Fantasy Football Podcast 2016 - AFC & NFC North Previews, Fantasy News

Hamstring injury got in the way of the season beginning that way. He made a huge impact in the passing game. And in half point and full point leagues, look, you're talking about weapons. They don't have a lot of weapons. Josh Gordon's not there as of today. You've got Cory Coleman coming in. He's a rookie. Duke Johnson, he's going to be the outlet for the ever... Checking down... Under pressure? Yeah, the ever under pressure. I love Michael Keaton.

All right. Nailed it. Yeah, that reference is probably lost. Well, for the YouTube people out there, they know that I love Michael Keaton. And they love Michael Keaton. That's true. That's true. I just, I like the upside of Duke Johnson. He's 22 years old. He is a very, very strong target in the passing game. And I think he'll get opportunity in the running game as well. He hasn't done it yet there. So that's what you got to see.

Isaiah Crowell, to me, is the value here. He's going very late in a draft, and he's on a Hugh Jack McJackson team, which is always one of the leaders in rushing attempts. We saw it last year. We just talked about, you know, Jeremy Hill and Gio Bernard. You've kind of got like, you know, the poor man's...

version of that year with the Browns. And I think that Isaiah Crowell, his comps are pretty good. He's not a bad athlete at all. He compares to Chris Ivory as a player. And if they can get in the red zone, it might not just be who is it, Corey Coleman or Gary Barnage, but they might be able to run the ball in. I realize the offensive line has taken a slight step backwards, but he's going to get the work, I believe, on first and second down for a team.

that is wanting to be a running team. And RG3, we have to remember this. If he's being used in the running way that RG3 has been used in the past, it opens up the game for that Alfred Morris tight back. That would be a really nice three quarters of enjoying his rushing. But just saying, remember the old two-down running back Alfred Morris being a top fantasy option. You just need to remember it.

Oh, I didn't know if that was sarcasm or not. No, because he was. Last year? No, when he was with Robert Griffin the 3rd. Oh, okay. Yeah. I'd choose to forget that. Carlos Williams or Isaiah Crowell? Carlos Williams, what's going on there? He got to call him Tony Horton. Both those guys need to get it together. Get in shape. Justin Forset or Osseo? Forset. Charles Sims or Currell? Sims. Sims.

All right. All right. Derek Henry. Corwell. All right. Moving down the list there. That's tough. All right. Let's talk about the Baltimore Ravens. Joe Flacco returning from the ACL tear. Justin Forsett returning from the broken arm. Steve Smith returning from the torn Achilles. Keep it going. Keep it going on. Dennis Pitta. Dr. Pitta returning from. Croquet Gilmore returning from multiple surgeries. The one hip quitta coming back.

That's my favorite nickname. That's the worst Nick. I just feel bad for him with that nickname. I love Pitta. Oh, I know. I drafted him every time I could. It's so sad. And then you've got the father of the Mall, Breschad Perryman. Mike almost spit his drink out. That's how we stop you from the cackle laughs. I just tell my jokes while you're drinking. Choke you to death. That was almost electronics malfunction. Yeah. All right. So Brashad Perryman.

Let's start there. Let's start at the bottom. Does he play? So there were different reports. We saw about a month ago that it looked like he was not going to be able to play this year and that his season was going to be over. What was the report? Torn A. C.L.

And so then he got a second opinion. Well, it's not torn. Okay, so they're not going to need surgery. That's good. He's going to be able to play. Everything looks rosy. But then he, you know, so in order to help that, he gets that stem cell injection. And it's one of those things where it says to me on a guy who had such problems recovering for his rookie year to the point where he never got on the field and was out the whole season coming into an entire off season has not healed up, has a new injury that is not yet healed that's getting stem cell.

injections, I am very, very skeptical of Bershad Perriming being anything this year and definitely skeptical of him getting out there for week one. Could he do it? All the reports say that, yeah, it's possible. But that's why I say Mike Wallace, you know, earlier you had a question about Wallace. Sure. I think he's going to have that role and the Ravens aren't going to give him forever.

