Fantasy Football - Coaching Changes & Fantasy Impact, Bald Squad! - Podcast for 3/17

to the fantasy footballers podcast with your host, Andy Holloway, Jason Moore, and Mike Wright. Oh, welcome in. Andy Mike and Jason, the fantasy footballers, back with you. Andy is tickled. Well, I just, if we hit the button where, you know, Al Borland, the producer extraordinaire, he's just like, it's like, are we ready to go? Let's go. Let's get the show started. And then he just throws back a meat stick. I just, it made me laugh. Currently chewing. Yeah. How are you doing, owl? Doing great. You waited till that moment. He waited till that moment. That's why it was funny to me. I think Josh, Papa Josh has set a precedent that you can eat a meat stick anytime. Typically, we've got like 30 seconds at the top of the show before anything is thrown our way. Oh, so you thought I wouldn't throw to you. I thought it was my window. You know, you could.

Your window could also be before. Yeah, you've had a window of like hours. Oh, man. Too busy getting ready for this awesome show. Yeah. Nice save. Tuesday, March 17th. Jason Moore is here. Happy to be back. Back in the building. You didn't miss nothing. Yeah. Anything happened in the NFL while I was gone? All of Mike's dreams came true with Ken Walker. Some, some. Let's let's get out of control. All of his dreams were shattered with Trey Benson and Vince in it. Not the total TLDR. The big dreams worked out. Yeah. The smaller dreams is not as much. You have to sacrifice. We know that CMC. He had to drain the lifeblood of all of his teammates. And like Trey Benson, I guess if that's how it has to go for Ken Walker to fly. Right. Yeah. Sorry, buddy. You're going to take that deal. Sorry, my guy. Get your applications out there. Love sacrifice. Welcome in one and all. We have a very important episode today.

It is our coaching changes episode. We're going to talk through, kind of zoom out a little bit, talk through all of the big hires and changes. It'll give us another chance to talk about the Cardinals for a second. Jason, I just hate them. I'm so happy to hear that, man. They just hate them. I just hate them. I don't have a care of the world. I hate them from the top down. Mike is just living in some sort of, they can study this in books, what he's doing to his mind. Nah, we're good, man. So who's your team in 2026, Mike? Don't have one. Okay. Don't need one. Okay, new approach. Don't need one. Actually, no, correction. Borrow's McLeoneman. Ah, his fantasy team. That is one of the helpful things, and everyone out there can know this, especially those that are fans of the Cardinals, the Browns.

The Jets, the Falcons. Yes, I'm including the Falcons now. Aw. The Raiders. If you're a fan of those teams, you always have your fantasy team to distract you. It is a massive difference since I started playing fantasy. 10, 15 years ago. My days were ruined by the Cardinals. Now I do. I hide behind my fantasy team. Now your days are ruined by your fantasy team. Yeah, that's fair. It's way better. But, yeah, we got a big... Important episode today. We do have some news to catch you up on stuff we haven't had a chance on the show to talk about yet. And we'll get right to it. Ultimate draft kit.com if you want the UDK.Pterter, the Dynasty Pass. You want to check that out. Lowest possible price right now at Ultimate draft kit.com. I do not believe we're including any complimentary meat sticks in the UDK this year, although we will consider that as long as Al pays for him. Into the news we go. News and notes from around the league.

Well, we have not had the chance on the show to talk about the signing of Kyler Murray. Mike and I had the Thursday show. I think we inferred that, you know, we knew that Kyler was traveling. It was the most probable situation. So it ends up being a one year deal that includes a no tag clause so they can't like start him and do well and then tag him for next year. They'd have to sign him to a contract. That was smart by Murray's very, very smart because that's exactly what I would do if I was the Vikings. Yes. a great year out of them and then be like, aha. Gotcha. Well, I bet they wish they had done that with Sam Darnel. Sure. In hindsight. But the Vikings, all of the public comments, all of the Kevin O'Connell discussions, all of the, you know, perspective they want us to adopt is that J.J. McCarthy and Kyler Murray will have the opportunity to equally compete for the starting job, which I think is true. Yeah. Ish. Yeah, no, it's.

