Fantasy Football Podcast 2016 - Ameer Abdullah Interview, "Bland" Players, News & Notes

Oh, well, it depends on the quarterback. That's always the answer right now. They're back to back, which is funny because the name popped into my head before I even looked. Right now they're back to back. If it's Gino Smith, I will take Larry Fitzgerald.

Yeah, they're 28 and 29. You know, the reason that I'm not going to take them is just because there are three guys versus two guys. You bring up the Decker and the Emmanuel Sanders. Those guys don't have to share the wealth as much. That's why I like Fitz. But that's why I prefer the other guys over Fitz. Yes, I'm very greedy. But I will say this, just to go to Mike's point that.

Fitz is probably being overlooked a little bit. During those last three games, you know, I was one of those, look, everybody was a little down in the Arizona Cardinals wide receiver offense, or so that's the question. So I went and I looked and said, well,

You know, how did the other guys do? The narrative can't just hold true for Larry Fitzgerald, but yet Michael Floyd had a fine game or John Brown had a fine game. But during even those three games, you're exactly right, Mike. I mean, Larry Fitzgerald was ahead of John Brown, who was ahead of Michael Floyd in those games. So it was really just the passing offense and the game flow didn't matter for those games, hurt their fantasy seasons. And those were genuinely...

fluky type games. The thing about Arizona is they averaged 30.6 points a game last season. New York average 24. So you're talking about an extra touchdown of availability in an extra 600-something yards to go around. So that's the real gamble that you take with picking a guy in Arizona. You've got the upside and you've got the risk of, okay, there's three guys in the mix, plus David Johnson. Oh, all right. Emmanuel Sanders, I brought him up. We're going to talk about him as well. He's one of those guys right now.

that is going in those middle rounds like Larry Fitzgerald. And I'm the first to admit it. I look at Emmanuel Sanders. I see regression in like total numbers last year. Obviously when Peyton Manning fails from a fantasy perspective like he did last season, it's easy to do that. But I look at Emmanuel Sanders right now and I say, I don't care if it's Paxton Lynch or it's Mark Sanchez or it's some other quarterback that I don't know. Right.

I'm just worried about the production level because of the quarterback. Should I be? And this is what I'll say. So Sanders, 137 targets that was good for 12th. He was 19th in receptions with, he had 76. He had over 1,100 yards and six touchdowns. I mean, he had a good season, but it just didn't feel like it. And I already asked you, I got you guys with this question yesterday, so I'm going to set up the Foot Clan with this. How many?

passing touchdowns to Peyton Manning, the great Peyton Manning have last year. I will say this. I aimed very, very, very low in my guess because I knew it was terrible. What was your guess? I think it was in the teens. You think you guessed 19. I think it was 17 or 19. And the answer is nine. Peyton Manning. That's how bad he was. We think, oh man, yeah, he was really bad. Oh no. He was.

The worst. He had nine touchdowns. He was throwing at less than a 60% completion rate. His average is over 65. You were talking about Super Bowl champion, Peyton Manning. Oh, yeah, I guess. Sure. That's fine. I'm talking with fantasy numbers here. Give me Robert Griffin throwing the ball. And it was just not good. And there was a lot of Brock Osweiler as well. And he had 10 touchdowns and just over 60%. Now, look, if they go with butt fumble, Mark Sanchez,

The previous two seasons, Sanchez has played in 13 games. In those 13 games, he threw 18 touchdowns on over 64% completion rate. I understand it's a completely different offensive scheme. But my point is, Sanders still had a great year with awful, awful quarterback play. So one of the questions I asked around the studio today was, are there guys like Emmanuel Sanders this year?

were there guys last year where we looked at them and we had the same kind of bland feelings about them because we didn't you couldn't see and forecast the upside because you didn't know what the production was actually going to be like at the at the quarterback position and the answer was yes and we've already talked about him a little bit but eric decker is a great case study for emmanuel sanders coming into last year look now

with kind of our hindsight bias. We think Ryan Fitzpatrick was pretty good because he was top 12 quarterback and fantasy. But coming into last year, it wasn't even supposed to be Ryan Fitzpatrick. It was supposed to be Gino Smith. And that wasn't viewed the way it's viewed now where it's like, oh, yuck. That was, you know, that was one of those. They're sitting out. They're sitting out because they want Ryan Fitzpatrick back. Yeah, exactly. And so Ryan Fitzpatrick was just one of two bad options exactly the way right now. Mark Sanchez is.

just one of two bad options, but if Gary Kubiak gets that offense going, you've got that, you've got two wide receivers, you've got really no tight-in. Gary Kubiak has always used a pass-catching tight-in. I know there's some sleeper love out there for some of the guys, but I just don't think they've got the talent there so it could go to the second wide receiver. My main worry here is just the fact that the history of Gary Kubiak's offenses...

Really do target that number one. I love Demarius Thomas, a guy that's being completely overlooked, but he hasn't always produced a great wide receiver too. That to me is the question with Emmanuel Sanders is, will there be enough passing weapons there? Hopefully, there's no tight end taken away from Emmanuel Sanders, and you can get some good value. He's a great wide receiver. And that leads into what I was about to say, which is that when you watch the film, Emmanuel Sanders is...

is always open. He's always open. He's a very, very good wide receiver. It's a matter of, are these quarterbacks going to be accurate enough to give them the ball? Because if they are, you'll get the consistency you need from them. And if they aren't, you're going to be up and down with Sanders. This is the way I view it. And the last thing I was going to say on Sanders is he's going after these guys. Michael Floyd, who, yes, we like Floyd. We're projecting high. But the best season he's ever had, 65 catches, a little bit over 1,000 yards, five touchdowns. He's going behind Alan Hearns.

who was 64, barely over 1,000, and 10 touchdown. Emmanuel Sanders has been crushing it the past couple years. I would take both those guys probably ahead of Amanda. Would you? Oh, I would take Amanda Sanders over either. Okay. Definitely over Hearns. Michael Floyd is a question. You're going for upside. The upside is higher with Michael Floyd than it is with Emmanuel Sanders. Wait, if you're going for upside, that's why Hearns would be the choice to me.

