Fantasy Football - Top 10 TE Rankings + Draft Strategy - Podcast for 8/1

13:49Andy Holloway:That's not four. He had four starts for the Buffalo Bills in 2023.

13:57Jason Moore:Well, that blows my mind. According to pro football reference. 2023? Yeah. The year before last, he was playing football? Yeah. Starts? I do remember that, actually. 16 games and four starts.

14:07Mike Wright:That's still a lot.

14:08Andy Holloway:I mean, 79 for 300 on the year. I mean, I still would have retired last year, but, you know, you do you.

14:14Mike Wright:I think that's it by way of news. That was News & Notes sponsored by Progressive Insurance. Quote today at Progressive.com. Progressive Casualty Insurance Company affiliates and third-party insurers not available in all states or situations. Coverage subject to policy terms, limits, and conditions. Into our tight end rankings we go.

14:34Mike Wright:Tight ends. All right. The tight end position always pretty interesting. And we get to count down our top 10 rankings. This is our consensus rankings. You can see all of the tight ends, all of our tiered rankings, custom to your scoring system, printable cheat sheets. Everything is in the mobile app and on the website for the ultimate draft kit. But one thing that we should talk about is just philosophically, how do we look at the tight end position, the investment you make in fantasy, the tight end in the quarterback, unless you're in a super flex league, those are the onesie positions, right?

15:17Mike Wright:So you always, if you spend a draft pick on a high draft capital, tight end or quarterback, it's at the expense of another valuable position.

15:27Andy Holloway:You have an opportunity cost.

15:29Mike Wright:So one thing that Kyle pulled up for us data-wise was the hit rate for tight ends since 2019. So if you draft a tight end, the one, two, three, like the top three tight ends off the board, 50 % of the time they've been finishing as a top five tight end on the year but if you include the first six like the first six tight ends off the board over the last five six years it's an 80 % hit rate that they finish inside the top five so it is a high probability that if you do invest

16:05Andy Holloway:in one that you're going to get a decent return yes but there is a cost right yeah there is definitely a cost and then um you know we talk about the way our draft strategy is you either invest in the position early or just bail out and just wait you know hope hopefully you find the the diamond of the year there's not a lot of them uh but it's also a position that you can realistically you can stream it find guys to give you just a couple games here there

16:35Mike Wright:yeah i mean last year we had johnny smith and brock bowers that were not you know they both finished in the top five they were not high draft picks the year before we had sam laporta so the story there a couple of rookies in a row Dalton Schultz was undrafted in 2021 he ended up with the big year with Dallas Robert Tunyon back in 2020 was an undrafted uh tight end that ends up

16:59Andy Holloway:being you know waiver wire pickup the Robert Tunyon year of what what do you have like 30 receptions and a ton of touchdowns per reception so yeah I mean I don't know what your guys's approach is

17:10Mike Wright:this year but i let's talk through these names tell me if these guys are you know because obviously we're going top 10 we're going outside that top six we're going top 10 and uh i think

17:21Andy Holloway:just notable to mention here uh i guess i'm revealing some of the time but the the the rookies are not in our top 10 they are just outside as in we didn't rank them there right like in our consensus rankings they did not make it high enough some of them like like Jason and I are more in on Loveland Andy right now is out and like I'm I've moved both of them up to talk about guys who aren't in the show but they're they're like they're

17:48Jason Moore:they're fringe they're just outside I think it's important before we get into the the top 10 to say like the projections that we have you know those are kind of those median outcome projections and that doesn't necessarily that's why that's why we have the the upside meter in the UDK so you can look and say okay this guy might be ranked two spots later and you go okay but his his upside meter is really really high it's just you know those type of players when you're late drafting tight ends you want to swing for the fences you want to have Mark Andrews's breakout year because or Brock Bauer's you know surprise rookie season for being as good as it was versus a piddly poop tight end sixth season.

18:35Jason Moore:Because we were talking about like, okay, tight ends drafted early. They finish in the top six. But it's also true that usually almost every year the top two tight ends matter, sometimes three. And then when you're tight end five, when you finish a tight end five, you did not move the needle. You did not matter. You were not consistent. You scored more fantasy points than the sixth best tight end, but it didn't really make a difference.

19:00Mike Wright:Well, actually, one thing we've done a lot in the past few years, you can look at Chigga Conquo last year. You look at tight end matchups. You talk about strength of schedule. You look at what teams struggle against tight ends, and if you're not holding one of those top three, four, five tight ends, you're certainly playing matchups with players that have opportunities against bad defenses because the defense is, you know, what they're doing against tight ends, it shows up seemingly week in and week out. Some teams just don't concentrate on stopping that spot.

19:27Andy Holloway:They say, go ahead, run your offense through the tight end. And we don't care. And we do not care. Yes, I think that's a great point. Usually there's about two to three teams where you're like, I know that I'm going to be playing my tight end against that defense. Jason, just to highlight it a bit more. So last year, Mark Andrews, tight end five on the year. Right, tight end five. Hopefully we do not forget, but saying nine and a half points per game for Mark Andrews, Travis Kelsey, the next, 9.2. Laporte is at nine. Zach Ertz was at eight and a half. These guys are all, you're talking five to ten.

20:02Mike Wright:What was the gap between Ertz and Andrews?

20:05Andy Holloway:One point.

20:06Mike Wright:Yeah, so I mean that tells you a lot.

20:08Andy Holloway:Like they're all, the whole top ten, they're just, it's a cluster of guys who are really close together.

