Fantasy Football - Footie Award Winners + Early Hot Takes for 2026! - Podcast for 1/13

13:20Andy Holloway:Both things can be true of the Panthers, in my opinion, didn't deserve to be in the playoffs because of what their record was in the regular season. They weren't a bad team by any stretch. They had some truly elite performances on the defensive side of the football during the regular season. I mean, they beat this Rams team earlier. It was just when you're 8-9, you shouldn't have a playoff spot. You shouldn't have a home game for sure. But they took them to the brink. The Rams and the Jags game, it was the same thing. It was just got real tight, and then the best quarterback on the field won the game.

13:59Andy Holloway:And Bryce Young was unfortunately unable to – I mean, there was a whimper that final drive. It was a bummer.

14:07Mike Wright:The fantasy implications of this game for me were the comments by Rico Dowdle leaving this performance. I didn't hear. He came out – I mean, he only had nine yards in this game. He was one of my prize picks, was under, and they just didn't run the ball well at all. Right. A lot of it had to do with the Rams' defense. But he said, like, basically the lack of opportunities, it's going to play a huge part in where he goes this offseason. He says he wants to be somewhere where he gets the majority of the work.

14:30Jason Moore:I hate to break it to you, Rico Dowdle. That's not going to happen. It could happen. I think it will happen. It's not. Have you seen the list of free agents? Say nothing of. Okay. Tell me.

14:41Andy Holloway:No, there's like the free agent running back market?

14:43Jason Moore:Yeah, I mean, I'm just saying Rico is not in the top two or three. There's Ken Bone Walker. There's Brees Hall. There's Travis Etienne. If a team is going to go out there for a bell cow and say, hey, opportunity, we need a running back that we're going to give a ton of work to, they're not going to go out and get Rico. I agree with Rico's hopes and desires. I'm happy that he feels that way, but there's a lot of quarterbacks out there that want to start where they just can't.

15:09Mike Wright:I suppose he had the same ambitions leaving Dallas last year. Right.

15:12Andy Holloway:But my pushback would be there. He's not he's not in the same tier.

15:18Mike Wright:I mean, couldn't he go and be the New York Jets starting running back next year? Couldn't Rico do that? I'm looking at teams right now.

15:25Andy Holloway:I'm saying there's there's going to be teams that don't want to pay the Brie Saul price that don't want to pay. Well, Brie Saul is the only one I think you're like, that guy's getting paid. Ken Walker should get a decent contract. I could see he might just go right back to over Walker. Yeah, that could happen. I think Rico ends up with a starting job, but he's 28, so he's not like Brees Hall and Walker.

15:49Mike Wright:What about Kansas City?

15:52Andy Holloway:Sure. Just go just be the new Kareem Hunt and just soak up a bunch of touchdowns.

15:57Mike Wright:Tennessee, Kansas City, New York, the Jets.

16:01Andy Holloway:It's funny about that statement. I feel like the Panthers are only going to be in the running for Rico if he goes out and no one's offering him stuff. Correct. Because the Panthers have all the money in Chuba. You can't.

16:12Mike Wright:And Jonathan Brooks should be back.

16:16Andy Holloway:Yeah. You can't give two guys a starter contract. No, no, no. That would be a waste of money.

16:22Jason Moore:The Packers. And you got Javante.

16:24Andy Holloway:As a free agent?

16:25Jason Moore:Yeah. Who showed better than Rico this year.

16:29Mike Wright:Yeah. Yeah. The Packers, 27. The Bears, 31. Oh, brother. One of the greatest games I've ever seen.

16:38Jason Moore:That was wild. The one crazy stat. I mean, there's a million crazy stats on this game. But on the course of the season, the Bears ran zero offensive plays while in the lead. And they won two-thirds of the games.

17:01Andy Holloway:Wild. That seems impossible.

17:04Jason Moore:I know. That's why it's a crazy stat.

17:06Mike Wright:That just means you take the lead on the final possession and don't touch it again. That's the only way for that to happen.

17:14Jason Moore:McManus? The Jake. Oh, man.

17:17Andy Holloway:Kickers be kicking this weekend.

17:20Mike Wright:Tyler Loop was thrilled with McManus' performance.

17:23Andy Holloway:Yeah.

17:24Jason Moore:This is why we got to get kickers out of football.

17:26Andy Holloway:It was a really far kick for Cam Little, you know, and high stress there right at the end of the hurry up, go kick this field goal. They probably shouldn't have been allowed to kick in the first place, But it was a, what, a 50-plus, and if he drains that, it's a tie game.

17:39Mike Wright:It's funny because you do expect every kick, no matter what, to go in in the playoffs. Yes. You need to be 100 % as a kicker. The Bears, the fourth down play by Caleb Williams was un... Nobody can do that.

17:56Jason Moore:Nobody can do that. His leg was hit as he's jumping out of it and then rockets a ball 30 yards downfield on the button. It was – and that play doesn't happen and they don't – I mean, really, it's one of those –

18:09Mike Wright:That game was 27-16 at that point. That game is over if that is an incomplete pass.

18:13Jason Moore:There's like 12 plays where it's like if this one play didn't happen, they can't possibly win the game, and all of them happened, which has been happening for the Bears all season long. Like it's the exact opposite of what you're used to from the Bears. They just keep winning these games from behind.

18:30Mike Wright:Here's the top five teams in percentage of the game that they're trailing. The Giants.

18:37Andy Holloway:For offensive snaps.

18:39Mike Wright:Yeah, so offensive snaps. Are they in the lead? Are they trailing? The Giants are the only one team made the playoffs, and it was the Bears at 49%. Vikings, Buccaneers, Dolphins, Giants are the other ones. And they just overcome. And now you go into this next game. Look, everyone's going to say the Rams are going to run away with this game. They're not. They're not going to.