No, to me, Hearns... Because he's young and he's produced at that level, especially in a standard league format. Yeah, I guess my view of Hearns is very down. I just don't think he can get that near 10 touchdowns. I think, you know, he might have six touchdowns this year. And if you give him the same numbers he had last year with six, he's not even in our conversation on a regular basis. All right, let's talk about Jordan Matthews wide receiver for the Philadelphia Eagles.

There were reports of him being on the outside, being worked out in camp. He may still get opportunities there, but he looks like a big slot receiver who basically, here's the number that I pulled up earlier. He was basically targeted at the lowest average depth of target in the league, almost dead last out of all eligible wide receivers. 6.5 yards was the average depth that he was at when he was targeted with a pass last year.

He's an enigma to me. You talk about a confusing player. Jordan Matthews has, what, eight touchdowns in each of the past two years? Yeah, and that puts him at over the past 12 years or past two years since he's been in. That's tied for 12th most in the league for wide receivers.

Yeah. Oh, you got me. He was the garbage name. He was. Yep. But as we always point out, garbage points do count. They do. Now, it's a completely different offensive system, and there's the talk of Matthews will stay on the inside, and how many three wide receivers will Doug Peterson actually run up in Philadelphia? So there is cause for concern. Let me put it this way before you get into the numbers with him. When I say Jordan Matthew's name, does your mouth begin to...

smirk with a smile or begin to frown? What is your natural reaction to Jordan Matthews right now when you think about him in fantasy drafts? My mouth actually stays completely horizontal. So your normal resting angry face? No, the rest... My face is usually a bit droopy and appears to be angry, but we didn't want to tell you. We were embarrassed to tell you. I am well aware of my angry face. But Matthews, I just...

Hmm. And, oh, that's so sad for me because last offseason you were so, oh, man. Yeah, I was all in. And he still was a wide receiver too. So he fell short of my expectations of what I thought he could do in the Chip Kelly offense. But it's hard to know what to do with Jordan Matthews. And I was thinking back, you know, Andy Reid is kind of the mentor for Doug Peterson.

And what we think about now, Andy Reid, is Alex Smith, safe football, handing it off. And think back, Andy Reid had Donovan McNabb and Michael Vick, and they aired it out. So it's not like Andy Reid has only been this run-heavy coach his entire career. I don't think of him as run-heavy. I think of Alex Smith as a conservative quarterback, and so he works the offense around him.

But I agree with you is what I'm saying. Chiefs, Andy Reid, that's how I think of him now, is just very safe. Yeah, Jordan Matthews, the player, I still believe is great. I actually think he is a great player. My whole issue comes with, will the slot receiver for a Doug Peterson offense be valuable enough? Because if you look historically, his first two years of production in the NFL, Jordan Matthews is up with the...

best of them, period. His athleticism, his body type, his ability as a receiver is all great. All things that point up, generally speaking, from fantasy. But he did this under that Chip Kelly, quick pass system in the slot. I'll tell you, my opinion on Jordan Matthews changes the second San Bradford's declared the starter. If San Bradford's starting and you have some continuity there between those two, I think it means a lot because I don't see

the talent on the outside to usurp Jordan Matthews from a target and a red zone target standpoint. Ruben Randall on blast. Ruben Randall on blast. Come on Roobes. He's my guy? Like I said. Oh, I agree. Generally, a free agent middling wide receiver like Ruben Randall. How dare you? Doesn't deserve the respect. But, I mean, I'm just saying I don't want that extra piece of a different quarterback. Sure. From a fantasy perspective. Maybe the fans of Philly do. The Bradford talk.

because we talk about Bradford improved. He was three points better in the second half per game. And for a quarterback, that's a pretty substantial uptick in your numbers. That didn't make me stop cursing his name from the first half. No, it was completely worth it. I bought a dartboard and threw his picture up there. So Jordan Matthews or Larry Fitzgerald? Some biscuits on it. I would take, ooh, that is a superb question. I'm going to go with Fitzgerald.

I would probably go Jordan Matthews in that way. I think I have them super close in my rankings, and I think I would take Jordan Matthews. And last one, I'll ask you guys, Jordan Matthews. Oh, this is much more fun when I'm asking them. I don't have to think. Or Devante Parker. Oh, I'll take Jordan Matthews.

I have them back to back. You're a cruel. You're a cruel man. Well, they're also back to back in average draft position. This is why I'm asking the questions. You know, I have kind of been not excited about Jordan Matthews, but when I compare those three, I'm going to take Jordan Matthews over those guys. He's done it for two years. He's on the upswing, not the down swing of his career. DeVonte Parker's, I think, has a higher theoretical ceiling, but we just haven't seen it yet. Fitz, like I said, is split in three ways. So I'm probably going to take.

I heard theoretical. That's a different type of ceiling. And it leads into it. We're going to have to. Oh, the master of the transition. You're going to have to speak swiftly on these two. Are we pushing the clock? We're pushing the clock a little bit. And I want to talk, we want to talk some running backs that fit into this confusing and enigmatic, not sure what to do category. And so we want to talk about Amir Abdullah. Yeah, my man. You heard the train coming in. We talked to him earlier. Great guy.