20:12Mike Wright:That also means if you spent a top five selection, because it's not a guarantee, if you spent a super high draft pick and you get those numbers. It's a bummer. That's a bummer. Super. Number 10. Tucker Kraft comes in at number 10 on our rankings, just 24 years old. Mike and I love him. yes jason and i or jason not an i hater just jason he has a much lower uh i think you know i i'll speak for mike but i think we both like what we saw in the field in terms of uh just explosiveness from tucker craft this is a passing game where like i love jordan love this year but part of the jordan love argument is like hey maybe we aren't going to be able to figure out week to week which guy puts up the biggest numbers but that's okay for jordan love they've got a lot of talent there he was the tight end nine last year on the back of 707 he wasn't the tight end people were expecting to break out and have a big impact right luke musgrave was what everybody was the chosen one yeah second round tight end turned into tucker craft and a lot of impressive plays he averaged 8.8 yards after the catch that was two yards higher than any other tight end so that was part of his storyline it's one of the things i think people hope uh colston loveland can do with with his kind of athletic makeup but you know really really big plays for him last year he had 17 plays of 15 or more yards on 70 targets that is a high proportion yeah and just to to flesh

21:42Andy Holloway:that out a bit you have you know travis kelsey had he also had 17 receptions of 15 yards it took 133 targets to get there our beloved trey mcbride he had 21 so he had more plays of 15 yards but it took 147 targets. The thing with Tucker Craft is it's a projection, but look at who they have. Romeo Dobbs, he is who he is. Jayden Reed seems like he is who he is. Christian Watson is not a factor for this team to begin. And then you're just like, is Matthew Golden, I know he's the first-round pick, is he ready? Is he ready to be one of their top options from week one? Tucker Craft is so fascinating to me because of the yards after catch a chance of increased volume here as they're they're shuffling their pieces around and he's he is late and then on top of that um you know doing my adp studies which the admittedly the sample size is not gigantic but per adp tight ends who break out in year two drafting them in year three they are the the best statistical bet in in adp so like when i'm pun either i take one of the early guys or I'm going with the rookies because they could be a boat.

22:59Andy Holloway:But the rookies ADP is all over the place where we'll have some mocks where they will go extremely late. You'll have mocks or real drafts. They'll go early because people are trying to jump in on the trend. If I'm not early, Tucker Craft becomes a focal point. Is that what you ended up with yesterday? I had Loveland or Tucker Craft, and I took Loveland in that one just because where I see the ceiling case for Tucker Craft, it's like some really good spike weeks, but a finish at capping out at, I don't know, six or five or something, where with the way the NFL has been going and the draft capital of those two rookies, it is no longer wild to think that those guys can finish in the top three.

23:42Mike Wright:When Jordan Love came back from injury, because if you remember he got hurt and missed two games, when he came back, Tucker Craft had five weeks where he finished four of them inside the top 10, one at number two, one at number one. Again, part of this is the film. Part of this is just liking what I see from him and thinking that Jordan Love threw 35 touchdowns.

24:02Andy Holloway:And that's very possible.

24:03Mike Wright:Because that's very possible. I mean, he was the quarterback five, two years ago with 32 touchdowns. If he threw 35, I think you're going to get a very plus season from Tucker Kraft. Agreed. I believe that the team is so committed to him. Everything that I've seen, they love what he brings to the table. So this far down, what's his ADP right now?

24:20Jason Moore:let me double check it he is in the he's the 12th tight end off the board in the 10th round I don't mind so I've got him ranked as my tight end 19 I'm obviously not as hot and bothered as you guys are when when I look at the film I don't see a bad player but what I did see was a lot of incredible I mean the scheming was great he had a couple like a 66 yard wide open he's just like anybody could have done it but also he's in that system and so there's a lot of things to watch for so you can you can argue that both ways like he had a couple big gigantic

24:51Andy Holloway:plays he had a catch of 66 yards and a catch of 67 and that doesn't happen for tight ends very

24:56Jason Moore:often but those two plays they weren't him breaking tackles and manimaling people um you know in some kind of amazing yards after the catch it was like oh the whole defense and offense is on the right and they forgot about craft musgrave remember he you know he was he was supposed to be the guy and now we're like oh musgrave's stupid but musgrave got injured all last year we said he was stupid no i'm saying that's how that's how like it fantasy i'm just we're moving on the depth chart has changed the fantasy community is like is acting like musgrave is irrelevant but he

25:27Andy Holloway:missed the whole season but he also did he started the year he played in the first four weeks and the and the the transformation like week one 25 of the snaps week two 44 and then 56 meanwhile tucker Kraft is a full-time player yeah that's so I have like and that hasn't changed in camp that hasn't

25:47Jason Moore:changed with the way the team is building if you want to buy into Kraft he's 24 years old that's great he's athletic that's good and he's on a great offense so I don't have any problem going after him but to me I see not arrow necessarily up because you draft Matthew Golden last year you had Dobbs and Christian Watson you know missing games you had Musgrave missed the majority of the season so they needed Kraft a little bit more than I think they need him this year but obviously great great offense young tight end broke out last year a little bit I'm okay with it but there are just other guys like the two rookies I would rather have than the it's not that uh drastically

26:24Andy Holloway:different to me you know situation of the the Mark Andrews of Hayden Hurst was the first round pick of the Baltimore Ravens then they took Mark Andrews and that's to say they went uh they went with Musgrave and then Tucker Kraft and I think they figured out that Kraft is the receiver. Yeah, but Hayden Hurst was a ginger. So that's...

26:47Mike Wright:Hayden Hurst's a good player. Luke Musgrave's stupid. Hayden Hurst's a ginger. Maybe leave.

26:53Andy Holloway:You need to go back to sleep and wake up again.

26:55Mike Wright:Jason did say he was pretty tired when he rolled in here. Goodness. By the way, tell me a lie I said. Our fine red-headed friends out there.

27:03Andy Holloway:I'll just start out there.

27:03Mike Wright:When Tucker Kraft scored a 66-yard touchdown, he straight up stiff-armed one of the opponents and ran over another one he put two guys into the ground he was almost a my guy like he he's on he was on my board as my guy earlier this offseason so obviously we're going to be really bullish about him in this argument today but it is a it's a lot of good pass catchers there they dealt with a lot of injuries last year and there's a reason he's sitting at 10. So we'll take a break and we'll jump right back in.

27:36Andy 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.

28:18Andy Holloway:Like a Miller light on a Sunday, It goes down smooth. It's refreshing. It never lets me down. Make game day legendary. Go to MillerLight.com slash footballers to find delivery options near you, or you can pick up some Miller Light 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. Life insurance is that one thing we all know we need, but we keep putting it off. Stop telling yourself you'll handle it later. Take care of it today with SelectQuote. In 15 minutes, you could have coverage that fits your life and budget.

