Fantasy Football - The 2026 “My Guys” Episode! - Podcast for 8/26

10:01Jason Moore:News and notes from around the league.

10:05Mike Wright:Biggest loser back there holding up an affiliate code for something, you know. We've got the Raiders head coach, Clint Kubiak, saying Ashton Gentry is, quote, on the mend, and he's, quote, not going to get into injuries. And I'm, quote, annoyed by that and, quote, curious about his availability for week one, unquote.

10:23Jason Moore:I believe it is Saturday. I don't guarantee it, but I'm pretty confident that Saturday is the day that the actual official injury reports have to happen. So we will know more on these injuries for all these guys, you know, at least a little bit more, come Saturday at, it's like 5 p.m. or something.

10:45Mike Wright:Did you see that Martin Van Buren was the same height as you? Oh, he's 5 '11"?

10:50Jason Moore:Six? 5 '6". Oh, man.

10:53Mike Wright:Bengals wide receiver Jamar Chase left with a knee injury. Spoke to a reporter, says he's fine. Could have played if there was. He said he tried to go back out there and the coaches wouldn't let him. Sam LaPorter returned to practice on Tuesday. That's big. We weren't sure if he'd get back before the regular season began.

11:08Jason Moore:That is big because I think there was, in the back of my mind, as a Laporta long-time supporter. In the back of my mind, this was a fearful re-aggravation of what he had surgery for. So if he's there week one, then hopefully it was just basically a contact contusion.

11:27Mike Wright:Ken Walker did not practice Tuesday, minor foot injury. Shut him down. This is not great because it's the second time in a week. Maybe it wasn't. Maybe it's the first time. But Josh Downs, calf injury. he called it very minor believes he will resume practicing soon but we have a lot of injuries in indianapolis among the pass catchers pearson downs and warren's groin and that's why they

11:49Jason Moore:got keenan i mean i really do think keenan in the first month of the season of ppr league will be like top 20 wide receiver every week i don't even know that i want to draft him knowing that yeah but if i am in a deeper league i mean like let's say you're i mean the listener league that we will be announcing next week the uh people that get in so if you if you submitted and haven't heard

12:10Mike Wright:back that means nothing so far yeah we haven't replied to anybody yet that's a 14 team reviewing

12:14Jason Moore:it's a little deeper and so you know later on in drafts grabbing a keenan and throwing them in the

12:20Mike Wright:first week in a double flex or something brian thomas jr returned to practice was wearing a non-contact jersey after the shoulder injury zay flowers isn't practicing wednesday working on the side also didn't practice on monday i don't care for this particular this is the one of all the news that i'm the most concerned about just because we have no i mean it could be nothing but you've missed two days of practice and it hasn't been disclosed to anybody what's going on but working on the side is better than not being there at all say flowers get well soon for mike's sake yeah jacori krosky mayor okay cool not practicing everybody i like in the news today Yeah, Mike is.

12:58Mike Wright:Why isn't he practicing?

13:02Jason Moore:He doesn't know the butterfly stretch. Mine sounded a little bit. No, yours was. Yeah.

13:05Mike Wright:That was grade seven. Josh Jacobs. That's off the bone. This is big. Packers general manager came out and said, when asked about a potential Josh Jacobs suspension, the team is preparing for that in case it happens. Yeah, I don't. Pretty confident we can sustain it, he said. That does not mean that we wouldn't claim a running back, but we'll deal with that when the time comes. We've obviously been preparing for that. This wasn't like new information in terms of like. That's what I wanted. Yeah, they don't have a new inclination that it's happening. It's just that it is, as has been stated, a possibility for both him and Puka right now because they haven't been through the NFL's investigations.

13:46Mike Wright:Therefore, maybe Marshawn Lloyd ends up with an opportunity.

13:49Andy Holloway:Marshawn Lloyd definitely should be one of your last round picks at this point, just in case. Because he's been a laughingstock because of injury. Like, you don't – He was talented coming out. That's right. We have nothing to evaluate him really on an NFL field. So you have to go back to your prior, which was like –

14:13Jason Moore:A long time ago. People are all in on Jonathan Brooks, who's – Right. slightly higher draft but not that much higher drafted than Marshawn Lloyd and uh we haven't seen anything from him so it's uh it's interesting he definitely has gotten to the tier of player like uh Tank Bigsby and Blake Corum where I am very interested I think the follow-up question

14:39Mike Wright:from the listenership on this would be how do you actually approach drafts this weekend next weekend when it comes to Josh Jacobs. Yes. Because that is the ultimate deflation, is taking a player that you have to take in the top three rounds that you could find out. Look, the way that the general manager worded it, it was like, well, it could happen midseason. You know what I mean? It might not be at the jump. It could happen at any time. And I just don't like that hanging over. I mean, Mike's already been out on Jacobs, but I don't know how much this is factored into it, just having that extra variable.

15:17Andy Holloway:It's just a piece of it.

15:19Jason Moore:But, yeah, I raised his risk rating in the UDK this morning. I think it's a more dangerous pick. I still think he is going to be very good when on the field and has a spot where I wouldn't pass up on him. But, you know, if I take him there, I'd probably take Marshawn Lloyd late in the draft to protect myself.

15:37Andy Holloway:Yeah, I'd say. I think that's actually. Smart way to do it. That's the way you should handle it. Like, if you draft Jacobs, I would force Lloyd onto my bench.

15:48Mike Wright:I made a trade yesterday for Devontae Adams in our league of record. Yes. Then I proceeded to post Jerry Rice's age 33 season as inspiration to him. Was he okay at age 33? He was okay. 1 ,800 yards, 18 touchdowns. How?

16:07Jason Moore:What? I mean, he's Jerry Rice. He's the best runner-keeper.

16:10Mike Wright:I looked at some other guys, too, and there were some pretty dang impressive year 33 seasons. All that being said one thing we haven't talked about with Puka's rumored potential suspension is if he misses time they don't have Tutu Atwell's not even there to take anything away. It's Terrence Ferguson.

16:28Jason Moore:Terrence Ferguson is their wide receiver three.

16:30Mike Wright:I don't think I'm there Jay.

16:32Jason Moore:That's fine but just be quick on the

16:34Mike Wright:waiver wire. I don't know if I'm there because I know they're going to run a bunch of three tight end. That's what they're going to run a ton of.

16:41Jason Moore:I mean, he said he never expected to have to learn the X, the Y, the Z. He's learning every wide receiver position. I know.

16:48Mike Wright:I know. And maybe you're right.

16:51Jason Moore:Maybe you're right. That's a lot of information. Yeah, which is why it's taken him two years to get totally into it.

16:57Andy Holloway:Are we sure they're not just going to snap the ball and he'll just be vibrating? My problem with them is that I don't know where to go.

17:04Mike Wright:I just don't know that he ends up being the highest fantasy scoring tight end on the team. That's the part that's really hard. I think they have a lot of talent. It's a crowded room. But we're going to jump into a break here, and then it's time. It's time for the My Guys. One reminder here with big-time draft weekends coming up, don't forget that the Ultimate Draft Kit is available right now, all of our tier-based rankings. I mean, I saw mid-show, here's an update for you. I saw some of Jason's rankings updates go through mid-show. That's how often this thing is. You know, this isn't the magazine that you buy.

