April 6, 2024 • 39 mins
Every offseason, a handful of teams undergo wholesale changes with massive ramifications for their fantasy players. Charch and Kent Weyrauch break down the changes to the Panthers, Falcons, Titans, Chargers, and Patriots.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Welcome to Fantasy Football Weekly, a production of iHeartRadio.
Speaker 2 (00:06):
Time now for Fantasy Football Weekly from iHeartRadio, your weekly
source for the nation's best fantasy football advice, speculation, and
whatever stupid stuff they decide to drop into the show. Now,
here's your host, Paul Charchian.
Speaker 1 (00:21):
Welcome to Fantasy Football Weekly. I am Paul Charchian. Very
pleased to be joined by a first timer to Fantasy
Football Weekly. It's Ken Wyrock.
Speaker 3 (00:33):
Hey, Kent hi charge. How are we doing?
Speaker 1 (00:34):
Ah? Very good. Excited for you to break your maiden
on the show. Now your first ever podcast. I you
done plenty of other podcasts. You've been in Pro Football Focus,
my friends at the Fantasy Footballers Number five, bunch of
other stops, but first time here.
Speaker 3 (00:49):
Yeah.
Speaker 4 (00:50):
You know, I've been listening to this podcast and radio
show for a while now and I'm happy to be
here in contributing.
Speaker 3 (00:55):
Jump on the team.
Speaker 1 (00:55):
Yeah, fantastic, you're here in the Twin Cities, located here
in the Twin Cities like we are. I asked you
what you want to talk about when we were dreaming
up this show and how the show could go, and
you gave me one really compelling all your topics are good.
I want to make it like Sally, it was doing
one good one. But we have not yet touched on
the key offseason changes with some teams that are going
(01:17):
to have widespread effect on their offenses.
Speaker 4 (01:21):
Yeah, we're at that point of the season now where
we're between free agency, the big changes in the coaching cycle,
and the NFL Draft, which is coming up in a
few weeks, and it's all one big puzzle that we
got to put together. And so you know, most these
puzzle pieces have fallen into place, so we got to
identify what are the big sweeping changes in terms of
offensive identity and what does that mean for fantasy?
Speaker 3 (01:41):
Yeah?
Speaker 1 (01:41):
Absolutely, And the teams are going to touch on are
all teams kent that are largely broken, teams that have
got that have undergone major change. And so sometimes I
think the teams aren't going to sound that exciting upfront,
But if we talked about Houston at this time last year,
it wouldn't have sounded that exciting upfront. Yeah, some of
these teams. Five teams are going to get a lot better. Panthers, Falcons, Patriots, Chargers,
(02:05):
Titans in most cases get better. We'll we'll talk it
through and see what we think. And so yeah, I'm
excited to drill down on these teams with you. Let's
start and by the way, before we even get into that,
let's let's just hit on the stuff on Diggs things.
It's such big news that's came down midweek a few
days ago. Your thoughts on first the Buffalo offense that
(02:29):
it's currently right now really in a weak spot at
wide receiver. You know, Khalil Shakir is probably their best
wide receiver on roster right now. How do you see
the Spills offense as it sits today? Obviously plenty will
change and over the course of the draft.
Speaker 4 (02:45):
Yeah, I mean I like Khalil Shakier quite a bit.
I think he's very solid in that supporting role. I
don't know if he can be a one in this offense.
And if I'm Josh Allen right now, I'm not happy,
you know, Digs despite maybe there's some ongoing cryptic tweeting
on the side these days, but you know, you still
need someone to catch the football, and Josh Allen, well,
he is very, very talented, probably the second best quarterback
(03:06):
in the NFL right now, you still need a solid
receiving Cord to back that up. And if you start to,
you know, dismantle the entire receiving operation, everything else could
fall with it.
Speaker 1 (03:17):
And you know, Shaki ran about sixty percent of his
snaps from the slot. Their big free agent edition was
Curtis Samuel, Right, So, I mean, we really don't have
any outside receivers that we feel comfortable with on the
Bills right now. And you know, I'm sure they'll change
in the draft. I mean they have a mandate now
to go get receivers, and probably more than one. So
we'll see how this thing shakes out. Maybe there's a
(03:38):
trade in the future, draft day trade or after the
trade if the draft doesn't fall the way the Bills want.
But right now, man, you know, not the Diggs was
the contributor that he used to be. But Kent, I
just I don't love the way this Bills. This Bill's
offense looks without reliable help at receiver Titans, it looks solid,
but you know you need more than that.
Speaker 4 (04:00):
Yeah, And you know, last year they went through some
offensive coordinator changes as well and went from Door Sat
to Joe Brady, and that came with its own set
of challenges as well. And so the Bills, they kind
of need to figure something out if they're going to
find a new offensive identity. And you know, their run game, well,
it's good. I wouldn't say it's their core structure, right,
and so you know, we're looking in a new direction.
Speaker 3 (04:21):
And I think you're right.
Speaker 4 (04:22):
At the back of the first round, the Bills are
almost a certainty to draft a wide receiver provided they
stay in that slot.
Speaker 1 (04:28):
Yeah. And then the the other side of that, of course,
is the receiver that some people would say is the
second best receiver quarterback in football, c J. Stroud ends
up gaining stuff on Diggs. I think Diggs goes into
a spot where he's basically the third best receiver by
a little you know. I think I think Niko Collins
and what we saw at Tank Dell will looked fantastic.
(04:51):
It'll be fascinating to see what Diggs is able to
do and what kind of player he is. And now
it is just a one year prove it deal, a
twenty four million dollar proven deal, but a one year
deal with Houston as a as a compliment among three
good receivers.
Speaker 4 (05:07):
Yeah, and I actually just recently saw a tweet from
Field Yates talking about the contract structure of Stefan Diggs,
and I think they got that cap number for this
year down to like just a handful, like two to
three million or something like that, So they may not
be done. Obviously there's a handful of voidiers tacked on,
as every contract these days seems to have, but they
may be adding more pieces. The Houston Texans, whether offense
(05:28):
or defense. You know, they they've got quite a team,
and I think they're set up very nicely to continue
back to the playoffs for the second time.
Speaker 1 (05:34):
All right, From just a fantasy outlook only, what's the
order you would draft the Houston wide receivers.
Speaker 4 (05:42):
Yeah, it's gonna be Nico Collins first for me. Still,
he's just been so reliable and steadfast for that offense,
plays an extremely you know, robust route tree. Is able
to make all sorts of different throws or excuse catch
all different sorts of throws and run all different sorts
of routes. I did see that Tank Dell had a
little bit of a divergence in his yards per route
(06:03):
run when he's in eleven personnel versus having just two
wide receivers on the field. So you know, I probably
still take man between Tank Dell and Stephan Diggs. I
think I'm gonna go dig second and Dell very very
closely behind.
Speaker 1 (06:17):
I'm exactly the same spot, exactly the same spot you are.
And I like Tank Dell a lot. I just you know,
we didn't get the full season from him, you know,
And I think he's gonna have a great career and
maybe even turns out to be the best of the
three in the long run. But he also runs a
lot of slot routes. Slot routes are It's hard to
get paid fantasy style from slot receivers. It's not impossible.
(06:39):
But Cooper cup is the outlier, right absolutely, All right,
let's dive into the offseason changes that are going to
affect entire offenses. I've set you up for the Panthers.
I mean, let's say, it almost feels like get it
out of the way, right, But let's let's go through
the most dysfunctional team in probably all of sports, the Panthers.
They are paying four different head coaches right now, which
(07:03):
is pretty amazing. They've brought in some pedigree now with
their coaching staff in the hope that they can effectively
do for Baker do with BA do for Bryce Young
what they did for Baker Mayfield and Tampa. Let's talk
it through.
Speaker 4 (07:19):
Yeah, I mean that's the goal. I mean, Baker had
quite a year last year. I think he had a
career high in touchdowns of twenty eight passing touchdowns last year.
So you might recall that the Panthers had Frank Reich
and Thomas Brown last year as their head coach offensive
coordinator duo, and they actually flip flopped a few times
between play calling duties, and you know, truth be told,
neither of them were all that spectacular. So it's tough
(07:42):
to say it could get much worse than that, but
you know, you just have high hopes and positivity. So
the incoming staff is head coach Dave Canalis and O. C.
Speaker 3 (07:51):
Brad Idzick.
Speaker 4 (07:52):
Excuse me, Idzick, that's a tough one for me to say,
but they're both coming over from the Tampa Bay Buccaneers,
and I think what they're looking to apply to this
Panthers team is a more balanced approach in regards to
the personnel usage, how they're gonna deploy their offensive weapons,
and so, you know, looking at some of the key
changes in the offense, they well, you know key using
(08:14):
very loosely here, but they lost Leviska Chhanal dj Shark.
I think they're fine. Channel was ultimately a disappointment based
on some people fantasy projections, but what they did gain
was two I would say, sizeable offensive guard signings, and
they were going through pretty much like a patchwork turnstile
situation in the regards. They had seven or eight guys playing
(08:35):
each side over the course of the year, so they've
made their offensive line more robust. They traded for Deontay Johnson,
which I think is a good play overall.
Speaker 1 (08:44):
See I disagree a little bit in that I feel
like he's Adam Thielen in a lot of ways, younger
version of Adam Thelen where you're gonna get somebody can
play all three positions, but somebody who doesn't take the
top off the defense anymore catches what's thrown to him.
He'll route run, the routes will be in the same spot.
I just felt like they added a slightly younger Adam
(09:05):
Thielen to their offense that already had Adam feeling.
Speaker 4 (09:08):
Yeah, that's reasonable. It's worth noting that last year was
his highest average depth of target to date and He's
still only twenty seven years old, so we could still
see his development happening in real time. And you know,
he's been a very steady receiver, catching lots of balls. Obviously,
the touchdowns haven't always been there, and that's been a
point of conte But that may still be the case
(09:29):
here with the Panthers unless we see a big turnaround.
But also worth noting that they have two second round picks.
You know, they don't have their first because of the
Bryce Young deal, but those are at thirty third and
thirty ninth overall, and that's pretty early. It's pretty early,
and that's prime wide receiver, like that second third tier
of wide receiver.
Speaker 3 (09:46):
Yep.
Speaker 4 (09:47):
And I know that Thor said he likes a lot
of the depth in this class, so you know, they
could definitely be adding another wide receiver very early in
the draft of a couple weeks.
Speaker 1 (09:55):
Wouldn't be surprised, I mean, given what they paid to
get Bryce Young, given how humiliating it will be if
he doesn't work out. I do feel like the Panthers
are trying to surround him with as much talent as
possible so that if Bryce Young fails now, it will
have been through two coaching staffs. It'll be with better receivers,
(10:16):
it'll be with a better offensive line, and now it's
really on Bryce Young and less on the Panthers.
Speaker 4 (10:20):
Yeah, one hundred percent. And you know, last year, I'd
say most people still liked Bryce Young as a prospect
over c J.
Speaker 3 (10:26):
Stroud.
Speaker 4 (10:26):
Yeah, most dead in the first year that flipped pretty aggressively,
but there's still a reason to be, you know, have
some hope that the prospect can come to fruition here.
And it's kind of funny, you know, the head coach
and the offense courn had come from the Buccaneers. They
had Baker Mayfield last year. There's some really funny parallels
between twenty twenty two Baker and twenty twenty three Bryce Young.
Speaker 1 (10:46):
All right, let's hear it.
Speaker 4 (10:48):
So in twenty twenty two, Baker played eleven games, and
so we have some rate metrics here that we can
look at. Sixty percent completion, ten passing, touchdown to eight interceptions,
seven point eight depth of target and in his PRAE
was fifty two point two from PFF. Yeah, it looked
like he was done. And you know, ironically, he started
the year as a Panther as well, So that's kind
(11:09):
of an extra little layer there. Last year, Bryce Young
played played sixteen out of seventeen games, and he also
had sixty percent completion, eleven passing touchdowns, ten interceptions, seven
point eight average at target, and his PFF passing grade
was fifty two point six. So we're looking at a
mirror image pretty much on some of these rate metrics.
(11:29):
And uh, you know, Baker, like I said, last year,
turned it around, had a very solid season, led the
Bucks to the playoffs. They were a very very strong offense. Look,
this Panthers team doesn't have Mike Evans, I get it,
but they're trying to make something that they can put
together piece by piece, and so Deontay Johnson is one
(11:50):
of those pieces. And I think that Bryce Young has
an opportunity, maybe not a certainty, to advance in terms
of the passing game.
Speaker 1 (11:59):
I think there's a lot too that in a dynasty
super flex, I'm buying Bryce Young what you'd have to
give to get him in super flex, you might be
able to give a early second rounder for Bryce Young.
And you know that's a point at which I'm really
interested in gambling on him being a bounce back candidate.
Speaker 4 (12:21):
Absolutely, quarterbacks are very high variants. Actually, especially early in
their careers. We tend to believe we know the whole story,
when when the book hasn't even gone past the first chapter.
Speaker 1 (12:32):
Yeah, no doubt. Let's go to the Falcons. So Falcons
the off season news for the Falcons players and everything
around the organization.
Speaker 3 (12:39):
It's all good.
Speaker 1 (12:41):
There's no there's nothing bad that's happened here at all.
I love their off season. Fantasy players have to be
delighted with the upgrade from Arthur Smith to well, frankly,
anybody you know insert carbon based life for him.
Speaker 3 (12:53):
Here.
Speaker 1 (12:54):
Will take Rahem Morris as the offensive coordinator, but more
importantly Raem Morris as your head coach, more importantly offense coordinator,
Zach Robinson, and obviously the massive upgraded quarterback from the
highly inconsistent Taylor Heineke and Desmond Ritter to Kirk Cousins.
Cousins has obviously proven to provide elite level production to
(13:15):
his wide receivers, Justin Jefferson, his tight ends TJ. Hockinson,
and it's vaulted the value of Kyle Pitts and Drake
London to really almost new heights or at least back
to the heights of where they were as rookies, when
they were both lottery picks as first rounders.
Speaker 3 (13:33):
Yeah.
Speaker 4 (13:33):
Absolutely, And you know, they've got some interesting changes on
their coaching staff to bringing an offensive coordinator Zach Robinson,
another high utilizer of eleven personnel, three wide receivers on
the field, and Drake London, Darnell Mooney, and they even
you know, in the Desmond Ridder trade, got Rondel Moore.
That's an intriguing start to that process. I wouldn't be
surprised if they add one more wide receiver to fill
(13:55):
out their depth a little bit more. But it's gonna
be a fun team to watch.
Speaker 1 (13:59):
What do we know about Zach Robinson Not much so.
I mean, here's what we got to work with. He
was a quarterback for Oklahoma State, throwing to Dez Bryant.
If you go back far enough here, he was a
seventh round draft pick who managed to hang on on
a variety of different practice squads for a few years.
Then he went to work for Pro Football Focus and
by the way, he's working there with Houston's offensive coordinator
(14:21):
Bobby Slow. At the same time, PFF turning into a
launching pad for careers. He's from, most recently the Sean
McVay Tree. He worked as their assistant quarterback coach, then
their assistant wide receiver coach, and then he went back
to assistant quarterback coach, and then for the last two
years he was the quarterback coach and the passing game
coordinator for Sean McVay. And that's all you have to
(14:43):
do to get a head coaching job in the NFL now.
So he's only thirty seven years old. Zach Robinson, He's
never called plays, which is a concern. I like though
that he's used to calling a Matthew Stafford led off,
which translates pretty closely to Kirk Cousin's skill set.
Speaker 3 (15:03):
I would say, so, yeah, yeah, and so.
Speaker 1 (15:05):
I don't think he needs to relearn that. You mentioned
that he likes eleven personnel. Get this, Rams ran eleven
personnel on ninety percent of their plays, ninety and that
means we're going to see more emphasis I believe on
Jon Robinson and Kyle Pitts, who are going to be
in less of time shares. Now we're running eleven with
(15:26):
one running back and one tight end. Those are the
running backs and that's the running back of the wh
and the tight end that's going to be on the field.
Speaker 3 (15:32):
That's right.
Speaker 1 (15:33):
I certainly hope you know, other McVeigh disciples have kent
gone on develop to develop very pass heavy schemes, and honestly,
I'm hoping that's going to be the case here too.
Cincinnati's Zach Taylor Minnesota's Kevin O'Connell have both finished in
the top five in pass play percentage in back to
(15:57):
back years. So if Zach Robinson is going to be
as as pass heavy would be, that would be outstanding.
I think for most fantasy use. Kirk Cousins opens up
the entire field to the Falcons in a way we
haven't seen some since Matt Ryan was good. That's a
while ago. Now, Kirk's passer rating on throws over ten
(16:18):
yards is one hundred and twenty. Last year in half season,
Kirk's passer rating on throws over twenty yards only drops
three points one hundred and seventeen. On passes of twenty
or more yards, This is nothing we've seen in the
Falcons offense. You know, you know you as an example,
Drake London last year. I really his whole career has
(16:39):
not been a downfield threat over the past two years.
Two years, Drake London has caught fourteen passes of over
twenty yards.
Speaker 3 (16:46):
Wow, that's it. Yeah, that's about to change.
Speaker 1 (16:49):
That's gonna change. Darnell Mooney could reach newfound productivity from
the slot where Kirk Cousins has been highly proficient with
JJ and Thielen in the past, and of course McVeigh
Jeohn McVay utilized the slat copiously with Cooper Cup and
Zach Robinson may carry over some of those schemes for
Darnell Mooney, who they went out of their way to
acquire in the offseason. I think b John Robinson's a
(17:12):
total wildcard Kent. So you know, the McVeigh tree shows.
The good news is the McVeigh tree shows a dedication
to a single back, which I love. That's like Todd Gurley,
Kyron Williams last year, Joe Mixon, Dalvin Cook, even Alexander
Madison last year with Kevin O'Connell, despite being wildly ineffective,
(17:32):
maintained the stranglehold on getting virtually all the work from
Minnesota for most of the year. So that part I
love about the upside of Bjon Robinson. But the McVeigh
tree doesn't pass that much to their runners. All the
guys that I just mentioned, Gurley, Williams, Mixon, Cook Madison
typically clocking in with like forty catch seasons. You know,
(17:52):
four hundred receiving yards is pretty normal. Todd Gurley had,
you know, in his crazy twenty seventeen year, he caught
a bunch of passes and he had like eight hundred yards.
But you know, overwhelmingly we haven't seen a lot of
aerial work for McVeigh tree runners b Jon Robinson though
maybe just so skilled as a receiver that Zach Robinson
(18:12):
ends up using him more that way.
Speaker 4 (18:14):
Yeah, and you know, despite Arthur Smith's propensity to deploy
Tyler l Gear in copious amounts, you know, he kind
of fell off a little bit last year relative to
the year prior. And bringing in Rondell Moore. I think
they'll maybe have some backfield packages for him, but pretty
few and far between. Jon Robinson represents an opportunity to
score a bunch of touchdowns this year, and I'm very
(18:37):
excited for him.
Speaker 1 (18:38):
Yeah, I'll be interested to see you. No, all the
McVeigh tree, those they don't generally take their lead backs
off the field inside the five yard line. And that's
where Bejon Robinson was really not very effective last year
for providing fantasy points. He just, you know, those easy
touchdowns weren't there for him, and he had to score
from distance more often than not. And for Bejon, that's
(18:58):
you know, for any back, that's a lot harder to do. Yeah,
Luckily he's good at that, Like he has a sizeable
track record with that, which is great. I want to
work in a break when we come back, Let's go
to the Patriots and let's talk about the changes that
they've got there. No Bill at Belichick, Jared mayos In,
Alex Van Peltier, offensive coordinator. Jacoby Brissett's the quarterback of
(19:18):
the moment. Let's talk through Patriots changes when we return.
Welcome back Fantasy Football Weekly. Paul Charchion Ken, Whyrock, How
do you feel You're halfway through your first show?