18:59Jason Moore:Well, they might for three quarters, but watch out.

19:02Mike Wright:The Rams have to go to a 15-degree soldier field. California boy Matthew Stafford slash dome boy Matthew Stafford in the elements. This is going to be – I'm not saying that the Bears are going to blow them away or anything. I just think it's going to be an amazing game again.

19:18Jason Moore:Yeah, it should be really fun. So far, the playoffs –

19:22Mike Wright:Do we have a line yet for that game? I'll check. I bet we do. Kyle would probably – chime in if you have it, Kyle.

19:28Andy Holloway:What do you think it is? What do I think it is? I think it is. Yeah, I've got it.

19:32Mike Wright:I think it is the Rams minus one and a half.

19:37Jason Moore:I was going to go one and a half. It is the Rams minus three and a half. Okay. Wow. Keep doubting them.

19:44Mike Wright:That's probably fuel for Chicago. I'm just, it's exciting. It's fun. Colston freaking Loveland. Oh, Mr.

19:53Andy Holloway:Loveland. they're only only trey mcbride and do i want brock bowers with a rookie or do i want caleb

20:02Mike Wright:williams with colston loveland next year if i had to choose mike which would you choose to go into the season that is i know we're riding high we can we got the whiffs of excellence i've got

20:11Andy Holloway:the vapors i mean i need a fainting case you made the comment this afternoon it's perfectly

20:16Mike Wright:appropriate stop worrying about all the other wide receivers just say who's the best pass catcher on

20:21Jason Moore:the team yeah it's called loveland i prior to this game and i'm i said this last week which really made jeremy unhappy but i was hoping the bears won because i want to see one more game with this offense to just get clarity when rome is healthy and dj moore is out there and and luther burden breakout is as happened in the rearview mirror you just got that yeah and it was like oh so it's loveland so now we get another sample um this coming week against the rams it wasn't it It wasn't just all the targets in the yards.

20:52Andy Holloway:I mean, it matches. 15 targets. But Loveland had the most routes, like the most snaps out there. I mean, ahead of Rome, ahead of Bird. How did Paul Komet do, Jay?

21:05Mike Wright:That was – How many catches did you need? Nobody throws more random names into their prize picks than you do. From every once in a while.

21:14Jason Moore:That was the one that hurt me this week. Tommy Trimble, baby.

21:18Andy Holloway:They were running a lot of three wide. And then it was Mr. Loveland. Cole Komet was not out there.

21:25Jason Moore:Cole Komet was out there towards the end of the game. He ran in motion and was wide open. Cole Komet is a good player. Yeah.

21:34Mike Wright:So is Michael Mayer.

21:36Jason Moore:And it's irrelevant.

21:38Mike Wright:All right. We'll take a quick break, and then we'll come back and talk through the other matchups and get into the footies.

21:46Jason Moore:See you Sunday on Paramount+. Plus, you're streaming home for the NFL on CBS all season long. That's right, football fans. Stream your live local CBS games every NFL Sunday all the way through the AFC Championship game. Follow the league's biggest stars, the can't-miss matchups, the season's biggest storylines, and catch additional coverage with NFL Today, NFL Today Plus, CBS Sports HQ, Fantasy Football Today, and more. So sign up and sign in to Paramount Plus today and we'll see you Sunday for another thrilling season of NFL on CBS, streaming live on Paramount+.

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23:28Mike Wright:all right we're on the other side we're talking man did i sweat the bills 27 jacksonville 24 in this game gabe davis suffered a season-ending knee injury same knee right same knee looked very bad um we also found out before the game josh palmer's on ir so for the bills to keep going on it's going to be brandon cooks getting involved it's going to be shavers getting involved which brandon cooks with the huge catch yeah it's like what yeah i mean it's uh that play was crazy too that was the big time type of play at the line of scrimmage changing the play back foot throw before cooks breaks open and just i would say

24:09Jason Moore:I would say the big time play was a quarterback sneak for 10 yards and a touchdown. What?

24:17Mike Wright:That was unbelievable. What happened on that play? There wasn't even a defender who just kind of turned around and watched it happen. Was that a huddle thing of if he gets the first down, do you just let him roll all the way in? It for sure felt like that from 40 yards out.

24:33Andy Holloway:Dude, it really, really felt like that. I don't know if that was actually the call because. Because I think it was the only play for the Jags at that point.

24:44Mike Wright:There was the great debate, the never-ending debate of do you take –

24:48Andy Holloway:You've got to get the guy by getting the sword through yourself. It was the only move you had left.

24:54Mike Wright:Oh, to be able to get the ball back?

24:56Andy Holloway:For the Jags to be close enough to get to the neck.

24:59Mike Wright:But then, look, a minute left on the clock. Trevor Lawrence had an opportunity, first pass.

25:03Andy Holloway:I mean, that one was not Trevor's fault. I thought a lot was Trevor's fault. I thought that pass was Trevor's fault. Did you? Yeah. It hit him in the hands. You got to catch that ball.

25:12Mike Wright:It was a little – it was a tight, tight window, and so there was just a high-risk throw on your first pass attempt. Yeah. But, I mean, whatever. Look, Jacksonville had an amazing season. It's over. Yeah. It's over just like that. You had Brian Thomas Jr. score here. You had Parker Washington.

25:28Jason Moore:Parker Washington is apparently really, really, really, really good.