28:58Andy Holloway:Here's what makes SelectQuote different. Their licensed insurance agents work for you, not for one insurance company. They compare options across multiple carriers to find you the right coverage at the lowest price. Even if you have health issues, they can help. High blood pressure, diabetes, heart disease. Their agents know which carriers will give you the best rate for your specific situation. If you're healthy, they can get you same day coverage with no medical exam. Other brokers push policies that pay them the most. Select Quotes agents actually shop for you. Select Quote, they shop, you save.

29:34Andy Holloway:Get the right life insurance for you for less at selectquote.com slash footballers. Go to selectquote.com slash footballers today to get started.

29:47Mike Wright:All right, I'm looking at the rankings on these guys, the individual rankings on our next guy, and I'm a little shocked. Number nine. Mark Andrews comes Comes in at number nine, a long time staple on this episode. Not normally even this low in the rankings, but Jason and I have him right at the edge of the top 10. Mike has him buried at 15. Yeah. Even after this Isaiah Likely News, which I did make some tweaks. I think you said that too, Jason. So did I. You moved him up to 15.

30:20Jason Moore:I did.

30:21Mike Wright:I think that's really interesting because Mike has always been in. Mike and Mark go way back.

30:26Andy Holloway:well Jason I equate Mark Andrews as uh Jason's guy but I do I have really I'm thinking of you drafting him over uh McBride yeah yeah yeah that would be it oh man um I already had Marvin Harrison by the way those people out of the people to know I just out of context that for sounds real bad the way I talk about Trey McBride that sounds horrifically bad you did already have Marvin

30:53Mike Wright:Harrison that is true and um I bet you wish you had two Cardinals oh very much so my year would have gone a lot different so Mark Andrews year last year was really you want to use stupid this is a good opportunity it was a stupid year I mean it started out as bad as it gets his targets they have been going down opportunities catches per game and yet he salvaged all of it Mark Mark Andrews was one of the best waiver wire pickups last year.

31:21Jason Moore:I mean, that's actually true because he was pretty darn good.

31:25Mike Wright:I'm having to zoom in on the screen to see these points. 2.4, 0, and 0 for three of the first four games.

31:32Jason Moore:Yeah. After that, you had a stretch run where he was extremely consistent. Last year, he finishes the tight end five. You remember how bad it was to start the season. Back-to-back gooses. The world was over after a week one collapse. It was like Mark Andrews was just completely evaporated from fantasy football. He will never be relevant again. And then he went on the rest of the season and had an awesome fantasy season. The issue that we have, and it is true, is almost all of it. It's so much. The vast majority came from touchdowns, which are not a sticky stat. He had his own career high. Was it 11?

32:09Jason Moore:11, yeah. I think the next highest tight end last year had eight. and so you just go oh well he is a touchdown machine and you expect lamar to throw a lot of touchdowns so that's great there there's a good place for mark andrews he doesn't cost as much this year however you have to assume it's going to regress he didn't even have 900 receiving yards every touchdown with 10 plus touchdowns and fewer than 900 receiving yards they all have

32:32Andy Holloway:massive regression you go with 900 you could have gone with 800 you could have gone with 700

32:37Mike Wright:that's true but the statistic of regression the second he said that i'm like what i started looking up his yardage number because i was like did he get to almost 800 there's i think a couple

32:48Andy Holloway:things to remember with mark andrews is you know he was when this season last season started he was coming off of the what the ankle breaking his ankle he had the you know he was the victim of a hip drop tackle busted his leg he got in a car wreck right before the season started so like those are you know we look at these guys as superheroes and that they can do anything and injuries are nothing they bounce right back so that maybe that was far more of a factor than we wanted to give credit to my biggest issue with mark andrews is it dude it's vibes like the way that they were talking about him the whole off season of essentially like well he's he was a threat to be gone he's on the team right now like it was just it was so bizarre the the whispers in the bushes of an isaiah likely extension coming up which has not happened and and likely is of course hurt so and harbaugh talking about how he expects likely to be an all pro right like this year so it for me honestly it was the it wasn't that i was trying to trash mark andrews and i'm not elevating isaiah likely it was i think that what the most likely existence of these two tight ends is they one will have a good game here one will have a good game here and you're never really happy with either of them now if if likely misses time at the beginning of the year then mark andrews will be sensational in all those games because he will play all the snaps and he will be

34:18Mike Wright:just dominating the middle of the field he was 20th in the nfl and targets at the tight end position 20th yeah that's he was 14th in receptions so it was touchdowns it was just it was and he'd done that once before you know where he had a big uh you know low total reception high touchdown season right like he did it in 2019 he had 64 catches but had 10 touchdowns and that vaulted him up there look it's just a lack of confidence and it's going to be a one of those rides every single

34:50Jason Moore:week when andrews is in there we're like i hope he scores would it change your draft day decision if likely, if it seemed like, you know, we're at the draft, it's, you know, a week or two from football, and it looks like likely is probably going to miss the first two or three weeks.

35:07Mike Wright:I was going to say, if you give me three weeks. Because I feel like that would change. I would take the shot then, because what if there is some, you know, what if you can get it going a little bit more on the target count? The problem is that they do. I mean, they just have, it's a different team than when he was at his best for them. Right. They just gave Bateman a big contract. You mentioned likely. they're predicated on you know Derek Henry's a big motor in this offense they have a good defense they have Zay Flowers they have DeAndre Hopkins they added this offseason so it just he's just not as necessary as he once was and the last and he's older he's gonna be 30 but my final point

35:43Andy Holloway:for him is just how efficient he was where last year he had 15 targets in the red zone he had 11 red zone touchdowns all of his touchdowns were red zone he should act like two point conversions for touchdowns easy easy but like the year before 14 targets oh man not efficient on two point conversions

36:09Jason Moore:15 targets turned into 11

36:11Andy Holloway:touchdowns the year before that 14 targets turned into 6 the year before that 18 turned into 5 like maybe it's the derrick henry effect of like the the the defense has to be so worried about that that it the efficiency went through the roof but it there's so many markers to be nervous about mark andrews

36:32Mike Wright:number eight all right we talked about him quite a bit on the last episode evan ingram was on the unsolved mysteries episode he is older than mark andrews and he comes in at eight on our rankings eight nine and nine when you look at where we have them individually ranked so we We talked a lot about Evan Ingram, the big story here. He's going to be a great target for Bo Nix. Well, that, you know, not a huge per catch kind of guy, but a very good PPR option. I took him in a full PPR draft. Full PPR makes sense. I like him a lot more there.