Speaker 4 (19:29):
Oh man, it's so much fun. I'm just so glad
to be here and I'm having a blast.
Speaker 1 (19:34):
All right, I love it. Well, let's dig. Let's see
if we can have fun with the Patriots. It's I'm
I'm fascinated to see what life is like without Bill Belichick.
It's been like our entire adult lives right since Belichick's
been there, and we finally get some new blood in
and they've needed it in the worst way. I think
the worst overall roster in the NFL may very well
(19:56):
be the Patriots. Panthers are in this conversation too, But
Patriots over roster just disaster grade top to bottom. What
can we salvage out of this? What do you think
Alex van Pelt will do offensive coordinator with Jared Mayo.
Jared Mayo presumably Van Pelt will have almost all the
offensive power here. What do you expect to change?
Speaker 4 (20:16):
Yeah, well, first things first, I think I might rather
take the Panthers offense over the Patriots. But yeah, we're
going to see some differences and some changes obviously, and
exiting the Belichick era is a very distinct event for
all of us to witness. But yeah, Draw Mayo is
a linebackers coach, previously defensive minded. The offensive coordinator, like
you said, Alex van Pelt coming from the Cleveland Browns.
(20:38):
He spent the last four seasons there and he had
one another stint as a Bills offensive coordinator back in
two thousand and nine. So it'll be interesting to see
how he affects this offense, and we'll work our way
through that. But they, you know, as far as Key
losses again Key very loosely, DeVante Parker, Mike GETSICKI.
Speaker 1 (20:58):
It's an addition by some track exactly.
Speaker 4 (21:01):
So you know, the remaining receiving course Kendrick Bourne to
Mario Douglas, Juju Smith, Schuster and Hunter Henry. So that's
I think overall a very flat, fine group, but nothing,
no one is elevating, and no one is really dragging
it down.
Speaker 1 (21:16):
I would never use the word fine on that group
of receivers, but if you want to be charitable, that's fine.
I'll let you do that.
Speaker 4 (21:22):
I'll do my best to give him a little credit charge.
But yeah, and you know, as far as some people
that they've added to the roster, they will have I
would say likely a new quarterback at the first, at
the third overall pick.
Speaker 1 (21:34):
Which keeps happening to Jacoby Brissette everywhere he goes, right exactly.
All he does is play pretty good functional quarterback, and
everybody's like, oh, we got to start somebody else over you.
Speaker 4 (21:43):
Yeah, and even if they do draft a rookie, I
would say it's probably pretty likely that Jacoby Brissett starts
the season still and they work the rookie and we'll
see that remains depending on who they take. But they
also added Antonio Gibson to the backfield another wide receiver
kJ Osborne, which again kind of just fits in the group. Yep,
in a backup tight end in Austin Hooper. So I
think the question now is what kind of fantasy value
(22:06):
can you glean from this group? And if I had
to make a bet, it would be on Romandri Stevenson.
Speaker 1 (22:13):
This is an.
Speaker 4 (22:13):
Offensive coordinator Van Pelt who likes to run the ball.
He obviously had Nick Chubb at his disposal and even
when he was back at as the Bills offensive coordinator,
he had two running backs by the name of Fred
Jackson and Marshaw Lynch.
Speaker 3 (22:28):
I've heard of them, yeah, exactly.
Speaker 1 (22:30):
Fred Jackson was one of the great stories out of
what his college like Lane or something? And no, no,
no was he So did he go to? Where did
Fred Jackson play college? It was like South Dakota fortunately, Yeah,
and I can't remember that far back.
Speaker 4 (22:48):
Yeah, So you know, he likes to run the ball.
And I have a quote from him here, he said,
I think that running the football in this league wins games,
wins championships. He is dedicated to it. He's gonna try
and pound the rock. Now we've got to figure out
if ramondre Stevenson is the guy who can handle that workload.
So you know, in Cleveland he had Nick Brown as
(23:10):
his lead back and obviously was rushing the ball insane
amounts of time with him. However, even when Nick Chubb
went down last year, he split a very heavy ninth
in rush freight amount of carries between Kareem Hunt and
Jerome Ford, two guys that are not Nick jobb very
ho hum exactly. So he was fine running the ball
(23:30):
even with them. And that was three hundred and thirty
nine rushing attempts between them for a whopping three point
six yards per carry.
Speaker 3 (23:37):
Ikes.
Speaker 4 (23:37):
Yeah, So to this day, to date, I should say
Romondre Stevenson has yet to surpass thirteen rushing attempts per game,
a mark that is one entire rushing attempt below what
Nick Chubb has been since his rookie season. So you
got to see him step up because I don't see
Antonio Gibson as a runner anymore. He had his career
(24:00):
low sixty five rushing attempts last year. Yeah, and he's
coming off a career high three hundred and eighteen routes run,
which is just twenty one fewer than Re Remandre's twenty twenty.
Speaker 3 (24:10):
Two breakout season.
Speaker 4 (24:11):
So we probably see Antonio Gibson harvesting some of that
pass catching work from Ramondre Stevenson. Well, Stevenson's pounding the
rock on first and second down, So that's a bit
unfortunate in the PPR game, and we're probably not going
to see a ton of rushing touchdowns out of this team.
So it's a question mark. But if Ramondre Stevenson can
(24:34):
stay healthy and contribute to this team and maybe their
first you know, maybe Drake may leads them to the
Promised Land. Yeah, you have an opportunity to seize a
lot of value.
Speaker 1 (24:45):
I I love ramondra Stevenson, longtime listeners know. I just
I think he's a I think he's a way way
underappreciated power back who has languished behind some bad offensive
lines playing with a quarterback who gives defenses nothing to fear.
For most of the past two years, it's been shut
down for Mondra Stevenson and you shut down this offense.
(25:07):
So I want to believe that this new scheme, hopefully
better players, hopefully an improved offensive line, either the draft
free agency will unlock Stevenson with a heavy workload here,
and I want to get him back, Like, let's get
double digit touchdowns for Mondra Stevenson.
Speaker 3 (25:23):
That would be nice.
Speaker 1 (25:23):
You know, he's he's he is such a good power
back that I want to believe he can get there,
and I think he can. Let's go over to the Chargers.
And by the way, I don't think it even Patriots.
Patriots likely go quarterback and picked three. If they trade down,
they could still go quarterback. Who knows, but I don't
think it's gonna matter that much. If it's Brissett or
rookie quarterback learning on the job.
Speaker 3 (25:43):
I'm with you.
Speaker 1 (25:43):
This is a run heavy offense. Chargers massive, massive flux
for the entire team right, particularly the offense. So gone
are Brandon Staley, Kellen Moore from the coaching staff. By
the way, if Gone changes general manager as well, Joe
Horitz is in as the new general manager, and of
(26:05):
course Jim Harbaugh Greg Roman are there. You can't ask
for a more obvious blueprint of what's coming than having
Jim Harbaugh and Greg Roman as your coaches. It's it's
the biggest tell ever. Also, gone nearly every offensive asset
who made a meaningful contribution over the past five years
outside of Justin Herbert So Austin Eckler's now in Washington,
(26:27):
Keenan Allen's and Chicago Micha Williams with the Jets, and
to this point as a group, they have been replaced
by basically nobody, I mean Gus Edwards, but basically nobody
to this point. So what do we expect from Harbaugh
and Roman running? Obviously, here's some data harbaught Michigan. Last
year Michigan ran the ball thirty eight times per game
(26:52):
and pass twenty four. Oh man, it's a thirty nine
percent pass rate. Thirty nine percent. That is leather helm
era stuff right there. The prior year, Michigan ran the
ball forty three times per game for a thirty seven
percent pass rate. I mean, even if you roll back,
(27:13):
I went back and I looked, I look back at
NFL Day to twenty years so on, all the way
back to two thousand and four, no team was even
close to a sixty one percent run rate. No team.
I think the next closest team was like seven percent
off of that. So, I mean, you know, this is
this is the potential even with Justin Herbert is the
only obvious talent in like left in this offense, there's
(27:37):
the potential here for whoever ends up being the lead runner.
And it's TBD. It's through the draft.
Speaker 3 (27:43):
Almost certainly, almost certainly.
Speaker 1 (27:44):
Yeah, somebody's gonna somebody's gonna have a lot of usage coming.
Let's talk Greg Roman. You already probably know that when
he was offensive cordieror Baltimore for four years, the Ravens
ran all the time. Ravens rank and run play percentage
during Greg Roman's tenure of those four years were first, first, eleventh,
and third. The obviously Lamar Jackson skews those rankings, but
(28:05):
even without Jackson, just the Ravens runners alone under Greg Roman,
we're averaging twenty one carries per game under him. That's
a healthy number. Harbought. Harbor could have picked a lot
of people to be his offensive coordinator, Kent, he picked
Greg Roman.
Speaker 4 (28:23):
He's trying to recreate the national championship. Charge just wants run, run, run.
Speaker 1 (28:26):
Run, run, run, But who's gonna run the ball. So
Gus Edwards. You know, maybe he's better another year removed
from his ACL injury of two years ago, but honestly,
he looked tired and spent last year. And I've been
a big Gus Edwards proponent and was up into the injury.
Gus turns twenty nine years old this week. He was
Pro Football Focus's forty first ranked runner last year, and
(28:50):
he ranked fifty third in PFF's elusiveness rankings and has
had declining yards per carry in four straight seasons, down
to four point one last year. I think Gus is
about done.
Speaker 3 (29:01):
Yeah, his age really snuck up on us, didn't it.
It really did.
Speaker 4 (29:04):
Yeah, I agree with you. They're gonna add someone through
the draft, regardless of Greg Roman's connection to Gus Edwards
back at Baltimore. You know them might limit the rookies
incoming touch numbers, but yeah, I can't see Gus being
the lead guy.
Speaker 3 (29:19):
Just nut. So I can't either want to contribute to.
Speaker 1 (29:21):
If you told me the Chargers we are gonna be
the first team to take a running back in this draft,
I'd be like, Yeah, that makes total sense.
