Hour 2:  Matthew Berry Talks 2026 Fantasy Football Season, plus Brockman’s Powerless Rankings

0:00Rich Eisen:You know when you're locked in, focused and fearless. Welcome to the WNBA. Your vision narrows. You can't look away. Every assist, every stop, every logo three. From beyond the logo. Every did you see that moment. You bet. What records are going to be broken this season? All of it right here. Lock in. It's the WNBA on ESPN. All season long. This is The Rich Eisen Show. Hey, everybody. Can't get enough of The Rich Eisen Show? You're in luck. You can find us everywhere. Watch us weekdays on Disney Plus from noon to 3 Eastern. Miss the show? We've got a podcast so you can listen anytime. But here's the best part.

0:49Rich Eisen:Our YouTube channel. Subscribe at youtube.com slash richeisenshow and you'll never miss a moment. Now, on with the show. This is the Rich Eisen Show. With guest host, O'Shea Jackson Jr. Live from the Rich Eisen Show studio in Los Angeles. If Aaron Donald's back, that's a problem, man. Earlier on the show, Big 3 basketball star, Montrezl Harrell. Coming up, fantasy football analyst, Matthew Berry. WWE superstar, Tiffany Stratton. And now, sitting in for Rich, it's O'Shea Jackson Jr.

1:33Hello there, neighbor. It's good to see y 'all, man. Chris Brockman, man. Hey, what's up, Jay? It's almost time for Everyman Group's national holiday, which is draft day. Oh, yeah, man. That fantasy football draft, dude, it is stressful. Cannot wait. How do you do your draft? We do a live in-person draft for most people who can make it. In the city of the team that wins the Super Bowl. That's kind of baller. Back to Seattle. Big flex. Yeah, we went to Seattle last time in 2014. Now we're going back. Excited. That is a – that's pretty crazy. I'm hoping to play Chambers Bay up there if anybody wants to get me on at tea time.

2:20How many people in your league? 14. Man's League. Too many. Too many. 14. Man's league. Man's league. You know what I mean? I'm in a man's league and we ain't got 14. How long does everybody get for each pick? Uh-oh. Well. No, here's the kicker shake.

2:37Rich Eisen:This is your man's league for you. Okay. No time limits. That's great. You're a sick freak. That's great. Our draft usually takes about eight hours. Yeah, I'm going to tell you right now, I'm in a 16-man. Yeah. It's gross. That's even worse. But since I am in such a brutal league and I've been in it and I will not leave, even though they keep trying to quit, but I won't quit until I win. I need advice. Therefore, I have to ask experts. And so when they told me that I was hosting the Rich Eisen Show, I thought about, hmm, how do I get this Matthew Barry text off? Invite him on the show. And I can text him while I interview.

3:15What's going on, Matthew Barry? Welcome to the Rich Eisen Show. What's up, y 'all? What's going on, man? And good to see you, my friend, as always. How are you doing? Good to see you. Now you know. I like Seattle, by the way. That is a baller move. I agree with you. I would argue that a 14-team league is not a man's league. It is a 16-team league like you. Back in the 06-018 days, we always talked about a man's league. It was always 16 teams. But getting on a plane and flying to the Super Bowl champion, wherever it was, the city of the Super Bowl champion. So in this case, they're getting on a plane going to Seattle.

3:46That's a baller move. That's very cool. That is gentleman-like. Chris Brockman. My goodness. All right, man. The stressful time that we all wait for, which honestly is the best part of the league for me. It's the one time where everybody's together. I also do a live draft where everybody's together. Everybody's trash talking. Losers bringing in the feast for everybody, whoever was last place. I think we're going Howlin' Rays this year, by the way. But, yeah, it's the best time of year. It's the worst time of year. I need to know, man, when you draft, are you like – I'm a guy who sometimes it bites me because I'm trying to balance it too much.

4:36Like, oh, I need another wide receiver here. I should take another wide receiver here. Are you more of a stockpile of position if the guy's right there, you just got to grab him, or are you trying to balance out when you draft? I let the draft come to me. It obviously depends on your format. It depends on league size, right? You know, like in a 16-team league like you're in, O'Shea, like every pick needs to count. If I'm in a 10-team league where teams are more stacked, I'm willing to take more chances, right, because I know the wave wire is going to be fairly thick and I can, you know, make up for mistakes during the season.

