Fantasy Football Podcast 2016 - Good Vibes / Bad Vibes, Fantasy News

as a bad vibe to me. He's been very... Much hyped. Much hyped. I still think he... There is a chance here that the bad vibes actually drop him to be a decent value. If you can get him in the ninth round of your drafts, he was... He was rocketing up. I think a while ago, he was like a fifth round pick. People, you know, it was like Dante Moncrief or, you know, Devante Parker. Sure. And what we saw through this preseason was he's not even the starter.

in a two-wide set. Kenny Stills is playing ahead of him. He's playing better. And then there was finally, after all the bad vibes through this preseason to me for Devante Parker, and honestly, he looks a little out of sync with Tanna Hill still. There were things coming out like that apparently he wasn't eating breakfast, right? I mean, he's a...

He's a kid. Like, he's just not doing the... I'm just saying, like, he's not taking care of things, taking care of his body the way the NFL athletes do. He's getting himself banged up again. He's got a hammy injury again. That's what I was going to say is there was finally the opportunity. Kenny Stills in practice this last week got a little hurt, injured. I think it was his back. And then it's like, oh, good, Devante Parker can do it. Oh, he tweaked his hammy. And that scares me because it's the same hammy that he had tweaked. So whenever you see a reoccurrence,

It's like, oh, great, is this going to come up in week four? Adam Gase came out and said, look, he experienced these same problems with Demarius Thomas early in his career where he wasn't taking care of himself physically enough, the consistency, both physically, mentally, on the field. It wasn't there. I don't know if we're going, look, he's got tools. In the end of last season, people forget, he was very good. Yes. And he made big plays. Like, he can go up, he can get the ball, he can make, you know, deep.

deep routes, long routes, making big plays. It might be enough to give him fantasy value this season, but the vibes aren't there for him to be a step-up, a wide receiver two type of guy. When Rashad Matthews went down last year and Devante Parker took over that role, he was a wide receiver two. He was, I think it was 18th. So that's why coming into the years, like, oh, man, he's got room to go up.

But now it's like, okay, Rashad Matthews has gone and Kenny Stills takes the spot. I still think even with the vibes, there's potential there for Parker. I think second half of the year he can grow into that role. And this segment is about trending. You know, how are they trending? He's trending down. Mike, why don't you, you know, you're in a good mood. Give me a good vibe. You know, I'm in a great mood right now. And because my mood is so good, I'm going to power through this right here.

I'm going to power through these words that are coming out of my mouth. I know exactly what you're going to say. There are good vibes on my man. My man. I've supported him his entire career. Sure. Yeah. Devante Freeman running back from the Falcons. That's right. My top choice every single time. Sure. You got the jersey on layaway, don't you? Here's the deal. Clearly, I've not been a big supporter of him. Last year there was an infamous moment of the show.

And there's been question marks coming into this off season. Is Tevin Coleman going to be more involved, which, yeah, we've, we've kind of seen that. We've seen Coleman getting more snaps. But you know who looks fantastic? Devantza Freeman. He looks excellent. And I'm not talking just catching the ball where we all knew that he would be a part of it. He's just, he looks strong. He looks quick. He looks like a guy that, I mean, he finished. He wants to keep the job. He finished as the overall running back one.

And this is kind of, I can't remember a scenario where a guy finishes as the dominant running back one. And there are so many question marks that he drops into the middle of the second round, the following year for fantasy purposes. Yeah. In certain drafts, I've seen him go at the two, three turn. So you could get him as like the first pick in the third round. That's, and what's crazy is if you look back at the number one running back.

over the last, I think it goes back to like 2003 or something, they're almost always in the top 10 the following year. And so that bodes well for him. He had 73 receptions last year in 15 games. He missed a game and he still had 73 receptions. So it's one of those things where even if Kevin Coleman gets involved, Devonsa Freeman's not going to lose his value. And it shows this preseason that...

He's the guy for that scheme. He fits the scheme so well in what they want to do. And if Matt Ryan continues to play the way that – talk about bad vibes. Matt Ryan has looked atrocious. If he continues to play that way, he's going to have to check it down frequently throughout the game just so they can move the offense. All right, bad vibes. I'm going to bring him up. I hate to do it simply because I have stock in him because I end up with him in the middle to late rounds.

Bad vibes from Matt Jones right now. You know, preseason injury, when you're not solidified, not always a good thing. We've seen very good things out of Robert Kelly, including yesterday, or I'm sorry, two days ago. He's an undrafted free agent. We already know that Keith Marshall's not there. So it's not like we're questioning Matt Jones. He's going to get snaps. Yeah. But there's a difference between getting snaps and being a rock solid volume guy who doesn't necessarily have.

top in talent. And, you know, that's a debatable thing, I think, with Matt Jones as well. I've debated that with some Washington fans who, look, I think Matt Jones is pretty good. But right now, Robert Kelly's playing well. Matt Jones is injured. He's on the shelf. And so much like, you know, much like Langford, where there's a hesitancy to him, it's there right now for Matt Jones. The vibes aren't going in the right direction. It would have been nice to see him, stay healthy, have a couple of good games.

And the worry is that Matt Jones comes out. I think he'll get 60% of the carries to start, but then he fumbles or he struggles and Robert Kelly steps in. And that's the thing is I would expect him around that 60% snap mark as well. But before all, before the injury, or even after the injury, I thought, okay, Jones will still be all right for volume. But then Robert, he had someone behind him actually step up and perform. So that number of 65 drops. And that's a big deal.

for a guy that's, you have Chris Thompson there, a great pass catcher. So I'm fading Matt Jones. Yeah. And I think a little bit rising on Robert Kelly because he's healthy. I mean, week one, there's no guarantee right now that Matt Jones plays. And if he doesn't, Rob Kelly is the starter. I mean, he just flat out. There's no one else there that's going to start ahead of him. All right. So we're back to some good vibes. Some good vibes. Look, we've waited long enough to talk about him.

