Bold Predictions for 2020 + Rojo, Fantasy News - Fantasy Football Podcast for 9/3

This is a fantasy show, and I was spot on then. Gronk was a second round pick. Hogan was a fourth round pick. Josh Gordon was a fourth round pick. Brady was fifth. They all stunk for fantasy, even though they went on to win the Super Bowl. And then last year was the Cleveland Browns. They were being drafted so high. Baker as the quarterback four. Chob is the quarterback eight. Beckham, wide receiver five. Running back eight. That too. Sorry. And so, you know, it's one of those questions of...

I knew I was going with a team. I got to stick to it. And I almost at the end of everything went with an opposite. I almost went with a bounce back Browns. But sorry Browns fans. I couldn't justify it. Not that. This year's team after being close to looking at Arizona and the Falcons. I go through my process that I do every year for this. And the team was clear as day to me.

It's, and I've talked them up Narrative Street, and I'm talking them down now. The Tampa Bay Buccaneers are my bust fantasy team of 2020. You have, and I went to the ESPN live drafts, the most. Very timely as well. The most common, you know, platform that's being played on right now and the most recent real drafts that are happening. Tom Brady is the quarterback seven in the sixth round.

Now, we've talked. I've talked recently like he didn't go there to game manage. He went there to prove how great he is. But you want to know really why he went there to win a Super Bowl to prove that he can win elsewhere. And when he's not throwing picks, he's not going to need to throw the James Winston numbers. Godwin and Chris Evans are the wide receiver six and seven right now. Their second round pick. What did I say? You said Chris Evans. You are, you have, you have the Avengers on the mind. Deep breath.

Harris Hilton wants you to calm down. Goodness. Look, they're both being drafted as top 10 wide receivers right now. I can see Mike over there going like, man, I really don't want to interrupt him here. But he did say Chris Evans. You can't draft Chris Evans. Captain America is not available. If you could, you would. If it was Chris Evans, this would not be my bus team. 101. He's calling for an Avengers bust. Yeah. No, for sure I'm drafting Chris Evans. 100%. I think too hard to tackle.

Incredible speed. I dare say impossible to tackle Captain America. I feel like maybe trip him. No, probably not. There's no way. He just jumped to the end zone. Gronk, gronk right now, this blows my mind. He's being drafted as the seventh tight end. He's in the sixth round. He is splitting time with three other tight ends.

I think it's absolutely madness that all of these players are being drafted this high. That's not to say I don't like. Not a lot of room for error. No, no room for error. And this is a shortened off season where you have the greatest quarterback of all time, but an old quarterback who has known one system coming to a new system. And that new system, which has thrived with other quarterbacks, they usually struggle year one. Carson Palmer struggled year one. Like, you know, we've talked about that before.

You know, and the running back situation, we brought that up at the beginning of the show. I think there is way more risk and little upside here with almost any player being drafted from the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. You're drafting everyone at their ceiling. Outside of Chris Godwin, you know, at the current average draft position, I think this is a team to avoid for fantasy of 2020. I posted a give me your bold prediction threat on Twitter.

and I'm reading through them. And the amount that are Tampa Bay related is incredible. And then the amount that are like this, you know, Mike Evans, breaking the single season touchdown record that Randy Moss holds with Tom Brady was a bold prediction. Next person, Mike Evans finishes outside the top 25 wide receivers. Wow. It does feel like, you know, there is a wide range of outcomes for them, but you're drafting them at the top of those. The Buccaneers defense is so much better.

than what they were at the beginning half of last year. And if this team is actually good, which I'm not saying that they're going to be a bad NFL team. I'm saying that they're not going to pay off at the fantasy value of where you're drafting them. If their defense is better, Tom Brady's not going to want to throw 5,000 yards. He's going to want to hand it off to this running back group and slow the clock down and win the game. That's what he's there to do is get Ws. All right. My bold prediction, my first one.

I should have worn a hat today. I would have turned it around backwards for this. I got you covered over here. Mike's got it. We got the snap back. My first bold prediction is that Matthew Stafford will end the year as a top five fantasy quarterback. How does that sound, Mike? That sounds delicious.

He has been a top 10 quarterback. This is a little bit of a history lesson. Matthew Stafford has been a top 10 quarterback six times in his career, but it hasn't happened since 2017. Because last year, while he had a nice start, he went down with an injury. He has always been a yardage machine. When you think about the players that you can almost pencil 4,000 plus in for, it's like Matt Ryan and Matthew Stafford. You know those guys are going to get it done.

Here's a little bit of a reminder of what happened last year in Detroit. Through the first nine weeks, Matthew Stafford had more top five weeks than Patrick Mahomes. He had more top five weeks than Dak Prescott. He had the same amount as Russell Wilson and Deshaun Watson. He was not good. He was great. He was elite. He has elite deep ball weapons. Kenny Gulliday, Marvin Jones. He has elite Red Zone weapons with those

bigger wide receivers, and now T.J. Hawkinson in the mix. We talk about letting Russ cook. What did Detroit do last year? They completely changed what they do as an offense. They threw out the cooking book. Yeah. These are bland. They just, Darryl Bevel changed everything. In 2018, they went deep on first half, first downs, five percent of the time. They didn't let.

Matthew Stafford, B Matthew Stafford. Last year they did it on 30% of attempts. Wow. That's nice. And you know what? The other thing that people don't realize is it worked and they won ball games. This was a very competitive team last year. They started the season 2-0 and 1. If you remember, they tied Arizona in that third game. They lost by four points the next week to Kansas City in a shootout. They lost by one point the next week against Green Bay, who ended up 13 and 3.

