Fantasy Football 2018 - Forgotten Players, Beckham Rumors, The Woke One

Also, by the way, there's a show after the show today on YouTube. Oh. So don't miss out on that, but let's jump into the injuries. All loud and squeaky, because really, I'm fine. I'm fine, guys. The laugh track in there. Yeah. That's a live studio audience. That's true. Yeah, thank you, studio. Just reacting. Just reacting to the comedy. All right, let's get into it. Let's talk about some of these players. This segment was inspired by a question off of Twitter.

Who was injured early in 2017 that we might forget about in 2018? And that is the key point because those are players that oftentimes slip down the draft board. Your average draft position, your ADP of those players ends up being a lot lower than maybe they should be, right? Definitely. A lot of times when a player gets injured, they miss the entire season. That's...

One, it's best case scenario for their health versus the guys that you saw for three quarters of a season and got injured. But two, because they missed that season and you haven't seen them back from the injury yet, a lot of times you're talking double-digit rounds for these guys or maybe even undrafted for some of these guys. You can have a lot of value. This is where you could kind of swing for the fences. And if you grab a guy late in those double-digit rounds who might just be healthy and ready to come back,

you'll know week one whether he's back or whether he doesn't look the same. We have started the wide receiver position and the headliner here is Julian Edelman because he was injured very early in the year, a torn ACL. Before they're even started. That was in preseason week three. That's right. And the expectation right now he's 31 years old, but the Patriots are expecting him back and to be fully healthy for week one. What do we have to look forward to with Edelman and what do we have to worry about with Edelman and where do you guys have him compared to maybe the consensus?

I'll give you some numbers. I want to give you some target share numbers from Julian Edelman. Going back to when he really became jewels, the jewels of the Patriots, Julian Edelman, 2013, 25%, 14, 25%, 15, 24%. 2016, it shot way up because this was the absence of Gronk, but up to 29%. So since he became a thing back in 2013, he was getting at least 24%.

of the target share. Julian Edelman, he's putting out videos, by the looks of the videos of his workout videos, he's feeling pretty strong. I mean, this was before the season even started, that there's plenty of time for him to come back from the ACL injury, I think, despite his age. My real question for Julian Edelman is more of what does he do to the offense as a whole, because you had Brandon Cooks who was,

He had some inconsistency, but for a stretch, Brandon Cook's was extremely hot. You have Chris Hogan. If Chris Hogan, who was a beast before he got hurt, what does the, if you reinsert Julian Edelman and his target share into this offense, what does it do for the rest of the pieces as well as does Julian Oedman go right back to a 24, 25% share?

I think you're going to see Julian Edelman right at the, you know, 20% share mark. Maybe not as high as it was, but he's going to go back to being the possession guy. The slot receiver that can break out, can break in on a slant and move the chains. I mean, we've seen in the past, right, Grant goes down and then all of a sudden Danny Amandola is unfathomably important to this offense because they were missing Julian Edelman and that role. Well, Danny Amandola is gone. And while you might have, you know, Chris Hogan back and you.

You've got cooks. Those are not the same type of possession players. Those are outside, you know, stretch the field type of guys. And I think Julian Edelman comes back from what I looked at regarding his health and those workout videos you showed, I think he's going to have a great age 31 season. I have some really. It's going to be a value in the draft. Okay. So let's put that to the test. I have three names that I want to hear who you like more. Edelman are these guys. Okay. Let's start here. Let's go Edelman.

Or Michael Crabtree who just went to Baltimore might end up the number one in Baltimore. Edelman. Edelman. Okay. Let's go Pierre Garsohn in San Francisco with Jimmy GQ. That's tough. That is. You'd rather have Garzaun or Edelman this year? I think I would lean Edelman. Yeah, I do too. That's where I was going. Interesting. How about, let me see here. Let's go Golden Tate. Oh, Tate. You'd rather have Tate in Detroit? Would you rather have Julian Edelman coming back from injury? That's very, very close. I lean.

