, what's Thursday? I hired a celebrity to do a proxy for me since I'm the champ. Oh. I'm getting a massage. And then what about you, Falcon? I feel really good about two teams, but my Megaloball team is...

Oh, no. Not good? So you're increasing the odds of the Foot Clan to make it into the Listener League. Exactly. All right.

And what about the ones that we just finished? How are you guys feeling? Pretty good so far. Listener League, League of Shadows? Oh, I feel awful about my listener league. We told the story of that. Yeah, you were driving. Don't drive and draft. Was that the advice? Yeah, don't hospital and draft. Don't drive and draft. Now, was that out or not out? Those are harder ways to succeed. Falcon, didn't you drive and draft your Megalobold team after he gave you that advice? Yes, I did, and I also hot tub and drafted, too.

Oh, hot tub and draft. Oh, hot tub. Yeah, that's fine. A hot tub and draft. Honestly, you're giving me a new idea for Thursday. Oh, yes. Please bring in a hot tub. How cool would that be? He's committed to staying in it the entire draft, and by the time it's over, it's just wrecked. Oh, I'm just dead. IG question from Brooks Fangs. Talk about the path for Drake Lennon to be a wide receiver one. The path is very clear. Yeah, that's...

Kirk Cousins is very good. The offense surprises. They've got an easy path, a great, like if you, if you look at strength of schedule tools, obviously the defenses that they play, they're going to change from last year. But as of now, and including, you know, just win totals and, and expectations going forward, especially in the playoff stretch, like they remind me of

of what happened last year, how the schedule lined up for the Cowboys, where you could look and you could say, like, man, they're playing good football.

defenses against the run, bad defenses against the pass. So if Kirk Cousins is healthy and Drake London is his main target, he could easily, easily be a wide receiver one this year. You have been, you were very close on one of your bold predictions to being very bullish on Atlanta. Yes. You have talked about that a lot. There is a little bit of me that looks at Atlanta and

Like we did when Matthew Stafford and the Rams, and we were all spending the offseason just, we weren't willing to hand the baton to them yet. But like, let's just, if you just concede that Cousins is fine, if you say that out loud and carry it to its ends, Drake London should be great. Kyle Pitts should be good. Bijan should be great. Mooney should be involved. Like they're, if you just said he's fine.

I don't think we've been willing to really say that. Yeah, who is a better wide receiver? Let me ask it this way. You're a general manager, okay, and you are on the clock and you get to draft either Chris Olave or Drake London. Who would you take for your franchise? I am so upset that you said that out loud because those two have been the most difficult –

thought process for me. And I lean a lot. I'm going Drake. There you go. I think I lean Drake. And so it's one of those. You do get the benefit of no Derek Carr if you lean that way. But that's what I'm saying is the quarterback, if Kirk is healthy, he's clearly a better quarterback. So if you're saying that these guys are the same tier, the same talent, or even that London is better. He might be a better quarterback. Fair, yeah. You know, do you remember when I was a defender?

Of the Carr? Of Derek Carr? Yeah. Yeah. We all make mistakes. I just feel like watching that offense last year was so painful. There were times, Amari Cooper and Michael Crabtree, that combination together, all that he did for Darren Waller, awesome. Very fun. Last year, it was just awful to watch. It was the hardest to watch team. If you take the Jets out that didn't have a quarterback,

They were the hardest to watch team because the actual offensive system was like they didn't have one. That's what it felt like. It was like, what are you doing? What is this offense? He does. Bad vibes. I've been really trying to get my head around what Chris Olave is capable of doing in this offense because we all love the talent of Chris Olave, but we have to acknowledge –

The tendencies of quarterbacks and offensive systems and the schedule and the fact that you think Dennis Allen will be on the street soon. And like Carr has been able to throw the ball deep successfully in his career. But last year they were not on the same page for the first half. Could not get into the end zone.

There are a lot of people out there that think Olave will be one of the bigger busts in fantasy. That is a prevailing opinion. It could easily happen. Thankfully, Clint Kubiak is in town. You got Kubz bringing his system. So hopefully the offense is just dramatically different looking than it was last year. Is this a real question, Kyle, from Instagram about why don't you work on Labor Day?