5:11Depends, like, am I in a guillotine league? So I'm drafting players with more floor than I am upside, right? So I think I'm a big believer in just sort of let the draft come to you, and I'm a big best player available. I'm not a guy that, to answer your question about a specific player or anything like that or a specific position, I will say this, that the draft is just one piece of the puzzle, right? You're building a foundation for a team. You don't have to, like your team's going to change throughout the course of the season, whether it's injuries, whether it's free agent pickups, trades that you make.

5:40So I'm a big believer, like I said, in best player available. So if you're just like, man, I would much rather grab stockpile like a bunch of wide receivers. Like if I'm wide receiver, wide receiver, and it's like, man, I really need a tight end. But I'm sitting there looking and like, man, none of these tight ends are any good. But there is still this great wide receiver that's out there. Even though I, quote, don't need a wide receiver, I'll draft the wide receiver because now you have trade depth. I would much rather just – I would rather get the best player and then I've got depth to trade rather than reaching for, you know, a tight end or running back just because I need someone.

6:13That makes sense. Absolutely. I've always felt like fantasy basketball, that's one in the draft. Waver wire is where you win your fantasy football draft. Finding that lucky grab that just turns into a star going on later on, and everybody's looking for that. But there's also some fool's gold out there. You know, you're always waiting for the guy to either, you know, he's a fan of a team, so he's got to grab him. You know, he's got to grab, you know, CeeDee Lamb. That's how I got Saquon Barkley last year because of my man JaVale. Sorry, JaVale. I had to grab CeeDee Lamb with, like, the fourth pick, which is wild to me, but that's fine.

6:59It's not my team. What fool's gold do you see out there? Well, look, I don't love the phrase fool's gold just because I believe Every player has a value. It's just, but whose player, what are some players where their ADP is a little bit too high, their average draft position? You know, this Jonathan Brooks drumbeat in Carolina keeps getting louder every single second. And so Chuba Hubbard, who lost his job for a while to Rico Dowda last year, you keep hearing, you know, so many great conversations about Jonathan Brooks and how strong he looks. And this is a guy, again, who's had serious injuries over the last couple of years, but somebody that Carolina drafted very, very early.

7:39And so I think people that are drafting Chuba Hubbard expecting the full workload they got last season. That might be a little concerning. Look, I love Devontae Adams. He is one of the best wide receivers in the NFL. He is a Hall of Famer to me. But last year, if you look at his fantasy production, it was very touchdown-reliant. When they got in close, Matthew Stafford was constantly looking for Devontae Adams. And so, you know, in a world where Pukinakua stays healthy this season, in a world where they go a little bit more run-heavy when they get in close, I feel like Sean McVay really wanted Stafford to win the MVP season, the MVP last year, right?

8:12And so they just kind of peppered Devontae Adams with all these touchdowns. Look, and there's no one better in the red zone than Devontae Adams. But I'm just nervous that – I'm always nervous about players that are super touchdown-reliant for their fantasy production. I think he's going to be very good, Devontae Adams. I don't know that he lives up to what he did last year because I don't think Stafford does either. Stafford's one of the best quarterbacks in the NFL, but I don't think we're seeing, you know, that kind of touchdown production out of Stafford, which has traditionally not been what he has done.

8:38Sean McVay traditionally has run when he gets in close. That's why Kyle Williams has been so good. So those are a couple of guys that I think might be going a little bit too high right now. okay now as far as you know a lot of teams have been kind of finding these these backs that they get behind and you know a lot of surprise names pop up mid-season and things like that would you say um in fantasy ppr you know you want catches you know you want catches and things like that are you more of a depending on on your backs to be your your foundation or do you you got to get to right wide yeah again it's all about um best player available there's some very good running backs there's some very good uh very good wide receivers and listen if you had Trey McBride last year you're you were counting on your tight end right so I don't know that it's really a position specific thing O'Shea here's what I would say though is that uh there's been a lot of research that's been done and check it out at fantasylife.com by the way where we have a where we have a bunch of this research but one of the things uh that you notice is that a a running back target a running back reception is worth more than a running back carry in terms of what that turns into fantasy production i won't bore you with all the math behind it we've done the studies but i will just tell you that generally speaking this makes sense right if you can get a running back that catches passes or a wide receiver that can run anytime you can earn points multiple ways That's why we like quarterbacks that run, that can get you points with their legs and their arm.

