Fantasy Football Podcast 2017 - NFL Coaching Changes, Fantasy Impact

They'll bring someone else in, whether through the draft. Kevin White is still there. And Kevin White is still floating on the hype. So low. Yes. He's sometimes undrafted. Yeah, it's ridiculous. We actually just put up very quietly our initial 2017 rankings on the website, the fantasy footballers.com. So you can go peer at those. They are very raw because there is so much that needs to happen between the draft and free agency that.

you know, one or two moves by a team changes everything. For example, the ranking of a guy like, I don't know, like Jordan Matthews is going to be impacted by who Philadelphia brings in at the wide receiver position. Who does Kurt Cousins have to throw the ball to in Washington? And Tony Romo. I mean, I have Tony Romo basically unranked right now because I don't know where he's going to go. Demarius Thomas Manuel Sanders, what quarterback will be throwing them to skyrocket. But I bring this up only to say Cameron Meredith.

When you look at the consensus of experts' initial rankings is nowhere to be found. And he's one of the guys that instantly I moved up because I think, obviously, he has the opportunity to step into Alshan Jeffrey's giant, sometimes injured shoes. All right, let's talk about Kenny Stills, you guys' favorite player. It looks like Kenny Stills is not going to be back to Miami because Miami's expecting the market to be...

excessive in signing 24-year-old Kenny Stills. Miami has said that it's a priority for them to resign him. Now I agree. The market might say, hey, I'm going to give you too much money, and I would not overpay for Kenny Stills. I am a believer in him. I know, Mike, you are as well. We've said for many years that he's a good wide receiver. Andy, you contend that he's replaceable, which I agree to a point. He does have really good speed, but what's crazy is that

You know, he's played in the league for a while. And he's had success. He's been in the league for 10 years. Yeah, that's what it feels like. Since he's 14, yes. And he's 24 years old. He's a young guy. So he might end up commanding too much money because of his age. But he's, he's talented. I really hope he comes back to the dolphins. I want to see him in year two with Adam Gaze. I think that he would be draftable, worthy if he was a dolphin.

Let me ask you this question just in light of the Kenny Stills situation, because some people are saying he's going to command $12 million a year. I think that's Kenny Stills is saying that. Exactly. I mean, do you believe when Washington signed Pierre Garsohn that that's signing in the money they paid him in the end was worth it? You're talking the couple years ago when they signed him? Right, when they took him away from Indy. I would say probably. I mean, you had that, you did have the season where he led the league in.

in receptions. I mean, he just was an absolute force. And they, he just, they kind of started scheming the offense away from, away from Garsohn. But I think he still had that, that talent in the ability. And he was still a great player for their offense. And it didn't seem to crush them cap-wise. So I think it was actually a decent signing. Nothing crushes Washington cap-wise. That's true. I'm always intrigued by the, how much money do you spend on the wide receiver two?

type of player versus getting that value in the draft, having a guy be able to step in. But Kenny Stills has the potential, look, you're going to pay a guy, there's an opportunity there. A thousand yards, nine touchdowns. I mean, those are good numbers. Yes, they are. Let's talk about Latavius Murray, expected to test the open market. Just a confirmation of what we kind of expected. It seems like Oakland's been willing to let him do that. I don't think it's impossible for him to re-sign in Oakland personally.

The open market is going to be there. Yeah, it might not be too kind with as deep as this year's 2017 rookie running back class is. You know, last year was a pretty highly touted running back class. And everyone acknowledges that this year trumps it greatly, that the level of running backs with the sole exception of Zeke.

are just head and shoulders, the top six or seven, are much better than just prospect-wise going into the year. We don't know where they'll land and how they'll turn out. Obviously, Jordan Howard had a great rookie year. But with that, teams might not be willing to sign Latavius Murray to a large money contract. Is Latavius Murray actually that good?

Or see a product of his offensive line, which has been one of the best for years, the Raiders. That is the question. And if you have a team that already has kind of an ancillary backfield piece, like Ty Montgomery or Jalen Richard and DeAndre Washington, you wonder why would you pay?

versus drafting a guy. Like if you are a team that is completely devoid in the backfield, maybe you're investing in an Eddie Lacey or Latavius Murray for a one or two year opportunity. Those are the teams that I'd be looking for. Comedically, I've thought to myself, wow, if the markets dry it up, could they swap teams? Sure. Because we've heard rumors of Latavius Murray in Green Bay.

But Eddie Lacey, you know, he says that the Packers have been very vocal about resigning him. So we'll see what transpires. You know, it's obviously an advantage when these guys know the offense already. Let's talk about Kirk Cousins. A report from ESPN's John Kime says that the only team that Kirk Cousins is willing to sign a long-term contract with this offseason is the 49ers. Yep. A reunion.