Speaker 4 (29:27):
Everyone's connecting Blake koram to everybody is connect create the championship,
and maybe it's gonna go that way.
Speaker 1 (29:33):
You know a lot of people have put Michigan running
back Blake Korum on the Chargers, and you probably don't
have to. He's right now he's being mocked into the fourth,
fifth round, So you know, they wouldn't have to give
up a lot to go get Blake Korm if they do,
they could spend a third and just go get him.
And I like Korum's productivity. I like the footwork. I
like the balance and the build. He's got some sneaky acceleration,
(29:56):
but does not have long speed, doesn't have natural elusive
this Thor is pretty down on him, which I trust
Thor a lot, and and so I just I think
he's a middling talent. But you know what, it might
not matter. You know, if this team's going to give
twenty twenty five rushing attempts to its running backs a game,
(30:17):
you don't have to be that good to be Fantasy
effective volume is key. That's the old the old say. Yep,
I'd love to see them go get Trey Benson. He's
my favorite rookie run in the draft. So that's if
Trey Bentson goes to the Chargers, he will be inside
my top ten run at the running back position in
(30:37):
my rankings. Now at right now, Chargers are sitting at
pick five of the draft. That's going to yield them
the leak. Neighbors or Marvin Harrison Junior Ken you know,
both are amazing prospects who get to catch passes from
an excellent quarterback. The only question is how many passes
are you going to get from Greg Roman as a
(30:58):
team under Greg Roman. Here are the Ravens rankings for
wide receiver fantasy points scored four years of Greg Roman offenses.
Here's where the wide receivers are ranked as a group,
thirty first, twenty third, thirtieth and thirty first. There's your
four years of Greg Roman coaching with the Ravens wide
(31:22):
receiver group. So as good as Malik Neighbors and Marvin
Harrison might be, and the fact they've got Justin Herbert,
I mean, this should be a lot of passing and
it should be productive early, there's some reason for worry
there now. Granted, Neighbors or Harrison will be better than
any receiver Roman ever worked with in Baltimore.
Speaker 4 (31:39):
So there's that yeah, I would say there's nowhere to
go from up from those fantasy point numbers. But you know,
like you said, Greg Roman has never been outside the
top ten in Russian attempts and his entire NFL career
as a coach and as well, we're on fifteen years
or so now, I don't know exactly, but so we
know he's committed and no matter what coaching staff he's
been a part of, he's infected them with his nature.
Speaker 1 (32:00):
So infected, I like, make it sound like a virus.
All right, let's go to Tennessee new head coaches Brian Callahan.
We've got we've got some data on him, which I
think is we're gonna find helpful here. I don't like
Will Levis. I don't think. I hope, I hope I'm wrong,
and I hope year two is better, and it probably
(32:21):
will be better. But I didn't like what I saw
last year much at all, big arm. I don't like
any of the fundamentals. I don't like the technique. I
don't like the ball placement. I don't like the decision making.
I hope he gets a lot better in this new offense,
or maybe they surprise everybody and take a quarterback at seven.
Speaker 3 (32:41):
Oh, that would be a surprise. I like it.
Speaker 1 (32:44):
I'm on board for it. I don't think Will Loves.
Speaker 3 (32:46):
Is the guy at this point.
Speaker 4 (32:48):
I'd say my my betting money would be on the
fact that they will not be in play for a
quarterback because we will have four off the board already.
It's very positive. That's my feelings on the matter. But
the draft is a chaotic event every year, so I
could be surprised. But if they are sticking with Will Levis,
I think there's what they've tried to do is create
a structure around him such that they're gonna find out
(33:10):
if he can succeed.
Speaker 3 (33:11):
And you know, he might not.
Speaker 4 (33:13):
Those fundamentals might come back and bite him and he
won't be able to compete. But looking at who they
brought in, we got, like you said, head coach Brian
Callahan coming from the Bengals, was the offensive coordinator there.
Their new offensive coordinator on the Titans is Nick Holts,
first time NFL offensive coordinator, but was the passing game
coordinator for the Jaguars. So you know, in the last
(33:34):
couple of years, or I should say last year, the
Bengals were second pass rate like you said earlier in
this segment, and they were second in pass right over expectation,
and then the Jaguars were fifth in pass right over expectations.
So you know those early downs where you're not sure
if they're going to pass a throw, they tended to
throw more. And that's something that I'm sure they're going
to look to do with Will Levis as well.
Speaker 3 (33:56):
You know, they lost Derek Henry.
Speaker 1 (33:58):
Part of the I guess that's really kind of the
lead story here too.
Speaker 4 (34:00):
Right, Yeah, exactly. They replaced him with Tony Pollard, which
is a massive downgrade. No one's gonna argue that. But
Tony Pollard at least brings some pass catching patch pass
catching chops to the table that Derrick Henry uh never
really had, So I think that's interesting. The Calvin Ridley
contract was pretty sizable. They were very interested in bringing
him too.
Speaker 1 (34:20):
I was shocked they gave him so much money, honestly,
you know, I just I Ridley was such a hit
and miss and mostly miss fan producer for the Jaguars,
you know, and the fact that Jaguars didn't make seemingly
that much of an effort to keep him, I don't know.
I think Tennessee overpaid.
Speaker 3 (34:37):
Yeah, it very likely that is the case.
Speaker 4 (34:40):
But he has familiarity with Nickolets, the offensive coordinator, coming
from the Jaguars.
Speaker 1 (34:44):
Sounds fair.
Speaker 4 (34:45):
Should get him involved in the offense pretty well. Obviously
at that price point, you better hope he is and
then they'll probably you know, you said quarterback. I think
offensive tackle at seven in the draft.
Speaker 1 (34:54):
Everybody's got Joe Joel. Everybody thinks that's the case.
Speaker 4 (34:58):
And they're in the middle of kind of real work
in that offensive line two from a few years back.
Speaker 1 (35:02):
So remember, like four years ago, it was the best
offensive line in football and it just got picked apart
by injury and free agency, and last year was one
of the bottom like three offensive lines. And that's that's
your built in excuse for why Will Levis didn't perform
all that well. But you know what, that's what they
said about Kenny Pickett and they tried to rebuild an
(35:23):
offensive line. They give him another chance. Didn't matter. Kenny
Pickett didn't pan out. Desmond Ritter had a middling rookie year.
They're like, Okay, we're gonna give him another chance. Didn't
work out. I think more often than not, Kent the
guys who don't show enough in their first year never
get it.
Speaker 4 (35:42):
That's then if you're using that historically, that's a very
predictive way to look at things. And I don't doubt
that for a second. So that's why I go quarterback.
Speaker 1 (35:50):
But anyway, I guess if one of the four is there,
I probably would have fired Tennessee.
Speaker 4 (35:54):
Yeah, you mentioned the big arm Will Levis last year
at the highest average depth of target with eleven point
one yards. The second highest with nine point three was C. J.
Speaker 3 (36:03):
Stroud.
Speaker 4 (36:03):
So they are looking downfield and they built a pretty
decent receiving core around of Dejandria Hopkins is still there,
aging but still good, good in the red zone. Calvin
Ridley very similar, Treylon Burks, you know what, he's in
a tertiary role. Now, maybe that's where he finds his
stride and becomes a more of a supporting cast type receiver.
Speaker 1 (36:23):
Will take any stride.
Speaker 4 (36:24):
Yeah, exactly. And you know I mentioned Tony Pollard and
then even Chigo Konquo was fine as like a fifth
option in terms of passing.
Speaker 1 (36:32):
So if you're in a dropped balls league, well yes,
that would help. Now you ever mentioned spears once, well,
and I you know, I was very excited. I invested
in my Dynasty leagues, in Empire leagues. I invested in
some taj spears last year, figuring Derrick Henry be gone,
he'd get a lot more work. The Pollard signing.
Speaker 4 (36:53):
Jeez, yeah, he kind of smeared that a little bit,
but he was exciting at times last year. There were
a few flexible games even when was still playing and starting.
So I think there's reason to still keep that hope
and expectation for him on your bench. You're not starting them,
I would say, right out the gates. But Pollard could
give this job up over the course of the year.
I don't think that's written off at all.
Speaker 1 (37:14):
If he's the Tony Pollard from last year, well, yes, yeah, exactly.
That was. You know, that was a shocking, shocking turn
of events, I think for people. Pollard, as I recall,
drafted second round in most fantasy drafts last year. Yes, yeah,
he was a pretty high end of first early second round. Wow.
(37:34):
The fall off the table as a workhorse back for
Dallas just amazing.
Speaker 3 (37:38):
Yeah, it's a tale as old as time.
Speaker 4 (37:40):
You see the backup running back putting up really good
rate metrics, and efficient numbers, and then you put him
in the starter spot and it all goes down.
Speaker 3 (37:47):
So some guys.
Speaker 1 (37:48):
Aren't built for that, that's right, Yeah, some guys aren't
built for that. You think Callahan will be as prodigious
as as heavily pass focused as he was in Cincinnati
now that he's with Tennessee and does not have you know,
he does not have the kind of weapons he had
in Cincinnati, aerial weapons he had in Cincinnati at all.
(38:09):
So was he just playing to his strengths because he
had great talent at wide receiver and quarterback and you know,
Joe Burrow and t Higgins and then you go to
Tennessee and he's you know, the fallof with is is
fairly dramatic.
Speaker 4 (38:22):
Yeah, No, that's certainly something that's in the cards. And
he probably won't be second in pass right again. Probably
won't be second in pass right over expectation again, but
I do see them committing to the passing game.
Speaker 3 (38:34):
And you know, they were.
Speaker 4 (38:35):
Third and eleven personnel usage on early downs last year
as well. You know, granted, like you said, very lead
group of wide receivers over in Cincinnati, but they put
together a decent set of receivers here a little bit older,
a little bit worse, but they're they're making an effort
to try and set up a similar structure, and I
think that the structure is there to find out if
(38:56):
will Levis is ready to be the starter or not.
Speaker 1 (39:00):
Great job, Kent, Congratulations on your first show and Fantasy
Football Weekly, everybody. We'll be back next week for more
talk to you, then bye bye. Fantasy Football Weekly is
a production of iHeartRadio. For more podcasts from iHeartRadio, visit
the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to
your favorite shows.