25:32Mike Wright:The highest likelihood is all four of those guys are there next year, and we all have to be like, uh-oh. that's the high i mean parker washington was a six-round pick he's on a rookie contract brian thomas jr is on a rookie contract travis hunter obviously brand new rookie rookie contract and jacoby myers just signed an extension so it seems like all four of those guys are going to be

25:52Jason Moore:like feels like they should be playing travis hunter at cornerback well that that is that is

25:56Mike Wright:one thing that'll get brought up but he was also breaking out at wide receiver and as a weapon like if you make a you can make an authentic argument why each of those four is the best wide receiver fantasy-wise next year at the end of the season. I think you can.

26:09Jason Moore:I agree, which is gross.

26:11Andy Holloway:That's terrible. Draft Lawrence.

26:14Mike Wright:You know who needs one? Buffalo. They could use one wide receiver as good as those four. I'll never understand wasting elite quarterback years and not... They tried.

26:28Jason Moore:They went out and they drafted Keon Coleman. Was that a first round or a second?

26:34Mike Wright:Shout out Matthew golden for his touchdown when golden and coleman are making plays in the playoffs you're like oh

26:42Jason Moore:my gosh golden has never won a game that he scored a touchdown in so that is it's one of the hot stats

26:50Mike Wright:in the weekend the 49ers found a way george kittle uh-oh oh that's if i had sound music to hit oh it's confirmed yeah yeah it was actually immediately confirmed by shanhan after the game it was before

27:03Jason Moore:Before that mid-game, it was confirmed by the tequila bottle delivered to George Kittle. Yeah, I did see that.

27:08Mike Wright:They were thinking maybe it was for him. George Kittle out, 49ers, 23.

27:15Jason Moore:He's 32 years old right now. So let's say he makes it back halfway through this season and plays in 2026. You're not going to have the same George Kittle right off of an Achilles injury.

27:28Mike Wright:Yeah, and he's not going to be there at the beginning of the year.

27:30Jason Moore:Right. That's what I mean. So he's basically deleted this year. and then the following year when he's 34, still with an Achilles injury. This really does feel like that's the end of George Kittle as a very important fantasy asset. It will probably never happen again. Also means that San Francisco will have to figure out

27:52Mike Wright:some pass-catching weaponry in this offseason, more than they maybe thought they had to.

27:57Jason Moore:No, Ayuk, who they thought was going to be under contract a long time.

28:01Mike Wright:Pierce Law has not been good enough or healthy enough to be the only player you rely on. I imagine there'll be a landing spot in some discussions for free agent wide receivers.

28:11Jason Moore:Although Juwan Jennings. Jennings. Jennings. He's been the real deal. He's good. I think Pierce Law is good too.

28:18Mike Wright:Did the 49ers win or did the Eagles lose?

28:22Jason Moore:I feel like both deserve credit. Both deserve credit. The Eagles deserve credit for losing in spectacular fashion with an offense that is so doggone bad. There's no pass rush from the 49ers, and that didn't matter. It just didn't matter. It was complete ineptitude. Obviously, we saw the in-game infighting between Sirianni and A.J. Brown, which turned out to be a great coaching decision because the second half, A.J. Brown really came on strong. as he disappeared. I think he's... And I don't know what they do with that contract. Obviously, their offensive coordinator, this is the day after, and I can't believe we don't have news that he hasn't been fired yet, but it's coming.

29:06Jason Moore:Everybody knows. Oh, you think it is? Oh, absolutely. Yeah, he's packed. Yeah, for sure.

29:12Mike Wright:He's 100%. I'm ready to go. He's ready to go. And look, it's just wild. A.J. Brown, big drops, man. You want the ball? Catch the ball. Eagles fans.

29:27Andy Holloway:They agree.

29:28Mike Wright:They're very impatient.

29:31Andy Holloway:At least the sentiment that I have seen from Eagles fans is they want to borrow our cannon. Yes. Because they want to load everyone into the cannon and fire them into the sun.

29:43Mike Wright:Yeah. Yeah. Well, we've got more guys to send out before they can borrow it. And then the boring one, Patriots 16, Chargers 3. there was the uh with the hot take immediate reaction the patriots still haven't beat a good team this year um kind of true in this one i mean i wouldn't say that the patriots played well no i would say the defenses for both teams played very well um the first touchdown pass the only touchdown pass of the game came with nine minutes left in the fourth quarter from either team drake may made plays with his legs i thought that were awesome i thought remandre was the best offensive player on either side of this game.

30:18Jason Moore:They should have kept feeding him the ball. He was, from the beginning to the end, he was so consistent and just a very... So good in the passing game. Yeah. He was very good. The Patriots' defense was outstanding. Afterwards, after the game, there was reports that, like, Chargers were going and talking to, like, the Patriots' defenders going, like, we had no idea what your coverage was. And so it's Vrabel. Vrabel's a good coach.

30:45Mike Wright:It's really hard not to see them getting through this next round, too. Because they're just going to play the winner of the Steelers-Texans, and anything can happen, I know. But you're going to be at home, right?

30:55Jason Moore:Yeah.

30:57Mike Wright:So, I don't know. They look great on the defensive side, and if their offense can figure it out. I feel like a lot of our commentary on these games is going to make other fan bases mad. That's what I realized while I'm talking.

31:09Jason Moore:Yeah. Oh, of course. People are – this is a sensitive time for a lot of people. Yeah. And when we make jokes, they can hurt.

31:17Mike Wright:Texans, Steelers, we're recording this before the game is played, so we don't have a reaction. If I was going to have a reaction, I'd be like, Oh, boy! I'd be like, that's what happens. Here's my reaction. That's what happens when you have a pass rush against Aaron Rodgers. That's what happens.

31:31Andy Holloway:Yeah. That's how I see it going, too. Probably true. But this one might be pretty boring as well.