He wants in on that Kyle Shanahan action. What do you do with Kirk Cousins if he got in on that Kyle Shanahan action? Because does he have, is it the, you're going to be excited about Kirk Cousins throwing a Vance McDonald all season long? Not overly excited. Not particularly. But to Alshon Jeffrey. I mean, I think long term, he'll be fine because I think Kirk Cousins is a good quarterback. They clearly have some building to do in San Francisco, but it wouldn't, I don't think it would take.

a ton because look, Tori Smith can still be that deep route guy. So you have that Deshawn Jackson roll covered. Vance McDonald, they just gave him a big contract. And we've seen flashes of talent with Vance McDonald. Kirk Cousins, maybe he feeds the tight end position again. So they, Carlos Hyde, they have some guys there where I don't think you're talking a.

I'm abandoning Kirk Cousins for three years type of a situation. No, but I'm not excited about him facing Seattle, Arizona and St. Louis six games during the year. Also, Rob Gorkowski has now broken the record for the most rumors related to his week one availability in the history of fantasy football. He says he'll for sure be ready to play week one. So we'll be reporting on that weekly.

as required by the National Fantasy Football Association. Yeah, just for context, though, it does well fit his timeline. He should, from the surgery he had and the time that he had it, he should be absolutely fine. No problem, unless there are new setbacks. Okay. Before we jump into talking about these coaching changes, I want to thank today's sponsor, pristine auction, the absolute best, most a dynamic sports memorabilia site anywhere.

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for a sports fan. So head on over, pristine auction, P-R-I-S-T-I-N-E-Oxion.com, make a completely free account. There's no jokering going around. You just make your free account. Let them know that the fantasy footballers sent you. No Jared Letto be found. Nope. Nope. All right. Before we jump into the coaching changes, I am going to introduce the segment with the identical drop that we used last year.

And this is a test for Jason. I don't think Mike even remembers what we use. No, I do not. I certainly do. But he did. This was a pinnacle moment. So we'll see if Jason remembers this. Wow. Jason's now heard this song twice. Yes. I know. He's heard it twice. So does he remember who sings this song? Who sings it? Yes. That's a joke, right?

Because of course I don't. No chance that I remember who sings this. Oh, it's the Beatles. Oh, God. I just heard Brooks. Brooks is a moat in the ear. Brooks, are you doing okay over there? That hurts me, Jason. Oh. Yeah, my apologies to the world. Brooks, why don't you tell everybody who actually sings that song and tell Jason. Oh, man.

It's David Bowie, Jason. Oh, all right, okay. And Mike, last year when this happened on the same episode, you called Jason something. Oh, is this the... This is when you called him uncultured swine. Oh, was that the originator? I will say this. You have not changed in your year since. I gave you time to change, Jason. In fairness to myself, I will be willing.

and capable of giving this joy to us every year forever. Because I promise you by the time next year rolls around. David. David Bowie. David Bowie. All right. Got it. All right. Moving on. Let's talk. Let's start with the 49ers. I mean, we just brought up the Kirk Cousins rumors. So let's talk about Chip Kelly out the door. Kyle Shanahan is the head coach. He's the offensive coordinator.

Mike, you were, you were. He's the general manager almost. You were spitting out, he kind of is. I know with Lynch there. You were spitting out all sorts of Kyle Shanahan news. It seems like you are the, you have the floweriest of Kyle Shanahan perspective. Well, we have, you know, some very strong numbers to back up Kyle Shanahan and why I always want a piece of Kyle Shanahan's offense. I love his quarterbacks. So he's been an OC.

nine years before he got this head coaching job. Six of those nine years, his teams were top 10 in yards. Five of those nine years, his teams were top eight in passing yards. Kyle Shanahan has a great history for fantasy quarterbacks. In 2008, Matt Schaubb, he only played 10 games so he didn't get to do a full season, but he was on pace to be the quarterback five.

And the very next year, Matt Schaub led the league in passing. Matt Schaub led the league and was the quarterback four. You have just great history. Only four times, though, unlucky for Shanahan, but only four times he's had a quarterback make it through the whole season. But three of those four years, his quarterback was top five for Fantasy, Matt Schaub, Matt Ryan, and Robert Griffin. There's just...

A lot of signs, his offense is so dynamic. We've seen great things from him. So I'm excited for what can happen eventually in San Francisco. So how immediate could this impact be and how much do you project that onto, let's say it's Kaepernick next year? If Kaepernick's back, you know, they've talked about, oh, we've had good meetings. We're calling Kaepernick. The Kirk Cousins rumors don't come to fruition. They can't trade for Garampolo. These things don't happen. How much do you, you know, project immediately?

Because, I mean, this is a team with a wide receiver cord that has Tori Smith signed and Bruce Ellington signed and Rod Streeter signed. I mean, this is not a Chris Harper signed. I mean, this is not a – I could name some – put a name out there right now. You wouldn't know if I'm telling the truth. That's what the wide receivers look like. So talk to me about that. Yeah, they absolutely need a number one. But with Shanahan and assuming it's Colin Kaepernick –

I'm okay with that for fantasy. Maybe not a draftable type of a guy. If you want to draft Kaepernick, I'm sure that he will be 100% free. But we saw even last year, once Kaepernick really started to shake the dust off, he was a fantasy force. I mean, he runs so much that maybe Kyle Shanahan can improve that passing game just enough that Kaepernick becomes really usable.