Golden Tate. I just wanted to throw out Matthew Betts. He's one of our writers. He is a, he does, he's an orthopedic physical therapist. And he let us know that the thing to watch out for guys of his age and who are a little bit smaller coming off the ACL, they have an increased risk of soft tissue injuries. So keep your eye. If Edelman gets, pulls up with a hamstring injury drop him in training camp.

That's going to be a situation where he will drop a large amount in my rankings. I mean, he brought this up, but you saw it last year with Danny Woodhead. You know, he's coming back, you know, similar age and an issue. And when he pulled up with a hamster, couldn't get over it to the point where you go on season-ending IR from soft tissue issues. All right. Edelman or Hogan. Same team. Oh, that's great. I think I'm going to go with Edelman. I would go with Edelman because I...

I believe he will, man, who do you think gets drafted first between those two? I feel like Chris Hogan would go ahead of. I believe it will be Chris Hogan, but that's Edelman's draft price is going to be very interesting to watch because he was, I mean, he had finally gotten the respect where he was drafted where he should be for his fantasy value, but I mean, he could drop, what, sixth round? He could end up like that Steve Smith value from years ago. By the way, every single name I just compared.

is going ahead of Julian Edelman in current drafts. Yeah, I mean, right now. Because there's a forgetfulness to it. There are people don't even realize he's there. When we were going through our mock draft, I think we kind of started looking inside. Let's go this direction. Let's go that. Let's not go with Julian. I believe I got Julian Edelman in a ninth round in a best ball league. It's great. Nice. All right. Let's go to another player who's been very productive, has a new quarterback, Emmanuel Sanders. 31 years old.

He's still under contract, both Edelman and Sanders through 2019 under contract. Last year, it was tough to stay healthy for Emmanuel Sanders. He missed week seven, week eight. Then he also missed week 16 and 17. He was short of 1,000 yards for the first time in four years. And this was not your prototypical Emmanuel Sanders year. You had problems at quarterback mixed with injury. The latest report I have from February 23rd is that his ankle is about 95%.

which is about 5% lower than I'd like to see. Right. Yeah. But is his time, is he going to be the same player this year with Case Keenum? Or does he have the chance to be? I think he does have the chance to be. You know, going through this list, I'm not rosy outlook on everybody. But I think Emmanuel Sanders, there's almost no way, unless he's done, right? If Emmanuel Sanders, he's just lost it. And I don't think this ankle injury is going to, you know, destroy him. He didn't look.

poor to me on tape. His quarterback play was the issue. Unless his career is pretty much over, I don't see how he's not an excellent draft day value. He has been over 1,000 yards, I believe the four previous seasons leading up to that. And, you know, I mean, he's got a huge upgrade to me at quarterback. We'll see what they do in the draft. They're in prime position to upgrade their offensive line as well. I think Emmanuel Sanders is going.

to fall like a... A rock? A cinder block in draft. A cinder block of candy that you would enjoy to devour? Sure. Enjoy to devour, as they always say. Sanders and Demarius Thomas are one round apart in drafts right now. Would you take the lower of the two? Or would you just take Demarius? I'd take Demarius. I would still prefer Demarius if they are, in fact.

that close and just want to bring up since 2012, so 2012 to 2016, he missed one game. So this is, Emmanuel Sanders is not, should not be labeled with an injury prone type of label. And I, I'm with Jason, watching Emmanuel Sanders play last year. He looked perfectly fine to me despite being 31 years old. This segment might need to be retitled, Brooks. I think it's,

going to be 31-year-old receivers because I'm going to move to Pierre Garsohn, who is coming off of a neck injury. He played eight games last year. He averaged eight and a half fantasy points per game, a little more than that. But he missed weeks 9 through 17, missed the great Jimmy GQ era. No handsome time. In San Francisco, no handsome time for Pierre Carson. What do we think about Pierre Garcin this year? Because, you know, him, Sanders, Edelman?