10:11And so that would be, I always prefer pass-catching running backs to first and second down grinders when I can get them. Matthew, you talked about guys maybe being overdrafted or their ADP or who are a little too hot. One of those guys coming into this year is Luther Burden. I am going to keep him because I have last-round value on Luther Burden. But what are your thoughts on this Bears kind of up-and-comer and the Bears offense in general. I love Luther Burden. I'm not alone. He's a trendy sleeper this year in fantasy football, and rightfully so. You saw how he kind of exploded over the second half of the year, really came into his own.

10:49I'm a big fan of Ben Johnson and his play calling. Think about DJ Moore now in Buffalo. So there's more targets available for Luther Burden. I think there's a very legit argument as to whether or not you want Luther Burden this year versus Roma Doons. Remember, Roma Doons was a top 10 overall pick. You've obviously got Colston Loveland there. I think Caleb Williams has a big year this year. I think the entire Bears offense, I think you want as many pieces of the Bears offense as you can get. But specifically the Luther Burden, yeah, I'm a big fan. I think a monster year is coming for him. Where is he?

11:18Is he third round, fourth round? What's too early for him? See, I think that's about the right range. You know, I think fourth round, again, depends on the size of your league. You're going to 12-team league. It's a 12-team three-wide receiver league, that he's going to go earlier than a 10-team, two-wide receiver league. So it all depends on sort of position requirements and league size. But Luther Burton is a trendy sleeper. If you're going to want him, you're going to need to draft him early because there's a lot of people that like him a lot, Brockman, like you and I. I will just say this, generally speaking.

11:52Look, I do rankings for a living. I've done them for almost three decades, right? Of course. I think I'm pretty good at them. even I even I don't follow my rankings to a tee rankings are a guideline I get this question all the time is I really want Jeremiah Love this year but I have the fifth pick is that too early for Jeremiah Love look you're not getting him on the come around you're not if you want Jeremiah Love then draft him exactly you know draft him at the fifth pick is that higher than I currently have him it is but you know what fantasy football is a game we ultimately play for fun and the minute the first snap happens all the rankings are out the window where was Luther Burton last year I I mean, think about where, you know, Caleb Williams was last year.

12:30Think about, you know, where Rico Dowdle was drafted last year. So it's just as soon as the first snap happens, everything's out the window. So I'm a big believer in get the players you want. Use rankings, whether it's mine or somebody else's that you trust. Use them as a guideline, but literally just a guideline, because what rankings do is they reflect market value. And none of us can predict the future. So if you want Jeremiah Love, if you want Luther Burden, Whoever it is you want, get your guys, man. Yeah, that's great advice. Follow that. If you want a guy, just take him. Like you said, fantasy is all about fun and rooting for guys you like and want to watch play.

13:07Think about the teams you want to watch play every Sunday too. All right, quarterback question, Matthew. Of the kind of big, big names that we expect big things from, who kind of scares you the most for 2026? Who scares me the most? Who maybe may not be as good as we kind of traditionally have thought? Oh, boy, I like them all. It's a loaded question. I will tell you that I am a huge Jackson Dart fan. But, you know, given the fact that him and Malik Neighbors, what did they play last together? 12 snaps, 20 snaps, something like that last year together? Yeah, exactly. And, of course, Neighbors has been rehabbing this year.

13:48And so they haven't had a lot of time offseason as well. It's a new offense greater, a new offense. We don't know how Isaiah Leifle is going to fit in there. And so, and Dart, who again, you know, he's so dynamic, but you're worried about those concussions as well. I just, Jackson Dart is somebody who I'm a huge fan of, but he, I am nervous about his production, at least early in the season until we know 100 % what's the health of neighbors, what's the health of Cam Scadaboo, and what's this offense going to look like?