31:39Mike Wright:Yeah. We'll see. We don't know. We're talking about it. You already know what happened, and we'll talk about it again on Thursday. But the Dolphins fired Mike McDaniel. That's over.

31:49Andy Holloway:He has already interviewed for the Cleveland job. Was that what I saw?

31:53Mike Wright:Yeah, he's also interviewed. Isn't he going to interview for the offensive coordinator job for Washington? Or at least there's some interest there? Because he has a relationship with Dan Quinn, I thought. Which, that one seemed interesting to me. McDaniel with Jaden would make me happy. That? oh wait they hired David no yeah they hired David I was gonna say that that would not bring it in Mike oh the Lions the Lions I'm sorry the Lions was the one I was thinking about

32:18Andy Holloway:because they got that would be a coordinator sensational if if McDaniel can't find a Mike

32:24Jason Moore:McDaniel's head coaching job then he's already booked up like four plus head coaching interviews and the fact that I think because he wasn't whatever they call the bloody Monday or whatever the Monday is where all the coaches are fired. He wasn't fired then, and it seemed like he retained his job. It feels like it gave him a boost of confidence around the league, like, oh, he wasn't supposed to be fired. It was only after Harbaugh was fired that they let him go, so let's scoop him up. I think he ends up a head coach next year.

32:51Mike Wright:It's wild. There's a lot of, what, Stefanski for sure, Harbaugh for sure, and probably Mike McDaniel, immediate fires to hires. Yeah. It's just teams that, like, they just ran out of gas in that place. But everybody respects them and wants them to be a head coach. Todd Bowles is staying a head coach. So they're retaining him and firing everyone else.

33:15Andy Holloway:The Grizzard of Oz is gone. Yeah. It didn't work out.

33:22Mike Wright:So I think that's the main headlines, unless you guys have anything else you want to bring up. Matt LaFleur, he's not going to get fired. He's going to get extended in Green Bay. it was i will say this it was terrible like that that's a pretty big collapse sure i felt like it was for the second time it was a pretty bad mismanagement of the clock the time the play calls things that you're responsible for as a head coach fall it falls on you but the the totality of the work he's done in green bay is greater than the one game that's was going to be the point of

33:52Andy Holloway:yeah he had a bad game i meant like go green bay please fire look yeah let's i'll take him

33:59Jason Moore:It's irrelevant, man. I have come to realize that hoping that a great coach gets let go and is on the market is irrelevant. They will never come to Arizona. No great coach would ever be like, we're not on Stefanski's list. We're not on Harbaugh's list. We're on the up-and-comers list. Yeah. We're on the guy that's never had the chance. You got to go there and turn that around if you want a job.

34:24Mike Wright:We're on the Vance Joseph list.

34:25Jason Moore:Turns out no one can do it. The Vance Joseph list. Yeah. Oh.

34:29Mike Wright:Cardinals are going to interview Michael LaFleur. Yes.

34:32Jason Moore:Any LaFleur. Any Coobes. What about Peter? Any Harbaugh. Any Harbaugh. Those are the names. All right.

34:40Mike Wright:Are we good to go? Are we ready to rock the footies?

34:45Jason Moore:I guess so. Welcome to the annual footy award show featuring performance of the year, the Wafer Wire Wonder the Poopiest Pants Award and many more it's the annual footy award show

35:09Mike Wright:oh that's right it is time you voted

35:13Jason Moore:that was a live band by the way

35:15Mike Wright:which is why we don't have any room for you guys are good

35:19Andy Holloway:we're going to need them in a little bit so don't go too far

35:23Mike Wright:all number ones No number twos. Jason, I think we're going to let you kick it off. We've got all of your votes. We've got all the footies set aside, ready to be sent off to the winners. And Jason's going to lead the way with our very first.

35:37Jason Moore:I see the first one, the golden envelope performance of the year, which is the performance of the year. That's what that means. Yes, yes.

35:48Mike Wright:You have impressive single week performance.

35:51Jason Moore:So last year was Josh Allen. This year you got Gibbs, Henry, Jonathan Taylor, Trevor Lawrence, Puka Nakua, and Kyle Pitts all had monstrous performances. I'm curious if you guys have thoughts on this. Who did you vote for?

36:06Andy Holloway:I wanted to vote for Derrick Henry because he helped carry my team to a championship. I gave it to Kyle Pitts.

36:16Jason Moore:I did too. Oh, wow. I did too. I voted for that championship week, Derrick Henry, because it was championship week. All right. And the winner is, drum roll please,

36:30Jason Moore:Derek Henry, Week 17. The Yeti. Yeah, the Yeti scores 45.5 fantasy points, 36 for 216 and 4 with 31 % of the vote. And the runner-up was, indeed, the best tight end performance of all time, Kyle Pitts, in Week 15. I mean, the 25 % to 31 %?

36:49Mike Wright:Yeah, that's pretty close.

36:50Jason Moore:Pretty close, but the king, your trophy, is in the mail.

36:55Mike Wright:We - Do they ship to Cabo?

36:58Andy Holloway:Oh. We should - We ship everywhere, Andy. In the footies, we should see, of the percentage of people, how many people are champs? You know what I mean? Because the audience of the show, it fluctuates. Yeah. You should stick around, because we're here all year long, and we're giving out good content and good stuff. But, I mean. A lot of the people that stick around stuck around because they were. Because they were champs. Yeah. So, I mean, you know what I mean? Like, if I'm a champ, you might want to vote for Derrick Henry because it's like the Jameer Gibbs week was bigger. Yeah, that was amazing.

37:34Andy Holloway:It was week 12. All right. Fantasy Reapers Man of the Year. Which player's injury hurt fantasy managers the most? Last year's winner, of course, Christian McCaffrey. However, this year, the nominees were Malik Neighbors, Jaden Daniels, James Conner, Sam Laporta, Garrett Wilson, and Mike Evans. Which injury hurt us the most? Drumroll, please.

38:02Andy Holloway:Ooh, Malik Neighbors with a 70 % crush. He ran away with it? I didn't run away, limped away with it, whatever. Or which way? With his cane. I thought Jaden was going to win What? I did No

38:19Mike Wright:If you have two canes is that officially crutches? Or could somebody actually have two canes? I think that's a walker I think a cane looks really cool If you have to have a limp and walk with something A cane is cool But two canes

38:34Jason Moore:Would you rather look cool with two canes But you still have to lift yourself the way you do with crutches? But you don't get the Oh, that would be tough on the arms.

38:43Mike Wright:Yeah. Yeah. Who won it? Malik Neighbors. Yep. 70 % of the vote. All right. Our third award, the Poopiest Pants Award. This is the player who, despite high expectations, let fantasy managers down over and over again.

38:56Andy Holloway:And filled their pants.

38:58Mike Wright:Yes. In 2024, the winner was Travis Etienne, who ended up bouncing back, having a great year. This year's nominees were Justin Jefferson, of course, in the first round, Lamar Jackson. Interesting. Brian Thomas Jr., Ladd McConkie, Marvin Harrison, Chuba Hubbard. And the winner is... It's a gross list. With 52 % of the vote, Justin Jefferson. Oh, no! Whose pants have been filled in part by his quarterbacks. Yeah. 52 % of the vote. There was a twosome going number two there.

39:33Jason Moore:That is not your poop, Justin. Take those pants off. Someone has pooped in my pants.

39:39Mike Wright:That's right. That's right. Do you want to guess the runner-up? Several people pooped your pants, Justin. No, multiple people. Runner-up was? Brian Thomas? Brian Thomas Jr., 36%.

39:51Andy Holloway:I thought Brian Thomas might take it. Jefferson had a few games for us. Yeah, well. Too little, too late.

39:57Mike Wright:And too little, even on the good ones.

39:58Jason Moore:Yeah, for sure. Could you imagine, like, going into this season, that if I said Justin Jefferson plays 17 games, is not injured, and will win the poopiest pants award, the hoodie? Yeah. That seems impossible. That's right. All you got to do is play, but apparently you got to have a quarterback. Yeah. All right. Next up, the waiver wire wonder. This is always one of those picks that wins championships for people. Which undrafted waiver wire stud was the best signing? You had a ton of options here. Trevor Lawrence, awesome after he got picked up. Jacoby Brissett, we couldn't believe how often he was still allowed to be a streaming candidate.

40:39Jason Moore:Rico Dowdle, Woody Marks, Kyle Menungai, Christian Watson, once he returned from injury, was very good. Wandale Robinson, sneaky good this year. You had Huge, Michael Wilson, Alec Pierce, and Harold Fannin Jr. Do you know where Wandale finished? I want to say it was like wide receiver 17 or something.

41:03Andy Holloway:19, and he didn't play in the final week. Crazy.

41:08Jason Moore:All right, well, let's see if he won. Drum roll, please.

41:17Jason Moore:He didn't. The winner was, by a wide vote, Michael Jerry Rice Wilson. Wow. Yeah, that was my vote. 54 % of the vote. So, runner-up, to give you an idea, there's a lot of different options here with that many names to have someone get 54 % is surprising. The second highest vote-getter, Rico Dowdle, at only 11 % of the vote. Really? So Michael Wilson just ran away with it. Michael Wilson was the best waiver wire pickup this year.

41:46Mike Wright:You know, all of those other names, literally every single other name, hot and cold from the point of pickup. Michael Wilson only hot, pretty much. Maybe that's why.

41:56Andy Holloway:That's why I gave it to Wilson. I was surprised that Rico got that far up there.

42:00Mike Wright:Boy, he had a beautiful little three-game run. It was just a couple games. Three-game run.

42:04Andy Holloway:I mean, you won those weeks. All right. The fantasy quarterback of the year. We're talking the draft position, the big game performances, the impact to your teams. Last year's winner was Jaden Daniels. I miss him. Yeah, please come back, Jaden, and be good at football. This year's nominees, Josh Allen, Drake May, Trevor Lawrence, Dak Prescott Patrick Mahomes and Matthew Stafford drum roll please your fantasy quarterback of the year is of course with 52 % of the vote it's going to be Drake isn't it Drake, Drake, May, May it's gonna gonna it's gonna be May Matthew Stafford was the runner up with 21 % of the vote

42:55Mike Wright:you know what he's very deserving of that honor. I mean, Stafford was generally undrafted.

43:02Jason Moore:May was late round. And I think Trevor Lawrence is equally deserving. I think Stafford could have been in the waiver wire wonder. The best thing about Drake May is he was one of those easy to target. We talked about this going into this season, that our two later round targets were Bo Nix and Drake May because they were young guys who ran the ball. They could break out. And if you targeted him, not only did you have a great season and he exceeded all expectation, but through the playoffs and especially championship week, he finished. You know, he did what you dream of, which is help people win championships.

43:47Jason Moore:Fantasy running back of the year, guys.

43:50Mike Wright:Don't let me down. We know the story here. Don't let me down. Last year it was Saquon. We'll be quick here. McCaffrey, Taylor, Gibbs, A-Chan, B-Jean, Cook and Henry. Cook leading the league in rushing yardage, by the way.

44:03Jason Moore:It's going to be CMC. B-Jean's the only one that could.