Welcome to Fantasy Football Weekly, a production of iHeartRadio.
Speaker 2 (00:06):
Time now for Fantasy Football Weekly from iHeartRadio, your weekly
source for the nation's best fantasy football advice, speculation, and
whatever stupid stuff they decide to drop into the show. Now,
here's your host, Paul Charchian.
Speaker 1 (00:21):
Welcome to Fantasy Football Weekly. I am Paul Charchian. Very
pleased to be joined by a first timer to Fantasy
Football Weekly. It's Ken Wyrock.
Speaker 3 (00:33):
Hey, Kent hi charge. How are we doing?
Speaker 1 (00:34):
Ah? Very good. Excited for you to break your maiden
on the show. Now your first ever podcast. I you
done plenty of other podcasts. You've been in Pro Football Focus,
my friends at the Fantasy Footballers Number five, bunch of
other stops, but first time here.
Speaker 3 (00:49):
Yeah.
Speaker 4 (00:50):
You know, I've been listening to this podcast and radio
show for a while now and I'm happy to be
here in contributing.
Speaker 3 (00:55):
Jump on the team.
Speaker 1 (00:55):
Yeah, fantastic, you're here in the Twin Cities, located here
in the Twin Cities like we are. I asked you
what you want to talk about when we were dreaming
up this show and how the show could go, and
you gave me one really compelling all your topics are good.
I want to make it like Sally, it was doing
one good one. But we have not yet touched on
the key offseason changes with some teams that are going
(01:17):
to have widespread effect on their offenses.
Speaker 4 (01:21):
Yeah, we're at that point of the season now where
we're between free agency, the big changes in the coaching cycle,
and the NFL Draft, which is coming up in a
few weeks, and it's all one big puzzle that we
got to put together. And so you know, most these
puzzle pieces have fallen into place, so we got to
identify what are the big sweeping changes in terms of
offensive identity and what does that mean for fantasy?
Speaker 3 (01:41):
Yeah?
Speaker 1 (01:41):
Absolutely, And the teams are going to touch on are
all teams kent that are largely broken, teams that have
got that have undergone major change. And so sometimes I
think the teams aren't going to sound that exciting upfront,
But if we talked about Houston at this time last year,
it wouldn't have sounded that exciting upfront. Yeah, some of
these teams. Five teams are going to get a lot better. Panthers, Falcons, Patriots, Chargers,
(02:05):
Titans in most cases get better. We'll we'll talk it
through and see what we think. And so yeah, I'm
excited to drill down on these teams with you. Let's
start and by the way, before we even get into that,
let's let's just hit on the stuff on Diggs things.
It's such big news that's came down midweek a few
days ago. Your thoughts on first the Buffalo offense that
(02:29):
it's currently right now really in a weak spot at
wide receiver. You know, Khalil Shakir is probably their best
wide receiver on roster right now. How do you see
the Spills offense as it sits today? Obviously plenty will
change and over the course of the draft.
Speaker 4 (02:45):
Yeah, I mean I like Khalil Shakier quite a bit.
I think he's very solid in that supporting role. I
don't know if he can be a one in this offense.
And if I'm Josh Allen right now, I'm not happy,
you know, Digs despite maybe there's some ongoing cryptic tweeting
on the side these days, but you know, you still
need someone to catch the football, and Josh Allen, well,
he is very, very talented, probably the second best quarterback
(03:06):
in the NFL right now, you still need a solid
receiving Cord to back that up. And if you start to,
you know, dismantle the entire receiving operation, everything else could
fall with it.
Speaker 1 (03:17):
And you know, Shaki ran about sixty percent of his
snaps from the slot. Their big free agent edition was
Curtis Samuel, Right, So, I mean, we really don't have
any outside receivers that we feel comfortable with on the
Bills right now. And you know, I'm sure they'll change
in the draft. I mean they have a mandate now
to go get receivers, and probably more than one. So
we'll see how this thing shakes out. Maybe there's a
(03:38):
trade in the future, draft day trade or after the
trade if the draft doesn't fall the way the Bills want.
But right now, man, you know, not the Diggs was
the contributor that he used to be. But Kent, I
just I don't love the way this Bills. This Bill's
offense looks without reliable help at receiver Titans, it looks solid,
but you know you need more than that.
Speaker 4 (04:00):
Yeah, And you know, last year they went through some
offensive coordinator changes as well and went from Door Sat
to Joe Brady, and that came with its own set
of challenges as well. And so the Bills, they kind
of need to figure something out if they're going to
find a new offensive identity. And you know, their run game, well,
it's good. I wouldn't say it's their core structure, right,
and so you know, we're looking in a new direction.
Speaker 3 (04:21):
And I think you're right.
Speaker 4 (04:22):
At the back of the first round, the Bills are
almost a certainty to draft a wide receiver provided they
stay in that slot.
Speaker 1 (04:28):
Yeah. And then the the other side of that, of course,
is the receiver that some people would say is the
second best receiver quarterback in football, c J. Stroud ends
up gaining stuff on Diggs. I think Diggs goes into
a spot where he's basically the third best receiver by
a little you know. I think I think Niko Collins
and what we saw at Tank Dell will looked fantastic.
(04:51):
It'll be fascinating to see what Diggs is able to
do and what kind of player he is. And now
it is just a one year prove it deal, a
twenty four million dollar proven deal, but a one year
deal with Houston as a as a compliment among three
good receivers.
Speaker 4 (05:07):
Yeah, and I actually just recently saw a tweet from
Field Yates talking about the contract structure of Stefan Diggs,
and I think they got that cap number for this
year down to like just a handful, like two to
three million or something like that, So they may not
be done. Obviously there's a handful of voidiers tacked on,
as every contract these days seems to have, but they
may be adding more pieces. The Houston Texans, whether offense
(05:28):
or defense. You know, they they've got quite a team,
and I think they're set up very nicely to continue
back to the playoffs for the second time.
Speaker 1 (05:34):
All right, From just a fantasy outlook only, what's the
order you would draft the Houston wide receivers.
Speaker 4 (05:42):
Yeah, it's gonna be Nico Collins first for me. Still,
he's just been so reliable and steadfast for that offense,
plays an extremely you know, robust route tree. Is able
to make all sorts of different throws or excuse catch
all different sorts of throws and run all different sorts
of routes. I did see that Tank Dell had a
little bit of a divergence in his yards per route
(06:03):
run when he's in eleven personnel versus having just two
wide receivers on the field. So you know, I probably
still take man between Tank Dell and Stephan Diggs. I
think I'm gonna go dig second and Dell very very
closely behind.
Speaker 1 (06:17):
I'm exactly the same spot, exactly the same spot you are.
And I like Tank Dell a lot. I just you know,
we didn't get the full season from him, you know,
And I think he's gonna have a great career and
maybe even turns out to be the best of the
three in the long run. But he also runs a
lot of slot routes. Slot routes are It's hard to
get paid fantasy style from slot receivers. It's not impossible.
(06:39):
But Cooper cup is the outlier, right absolutely, All right,
let's dive into the offseason changes that are going to
affect entire offenses. I've set you up for the Panthers.
I mean, let's say, it almost feels like get it
out of the way, right, But let's let's go through
the most dysfunctional team in probably all of sports, the Panthers.
They are paying four different head coaches right now, which
(07:03):
is pretty amazing. They've brought in some pedigree now with
their coaching staff in the hope that they can effectively
do for Baker do with BA do for Bryce Young
what they did for Baker Mayfield and Tampa. Let's talk
it through.
Speaker 4 (07:19):
Yeah, I mean that's the goal. I mean, Baker had
quite a year last year. I think he had a
career high in touchdowns of twenty eight passing touchdowns last year.
So you might recall that the Panthers had Frank Reich
and Thomas Brown last year as their head coach offensive
coordinator duo, and they actually flip flopped a few times
between play calling duties, and you know, truth be told,
neither of them were all that spectacular. So it's tough
(07:42):
to say it could get much worse than that, but
you know, you just have high hopes and positivity. So
the incoming staff is head coach Dave Canalis and O. C.
Speaker 3 (07:51):
Brad Idzick.
Speaker 4 (07:52):
Excuse me, Idzick, that's a tough one for me to say,
but they're both coming over from the Tampa Bay Buccaneers,
and I think what they're looking to apply to this
Panthers team is a more balanced approach in regards to
the personnel usage, how they're gonna deploy their offensive weapons,
and so, you know, looking at some of the key
changes in the offense, they well, you know key using
(08:14):
very loosely here, but they lost Leviska Chhanal dj Shark.
I think they're fine. Channel was ultimately a disappointment based
on some people fantasy projections, but what they did gain
was two I would say, sizeable offensive guard signings, and
they were going through pretty much like a patchwork turnstile
situation in the regards. They had seven or eight guys playing
(08:35):
each side over the course of the year, so they've
made their offensive line more robust. They traded for Deontay Johnson,
which I think is a good play overall.
Speaker 1 (08:44):
See I disagree a little bit in that I feel
like he's Adam Thielen in a lot of ways, younger
version of Adam Thelen where you're gonna get somebody can
play all three positions, but somebody who doesn't take the
top off the defense anymore catches what's thrown to him.
He'll route run, the routes will be in the same spot.
I just felt like they added a slightly younger Adam
(09:05):
Thielen to their offense that already had Adam feeling.
Speaker 4 (09:08):
Yeah, that's reasonable. It's worth noting that last year was
his highest average depth of target to date and He's
still only twenty seven years old, so we could still
see his development happening in real time. And you know,
he's been a very steady receiver, catching lots of balls. Obviously,
the touchdowns haven't always been there, and that's been a
point of conte But that may still be the case
(09:29):
here with the Panthers unless we see a big turnaround.
But also worth noting that they have two second round picks.
You know, they don't have their first because of the
Bryce Young deal, but those are at thirty third and
thirty ninth overall, and that's pretty early. It's pretty early,
and that's prime wide receiver, like that second third tier
of wide receiver.