37:03Jason Moore:Yeah, that was the one thing I don't think we brought up well talking about Ingram on that episode was that it does make a difference to me if you're in a full PPR because his inefficiency, you know, his sub 10 yards per catch is not going to move the needle. but if you're getting a full point for every reception, he should be getting five, six receptions a game and as a tight end where he's going later in drafts. I do think I would, because I'm not really in on Evan Ingram, I would 100 % pull the trigger full PPR.

37:31Andy Holloway:I think we all got to the point where the cost just has to be better for Ingram.

37:37Mike Wright:He's sort of the most opposite of Mark Andrews a player can be. Right. The touchdowns and receptions. I mean, it's nice to see camp buzz that he was the favorite target of Bo Nix right when they put the pads on. That's awesome to see.

37:49Andy Holloway:Five-plus receptions a game last year. So it's PPR goodness. And this probably won't change things for you guys, but I did see a quote today. A player said he's going to be perfect in the Joker role for Sean Payton. The person who gave that quote, Adam Troutman. So if Adam Troutman's giving the stamp of approval, you know it's good.

38:10Mike Wright:I'll be honest. I thought maybe the head coach was saying that. No.

38:14Andy Holloway:I doubt it made me. I don't know if you followed along with the Sean Payton running back expose today. Every running back on that team is doing awesome. Literally every running back.

38:26Mike Wright:Find somebody that will work you into a podcast like Mike works Adam Troutman into a podcast.

38:31Andy Holloway:Yes. Find that person. That's true love. That's true love. Number seven.

38:36Mike Wright:David Njoku, who is our number seven tight end. I got him at six. These guys at seven. He is going into year nine as a 29-year-old. And still every bit the physical force that he's always been. He proved, you know, last year or in 2023 and last year that he can be a focal point of an offense. You know, you look at the kind of fantasy football winning season he had in 2023. He was the tight end on my championship team that year. He was better on a points-per-game basis last year. just missed time due to injuries. It's nice to see because there's a roulette at quarterback that happened all last year and it's going to happen again this year most likely and he was still a dominant force.

39:22Jason Moore:He's my second favorite target in all of fantasy four tight ends. Right now he is darn near a double digit pick because of the injuries last year because of some of the question marks of quarterback but it's not like he's been playing with great quarterback play and like you said Andy he was better this last year than the year he brought you a championship on a points per game basis david ajoku was the titan for last year it went george kittle brock bowers trey mcbride najoku and ajoku cost you jack squat go ahead and load up on running backs load up on wide receivers and then take david ajoku late and he's just as good as any of these other guys do you have to watch the browns game no you don't have to watch the points happen like the platforms now okay they actually automatically put the points in you don't

40:06Andy Holloway:have to watch to try it for so even what if the word comes out like hey can he pick it he's our

40:13Jason Moore:starter you would still be that gung-ho I am I am still gung-ho I don't think he is completely dependent obviously if if Jameis was there I would prefer it to be Flacco I think those things would would slightly elevate Najoku but I believe that his role in the offense is secure and established by the last two years so I think he's going to be necessary for the offensive system whoever the

40:38Mike Wright:quarterback is his physicality does get him banged up that would be the only other thing that I want to throw out there he's he's been hurt quite a bit over the years um but he he is definitely as a ninth round pick somebody that you can look at with top five upside if things work out and I

40:55Andy Holloway:would love it with Flacco I mean I think that's everything for me you we get the word that Joe

40:59Mike Wright:Flacco he gets close to the painted area that's what he can do but it doesn't matter I mean but

41:04Andy Holloway:it does matter to me because he was he wasn't great in the Watson games last year he was terrible

41:09Jason Moore:in them the year before I guess it matters in the sense that if we assume they're keeping both rookies that they drafted on the roster then probably Pickett or Flacco aren't on the roster in which case it would matter if Flacco wasn't on the roster but my point is one quarterback is not

41:25Mike Wright:playing 17 games for the Cleveland Browns I just want touchdowns is my point I think Joe Flacco is the most capable of throwing him a pass in the painted spot yeah i agree with that kenny pickett did not i think kenny pickett literally set all-time records of not doing that in pittsburgh correct is the only reason i i'm in love with the flacco upside of no joke which we as far as i have

41:45Andy Holloway:seen that is the route we are trending we just don't know for sure that it's going to happen

41:50Mike Wright:Yeah, 55 % of the time, good games last year. 18 % great, 27 % bust games.

42:02Andy Holloway:Jameis Winston. We have David Najoka here. He had a week with 17 targets. Oh, Jameis.

42:11Mike Wright:Jameis had an interview the other day.

42:12Andy Holloway:A tight end over the course of three weeks would be stoked to have 17 targets.

42:16Mike Wright:Did you guys see this Jameis interview where they were talking about whether the NFL humbled him? Did either of you catch this? No, I didn't see that. I'm telling you, he gave either the dumbest or the most intelligent answer in the history of football. It's a thin line. And I can't tell the difference.

42:33Jason Moore:I'm pretty sure I didn't know which one it was.

42:36Mike Wright:It was like every bit of Jameis, like this long-winded answer about the NFL not humbling him because he didn't have – his dream growing up was just to be in the NFL. It was not to win a Super Bowl. It was like once you get there, that was the end of your dreams. I didn't dream big enough. Like, if I had dreamed bigger, dreamed to win the Super Bowl. But you just can't take him seriously. You look at him talking seriously, and we've got Deucer's Alley over here. We've got one guy over there in the corner. And you can see it right now. Smirky McSmirksen. This dude, the Falcon, can't go five minutes without smirking.