17:35Mike Wright:That's just permanently three months behind. find every bit of news information depth chart news training camp 53 man roster roster changes those are all updated with our tier base rankings all of our player projections sleepers breakouts busts and values that we've all agreed on though which do get updated 100 plus player profiles we're doing some updates to those the new mock draft tool tons of resources so those of you that have had it you know the resource it is for you on draft day you can mark players do all that stuff that's ultimate draft kit.com we're going to go ahead and jump into a break and then it's time guys my guys what's going on foot clan if you know anything about this show you know we're all about making leagues amazing and part of that as a commission a lot of the times i've set up websites for the different leagues that we're in all of the teams and the players and the records and things like that love doing that for your league it makes it better or maybe maybe you're not the commission maybe you're not making a site for your league but you got a new side hustle and you don't want to lose sleep over building a website for it.

18:35Mike Wright:You can launch a business. You can make it official in minutes with Wix Harmony, an AI-powered website builder that's also the first hybrid editor of its kind. Let me explain what that means. You can describe your idea. It builds you a fully functional website. And then you're not stuck with what the AI builds you. You can get in there. You can give it a prompt or you can just go in and edit the images, the website, the different pages. You've also got ARIA, which is an AI agent specifically trained in website design and business strategy. It's fully functional. It makes it super easy to get going.

19:08Mike Wright:You can try it right now. Try Wix Harmony for free at Wix.com. That's Wix.com.

19:14Jason Moore:This episode is sponsored by BetterHelp. If you could wake up tomorrow morning and be better at one thing, what would that be and what? For me, it would be just getting started on that work. Get my exercise going. You know, better doesn't have to come from major victories. It can be from the small habits you create and how you honor your needs on a daily basis. Most people aren't trying to become completely different. They're just hoping to feel a little better every day. Better is a feeling defined by you. And for BetterHelp, it's a BetterHelp therapist who really gets you. It's a focus on global emotional well-being with thousands of therapists and millions of members in over 100 countries.

19:58Jason Moore:It's progress, and it's getting better at the thing that matters to you, big or small. Haven't tried BetterHelp yet? Well, it's easy to get started. Just answer a few questions and get matched with a therapist online. Sign up and get 10 % off at betterhelp.com slash footballers. That's betterhelp.com slash footballers.

20:25Mike Wright:Now, I'd be remiss before we start the segment to not give you guys any opportunity. Every year, I think it's my responsibility to give you a Dante Pettis moment. So we can change? Right before we reveal, I'm just saying it's going to throw production into a complete catastrophe over there. Beautiful. But we don't really pay much attention to that. So, are there anybody Is there anybody you need to pet us right now? Like, withdraw my guy from Yeah, I'm feeling I'm feeling real good Mike's feeling good?

20:55Jason Moore:Yeah, I am too, but I'm going to pet us Andy Wait, me?

21:00Mike Wright:Like, I don't even have my guys now?

21:02Jason Moore:Yeah, I'm going to say your second one Oh, you're petusing one of my picks Yeah, well, you are the petus It was you, you are the original and the only You are the petus pivot

21:12Mike Wright:I could misdirect or something Here we go

21:26Jason Moore:I am so happy that B-Cut is here That's what I was going to say

21:30Andy Holloway:That animation That you forget every year He's just done so much work

21:35Jason Moore:Redoing animations that I just thought Why didn't you update? This is an important show Why didn't you fix that?

21:41Andy Holloway:Never, never change it He does say biggest loser on his shirt.

21:44Mike Wright:What a loser. That graphic rules. It's terrible. I know. That's why it rules. If that's the first thing that people saw from us, it's the last thing they ever saw from us. It's time to get into my guys, 2026, my guys. Always, look, this is hard. Because our goal with the my guys, just to state it, and you guys can add to it. The goal is not to take a player that is obvious. that is the layup that is the simple way to do it i'll take jameer gibbs right i mean that is not the goal of the my guys the my guys is to find and plant the flag on three players each that we feel represent tremendous upside i mean we did a show yesterday we were talking about some players are like which which players in the nfl have bust to you know league winning range and there's not a lot of guys like that that's not necessarily the my guy but just somebody with high upside and comes in at a draft value a lot of the times they're in the offseason our discussion around my guys is like if this guy's at this adp on this date he's going to be my guy right and so um they've fluctuated a little bit i mean before we get into it you know alec pierce for a long time i really

22:56Jason Moore:wanted him as a my guy this entire season he was locked as a my guy until the last month not enough

23:00Mike Wright:progress yeah you know uh there were some other players like kyle pitts that were in consideration You didn't have to say that out loud.

23:10Andy Holloway:We have inside thoughts for a reason. Can you bleep that? I'm going to let you guys go first.

23:16Mike Wright:One of you guys go first.

23:18Andy Holloway:All right, I will jump in. I'm going to start things off last week. I mean, you've got the button, right? Yeah, yeah, yeah. Okay, I'm just making sure you know what you're doing. I got it. The fearless podcast host of the Fantasy Footballers blessed everyone on the UDK. we released a little sneak peek so I'm going to start with that one

23:48Jason Moore:Colston Loveland Mr. Loveland

23:53Andy Holloway:I am all in unsurprised look you're going to be very unsurprised by my my guy picks here Colston Loveland my chips are all in. He's going in the fourth round. I have no problem with that ADP at all because of what I think he can become. It's remembering the story of last year. Tenth overall pick. He led the team in receiving yards as a 21-year-old rookie tight end. He's the first rookie tight end to achieve this feat for the franchise since Mike Ditka. No! Dog Bears! Ditka!

24:34Jason Moore:But who would win in a fight? Colson Loveland or Mike Ditka?

24:39Andy Holloway:Oh. Ditka. It's Mike Ditka. It took some time. You know, training camp. We missed some of it last year. But by the end of the season, he was the centerpiece of the offense. The final four games for the Chicago Bears. So that's week 17, 18, and two playoff games. like you know we talk about um remandre of like when they got in the playoffs they went to their who you believed in they went to their guy and that ended up being colston lovelin for the chicago bears over that time period 49 targets double digit targets four straight weeks including a wild card game against green bay where he caught eight passes for 137 yards and a touchdown and in those four games targeted on 35 % of his routes were these empty targets as well.

25:33Andy Holloway:No, seven of the 49 were in the red zone and they're lining them up all over. This isn't just an in-line player. They're putting them in the slot. They're putting them out wide. He is the guy. And you have the quote from your head coach that says, Colston Loveland is the son of the Bears solar system. You know, we've spent the offseason debating, is it, do you like Luther Byrne? Do you like Romo Dunze? The answer is Colston Loveland. One of the wide receivers can absolutely pay off. Maybe both of them are pretty good. Colston Lovelin is 100 % the answer for me. I want Chicago Bears on my team.

26:19Andy Holloway:And the fact that it is a positional advantage in the fourth round of your draft, who, in my opinion, the reason he's a my guy is because I think that he can finish as the tight end one, which is a blasphemous thing to say when Brock Bowers is out there. I think that Colston can easily surpass McBride this year, and I think that he can contend with Brock Bowers, who's a second-round pick,

26:41Jason Moore:but you're getting him in the fourth round yeah the the thing about trying to pick the bears we love the offense you know I would agree with you Mike they love using their top 10 picks on offense but whether it's Rome or whether it's Luther Burden maybe maybe one of those two leads the team in targets over Loveland but because he's a tight end he doesn't have the bar as high as those two wide receivers to be able to have to be a top three at the position so I I will say we're not sure exactly where it goes there but it's it's hard to imagine him being a bad pick it's what

27:17Andy Holloway:he showed in his rookie season was pretty amazing you have you have him being the guy you have ben johnson wanting to run up the score which i'm you know he's making fun hyperbolic statements but i think there is a bit of truth to that i don't think there was any any hyperbolic i don't think

27:35Jason Moore:there was an ounce of him being exaggerating. I think he genuinely is saying his goal is to set the new scoring record. Even better. Even better.

27:44Andy Holloway:If you have the number one guy for a team that one of their goals is to be the highest scoring offense of all time at a position that gives you a huge advantage over the rest of the league.

27:54Mike Wright:I feel like last year people's arguments would have been, but can you count on Caleb Williams? And I don't feel like that's been a part of any discussion this year. Even though we didn't love the completion percentage, you know, that's not a number that is, you know, well, we'll talk. We'll talk about him.

28:10Andy Holloway:Yeah, but it's just 10 targets, 13 targets, 16 targets, 10 targets. That was when the team was finally firing on all cylinders. They're not trying to figure things out. They're like, this is what's going to work for us in the big games that we have to win. I'm all in. Give me Mr. Loveland. Mr. Loveland.

28:30Mike Wright:Well, Jason, I'll let you go next.

28:33Jason Moore:Okay. All right. for my first my guy of 2026 i'm going with

28:47Jason Moore:garrett wilson yeah baby yes not geno smith i know everyone thought i was gonna go geno smith not geno smith he feels like you went geno smith he's he's going to make a slight impact here in a way you did in a way garrett wilson is four years into his career and i think that there is a lot of stank on the the Jets stank on his name is being a little overblown he has played with and on one of if not the worst team in his entire career except here's the thing in those stinky years with the stinky Jets he is still only one of five players to ever begin their career with 380 catch 1 ,000 yard seasons.

29:31Jason Moore:And he did it catching passes from eight different bad quarterbacks. Zach Wilson, Old Flacco, Mike White, Simeon, Boyle, Streveler, Old Man Rodgers, and Tyrod Taylor. And Martin Van Buren. I mean, might as well throw him in the ghost of. He has been an outstanding wide receiver, even for fantasy. You forget he's already been a top 10 fantasy wide receiver on this bad Jets team. And then last year, the most recent example going into year four, he had to deal with the literal worst passing offense. Not like just of the year, which it was. I mean, I want you to understand how bad the Jets passing offense was last year.

30:22Jason Moore:They were the only team, there's only one other team in the last decade who threw for fewer yards per game. They didn't hit 2 ,800 passing yards as a team. The second worst team last year, the pitiful Browns, they threw for 400 more yards. And how did Garrett Wilson do on that putrid team? He was the wide receiver five before he went down to injury. You don't remember how good he was. And it was not just touchdown luck. I've heard that, like, oh, he got touchdowns. He did have touchdowns, but if you take those out, he was on pace for 112 receptions and 1 ,300 yards on the literal worst passing environment that has been out there in the last decade.

31:06Jason Moore:It will be better with Geno. There's no way.

31:09Mike Wright:I got a quote for you this morning just moments ago. Yeah. Jets offensive coordinator Frank Reich said he has, quote, been so impressed with Geno Smith's play.

31:17Jason Moore:There's also a quote this morning talking about OC saying. Belco. Yeah, he's a bell cow. He's talking about – he gets a question about Omar Cooper Jr., and then at the end of that he's like, yeah, Garrett Wilson is our bell cow.

31:29Mike Wright:Yeah, Breeze bell cow, Garrett Wilson bell cow. Consolidated offense, best players play.

31:34Andy Holloway:It just reminded me because people ask us, what do we listen to in coach speak time during training camp? The Bee Gees.

31:41Mike Wright:Oh, sorry. It's a great band. Go on.

31:44Andy Holloway:If – Bee Gees. if you're listening to a coach and he brings up a name unprompted, like he tried to judo throw an Omar Cooper Jr. Well, what I love about Omar is Garrett Wilson.

32:01Jason Moore:Those are things to pay attention to. Yeah, he had four top 15 finishes in the first five weeks before he went down to injury. Only JSN, Amonra, and Puka accomplished that feat. And I know what you're saying. You're saying like, ah, those are great stats, Jason. You're so handsome and funny. I love you. You inspire me to be a better person. But all those stats of Garrett Wilson are from the past. What about 2026? What about that outlook? I'm glad you asked, and I'm glad you asked like that, and phrased it like that. Target share for wide receivers is the stickiest stat per year, and it is a predictive stat for future success.

32:44Jason Moore:Through four seasons, Wilson is averaging 28 % target share. Last year was 30 % in seven games. If you sort your platform ADP by target share, you will see one player who is not anywhere near the others. All of the top 12 guys, anyone that had a 27 % target share, they're all being drafted in the top 12. And then there's Garrett Wilson, who's being drafted around wide receiver 20. this is the list it would go JSN then Garrett Wilson then Jamar Chase, Puka, Amon Ra, Jefferson Drake, London, Zay Flowers, AJ Brown and Chris Olave that's your top 12 because that stat repeats every year and Jason barely had enough breath for that stat my final thought is I want to show you like the comparison here go on wait what was the head shake he tried to catch me yawning again this live show is taking it Yeah, listen.

33:43Jason Moore:The team here is putting in work. And sleeping on the job. If you look at those other players who had a 27 % market share or better, they are drafted so high in every fantasy draft you're in. And, yeah, it makes sense for a lot of them, right? JSN, Jamar, Puka. What about Drake London? Drake London has a bad quarterback. He has a bad offense. Who's better? Pua, which is what I'm now calling Penix and Tua. Oh, yeah. It's a Bennifer. Yes, exactly. You found it. It's not as good. Yeah, but it's Pua. Oh, no. But who's better, Pua or Geno Smith? Let's say Pua's better. Or not. It's like one of these guys is going in the second round, and the other is in the fourth round.

34:27Jason Moore:Fifth round on Yahoo right now for Garrett Wilson. And you go, well, but we saw it last year. We saw it last year with Drake Lund and with bad quarterback play. What are you talking about? Garrett Wilson outscored last year in games they played. Garrett Wilson had a point more on average with his bad quarterback play. So, to me, Garrett Wilson in the fourth, in the fifth, I love grabbing him. I'm so confident that he is being drafted at his floor. He's being drafted around wide receiver 20 to 22. He's not finishing lower than that. And he has, to me, the potential to be a top 10 wide receiver this year.

35:02Andy Holloway:Did you see, this was yesterday, there was Ian Rappaport, a quote came out, he believes that Tua's play has made the plan to make him the starter at the beginning of the season, quote, impossible. That's, yes. Yes, it has. Pua. Pua. Like, holy crap. He's just, a man on the NFL network is saying, this dude is so bad, it's impossible.

35:27Jason Moore:And we thought it was impossible for him not to get the job because of how bad panics was last year. Take Drake London in the second, if you want, or take Garrett Wilson in the fourth.

35:36Mike Wright:One of the top trending names on sleeper dynasty leagues right now is the Falcons' third string quarterback. That makes sense. Do I remember what his name is? No, it doesn't matter. It's not Pua. All right, my first, my guy.

35:52Jason Moore:Travian Henderson.

35:53Mike Wright:You did it again. What?

35:54Jason Moore:You did it again. After all that talk? You've been talking about Romandre. You're crazy. This was all a hoodwink. Dude, I didn't know it was that much in on Hando.

36:06Andy Holloway:I get the apology now. It's the same joke.

36:09Jason Moore:And it still worked. You ever seen Austin Powers 2? Gosh dang it. It's hilarious. All right, so tell us why.

36:17Mike Wright:It's not Travo. It's not Travo. Now I don't know what button to push to get my real my guy.

36:22Jason Moore:Al, you can take it.

36:26Jason Moore:Dajon Stribling.

36:28Mike Wright:How did I not see it coming? I don't know, man. Dajon Stribling, wide receiver for the San Francisco 49ers, is the official my guy. You've taken the air out of that sale. Here's the deal. I want to take shots at rookie wide receivers in fantasy. That's what I want to do. Since 2019, we've had at least four rookie wide receivers finish inside the top 36 every single year. Last year was an exception. We had two of them in that category. Things kind of didn't work out. but Dajon's struggling right now we talked about this weeks ago I actually told Jason yesterday I feel like he's sort of ruining the my guy here by playing too well in the preseason yeah and getting everybody's attention but the fact is there's just not enough time between now and draft days or two weeks ago and draft days for his ADP to move up to a place that I would be uncomfortable taking Dajon Stribling this is the 33rd overall pick in the NFL draft there are some things hanging over Dajon Stribling in terms of why people have been slow to buy in and believe one of them is the propensity for the 49ers to overdraft players that don't work out we've seen it with Trey Sermon we've seen it I mean you could go to Dante Pettis you can go to any of these other guys it's really difficult to trust them taking a player that not everybody projected to be drafted this high.

37:47Mike Wright:Dajon Stribling, the actual player, is somebody that you're going to fall in love with week after week after week for the 49ers, not even saying anything about the fact Mike Evans is barely on the field right now. Ricky Pearsall has been knocked out. George Kittle's coming back from an Achilles at an older age. Christian Kirk's already been hurt. They don't have other options in the receiving game, but it's not just, hey, Stribling is going to succeed because he's the last man left stripping is going to succeed because he is a dynamic great nfl wide receiver he's 6-2-2-0-7 you've watched the if you haven't gone back and watched collegiate film you've probably seen some highlights from the preseason this is a huge catch radius guy this is the best friend of quarterbacks great hands elite ball tracking skills and really if you see him with the ball in his hands above average yak for a big guy great acceleration ran a 4-3-6 at the combine.

38:46Mike Wright:And when you look at what he did on the collegiate level, a lot of the big performances came right up until the final college playoffs. He averaged 84 yards a game over his last five games. But what I love to see, he put up huge games against Georgia, right? One of the best teams in college football. 3 for 94 and a touchdown, 7 for 122. The fact that they believe in this rookie wide receiver on this level, that Kyle Shanahan has put so much trust in him, we got to remember it was Dante Pettis in the doghouse forever. It was Brandon Iuke could not get the kind of playing time and really what I like, a focal point of the offense, right?

39:24Mike Wright:Shanahan draws up. We've looked at this in years past. We've talked to Juszczyk. Like he draws up, plays for players. He designs offenses for the strengths of their players. To me, the camp buzz combined with what we saw in the preseason, the draft capital, the availability of other players, um Shanahan came out and said to said that Stribling was picking up things in a hurry in his presser continues to look like if healthy he could have a fairly extensive role early on he's broken every record in terms of preseason target share for rookies Brock Purdy said he's a really smart dude uh he's been a guy that's come in and shows that he understands everything to me this is actually the strangest situation for fantasy which is a safe rookie wide receiver.

40:09Mike Wright:That's what I think De 'Jones dribbling is. That is right now, what's his ADP? 13th round on ESPN, maybe that's a little delayed. 11th round in Sleeper. 10th round in Yahoo. Let's call him a 10th round pick, 10-0-1. I'd take him ahead of that. I'd take him way ahead of that.

40:25Andy Holloway:I'm with you of this is a shot worth taking of maybe you've got to jump in early and you're like, I'm going to take him into 8. Okay. Great. He's an 8th round pick. like the the true upside options in the eighth round like in the eighth round you're like i hope i get a guy who's gonna be in my flex all year like take some shots here i love it the the like you said andy shanahan makes game plans around single players it's been killed before

40:58Jason Moore:yeah debo debo's the guy to me that like i don't think if debo was drafted for uh the the jets would have been a sensational superstar. I don't think his skill set was very unique to him. He was a tackle breaker, yards after catch guy. This is the type of player that Shanahan is going to get the ball in his hands in space. Like, I think if he had gotten a Luther Burden or a Stribbling, it's just a match made in heaven. So I do love that.

41:25Mike Wright:And there's been some talk, I think it was Malik Turner, another guy on the wide receiver depth chart, was taking snaps above Debo, who is on this team. Yeah, I think Debo's buried. Like Debo's involvement in this offense is just not something that's going to impact Stribling. All right, Mike, let's go back to you. All right. You blew us away with the fact that you like Colston Loveland.

41:45Andy Holloway:Yeah, Colston Loveland. There's another guy that I have just been waiting, waiting for him to finally be allowed to be in this show. Mike could not resist it.

41:58Mike Wright:It's time, I guess. It has to. It has to be.

42:05Jason Moore:Kenneth Walker. Yeah, baby! It's time!

42:09Andy Holloway:Ken Bone Walker. There it is. We had to put Kenneth Walker because there's some people new to the show. That was so respectful.

42:14Mike Wright:That's like when you got a diploma on the front of the stage. Kenneth Walker.

42:18Andy Holloway:Yeah, but then he walked off and flashed people right there. A.K.A. Ken Bone Walker, one of my favorite running backs of the modern era. Why do I like him? The year of my continues. He's going in the middle of the second round, and I think Kenneth Walker should be in the first round in terms of what he's going to provide for fantasy football teams. He just got paid a three-year deal worth up to$45 million. It's the fifth highest fully guaranteed running back contract in the league. The Kansas City Chiefs immediately went out and said, we need to fix things. And how are we going to fix it? We're going to fix it with Kenneth Walker.

42:59Andy Holloway:last year Kansas City was dead last as a team in explosive rush rate one 20 plus yard run Kenneth Walker had 10 by himself 15 percent of his rush attempts went for 10 or more yards third best among running backs last year the Kansas City Chiefs the entire team was just they were not explosive they had four offensive plays of 20 or more yards that resulted in a touchdown the Kansas City Chiefs the big play high flying Patrick Mahomes Chiefs could not score from outside of the 20 they were tied for the fewest in the NFL Kansas City dead last enforced missed tackle rate who's number one at the running back position Ken Bone Walker Kenneth Walker number one enforced missed tackle rate because he is always there he is always there and now he's going to get his opportunity Speaking of opportunity, the playoffs.

43:59Andy Holloway:Over the three games in the playoffs, Kenneth Walker, 74 touches, 417 scrimmage yards. So that's almost 25 touches a game. In those games, guys, he was averaging, if you were playing fantasy, 23.4 points. The playoffs, the best of the best. And he's averaging over 20 points a game? Like the depth chart of Kansas City. There is nothing there in terms of challenge, truly challenging Walker. Yeah. Yes. Look, uh, Demarcato is there. He seemed like the de facto to maybe it's Emmett now. Maybe it's Emmett Johnson. Mahomes is coming off of a major injury. They know that they have to figure this out through the running back position.

44:45Andy Holloway:The, the accolades, the, the, the talk of Kenneth Walker has been absolutely outrageous coming out of Kansas City of saying he's a full package player. He's going to do everything. We didn't bring him in just to carry the ball. We're going to throw him the ball as well.

45:01Mike Wright:Let me put you on the spot. Please do. Let me interrupt. I know you have the stats to back up to Ken Bonewalker, but I'm going to put you on the spot with the my guy because he's a second-round pick. Ken Bonewalker can finish as high as RB. How high can he finish? I just feel like my guy, you said he's a first-round pick. Yeah, he is. I feel like first-round picks, we always look at it and we say, can they be number one?

45:29Andy Holloway:If Jameer Gibbs stays healthy all year, Kenneth Walker can't pass him. But if Kenneth Walker stays healthy, he can be the running back too. Okay. I wanted that soundbite. Opportunities. Okay. Andy Reid. It's been an absolute dumpster fire for the last, what, six or seven years, really since Kareem Hunt was able to do anything. But from 2004 to 2018, Andy Reid's running back one averaged 22 opportunities per game, 110 total yards per game, almost 20 PPR points per game. And look, this is not a bad team. We want running backs on great teams. What do lead backs on teams with 10.5 win totals do on average?

46:14Andy Holloway:Over 1 ,250 total yards, 10.5 total touchdowns. And look, the beginning of the season, the Chiefs are very favored. In fact, they have the bye week in week five, but through their first five games, they're favored in all of them. And it feels like Christian McCaffrey of last year. Whereas how does Christian McCaffrey fail? He gets hurt. That's it. If you want to bet that Kenneth Walker is going to get hurt, okay. He's missed some games in his past. but when you have a player where the only path for failure is just getting hurt i think that's a like that's a player you want to be all in on because literally any player can get hurt but it's like bijon bijon's the consensus number two and i'm not going to argue it things could go bad like you mean with pula yes and like the team environment of the atlanta falcons bijon is an amazing player because it wasn't great last year but things could go wrong for bijon that are not in his his control it seems like games this year could could be started by jack strand

47:25Mike Wright:or cooper rush on the falcons yes which is terrifying yeah give me patrick mahomes ken bone walker yeah not a surprise we'll take a break come back with five more my guys for 2026

47:41Andy Holloway:no matter what triumphs are in store this season legendary game days start with a Miller Lite Miller Lite is a true American pilsner and the original light beer brewed since 1975 made with simple ingredients including malted barley for rich balanced toffee notes and its iconic golden color it delivers the dependable taste beer lovers have trusted for 50 years And with just 96 calories and 3.2 grams of carbs per 12-ounce serving, Miller time is always a good time. Game days are upon us. Fantasy football season is upon us. When I'm hooting and hollering, I build up a mighty thirst, and nothing satisfies that thirst.

48:23Andy Holloway:Like a Miller Lite on a Sunday, it goes down smooth. It's refreshing. It never lets me down. Make game day legendary. Go to MillerLite.com slash footballers to find delivery options near you, or you can pick up some Miller Lite pretty much anywhere they sell beer. Game time is Miller time. Celebrate responsibly. Miller Brewing Company, Milwaukee, Wisconsin, 96 calories and 3.2 carbs per 12 ounces. Football season is back, and whether you're tracking your lineups or cheering on your favorite team, Direct TV makes it easy to catch all your pro and college football action in one place. With DirecTV, you don't have to bounce between apps and channels to find the action.

49:06Andy Holloway:And when game day gets busy, Multiview lets you watch up to four games at once. And whether you're keeping an eye on one team or several, Sports Central makes it easy to stay up to date with the latest stats and scores. While game time notifications help ensure you never miss kickoff or a big play. Plus, with the DirecTV app, you can stream on the go and eligible packages include the ESPN Unlimited plan. sign up now games not included with direct tv requires separate paid app subscriptions service renews monthly unless canceled local channels vary by market blackouts and other

49:41Mike Wright:terms apply all right we're back colston loveland ken bone walker for mike so far jason with garrett wilson i've got dajan stribbling and jason you're back up it is time to reveal your second my guy

49:56Jason Moore:I've got Garrett Wilson, who I think is a value in fantasy football. I'm going with another value at wide receiver. A couple rounds later, it's a rookie.

50:09Jason Moore:Carnell Tate.

50:10Mike Wright:Maybe on Henderson.

50:12Jason Moore:You wish. I can't believe it worked again. Yeah, baby. I didn't even think about it. Now I'm going to think about it. Yeah. You should question every time. You don't even know if that next one is. I don't. I don't know what the next one is.

50:23Andy Holloway:Did you say coo me twice? No, I think he said shame on me.

50:27Jason Moore:Who knows?

50:29Andy Holloway:Fool me twice.

50:29Mike Wright:I was going to compliment you on. Listen. That's a funny phrase. I might have said a horrible curse word. I don't have any idea.

50:38Jason Moore:That's why you won't remember next year, and we will get you again.

50:41Mike Wright:Yeah, my memory. We will.

50:43Jason Moore:Carnell Tate, wide receiver for the Tennessee Titans, drafted number four overall. I mean, this is a super highly drafted, potential superstar wide receiver who is not being drafted that way. And we know why he's not being drafted that way. It's worries about Cam Ward and the offense. You know, you've got Wondell Robinson and a new coordinator, all that. But here's the thing. When you're drafted in the top 10, you are guaranteed 100 targets. You're really good. And here's – I mean, he's really good. That is the – the lead here is do not forget what a sensational superstar Carnell Tate is. He was a five-star recruit coming out of high school.