the opportunity is there the ability is not really a competition it's like when papa josh and the falcon did the foot race thing it's like you have a right yeah exactly you have the chance to win but but one of you turns out so slow very slow so really an open competition um we'll let you figure out who that was well i mean we would all assume it's papa josh because the age because he's so old right it's not he won It's not. Just remember, there is a chance. It's very small. There is a chance Kyla loses the competition. How would that make you feel? Mike, it would be happy. I'd be very happy. Yeah, Mike would be very, well, because he is a J.J. McCarthy stand. Yeah. And then also, like we talked about this on the show on Thursday, Jason. Like, there's two perspectives to take on J.J. McCarthy. And I was surprised that Mike is still in on him because Kevin O'Connell, you know.

Mike, you're a big fan. Oh, yes. He's always succeeded. So then one argument is like, well, if you can't succeed with J.J. McCarthy, that is the greatest indictment on McCarthy possible. The other perspective is that he'll figure it out with J.J. McCarthy. Not the one I take. But I think Murray barring injury will probably have this job on lockdown. I do agree. I'm just saying how funny would it be? For all of this hullabaloo, Kyler Murray is here to save. the Minnesota Vikings. Well, I will say this. Minnesota doesn't know it yet, but that's what they want. That's what they should want. Kyler to lose? Yeah, because that means JJ McCarthy is really stepped up because I don't think of it. I think it's closest because it's Kyler's job. Yeah. So that means that JJ would have to be that superior in camp, that much of a difference maker in camp. And that's what you'd want as the Minnesota fan is a long-term solution at the position. Kyler, okay, if Kyler succeeds, that's awesome.

How far does that go? And then how many years do you want to make a big financial guarantee to Kyler? Right. I think he's perfect for the Vikings. Sorry, Vikings fans. He is the perfect quarterback to get you to the playoffs. End of the road there. Like, he's not going to win a Super Bowl. Kyler isn't. Yeah, the one playoff experience with Kyla Murray was, that was one of the worst games of a quarterback that we have ever seen in the playoffs. had his way. Yeah, Kyler and the Cardinals did nothing in that game. So, fantasy-wise, yeah. I mean, it's great for the potential of Justin Jefferson to be back for Jordan Addison. For the offense in general, you really didn't have a lot of hope very often with the Vikings offense last year. In fact, your most valuable time was Carson Wentz. So that says it all. It really says a lot. And they still were above 500 and won their last five games.

is a very good team. And Kyler is definitely enough. Like if you look at the, just put the other names that could go there, right? Like if it was Gino Smith or it was Aaron Rogers or Kirk Cousins or Joe Flacco, like Kyler's the best of those choices. Yeah, he is. So they have to be encouraged that at a minimum they have a backup plan that is existing there. Rashad White signs a one-year $2 million deal with the Washington Commanders, which now puts their backfield as a... I mean, Echler's still under contract, right? Or no? No, I think he's done. Okay. Then that's a mistake by me. I mean, he's obviously recovering from a major injury, Achilles tear. But I thought he was still under contract. If he's not, is Jacori-Crossi-Kamara and Rashke-Rashad-Wight right now. Echler is an unrestricted free agent. Okay, so he's gone. This is, I think, a really important pick and player for fantasy right now.

before the seventh pick in the NFL draft. Right. Happens. Yeah. Like, you have to kind of call your shot on whether Jeremiah Love. Rashad White on a $2 million deal does not preclude you from taking Jeremiah. Oh, no. This is, I mean. But should Jeremiah Love not be there? Yeah. Then this is, then this is really matters. Rashad White matters for Jacoby Crosky Merritt, too. It's a little baby deal for Rashad White. And I mean, they're just, they're building team ASU over there. Brandon Iyuk is definitely next for Washington. Interesting. Yeah, because Rashad White, Jaden Daniels. Yeah. Boy, I wonder where Jeremiah loves going. We did this on the footcast. I think we were walking through those picks or maybe it was the Thursday show. I lose track at this point. But to me, it's really Tennessee. I don't think that it's going to be New York. And I know we don't want it to be with Cam Scataboo. But I do think I put my chips in Tennessee. I think that. Which then I think Rashad White is a.

very interesting dynasty acquisition um yeah you've never believed in the talent though no no but he but he he will catch a lot of passes yeah do you see the uh the several videos and the images and the debut of the new titans jerseys yes i like them fabulous oh okay fabulous delightful wonderful well done falcons are getting new ones this year too thank goodness that was like a two year trial What's the, was it the Falcons where? I love New Jersey's, by the way. No, no, we had that, but we had like, who was the team where we couldn't tell the number? Oh, yeah, that was the Falcons. That was, that was, uh, Bijon and, in, yeah, and Mooney. The number one was a seven and one was a seven. Yeah, Jason was outraged on a weekly basis. It was dumb. The number one, the numbers mean things.

But you really, I'm going to be honest with you, you should be able to tell the difference between Darnell Mooney and B. John Robinson. Okay. When it's fair. But when things are going fast, it's just a point, wait, not what? Yeah, that's fair. That's true. Who was it? Get out of here, Mooney. Which running backs were like the one number off? I'm trying to remember. Corum and Kyron. Yeah. Oh, yeah. That one's annoying. Where you're like, touchdown four. What? Corum. 22, three. Dang it. Yep. How about this move? The Seahawks signed Emmanuel Wilson to a one-year deal, adding to their pile of backfield options. Did you see their comments on George Halani as well? No. You did not. I did not. They said that they are the belief around Seahawks people is that they believe he has a lot more to offer and they want to get a more opportunity. Hey, I've seen how they believe in Charbs. So that makes sense. Yeah, I mean. They saw Emmanuel Wilson. They were like, hmm.

Yeah. Charles, Manuel Wilson. Wilson's actually, he's fine. I think this is a very important signing for fantasy with Charbonnet. Like his ACL surgery was February 20th. That is, he will not be ready to start the year. Like he might not be ready till October, November. There were a lot of people, probably doctors, I'm guessing, that agreed with a lot of urinary medical analysis. on the last show. Oh, about the Achilles? The Achilles? We're stacking them. Even some people are on board with me where you just, you have a gap year between college and the pros where you break everything and you let it heal stronger. People are really getting on board from what I'm hearing at least three or four of them. Amari DiMarcato, one year deal. Who are, which oddly enough, they're no longer allowed to practice anything in the medical field. Who is it?

The doctor will agree with you. Oh, certainly. Yeah, they've been revoked. Chiefs signed Amara DiMarcato, depth piece there. Perfect. Perfect. It doesn't really matter. Tutu Outwell did the Dolphins, Calvin Austin to the Giants. I mean, 2-2. Oh, no. Calvin Austin of the Giants is a nice addition. Calvin Austin had, he made plays. Like, he's not going to be Wondale replacement, but it's also, he's a good player. Sure. He's what they wanted Jalen Hyatt to be. Yeah, I mean, he actually will make place, in other words. Yeah, get down the field fast. Get open and stretch the field. I can't believe McVeigh let 2-2 go. I know, right? It's like always been his dude. Well, there's A.J. Brown rumors. We're recording the show a little bit early, by the way. So if A.J. Brown has been randomly traded and we're talking about it now, I apologize. But you imagine AJ Brown to the Rams? Chill out. Yeah. L.A. Don't do that. Hold down. Maybe the right.

mathematical process to go through because you got puka and he's a legend but maybe two veteran stars equals one veteran star maybe that's the way you should be looking at it Adams plus AJ Brown equals 17 games played maybe that's the way you should look at it when you add the you know like they should add Mike Evans and then they got to add Keenan Allen do you know what I mean? San Francisco you get you add those two guys and you'll get 17 weeks I mean it would Brown Brown to the Rams would be ridiculous They will be, and then they added Trent McDovey. They're going to be. I'm saying for the Rams. I just realized, guys, Kyler Murray is going to be the Rams quarterback in 2027. Like, that's the plan. Because there was, there was all the rumors that they wanted him, but he would have to sit for a year behind Stafford makes sense. So what does he do? He goes, signs a one year deal with a no tag clause with Sean McBade's buddy. It's like, hey, go, uh, go play over there for a year.

