0:11

Hey everybody, It's Wednesday, May twenty

0:13

twenty four. Welcome to the NFL Fantasy

0:15

Football Podcast for We Know Better than the Best with Kendrick

0:18

Lamar.

0:18

It's been your man named g Markus Grant.

0:20

Joined by Michael f Florio and Lakwan

0:22

Jones and fellas I know, this time of year,

0:24

we get to kind of have some fun, do some things sort of outside

0:26

the box, and to kind of help us

0:29

along with that, we had

0:31

Bucky Brooks, who you can see on NFL

0:33

Network and in a million other places. Buck

0:35

one, we appreciate the time too. We were talking about this before

0:37

the show. How is it that you have the time and energy

0:40

to do all of the things that you do

0:43

well?

0:44

I mean, when I'm not listening to the latest

0:46

disc tracks from Kendrick andre, I

0:49

find a little time to squeeze in some

0:52

met times. So now it's been fun, man, look all things ball

0:54

like, like a lot of other things that we

0:56

could be doing, but like being able to talk about ball

0:58

like. It doesn't get much better than that.

1:01

Very true.

1:02

Yeah, So we wanted to get you on because obviously the draft

1:04

is wrapped up, you know, mini camps and O tas and stuff.

1:06

They're gonna be starting up. They have started up

1:08

in a lot of places already, so kind of want to get some of your

1:10

thoughts on things that have gone

1:13

on so far and how you kind of project

1:16

some things. Figure, we started

1:18

a quarterback because why not? Because that was the big

1:20

talk, especially at the top of the draft. And

1:22

you know, we saw Caleb Williams

1:24

go number one. You know, we

1:26

saw where Jayden Daniels and Drake Man, all

1:28

these guys went. We know that

1:30

all the talk about Caleb is that he's a guy who's ready

1:33

to step in and be maybe the guy

1:35

for the Bears. But beyond that, are

1:37

there any quarterbacks in this rookie class that

1:39

you think are ready to be starters in day

1:41

one?

1:42

I think Jayden and Daniel would be a starter from day one.

1:45

I think when you look at Jayden Daniels going

1:47

to Washington. Given Cliff Kingsbury's

1:49

history, we've seen what Cliff Kingsbury did.

1:51

He turned Calum Murray into the offensive

1:54

rookie the year and Kyler Murray's first season. He's

1:57

familiar with building game plans

2:00

around a player and an athlete like this

2:02

at the quarterback position, and with

2:04

you know, Jayden and Daniels the difference with him,

2:07

and like Drake May and JJ McCarthy,

2:09

he enters the league with fifty five collegiate starts.

2:12

Like when everyone is looking for maybe the secret sauce

2:14

behind Brock Purdy's success. Rock Purdy

2:16

played almost fifty college

2:19

games before he entered the league, and look,

2:21

it's not exactly the same as playing in the NFL,

2:23

but that experience matters. Those reps matter,

2:26

Jayde and Daniels reps first Arizona

2:28

State, then at LSU will will

2:31

give him an opportunity to have success immediately

2:33

in Washington. And then when you're throw in the athletic

2:36

factor, the fact that he can run around and use his legs,

2:39

that also kind of buys you the

2:42

opportunity to kind of get on the field and get on the field

2:44

right away. Yeah.

2:46

I mean, look, Jayde and Daniel has some

2:48

nice weapons around him. And we talked about

2:50

Cliff Kingsbury last part, and like, I'm

2:52

wondering your thoughts on Luke McCaffrey

2:54

have like his ability to be used under

2:57

a Cliff Kingsbury's system. I

2:59

mean, he looks like a complete weapon that you

3:01

can utilize all over the offense.

3:04

Yeah, No, it's interesting because there's been a lot

3:06

of excitement and buzz about Luke McCaffrey, and normally

3:08

you don't hear that kind of buzz and excitement

3:10

over a Day three pick. But I

3:13

think some of it is the family business, you

3:15

know, you think about all the McCaffrey's and how many

3:17

have had success in the National Football League.

3:19

But then also the opportunity and that offense.

3:21

There's an opportunity for him to be able to

3:24

get on the field and to play and have a role

3:26

because you can't stop Scary Terry and

3:28

you can't stop Johan Dockson without

3:31

leaving someone in one on one coverage. And

3:33

the McCaffrey shown ability to put the ball in the pain

3:35

as a playmaker in the red zone. That

3:37

offense with Jaden Daniels, the ball can go anywhere,

3:39

particularly when he leaves the pocket. So

3:41

that'll give me a chance to look be a

3:44

very impactful performer. I'm not saying hey be

3:46

pooking the cool, but he could carve

3:48

out a role, a nice role for himself as a rookie.

3:51

So I want to ask you about another quarterback. Let's

3:53

head down to Atlanta. Did the Falcons

3:55

make the right move getting Michael Pennix.

3:58

So like, look, this is just

4:00

because the amount of capital that the Atlanta Falcons

4:02

use to acquire Kirk Cousins first

4:05

and then Michael Pennix. Normally, when you see

4:07

these situations, you talk about a bridge

4:09

quarterback. There's a middling quarterback that

4:12

is struggling to kind of stay relevant in the league,

4:14

and then you bring in the hot shot rookie. Well,

4:16

now you have the most expensive quarterback

4:19

on the free agent market. The Atlanta Falcons gobble

4:22

him up, and then they come and use a top

4:24

ten pick on Michael Pennix. I

4:26

would say the plan is solid, the execution

4:29

is faulty just because you

4:31

simply don't commit those kinds

4:33

of assets to it. And the only

4:35

way that they can look right, and

4:38

look, they really won't look right. But winning

4:41

solves everything. So if Michael Pennix jumps

4:43

into the mix and plays at a high level, when

4:45

the next day's like, see, look he was just so good we

4:47

couldn't pass him up. Much like Brock Purdy

4:49

has allowed the Niners to kind of hide from

4:52

the Trey Lance thing. It just comes down

4:54

to performance. If Kirk Cousins or

4:56

Michael Pennick plays at a high level, it won't

4:58

matter. The conversation will be mute and

5:01

speak of the Big six.

5:02

When outside of maybe Michael Pennix,

5:05

do you think we see these guys starting

5:07

by like by week one, by

5:09

October or something going to sit all year?

5:11

When do you think we see these guys?

5:14

So I think the first three to

5:16

start will be Kayla Williams,

5:18

Jayden Daniels and bow Knicks. Respective

5:21

then I think it's a bit of a roll

5:23

of the dice when it comes to Drake

5:26

may and JJ McCarthy and

5:28

Michael Pennix, because J. J. McCarthy

5:31

it's kind of stuck behind the great Sam

5:33

Donald and Sam Donald, like

5:35

we've heard, I think what we're seven years in where

5:38

we're talking about this is his year, this is his year. Here,

5:41

Kevin O'Connell is going to dust off. He's

5:44

finally got the instructions how to play with the toy

5:46

and so we're going to see the best version of Sam

5:48

Donald in Minnesota. In New

5:51

England, I think they want to really have

5:53

a slow cook process with Drake

5:56

may Hey, let Jacoby Brissett kind

5:58

of get beat up until they can build the offense

6:00

line, until they can get the weapons and drop Drake May

6:02

in maybe week eight, week nine, when

6:05

he's ready. Michael Pennis, we talked about Kirk

6:07

Cousins. Kirk Cousins is gonna be the starter, the reason

6:09

why bo Nix is in that category. I

6:12

just believe that Sean Payton subscribes to that

6:14

I told you so theory, and so he

6:17

wants to kind of put him in the mix and

6:19

tell everybody I told you he was going to be good

6:21

because I'm the quarterback guru. I can make

6:24

him work. And so when everyone

6:26

is talking about bow Knicks not even rating as

6:28

a first round talent, I

6:30

think Sean Payton wants to show the football

6:32

world no, no, no, he's a first

6:34

round talent and here's why, and this is why we're

6:36

going to win with it.

6:38

You mentioned JJ McCarthy and sam Donold

6:40

there in Minnesota. I mean, I feel like McCarthy

6:42

was one of the more polarizing

6:45

prospects out there right because you know, some

6:47

guys looked at it. Some people look at him and said, well, he

6:49

was helped by all the talent around him. Some people said,

6:51

well, he's just a winner and he's smart and he knows

6:53

what to do. Where do you come down

6:55

on JJ McCarthy, Which version of

6:58

the story are you more leaning toward.

7:00

I'm more in the winner guy category. And

7:03

the only reason I'll say that is because

7:05

I think JJ McCarthy was very intentional about

7:07

his college plans. You know, he was a four

7:10

or five star quarterback who could have gone anywhere, and

7:12

he decided to go to Michigan knowing that

7:14

Michigan was going to run the football and run it

7:17

like relentlessly with Jim Harbaugh. And

7:19

so that decision to do that speaks volumes

7:21

about who he is in terms of willing to check

7:24

his ego at the door. From a

7:26

talent standpoint, he's very talented.

7:28

I mean, he's a player that can make all the throws in

7:30

the pocket. He also has the athleticism

7:32

to add a dimension to the offense.

7:34

We saw him do that from time to time in Michigan.

7:37

The one thing that we don't have, and it's not

7:39

his fault, is the style of play. We

7:41

don't have many moments

7:43

where he had to put the entire offense on

7:46

his back because they were always planning front.

7:48

The running game was always kind of thriving. It's

7:51

rare that we've had to see him in those moments.

7:53

Doesn't mean that he can't do it. We just don't

7:55

have any evidence to say, hey, he's

7:58

going to be this because he did that while

8:00

he was a collegiate.

8:02

I guys, was it really an old documentary

8:04

that killed Spencer Rattler's draft stock? I mean, this

8:06

is a guy he was a Heisman candidate

8:09

like a few years ago, right, and all of a sudden, you know, I mean

8:11

he loses his job to Caleb Williams, he ends up

8:13

transferring. I mean, what happened

8:15

with Spencer Rattler? And does he have the skills

8:17

to be successful in the NFL.

8:20

I would say this because it's funny like watching that

8:23

kind of play out in the Twitter verse. I will

8:25

say it didn't help him. I say, anyone

8:27

who watched him on QB one, even

8:29

though he was a teenager, he was eighteen. He

8:32

didn't come off great, you know, and sometimes,

8:35

man, though it's hard to it's

8:38

hard to forget those impressions when

8:40

you're an evaluator. The other thing is

8:42

everyone is outraged at the NFL

8:44

would consider something that he did in high

8:46

school, but that's what they do for all prospects like

8:48

Marcus and you guys might if

8:51

y'all were being drafted, your high

8:53

school coach would get a phone call. You know, he

8:55

would get a questionnaire, he would get a letter, he would get a phone

8:57

call. He might even get a visit based on what

8:59

you may I've been involved in in high school.

9:01

That's kind of part of the process as you're trying to

9:03

learn the player. The bigger thing that hurt

9:06

Spencer Radler is.

9:07

Yeah, dude, he got beat up by Kayleb Williams

9:10

quickly at Oklahoma,

9:12

like four or five games in, like they're playing Texas.

9:14

You look up, You're like, WHOA Spencer Radler is

9:16

supposed to be a Heisman candidate

9:19

and Caleb Williams is not only in the

9:21

game, Kaylen Williams is leading

9:23

the Sooners back, so that that plays

9:25

the part. And then when he transferred, he went to South Carolina

9:28

and he didn't really light

9:30

it up.

9:31

And when you watch his game, I

9:33

don't know what his superpower is, Like he

9:35

doesn't have the arm talent that Kayler

9:37

Williams possesses. He doesn't run around

9:39

like Jaydon Daniels. Look,

9:41

he's a solid playmaker and bo Knicks

9:43

with both knicks is a better physical specimen,

9:46

so he just kind of gets stuck. Maybe

9:48

he can do the Brock party thing, because that's why Brock perty

9:51

landed in the seventh round, because he didn't kind of

9:53

pass all the pageant requirements. So maybe

9:56

Spencer Radler is a better player than

9:58

he is a prospect, just because he plays

10:00

the game at a higher level than he looks when

10:03

he walks out on the field. Yeah.

10:05

Just I know, he was a guy that, again, I

10:07

think early in draft season his stocks sort of dropped.

10:11

You know, there are people making a case for him that maybe he ends

10:13

up being of value. I just you know, I was sort

10:15

of I didn't really know what to make of Spencer

10:17

Rattler, but because the again he went from being Heisman

10:20

candidate to a guy that just kind of fell off the

10:22

radar with sort of sort of kind of

10:24

a head scratcher to me. Talking about Bucky

10:26

Brooks, we take a quick break, come back with more. We dive

10:28

into wide receivers and running backs here

10:30

in the NFL Fantasy Football podcast.

10:37

Suck some wide receivers, I mean, because it

10:39

was the position that everybody talked about Florio.

10:41

Any any questions you got about wide house.

10:43

Right now, look, Bucky, I would

10:46

ask you about thirty wide receivers

10:48

in this class if I could, because it's it's a really

10:50

deep class and I liked a lot of the

10:52

players in it. But have we

10:55

overrated the depth of this class at all? Or

10:57

or is the opposite? Is this class going to surprise

11:00

maybe with even some later round breakouts.

11:02

I think we've overrated it because the conversation

11:05

coming out was, hey, this is a deep talented

11:07

collection of pass catchers, and

11:09

it is, but they're different categories

11:12

for how we put the pass catches.

11:14

I would say the top

11:16

three were different than everybody

11:19

else. Marvin Harrison Junior, Roma Dunza,

11:22

Malik Neighbors, they were in a different category.

11:24

The next person right after that was Brian Thomas

11:26

Junior. He was the one of the

11:28

group that remained that had

11:31

wide receiver one potential. The

11:33

thing that you didn't know is, Okay,

11:35

it's not as polished as those other guys,

11:37

but man, the talent is there. I kind

11:39

of compare him to T Higgins, you

11:42

know how you like T Higgins? Like T Higgins,

11:45

maybe he's a one. We know he's a great too, but

11:47

maybe he's a one. If Jamar Chase isn't there. We just

11:49

don't know. That's how Brian Thomas looked.

11:51

But then after that, I think there were a

11:53

lot of guys who are destined to be role

11:55

players, and they have to be with the right team, asked

11:58

to play in the right world role to really

12:00

maximize who they are. So when

12:03

you think about the Xavier

12:05

Worthies and the lad mcconkey's and

12:07

the Ricky Piersoll's and those guys, they're really

12:09

good players. Uh they could be B plus

12:11

players, maybe a minus players, but it may

12:13

be a minus player in a specific role, not

12:16

the transcendent player

12:18

to a we can just drop him in any offense. He's gonna

12:20

have a lot of success. But no, there are a lot of players

12:24

that will have success. I

12:26

just don't know if they will be the lead,

12:29

uh the leading man in their their

12:31

destinated uh soap opera.

12:34

So we well, you mentioned Xavier

12:36

Worthy and the guy of his size and his profile,

12:39

like could he be super productive

12:41

with the Chiefs and Patrick Mahomes and that offense.

12:44

I mean we got some little distractions

12:46

going on off field stuff, you know, right,

12:48

So I feel like, you know.

12:50

Work, that's what that's

12:53

what we call those things Okay,

13:00

I think Zavier Worthy is interesting.

13:03

I wasn't as high on Xavier

13:05

Worthy as somewhere coming out of the combine,

13:08

But now that he's landed with Kansas City, I can

13:10

see Andy Reid's vision. Remember,

13:13

everybody sees somebody as

13:15

kind of like a Yesteryear player. So for

13:17

Andy Reid, this is Yesteryear's

13:20

Dashawn Jackson, you know, like you

13:22

can see him sitting at the table like, oh, It'scott

13:24

d Jackie's skinny, He's this and that, y'all team.

13:26

He can but DeShawn Jackson was

13:29

able to do so if he's put

13:31

in that role, yeah, he can kill it. Now the

13:33

issue that you have is loove

13:35

Man Rahi Rice was just coming into

13:37

his own right. You could kind of envision how they're going

13:39

to utilize him and whatever. At

13:41

a minimum, we know he's gonna be on the sideline for some

13:43

suspensions, maybe even more,

13:46

and so that changes a

13:48

little bit of the construct of the offense because

13:51

now we know Travis Kelsey's there, But Travis

13:53

Kelsey is in the twilight of his career and

13:55

he can't be the lead horse the

13:57

entire season. So who feels

14:00

some of the production that was look we was

14:02

pegged to go to Rice. I

14:04

think they still have to figure out. To me,

14:07

zab Worthy's production will be as the

14:09

designated big play guy, the guy

14:11

that some games you look up he got three catches

14:13

for ninety yards because he's had

14:16

big passes in those things. And then there

14:18

may be a couple games where he's quiet two

14:20

for twelve, two for fifteen. So to me,

14:22

he's more of a kind

14:24

of boom or bus projection in terms

14:26

of what the production is going to be his first season.

14:29

That's about Molik Neighbors, because you

14:31

know, he was a guy that everybody loved, and

14:33

at least for Fantasy, we saw him go to

14:36

New York go to the Giants and we all kind

14:38

of got heartbroken along a little bit.

14:42

Can he elevate Daniel Jones?

14:44

I mean, look, the targets are gonna be there because

14:47

there's not really a lot of places to go necessarily

14:49

with the football. Can he elevate Daniel

14:51

Jones? Or is you know Danny

14:54

Dimes kind of is what he is? I mean, can he sort

14:56

of rise above that?

14:57

No man.

15:00

That is man like? That's the thing that everyone

15:02

because you love him, you watch him on takee me like Oh, he's

15:04

so fascinating whatever, And with the six

15:07

pick the New York jail, You're like, no,

15:13

that said Brian Dave Bowl is really good offensive

15:17

mine, He'll find a way to get him the ball. I think

15:19

he still can function and look,

15:21

maybe he's able to do one of those DeAndre Hopkins

15:23

type things where it doesn't matter how bad the quarterback

15:25

is, like he kind of finds a way to continue to produce

15:28

at a high level. He's really good, and I would say the

15:30

strength of his game is the ability

15:32

to make things happen after the cats, and

15:34

that might be the saving grace. So with the bubble

15:36

screens, the quick throws, the slants,

15:39

maybe he's able to kind of tally enough

15:42

yard is to put up the numbers that you want from

15:44

a number one receiver.

15:45

Fucky, I'm wondering how much when you're looking

15:47

at these rookies, is it

15:50

what you thought coming in? Because I didn't

15:52

love Keyon Coleman as a prospect coming in, but

15:55

I absolutely love his landing spot

15:57

and I'm like all the bill stuff behind me, I'm

15:59

like, Josh Allen, this style of wide receiver

16:01

could could be dangerous.

16:02

So I guess too.

16:04

Full question like, how do you balance

16:06

that landing spot in what you thought of a player?

16:08

And do you think key On Coleman could

16:10

be a good fit with Josh Allen and the Bills?

16:12

The yellow Jackie got you, huh, the yellow buffer.

16:16

The buffer gots you the personality. So

16:19

so here's here's the thing, and here's what you want

16:22

to do. Like like where we are

16:24

in the media world, Like as a scout, you want to be objective

16:26

and so you can't be tied to your

16:28

opinions per se because a lot of the stuff you're doing

16:30

is speculating without really knowing where they're going.

16:33

Well, now once you see where they go, to me, it

16:35

becomes a much easier evail because

16:38

you understand where he's going, who he's playing

16:40

with, and what the plan is, the proposed plan

16:42

for the player. Well, yeah, Kean Coleman

16:44

to me, like, I mean, he ain't asleeper because

16:46

everyone knows but Keyan Coleman in Buffalo

16:49

he has a chance to be the number one receiver. If

16:51

he goes somewhere else, he doesn't get a chance to

16:53

play that role because now you hear

16:55

the conversation about Josh Allen basically hand

16:58

picked him. Oh, I'm going all on

17:00

Kean Coleman because Josh Allen

17:02

has invested interest in making sure that his

17:04

hand picked receiver plays. I'll

17:07

say this, what hurt Kean Covian in the

17:09

draft is he didn't run fast at the combine,

17:11

but you still got to look at the tape and

17:13

watch what he did at Florida State. This dude is bean

17:16

topping everybody. He's catching balls everywhere.

17:18

He's super acrobatic. He's a red zone

17:20

weapon and the underrated

17:22

value. When you're looking at wide receivers, find

17:25

guys that have return ability,

17:28

because what return ability does is it

17:31

showcases the ability to run after

17:33

the catch. Kean Coleman, at his size

17:35

was returning punts for Florida State. That

17:37

tells me, man, we can get this guy in space. We

17:40

can do some things. And I didn't make

17:42

this comparison before, but I'll make it

17:44

now. He reminds me of Keenan Allen

17:47

because Keenan Allen was also another guy

17:49

that was a big guy that returned punts. I think

17:51

at cal a little bit, Kean

17:54

Coleman may end up having some of that

17:56

stuff. He's not that route runner now, but

17:59

man if Josha Allen says, I want you

18:02

where do you think the ball is gonna hit. It's

18:04

going to edit in his direction because everyone wants

18:06

to be correct.

18:07

So, now that we know landing spots outside

18:10

of Marvin Harrison Junior, which

18:13

wide receiver do you think will have like year

18:15

one impact, Like who will have the

18:18

number one spot out of that rookie class?

18:21

The number one spot outside of Marvin

18:24

Harrison Junior. We already

18:26

talked about Malik Okay. I

18:28

will say this, if you talk about biggest impact,

18:31

I think Brian Thomas Junior could have a significant

18:33

impact. And this is why in

18:36

Jacksonville because everyone look last

18:38

year I see Marks doing on TV the hype train. The

18:45

hype train was big on Jacksonville

18:47

last year, and so because they

18:50

ran off the tracks, everybody is off of

18:52

them. I would say this year they're

18:54

better positioned to do what everyone thought that they

18:56

would do last year, just because the

18:58

talent on the outside. So the

19:01

best two playmakers on the jack Wars

19:03

offense are Christian Kirk and Evan Ingram. The ball

19:05

goes to them, like the coaches have said, that's where the ball

19:08

is going. Well, now they bring over Gabe

19:10

Davis, who averaged over sixteen yards per

19:12

catch, had twenty seven touchdowns in Buffalo.

19:15

Well, somebody on the other side is also going to

19:17

get one on one covered, and that's BTJ And

19:20

so he gets one on one coverage

19:22

as a vertical stretch player and he's super

19:24

fast. So for years they've

19:26

had to play half court basketball because they didn't

19:28

have the vertical element. Now you have

19:31

two guys and you have to think early on,

19:33

all the attention will be on Kirk

19:35

and Ingram and then gave Davis because

19:38

they've seen him in the league. That creates plenty

19:40

of opportunities for Thomas Junior

19:42

to have big plays. And so when we

19:44

talk about impact, I think about impact

19:46

in terms of explosive plays catches

19:48

over twenty yards. To me, he's

19:51

going to have an opportunity to be well up in that

19:53

category because he's gonna get a lot of one on ones and

19:55

I think they'll push the ball down the field.

19:57

So you talk about that right in crowded wide receiver

19:59

room and that sort of thing. And you know, there

20:02

was all this chatter that the Niners were going

20:04

to make a trade at some point that you know

20:06

they couldn't keep both Debo and

20:08

Brandon Ayuk.

20:09

For now, they're both still there.

20:11

I know they're working on an extension for Ayuk,

20:13

but they also go out and they draft Ricky

20:15

Piersoll.

20:17

Is there space for all three of those guys?

20:19

Look?

20:20

I mean, I guess if anybody can sort of scheme it up, it might

20:22

be Kyle Shanahan. But it feels like it's gonna

20:24

be hard for all three of those guys

20:26

to really coexist, you know, successfully

20:29

in that offense.

20:30

I think it's a direct reaction to Super Bowl and

20:33

without knowing what Debo pulled

20:36

in in the Super Bowl, Kyle

20:38

Shanahan walked away from that game with

20:41

a loss, but he also walked away knowing that, Man,

20:43

now that we lost this game like this, everybody's

20:46

gonna play us the same way. Meaning everyone's

20:48

gonna play man de Man against the forty nine.

20:50

Is because Man de Man took away the layups that

20:53

were going to Brock Purdy that first quarter when they

20:55

went up and down the field, they were hitting the middle

20:57

of the scene or whatever can see. He quickly switched

20:59

to say, hey, we got to take away these And

21:02

what happened is they found that Deebo Samuy couldn't

21:04

get open against man coverage. Brandon a

21:06

Yuk didn't get the production. He was getting open,

21:08

but he didn't get the production. Well. Kyle Shanahan

21:11

wanted another route runner to

21:13

fill out the wide receiver cord. That's

21:15

Ricky Piersoll. So now when they play

21:17

those teams that attempt to play man demand,

21:21

they're going to have more options because remember it

21:23

wasn't even Kansas City. If you go back

21:25

and look at Cleveland, Cleveland

21:28

stopped the Niners offense because they played

21:30

man demand'll make like sixty percent of

21:32

their snaps. Shanahan is anticipating

21:35

facing more man demand. He wanted a

21:37

route runner. Ricky Pearsol is a route runner.

21:39

That's why he wanted to take him early. So there's

21:42

opportunities for all of those guys. But

21:45

it may be matchup base more so than a

21:47

just throw out the lineup card. This is how

21:49

we're gonna play.

21:50

And Bucky, we've asked you about a lot of wide

21:52

receivers here, but is there any fantasy

21:55

sleepers that our listeners maybe should

21:57

write down for draft season?

22:00

Fantasy sleeper So that means running back anything

22:03

that we can go anywhere on the board receivers,

22:07

but you could take it anywhere. I

22:10

was just make sure had

22:12

the proper context. I would say,

22:14

just as an overall fantasy sleeper, I

22:16

would just keep an eye on Blake Corn with the La

22:19

Rams and the reason why we were keep an eye

22:21

on Blake when you look

22:23

at look, man, this dude put the ball in

22:25

the paint. I think fifty eight rushing touchdowns

22:27

at Michigan. I

22:30

watched, I'm watching how the Rams

22:32

are switching over their ofference from being more of a

22:34

zone scheme to a gap scheme. But

22:36

that's exactly what he played in at Michigan. So

22:38

Sean mcvayh was able to take someone and

22:41

say, this guy played in what we're

22:43

going to do. He's a perfect fit for

22:45

us. And even though they have Karon Williams. Man,

22:48

you know how Sean McVay falls in and out

22:50

of love with running backs. He loveti early

22:52

one moment camp

22:54

Akers, Oh, camp Akers, You're my guy. And I

22:56

can't find camp Akers anymore, you know.

22:59

And so Williams is a toast

23:01

of the town in by week seven, it

23:03

may be Blake Korn's team. So just keep an eye on

23:05

Blake Krn being the guy.

23:07

Yes, this is the part that Lakwan

23:10

is going to clip later and he's going to make this a social

23:12

post. Fact,

23:15

he's gonna retweet it like five times. It's absolutely

23:17

gonna happen. We'll

23:19

take more quick break. Come back, we'll talk to about running

23:21

backs. I got Bucky Brooks here a great conversations taking

23:23

around for more of the NFL Fantasy Football Podcast.

23:31

Uh so, yeah, let's talk some running backs here. So we

23:33

talked about the wide receivers. The thing you mentioned

23:35

is that maybe we got a little bit too hyped

23:37

on this wide receiver class. On the flip

23:40

side, everybody was really down on this group

23:42

of running backs. I Bucky

23:44

have been of the opinion that people

23:46

were down on them mainly because there

23:48

weren't one or two guys at

23:50

the top.

23:51

Right.

23:51

We didn't have a Bijon Robinson,

23:53

for instance, in this class. It wasn't like we had

23:55

Sakwon Barkley or whatever in this group. Have

23:59

we underrated the of this running back class

24:01

or is it really just not great?

24:04

Yeah, there's not I would say there's

24:07

not that star player. So it's

24:09

not so much that everyone was devaluing them. I don't

24:11

think anyone merited what Bijon

24:13

was and I think anyone can look at Jon

24:16

and see Bjeon as a rookie and just see, oh

24:18

man, this talent that he has is

24:20

different. I would say that the players that were

24:22

in this class are more situational

24:25

playmakers, guys that need to play a specific

24:28

role. They're not guys that can handle the entire

24:32

obligation that normally comes along with being the workhorse.

24:34

And so it's gonna be really important that you find

24:36

the right guys that fit into

24:39

the role that is going to really work well for them.

24:41

You know, I talked about Blake Korn like

24:43

he's a great fit. I think will Shipley's in a great

24:45

place, even though it's a little different with say

24:47

Kwon Barkley being there. Will Shipley's

24:49

in a nice thing because he's Christian

24:52

McCaffrey liked in terms of like

24:54

how he plays and then an offense that

24:56

we use the running back in a few different ways. He's

24:58

gonna have a lot of But I can say

25:00

the same thing about Isaac Gerendo

25:03

for the San Francisco forty nine ths forty

25:06

nine ers, like he's gonna be a guy that is going

25:08

to have an opportunity to play in those things. So it's

25:11

really kind of shaking the bushes and

25:13

looking at the fits to find the running

25:15

back that could surprise, even though on the

25:17

surface, coming into the league there wasn't

25:19

anyone that you were wild about.

25:21

So we talked about some of these running

25:24

backs and Trey Benson is a guy that I

25:26

absolutely love, but who was a guy that

25:28

you just saw the landing spot It's

25:30

like, okay, yeah, he's going to be able to produce

25:32

and have a brave feature there.

25:34

Yeah, no so and talking about it

25:36

like Kormer is obviously one. Shiffley

25:40

is another one that you just

25:42

kind of talk about, like, man, that appears

25:44

to be a really good fit. Trey Benson

25:47

in Arizona is interesting because

25:50

he has an opportunity to be the young guy in

25:52

the backfield. And there's something too that James

25:54

Conners played for a long time, like he's

25:57

been the guy for a minute. But yeah,

25:59

yeah, young dynamic being able

26:01

to kind of have an opportunity

26:03

to do it. Yeah, those guys

26:06

are fascinated. But I think, man, this one is like it's

26:08

really about digging deep because the

26:10

problem with this running back class is

26:12

we had a free agent class that none of us expected,

26:15

right, We didn't expect the free agents

26:17

to get paid. We didn't expect Josh Jacobs to end up

26:19

in Green Bay. Like, we just kind of thought they all would

26:21

be sitting out the passion. That's it. No

26:23

more old running backs. But now you have

26:26

these guys doing that. I mean, shoot, Zeke Yelliot's

26:28

come back, come back, and he's acting like

26:30

he's gonna be the feature player. I was like waiting two

26:32

years ago. Two years ago, we were ready

26:34

to get rid of him. So I think some of these

26:37

young guys are hamstrung

26:39

by their situations where it may take a while

26:41

for them to really pop. It might be a year

26:43

where we have to turn back the clock and lean on a bunch

26:45

of older guys early until

26:47

those young guys can kind of separate from the pack.

26:50

So I mean, real quick about that. Can That's

26:52

not making me feel better about Marshawn Lloyd. I

26:55

wanted him to go to a great place, Bucky, he

26:57

goes to Green Bay. I think he's a really talented

26:59

guy, but he's stuck behind Josh Jacobs. I mean, it

27:01

feels like this is just at least for the next two years,

27:04

he's probably just stuck.

27:05

Right, It seems like that, right, because

27:07

like when we've seen the way they played Aaron Jones

27:10

and AJ Dillon, there's not enough

27:12

evidence to say that Matt Lafloyd knows how

27:14

to fully maximize two running backs that

27:16

can play. You know, like it was always

27:18

hey, Jones, you do all

27:21

of the work and oh he he's dealing with throw you in

27:23

every now and then and kind of get it done.

27:25

With Josh Jacobs, you know he loves the heavy

27:27

workload. He did it and with the Raiders

27:29

he can catch it out the backfield. So you don't

27:32

have these clear lines where

27:34

you can say, Okay, he's gonna play this role and

27:36

Marshton is gonna play that other role. But you never the

27:38

one thing we know about running backs man sprained

27:41

ankle bruise

27:43

here there. It gives guys an opportunity.

27:46

It's just it's murkier

27:49

than we've seen at the position

27:51

than in previous years.

27:54

And the one that everyone kind of thought

27:56

would be the RB one in this class, Jonathan

27:58

Brooks obviously the

28:00

season ending injury in college.

28:02

But Ian Rapaport after he

28:04

got drafted was like, no, they expect him to be ready

28:06

in July. So, Bucky, what

28:09

are your expectations for Jonathan

28:11

Brooks in year one.

28:13

I think it's hard to really have high expectations

28:15

one. Normally, I know people

28:17

come back from an ACL, but normally it takes two

28:19

years before you really settled in. And

28:22

so to think that he's gonna come off of the ACL,

28:25

jump right into the mix and be the guy. And also,

28:27

don't they have Miles They have Miles Sanders

28:29

there, they still have some other running backs there.

28:32

I would think that they would probably be fairly conservative

28:34

in their approach. If he plays

28:36

man, maybe he does some stuff down

28:39

the stretch like the last half of

28:41

the season, but it's hard to count

28:43

on that.

28:44

Uh.

28:44

I expect him to play. He's super talented, he has a lot

28:46

of ability. It's just a matter of that he's gonna

28:48

be healthy enough to kind of handle the responsibility

28:51

of being a guy that gets in the mix and plays a lot.

28:53

So the fantasy streets are buzzing right now

28:56

around Kamanie the Dell going to the

28:58

Chargers and they already have all

29:00

want two punch with JK. Dobbins and Gus

29:02

Edwards. So the fantasy streets are thinking

29:05

or leaning on the sign that he may have a larger

29:07

role or should we just be worried

29:09

that you know, they already have a larger mouse to feed

29:11

there.

29:13

No, because I think with JK. Dobbins,

29:15

you got to treat him. If we're playing space, you got to treat JK.

29:17

Dobbins as possible. You can't count that book. You

29:19

don't know if he's going. Yeah,

29:22

you can't count it. Like if it works, it

29:25

works. But so so now it's

29:27

a situation with Gus Edwards and

29:30

but All and I would say this watching him super

29:32

productive at Troy, I

29:35

mean just like a go getter, like you

29:37

see him handle a heavy workload.

29:39

He kind of has the right temperament. And the one thing that we

29:41

know about Jim Harbaugh, he's gonna run

29:43

the football. The other thing that would know just by looking

29:46

at Michigan, he's gonna do it with multiple

29:48

running backs. He did it up there even

29:50

though they had Blake Cormby, had another running back, Donovan

29:52

that could make it happen. So yeah,

29:55

I would be okay with that. I would keep an eye on him.

29:57

I would I think you stash him

29:59

and you just to wait and see how how it plays

30:01

out. But he's certainly gonna get an opportunity because

30:03

one thing we know, he is going to

30:06

run the football. He said it. You can continue

30:08

to believe him and not believe him, but they are

30:10

going to run the football. And I will say

30:12

this, the last time the Chargers, like

30:14

going way back, had a mentality

30:18

at the top of the team that was

30:20

like Jim Harbar, was Marty Schottenheimer.

30:23

Look up LT Statstant look

30:25

at the amount of touchdowns that LT was putting

30:28

up back then, and they were Look, they were a

30:30

running team and he had everybody. He had a quarterback,

30:32

he had Philip Rivers, he had Drew Rees,

30:34

and they still ran the football. So for me, I

30:37

am more intrigued by that because he is going

30:39

to try and establish the team's mentality

30:42

and they're gonna run the football, so all those

30:44

guys in the backfield are gonna be viable options.

30:46

I mean, I go back to even at Stanford, he

30:48

had Andrew Luck and he ran the football.

30:50

I mean, that's that's that's what he does.

30:52

Like he had us thinking, Yeah,

30:54

he had us thinking that Toby Gerhard was like a real

30:56

dude, like a high run dude. So

30:58

they're gonna run, They're gonna run the foo. So yeah, but

31:01

all being there is somewhat adventures. For sure,

31:05

Roman's offense running a lot.

31:06

I'm not sure.

31:10

I gotta ask you about tight ends because we

31:12

all love brock Bauers. He go to the

31:15

Raiders. Does this mean they gave up on Michael? I

31:17

like Michael Mayer too, I mean, the dude had a

31:19

great career Notre Dame. Does this mean

31:21

they've given up on Michael Mayer or are they gonna actually

31:23

try to run two tight ends out there

31:26

now?

31:26

No, I think they're gonna run two tight ends. I think

31:28

this was a situation where you hear this

31:31

time of year, best player available. He was the best player

31:33

available. I think some teams had him rad

31:36

as a top five player on the board. The

31:38

Raiders get to him, the quarterback's not there because

31:40

there was an assumption that if Michael Penix were there,

31:42

he was gonna be their guy. So Penix is off the board.

31:44

So now you have black bars staring

31:46

you right there, and you're like, oh my goodness, Like how

31:49

great is this? I think what

31:51

they will have an opportunity to do is people call

31:53

twelve personnel, one back, two tight ends to our

31:55

receivers. And what that does is

31:57

it balance out the way the defense has to play.

32:00

It changes the coverages that you can see. So will

32:03

not only kind of open up the

32:05

feel for like Michael

32:07

Mayer, it may open up the field for DeVante Adams

32:09

because it's harder to double team with two tight ends

32:12

on the field. The problem

32:15

do we really believe that Garna Minshew's is gonna

32:17

be able to be the quarterback to do it?

32:19

And people get excited about Garner Minshew, but I

32:21

remember there are a lot of games we had one hundred and

32:23

fifty or so yards for the in Andapolis Colts

32:26

and they went in spite of, not because

32:28

of And so that's the situation. Who

32:30

is going to be the guy that's throwing it? Because Bowers can

32:33

be as talented as anybody,

32:35

But can the quarterback get them the ball? That's

32:38

mean all the question with the Raiders.

32:40

And when we were talking about tight ends at draft

32:42

season, it felt like Brock Bauers was the only

32:45

one. But there's some other

32:47

guys like Ben sanat Jatavian Sanders,

32:49

Eric All. Is there any tight

32:51

end now that we know landing spot that

32:54

you think could have a year one impact?

32:56

Just Tavian Centers just because

32:58

he goes to Carolina. Uh, Drew

33:00

Canalys is gonna make sure that he does everything in his

33:03

power to fix the quarterback.

33:05

So Bryce Young, They've upgraded the pieces

33:07

around them. Deontay Johnson coming over. We still have Adam

33:09

Thielen. You have

33:12

weapons that can can can

33:14

move the needle. Well, someone has to be

33:16

able to control the middle of the field. That's where Saunis comes

33:18

in. He comes in and does it because that's what

33:21

he did at Texas. He dominated right

33:23

down the seams. It's an easy throw for

33:25

the quarterback. He's the guy that I were

33:27

kind of peg as. Hey, let's keep an eye on him

33:29

because his production could be through the roofs.

33:31

First year, I'm actually on the clock. I'm

33:34

going to be drafting him.

33:36

They look lucky he's drafting

33:38

right now.

33:40

Man. We appreciate, We appreciate the time, appreciate

33:42

the insights. I know you and you and DJ still

33:44

doing move the sticks? What the what else you got

33:46

going on?

33:47

Yeah? No, move the sticks? So we got that that going.

33:49

We're on a little weak vacation.

33:52

DJ's all tired from the draft, so we're gonna take

33:54

some time off and then we'll get back together.

33:56

And got to start digging into it in the summer.

33:58

So now, look, man, it's all fun. This is a fun time

34:00

of year because the hard part is guessing

34:02

where guys are gonna go now that you see him.

34:04

This is the fun part, being able to kind of get excited

34:07

when the schedule comes out hopefully next week,

34:10

get a chance to kind of pig when guys are gonna make those

34:12

major jumps. So I'm enjoying this part of it.

34:14

I gotta ask about that too, in the schedule down.

34:15

I know there's there's kind of been this thing about the

34:18

you know, the post buy rookie bump.

34:20

Is that is that really a thing?

34:21

Do rookies sort of like take a jump in

34:24

your experience after having a bye.

34:25

Week sometimes because you got to remember,

34:27

so like physically, these

34:29

guys have not had a break. I mean,

34:32

look since before the summer of their

34:35

final seasons because the way that the schedule

34:37

goes, like they go from playing to then the All

34:39

Star Games to combine to mini camps

34:42

to playing, so that week bye

34:44

is the first time to they'll be able to take a deep breath

34:46

and kind of just chill out for a

34:49

bit. So yeah, like they kind of can get

34:51

their sea legs back, kind of figure out, oh what

34:53

am I doing? Because it's been a whirlwind. That

34:55

first year playing in the league is is kind

34:57

of chaotic because you just don't know what

35:00

is going on. So yeah, that's your work.

35:02

M definitely something to keep in mind,

35:04

surious we go through the season. Bucky, appreciate

35:06

you, man. Let's talk again soon.

35:08

Hey man, thanks sh having on guys.

35:09

All right, Bucky Brooks there and that'll

35:11

do it for us. By the way, we appreciate y'all hanging out

35:13

with us. We have to cheat sheet for you coming up tomorrow.

35:16

We appreciate everybody who's been jumping in on that as

35:18

well, So look for that live streaming on

35:20

YouTube in the meantime. That'll do it for this edition

35:23

of the NFL Fantasy Football Podcast for the

35:25

Kawan Jones, Michael if Flora, Marcus

35:27

Grant, stay happy, safe and healthy, do good and live

35:29

well, happy drafted everybody, Talk

35:31

to you again real soon.