NFC East Breakdown + PUP or No PUP - Fantasy Football Podcast for 7/25

What's in store for NFCE's teams? We're going to talk about it on today's episode as we break it all down. We've got offensive coordinator changes at the top of the division. What are the fantasy football implications? Who do we like in this division? And who are we going to make very, very mad if you're a fan of those teams? You'll find out very, very soon. Enjoy. This is Melvin Gore, and you're listening to the Fantasy Footballers podcast. To the Fantasy Footballers podcast with your host. Andy Holloway, Jason Moore, and Mike Wright. Oh, welcome in. Tuesday, July 25th, the Fantasy Footballers podcast, Jason Moore, Andy Holloway with you today, and a big old bear. Jay Grizz in the building. Mike is out. Mike is perfect to be replaced by a big old bear.

Mike's the kind of guy that can be replaced by a big old bear? Yeah. A lot of hair. A lot of hair. You know, Mike's a tall guy. He's not like grizzly bear tall, but who is? Can bears get tattoos? For sure they can. Would you have to? They have skin under there. You have to shave them? Yeah. That's got to be the most embarrassing thing that can happen to a bear. No, no. But like if you shaved a bear down, would they just, that would be really embarrassing? I feel like their hair is everything. they would walk around so sad. Depressed? Look at what a loser I am. Speaking of losers, uh, everyone's, uh, Josh is here. Hey, I'm not throwing a deucer cam after that. Oh, the deucers are here. No, the best in the business. Al Borland, Judge DiMati, Papa Josh with us today. Another divisional breakdown. We're almost through all of the divisions. We have a ton of news to cover today, Jason. Yeah. And it's actually finally important good news. Like I,

You know, the NFL has very few lulls, but probably the most real lull in the NFL calendar is actually after minicamp and before training camp. And it's been so boring. And now it's like I'm really looking forward to a lot of the information we're getting. Yeah, it's not all good news, but there is a lot of news to talk about. I also never thought I'd get to use a Melvin Gordon show introduction again. And yet here we are. So lots to talk about. A couple reminders here at the top. Number one, we haven't mentioned this in a while, but if you are a commissioner for a league, if you play in a league, and everybody's got their league trophy or their championship belt, you got championship rings out there. If you need any of that stuff, I want to remind people where they can go. That's fantasychamps.com. And you just put in our code.

Put in our code ballers, and that's 10% off anything on the site. Fantasychamps.com if you need any of that stuff. I think they also still have free ring available. So if you want to put in free ring as a code. I think at that point you've got to put a ring and something else. Yeah, you get a trophy. You put a trophy in and put one of their like $60 rings in there. You'll get the ring for free. It's a good deal. We get all of our stuff from fantasy champs. It's great. And then the Ultimate Draft Kit is available right now at Ultimate DraftKit.com. We're just a few days away from the start of August.

Went over the calendar with Brooksie today. And wouldn't you know, we're recording every day. Yeah, I'm ready. My body is ready. We've added the dynasty show on Wednesdays. We have spitballers that comes out every Monday, if you're not aware of that, a fun comedy show. And now we're going to be adding five shows a week. So do your push-ups, Sandy. I will do my best. Twitter at the F.F. Ballers. Let's jump into the news. News and notes from around the league. I don't know if you knew this, Jason, but Al Borland actually does a lot of push-ups all the time. I did learn that on the spitballers podcast and dunked all over him. I want the people to know. All right, here's that news that I was teasing. The Ravens have signed running back Melvin Gordon to a one-year deal worth up to $3.1 million. Melvin Gordon had the privilege of chilling on the bench while his his

Kansas City Chiefs won a ring last year. Super Bowl champion, Melvin Gordon. Really funny interviews with him about that, where he just basically said, I got carried. J.K. Dobbins, in a corresponding move, placed on the PUP to start camp. He has yet to participate fully in any practice this offseason, including mandatory mini camp. He has not been around. There were a lot of rumors about whether he was doing a hold in, essentially, basically showing up because he's been kind of demanding a new contract. He understands the state of the running back market where you need to get paid, you need to get paid young, or you're never going to get paid again. And so there was a lot of thought. I think the predominant thought was that he wasn't really injured. He was just not participating so that he could get a contract. But.

This is a team that puts you on the pup. This isn't him placing himself on the pup. Yeah, it's tough. I mean, I was reading that he was at a training facility. There's talk of hamstring, but then the official statement out of Baltimore is that it's related to the knee recovery. Interesting. Yeah. Well, I mean, the hamstring could still be related to the knee recovery. Handstring connected to the knee. Yeah, it's important for all the listeners to know right now that the PUP in this time of year is very, very different than once you start the season. