Fantasy Football Podcast 2017 - Early Top 12 QB + Draft Predictions

to ask because I think I'm probably the lowest. I got him 15. In 6. Point, you've got him 14. I'm comfy with that. I've got him 9 and Mike has him 8. So Mike make the abridged case for James Winston here. And his value right now is going in the back of the 9th round, 10th round range. So they bridged the notes for James Winston. I know we've talked about passing yards are obviously going up for all quarterbacks. However.

Since 2000, James is the only quarterback to throw for over 4,000 yards in his rookie and sophomore year. He has Mike Evans, one of the best wide receivers in the league. And now you have the Deshawn Jackson effect, which I know we were arguing for Kirk Cousins, who had D. Jacks last year, still being solid. But D. Sean Jackson has an effect. Donovan McNabb was 30 yards a game better with Deshaun Jackson. Michael Vic was 40 yards better.

every single game with Deshawn Jackson. Nick Foltz, almost a touchdown better per game with Deshawn Jackson. So he improves the offense. Evans, the numbers on him with his efficiency, his yards after catch. The man was suffocated last year because that's all that defenses had to worry about in the passing game. Where's what's Reed 1 through 3? It's Mike Evans. So.

put everybody on him and Mike Evans still managed to have a monster season. Now you have an actual legit secondary option on the outside. So I just, I think that James can continue to improve, uh, but was only a quarterback won six times. So that feeds into the, he was a kind of a scary guy to play. Is he a matchup guy? I don't even, I don't even know if he is. I would have to go relook at the data, but I felt like.

We couldn't predict that as easy. Yes. When you felt like he was going to, you're like, oh, this is a great match. He's more of a coin flip than he has a, that's a much better option. But, yeah, I think D-Jax is going to make a huge difference for that because a little bit more consistency. Well, he does throw a great long ball. Yeah, I mean, it's just the perfect pairing because. Or a long, long ball. Yeah, he likes throwing the ball far, like through the air, which is great for D-Jax.

And he's had a hard time throwing the ball to the right, which is where D-Jax lines up and where previously no one has lined up. Sorry, Russell Shepard. Number 11, Philip Rivers. Philip Rivers comes in at number 11. I have him. Because of course he does. I have him at 12, which is where he's finished in 2014 and 2015. Last year, actually finished number 8. You know, he's had some issues.

with the old interceptions. He loves them. Lately. And it's from him trying to do too much on that team. You've had a lot of injuries. Keenan Allen's been out almost indefinitely. That being said, he's a guy who's finished in the top 10, I think, nine times since 2006. To me, he's a guy that has the potential to go undrafted or be drafted in the very, very late rounds that could be a great...

play for your team, somebody that you could put in there every week if you've prioritized every other position. I like Rivers for that, and I'd love to see what he does in Los Angeles. His weapons, right, should be better. I mean, his weapons should be improved in the sense that he's got Hunter Henry for a second year. He should have Keenan Allen back. And now because they lost guys to injury like Keenan Allen last year,

he actually found rapport with Tyrell Williams could be a star in the making. You've got Dantral-Inman and Benjamin there. So he now has weapons. When I finished my statting, I looked, and I think Philip Rivers was like 16th on my list. And I just can't get that to jive with history. Because when you look at quarterback consistency ratings year after year after year, I mean, other than in 2012, when Philip Rivers had a really bad year was the 21st quarterback.

It's been since 2007 that he's not a quarterback one, a top 12 in six-point passing. And he's got great weapons this year. So I think he belongs to be a quarterback 11, quarterback 12, somewhere right there. He is generally the annoying quarterback that my opponent has that has a better game than the guy drafted higher or the guy that has got the better pedigree or who I think is going to be a fancy impact player.

The interceptions were a problem. You know, does he have top five potential? I don't think so. No. No, probably not top five. But for last year, he had the interceptions. His passing accuracy was actually down six points compared to 2015 and 2014. I mean, that's a huge drop. He's had deep ball issues too. He's just, he is a guy who, if you want 4,000 yards and 30 touchdowns, Philip Rivers.

He's going to give it to you. Also, if you want a guy like X, he's going to give it to you. I would say just the last thing is if you want a guy who's going to make the winiest faces after every pass and blame everyone else for anything that goes wrong. I know we've argued on this. We always argue about this. Because I just, man, dude, Philip, come on. It's sometimes it's on you. He's expressive. Yeah, but he's expressive in the sense of it's your fault. When is Aaron Rogers ever said it was not somebody else's fault? I've seen Aaron Rogers doing my bad.

No. I haven't. I haven't seen. He's got one L. Who spells Philip with one L? Come on. Matthew Stafford, number 12, the last guy we're talking about on today's episode. Love Matthew Stafford. Shody could get it done last year without Calvin Johnson. Seven was where he finished in six point per touchdown leagues going in the late ninth round. I'll take some Matt Stafford on my fantasy roster. I'm just, I'm fine with it. I'm comfy.

Matthew Stafford was on fire. I mean, we forget that he was a top five quarterback last year. I don't forget. Speak for yourself. I'm not speaking for myself. I'm speaking for the we of the community, the Volpa. I guess I should be talking like this. I totally forget that Matt Stafford was like a top five quarterback. Yes. And then he, you know, he broke his finger. And we saw this a couple years ago with Carson Palmer. You know, he's like, I'm fine. It's not affecting anything. It's like, well, but have you seen how you throw the ball since you broke your finger? Because it's not the same.