14:16Rich Eisen:Matthew, what up? TJ here. A lot of people don't know me and Matt Berry go back to like 2009 when I was doing a fantasy football show before fantasy football really blew up and I was dressed as the chef, the cowboy chef. So that's how he would do it. Like what was an essence of zoom? Like even before, but webcast became a thing. It was you stream. It was you stream. It was a stream. I got to give a shout out to TJ. Seriously, TJ and Ashton Kutcher, seriously, the actor Ashton Kutcher and TJ would do it like a fantasy football stream. Was that what 2009 2008 8 9 yeah yeah i mean so you guys were really early on the scene and i just remember as somebody that's been you know a lifelong fantasy you know fantasy player and has fought for the hobby and fought for the game for so long to to get respect to get me you know the idea that i would be on a mainstream show like this talking about fantasy football was incredible you know 20 years ago and the fact that ashton tj did this in a big star ashton was a big star it still is obviously, but at the time, the idea that a big star like Ashton would do a fantasy football program was huge for the community.

15:23I met Ashton once and I told him that, thank you. And that's how TJ and I became friends is because honestly, I don't think Ashton would have done the show without having TJ next to him. So no, seriously, that was a big thing for the industry. So much love and respect to you guys.

15:38Rich Eisen:It was big for us too. And it was something that like for two years previous, we had talked about doing it, but we didn't do it. And then one Sunday, one Saturday, he called me. He goes, I'm filming this on Monday in the office. Are you in? And I was like, well, of course I'm in. And we just made ourselves do it. So our league is actually auction, Matt, you know, so we don't do the serpentine. So it's like you're dealing with a budget here. The big position, like you said earlier, running back. And we know the names at the top of the list. So tell me, for the people who are in auction leagues, who would you bid the most money on?

16:11Rich Eisen:Who would you spend the most money on the running back position? I mean, look, you know, all the obvious names are right there. Look, I have B. John. I have Jameer Gibbs and B. John Robinson right there at one, two, just like everyone. So those are the two running backs that should go for the most money. But here's what I'll say just in general when you're doing a salary cap league or as you call the T.J. an auction league, when you're doing something like that. I'm a big believer in, as we just talked about with Brockman, like, get your guys. Here's my strategy there. Too many times I've been in those kind of drafts where people are like, oh, you know, I really want Carnell Tate.

16:46So they're sitting there and they're like, I'm going to hold on to Carnell Tate. And then you get to, and then all these big name wide receivers go. And then you get to Carnell Tate and you're like, I've got him marked up for like, I think he's a$20 player. And then like, but you get there and there's three other guys that love Carnell Tate and he's like the last wide receiver two guy left, and all of a sudden he's going for$35.

17:07Rich Eisen:Yeah. So I'm a big believer. I'm a big believer, and if there's a guy that you want in that type of draft, throw him out there. So like I used Jeremiah Love earlier. Let's say you want Jeremiah Love and you've got him listed. Again, it depends on your salary cap and your scoring system and how many teams, but let's call him a$45 player just for a number. So he's a$45 player, And so you've marked out that I'm willing to go to$50 for Jeremiah Love because I really believe in him this year. I love him. Well, I want to throw him out early because I want to know either do I get Jeremiah Love for$50 or less.

17:39But in a world where there's a bidding war and there's three other great fans of Jeremiah and he goes for like$55 or$60 because people at the beginning of those kind of drafts tend to spend a lot of money, then you can at least pivot as opposed to you let Saquon go by and he goes for less than he should because people are out on Saquon this year. or James Cook or some of these other running backs that have been around for a little bit longer. And then you're – so you're missing out on the bargains, and then it gets to the player you want, and you get outbid because there's three or four other teams that have too much money left.

18:11So I'm a big believer in throwing out the player you want early so you know whether you've got him or if you have to pivot. The last thing I will say about a league like that is it's very important to understand where the values come. Sometimes they come early in the draft because everyone's holding on to their money. Sometimes they come late in the draft because everyone spent their money, and sometimes they happen in the middle. But those are ones where just every single player you need to go in knowing, this is what I'm willing to spend on this player. And if that price comes in at that or under, you have to pull the trigger.

18:42Rich Eisen:Yeah, you definitely don't want to be holding on to money when the draft's over because, one, they're not real ducats, Shea. So you can't buy nothing with this money. And, you know, I'm defending. I won last year, and I was the first person done. I spent all of my money first because I recognized who I wanted. I got them, and it let me do a championship. By the way, TJ, O'Shea, O'Shea, do you believe like I do that the entire reason for TJ asking that question was so that he could drop that he won the league last year? 1 ,000%, Matthew. He really does know you. That's what I'm talking about, man.

19:21I mean, it was just so clearly. I was just like, where's TJ going with this? You know, I won last year. There we go. You had to slip that in.