44:05Mike Wright:Barely need a drum roll here, but let's do it. It is. Oh, wow.

44:14Andy Holloway:Closer than you thought?

44:15Mike Wright:Bam Knight. Christian McCaffrey with 63 % of the vote.

44:22Jason Moore:B-Jean number two.

44:23Mike Wright:B. John, number two, but with 11%. Oh, my goodness. Oh, man.

44:28Jason Moore:That's a wider gap than the Michael Wilson. Yeah.

44:31Mike Wright:Can you imagine? It took me so long to remember Bam Knight's name for the joke, too. That's about how relevant he was.

44:36Andy Holloway:Can you imagine a fantasy team with both those guys on the roster?

44:39Mike Wright:I can. It would be a person who won both of their leagues.

44:43Jason Moore:Yeah, that's very, very helpful for fantasy. The fantasy wide receiver of the year. I feel like this is a two-man race here between JSN and Puka Nakua, but also in the running are Amon Ross St. Brown, George Pickens, who when you factor in draft capital where they finish versus where you draft them, he should be high up there, and Jamar Chase, awesome studs, but the wide receiver of the year for the footy can only go to one. And I don't know who it's going to. Oh, pretty wide. I thought this would be closer. jsn was 62 percent of the vote your footy is in the mail yeah uh puka nakua down at 29 percent there was no other choice for me why it was their stats were so similar by the draft spot was just better that's fair that's fair you drafted puka in the first really in the back of the first to be what he was and jsn was like you hoped but as many people hoped felt like he couldn't do it with Darnold.

45:45Mike Wright:You have a very tough category, Mike. Oh, the fantasy tight end of the year? This was going to be rough.

45:51Andy Holloway:Trey McBride and then a bunch of jabronis.

45:55Jason Moore:I want to guess-guess-goose this with the percentages. Oh, okay. Assuming it's Trey McBride, which we don't know. I don't know. Okay.

46:08Mike Wright:So McBride, Kittle, Pitts, Goddard, Warren, Fannin were the nominees.

46:12Jason Moore:I'm going to set the line at 86 % of the vote. Okay.

46:17Mike Wright:I'll take the over.

46:20Andy Holloway:86 is a good thing. Foundational line there. Yeah, I'm going to go over. Okay. All right, drum roll. Except for, what, that one guy who voted for Kittle? Oh, that sucks. And the winner is, shocking stuff here, it is Trey McBride. What's the number? Okay, so the runner-up was Harold Fannin Jr. Okay. Shout out to him. He had 4%.

46:43Jason Moore:I'll take the over.

46:45Andy Holloway:Are we about 90 then? 90 % for Trey McBride. All right. There you go. Okay, I vote for Harold Fanta Jr. I get it because it was like, this is an undrafted player, but the most receptions ever for a tight end.

47:00Mike Wright:Come on, people. Yeah, Trey McBride, 126 receptions. All right, we'll take a break. We'll come back with the Rookie of the Year, the Breakout Player of the Year, the Steal of the Draft, the Comeback Player of the Year, and some of the other big awards in just a moment.

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48:33Mike Wright:All right, we're back into the footy awards. The Rookie of the Year. Jaden Daniels took this home last year. A lot of nominees. Jackson Dart, Scadaboo, Gentey, Travo, Omari and Hampton, Quinshawn Judkins, Harvey, McMillan, Egbuka, Fannin, and Warren. And amazingly, one of the best fantasy rookies not even nominated for maybe the future. In Colston Loveland. Oh, yes. He's not even in the list. Yeah, he didn't deserve to be in the list. He just didn't play enough. All right, the winner is...

49:13Andy Holloway:That's who I think it'll be. Yeah.

49:14Mike Wright:You're just pointing at me. With just 21 % of the vote, showing how tight it was, Travion Henderson. Yes! Wee! 21 % of the vote. Runner-up was? Do you want to take a guess?

49:27Andy Holloway:The runner-up was... Teddero. Teddero McMillan.

49:31Mike Wright:With 16 % of the vote.

49:32Andy Holloway:hey oh hey oh i voted for kim scadaboo that's you gotta vote with your heart that's right the heart wants and honestly when i went back and looked the scadaboo run was longer than i

49:43Mike Wright:remember remember it being yeah the nfl was better when he was playing man it was sure was i mean the

49:49Jason Moore:the cam scadaboo run you felt like it was three games he didn't get injured until week eight yeah

49:54Mike Wright:man that did it felt shorter he was awesome he is awesome i guess because there was a time period of him becoming the dude and then he was great. Alright.

50:06Jason Moore:We are up to Breakout Player of the Year aka last year's Brian Thomas Jr. There's no guarantee of future success. But the nominees for this year are Drake May, Javante Williams, Jalen Warren, George, Chris Olave, and Michael Wilson that is George Pickett yeah yeah no I um I mean I think I know the breakout winner but I

50:37Mike Wright:feel like there's an argument for a few of these guys there is certainly I mean I would say there's

50:42Jason Moore:an argument for everyone on the list I don't even remember who I voted for probably George all right let's find all right drum roll please

50:52Jason Moore:the 2025 fantasy football breakout player of the year is Drake May with 42 % of the vote. Wow. So it was a pretty clear winner there. That's a shellacking. Runner-up, George, at 21%.

51:08Mike Wright:I sort of, yeah, I get it. I mean, quarterback's a tough one because it's so impactful. But I feel like George was very deserving as well.

51:16Jason Moore:Yeah, I mean, they both broke out into the top five at their position. What did Drake May finish?

51:23Mike Wright:Remember he had that long run where he wasn't really finishing above 9 or 10 on a weekly basis? Yes. And then he finished so strong that it kind of wiped that out.