43:09Mike Wright:That's how Jameis talks. If that guy right there, if the Falcon started saying something important to me,

43:15Jason Moore:you believe in that? Oh, you can't believe what he says with a giant smile on your face.

43:18Mike Wright:You imagine if he was a judge in a courtroom?

43:20Jason Moore:him oh you can't be handing down a verdict yeah you're guilty with a giant smile wait wait wait

43:28Mike Wright:am i are you joking right now yeah james is the the and that's what he is on the football field which is hilarious as a quarterback he is the dumbest and smartest at the same time all right we'll move on number six very interesting name sam laporta comes in at number six we all have him Well, Jason's the highest at number five, Mike at six, I'm at seven. I think I said something a couple shows ago or off the air about just like, I just don't see a world where Sam Laporte is not a really important part of this offense.

43:58Andy Holloway:I've been rising.

43:59Mike Wright:I mean, we have to understand the emotions of fantasy, and when you come off a number one overall season as a rookie, you put up an outlier touchdown number, and then you come back, and lo and behold, you're number seven. that's you know it was a tough start to the year it got going late but it was the worst first

44:18Andy Holloway:impression that was like where i think i had been you know grasping on to what had happened with sam laporta a little too long uh the rookie sent the rookie year was sensational and then his adp was out of control like he felt like the easiest uh do not draft player of 2024 of taking a player who did what he did on the targets in the second round is like do not very obvious do not do this do not do it and then for the whole you know through week nine he gave you a couple good games so it was a complete slam dunk victory for the show of saying do not draft him but then the second half of the year it was way way better and i mean to the point of 14 points 8 14 12 15 in the championship weekend so do you the question about laporte is not is he a good player it's was that a was that caused by the detroit lions defense falling off in the second half and all of a sudden now they have to put up way more points look they were an amazing offense i think

45:29Mike Wright:what it just comes down to is that his price is not there's no real steel here happening with sam laporta i think he's going to be a crucial part of the offense like if you look at when it mattered last year weeks 11 through 17 he's a tight end five right like he's outperforming the mark andrews run at the end of the year david njoku he was that good better than kelsey problem is he's being drafted the tight end four right now in the fifth round uh maybe in part because a lot of the old heads like people are letting those guys fly by andrews and kelsey and laporte is still exciting on a really good offense but you know i i just think from a value perspective it's not there from a performance perspective i think it will be there i think it'll be around 10 fancy points a game so if he slipped if i could get sam laporte in the sixth late sixth round i'm all over it

46:18Jason Moore:yeah i mean i i am the highest of the three of us statistically on sam laporta draft strategy wise i'm probably the lowest of the three of us on sam laporta and in fact i'm not going to bring up too much now because we're going to talk a little bit more in depth about him on monday's episode a little tease that's a professional tease yeah you want to

46:43Mike Wright:tease it further is it gonna be good stuff or bad stuff well it'll be cold it'll be on it'll be on

46:47Jason Moore:Tuesday a little freezing well then on Monday I can tease it again Mike you don't understand how

46:52Mike Wright:deep I tease number five Travis Kelsey is number five Mike yeah and uh he is 60 years old of 60.1 um no he's he is almost 36 though that's wild that's too close to my age you know what i mean yeah yeah it's just too close to my age to uh i don't know what that means i don't know if that means he shouldn't be playing i think it means you should be i should be playing or should have been able to play but this is uh this is quite the run and and what's even more crazy right now is that i think i'm kind of becoming more into first half of the season travis kelsey because you know rashi rice which we still don't have word on that about rashi rice We don't have the suspension figured out.

47:44Mike Wright:Hollywood Brown banged up again. Xavier Worthy would be fine. He has a concussion. But you just look at the offense and everything coming out about Travis Kelsey is that he's in much better shape. He definitely lost quickness last year. You can say what you want about the disappointing season. He was still better than Sam Laporte on a per-game basis over the course of the year. Ended up at tight end six. But guess what? He's being drafted there now. Now he's a mid-seventh-round pick. So it's a whole new discussion.

48:11Andy Holloway:So how, because he got a big bump when we're assuming that Rice will get a suspension and a decent one. But here we are, you know, at least at the time of this recording, we've not heard anything about it. And it's still just an assumption that it's going to happen. What, I guess the question then becomes, what is your Kelsey outlook should the Rice suspension not happen?

48:39Jason Moore:The Rice suspension will happen. I think we need to approach it as it will happen. However, if it wasn't, Rice to me makes all the difference to Travis Kelsey because they're in the same exact area of the field. They're the same first read type of target that they often go to in that system. You look at the first three weeks when Rushy Rice demanded all those targets last year. Travis Kelsey comes out, scores 4.9 points as the tight end 14. Next week, one fantasy point. Yeah, because Rice has the juice. The next week, five fantasy points, and then Rushy Rice gets injured. Right after that, Travis Kelsey's the tight end five, the tight end seven, the tight end four, the tight end two, the tight end one on a weekly basis.

49:15Jason Moore:It was like, oh, okay, because that's where Patrick Mahomes throws the ball to. So I do believe that Rashi Rice will be suspended to start the year. It's not happened yet. I'm not the commissioner, so maybe it doesn't happen.

49:28Mike Wright:I mean, six, seven games seems like it's an inevitability. Yeah, I'm not going to disagree with that, but it's like, because that's the whole conversation to me.

49:37Andy Holloway:Like if right when Rice would it seem like the suspension was getting pushed to next year. Travis Kelsey was off of my draft board.

49:44Mike Wright:So let's say that's why I'm just I think it's better to presume.

49:49Andy Holloway:Right. But what if it doesn't happen until week?

49:52Mike Wright:Then everything then everything we said before our show about Rice will just be the true stuff. OK, but right now it's in it's not that situation.

49:59Andy Holloway:Like I'm saying, are you drafting Travis Kelsey? I am willing to draft. Let's say our league of record. I would draft tomorrow.

50:05Mike Wright:Yeah, tomorrow.