And I will say the latest update is John Harbaugh expects Perryman to return at some point in camp and to be ready for week one. How embarrassed is the doctor who said that he had torn ACL? All right. Here's my analogy for the Baltimore Ravens. If you're walking around at night and you can't really see where you're going and you start to feel your feet stick in the mud.

Do you keep walking that direction or do you go find solid ground again? You go find solid ground. You're saying avoid the Ravens? I'm saying stay as far away from this team as you can. I've heard that. Forset, Allen, Steve Smith, Wallace, Aiken, Watson, Flacco. Those are guys that had fantasy relevance at some point or another last year. That's not counting Kenneth Dix and Beside Perryman, Crockett, Gilmore, and Max Williams. That is too many names. I don't even want to sort through it. Not to mention they're in a division with the Bengals and the Steelers. Look.

You haven't seen things happen in Baltimore's passing game that make you want their wide receivers forever. Maybe Tori Smith for a little while because he'd kind of end up at the 20s. But you didn't want Bolden. You didn't want Perryman. You kind of were okay with them sometimes. But this is not an offense I want a piece of. I think the argument is legitimate. And I actually like the Ravens themselves to be good. Right. It's worth considering. But sometimes you can find.

goal that maybe it takes a little bit of luck. But when you've got those teams where people are avoiding, I'm going to pick Kamar Aiken. Pick one. If I've got to pick one. If I pick two, it's him and Forset. And this is what I- Pick one from the Ravens. Mike, pick one from the Ravens. Mike, pick one from the Ravens. Mark Trestman, the affirmation Mark Trestman, and 676. That's the amount of passing attempts that they had. That led the league. That led the NFL. There are opportunities.

for players there. Yeah. I lean on the Kamar Aiken side just because of opportunity. I don't think that Smith can be back, and this Perryman news is questionable. But someone's got to catch, someone's got to be these targets. If I had to pick somebody to have the most passing, the most receptions on that team, I would pick Kamar Aiken. Just from a total PPR, that would be the one situation. You give me Aiken and a PPR at the value he's currently at.

I'll draft a Raven. Otherwise, I'm just going to go draft somebody else. But it's not going to be a pass catcher on this next team either. The NFC North, we're talking about the Minnesota Vikings, Teddy Bridgewater led offense, the Adrian Peterson led offense with Derek McKinnon as well in the backfield. You've got the rookie coming in Laquan Treadwell. You had Stefan Diggs, who flashed at times, really cooled off at the end of the year. And then you've got the self-proclaimed number one tight-in of the universe, Kyle Rudolph. Oh, come on.

As he said it, not me. I know, but you're... The red zone reindeer. Yeah. I love... Oh. I should have. I forgot. Look, they rushed the ball. Yeah. They were the fourth best team in the league, 138 yards per game on the ground. Pretty much dead last. 31st in passing yards per game. The 200 line is called the Alex Smith line. And this is, Teddy Bridgewater said, no, not yet. Maybe next year.

Yards per game. Yards per game. Let me ask you, I realize that part of it is their game plan is they're a running team. And a defensive team. Yeah, a running defensive team. They're not looking to get involved in the passing game that much. That being said, their passing efficiency was really bad even for the attempts that they had. So is this a problem of the Mike Wallace's and Charles Johnsons and Corderell Patterson's? Or is it Teddy Bridgewater?

Because that makes a difference for how we look forward at Stefan Diggs and Laquan Treadwell. It is Teddy Bridgewater. Last year he struggled with his deep passing game. That's the something he's working on this offseason. I think he can fix it. He was known as a good deep passer. He struggled last year with it. They brought on Laquan Treadwell to be a big target for him and Diggs has Mitz. So he'll catch the ball. It's just a matter of whether he can fix that or not won't.

add up to volume. You're drafting one wide receiver from this team. It's Laquan Treadwell. Yeah, for me too. For the upside. Just for the touchdowns. And this is what I want to say real quick about the Vikings. We're going to the absolute polar opposite of the Ravens. They had the lowest passing attempts in the league at 454. Now, look, I like Stefan Diggs. I think there's upside there. But Diggs is being drafted before any receiver.

