Fantasy Football Podcast 2015 - Special Guest: Martavis Bryant, Busts, Players to Avoid

The real-life Tom Brady has not translated. In some ways, you guys are saying the same thing about him that you've said about Stafford yesterday, which is the memories of grand years cause the name to kind of get elevated in drafts. So much like Jimmy, he's not going to be on your team. And then you mix the suspension in there and what we think exists at value at quarterback position, then we're saying bust alert for Tom Brady. Yeah, if I'm a GM in the NFL.

Give me Tom Brady now. I think he's got years left. He's phenomenal. But fantasy, no way. Is that fun nominal? Fun nominal. He is. Like he's super fun? He is such a fun guy. Did you see him jump off that cliff? No? That was during the off season? Really? I missed it. Here I come. He was cliff diving. They must have loved that. Yeah, his agent had a heart attack. That's called getting your gronk on. Is that what that is? Gronk would be diving off of a cruise ship.

is what Gronk would have been doing. Into the Atlantic I go. So we have the privilege of talking to one of our favorite guys, Martavis Bryant, so let's go ahead and do that right now. You talking to me? The fantasy footballers are now joined by Marty McBride himself, Martavis, of the Pittsburgh Steelers. What's going on, Martavis? How are you doing? I'm doing great. Hi, guys on.

We're doing pretty well. So we want to talk about the offense in Pittsburgh. We're huge fans of yours. Last year was tremendous and tremendous for fantasy players as well. And so we're wondering, what are some things that you're really liking about the offense this year? Just how much work everybody that's put into the outseason and how better everybody that got coming to camp. What are some things that have been different this year than your rookie year for you?

I came in more prepared this year, had better workouts and stuff, and just my confidence. Now, do you play fantasy football? I actually don't. Okay, do some of the guys on your team pay attention to it, or how much do people talk about it? Some people talk about it. Yeah. So speaking specifically to the offense, how often are you guys lining up three wide? It's pretty cool that we can have me lead.

A, B, on the field at the same time. Everything is just clicking. You know, we're putting in great work these day to get better. We've ever been our chemistry with Ben. Now, we know last year you tended to get on the field more late in the season. Obviously, in the playoffs, you were amazing. Do you expect this year for you to be on the field more like you were in that playoff game and really have a high percentage of the snaps? Is that your expectation right now? Right now, my expectation is, you know, we're still in camps.

Still focusing on that. But besides my playing time and stuff, you know, that's not really in my control, you know. Right, yeah. Yeah, feeling it out. So is there any players that you kind of feel like this is who I compare myself to, not in like an egotistical way, but just how do you compare your game? I mean, I do different things. So I don't really know who to compare myself to, you know.

but my favorite, one of my favorite seasons ran him off. Right, yeah, it makes sense. So let's, we talk a lot on the show about the impact of the offensive line and the center. What's been the impact of losing Marquise for a while right now? You know, we're trying to really focus on that. You know, we've got Cody. He looks great as well, so, you know, we're just trying to stay focused. Is there anything else you're really looking forward to for this season?

Just getting started and putting in great work and just seeing what it take us at the end of the year. Who's the best DB that you played against last year? Last year, I would say number 21 from the coast of Utah. Yeah, so the height helps. Now, you put on some muscle this offseason, is that right? Correct.

What did you do this off-season? You said that you're more prepared this year. What was it specifically you did this off-season that maybe you didn't know to do in your first off-season? I had better training, you know. I was doing M&A and I was running routes. I really got my body right and my cardio up and just my head movement. Yeah, I like the MMA. We do some jits here, and that's a pretty good workout. Yeah, it's really good.