50:05Jason Moore:Okay, that's the larger point. I'm drafting with confidence that Rushy Rice will be suspended this season, even if it happens to be week four before the suspension comes. I think where Travis Kelsey is being drafted in the seventh round, it doesn't sound like much of a difference. You go, oh, the fifth round, the seventh round. It's not about what round number. It's about who are the players and where are those tier breaks at running back and wide receiver. And the difference between who you're still able to get in the fifth and who you're able to get in the seventh is monumental. So I will take Travis Kelsey in the seventh and enjoy a first half run, and then I will trade him after a month or two.

50:42Mike Wright:It's very weird to have him at this spot in fantasy drafts. So, yeah, if he slips there, if he's in round seven, that works for me. And I think it could work really, really well. Like, there's a world where if Rashi Rice, which he should be suspended, and no Hollywood Brown, like, Kelsey could end up the tight end one after the first five weeks.

50:59Jason Moore:How many targets do you think Travis Kelsey was on pace for weeks four through 17, basically the weeks Rashi Rice went there?

51:05Mike Wright:It had to be over 110. 158. Yeah. This is just, this is how they roll now. They don't throw it down the field. Yeah. And if he's in a lot better shape, I mean, this is the best shape of his life.

51:17Jason Moore:I don't care about that narrative, but.

51:21Mike Wright:You don't think he worked out with Luka?

51:22Jason Moore:I don't think that you get in the best shape of your life at 36 versus 35 when you are a professional athlete.

51:28Mike Wright:I think he definitely looked, he looked too heavy last year.

51:30Jason Moore:So you think maybe it was a Swifty problem? Like he let himself go a little bit.

51:34Mike Wright:You win two Super Bowls, you have a few brewskis. That's all I'm saying.

51:39Andy Holloway:Yeah, I think you get your behind whooped in the Super Bowl. And it changes. You start making some different decisions. He is a competitive dude. Especially after that Super Bowl, it's, hey, Travis, are you retiring? Maybe. I feel like if you're not going to retire, you better make this the last run. It's a chip on a shoulder season. That's real narrative-y.

52:01Jason Moore:Just a genuine question. Do you think he's motivated to be better this year because we're higher in sports podcasts than his podcasts now? Oh, yeah. Because last year, Travis Kelsey, the Kelsies were beating us in the rankings. Not this year. Not this year.

52:19Mike Wright:You cannot control this man right now.

52:21Jason Moore:More like it's just the truth. I'm just saying the truth. You're talking about old heights? Get wrecked, Kelsies.

52:29Andy Holloway:I ain't scared of you. I'm kind of scared of your mom, but I'm not scared of you too.

52:34Jason Moore:Full disclosure, I am scared of you. But, yeah, I'm just saying he's more motivated now. That's all. He's motivated for this season.

52:42Mike Wright:He seems like an amazing time for an ad break. We'll be back with our top four.

52:50Mike Wright:All right, Foot Clan, whether you are on the go or at home, T-Mobile, well, they're built to keep you connected wherever you're scouting your fantasy team. And that on-the-go part, that is important. With America's Best Network, you'll be connected to the latest news and player projections. So when you're on the clock, you can draft a winning team. I can think of so many situations where that element of being connected while you're on the go is fundamental to fantasy football success. I'm in the midst of multiple leagues right now where I am responding to trade offers. We are massaging the trade offer.

53:20Mike Wright:We want to make sure that I'm the one that gets the player, not another player manager in our league. So trade offers when you're on the go, all the news that's breaking so you don't make a mistake. And my favorite thing, maybe I'll mention it. Look, you're sitting and you have a quiet moment somewhere out and about. You want to jump in the UDK. We've got the player profiles. You can watch all of those in there with T-Mobile. You can jump in on the player projections and our stat projections and all the 130 ,000 words of content. Again, T-Mobile making that easy to do. Every bit of news. Things are changing all the time.

53:53Mike Wright:New player contracts, all that good stuff. So from offseason to game day, every play is better with T-Mobile. What you got to do is visit T-Mobile.com slash network. Fastest is based on analysis by Ookla of speed test intelligence data of national speed score results for the second half of 2025. The best mobile network in the U.S. is based on analysis by Ookla of speed test intelligence data second half of 2025.

54:18Jason 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 workout, 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.

55:02Jason 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.

55:28Mike Wright:Back into the tight end rankings. Number four. Do we remember how good this guy was? TJ Hawkinson comes in at number four. We're giving him the respect in the rankings, and he is being drafted as the tight end five in the late fifth. As of right now, you know minnesota we're talking about jj mccarthy we're talking about this offense and tj hawkinson you know he came back last year limited snap snap counts definitely didn't look like the player he was the previous three four years but i think we know what's there when you can have enough time to recover and how important he could be to this offense you're going into the season just to lay the the foundation addison likely to miss two or three games to start the year as a result of the the dui settlement whoa whoa whoa i don't know it was a dui settlement which was settled as a i mean it's still a dui is it i thought the whole point you still do i mean he still well i know i almost said performed no performed a dui no it's still a dui i don't think

56:29Jason Moore:that was that was what he was pulled over and yes but he pled guilty to being wet reckless being

56:36Mike Wright:went reckless yeah was he driving under the influence Jason we'll never know okay um he's gonna this is not the point he's gonna miss time Jefferson's got the hammy first part of the year Hawkinson should be a great best buddy to a young quarterback in McCarthy didn't score a touchdown last year after returning do you do you throw most of last year's performance out and it seems

56:59Jason Moore:like you do with your ranking yeah Hawkinson is a very valuable player especially to a young quarterback um you know the only downside to Hawkinson to me is I do think he fits kind of that Evan Ingram role where it's at this point in his career coming off the injury you're not going to be necessarily going super far downfield you know 14 15 yards of reception or anything like that so I don't know what he was last year so he was I guess he was at 11 man Evan Ingram sucks but But, you know, the issue is he did what he was asked to do. You're still I would have asked him to break a few more tackles.