The farm team is the vice opportunity. Yeah, calling it now, man. All right, let's jump right in. Coaching Carousel. All right, we have a lot of names to get through, but let's go ahead and recap what we're seeing for 2026. Last year in 2025, we had seven head coaching changes, the year before eight, the year before five, and then nine. So this year we have 10 and 21 new offensive coordinators, which is wild because there are 32 teams. Oh, man. Well, because teams keep hiring defensive head coaches. Yeah, those numbers actually math out pretty good. Like if you have the most new head coaches, a lot of those are going to be standout offensive coordinators. So let's do a quick, let me get a quick reaction from both of you to the results of the seven hires of last year. I thought it was pretty good. There are a couple of... I was going to go one by one, but...

Oh, all right. It was just a lay of the land. I think it was a successful. It was a successful year, two atrocious ones, and then everyone else was pretty good. So Ben Johnson, obviously, two thumbs up. Awesome. Liam Cohen. Yeah, considering there was, what, seven last year, and you have. Kellyn Moore. You have three coaches that I feel, or in Rabel, so four, four coaches that you feel good about the direction of the program. Aaron Glenn. He's not one of them. Pete Carroll. And that's the other. Those two are outright just catastrophes. One of them still got the job. Which I think is a larger catastrophe. Like it would have been less bad if he didn't have. More egregious, Jason. The New York Jets retaining the services of Aaron Glenn. Okay. Or the New York Jets trading for Gino Smith. Oh, man.

I'm going to say retaining Aaron Glenn. Okay. Because Gino Smith is probably the best quarterback they've had since Gino Smith. Every bad team needs, and I know this is a Cardinal Finn, every bad team what you need is a, you need a story. It may be an improbable one, but you need the way that you could succeed this year. There has to be some remote. 35% target share, Garrett Wilson. Well, fantasy, yes, you'll succeed. That's also their best chance of succeeding. But I'm just saying there are some teams this year that I do not have the story for. That's all I'm saying. Like, I don't have a story for the Cardinals. Jacoby Brissette's as a starting quarterback for the Arizona Cardinals is not a story. The story is the number one pick. Yes, that is the story. The story is how do you get the number one pick? And right now they're projected to have the most cap space in the NFL next year. So this is a, this is a 2027 plan. So they can lose to the- What's your Jets story?

Oh, that one is, that one is tough. I mean, obviously, number one pick. Gino just proved he can do that. You know, so that's, he's already proved he can get you. That's why they brought him on. Who do we bring into it? Sure, the number one pick. Oh my goodness. Did the Cardinals and Jets play this year? Because that would be a very important game. That would be a very important game. That's the one that has to go up to Alaska and play the. Some fast facts on the coaching changes over the last decade. NFL teams hired 70 head coaches in the last decade. Only 33 of the 70 had NFL offensive play calling experience of the 70. So it's 47%. Seven of the 10 new hires this year did. So maybe that trend is starting to change. Younger coaches perform. We've been trying to help. Yeah. We've been trying to put the word on. Telling you what you need to do. Mm-hmm.

Younger coaches perform better in year one than their aged peers. 30s, if you're in the 30s as a first year head coach, almost a 500 winning percentage. If you're in your 40s, 0.424, so 42% winning percentage. And if you're in your 50s, you're at about 45%. Do I have some great news for you guys? The Arizona Cardinals do, in fact, play the New York Jets. In Alaska? It's in Arizona. Unfortunately, it is in Arizona. It's a home game. But holy crap. I'm pretty sure. That will decide the order of the top three. I believe the Cardinals have a much more difficult schedule. Oh, thank goodness. Yeah. Thank goodness. The Cardinals home schedule includes the Eagles, Broncos, and Lions. Yeah. Oh, my.

