Fantasy Wildcards + Stack Attack, Mysterious Upside - Fantasy Football Podcast for 6/9

That was kind of the core, but this is new about him maybe sharing some work, which is not a Mike Tomlin thing. So how do you reconcile this report this early? Yeah, I mean, when I view this, I take it with a grain of salt. Najee actually spoke about it. So whenever you get the player himself talking about it, you know, it's better than a beat reporter trying to relay information. You hope that they're relaying it, you know, fairly. Najee was saying that, you know, he's going to.

lose a little bit of work on some downs and that he completely understands it. They want to keep him healthy. But he also said, you know, we're still talking about it. So when push comes to shove, I think he's going to be on the field more often than not. But we were down on Najee before this solely because Mitchell Trebisky can run. Kenny Pickett can run. Whoever the quarterback is, they look like grease lightning compared to Ben Rothlisberger. Ben Rothlisberger takes the ball.

and then just checks it down immediately. That's not going to happen for Najee, and it's going to happen less if he loses some work on third downs, which isn't necessarily where he was catching the ball. But yeah, it's just he's a volume player, and he looks like he's going to get less volume this year. So his upside seems cap. Second most fantasy points on third down among all running backs last year. I'll say like there's.

Just when you're saying, you know, maybe some reduced snaps, that doesn't necessarily like fully equate to a drastically reduced workload. You can have some downs where you know the running back is just past protecting here. The running back is not really involved in this play design. Let's get him a blow on the sideline so that he can, you know, rest up and be ready for when the running back actually has to take the ball. No doubt, no doubt. And then this morning out of Pittsburgh,

Mitch Rubisky is quote the clear number one during minicamp. Well, he better be. Yeah, I mean, that's step one, right? I mean, that wasn't a 100% guarantee, but it's what you would expect with a rookie coming in. Yes. So, you know, Jason and I had some discussions, Mike, and you can weigh in about this situation in particular. And then we were bringing up last year with Andy Dalton and the Bears and, you know.

We had this whole offseason debate on who's going to end up the starter in Chicago. Dalton starts the season, gets hurt. Justin Fields takes over. But I think we all knew that the Bears were going to lose some games last year, and that might have led to a transition at some point to Justin Fields organically. With Trubisky, you could see this team having some success even if Mitch isn't prolific. So do you, like, if Mitch starts the season as the quarterback, let me put it this way.

He starts week one as the QB1. Do you think, what do you think the odds are a change happens midseason with that team and how they, you know, how competitive they've been regardless of their circumstance? Greater than 50%. That a change does happen? Yeah. Yeah. It's, you know, like maybe they're having, it really comes down to the record. I mean, they, if they're having a ton of success and you're like these, they're up there.

They have a good chance to actually win the division with Mitch Trubisky. Then possibly you don't make the transition. But, I mean, sooner than later, you have to see, did we make a good pick here with this first rounder or in next year's draft? Are we actually back in the hunt hoping that someone falls to us again? I don't know if they're the type of franchise, though, that takes that approach. Like, they're much more likely to fit the mold of.

you know, what Kansas City and some of these teams that took a longer time getting their rookie on the field because of the success they've had. I mean, Big Ben was not impressive last year. They were in the hunt and they were fighting all year long. Sure. I guess I just think it's, they're going to put Mitch in a position to have more success than, I don't know, the Falcons will with Marcus Marietta, where we know at some point they're going to make a decision, right? Like you're going to be one in seven in saying, well, what do we have in Desmond Ritter?

It's just kind of a conversation is all. Sure. And I mean, very difficult. How long did Ben play? Like 14 plus years? I don't even, it was, I mean, I don't, I can't even comp for that situation. Yeah, we have no idea. We have no idea what Tom will do. We had a few fun years, the Cordell Stewart years and the pre-Big Ben years where they were counting and all over. It's hard to even think back historically of the NFL when.

Ben Rothensberg was not the quarterback for the Steelers. Did you want to weigh in there, Jason? No, I think I'm right in the middle between you guys. I still think there's a good chance Kenny Pickett starts the season. Obviously, this was a very important piece of news to me because I've been projected Kenny Pickett to be the week one starter, and I do agree with you. If Mitchell Trubisky is the week one starter, there's a solid...

chance that, you know, he's winning enough games to keep alive. I mean, he got the Bears to the playoffs twice, I believe. And so, you know, he might just keep that job. And I do think that that has an effect on the receiving options. Right now I've got Deontay Johnson statted out for a rookie quarterback. And I think it would be better if Trubisky is the starter. Antonio Gibson suffered a minor hamstring injury during OTAs. Uh-huh. Yeah, it's not my favorite.

It's like the penny news from a couple weeks ago. He'll probably be fine, but you hate players that have been banged up, getting banged up this early. And I don't want Brian Robinson to have a genius. Right. You're worried about what he'll do with it? Yeah. Is he good? I'm not exactly sure. But you'll find out sooner than later if Gibson's on the sideline.