19:27Rich Eisen:For the fourth time. For the fourth time. Four time. Four time. Four time in 25 years. Now, who are some rooks, you know, you're looking at or some people you think are going to be in a sophomore slump, you know, that were probably hot last year. Now they got the scout report on them, and it might take a step back. So let's start with some of the rookies I like. We've already talked about Jeremiah Love. I think Jordan Tyson has a monster year. I know there's concerns about the health, But I'm a big believer in this entire Saints office, this entire Kellen Moore offense. I love what they did last year.

19:59Very quietly, Tyler Shuck was top 10 in passing yards over the second half of last season. Now you had Jordan Tyson to Chris Olave. Second year in the system, they improved the offensive line. Etienne in the backfield. Like, I think the Saints offense in a division that doesn't scare you. So I'm a big believer in Jordan Tyson this year. Obviously, he needs to stay healthy. You heard me just mention Carnell Tate. I think Tennessee is going to be kind of a, I don't think Tennessee is going to be great. But I think as an offense, like I'm a Brian Dayball believer. I believe in him as a play caller.

20:27So I think they've spent a lot of money. You know, say what you want about the Titans, but they are giving Cam Ward every chance of success, adding Dayball as a play caller. Obviously, Carnell Tate, I think Wondell Robinson coming in there. I actually really like Gunnar Helm, their young tight end, who flashed a couple of times last year. So I'm excited to see Carnell Tate in Tennessee, where I think he'll get a big target share. And I also think Jadarian Price, again, let's find out how Zach Charbonnet does in terms of his rehab as we get closer to the season here. But that was a late season.

21:02I mean, ACL tears are really tough. The injury to Charbonnet was a very severe injury that happened late in the season. It was in the playoffs. So I don't know when we're going to see Zach Charbonnet, but Jadarian Price has a chance to, pardon the pun, run away with his job. as he gets in there and as the coaching staff gets more comfortable with him and trusts him. He doesn't have a ton of competition in camp. They use the first-round pick on Price. So I think he is somebody who, over the first half of the season, just in terms of how that team wants to run its offense, they want to run, to set up play action, play good defense.

21:40And the fact that it's an offense that will be in scoring position often, not a lot of competition. Yeah, I like Price quite a bit. And I know people are worried about, well, what happens when Charbonnet comes back? I'm like, well, let's see. Let's see when he comes back. We don't even know when he's going to come back and what he looks like, but I promise you, if Price is getting the job done, he's still going to have a significant role for the Seattle Seahawks. And I'll just give you... Starting on the PUP list, TJ. Yep. Yeah. And I'll give you a deep one here. I'll give you a deep one here.

22:07This is one to stash towards the, you know, I think he's a second half guy. But how about Jonah Coleman, the running back to the Denver Broncos? Yes. You know, like, loved his college tape. And then you think about R.J. Harvey, like by re-signing J.K. Dobbins and drafting Jonah Coleman, the Broncos sort of told you what they think of R.J. Harvey, right? That he's somebody that they can use on third down. They can use him as kind of a scat back. But it doesn't feel like they want R.J. Harvey to be their guy this year. They got a long look at him last year as the lead running back. J.K. Dobbins, who's come back there.

22:39I know it's kind of a three-headed monster. And Sean Payton has always used multiple running backs, even though he's not calling the plays this year. It's still going to be a Sean Payton offense. it but i just believe that again when you think about i think there's a ceiling to what rj harvey can do the fact that jk dobbins as much as we love jk he has trouble he has struggled to stay healthy i think there's a scenario where jonah coleman is the starting running back of the broncos over the second half of the season so that's a that's a that's a guy i like to draft and stash now i'm in a 16 man league you know we're all friends we've all been friends for for years, over decades, some going into two decades.

23:16So there's nothing like that tension that's in the room when you're with your close pals and you draft somebody and the room doesn't erupt. It's just kind of quiet. Like, oh, man, was that a bad pick? Reach. So it's all, yeah, exactly. Reach. So we know it's a mental game. And for me, a mental game that I like to play is, I might take a quarterback a little early. So now everybody's thinking, oh my God, so is he thinking quarterback? Should I get my quarterback now? Might take a defense a little early, you know, just so people start thinking like, oh, should I get one of the top ones right now?