51:22Jason Moore:He led the nation in passer rating when targeted. Five touchdowns of 40-plus yards or more. He shared the field with Jeremiah Smith, who is one of those generational wide receivers. Oh, man, I wish they had the first pick next year. He's sharing the field with Jeremiah Smith. He missed three games, and yet he still put up 875 yards with nine touchdowns and five of those over 40 yards. He caught 12 of 14 contested catches. He never dropped a pass. This is a great wide receiver. early in camp everything was how he was dominating and then the preseason hits preseason domination five targets zero receptions he's done he sucks cam ward can't possibly hit him with this vanilla offense uh i just want to remind people jamar chase preseason one reception on five targets drake london one catch on one target aj brown one catch on three targets you're using 100 % catch right in there Jay I heard it sure sure uh my point is the preseason I mean we we remember when Jamar Chase couldn't catch a football because the college ball had stripes in the NFL like these are great wide receivers he is a great wide receiver who is the clear best wide receiver on his team drafted number four so that means he will be playing you know near 100 % snaps from week one right out the gate and he's not being drafted where these other highly drafted rookies have been drafted recently you look at rookies right wide which whoa whoa whoa

52:56Jason Moore:rookie wide receivers drafted this high i mean you you had to take marvin harrison in the second round you had to take malik neighbors in the third amari cooper in the fourth even last year tedaroa was a fifth round pick and he had a bad quarterback play you you now have carnell take coming into a team and And I just want to remind you, two years ago, not long ago, two years ago, we had an offense that took a wide receiver number six overall, that had Brian Dayball running the show, and the wide receiver two was Wandale Robinson. It's literally the same offensive coordinator with the same human at wide receiver two drafting their potential superstar, you know, top five in the NFL draft.

53:40Jason Moore:And Wandale had a ton of targets. That's the thing about Dayball targets his wide receiver one like crazy. Digs both years in Buffalo. Neighbors, his wide receiver one is targeted. And I know the quarterback play is the issue, but, I mean, look. I mean, Tommy DeVito, Drew Locke, Tim Boyle, are they really that much worse or better than Cam Ward? That was who Malik Neighbors was averaging like 180 targets. This is a good pick. He's being drafted at his floor. His seventh round in ESPN and Yahoo. He has the potential to be a top 15 wide receiver year one, and he can't possibly be worse than where he's drafted right now.

54:23Jason Moore:Like wide receiver 29 or 30? Get out of here.

54:26Mike Wright:All right. Mike's my guy. Carnell Tate, my next my guy.

54:30Jason Moore:Mike's?

54:34Jason Moore:Caleb Williams. What? Did he say Mike's? He did. Can we get that? Yeah, I got you.

54:41Mike Wright:What did he say? Jason's my guy, Carnell Tate. Caleb Williams is my, my guy, number two for the 2026 combo season. Yeah, I didn't know how long to wait to reveal the Caleb Williams with your Colston Loveland. I like it. Here we go. Eighth round pick on ESPN, seventh round pick on Sleeper. And there's a number of things I want to talk about with Caleb. Obviously, you touched on what this offense wants to do with Ben Johnson, what his expectations are. I mean, you saw a massive uptick in performance from the Bears last year in year one of learning this system with Ben Johnson. And the only real negative thing we point at, which, by the way, his ADP is the quarterback seven off the board.

55:26Mike Wright:That's what he was last year. So that's where he's being drafted. You've got rushing upside with Caleb Williams. You've got three elite receiving talents that we believe in, in Burden, Loveland, and Odunze. he has you know his tendency is to give you valuable for fantasy passes fourth most end zone pass attempts in the league and I expect a huge level up from him this year and one of the things that people point out the biggest thing is the completion percentage and they worked on his intermediate throws last year Ben Johnson did there's a great chart put out by Ryan Heath of fantasy points that looks at, I mean, literally like a hundred pieces of data in terms of what things correlate in terms of quarterback statistics with the following season's fantasy points per game.

56:17Mike Wright:Completion percentage is one of the lowest correlations to fantasy points per game for that quarterback the next year. It's way down the list. You know, things like avoided sacks is three times as valuable in correlation to fantasy points per game for that next season than completion percentage. What have the Bears committed themselves to? Putting Caleb Williams in the position where he is not being sacked like he was as a rookie, which almost broke the records or broke the record. Last year, they repaired this offensive line, pressured a sack ratio. That's another high correlation. The things that they have fixed on this offense, they jumped from 28th in points per game to ninth in points per game last year this is the scoring environment you want for fantasy that's one year of ben johnson one year of ben johnson and so i think you see a huge step forward you can go look at first round quarterbacks who finished top 10 in year two and then say hey how was year three for those guys well 60 of them were up over that 20 fantasy points per game you've got a long history of these guys that have made the jump um it's just something where i'm looking at this team and if you wipe out a little bit of the just like the bears can't pass they'll never get 4 000 yards look i think they figure it out this year i think that you know both of us believe or maybe all of us that the bears are making a step forward on the offense what's wild is you're going to have two of the best offenses in football in the same division with with detroit and the bears but you've got weapons offensive line play caller pass catching running back rushing upside for Caleb Williams he's dropped 15 pounds I am just I love that I'm so excited about Caleb this year and Bears fans can finally believe me when I say I've never been against you I've just been I've just been subject to the realities of the NFL and sometimes that looks like you don't like a team or a player we are water we are subject to what's changing yeah Caleb losing 15 pounds is such a big

58:24Jason Moore:deal to me because there's a player that you want to know takes it serious you know he does uh that's like one of the knocks is maybe he's not as focused as you'd want your quarterback one to be but he is like a Kyler Murray yeah I mean if Kyler Murray could have taken one of those offseason it's like I put on two inches that would have been so cool um you know they each have their roles to play but caleb caleb uh dropped 15 pounds he's taking it serious we love the bears offense and all of those things go back to caleb i will say this my counter argument and i think it's decently compelling the case against caleb williams i don't know andy if you have seen this picture uh i don't think the irony is where you're seating where i'm seated i feel very.

59:09Jason Moore:The picture is fine. Oh, man. You know what that is? I thought we were going. It's all three screens there. That's zoom. I feel...

59:16Mike Wright:But I don't think the picture's wild. Here's the truth. Oh!

59:20Jason Moore:What about now? What about now, Andy?

59:23Mike Wright:I don't know. It's too sultry. It's too sultry. If you ever have them wearing these uniforms where they have those light-colored like the light-colored pants and the dark socks, these guys always look a little different.

59:33Jason Moore:Look, this is the first time I'm going to say it this year. No butterfly stretch. No butterfly stretch. Not in those pants.

59:39Mike Wright:Jason looks like he's actually kind of cringing. Well, I'm like, this is your bit. I'm in the fire. I didn't realize. And you are his bit. All right, Mike. The next, my guy. The last one. One more each.

59:50Andy Holloway:All right. It's, this is my Alec Pierce because this was a player that I statted out the UDK. I was going through all the, doing the projections, you know, looking at the top level and then filtering things down of how I think it's going to shake out for that team. a player really popped like a when i went and saw where his rakey was i went oh that's spicy and it didn't work out for you with alec pierce of the injury stuff but the news just kept getting i wanted alec pierce to be the guy it just kept getting better and better and here we are

1:00:30Andy Holloway:christian watson christian watson wide receiver for the green bay packers we are entering year five they just gave him a fresh set of cash with a four-year extension the problem for christian watson has never ever been talent on the field here uh wide receivers since the year 2000 to average 17 or more yards per reception and catch 20 touchdowns through their first four years deshaun jackson mike wallace christian watson he can hit the big play absolutely the problem has been volume for christian watson hey i was gonna say if there's ever a player you've needed hamstring insurance absolutely i've that one i that's your biggest risk ken walker i'll fight people on the health argument christian watson they're winning yeah if you want to come at me with the health argument i'll say yeah you're probably right uh but but truly volume also was an issue because the green bay packers were rotating all of their guys you had romeo dobbs who was kind of their de facto possession number one wide receiver.