So we know that you are an extremely busy man. So we want to thank you so much for joining us. We're keeping this one short and sweet for you, man. How's that? All right. Thanks, Martavis. We appreciate it. All right. All right. That's just awesome. That is just awesome. Thank you. Thank you, Martavis. Marty McPry. For taking a few minutes out of your busy day to talk to us. And that guy's busting his butt right now. Yeah. And he was kind enough to give us a few minutes of his time. I love that he said.

you know, Moss was the guy because a few shows ago we said the same thing. Like for me, it's a rarity to see a guy get behind the defense bite so many, so many yards. I mean, he just, when he gets downfield, you know what Martavis Bryant is going to do. He's going to go long. And yet he's just like Moss, he would get 10 yards behind you. And a reminder that for everyone who's buying into all the Wheaton hype of Wheaton's the number two guy, Wheaton was the number two guy last year. Who had the better fantasy production?

Yeah, and you give another year to Martavis. Yep. So, yeah, but that offense, you know, that offense is going to be great. That is for sure. And Wheaton will have value. We're not saying he doesn't. It's just a matter of the talent by Bryant's talent and the touchdown value of Bryant is so high. So that was a thrill. That was awesome having him on the show. Let's go ahead and spend the rest of our time talking mailbag. Mailbag. Miles and now one. Oh, wow. With Martavis Bryant. You should have thrown a great Scott in there. That would have been the right play. Great Scott! There you go.

All right, so we're going into the mailbag now answering some listener questions. If you have a voicemail question, you want to leave us. It's 302-464 TFFB. You can also send us a question on the website, the fancy footballers.com. So first question here is from Tom in Ithaca, New York. He said, Harris introduced me to you guys. You guys are amazing.

His question is this, does he keep Lacey in the third or C.J. Anderson in the 8th? He's leaning towards C.J., but he needs a confidence boost. And I'm actually afraid we're not going to give him one. But let's see what you guys say. To me, the value is too good to pass up. I love Lacey in the third, and that is awesome.

If I can have CJ and my third round pick, I would rather do that. And then handcuff CJ with Hillman and spin the pick. So I would give him the confidence booths. You would say CJ. Yeah, right now I've got CJ as I think like a top five back. Eddie Lacey might be number one, but if I can get a top five back in the eighth, I'm going to take that. This will be interesting to hear from Mike because Eddie Lacey is now number one on his board. First off, is this Tom Green from Road Trip in Ithaca? It is Tom Green, yeah, because no one else is named Tom.

Well, in Ithaca. All right. You got another reference that is lost on you. I love Tom Green. Okay. I am. He's still disappointed in you. I'm taking the sure thing. I am too. I'm taking Lacey in the third. The value I agree. The value is good enough to me. Yeah. To lock up my number one guy in the third, I want CJ in the eighth, but I'm not going to sweat it. I'm going to lock in the superstar Eddie Lacey. There you go, Tom. Exactly what you didn't want. No, two to one, two to one on Lacey. It's just take all the question marks of those two.

two guys, put it on the scale, and there's too many on the CJ side for me to, you know, if you weren't getting a value at all, if it was Lacey in the second, it probably changes it for me. I agree. All right, Greg and Albuquerque, he said, Doug Martin looks really good in preseason with a rookie quarterback and an interesting receiving course. Should I pick him?

Oh, should I pick up Doug Martin? He has Lynch, Hyde, and Abdullah. Should I drop one of those guys to pick up Doug Martin? You should absolutely pick up Doug Martin, and you should drop a guy to get him, and it should not be any of the running backs you just named. If you have a second quarterback, a second tight end. Is Abdullah going behind Martin based on the last ADP of him? Oh, man, that's a good question. I bet he is, but I still agree that I wouldn't do that.

Because you have some solid guys here, and then I'd want the upside of Abdullah versus the kind of, oh, I hope he's back of Martin. Abdullah's going in the top of the fourth, so Abdullah is going in front of him. Okay, so even more reasons. I'll tell you what I do. I drop my kicker, and I pick up Doug Martin, and I just hold him until the season starts, and then I pick up a kicker. Or then I figure it out. But if you have a second tight end or a dispensable wide receiver, get rid of them. Agreed. All right. Brad in Phoenix.