Speaker 3 (09:46):
Yep.
Speaker 4 (09:47):
And I know that Thor said he likes a lot
of the depth in this class, so you know, they
could definitely be adding another wide receiver very early in
the draft of a couple weeks.
Speaker 1 (09:55):
Wouldn't be surprised, I mean, given what they paid to
get Bryce Young, given how humiliating it will be if
he doesn't work out. I do feel like the Panthers
are trying to surround him with as much talent as
possible so that if Bryce Young fails now, it will
have been through two coaching staffs. It'll be with better receivers,
(10:16):
it'll be with a better offensive line, and now it's
really on Bryce Young and less on the Panthers.
Speaker 4 (10:20):
Yeah, one hundred percent. And you know, last year, I'd
say most people still liked Bryce Young as a prospect
over c J.
Speaker 3 (10:26):
Stroud.
Speaker 4 (10:26):
Yeah, most dead in the first year that flipped pretty aggressively,
but there's still a reason to be, you know, have
some hope that the prospect can come to fruition here.
And it's kind of funny, you know, the head coach
and the offense courn had come from the Buccaneers. They
had Baker Mayfield last year. There's some really funny parallels
between twenty twenty two Baker and twenty twenty three Bryce Young.
Speaker 1 (10:46):
All right, let's hear it.
Speaker 4 (10:48):
So in twenty twenty two, Baker played eleven games, and
so we have some rate metrics here that we can
look at. Sixty percent completion, ten passing, touchdown to eight interceptions,
seven point eight depth of target and in his PRAE
was fifty two point two from PFF. Yeah, it looked
like he was done. And you know, ironically, he started
the year as a Panther as well, So that's kind
(11:09):
of an extra little layer there. Last year, Bryce Young
played played sixteen out of seventeen games, and he also
had sixty percent completion, eleven passing touchdowns, ten interceptions, seven
point eight average at target, and his PFF passing grade
was fifty two point six. So we're looking at a
mirror image pretty much on some of these rate metrics.
(11:29):
And uh, you know, Baker, like I said, last year,
turned it around, had a very solid season, led the
Bucks to the playoffs. They were a very very strong offense. Look,
this Panthers team doesn't have Mike Evans, I get it,
but they're trying to make something that they can put
together piece by piece, and so Deontay Johnson is one
(11:50):
of those pieces. And I think that Bryce Young has
an opportunity, maybe not a certainty, to advance in terms
of the passing game.
Speaker 1 (11:59):
I think there's a lot too that in a dynasty
super flex, I'm buying Bryce Young what you'd have to
give to get him in super flex, you might be
able to give a early second rounder for Bryce Young.
And you know that's a point at which I'm really
interested in gambling on him being a bounce back candidate.
Speaker 4 (12:21):
Absolutely, quarterbacks are very high variants. Actually, especially early in
their careers. We tend to believe we know the whole story,
when when the book hasn't even gone past the first chapter.
Speaker 1 (12:32):
Yeah, no doubt. Let's go to the Falcons. So Falcons
the off season news for the Falcons players and everything
around the organization.
Speaker 3 (12:39):
It's all good.
Speaker 1 (12:41):
There's no there's nothing bad that's happened here at all.
I love their off season. Fantasy players have to be
delighted with the upgrade from Arthur Smith to well, frankly,
anybody you know insert carbon based life for him.
Speaker 3 (12:53):
Here.
Speaker 1 (12:54):
Will take Rahem Morris as the offensive coordinator, but more
importantly Raem Morris as your head coach, more importantly offense coordinator,
Zach Robinson, and obviously the massive upgraded quarterback from the
highly inconsistent Taylor Heineke and Desmond Ritter to Kirk Cousins.
Cousins has obviously proven to provide elite level production to
(13:15):
his wide receivers, Justin Jefferson, his tight ends TJ. Hockinson,
and it's vaulted the value of Kyle Pitts and Drake
London to really almost new heights or at least back
to the heights of where they were as rookies, when
they were both lottery picks as first rounders.
Speaker 3 (13:33):
Yeah.
Speaker 4 (13:33):
Absolutely, And you know, they've got some interesting changes on
their coaching staff to bringing an offensive coordinator Zach Robinson,
another high utilizer of eleven personnel, three wide receivers on
the field, and Drake London, Darnell Mooney, and they even
you know, in the Desmond Ridder trade, got Rondel Moore.
That's an intriguing start to that process. I wouldn't be
surprised if they add one more wide receiver to fill
(13:55):
out their depth a little bit more. But it's gonna
be a fun team to watch.
Speaker 1 (13:59):
What do we know about Zach Robinson Not much so.
I mean, here's what we got to work with. He
was a quarterback for Oklahoma State, throwing to Dez Bryant.
If you go back far enough here, he was a
seventh round draft pick who managed to hang on on
a variety of different practice squads for a few years.
Then he went to work for Pro Football Focus and
by the way, he's working there with Houston's offensive coordinator
(14:21):
Bobby Slow. At the same time, PFF turning into a
launching pad for careers. He's from, most recently the Sean
McVay Tree. He worked as their assistant quarterback coach, then
their assistant wide receiver coach, and then he went back
to assistant quarterback coach, and then for the last two
years he was the quarterback coach and the passing game
coordinator for Sean McVay. And that's all you have to
(14:43):
do to get a head coaching job in the NFL now.
So he's only thirty seven years old. Zach Robinson, He's
never called plays, which is a concern. I like though
that he's used to calling a Matthew Stafford led off,
which translates pretty closely to Kirk Cousin's skill set.
Speaker 3 (15:03):
I would say, so, yeah, yeah, and so.
Speaker 1 (15:05):
I don't think he needs to relearn that. You mentioned
that he likes eleven personnel. Get this, Rams ran eleven
personnel on ninety percent of their plays, ninety and that
means we're going to see more emphasis I believe on
Jon Robinson and Kyle Pitts, who are going to be
in less of time shares. Now we're running eleven with
(15:26):
one running back and one tight end. Those are the
running backs and that's the running back of the wh
and the tight end that's going to be on the field.
Speaker 3 (15:32):
That's right.
Speaker 1 (15:33):
I certainly hope you know, other McVeigh disciples have kent
gone on develop to develop very pass heavy schemes, and honestly,
I'm hoping that's going to be the case here too.
Cincinnati's Zach Taylor Minnesota's Kevin O'Connell have both finished in
the top five in pass play percentage in back to
(15:57):
back years. So if Zach Robinson is going to be
as as pass heavy would be, that would be outstanding.
I think for most fantasy use. Kirk Cousins opens up
the entire field to the Falcons in a way we
haven't seen some since Matt Ryan was good. That's a
while ago. Now, Kirk's passer rating on throws over ten
(16:18):
yards is one hundred and twenty. Last year in half season,
Kirk's passer rating on throws over twenty yards only drops
three points one hundred and seventeen. On passes of twenty
or more yards, This is nothing we've seen in the
Falcons offense. You know, you know you as an example,
Drake London last year. I really his whole career has
(16:39):
not been a downfield threat over the past two years.
Two years, Drake London has caught fourteen passes of over
twenty yards.
Speaker 3 (16:46):
Wow, that's it. Yeah, that's about to change.
Speaker 1 (16:49):
That's gonna change. Darnell Mooney could reach newfound productivity from
the slot where Kirk Cousins has been highly proficient with
JJ and Thielen in the past, and of course McVeigh
Jeohn McVay utilized the slat copiously with Cooper Cup and
Zach Robinson may carry over some of those schemes for
Darnell Mooney, who they went out of their way to
acquire in the offseason. I think b John Robinson's a
(17:12):
total wildcard Kent. So you know, the McVeigh tree shows.
The good news is the McVeigh tree shows a dedication
to a single back, which I love. That's like Todd Gurley,
Kyron Williams last year, Joe Mixon, Dalvin Cook, even Alexander
Madison last year with Kevin O'Connell, despite being wildly ineffective,
(17:32):
maintained the stranglehold on getting virtually all the work from
Minnesota for most of the year. So that part I
love about the upside of Bjon Robinson. But the McVeigh
tree doesn't pass that much to their runners. All the
guys that I just mentioned, Gurley, Williams, Mixon, Cook Madison
typically clocking in with like forty catch seasons. You know,
(17:52):
four hundred receiving yards is pretty normal. Todd Gurley had,
you know, in his crazy twenty seventeen year, he caught
a bunch of passes and he had like eight hundred yards.
But you know, overwhelmingly we haven't seen a lot of
aerial work for McVeigh tree runners b Jon Robinson though
maybe just so skilled as a receiver that Zach Robinson
(18:12):
ends up using him more that way.
Speaker 4 (18:14):
Yeah, and you know, despite Arthur Smith's propensity to deploy
Tyler l Gear in copious amounts, you know, he kind
of fell off a little bit last year relative to
the year prior. And bringing in Rondell Moore. I think
they'll maybe have some backfield packages for him, but pretty
few and far between. Jon Robinson represents an opportunity to
score a bunch of touchdowns this year, and I'm very
(18:37):
excited for him.
Speaker 1 (18:38):
Yeah, I'll be interested to see you. No, all the
McVeigh tree, those they don't generally take their lead backs
off the field inside the five yard line. And that's
where Bejon Robinson was really not very effective last year
for providing fantasy points. He just, you know, those easy
touchdowns weren't there for him, and he had to score
from distance more often than not. And for Bejon, that's
(18:58):
you know, for any back, that's a lot harder to do. Yeah,
Luckily he's good at that, Like he has a sizeable
track record with that, which is great. I want to
work in a break when we come back, Let's go
to the Patriots and let's talk about the changes that
they've got there. No Bill at Belichick, Jared mayos In,
Alex Van Peltier, offensive coordinator. Jacoby Brissett's the quarterback of
(19:18):
the moment. Let's talk through Patriots changes when we return.
Welcome back Fantasy Football Weekly. Paul Charchion Ken, Whyrock, How
do you feel You're halfway through your first show?
Speaker 4 (19:29):
Oh man, it's so much fun. I'm just so glad
to be here and I'm having a blast.
Speaker 1 (19:34):
All right, I love it. Well, let's dig. Let's see
if we can have fun with the Patriots. It's I'm
I'm fascinated to see what life is like without Bill Belichick.
It's been like our entire adult lives right since Belichick's
been there, and we finally get some new blood in
and they've needed it in the worst way. I think
the worst overall roster in the NFL may very well
(19:56):
be the Patriots. Panthers are in this conversation too, But
Patriots over roster just disaster grade top to bottom. What
can we salvage out of this? What do you think
Alex van Pelt will do offensive coordinator with Jared Mayo.
Jared Mayo presumably Van Pelt will have almost all the
offensive power here. What do you expect to change?
Speaker 4 (20:16):
Yeah, well, first things first, I think I might rather
take the Panthers offense over the Patriots. But yeah, we're
going to see some differences and some changes obviously, and
exiting the Belichick era is a very distinct event for
all of us to witness. But yeah, Draw Mayo is
a linebackers coach, previously defensive minded. The offensive coordinator, like
you said, Alex van Pelt coming from the Cleveland Browns.
(20:38):
He spent the last four seasons there and he had
one another stint as a Bills offensive coordinator back in
two thousand and nine. So it'll be interesting to see
how he affects this offense, and we'll work our way
through that. But they, you know, as far as Key
losses again Key very loosely, DeVante Parker, Mike GETSICKI.
Speaker 1 (20:58):
It's an addition by some track exactly.
Speaker 4 (21:01):
So you know, the remaining receiving course Kendrick Bourne to
Mario Douglas, Juju Smith, Schuster and Hunter Henry. So that's
I think overall a very flat, fine group, but nothing,
no one is elevating, and no one is really dragging
it down.
Speaker 1 (21:16):
I would never use the word fine on that group
of receivers, but if you want to be charitable, that's fine.
I'll let you do that.
Speaker 4 (21:22):
I'll do my best to give him a little credit charge.
But yeah, and you know, as far as some people
that they've added to the roster, they will have I
would say likely a new quarterback at the first, at
the third overall pick.
Speaker 1 (21:34):
Which keeps happening to Jacoby Brissette everywhere he goes, right exactly.
All he does is play pretty good functional quarterback, and
everybody's like, oh, we got to start somebody else over you.
Speaker 4 (21:43):
Yeah, and even if they do draft a rookie, I
would say it's probably pretty likely that Jacoby Brissett starts
the season still and they work the rookie and we'll
see that remains depending on who they take. But they
also added Antonio Gibson to the backfield another wide receiver
kJ Osborne, which again kind of just fits in the group. Yep,
in a backup tight end in Austin Hooper. So I
think the question now is what kind of fantasy value
(22:06):
can you glean from this group? And if I had
to make a bet, it would be on Romandri Stevenson.
Speaker 1 (22:13):
This is an.
Speaker 4 (22:13):
Offensive coordinator Van Pelt who likes to run the ball.
He obviously had Nick Chubb at his disposal and even
when he was back at as the Bills offensive coordinator,
he had two running backs by the name of Fred
Jackson and Marshaw Lynch.
Speaker 3 (22:28):
I've heard of them, yeah, exactly.
Speaker 1 (22:30):
Fred Jackson was one of the great stories out of
what his college like Lane or something? And no, no,
no was he So did he go to? Where did
Fred Jackson play college? It was like South Dakota fortunately, Yeah,
and I can't remember that far back.
Speaker 4 (22:48):
Yeah, So you know, he likes to run the ball.
And I have a quote from him here, he said,
I think that running the football in this league wins games,
wins championships. He is dedicated to it. He's gonna try
and pound the rock. Now we've got to figure out
if ramondre Stevenson is the guy who can handle that workload.
So you know, in Cleveland he had Nick Brown as
(23:10):
his lead back and obviously was rushing the ball insane
amounts of time with him. However, even when Nick Chubb
went down last year, he split a very heavy ninth
in rush freight amount of carries between Kareem Hunt and
Jerome Ford, two guys that are not Nick jobb very
ho hum exactly. So he was fine running the ball
(23:30):
even with them. And that was three hundred and thirty
nine rushing attempts between them for a whopping three point
six yards per carry.
Speaker 3 (23:37):
Ikes.
Speaker 4 (23:37):
Yeah, So to this day, to date, I should say
Romondre Stevenson has yet to surpass thirteen rushing attempts per game,
a mark that is one entire rushing attempt below what
Nick Chubb has been since his rookie season. So you
got to see him step up because I don't see
Antonio Gibson as a runner anymore. He had his career
(24:00):
low sixty five rushing attempts last year. Yeah, and he's
coming off a career high three hundred and eighteen routes run,
which is just twenty one fewer than Re Remandre's twenty twenty.
Speaker 3 (24:10):
Two breakout season.
Speaker 4 (24:11):
So we probably see Antonio Gibson harvesting some of that
pass catching work from Ramondre Stevenson. Well, Stevenson's pounding the
rock on first and second down, So that's a bit
unfortunate in the PPR game, and we're probably not going
to see a ton of rushing touchdowns out of this team.
So it's a question mark. But if Ramondre Stevenson can
(24:34):
stay healthy and contribute to this team and maybe their
first you know, maybe Drake may leads them to the
Promised Land. Yeah, you have an opportunity to seize a
lot of value.
Speaker 1 (24:45):
I I love ramondra Stevenson, longtime listeners know. I just
I think he's a I think he's a way way
underappreciated power back who has languished behind some bad offensive
lines playing with a quarterback who gives defenses nothing to fear.
For most of the past two years, it's been shut
down for Mondra Stevenson and you shut down this offense.
(25:07):
So I want to believe that this new scheme, hopefully
better players, hopefully an improved offensive line, either the draft
free agency will unlock Stevenson with a heavy workload here,
and I want to get him back, Like, let's get
double digit touchdowns for Mondra Stevenson.
Speaker 3 (25:23):
That would be nice.
Speaker 1 (25:23):
You know, he's he's he is such a good power
back that I want to believe he can get there,
and I think he can. Let's go over to the Chargers.
And by the way, I don't think it even Patriots.
Patriots likely go quarterback and picked three. If they trade down,
they could still go quarterback. Who knows, but I don't
think it's gonna matter that much. If it's Brissett or
rookie quarterback learning on the job.
Speaker 3 (25:43):
I'm with you.
Speaker 1 (25:43):
This is a run heavy offense. Chargers massive, massive flux
for the entire team right, particularly the offense. So gone
are Brandon Staley, Kellen Moore from the coaching staff. By
the way, if Gone changes general manager as well, Joe
Horitz is in as the new general manager, and of
(26:05):
course Jim Harbaugh Greg Roman are there. You can't ask
for a more obvious blueprint of what's coming than having
Jim Harbaugh and Greg Roman as your coaches. It's it's
the biggest tell ever. Also, gone nearly every offensive asset
who made a meaningful contribution over the past five years
outside of Justin Herbert So Austin Eckler's now in Washington,
(26:27):
Keenan Allen's and Chicago Micha Williams with the Jets, and
to this point as a group, they have been replaced
by basically nobody, I mean Gus Edwards, but basically nobody
to this point. So what do we expect from Harbaugh
and Roman running? Obviously, here's some data harbaught Michigan. Last
year Michigan ran the ball thirty eight times per game
(26:52):
and pass twenty four. Oh man, it's a thirty nine
percent pass rate. Thirty nine percent. That is leather helm
era stuff right there. The prior year, Michigan ran the
ball forty three times per game for a thirty seven
percent pass rate. I mean, even if you roll back,
(27:13):
I went back and I looked, I look back at
NFL Day to twenty years so on, all the way
back to two thousand and four, no team was even
close to a sixty one percent run rate. No team.
I think the next closest team was like seven percent
off of that. So, I mean, you know, this is
this is the potential even with Justin Herbert is the
only obvious talent in like left in this offense, there's
(27:37):
the potential here for whoever ends up being the lead runner.
And it's TBD. It's through the draft.
Speaker 3 (27:43):
Almost certainly, almost certainly.
Speaker 1 (27:44):
Yeah, somebody's gonna somebody's gonna have a lot of usage coming.
Let's talk Greg Roman. You already probably know that when
he was offensive cordieror Baltimore for four years, the Ravens
ran all the time. Ravens rank and run play percentage
during Greg Roman's tenure of those four years were first, first, eleventh,
and third. The obviously Lamar Jackson skews those rankings, but
(28:05):
even without Jackson, just the Ravens runners alone under Greg Roman,
we're averaging twenty one carries per game under him. That's
a healthy number. Harbought. Harbor could have picked a lot
of people to be his offensive coordinator, Kent, he picked
Greg Roman.
Speaker 4 (28:23):
He's trying to recreate the national championship. Charge just wants run, run, run.
Speaker 1 (28:26):
Run, run, run, But who's gonna run the ball. So
Gus Edwards. You know, maybe he's better another year removed
from his ACL injury of two years ago, but honestly,
he looked tired and spent last year. And I've been
a big Gus Edwards proponent and was up into the injury.
Gus turns twenty nine years old this week. He was
Pro Football Focus's forty first ranked runner last year, and
(28:50):
he ranked fifty third in PFF's elusiveness rankings and has
had declining yards per carry in four straight seasons, down
to four point one last year. I think Gus is
about done.
Speaker 3 (29:01):
Yeah, his age really snuck up on us, didn't it.
It really did.
Speaker 4 (29:04):
Yeah, I agree with you. They're gonna add someone through
the draft, regardless of Greg Roman's connection to Gus Edwards
back at Baltimore. You know them might limit the rookies
incoming touch numbers, but yeah, I can't see Gus being
the lead guy.
Speaker 3 (29:19):
Just nut. So I can't either want to contribute to.
Speaker 1 (29:21):
If you told me the Chargers we are gonna be
the first team to take a running back in this draft,
I'd be like, Yeah, that makes total sense.
Speaker 4 (29:27):
Everyone's connecting Blake koram to everybody is connect create the championship,
and maybe it's gonna go that way.
