QB Rankings Part Two + Cam Newton Hype, Best Ball Tips - Fantasy Football Podcast for 8/14

But he, you know, was winning you weeks and has all of his weapons there. So it's just about belief and whether you believe he has the opportunity to be that guy. For me, he's a potentially streaming option. Oh, I'd love to stream him in a really plus matchup. The weapons are there. We saw he can't explode. I don't want him to be the guy. Certainly at the beginning of the season or in any kind of mediocre matchup. Big Ben comes in at 15.

What does Big Ben have left? He finished as the number three overall quarterback in 2018, but all the question marks going into last year were built around what is Big Ben without Antonio Brown? And we don't have an answer yet. And now we have to ask the question of what is Big Ben coming off an injury without Antonio Brown? And we don't have an answer yet. I couldn't answer the first question. And now you're asking me more. What, do you got a third in there? Huh, buddy? And the truth is?

I'm not sure. I do know this. I have one answer for you. He's better than what they had in Pittsburgh last year. Yes. I can guarantee it. Here's what I know that I can answer this question with. He's going in the 11th, almost 12th round, the 16th quarterback off the board, undrafted in some leagues. At that price, I am 100% willing to take the risk that Big Ben is healthy because if he is. And you're going to find out quick in New York in week one.

Right. I mean, if he is healthy, he should crush the Giants. He will outperform that ADP without any problem. So Big Ben is probably one of my most favorite late round picks this year. There are certainly worries. I mean, you just laid out some great questions. We haven't seen someone.

come back on this timeline from this injury. This is a baseball injury, not really a football injury. Here he has it. There's not a lot of experience. The baseball timeline is longer, but he's throwing balls. He looks healthy right now in camp. And this is a good defense. That's the other thing that you need to bring into the equation. Not only is there the questions about injury in Antonio Brown, this is a defense that is back to the old Steelers way where Big Ben was more of a middle tier fantasy quarterback because they, I mean, they almost made the playoffs last year.

with the worst offense I've ever seen. That's one way to put it. I mean, it was bad. It was real, real bad. And he does have weapons with Juju and Deontay Johnson. I mean, outside of Josh Rosen-led teams, this might be the worst team. I can remember on offense last year. You have a spot reserved for Josh Rosen-led teams? That's in his own category. Yeah, they don't count. That's like, well, yeah, college football teams are worse. But, yeah, I mean, it was the backups to Big Ben were.

It just wasn't an NFL offense. Do you remember when you liked Josh Rosen? I do. I believe that I'm coming out of college. And I will say this. It is too bad. I will 100% admit my own faults. And I say all the time, I don't trust my own rookie quarterback scouting. Once they're in the NFL.

I feel like I can hit, but there's so many things you don't know. I wouldn't take too much blame on yourself when a player is drafted at the 10th overall. Well, you look at how many first round. I mean, it's okay that you believe in a guy drafted 10 overall. I'm not, I'm only saying that because I remember the hope in your heart and I remember the way you felt when that draft pick happened. It was different than the way I felt. Yeah. But like you said, Josh Rosen, collegiate quarterback. Moving on.

Cam Newton, we talked about him at the top. I have him at 19 right now, Jason at 21, Mike at 11. This is not the spot that Cam Newton will be in my rankings if he, you know, a week from now, most likely. The solidified starting role of the Patriots with Cam Newton is not 19 for me. So he's kind of sitting here. He's being drafted with the same doubts that these rankings represent, which is QB14.

probably the starter, but most people in Mox are just taking somebody else that they knows the starter. I think at this point, I mean, give our listeners the percentage chance that Cam Newton is the starter in New England at this point, because we've done this a few times over the past few weeks. Unless he gets a new injury, I would say 100%. Yeah, 100%. Yeah, I'm right there. So these rankings need to get adjusted a little bit.

The upside of Cam Newton with where you're going to have to draft him is tremendous. Now, let me put it this way, Mike, because you said 100%, you're on board with Cam. Matt Ryan's sitting there in the eighth round. Cam Newton's sitting there in the eighth round. Both have upside. We've seen it. Who are you taking? I will take, Cam. I'll go for that. We've seen the top five potential over and over, or not just potential.

the realization of being a top five fantasy quarterback. I believe that Cam Newton is healthy. He was a victim of the offseason of this new COVID life. He got stuck in a really, really hard place, had to take this deal from the Patriots, which I think will end up turning out into a very, very good deal for Cam Newton. Injury.

consultants on on Twitter they they're watching cam newton video and saying look he's healthy he is he is good to go you now you have all these running back concerns and like i was oh breaking news don't be cam newton news no this is kind of this is kind of just me having fun because players are playing football but

ESPN said Clyde Edwards O'Lear was the feature back on Friday's practice. We have our first actual practice. Our first actual practice report of a player taking reps in a specific spot. We're back. I know that wasn't really breaking news because we expect him to be. But you know what? Expecting something and having it take place in practice, we hadn't been able to validate things until right now. So I apologize. No, no need to apologize. Self-validation feels good. Yes, it does. Great.

So the question for Cam Newton is he's been a lower volume passer in terms of passing yards. And he's had a couple seasons where he's just gone off and he won an MVP. But historically, you know, like mid 3,000 yards, but then you look at the Patriot system. This is, it's the same exact question of Tom Brady going down to Bruce Arian system, which, you know, who's going to conform? Cam Newton going up to the Patriot system.