I believe President Grover Cleveland had something to say about that when he signed that into law in 1894. Yeah. You know? And by the way, just for the record, a bunch of us did work on Labor Day. We have been rushing to get everything for week one, so a bunch of our team did work. And I get it. Not everyone is afforded the holiday off, but there is something very ironic about here's your – let's celebrate –

the labor of America by working. Like what? Yeah. We did have a really cool Labor Day release on YouTube that I should mention. We had the biggest loser, Brian Ketron, and then Brooks put together a 2023 highlights video, which just spoiler alert, my favorite highlight is when

I sniped you in our mock draft and you literally raised your fist with fury and said, you're driving me insane. Yeah. Yep. You were. So that's part of the highlight video, but you can check that out and you know,

That's a fun watch. Don't worry. We're going to have five days a week for the entire rest of the season and an extra episode as part of the Foot Clan. We're going to take off Christmas too, guys. Yeah. Get prepared. I'm trying to get more Labor Days on the schedule. Talk to Grover. Not enough kids named Grover anymore. No. I wonder how many. There's got to be some.

Oh, in my head. Grover Cleveland. In my head, I had flipped it. I was like, his name was Cleveland. But no, no, his first name was Grover? Yeah. Like when he, he was, you know. Isn't that the Sesame Street character? That's what I was wondering. I was rocking my brain. Like, is it, where's, what's that name? Grover is, yes. Yeah, that is Sesame Street. And, you know, I don't know. Like he was Mr. President to,

Oh, the little blue guy, the blue Elmo. Yeah. Okay. No, he's much larger than Elmo. Is he? I don't know these things. Man, he's just a photograph. I think that once your name is used for a Muppet or a very well-known puppet. What do you mean Josh looks like Grover? Just looks like a Grover. Yeah.

Oh, he looks like a Grover. He could pull it off if his name was Grover. Not a shower. All right. Jason's jaw just dropped. YouTube question. Shane Falco or Johnny Utah? We're picking fake quarterbacks. These are fake quarterbacks. Make it quick. Shane Falco. Come on. Johnny Utah is way cooler. I mean, if you need an actual football player, you got to go Falco, but Johnny Utah.

The replacements, right, with Shane Falcone? Yeah, and Johnny Utah is point break. Instagram question from Gabe Holden. Chase Brown or Brian Robinson for 2024? Ooh. I'm on Brian Robinson's team. I'm on the Brian Robinson side as well. Man. I'm going to go Chase Brown.

I don't mind Brian Robinson. It's very difficult for me to see the path to actual real upside. He'll be a very competent fantasy player, but if Chase Brown can take over, then his upside is wide. Yeah, I get picking the better offense, right? You think the Bengals have a chance to be a really good offense. Their depth chart just came out, and Zach Moss is the starter. Yeah, I mean, that's the thing. I'm still on the Zach Moss side, so when I look at those two, both players are in committees.

and I believe that Brian Robinson is the back I want out of Washington, and I believe Zach Moss is the back that I want for the Bengals. Cole in Tucson has a pretty good question, some names we haven't brought up a lot. When Greg Roman was the OC for the Ravens, all I heard about was how he schemed tight ends in the passing game more than wide outs. You have Will Disley and Hayden Hurst both sitting on waivers in most leagues. Hawaii.

Yeah, it is a fair question. I think, Andy, you just brought up Hayden Hurst. I just drafted him with the second-to-last pick of my best ball draft, looking at another tight end. But Disley was paid off-season money to come in there as well.

It's also worth noting personnel, right? Like Mark Andrews might have been why he schemed tight ends so heavily because he had one of the best ones out there. And now it's Will Disley and Hayden Hurst. It's fair though. They don't have, they don't have the wide receiver room with experience and ability that it actually kind of imitates what Baltimore dealt with for so many years was like, they don't have them. Which one would you take between the two? Yeah.

I would take Hayden Hurst. I would as well. Because I think Disley's just going to block the pants off of people. Wait a minute. I mean, what are we doing here? We got a Big Montana question? The show was going to want Big Montana to come through for the Chargers. Will Disley, Big Montana. I don't think we need to change that jersey on there, by the way. That was close enough to Chargers color. The sound of football.

Was doing a quick look back because it was Mark Andrews, Vernon Davis. Of course we're going to use these guys. The couple years at Buffalo, I couldn't put my finger on it. Guys, it was Mr. Necessary. Charles Clay? Yes. Okay. I think that this is a great point. This should be brought up. Greg Dulcich, the reason why I think he's interesting is who are the established pass catchers for the Broncos?

Who are the established pass catchers for the Chargers? Lad McConkie. Unestablished. Yeah. So I don't know. One of those guys could come through. All right. We're going to wrap it up for today. We'll be back with another episode tomorrow. And a reminder, there are two remaining times for Megalobold drafts.

5 p.m. Pacific tonight, if you're listening on Tuesday, and 9 a.m. Pacific Wednesday morning. The final two draft times, you can get in there still, megalobull.com. That is going to do it for today. Just going to be one day away tomorrow, Jason. Yeah. Oh, two more sleeps. Goodbye. Bye-bye.

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.