Fantasy Football - AFC North Breakdown + Don’t Be Surprised! - Podcast for 7/7

If your offense is going to be more competent with an offensive-minded head coach and Monk. Njoku was just phased out. Like, I mean, it started, you know, he was the guy that... Do you like Monk or not? Do you think he can do better than what they've done? I think he can do better than what they have done. But quarterback is just... It's the most important position in professional sports. Because if you don't have one... And... Like, we saw it last year, you know, with Jacoby Brissett. He's at least competent. Can Shadur elevate his game where he's not dead last in EPA and he's actually a competent quarterback?

Because he was not last year. I mean, he was competent enough to give Fannin some really good numbers. Yeah. Oh, man. Fannin was the tight end five with a missed game and an injury in his second-to-last game. And they grabbed Spencer Fanno, number nine, in the draft at offensive tackle, even ahead of adding Concepcion and Boston. I... Oh, I hate these middle-round tight ends, but I love Fannin so much. And you're convulsing a little bit. Yeah, it's really difficult. Anytime that you have just kind of a cloud of misery hanging over a team, I think there's opportunity in fantasy. It's going to depress values in ADP.

The Cardinals are going to be depressed. I'm depressed because I'm a Cardinal fan. But the values are going to be depressed. We saw a horrific Cardinals team put up great offensive numbers worth multiple number one options in McBride and Wilson. But they had one of the worst defenses in the league in that stretch, whereas the Browns have... I know they lost Miles Garrett, but they've still got a very good defense. They're going to lose almost all their games. It's all that matters to me, is that the Cardinals are going to win maybe a game this year. The Browns are going to win maybe two.

And they're going to be trailing. They're going to throw the football. Fannin was prolific. So that turns the conversation then into Quinshawn Judkins, who... I mean, he'll get it all. Great prospects. Also was great as a rookie. You look at the numbers, and you're like, oh, he didn't rush for a lot per carry. The offensive line was trash. You watch the games. He looked the part on the NFL field. It was not his fault that they were always down. And six... I'm much more on Jason's side on this. I don't care about the yards per carry number for him at all.

Well, okay, not even yards per carry. 67% of his runs were three or fewer yards. I mean, that's one and the same. That's yards per carry. But that's just... That's effectiveness. That's efficiency. I agree. Maybe the offensive line is not the best, but that's the worst rate in the NFL. For a player getting that amount of volume, to not even be able to hit three yards on 67% of your carries, that's a big deal. I mean, that's bad. The numbers were bad for Jinty on his yards per carry. I mean, you are up against it when you have no quarterback play, and you don't have the opportunity

for the defense to focus on anything else. That's all I'm saying. And Monken's a better strategist. They have a better offensive line. And I'll take a 22-year-old running back who passed the eye test to me. That's all I'm saying. I will, too. But I don't like losing teams. I'm not going to put them at the top of my list. I don't think I'm going to do it this year. I want to give Judkins his props and just say he's a really good running back. But like you said, they're going to be losing games. That's what I'm saying. They're going to be losing games, and they're not going to score a ton of touchdowns.

This isn't the situation. They don't have a good offensive line, even though they added Spencer Fano. I think I would much rather go in on the passing than the running game. Let's have the conversation around this division then. Jalen Warren or Coinshawn Judkins, because Warren is behind him in ADP. Warren. See, I'll take Judkins. I'll take the workload. David Montgomery or Coinshawn Judkins. Montgomery's two spots behind him. I think I'll take Montgomery. Jadarian Price is just behind him. Price will go up, though. Ramondre Stevenson or Coinshawn Judkins. That one's funny. I'm going to make you say some name that you don't like.

I will take Judkins there. Mike, you're going to answer. It's probably Ramondre. DeAndre Swift. Oh, that's easy, Swift. Those are the guys going. So it's like Tootin, Swift, Judkins in drafts. Most of those guys I would take over Judkins simply because of the Browns situation. And I do, too. I love the player. I just don't know what the ceiling cap is. Yeah. He is really up against it. Could he be a top 15 back if things went right? That's kind of the. A part of that discussion is the targets. And I'm not saying Judkins can't do that. We have some evidence in college that he can.

But what we saw with Monken, with Derrick Henry, when it was time to pass the ball, Derrick Henry's off the field. You're saying this is a Dylan Sampson. And Dylan Sampson, last year, he saw 40 targets. As a rookie. That's all I think of. It's so stupid. That's a question that we need training camp to hopefully answer for us is how does Monken view the offense? Is Judkins, to him, going to be on the field when game script is great? Or will he just be a three-down guy? That I don't think we have the answer to yet. Start making your notes on your division order.

Okay. All right. Because we've got to predict this division as we wrap it up. I don't know if there are any other big questions around Cleveland other than whether you'd take a shot on either of the rookie wide receivers. I think both are fine to take a shot on because they'll be very cheap. For the Browns? Yeah. I mean, Denzel Boston is the very, he's a perfect last-round pick in fantasy. Because you will not have to spin anything higher than that. He's made a lot of headlines. What's difficult is a lot like the lottery ticket you were just talking about with the Ravens where you've got to then get the right rookie.

Yeah, but he's at least the second-rounder. And they're the one. I mean, you've got the chance to be the one on the team. Like, Zay Flowers, you're battling to be the three or the two. Just a reminder, because when we said it, Jerry Judy's still on this team. And Isaiah Bond has been getting a lot of off-season hype around him. So, the depth chart for the Browns is actually pretty murky right now with the wide receivers. Would you draft Jerry Judy in a Jerry Judy-only league? No, I would quit. You'd pass. I would quit the league. Yeah. I'll take zeros.

My division winner is Baltimore, followed by Cincinnati, then Pittsburgh, then Cleveland. I have Cincinnati winning the division. I figured you would. Baltimore will go second, and then Steelers and Cleveland. Jason? I've got Baltimore winning the division. I've got Pittsburgh second with the defense. Cincinnati third, and Cleveland is the free bingo square. On Thursday, we will talk AFC South. And as a reminder, again, three shows a week. So, we'll have a Saturday episode of the podcast. Oh, man. Your lawn doesn't stand a chance. No, it doesn't. It does not. And we will mix in some mock draft episodes in between divisional breakdowns as well.

Uh, as we close things out, the ultimate draft kit, go to ultimatedraftkit.com. The draft analyzer is live right now. And, um, you know, getting down to the final reminders here, there are only a handful of tickets left, but the Fantasy Footballers Live Megalist Show in Phoenix here presented by SiriusXM and sponsored by GMC and PetSmart. Friday, August 28th at the Van Buren in Phoenix. Ballerslive.com is where you get tickets. There are a few mezzanine tickets left. There are a few kind of other floor tickets scattered around if you want to pick one up. They're there, but they're going fast. It's going to be amazing.

We want to see the Foot Clan there. You guys are awesome. It is never lost on us on how amazing our listenership is and your loyalty to the show and to fantasy football and all of the shenanigans on this podcast. Uh, we love you guys. So, uh, that'll do it for today's episode. Franny, Mike, and Jason. We got the ducers back there. Al Borland, Papa Josh, and the Falcon. Born in 1996. Yeah. We'll see you later. Goodbye. Thank you for listening to another episode of the Fantasy Footballers Podcast. Join our fantasy football community on jointhefoot.com. And follow us on Twitter at the FFBallers.