Do you realize the fun irony of Arch Manning and Marvin Harrison being the tangle? Yes. I mean, that is. Like running it back? It's like running it back. Yeah. All right. Let's get into it. Ten teams with new head coaches. I don't think they will be as good. Sorry, Arch. You got a- Let me just understand something. Becoming Peyton is a, that's far away. Just ask Marvin how easy it is to become dad. It's not a guarantee. If you guys have had this backwards philosophy where you're abandoning your home team. Yep. But let me understand. To be fair, they abandoned us. Are you putting it because you're not switching teams. Like I can get more on board with it. Are you setting it aside? Are you putting it in the closet? Yes. You're putting it in a box. It's on a top shelf. I need a step stool. Oh, you as well. Oh, yeah, yeah. I'm in the attic, bro. Oh, you want to you. I need a ladder. Wow. Yeah, I mean, I could see mine. Your attic doesn't have one of those pull downs.

The auto pull down ladders? You have to bring a ladder? No, we have those in Arizona? Yeah. Yeah. I don't. So you guys both have placed your fandom in like a cardboard box and threw it up in the attic? Yeah. Next to some old clothes and amendments. Mine's next to other teams, boxes. And I'm just... I will say it's hard to, after this long of a history of rooting for one team, to like really get on board with someone else. Yeah, we say we don't care, but then... All of this news we're talking about. I was like, we want them to get the number one pick. If you had the number one pick, you'd be pretty excited. I would be. Okay. You guys are just working through some stuff. The Cardinals, new head coach, Mike LaFleur. They at least got this one. Yeah, checks a lot of boxes. You've got young. 39 years old. Good. Offense. Good. McVeigh. Shanahan trees. Both of them. Great. Hair is questionable.

Hair is at 39, the hair's a problem. It's just the style though. He's got good hair. Yeah. He is just what he's doing with it needs to change. Yeah. Which, I mean, to be fair, this is the analysis. Jonathan Gannon, it was not the hair. It was the stuff underneath. It was the brain. The brain. Whiz pops. The Cardinals in 12, Jacoby. You got a fire in your belly. Oh yeah. How'd you drive here? Oh, man. You take the bus? How did we ever not know how bad it was going to be from day one? I mean, we did. All right. Cardinals should have watched that and been like, you have failed your physical. With Gannon? Yeah. So does LaFloor, if you think they're playing, this is the hard part of the NFL, right? You say you're playing for 2027. This is a first time head coach. He's not playing for 2027.

Correct. This is the hard part about getting the number one pick is you can come in and we believe he's a talented coach. They got the coach higher right. They were the number one passing team in football last year and Jacoby starts. I mean, 40 pass attempts per game. We talked about this. Like if you bring in Jacoby Broussett, it's not inspiring for Cardinal fans. It's really good for Tray McBride. It's really good for Michael Wilson potentially securing more of a wide receiver two, three fantasy role. Marvin Harrison being something. There is stability in that. Yeah, the same way with Daniel Jones and Alec Pierce. You keep the name that you already know. Obviously, the fantasy implications are what we're talking about today. This is phenomenal. You've got a young, offensive-minded head coach from a running tree and a passing tree inheriting a team. Like I made a lot about towards the end of the year, Jacoby was throwing the ball 40 times a game. He was on pace for 700 passing. It's not going to happen again. This is as close as you're going to get where the defense.

They're not investing in this team. They are not making this team like where you're really going to be competing for the playoffs in year one. Yes, Michael Flore will be trying to win games. He's a young first time head coach. But Montya Austin, the GM is not investing in the 2026 Cardinals. The defense is going to be bad. I think Josh Sweat may be requested a trade. He actually said he didn't. Yeah, that came out. Yeah, but they do that sometimes. They come out and they're like, no, I didn't. And then they get traded. And it's like, but regardless, I think it's going to be a bad defense and a good offense, despite the fact, I mean, Marvin Harrison, we'll have the debates right now. I know Michael Wilson is being drafted ahead of them. You guys. In basketball? Yeah. Really? Yeah. I mean, it was like a month ago. Yes. Michael Wilson looked great. Trey McBride obviously is awesome.