And then all of a sudden, Matthew Stafford goes down halfway through the year, and they obviously derailed the whole season. So you look at the final record and you say, this team stunk. But the aggressive Matthew Stafford wins them ball games. He has all the weapons to do it. What does it equate to? Let's remind you of the pace. 5,000 yards and 38 touchdowns. That was his week 1 through 9 pace last year. I think he picks up where he left off.

I think they changed their scheme completely. I do not think that their running back room is in any better shape than it was last year to succeed. Matthew Stafford is how this team will win ball games. And if he does what he did last year, you've got a top five fantasy quarterback. I like it. I like Stafford. And you can wear your cat backwards all year long. Yeah, you get the snapback. You throw it on backwards. All right, my first prediction, that is part of the bold. I don't know any of yours. The bold prediction. Number one.

Brian Edwards, rookie wide receiver for the Las Vegas Raiders. He will be the number one rookie wide receiver for fantasy purposes at the end of the year. And you might say, why is that spicy? Look at the first round. How many wide receivers were drafted in the first round? Rugs by the Las Vegas Raiders. You had Justin Jefferson to the Vikings. Ayukin. Jalen Rager. Brandon Ayukin. Jerry Judy. Seedy Lam.

That's six guys in the first round, and maybe I'm forgetting one off the top of my head. That's a lot of elite town. That's a lot of very high NFL draft capital spent on a wide receiver. Brian Edwards was drafted in the third round. He's 6.3, 212, so he's got the frame to get it done. He has the lowest breakout age of all the rookie wide receivers. My man, Brian Edwards, in South Carolina, in the SEC, SEC.

broke out during his age of 17 and 18. The dude was 17 years old pulling in a 20% target share in the SEC. He went on to become the all-time leader for South Carolina in receptions and receiving yards. This dude was locked and loaded. He was going to be a very high draft pick. What happens? He tore some cartilage in his knee. It happens every single year we see top.

Top prospects end up dropping in the draft because they have an injury right before the draft happens. It's a bummer. But Brian Edwards dropped down to the third round. Now I want people to remember. Derek Carr is just he's a fun guy to kind of like tell jokes about and you take your cheap shots. Send in the car. You take your cheap shots at Derek Carr. It's a national pastime now. It's just it's a fun thing to do.

But he has supported some serious... Send in the car. Send in the car. Thank you. It's been a long time. He has supported some serious fantasy wide receivers. In 2015, Michael Crabtree was the wide receiver 18 with 146 targets. And Amari Cooper was the wide receiver 22 as a rookie. That's an important thing to notice. Wide receiver 22 as a rookie. The next year, Michael Crabtree, a top 12 wide receiver, while Amari Cooper, wide receiver 13...

Almost had two wide receiver ones from Derek Carr. Henry Ruggs, Las Vegas, their first pick. He has elite traits. He has elite speed, even by NFL standards. He's a player you have to take in the first round. But now everything that has happened with Terrell Williams out for the season, Brian Edwards, the steady drumbeat that has been beating all entire training camp long.

I think that Brian Edwards is going to be a target machine along with Darren Waller and Henry Ruggs will just be there to, you know, hit the big play occasionally. He was the 15th wide receiver off the board this year. So that's how bold that call is the 15th rookie wide receiver. Thank you. This is such a good show, just the fantasy footballers. Because I do this for a living. I had no idea that breakout age. I had not come across that yet.

That's a really good piece of information. That's an important stat for. Yes, it correlates very strongly. And just to, like, here's a brief history of breakout age. If a player is going into college as a still as a growing human being, they haven't reached. Which they all are. Yes. Like, he's not into his full grown man body yet. And he's out there. Me neither. You got to get the maturation. Look, and he goes out there and he dominates.

Other college players who are already 20 years old. That's a big deal compared to someone who turns 21 and then they dominate on college players. It is a very, very big deal. So I'm all in. Brian Edwards. And it's not just talent. Yes, voice of public opinion. Will you guarantee he's the best rookie on his own team this year? Well, if I'm calling for him to be the top rookie wide receiver. But will you guarantee it?

I guarantee you. Yes. All right. You have to have the opportunity. He has it right before him. Thank you, Tyrell Williams, for that opportunity. Get well soon. All right, Jason. I like that. I knew you were doing that this whole week. I didn't know your argument, but I knew that was one of your picks. I think that's a really fun, bold pick. Just to follow it up, though. Like, where would you draft him? Look, you don't have to go crazy. Just at the end of your draft. Last round. You could be or...

Even, you know, one of your three final picks, positional picks. Or in the first round if you're in a draft with Mike. Yeah. That's fine. I'll just take Antonio Gibson then. Yeah. All right. I'm going to stick with another wide receiver. And I'm actually putting your two bold predictions together here between Matthew Stafford and wide receivers. I can't believe you are doing this. I can't either. Marvin Jones Jr. scores as many fantasy points as Kenny Galladay, even though there's such.

smooth routes from Kenny G. So let me hear what you're saying here. Marvin Jones, top five fantasy wide receiver. No, I am not saying that. And I don't have Kenny Goladay as a top five wide receiver as well. I don't like it. This is a bold prediction. But let me lay out my case for you in a couple of quick bullet points. Last year, Kenny Goladay was tied for the league lead in receiving touchdowns of the NFL with 11.

Marvin Jones was on pace to score 12 touchdowns with Matthew Stafford. And this actually makes sense. If you look at the last three years combined, Marvin Jones has the fifth most receiving touchdowns in the NFL. And he's missed 10 games during that time. So over the last three years, he's missed...