Before Kamar Aiken? Yes. That is nonsense. So you're talking the second wide receiver, or well, the perceived second wide receiver because we think Treadwell will be the one. Second wide receiver for a team with the lowest attempts in the league before a single pass catcher from a team that threw the ball more than anybody else in the league. And that's not just a one-year thing. Mark Tresden teams are always, always in the top half for passing attempts. Do you think that that's not just because of the passing?

attempts to running backs, though, is it? No, not entirely. That is just part of it. A lot of it was game script. They got blown out in the first half of games constantly last year. It's an interesting contrast between those two then. Mm-hmm. So let's talk about the Packers now. Let's move on. We get to talk good stuff. And by the way, if you're in a dynasty draft and you're drafting Jared McKinnon, I applaud you. I was going to say, we should at least mention McKinnon. And I just did.

Look, he's a dynasty guy right now. Towards the end of the year, he really got involved in the past and game. If that continues... Handcuff or... Handcuff. I don't know. I don't know at this point. I lean handcuff. Yeah, because, look, McKinnon, when he was given the opportunity, they said, hey, Matt, Aziata, you're the main guy. But McKinnon, I think, could be a specialty pass catcher. We'll see. I'm making the face that McKinning made when he found out Aziata was getting those first and second down carries.

It's the gymnast, the not impressed. Not impressed. I can't remember her name. Let's talk about Jordy Nelson's return. The Packers obviously a very good team last year with ups and downs. They lost the division at the end of the season. Struggled from an efficiency standpoint. You could kind of look at their season with the injuries they had, with the struggles that they had, and kind of say, well, maybe they did better than we would have thought with that circumstance. No.

Or you're Jason, and you would say no. No, I think that they really poop the bed when it comes to dealing with the adversity of losing one good offensive player. I think that they did not perform to what they should have performed without him. That being said, they get him back, and I believe that there is going to be a very heavy chip on Aaron Rogers' shoulders. He's gotten the flack. He's the R-E-L-A-X guy. A laser of ruffles.

A laser. A laser chip? Yes, a laser. I was just trying to figure out what chips are heavy. I'm just thinking, I mean, you look at... It's a kettle chip for sure. There's reports of how he's changed... Chocolate cupboard. He's changed his diet this offseason to just every little thing he can do. And I think they want to come back and show that they are a high-powered offense.

Aaron Rogers to me this year is the number one quarterback worthy of taking. He's proven it through his career. Even though he's not a high pass attempt and a high yards guy, he is just so good at throwing touchdowns. I mean, plain and simple. Very efficient. So the chip is not a Pringles. Those are very light. Pringles are very light? Yeah. They're very light. This is kettle cooked folded over other chips. Oh, like the combo chip. Yeah. When they get stuck together?

Counts this one. Then you have to take the bite, but the bite's really messy because it just explodes. Yeah. That's what you're talking about. Yeah, I hear you. Jordy Nelson or Keenan Allen. What's my league format? Yeah, I think that does make a... Your league format is half point. Oh, you're the worst. I'm going to take Jordy Nelson over Keenan Allen. Randall Cobb or Larry Fitzgerald. I'm going to take Randall Cobb, hoping that Jordy brings Cobb back to his pre-

Pre-2015. Randall Cobb or Doug Baldwin. I'm going to take Doug Baldwin. Okay. Oh, that's a tough one. I really enjoy putting you guys in these positions. They're both slot guys. Randall Cobb or Eric Decker. With Fitzpatrick back. Decker. Randall Cobb or Jarvis Landry. Landry. Hey, guess what I just found? Chips? Is it not chips? Nope, we're moving on to the next team. Bear.