51:30Jason Moore:He finished the season as the quarterback three. Did he really? Yeah. Okay, that's pretty good.

51:36Andy Holloway:The issue with George was. George finished as the wide receiver five. We had the, what, the back-to-back weeks where it was like, oh. Week 14, 15. There he is. There's George who doesn't care about football and putting effort in. And then he was very good again. All right, the steal of the draft. Which player was the absolute best value in the draft compared? I love this one. Compared to their ADP. Last year's winner, Brian Thomas Jr. There's no guarantee of future success.

52:04Mike Wright:This year he stole your draft. Yes.

52:06Andy Holloway:Oh, goodness gracious. The thief of the draft. Yeah. Brian Thomas Jr. All right. So the nominees this year, we had James Cook in the third. Trey McBride in the middle of the third. JSN at the back of the third. Devontae Adams back of the fourth. George in the sixth. DeAndre Swift also in the sixth. Chris Olave in the seventh, Travis Etienne in the eighth, and Javante Williams at the back of the ninth round. So many good names. The steal of the draft. Drum roll, please. So many good names. Woo! It's tight. I hope it's my guy. The winner was 23%. The runner-up was 20%. Oh. JSN and Pickens. Pickens?

52:47Andy Holloway:The winner of the steal of the draft was Jackson Smith and Jigba with 23%. And the runner-up was Javante Williams with a 90-round end.

52:57Mike Wright:Okay, okay.

52:58Jason Moore:Man, the steal of the draft being in the third round, that's tough to do. All right. He was very good.

53:04Mike Wright:The comeback player of the year, which fantasy player amazes you the most in their return to relevance? Last year, J.K. Dobbins won this award in his great one season in Los Angeles. He's eligible again next year. Nominees were Matthew Stafford, Trevor Lawrence, Javante Williams, Chris Olave, Kyle Pitts, and Dallas Goddard, who also got it done in the playoffs as well in his one game. The drum roll, please. This has got to be Stafford. It's not. The winner with 29 % of the vote, Chris Olave.

53:38Jason Moore:Yes.

53:40Mike Wright:The runner-up, 28 % of the vote. What was Olave? Basically a tie. Olave is 29. Wow. Do you know who it was? It was Javante Williams. Yeah. I mean, that's a huge comeback story.

53:52Jason Moore:Well, I mean, Chris Olave was unwanted, and you assumed was one injury away. It was like, if I draft Olave, that's fine to get started at the course of the season, but who do I finish the season with? Exactly.

54:09Andy Holloway:Javante was a keeper for you, Papa Josh. Is that correct? We mocked that so profusely. We were so happy. So happy. We're like, oh, man, a keeper spot? You had to waste it with Javante? Loser.

54:24Mike Wright:And then he led him all the way to the quarterfinals.

54:29Andy Holloway:I heard an audible laugh from back there. Semi-finals.

54:33Jason Moore:Yeah, I know. Respect the man's third and fourth place finish. I like disrespecting it personally. Sorry, the Simis. Good job, Andy. All right, we are on to the playoff king, who drove managers to championships. during the coveted weeks 15, 16, and 17. Last year was Jameer Gibbs. He did not do that this year. This year you had the two best quarterback performances in the modern fantasy football playoff stretch of Trevor Lawrence and Brock Purdy. You had Derrick Henry, including that week 17 championship. Christian McCaffrey, dog. B. John Robinson, running back four, running back seven, running back two in those weeks.

55:17Jason Moore:Unbelievable. Mr. Olave had two wide receiver two finishes in the playoffs. Puka Nakua, Trey McBride, dog, and Kyle Pitts. And then Kyle Pitts. And I'm Denise. He had the tight end one performance. I love it. I love tight end one.

55:37Andy Holloway:I mean, almost everyone that played Kyle Pitts was an automatic win in that first week. Yeah, so you go on to the next round. Tight end three. Championship week. Let's get it done. Kyle Pitts, tight end 38.

55:48Jason Moore:There are 32 teams. All right. Drum roll, please. Playoff king. Playoff king. I'm guessing was going to be on Mike's roster. Winner, Bijan Robinson, of course. Yeah, that's my guy. When you are the running back four, followed by the running back seven, followed by the running back two on a week, you dominate. And that running back two was like 40 points. Yeah, I mean, Bijan was awesome, got 37 % of the vote. Brock Purdy with 17 % of the vote was great, but Bijan just did what he needed to do. Bijan, your footy. It's in the mail.

56:26Andy Holloway:All righty. What a guy.

56:27Jason Moore:Keep checking.

56:28Andy Holloway:We have four more awards. This one is brand new for this year for the footy awards. We got the bummer of the year. This is good. It's not the biggest bust of the year. It's not the poopiest pants of the year. This one hurts the most. But it's just a bummer. Yeah. The way that it turned out. It's like a sick tummy. Right. That's a bomber. Emeka Ibuka. It was the best of times. It was the worst of times. Yeah, my goodness. What a bomber. Brian Thomas Jr.

56:55Mike Wright:It was the worst of times. It was the worst of times.

56:59Andy Holloway:Caleb Johnson. It was no times. It was no times. It was the no times. Oh, you didn't see Kenny Gainwell coming, huh? Bucky Irving. And then that kick returned. And Travis Hunter. The winner of the new Bummer of the Year award goes to... He's back, baby! Bryant Thomas Jr.

57:22Jason Moore:Your footie is in the mail. He knew last year, after what he did and he won all those footies, it was going to be hard to win more footies this year. It really is. Wait, wait, wait. I can control my destiny if I suck so much. If I bum everyone out. Yeah, I can win a award.