Alan Lazard, not at Packers Mandatory Minicamp. He was an RFA. They tendered him at, was it a second or third? Okay. So he wants a new deal. Yeah, he has not signed that. Flex on him. And I mean, I don't blame him. This is pretty much a golden opportunity where you could say the Packers actually need you because usually you're Alan Lazard and they don't. But wait a minute, wait a minute. Matt LaFleur told reporters that Sammy Watkins is going to be a big part.

of the offense. What do you think about that? I think that's cold-blooded. Yeah, but tell me that some part in the deep recesses of your non-lizzard mind, you're not saying to yourself, what if that's true? Because of what quarterback he has? This is, in a world where Sammy Watkins comes out and has extreme relevance, I will be so thrilled. I mean, that will be just such a fun time. He will have relevance till the moment you are in.

Oh, yeah. The moment you go in and you finally say, no, he's done it. He's proven it. Watch out. So here's my advice to you. Also week one. Yeah, I was going to say at the end. Sammy Watkins. How are you not? How is that not just an automatic selection? Be in on Sammy week one, DFS. DFS, draft him with one of your last picks in the draft and trade him in the, after week one. That's the, that's the, uh, Sammy Watkins game plan. Well, look, the, the truth is the Packers wide receiver situation.

It's murky. Like Christian Watson, Sammy Watkins, Alan Azard, Randall Cobb, Amari Rogers. Because of what you're saying, if Sammy Watkins comes out and has 10 targets and seven receptions for 140 yards of a touchdown, everyone will be convinced. I know we've seen it before, but everyone will be convinced they need him and he looked good and he's the one. You will be able to trade.

You'll be able to trade him for a lot. And here's the thing. You're going to go, maybe I shouldn't. Does it seem? Maybe I should hold on to him. Maybe he's the guy. Don't do it. Don't do it. Oh, 100% we will all fall for it. I mean, that will happen. There's nobody that ever, when something great happens, it's easy to see it repeating in a situation where your other options are those guys we mentioned. But it'll be, thank you, Sammy, for being relevant again. Thank you for coming.

bringing another year of joy to this podcast. All right, quick break, then we'll hit the wildcards. No matter what triumphs are in store this season, legendary game days start with a Miller Light. Miller Light is a true American Pilsner and the original light beer brewed since 1975, made with simple ingredients including malted barley for rich.

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I build up a mighty thirst and nothing satisfies that thirst like a Miller Light on a Sunday. It goes down smooth. It's refreshing. It never lets me down. Make game day legendary. Go to millerlight.com slash footballers to find delivery options near you. Or you can pick up some Miller Light pretty much anywhere they sell beer. Game time is Miller time.

Celebrate responsibly. Miller Brewing Company, Milwaukee, Wisconsin, 96 calories on 3.2 carbs per 12 ounces. What's up, Foot Clan? You are confident and disciplined and focused on details, just like everyone here at the fancy footballers, right? Those are words you used to describe us. In other words, you were made to drive the 2026. Sierra 1500 Denali, a full-size pickup combining capability.

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You know, Jason's a comfort guy. We like the comfort. Comfort rains with leather seating surfaces and 12-way power front seats with power lumbar. You can learn more right now at GMC.com slash Sierra 1500. Well, it is time for our annual Fantasy Wildcards episode looking at players with a wide range of outcomes. It's time to do it. No, I'm saying, no, why are the brakes working? Because I cut the...

All right, fantasy wild cards. Mike has a grin on his face. Enjoyed that drop very much. I do. And it was fun that Jason announced himself as the wild card at the top of the show. And he was, in fact, the wild card in the drop. Yeah. Oh, I see. Yeah. Mm-hmm. Cordero Patterson is my fantasy wild card number one that I'm going to bring up. And these are players that, look, you can make a pretty strong and compelling argument for why they could be good.

and why they could be bad heading into the season. Now, look, our research team, look, it's vast. We have access to all the authentic fantasy football libraries. So Kyle will go in and take books off the shelf and research deeply. And he searched for historical templates and fantasy football comparisons for, you know, 31-year-old hybrid running back wide receivers.

who just finished with their first top 30 season of their entire career, now entering their 10th season in the NFL. And so he ran the Algos, searched the Dark Web. Big list, big list. No, there's none. There's none. There's Cordero. That's it. He is literally, like, if you had to define what a fantasy wildcard is, to me, it's Cordero Patterson heading into this year, where here are the facts. I mean, he was the RB9 last year. A top 10 fantasy producer.

and 52 receptions, 153 carries. Look, he almost had more carries last year than he had in the entire, his entire career before last season. So it was even better than that, really, in the weeks that were relevant in the beginning of the year. He was the RB 7 in total points from weeks 2 to 14. Look, he pooped the bed at the end of the season. But, you know, RB 56, 31, 37, 70, if I had played

Boston Scott instead of him in the fantasy title game, I'd be a winner right now. So that's the good, right? You know, if you want a running back that's going to average four plus targets a game, that could be Cordero this year. And how valuable is a target? How valuable is a reception at the running back position? He scored more fancy points as a receiver. And you get a play him at, you know, on some platforms like Sleeper, you can play them in both spots. So that's the good story, right?

And they don't have a lot of weapons. Drake London, rookie coming in, Kyle Pitts. They need them. They need him. Or Fantasy Wildcard. You see more of what you saw at the very end of last year. He falls apart. He's getting older. Damien Williams. I know that that name, I know that that name, especially for me, brings a lot of like, like, well, I've already had the funeral for him. But I'm going to tell you, Phuklan.