Hey, Brad. From out here. My question to you guys is, do you have different strategies for drafting in the middle, like pick five or six, versus on the ends, like one and two or nine and ten? For me, I think the ends are easier to draft because you're a step ahead of the drafters around you. Well, what a good question, because we just did our random draft order for the listener, the listener league, and that kind of bubbling vomit sound you heard was from Jason. Was me getting the 12th. And I hate that pick. Oh, I hate it right now. Mike, where are we? We're eight and nine?

Yeah, we're the magic spot. Magic. The best spot. Now, he's clearly in a 10-team league here with his question because he says the end is nine or 10. And I like that a lot better because the truth is I see about seven or eight guys that I think are really, really great values this year. And in most drafts, not our listener league because our listeners are losing every week, but in most drafts, there's going to be an extra guy or two that's taken early, you know.

You got Aaron Rogers, who's going to go in the first or something like that. Pushing back to that 9 or 10 spot where you get great value. I love it. But at the 12 spot, I hate it. But more to his point, I actually don't prefer being on the turns. I like having a small gap, like what you guys have at the 8-9, because it allows you to...

plan ahead and see a couple picks into the future because you can just look at one or two teams and say, here's what they've got, here's what I expect them to do and make your picks a little bit better. When I'm on the end, it does change my strategy because while I like to roll with the draft, usually when I'm on the end, I'm going to start with a running back and then on my next turn. I'm talking one, too. Sorry, if I'm in the one, I'm going to start with the superstar running back, and then I want to grab a running back and a wide receiver. So I kind of know what positions I'm targeting.

So, and where I'm in the middle, I'm free, man. I'm, woo. I can do what I won't. I'm dancing. All right, Dion from New York City. Dancing like Dion. We got another New York City. New York City. There it is. You didn't grab it the first time. All right. Is there a preferred, this is a good question. Get this all the time. Is there a preferred format for quarterback streaming? It isn't viable, obviously, in a two-quarterback league, but would you recommend streaming in a 14-team league?

PPR standard? Would you recommend the, would it shift? Would we recommend streaming if you knew that the managers in your league like to stash quarterbacks? And what I'll throw in here to his question is four point and six point leagues? What's the difference? Do you always recommend streaming? No. So when we say the word streaming a lot, do not forget what we start that strategy with is a late quarterback who we are hoping sticks. A guy like Sam Bradford.

Carson Palmer, Eli Mang, those are my three guys that I think I can get late, and I think they're going to be great quarterback ones. When you're in a bigger league, like a 14-team league, depending on the size of your bench, I might, I lean more towards, I'll grab them both. You know, I will grab Palmer and I will grab Bradford, and then I will stream just those two guys based on the matchup, because I think the wire will be a little bit barren. Even though it still can work. Absolutely.

And if you listen to the show, the footballers through the season, we are going to find deep options at the quarterback position and tell you who we are going to stream that week. That's true. And one of the things, too, to remember is, you know, somebody wrote me about this earlier yesterday. And the idea that, you know, if your league stashes a lot of quarterbacks, that represents other value on the board. If they're drafting quarterbacks early, extra ones as backups, you know, if the Aaron Rogers guy grabs.

you know, Eli Manning. I mean, what is he, he's not going to start both every week in one quarterback league. So there should be better running backs and wide receivers on the board because of that. So, but that's good perspective, guys. I appreciate that. You're welcome. Very, very often asked question. All right. Jason from Louisiana said, good morning, loves the show. His wife actually introduced us. Wow. Yeah. Yeah, that's what we're talking about. It's a good wife right there. Do you get her some handsome fancy? Well, not for her. Come on now. I mean, aren't you kind of getting it for the wife?

Yes. I see what you're saying. That's what I meant. Yeah. But honestly, if you got it for her sake, but for his beard. There you go. For her sake, his beard. Let's keep digging this hole. Very important. How far low here we go. Don't just like put it in a box and give it to her. No, that'd be weird. That would be insinuating a problem. All right. Jason from Louisiana. I recently drafted Jordy Nelson in my 10-team half-point PPR league. Devante Adams went very late in the draft. Should they pick up?