57:41Andy Holloway:Comeback Player of the Year is in contention. Now it's easier for you.

57:44Mike Wright:We do have a new award this year, one more new award, and it may just be one year. I've been dying to know. I know. A lot of people with anticipation. The new Meow Man of the Year Award. Nominees included players such as Mason Taylor, tight end for the New York Football Jets, who had one reception all year while the Jets were leading and broke no tackles. Other nominees include... Drumroll, please! Drumroll, please, the winner. Give him 100%. With nearly 100 % of the vote. Mason Taylor! Couple people abstained. Somebody voted for Kittle. I don't know why. It's weird. How dare you?

58:27Jason Moore:All right. Are we to the main event? We are to the main event. The special time of the two biggest awards in not just the United States, but the world.

58:40Andy Holloway:I would say not just the Milky Way Galaxy. Right. But the universe? The universe. Let's go. Prove me wrong.

58:51Jason Moore:The first award up is the nickname of the year. Voters were able to choose up to three favorites. Last year, Laser, Baker Mayfield. This year, George for George Pickens. Meet Higgins for T. Higgins. Gillen Dabriel, a.k.a. Dylan Gabriel. Epic Iomanor. Elec Iomanor. Meowson Taylor. Mason Taylor. Bale Krosky for Ja 'Cory Krosky Merritt. Tonjas McBasketball for Jake Tonjas. DK Mike Caff. And Colson Loveland. Katzen Dogland and Mr. Loveland. Oh, Mr.

59:36Andy Holloway:Loveland.

59:36Mike Wright:Some of these, just before you reveal Some of them Made worse by explaining them I was trying to Time up the music I know you were But it almost just shines a little bright light On our idiocy

59:52Jason Moore:We're dumb And drum roll please This is a big one The winner Bill Krosky Of course I mean when you have Is Mr. Loveland at least second? Mr. Loveland is not even at least second. What? No. Runner-up was Tonjes McBasketball at 35 % of the vote. I can't believe people loved it that much. In third place with 34 % right there with Tonjes. Meowson Taylor. Wow.

1:00:23Mike Wright:Does that mean we have, I mean, we've got to have hundreds of nicknames at this point.

1:00:27Jason Moore:Oh, wow. Look at this. We're getting there. It's very close, though. Meet Higgins was just two, two votes behind Meowson. So, I mean, this was a close race.

1:00:38Mike Wright:And Colston Loveland, Mr. Loveland was right there, too. 32, 34, 34, 35.

1:00:43Jason Moore:Bill Krosky ran away with it.

1:00:46Andy Holloway:Okay. Wow, they enjoyed that. Yeah, that may influence this vinyl footy here. All right, we do have one more. It is the show moment of the year. It's time. Voters were allowed to choose three moments. I also get the lights. I did not know that. Yes, you do. with such nominees and moments like the Bill Krosky jokes, the Falcon mailbag drop, oh yes, me and my Travo Henderson hate blockers, meet Higgins with the soft tissue issues, Nard Attack starring Juwan Jennings, starring Jason hating fantasy football after week four, Jason goes missing yeah the Cardinals meltdown after the Tennessee Titans game Jason as Cam Scadaboo for Halloween and finally the Falcon charging all of his

1:01:45Mike Wright:delivery meals on the company card lots of good show moments and a shout out to the production team who put those together in a highlight reel for everybody voting you can watch all of those on the YouTubes the winner is I really don't know

1:02:03Andy Holloway:Of course you do

1:02:05Jason Moore:Bill Krosky Bill Krosky swept it Bill Krosky could kill Two stones with one bird

1:02:15Andy Holloway:Man It was going to be a great year It was going to be a great year and then he vanished

1:02:21Jason Moore:What's funny is if you look at some of the Statistics of rookies this year Bill Krosky ended up with a pretty No, he was okay.

1:02:29Andy Holloway:I think he had the most rushing touchdowns for a rookie. Probably. He still sucked. Well, it was so unpredictable. No, we knew when it was going to happen. Twice during weeks. It was when Crodd went out. Why was it Crodd on the nickname? Why was it Crodd in the nickname? Oh, man. It was a late addition.

1:02:46Mike Wright:Now, Bill Krosky with 53 % of the vote. I would have voted for Crodd. Cardinals Meltdown with 37 % of the vote. Meet Higgins was the third. And Jason as Cam Scadaboo finished fourth. Meet Higgins.

1:02:58Andy Holloway:That's some staying power. Yeah, because that was super early. That was real early in the year. That was good. His meat.

1:03:06Mike Wright:Goodness gracious. All right, that is going to do it for the 2025 Footy Awards. Thank you so much for voting. The Truth Series episodes begin on Thursday, so we're putting that together. The quarterbacks, I believe, we're starting with. These are must-listen-to, must-watch episodes of the show. I mean, only if you can handle it. yeah not everybody can handle it oh some people can some people can't um thursday it begins and don't forget if you want an extra episode if you're having a tough time adjusting down from the five a week to two a week you get a bonus episode you can ask us any question you want on the foot plant on the on the footcast every week just go to join the foot.com and get your bonus

1:03:48Andy Holloway:episode the off-season ones are really fun they're so fun like we it's not as many let our hair down Well, as I'm saying, it's not just start, sit, and trade. We're talking dynasty. We were able to have a really good, in-depth conversation about Michael Wilson. It was like a five-minute convo, really just breaking everything down.

1:04:07Mike Wright:Yeah, no, it's a lot of fun. You should join in. Absolutely. Join thefoot.com for that. That'll do it for today's episode of the show. Lots of great moments to look back on, and lots of great playoff football in the future. We'll talk to you on Thursday. Goodbye.

1:04:26Jason Moore: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.

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