1:01:36Andy Holloway:Dontavian Wicks would come in and just, he would rotate players off the field because Wicks is a capable pass catcher. Those guys are gone. It is now consolidated. It's Christian Watson and Matthew Golden as the two starters, and then Jaden Reed's the slot player. But last year, recovering from yet another injury from an ACL tear, but from week 11 on, he was the wide receiver 11 in fantasy football. He was giving you huge, huge spike weeks. During that time, the per-route metrics were elite. Second in yards per-route run behind only Luther Burden. He was tied with JSN for third in targets per-route run, and then a metric that we know is fairly predictive for next year.

1:02:19Andy Holloway:Over that time period, he was first in, this one's a mouthful, but first in the NFL in first downs per-route run. They're going to him. They're going to him early.

1:02:29Mike Wright:When you look at the nine my guys, and I know a couple haven't been revealed yet, I think Christian Watson has the potential to impact fantasy teams in the most significant way of almost all the names because of where you're drafting him and what he represents for your team.

1:02:42Andy Holloway:Which is, right now on Sleeper, a late-round, sixth-round pick. Late-round, sixth-round, as they say. Yeah, sorry, a late-sixth-round pick. On ESPN, I don't know what clown show business is going on over there because he's in the ninth round. maybe just weird mock drafts but late sixth round for a player who can do what I think Watson's going to do this year it's exciting it's absolutely outrageous why don't we like

1:03:08Mike Wright:Jordan Love if we because we can make this you can make this exact same argument for liking Matthew Golden the consolidation yeah you can make it for Tucker Craft the consolidation we like Jaden Reed like whether his role like for for Jordan Love he's great I mean even if Jaden Reed's not reliable week to week so you got four names that are pretty interesting and I feel like maybe Jordan Love's been just like, I haven't heard. Thank you for bringing up Jordan Love. Oh, that's why we're a team.

1:03:32Andy Holloway:The reason why people wouldn't love Jordan Raitt is because the Packers were 28th in pass rate last year. Yeah. However, Jordan Love was efficient among 38 qualifying quarterbacks with 200 or more dropbacks. First in EPA with a clean pocket. Sixth in passer rating. Seventh in completion percentage over expectation. And fourth in pressure to sack ratio. Andy, some of the stuff you were talking about for Caleb. And this year, there's talk of stuff being a little bit different. More balanced. They're playing under center more with more play action than we have seen the Green Bay Packers in recent history.

1:04:09Andy Holloway:Watson's going to play the Z receiver role, so he's going to move. He's going to be in motion. The stuff that we love for fantasy football. You can draft him easily as your wide receiver three, and I think before the end of the year, he's your wide receiver two, maybe even a wide receiver one type of a player they changed this is interesting this is per josh norris look uh christian watson's out routes from 2022 to 24 just 7.7 where he's breaking horizontally which that's we need those routes we can't have you just being the sacrificial x

1:04:40Mike Wright:running a running a fly route he doesn't break horizontally or vertically i'd be happy but so

1:04:45Andy Holloway:he went from 7.7 to 35 percent last year they were using him truly in a different fashion and with the consolidation with what I think is going on with Josh Jacobs not just the suspension stuff with the efficiency of of I think that LeFleur is seeing that I got to start trusting Jordan Love more and changing this offense Christian Watson going in the six is an absolute

1:05:09Mike Wright:smash pick for me if you had ever removed him from the board the last six months I think he would have been somebody strongly considered for a my guy on my I just I totally believe in the value I think he's he's the perfect target for fantasy uh because the talent is there but the

1:05:26Jason Moore:the fatigue is is high so the injury history is why he's low I mean if he if he had played a full season last year or even the year prior or ever or ever drafted higher if he had ever played a season yeah I mean and that and that is genuinely this still the worry like when I think about drafting Christian Watson, I'm still a little gun-shy because of the injury history. He's just never been able to stay healthy.

1:05:48Andy Holloway:But if you're getting him at the 6-7 turn, upside. Absolutely. The injury risk is baked in there. I walked into that one.

1:05:58Jason Moore:Alright, well I'm going to take a guy who was injured last year.

1:06:06Jason Moore:Omarion Hampton. I am in love with Omarion Hampton. All offseason, this has been the guy that I haven't really pivoted from. Everything is set up for him to dominate. I loved him coming out of college. I think he is a phenomenal three down fantasy football running back. What he does is perfect for fantasy football. He is the goal line back. He had 80 % of the goal line carries last year, which would have been fourth in the NFL. He is a pass catching running back with a pass catching, uh, past running back, check down quarterback. I mean, remember Austin Eckler with Justin Herbert in his you know in this short rookie season that Hampton had he averaged 19 routes per game 3.6 receptions per game and he started out as that dude the first five weeks before the injury he led all running backs and avoided tackles per carry now the change of everything around him is positive positive positive I know that their new free agent center got injured.

1:07:05Jason Moore:That does stink, but their offensive line is still significantly better. I mean, they have two superstar tackles in Joe Alt, Rashawn Slater. They didn't have either of them last year. They're both back now. They're both on the field, and they're going to dominate and mow these guys down. They brought Alec Ingold in the fullback. Where did he come from? Oh, he came from Mike McDaniel's team that runs this outside zone to great success with a fullback, getting guys out, pulling, and breaking away opportunities for Devon Achan. Devon Achan was the second highest yards per route run on those outside zone schemes.

1:07:42Jason Moore:You know who was third? Omari and Hampton. So you've got this team that I think is going to win a ton of games. They've got a good defense. They're projected to win a lot of games. You have an offensive line that is better. You have proof from his rookie season of how good he was. You have an offensive mastermind joining the fray who gets his guys the ball. Yeah, I know. He says, oh, we're going to go hot hand. They're going to go hot hand-ton is what they're going to do. Okay. Because he's going to be the swish. Get him out of here. Yeah. I got it. I got it in. That was a swish. I had to swipe pages.

1:08:17Jason Moore:I couldn't get to the booze. Yeah, hot hampton. He's going to get the rock. Repeating it is always helpful. I'll repeat it all season long because he's going to be running with the hot Hampton. Rookie, the thing is, is when you draft a running back in the first round, year two, it pretty much always crushes in fantasy football. 12 of the 15 players in that situation, they average 18 or more opportunities per game. Those players average 10.3 touchdowns per game. I just think everything is set up. He's on a great offense. He is fairly alone. I don't worry about Keaton Mitchell being the goal line back.

1:09:03Jason Moore:What about Silky Smooth? The regular. Vidal Sassoon. Vidal Sassoon is going to be a backup. He's going to touch the ball enough. He's going to catch the ball enough. He's going to be around the goal line enough. And when I look at year two running, I would definitely take him over Gentry. The situation is so much better for Hampton. I don't see how he fails.