The best vibes of the preseason? Derek Henry. Yep. Looks like a man. A manly man. Now you're a man. He looks good. He looks... But Andy? Yes. There's not really a lot of history of those really tall big backs doing well. There's not? I don't think so. I don't really know. You seem kind of insecure.

Yeah, well, he's played really good. Yeah, seven for 62 and a touchdown. He had a couple of, I would call him Eddie Lacey like back-to-back 25-yard jaunts where he just outpowered. I mean,

breaking arm tackles, breaking leg tackles, stiff arms. I mean, he is playing like a big boy. That was the knock on him, was that even though he's this athletic freak that they didn't see in college him really breaking tackles and his numbers, you know, after contact. Maybe they just avoided him in college. I don't want to make that decision. But, you know, if, if.

If what happened this preseason can carry over, then that's out the window because he has absolutely shown the power. And if you go and look at his combine and his actual, his physical attributes are otherworldly. They're not good. They're freakish. They're Von Miller. He was basically, I remember after the combine, looking and comparing his numbers against Von Miller, who humiliates.

National Football League players. I mean, Von Miller just tosses guys aside, runs faster than everybody. And that's, they were almost exactly the same, like across every category. So, you know, you make von Miller a running back and you show signs in the preseason that he's as good as he's been. But now here's the question with Henry is his stock is already super high. He's in the sixth round, and he is firmly the backup.

I realize maybe he'll play him his way into more carries every game. Maybe they just can't stop giving him the ball. But right now, week one, what's he going to get? Seven carries? Eight? I mean, DeMarco Murray's week one. Yeah, I think 10. I mean, I think 10 is he's earned it. So what does that mean for DeMarco Murray? DeMarco Murray's had good vibes too. You cannot. I mean, DeMarco Murray is the nothing but.

everything you'd want him to do this preseason. I think he just solidified a rotational role, and he did it in a big way. And he also secured himself as somebody that, boy, I mean, if DeMarco Murray goes down, the way they want to run that offense, does Derek Henry start stepping up? I mean, he's going to be a short yardage guy. He's going to be just a force if he's the only back there. Yeah, if DeMarco goes down, he's, he's, uh,

He's going to make my prediction come true that Ezekiel Elliott won't finish as the number one rookie running back. But would any of us take him, even knowing that, for the upside, would we be willing to take that upside risk with a sixth round pick or a seventh, you know, for people that haven't drafted yet? For a sixth round because I'm targeting, if I'm going running back, I'm taking Rashad Jennings in the sixth round. But let's say I'm in the seventh.

and Henry has fallen to me. I mean, now he's in the mix with guys like Abdullah, Duke Johnson, Lagart Blunt, Woodhead, and Forset. I mean, those are the running backs that you're looking at. I might, I might be willing to jump in on Henry at that point. Yeah, I definitely good vibes. Definitely good vibes for Henry. Great vibes. Let's stay with the good for a second. Let's talk about Eli Rogers.

Yeah. One of the names that was not part of the vocabulary of fantasy owners in the beginning of the offseason or the preseason. Talk about Eli Rogers. Some people might hear that name and say, who's Eli Rogers? Well, you've probably heard a ton this offseason about Sammy Coates. You know.

If you subscribe to Mike's personal blog, it has almost been Sammy Coates love letters. That's it. Yeah, the Pittsburgh Steelers, they pass the ball a lot. I expect Ben Rothlisberger to throw for near 5,000 yards, and Martavis Bryant went down. So the question of the day around the Steelers' offense is who's going to step up to that role? Is Marcus Wheaton going to take a step forward? Oh, Sammy Coates is clearly the most athletic of all of them.

But Eli Rogers has been the guy through this preseason who has had the best vibes, has stepped up the most. Now, it's a different role. He's a slot guy. He's going to be playing the slot role. So don't get to confuse for fantasy and think, oh, he's going to be the next Martavis Bryant. Not going to happen. He's playing the slot. But he is absolutely involved in an offense where that slot receiver can be very productive. And he, I think, has stepped ahead of Sammy Coates.

He's been the emergence, I mean, the one emerging wide receiver on that team who seems to have the publicly professed trust of Ben Rothesberger on an offense that needs it. I mean, you also don't have Lederius Green stepping in to begin this season. I think Rogers might surprise people. Look, his ceiling might be Andrew Hawkins, okay? That might be what he is. He might be a guy that you kind of...

You know, you're just never really super excited to start, but you need to pay attention to him. And the vibes have been good about Eli Roger. And in Dynasty leagues especially, I think, you know, we've seen over the years the Steelers get good wide receivers, and they bring them up. And in a couple of years, they become stars. It happens, I mean, the list is large over the last decade of that role. So if you're in a Dynasty League, I know in ours, it was about a month ago, or within this month, I was able to pick him up off of waivers on a...

25-man roster. So, yeah, Andy's grimacing over there. Go look for him. Yeah, man, I got a transfer into, like, my intensity levels with these leagues right now. I'm so focused on, you know, doing a good job for the listeners of this show. I'm not distracting myself with doing a good job for your own personally. No, I'm just mad because Mike has sniped Robert Kelly in two of our leagues and you've sniped Eli Rogers and I'm just playing bad.