57:40Jason Moore:But if you don't want that, you don't want that. You know, the issue is just where you draft him. He's that comfort blanket that not only for J.J. McCarthy, but for the fantasy football drafter. Like when those top guys are gone and you're like, oh, I want I still want someone good. You end up with Laporta and Hawkinson.

58:01Mike Wright:those in some order you still have to spend a decent price and that's the issue but there's a risk that comes with hawkinson and just the fact that you know last year i mean to be fair to him he only played about 60 of snaps his career he's been an 80 snap guy at least but um you know you you have to expect him to be back in form have a rapport with the young quarterback these are things we don't know for sure and that's part of the risk with the selection it is nice that he's cheaper than where uh where laporta is right now but which offense do you trust more

58:37Jason Moore:like i think we're all bullish on the vikings but the risk for that is right you know he ended up

58:42Mike Wright:going uh hawkinson went 7 11 in our mock yesterday oh that's a great that was also a full um uh three wide three wide situation there i'd expect him to drop a little bit kelsey at 7 12 in yesterday's mock draft so I guess the question is do you just believe that that Hawkinson is going to be super important to the offense I tend to think he will be I I tend to think that too that's where my

59:04Andy Holloway:median projections ended up but he makes me a little nervous he he makes he feels like he's sitting right in that middle tier tight end who you're like okay I feel good I got a guy I can just leave in there every single week I don't have to go stream and you're just gonna get

59:20Mike Wright:disappointed over and over and over he's played seven games when jefferson missed time in the last couple of years and he was outrageous in those games so like it makes sense if you don't have addison like those first three weeks or anybody goes down like he went up to like almost 10 targets a game 76 yards a game super valuable but um but it is you're still paying a price and and you're you're choosing him over tedaroa mcmillan or george pickens or exactly or even you know pacheco in that round like you do have to pay quite the price for somebody you're not

59:54Jason Moore:100 on tight ends are much less about the player than about the positional strategy like to me that's what you sacrifice where you take these guys it means more than i don't think you like

1:00:08Mike Wright:hawkinson two rounds more than njoku no absolutely so that's really what it comes down to i mean i

1:00:14Jason Moore:The last 17 games rolling that Hawkinson played in, so that's no injury. It's pre-injury for half of that. He's still a consistency ranking of a C. And if you're sacrificing a George Pickens at a position you need multiple of to grab him, I like Hawk. I like Laporta. But strategy-wise, it doesn't make sense to take those guys.

1:00:37Andy Holloway:I had to look, Jason, because you're making so much fun of Evan Engram and his forcing missed tackles. oh I'm so thankful for you Mike PFF has them charted at 5 which is 5 missed tackles 5 forced missed tackles it's the same as Travis Kelsey and Mark Andrews but this is relevant to our discussion earlier because Ertz is lower than that no tied for number 1 on that list Kraft? Tucker Kraft not a manimal apparently

1:01:13Mike Wright:yeah what do you want what do you want to see you want to see him eat people on the field i would love that 15 15 force miss tackles tucker crapp i'm telling you tucker crapp you can unroll everything you said about him if you want because he is a monster yeah i mean oh jace is right we we did it we convinced him to move craft up i think i think that's that did the number one tackle breaker all right let's move on to the big boys number three george kittle i mean if there was ever a George that should just be one name only this should be the guy that gets it not Pickens but George Kittle yeah I mean right now the best bargain at the tight end position yes fourth round you'll have to spin the Bowers McBride if he if he stays in the fourth he's

1:02:02Andy Holloway:probably the best like it seems like the best value pick of the entire draft like position

1:02:09Jason Moore:agnostic yeah I said that Njoku was my second favorite tight end target Kittle is absolutely my favorite target because there is a genuine difference between a guy who can finish as the number one tight end points per game which is what he did last year and he's even more necessary to that offense this year and just got a gargantuan bag of money like he is he is 100 along with brock bowers and and trey mcbride as difference makers weekly guys that are going to help you win your not just like hawkinson or laporta where it's okay it's him and hahn it's like this guy went out and won me a week because he's a center point of their offense not just a good tight end you know that's their second or third or fourth option and and he doesn't cost you what the other

1:02:57Mike Wright:guys cost his adp is depressed because he's almost 32 years old but when you look at 38 games. It's really sad. When you look at 38 games played with Brock Purdy, six catches a game, 67 yards, .61 touchdowns, and guess what? Where are you drafting him? If you want to pull the trigger on George Kittle, the guys and the names around him in drafts right now are people with question marks. They could be great. They could be a boat. Kittle is a boat. You already know he's a boat. Like Devontae Adams. You don't take Kittle or Devontae Adams. You can take Devontae Adams. That's fine. but you don't like the certainty that comes with Kittle is better than Devontae Adams Alvin Kamara maybe on the worst offense in football that could be a really good pick there you know Kittle's a good pick there Omari and Hampton same story he could be awesome it's just you're you're entering a tier in the fourth round where you're like I think I think this guy's great right but you know

1:03:51Jason Moore:Kittle's great and that's I think what differentiates him when you've seen you've seen in times where a wide receiver goes down for the Niners and Kittle's that much more important and now you look at where they're entering this year earlier they're starting zero yeah earlier this episode you're you talked about oh it's Christian McCaffrey is the you know the big beneficiary he will be a beneficiary but I think the biggest beneficiary in the passing game is George Kittle you've got you know Jawan Jennings and an unknown Ricky Pierce although hopefully takes a step forward Brandon Ayuk is not going to be there to start the year Debo is gone they need George Kittle

1:04:25Mike Wright:where uh Mike where do you think Kittle rises in terms of production when McCaffrey finally goes

1:04:29Andy Holloway:down no that's it's not impossible it's not possible not impossible yeah that's that's the Freudian slip so um it the whole discussion on George Kittle is the value though so where does the value break and it's no longer really exciting like let's say it's front half of the third okay so half of the third anything got to be back at anything 305 and beyond okay I I is my

1:04:58Mike Wright:I agree with that. My opinion. Because it's like the, if you're taking George Kittle. Kyle got him at 309 yesterday in a mock.

1:05:04Andy Holloway:If you're taking Kittle at like 302 as opposed, you know, like in a few picks earlier than that was Trey McBride, then just value-wise that feels like you have kind of blown up the whole thing.

1:05:18Mike Wright:All right. We have two names I kind of want to talk about together, but. Number two. Trey McBride comes in at number two. We all have him at either two or three in our rankings. right now 25 years old unbelievable season almost 200 fantasy points highest target share among tight ends yeah 12.1 fancy points per game absolutely dominant despite not scoring a pile of mark andrews touchdowns i mean that was kind of the running gag over the course of the whole year i think he had like what he had a rushing fumble or a recovery touchdown like they could not connect in the end zone and it kind of it became one of those things where like the odds of connecting went lower and lower and lower because the pressure to get him a touchdown went up and up and up and i think having that just clean slate this offseason is going to make a big difference the price for training bride now is a second round draft pick are you going to be happy it's expensive this is kyron williams jsn lamar jackson chase brown that's where those guys are

1:06:22Andy Holloway:going it is it is it's nerve-wracking i think because the the advantage that some of those other second round guys can give you where i i think train mcbride will be a top three tight end like that that is what should happen it's just how how big of a point gap is he giving you over like like george kittle or whoever's at number four that that's where at the end of the worth it compared to those other players yeah that's that's the big question with the big two guys but when you draft him you have a great player that's just going to be locked into your tight end position if you number one you can figure out the other spots then then it's totally

1:07:06Mike Wright:worth it i thought you i thought i thought you'd stop talking there's really nothing else to say about these guys they're really number one brock brock bowers the thing about trey mcbride Brock Bowers comes in at number one for all of us um it's going to be a really really sweet year for Brock Bowers there's no question about his performance on the field he gets himself a real quarterback yeah um absolutely outrageous production last year he also struggled with getting into the end zone to the degree that he's probably capable of uh what is the discussion to be had here I mean obviously taking him it's him instead of Drake London him instead of Bucky Irving him instead of AJ Brown him instead of Josh Jacobs it's you might still be just a really happy person once you do it yeah I mean I don't think Brock Bowers is going to let

1:08:01Jason Moore:you down I don't think Trey McBride is going to let you down um you do still that doesn't mean you're not sacrificing something you're sacrificing a really important running back or wide receiver to get those players. The reason Brock Bowers goes ahead of Trey McBride is because Brock Bowers was a clear-cut generational prospect. He came in two years ago. We were talking about Brock Bowers before he was eligible to come to the NFL. We don't talk about, like even when Kyle Pitts was coming out and he was supposed to be great, that was just that season. Brock Bowers, from his freshman year on, was this unbelievable talent in college.

1:08:39Jason Moore:He is the reason that Ladd McConkie never had a breakout age at Georgia because he soaked up all the targets, all the receptions. He was the dominator there at tight end. And so the hope when you draft Brock Bowers is that what his rookie season was, which he finished number one, is nothing compared to what he can do because he scored 12 fantasy points per game. The years were Gronk or Kelsey. They're up there scoring 15 fantasy points per game. And that's really when you're drafting him in the second, you're going to be okay if he does what he did last year, but it's not necessarily the best fantasy pick.

1:09:17Jason Moore:What you're really hoping for that I don't think McBride can necessarily do that I do think Brock Bowers could do is elevate into lapping the field.

1:09:27Mike Wright:I don't know as we wrap this situation up, all this countdown, tight end countdown up, if you guys have sleeper tight ends on your mind, I want to throw out one name that I think will be a meaningful, productive tight end instantly.

1:09:43Jason Moore:Is it a strange name?

1:09:44Mike Wright:No, it is Mason Taylor of the New York Jets. Yeah. Who is firmly entrenched as a rookie atop the dev chart in New York on a team that really, look. They don't know who the number two wide receiver is.

1:09:56Andy Holloway:Oh, they do.

1:09:56Mike Wright:They do. It's Josh Reynolds. And that is why Mason Taylor is an amazing, amazing potential breakout candidate. it i like the talent so i think mason taylor starting you know i like tyler warren too i think tyler warren could be outstanding i do think you have a quarterback swap there colson loveland could get heavily involved i think colson loveland's gonna be more hit and miss but his hits are gonna be really cool cool situations cool games cool plays cool i don't know i kept saying that colston coolston it's all cool um you have other other late round

1:10:29Jason Moore:there's there's sleepers yeah there's there i would i would say that this is a an exceptional rookie tight end draft class and with what we've seen in the nfl i would pay attention to all of them not necessarily who you draft but if someone pops off week one if elijah arroyo who has the opportunity now that noah fan is gone if terrence ferguson who was a very highly drafted you know seahawks and terrence ferguson the rams yeah so i would pay attention to all the rookies obviously uh warren and loveland uh very high first round draft picks those those guys will be drafted in your in your draft class the only other tight end i would say you gotta know his name is brenton strange brenton strange is the evan ingram role that honestly anyone could do from last year's dolphins uh so the weight try it again yes the jaguars it's it's a new offensive system though yeah but he is already in camp being talked about as like the clear he is he is the tight end one he's yeah that's yeah you know and there's there's a lot of uh vacated targets so i i think in a ppr league that's just a name that won't be drafted that you might want to pick up early and stream

1:11:39Mike Wright:all right a reminder you can see all of our rankings including those sleepers breakouts busting values in the ultimate draft kit at ultimate draft kit.com we've got quarterback and wide receiver ranking shows coming up. We got Ice and Fire. Ice and Fire episode coming up. Another mock draft on the horizon. And looking forward to all of it. Five days a week. Click that follow button. Click subscribe over on YouTube. Stay with us for the entire season, Foot Clan, because it's going to be a lot of fun. Goodbye.

1:12:12Jason 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 FF Ballers.

1:12:47Andy Holloway:It's just you and me, boy. Two soldiers bonded for life. 58 miles. No one's coming for us. When anyone else would quit, they'll do the impossible and get home. Heart of the Beast is an uplifting triumph. You're the greatest dog ever. Red Pit. I'll get you home.

1:13:12Jason Moore:Heart of the Beast. Not playing a PG-13. Maybe inappropriate for children under 13.