They're very similar. They're all possession-oriented guys, great hands, key cogs to the offense when they're healthy. Yeah, I mean, the way that I look at that is Pierre Garcon will be 32 coming up this year. And, you know, they signed them on this long-term contract, but now there's other options there. You know, Marquis Goodwin kind of had a nice breakout party with Jimmy GQ. And I am less confident in a 32-year-old Pierre Garcon who never really played.

in my opinion to the level that Emmanuel Sanders did other than when he had, you know, Peyton Manning at quarterback. So I would much prefer the Manuel Sanders route than the Pierre Garsohn route. You think Pierre Garsohn only played to the best of his ability when he had Peyton Manning? Are you describing Garsohn or Emmanuel Sanders right now? No, I think Emmanuel Sanders played well without Peyton Manning. I would take Garsohn as the...

potential one in a Jimmy GQ offense and Sanders as the guaranteed two in the case Keenham offense. I don't think that's a guarantee. Yeah, I don't either. Manuel Sanders has shown himself to be a one there over the last few years. Brooks, Garson, Sanders. Sanders, easy. Easy. Oh, how easy guys. How easy? I'm not putting a bet on the board just yet about this. So none of you are confident? I'll take it. Water bet. Pierre Garson did average eight targets a game.

in Kyle Shanehan's offense. He looked great. He looked great last year. And we know how Kyle Shanhan gets. He likes his certain players. Yep. All right. Let's throw a couple of younger names out here. Let's talk about John Ross. Good luck. John Ross.

He finished the year with negative fantasy points. It's hard to do. They said it couldn't be done. Another way to put that would be Jason scored more fantasy points than John Ross. It's just a fact. He was a top 10 pick in the NFL draft. And your team bodied him. What are you doing, Cincinnati? Well, the good news is Marvin Lewis is back. Oh, fantastic. John Ross is just 23 years old. And, well, he sprained his left knee in the team's preseason finale.

He came back to, I believe, run a reverse for lost yardage. He fumbled. He fumbled. Oh, yes. And then he never played again. Well, he fumbled. So Marvin Lewis has to send a message. It says you can't fumble. It might have been the right message in this one case because it was revealed that John Ross was hiding some injuries from the team in an effort to get back, never got back on the field. What is...

The opportunity for John Ross. It's so interesting. I just, I want to speak to that point real quick of the team being mad that he's hiding injuries because he's trying to get back on the field. But then there's guys who will play through an injury and they're awesome. They're tough. They gritted it out through the injury. That's exactly what he was trying to do. Well, they weren't mad at him for trying to do that. He wasn't succeeding in doing that. Therefore, he was being a bad player. Therefore, they didn't, they thought he wasn't living up the potential when it might have been attributed to injury. He obviously has.

He was the Combined Darling last year, and that got him drafted too high. But can he be a viable compliment to AJ Green, or are we all just wasting our time with him in Dynasty Leagues? Definitely not in Dynasty Leagues. I think long term he could be something there. There's just a lot of mouths to feed. Like a Tavon Austin or like a, you know. They re-signed, you know, Tyler Eifer. Obviously, AJ Green is the one. Then you have LaFelle back. You've got...

Tyler Boyd. I believe Lafell is under contract still. You can verify that. I'm going to lean on the knotback. Yeah. Last I remember, Brandon Lafell was going to be a free agent. You still have Tyler Boyd there. You have the guy I just traded for in Josh Malone, who was still a relatively high draft pick a couple years ago for a wide receiver. I think he is back. Jason is right on that one. He's getting a $1 million roster bonus. He received it on March 18th.

Well, then Brandon Lafell is back. Then John Ross, I think, is a talented player. I really do. I think he's got an opportunity. And we haven't been, you know, his negative season did not disprove his talent as a football player. Right. But it's where is the opportunity going to come? I don't think he's going to have enough opportunity this year to be super relevant. But in a dynasty league, maybe you can buy him cheap then. Okay. So that's the consensus. You're not excited about him in fantasy. Not this year.