Speaker 1 (29:33):
You know a lot of people have put Michigan running
back Blake Korum on the Chargers, and you probably don't
have to. He's right now he's being mocked into the fourth,
fifth round, So you know, they wouldn't have to give
up a lot to go get Blake Korm if they do,
they could spend a third and just go get him.
And I like Korum's productivity. I like the footwork. I
like the balance and the build. He's got some sneaky acceleration,
(29:56):
but does not have long speed, doesn't have natural elusive
this Thor is pretty down on him, which I trust
Thor a lot, and and so I just I think
he's a middling talent. But you know what, it might
not matter. You know, if this team's going to give
twenty twenty five rushing attempts to its running backs a game,
(30:17):
you don't have to be that good to be Fantasy
effective volume is key. That's the old the old say. Yep,
I'd love to see them go get Trey Benson. He's
my favorite rookie run in the draft. So that's if
Trey Bentson goes to the Chargers, he will be inside
my top ten run at the running back position in
(30:37):
my rankings. Now at right now, Chargers are sitting at
pick five of the draft. That's going to yield them
the leak. Neighbors or Marvin Harrison Junior Ken you know,
both are amazing prospects who get to catch passes from
an excellent quarterback. The only question is how many passes
are you going to get from Greg Roman as a
(30:58):
team under Greg Roman. Here are the Ravens rankings for
wide receiver fantasy points scored four years of Greg Roman offenses.
Here's where the wide receivers are ranked as a group,
thirty first, twenty third, thirtieth and thirty first. There's your
four years of Greg Roman coaching with the Ravens wide
(31:22):
receiver group. So as good as Malik Neighbors and Marvin
Harrison might be, and the fact they've got Justin Herbert,
I mean, this should be a lot of passing and
it should be productive early, there's some reason for worry
there now. Granted, Neighbors or Harrison will be better than
any receiver Roman ever worked with in Baltimore.
Speaker 4 (31:39):
So there's that yeah, I would say there's nowhere to
go from up from those fantasy point numbers. But you know,
like you said, Greg Roman has never been outside the
top ten in Russian attempts and his entire NFL career
as a coach and as well, we're on fifteen years
or so now, I don't know exactly, but so we
know he's committed and no matter what coaching staff he's
been a part of, he's infected them with his nature.
Speaker 1 (32:00):
So infected, I like, make it sound like a virus.
All right, let's go to Tennessee new head coaches Brian Callahan.
We've got we've got some data on him, which I
think is we're gonna find helpful here. I don't like
Will Levis. I don't think. I hope, I hope I'm wrong,
and I hope year two is better, and it probably
(32:21):
will be better. But I didn't like what I saw
last year much at all, big arm. I don't like
any of the fundamentals. I don't like the technique. I
don't like the ball placement. I don't like the decision making.
I hope he gets a lot better in this new offense,
or maybe they surprise everybody and take a quarterback at seven.
Speaker 3 (32:41):
Oh, that would be a surprise. I like it.
Speaker 1 (32:44):
I'm on board for it. I don't think Will Loves.
Speaker 3 (32:46):
Is the guy at this point.
Speaker 4 (32:48):
I'd say my my betting money would be on the
fact that they will not be in play for a
quarterback because we will have four off the board already.
It's very positive. That's my feelings on the matter. But
the draft is a chaotic event every year, so I
could be surprised. But if they are sticking with Will Levis,
I think there's what they've tried to do is create
a structure around him such that they're gonna find out
(33:10):
if he can succeed.
Speaker 3 (33:11):
And you know, he might not.
Speaker 4 (33:13):
Those fundamentals might come back and bite him and he
won't be able to compete. But looking at who they
brought in, we got, like you said, head coach Brian
Callahan coming from the Bengals, was the offensive coordinator there.
Their new offensive coordinator on the Titans is Nick Holts,
first time NFL offensive coordinator, but was the passing game
coordinator for the Jaguars. So you know, in the last
(33:34):
couple of years, or I should say last year, the
Bengals were second pass rate like you said earlier in
this segment, and they were second in pass right over expectation,
and then the Jaguars were fifth in pass right over expectations.
So you know those early downs where you're not sure
if they're going to pass a throw, they tended to
throw more. And that's something that I'm sure they're going
to look to do with Will Levis as well.
Speaker 3 (33:56):
You know, they lost Derek Henry.
Speaker 1 (33:58):
Part of the I guess that's really kind of the
lead story here too.
Speaker 4 (34:00):
Right, Yeah, exactly. They replaced him with Tony Pollard, which
is a massive downgrade. No one's gonna argue that. But
Tony Pollard at least brings some pass catching patch pass
catching chops to the table that Derrick Henry uh never
really had, So I think that's interesting. The Calvin Ridley
contract was pretty sizable. They were very interested in bringing
him too.
Speaker 1 (34:20):
I was shocked they gave him so much money, honestly,
you know, I just I Ridley was such a hit
and miss and mostly miss fan producer for the Jaguars,
you know, and the fact that Jaguars didn't make seemingly
that much of an effort to keep him, I don't know.
I think Tennessee overpaid.
Speaker 3 (34:37):
Yeah, it very likely that is the case.
Speaker 4 (34:40):
But he has familiarity with Nickolets, the offensive coordinator, coming
from the Jaguars.
Speaker 1 (34:44):
Sounds fair.
Speaker 4 (34:45):
Should get him involved in the offense pretty well. Obviously
at that price point, you better hope he is and
then they'll probably you know, you said quarterback. I think
offensive tackle at seven in the draft.
Speaker 1 (34:54):
Everybody's got Joe Joel. Everybody thinks that's the case.
Speaker 4 (34:58):
And they're in the middle of kind of real work
in that offensive line two from a few years back.
Speaker 1 (35:02):
So remember, like four years ago, it was the best
offensive line in football and it just got picked apart
by injury and free agency, and last year was one
of the bottom like three offensive lines. And that's that's
your built in excuse for why Will Levis didn't perform
all that well. But you know what, that's what they
said about Kenny Pickett and they tried to rebuild an
(35:23):
offensive line. They give him another chance. Didn't matter. Kenny
Pickett didn't pan out. Desmond Ritter had a middling rookie year.
They're like, Okay, we're gonna give him another chance. Didn't
work out. I think more often than not, Kent the
guys who don't show enough in their first year never
get it.
Speaker 4 (35:42):
That's then if you're using that historically, that's a very
predictive way to look at things. And I don't doubt
that for a second. So that's why I go quarterback.
Speaker 1 (35:50):
But anyway, I guess if one of the four is there,
I probably would have fired Tennessee.
Speaker 4 (35:54):
Yeah, you mentioned the big arm Will Levis last year
at the highest average depth of target with eleven point
one yards. The second highest with nine point three was C. J.
Speaker 3 (36:03):
Stroud.
Speaker 4 (36:03):
So they are looking downfield and they built a pretty
decent receiving core around of Dejandria Hopkins is still there,
aging but still good, good in the red zone. Calvin
Ridley very similar, Treylon Burks, you know what, he's in
a tertiary role. Now, maybe that's where he finds his
stride and becomes a more of a supporting cast type receiver.
Speaker 1 (36:23):
Will take any stride.
Speaker 4 (36:24):
Yeah, exactly. And you know I mentioned Tony Pollard and
then even Chigo Konquo was fine as like a fifth
option in terms of passing.
Speaker 1 (36:32):
So if you're in a dropped balls league, well yes,
that would help. Now you ever mentioned spears once, well,
and I you know, I was very excited. I invested
in my Dynasty leagues, in Empire leagues. I invested in
some taj spears last year, figuring Derrick Henry be gone,
he'd get a lot more work. The Pollard signing.
Speaker 4 (36:53):
Jeez, yeah, he kind of smeared that a little bit,
but he was exciting at times last year. There were
a few flexible games even when was still playing and starting.
So I think there's reason to still keep that hope
and expectation for him on your bench. You're not starting them,
I would say, right out the gates. But Pollard could
give this job up over the course of the year.
I don't think that's written off at all.
Speaker 1 (37:14):
If he's the Tony Pollard from last year, well, yes, yeah, exactly.
That was. You know, that was a shocking, shocking turn
of events, I think for people. Pollard, as I recall,
drafted second round in most fantasy drafts last year. Yes, yeah,
he was a pretty high end of first early second round. Wow.
(37:34):
The fall off the table as a workhorse back for
Dallas just amazing.
Speaker 3 (37:38):
Yeah, it's a tale as old as time.
Speaker 4 (37:40):
You see the backup running back putting up really good
rate metrics, and efficient numbers, and then you put him
in the starter spot and it all goes down.
Speaker 3 (37:47):
So some guys.
Speaker 1 (37:48):
Aren't built for that, that's right, Yeah, some guys aren't
built for that. You think Callahan will be as prodigious
as as heavily pass focused as he was in Cincinnati
now that he's with Tennessee and does not have you know,
he does not have the kind of weapons he had
in Cincinnati, aerial weapons he had in Cincinnati at all.
(38:09):
So was he just playing to his strengths because he
had great talent at wide receiver and quarterback and you know,
Joe Burrow and t Higgins and then you go to
Tennessee and he's you know, the fallof with is is
fairly dramatic.
Speaker 4 (38:22):
Yeah, No, that's certainly something that's in the cards. And
he probably won't be second in pass right again. Probably
won't be second in pass right over expectation again, but
I do see them committing to the passing game.
Speaker 3 (38:34):
And you know, they were.
Speaker 4 (38:35):
Third and eleven personnel usage on early downs last year
as well. You know, granted, like you said, very lead
group of wide receivers over in Cincinnati, but they put
together a decent set of receivers here a little bit older,
a little bit worse, but they're they're making an effort
to try and set up a similar structure, and I
think that the structure is there to find out if
(38:56):
will Levis is ready to be the starter or not.
Speaker 1 (39:00):
Great job, Kent, Congratulations on your first show and Fantasy
Football Weekly, everybody. We'll be back next week for more
talk to you, then bye bye. Fantasy Football Weekly is
a production of iHeartRadio. For more podcasts from iHeartRadio, visit
the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to
your favorite shows.
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