He didn't technically get diagnosed with the broken finger, did he? No, I don't know. I think it was just located. Yeah. When you dislocated, okay, maybe a bone is not broken, but the finger itself is done broke. He had a hand injury. He had a hand injury. His first six games, he had 14 touchdowns. I mean, that's ridiculous. Marvin Jones had 11 of them. Yeah, things did even out. His play returned to the mean.

after that, and that was before the finger injury. He was a quarterback won eight times. Here's the thing I love about him. And I, he has potential to be a top five quarterback to me. Right. He's always going to be over 4,200 yards. And the lions revamped their offensive line. They brought in, who'd they bring in, left tackle, Rick Wagner, they brought in a guard. Look, those reasons alone give Stafford more. And when he has time,

He's always been able to pick defenses apart. He's always been able to find guys like Theo Riddick. You've got Marvin Jones in the outside. You have Golden Tate who can pick defenses apart. That improved offensive line is going to make, I think, pay dividends for him. And I like drafting a guy that has the potential to be top three. And you bring up Theo Riddick. He's had a 40.

touchdown season. You know, when you've got Abdullah and Theo Riddick that can take those dump-offs and make something with it, I mean, you look at Drew Brees, and he's always leading the league in yards, you know, or if he's not leading the league, he's second. Well, part of that is because they throw so much to the running back, and so many of their kind of running-esque plays credit the quarterback with statistics. So, yeah, I mean, I like a lot about Matthew Stacker. They run through the air. They run through the air. Yeah, they only had nine touchdowns on the ground last year.

A nineer burger. So I like Matthew Stabbard. I think he's one of my favorite guys to grab very late if he has forgotten about. If you get him in the 10th or 11th round, he could very well be in every week started for you every single week. So lots to like about that. You guys want to do a couple of mailbag questions? What? Let's get crazy. Let's do it. Mailbag. Mailbag.

Oh, if you have a question for the show, head over to the website, The Fantasy Footballers.com. Click that more tab and then submit a question. We will do our best to answer them on the show. Help you out with your offseason plans. I know a lot of you are thinking about draft strategy and thinking about trades and dynasty. So here's a quarterback question for today's show. This one comes in from Joe in Pensacola. Says, hey, guys.

I'm trying to get a little context on the wait on QB strategy. How far would a top-tier quarterback have to fall before you would be comfortable taking him? I was in a mock draft the other day, and Tom Brady was available in the fifth round. Would you feel better about grabbing a decent flex in this spot, or would you be happy taking him two rounds later than his ADP? Thanks and keep up the great work. What do you think, guys? I was going to say the sixth round is...

That's the portion of the draft. If a guy like Rogers, depending on who is in this draft room with me, if Henry Rogers is in the sixth round, start getting sweaty. You know, the thing I'm like, man, how do you pass? How do you pass on this? That's how Mike shows excitement in all situations. That's really all my emotions manifest in sweat. Sure. That's why we love working with you. You're welcome. Fifth round for Tom Brady. It's...

It could be okay, but I mean, sixth round is where if it's what I consider a top tier lock, this guy's going to be a top three. I'll think about pulling the trigger. It's just so hard with the guys you can get late, being able to actually replace the position so easily off the waiver wire. I think a lot of it too. I mean, it's going to be circumstantial to the degree that, okay, here is a draft where Tom Brady drops the fifth or sixth round.

Is there somebody else that dropped to that round that I really like? Or is this, you know, too much to, you know, too much to pass up on? Well, a perfect example is like, let's say you're in a PPR league. And PPR drafts right now in the fifth round. Yeah. I mean, you're talking about guys, PPR machines like Golden Tate, Larry Fitzgerald, you know, wide receivers that are going to make a big difference in a PPR league. And so you compare.

Well, what are you missing out on when you go from a fifth round pick in Fitz or Golden Tate to a 10th round pick in, you know, maybe you're going Devante Parker or Corey Coleman hoping for upside versus, you know, you get the Larry Fitzgerald. And then in the 10th round, you grab a Matthew Stafford. What's the difference going to be between, you know, the seventh quarterback and the second quarterback? One more guys. Mike in White Plains, New York City. New York City.

Love the show, he says. It helps now that I have to wait for my two favorite seasons, Game of Thrones and Football. Ooh. So he's saying the show helps because he's in the middle of waiting for those. Oh, the struggle is real, man. Yeah. Can you do another Game of Thrones show after the show? Oh, you know it. What do you think? Oh, he wants a season seven preview. He wants like a single one-off season seven preview. See, now, here's where.

We are very different in this office when it comes to a show like Game of Thrones where we're all overhyped. We all love Thrones. We never miss it. However, when those teaser trailers drop, when all the things, the promo videos from HBO come out, Andy immediately is consuming this content. Meanwhile, I plug my ears, I close my eyes and do the la la la la la la, because I want nothing to do with it.

Just surprise me. I'm going to watch it. There's nothing you can do that will convince me I need to watch it even more. So I don't want to hear about it. That's fair. I always say one. The more years to go by where you have a loyal audience, the less you need those. Right. That's fair. So here's my preview. When does Game of Thrones start? Is that the show after the show? We're going to do a show where we're saying. We're doing it right now. When does it start? Here is a calendar. Because watch it. Yeah, I will be watching it on that day.

I guess that means we probably... The show is over. It means we're probably not doing that. No, but here's what people need. A primer to remind them, what was going on? Like, what was the last season? That's fair. I need that, though. I need something to watch so that I can do it. I was just going to say, if we commit to doing a show after the show about this, you know what I'm going to have to do now? Watch last season? I'm going to have to watch the last season again, which sounds like a good time. You just got to watch every single...

I thought about it, by the way. Yeah, I did think about it. The podcast is done. We have to watch all Game of Thrones. It's an official maybe. That's right. It's an official maybe depending on what it is. We'll make Mike do it by himself. That's the, well, that is it for today's episode. We appreciate you joining us. Subscribe. Leave us those reviews on iTunes. Look, we are here because of you. We exist to make your fantasy football league more fun.