And the running game should work with this scheme. So I think there will be plenty of fantasy goodness. What was your reaction to Tyler Alger? As we go through the coaching changes, if there's a relevant free agent, you didn't get to talk about them, I'll get your like two second thoughts. Yeah, I mean, it was really an anti-Trey Benson. What's that? That was your time, sir. All right. I think that the run game will be a 1A of James Connor until he's injured and then a 1A of Algier. The Cardinals did suffer the most injuries in football last year. 40 players missed the total of 318 games. That was the worst in the NFL. We talked about the final four teams in the NFC combined didn't have as many players on the injured reserve as theirs on a Cardinals did. So were they a bad team? Yes. Was their offense really productive for fantasy? Yes. Is Michael Ford a good offensive coach? Yes. So is Nathaniel Hackett going to do anything as the new offensive coordinator? We hope not. We hope not.

especially considering last year he was a defensive analyst. Cardinals are plus 260 for fewest wins in the NFL. They have the longest odds of a Super Bowl of all teams. Yeah, that would correlate with how bad we expect him to be. How is Hackett still getting jobs? This was like an important, like, networking. Yeah, it really was. I mean, person to person. I mean, stop it. LaFleur wanted to hack it bad. Well, you got to be a head coach. It was awful. You got to be an OC for the Jets. It was awful. Like someone else. Someone else gets an opportunity now. He was mid-season fired by the Broncos, right? Isn't that what that was? Believe. Like a real quick firing? I believe that's okay. We'll take a break. That's like three years ago. I don't remember. We don't know. All right. We don't have to talk about the Cardinals anymore. They were one of the 10 head coaching changes. We'll move on to the Atlanta Falcons who are 8 and 9. They have a.

collection of left-handed quarterbacks now new head coach kevin stefansky who we love so that is you know their story feels a little bit similar to the cardinals where like the actual head coaching hire we have good confidence in lafleur safansky but beyond that you look at the rest of the offseason moves very weird um But they will, you know, I do believe in Stefansky. I don't, I don't have the same view that you have on lumping them in with the Jackson Browns. Well, you didn't spend a whole week talking about the free agent pickups. That was a good time. Yeah. That was a good time. The Falcons, I mean, obviously they brought in a hodgepodge of unimportant people, but with Stefanski there, you know how good his running game has been, how dedicated he is to the run, the fact that they've got Bijon here. And honestly, like, Pennix.

I don't know that he can really be what they hoped when they drafted him. And Tua can come in here and win games. You think Tua wins a job? Because they also put it out there yesterday that it was like both players know they're coming in to compete for the job. I think Tua wins the job. The offenses for Kevin Stavansky have ranked in top 10 in rush attempts every year from 2019 to 2023. To your point. Their offense of line was middle of the pack at 14th. They do not have a first round pick because of poor decisions. Yeah, I mean, they're dealing with James Pierce situation as well. They need wide receiver help, I don't think. No. Zakias is the answer. He's the perfect answer. 35% target share, Drake London. That's fair. They got a new offensive coordinator, Tommy Reese. Zach Robinson was there, who we liked.

I mean, are we going to be just brought back into Kyle Pitts? Right now? I think so. I mean, the Stefansky, you were like, hey, top 10 in rushing attempts and all those. And they've given us, at least the Cleveland Browns over the past few years, there has been fantasy tight ends. This is the Browns moving over here, too. Tommy Reese is the Browns offensive coordinator. Yeah, at the end of the year. I do think that he'll be a top six tight end. So it's the tight end one. But it will, yes, but it's, uh, it'll be irrelevant. I mean, I brought that up on the things to remember. Although, man, the things to remember episode, I was thinking about this. Uh-oh. One of my things to remember was that if you're not taking basically Brock Bowers, um, and, and Trey McBride, then just check out. Just punt completely. Don't fall like, I got to have the next guy. And then after that.