1:09:22Mike Wright:I thought you said year two guys are awesome.

1:09:24Jason Moore:Yeah, that's what I'm saying. Gentry is awesome, and I would take Hampton over him. That's why he's a my guy.

1:09:30Mike Wright:All right. I didn't realize I had timed this up so poorly. Same team.

1:09:39Mike Wright:Lad McConkie. Lad McConkie. Bears and Chargers, baby. I guess so. I didn't even think about it when we had those two guys up on the board. Two great offenses. For me, Lad McConkie has been the name that has been the most locked on the board for the most amount of time. To me, this is, you know, Jason's talked a little bit about the context for the offense in Los Angeles. This is a team favorite to win the division. It's got Mike McDaniel. You know, Mike McDaniel himself came out and said, essentially, I think it's reasonable as an expectation to exceed whatever career highs the wide receiver room has had across the board.

1:10:15Mike Wright:There's untapped potential. We've seen great things from Ladd McConkie, but to me, he jumps off the page this year as sort of the JSN story that we got from last year. JSN was not, if you remember, he was not drafted anywhere near where he was finished or where he finished. And like Ladd had a very disappointing sophomore season. And you look at the numbers and it's like six fewer targets year to year. What actually happened was the catch rate plummeted because Justin Herbert was under fire all the time. and they had different injuries and struggles throughout this team, including Herbert's, you know, is Herbert elite?

1:10:53Mike Wright:You know, that's a question that we need answered. But the situation there with the offensive line improvements, you know, Ladd is one of seven wide receivers over the last decade with 200-plus targets, 1 ,900 receiving yards, 13 touchdowns through two seasons. The other names, Michael Thomas, Justin Jefferson, Waddle, Chase, good company, and all of those players. Anybody that's ever done that in the history of the league, were all top 24 picks the next year. Well, that's a tough situation where you're like, hey, Ladd McConkie has the potential to do what JSN does. There were doubts about JSN being able to play outside.

1:11:31Mike Wright:There's no more Keenan Allen soaking up that league. I mean, he was the team's leading receiver last year, is gone. And Ladd McConkie, I don't think any of us has had doubt about his talent and ability. But, you know, last year Keenan Allen cost Ladd a ton of numbers, a ton of production. This team has a lot of potential. And the biggest problem with the Chargers is just the what will go wrong narrative. What's going to happen? I mean, that's the same thing I think about with Hampton. It's like, I traded Hampton. Do I want to? Not really. We loved him coming out of college, but I'm afraid of what's going to go wrong on this team.

1:12:03Mike Wright:Ladd McConkie is more than a slot receiver. His horizontal breaking routes, that's the bread and butter, but he can go deep. Last year, best yards per route run on go routes. Puka, Jaden Reed, A.J. Brown, Ladd McConkie. he was number four and the draft cost is a round discount from last year yes he was overdrafted last year people expected that rookie season to continue and him to finish as a top 12 guy again didn't happen but now you get a discount so for me i think uh this is one of those ones that seems really obvious mike mcdaniel justin herbert a loss of their leading receiver last year you're not going to have volume production out of trey harris you're not going to have volume production out of Quentin Johnston.

1:12:41Mike Wright:You're going to have Lad McConkie be the key cog in the receiving game. That's why he's my guy.

1:12:46Jason Moore:Lad McConkie is going to crush this year. He is going to be so good. Keenan Allen was the wide receiver eight a couple years ago. Keenan being gone, Lad being the clear best wide. I like Trey Harris. There's a place for huge down the field. The ball is moving through Lad and Hampton on a great offense.

1:13:09Mike Wright:They moved Tyreek and waddle around all the time under Mike McDaniel. They're going to move Latt around. He's not just going to play in the slot. He's going to be outside. He's going to be moved around and focused on. And he wins. He wins down the field.

1:13:21Andy Holloway:My concerns early in the offseason, again, Andy, it's never been talent. It was, man, how do you have the rookie season that McConkie had? And then you bring in Keenan Allen and you're just like feels like you've replaced a second-year player who looks like he was about to be a superstar, that felt really bad. It was weird. It took some time to get over that of are they going to do the right thing? Of our opinion, would they do the right thing and make sure that Ladd McConkie is the focal piece of the passing offense? And over the offseason, my concerns have lowered. Yeah, McDaniel will do that.

1:14:03Andy Holloway:Yes. It feels – it's always funky and funny when you get to the end result and you're like, I can't believe I had some concerns about it. Of course. But last year was – that was so weird. But we're washing that away just like they washed away G-Row and then they bring in Mike McDaniel.

1:14:22Jason Moore:So far, I mean, my read on Ladd rookie year I was all in. That was great. Sophomore year, I was out. I was out of his draft. I am so in and so jealous that Andy got Ladd. He's so good at football. Did you guys see the latest breaking news? Really smart work. Do I need to hit a button? No, it's not that important, but it's just really, really smart work from Michael Penix. He will not play in preseason week three. So I can only assume he will be the starter. He's going to let Tua give him the job.

1:14:54Mike Wright:Is that like skipping a political debate? Yeah. Yeah. If you know that your opponents are going to fail on that stage,

1:15:02Andy Holloway:let them do work. We did just a quick blurb. Luther Burden returned to practice.

1:15:10Mike Wright:That seems good.

1:15:12Andy Holloway:You're my guy. We love it. We do need those weapons there.

1:15:19Mike Wright:Thursday, mock draft episode. Friday, Fantasy Time Machine. Friday night, we will be live at the Van Buren for our Megalist show. Bold predictions episode. So that means everybody out there listening, watching, that isn't going to be there gets a bonus episode of the show released on Saturday, which is super exciting. You get an extra episode this week, the ultimate draft kit for the weekend, ultimate draft kit.com. If you want to play in the Megalow Bowl, that's Megalow Bowl.com. And we are saying goodbye, but only till tomorrow, folks. Hopefully you'll share your comments with us. I'm sure you will for all of those.

1:15:51Mike Wright:My guys, whether you're surprised, ashamed, we'll see what happens. Goodbye.

1:15:58Jason 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.

1:16:15Jason Moore:CBS Sunday, September 13th. The new season of 60 Minutes begins.

1:16:20Mike Wright:Okay, let's go. Every second, a story unfolds. This is one of the great mysteries of human nature. Every minute, a new question. You were buying access to the president. Every week, a deeper understanding. When we take the field, the expectations are to win. It's time. We're preparing to go out on this race. For the new season. It was a gunfight. All the way in, all the way out. 60 Minutes, CBS Sunday, September 13th, and streaming on Paramount+.

1:16:45Andy Holloway:Saving money on your outdoor projects? Now at Menards. Create stunning patios, walkways, and retaining walls with our huge in-stock selection of durable concrete blocks. Ready to take home today. Plus, get free estimates with our easy-to-use design program in-store or on Menards.com. Save big money in our 12-inch smooth patio block.

1:17:04Mike Wright:On sale now through September 13th. Plus, check out our weekly flyer on Menards.com for more great deals happening now. Save big money at Menards.