Does Cam Newton now get an elevated passing yard baseline because he's working with Bill Belichick? I just think that people, they question the receiving core because they don't know who's actually going to come out on top. Julian Edelman's older, and Akeel Harry didn't show much. Muhammad Sunu didn't show much. They questioned that. But Cam Newton, of all quarterbacks, has been here before. Yep. He, his foundational receiver was Kelvin Benjamin for years in Carolina.

where he was a viable fantasy option. Again, it still was on the... Devon Funches. Yeah, these are not players that should really be... I mean, Calvin Benjamin left Carolina and poofed. He had his time. Yeah, he was good because of Cam, not in spite of Cam. Right. He just disappeared from the league, basically. And so I just think that the ambiguity adds to the draft capital questions for the receivers and for Cam Newton in New England. By the way, when I have a bad off season...

I hope my contingency plan is to become the starting quarterback for Bill Belichick. Fair enough. The off season wins so bad that he's the starting quarterback for the Patriots. But the upside is tremendous for Caminoon. And, you know, there's a reason Vegas made him one of the best odds at NFL MVP when he signed. That doesn't seem like something you would make that jump immediately. That's pretty wild. But the storyline is there. You can see it in front of your face. Bill Belichick.

wants to prove as much as Tom Brady that it was him. And to speak and compare, because I'm not quite as bullish on Cam Newton. I do recognize he's always been good for fantasy. The rushing baseline, the rushing touchdowns will be there. I like him much more in four-point passing leagues because he will have, you know, five, six, seven rushing touchdowns, but probably be low 20s in the passing touchdowns. But one thing that has changed since I originally stated Cam Newton is,

the Patriots defense. We were just talking about how great the Steelers defense is, and maybe that hurts Big Ben, but they lost some pieces to the opt-out on their defense. Sure. And so that great, unfathomably locked down first half of the last year defense for the Patriots, that's not what Cam's going to have. He might have to. And it started to fade over the back half of the year, too, with the more difficult matchups. You're right. You're right. He might not have.

I mean, how many opt-outs have they had on defense? Three or four, but they're big names. Heightower, Chung. Yeah, it's important pieces. Ryan Tannahill comes in at 17. Kirk Cousins at 18. Jason's the lowest on Tanna Hill at 24. What happened? You're saying because I left last year super high on Tanya Hill. Yes.

What happened is... He's lowered in one spot per day. No. What happened here? It's just liking other players, I assume. Part of it is liking other players. Yeah, 23 other guys. But part of it. So I'm not... Look, we talk about there's 40, you know, quarterbacks that can hit top 12. This is my quarterback 24 and I'm fine with Tanna Hill. I think he's okay. But when I went back... 24 in my ranks, number one in my heart. That's a classic cliche. I would say 24 in my ranks, 18 in my heart.

if I'm being honest. The reality is we have a very large sample of watching Tanna Hill play football. And last year, his efficiency was fantastic. He was a superstar. He was one of the best quarterbacks, the entirety of his season that he played from week seven on. It's all the Adam Gase work he had in his previous. The release from Adam Gase helps players. So, oh, mercy, the release from Adam Gase. What?

Well, well, well. From the team. Yeah, from the control. So, but the reality is, I think that their red zone efficiency, A.J. Brown's incredible ability to never be tackled after he catches the football. What about that Jono Smith hype, man? We got some today. I like Jonah Smith. He's high up in my rankings. I think Tanna Hill is good, not great.

And I think for fantasy purposes, that's what you're going to get. You're going to get good and not great. And I'm fine with Tannahill here, but I'm just not excited. I don't expect him to keep the level of efficiency he had last season. I'm really sorry that I brought up Adam Gase on this show. Thank you. Unnecessary. The truth is, is when Ryan Tanna Hill was in Miami. There was offseason hype multiple times because of what he was able to do with stretches in Miami as a fantasy.

I mean, he finished eighth in his season. It wasn't out of nowhere for Ryan Tannenhill to me. We saw some progression before the Adam Gay's problems. So to go to Kirk Cousins here, it's tough because Kirk Cousins is very, very good. He is an excellent real-life quarterback. They asked him to do way less last year. Now he came through with the efficiency of, you know, to Stefan Diggs, what was happening with all the deep touchdowns.

I don't know if they'll be able to ask that little of him this year. This is like that's why he's where he is in my ranking. This is the hope for Kirk Cousins is that, well, I mean, the hope for Kirk Couss fantasy outlook, not for Minnesota Vikings fans, but their defense, it got exposed at the like the second half of last year. They just lost Griffin, who they were really hoping to bring back on the defensive line. Like their defense.

is going to be a problem. And if it really is a problem, if Coach Zimmer can't figure out how to piece it back together, Kirk Cousins is going to have to do more, and he can do more. He can be incredibly efficient. It reminds me of the Tony Romo years where, and what's funny, Tony Romo never got the respect. I thought he deserved it at the quarterback position either. So with Adam Thielen, I think Kirk Cousins can be a solid, you know,

fringe QB1. I don't even ranked anywhere there. I'm trying to paint the picture of what could go right for Kirk Cousins. I'm not going to draft that. When they play an offense, it's going to score a big, you know, against the Minnesota defense that is beat up. You can look to Kirk Cousins to get you a fantasy streaming performance, in my opinion. Agreed. We need to get into best ball. I want to read the last two. Jared Goff, Gardner, Minsh, who come in at 19 and 20. But then I want to throw this out on the table for you guys. Somebody.

ranked between 21 and 30 that you think has the chance to surprise at the quarterback position this year. And that group is Joe Burrow, Derek Carr, Baker Mayfield, Philip Rivers, Jimmy G, Sam Darnold, Teddy Bridgewater, Drew Locke. I mean, these players will be started this year.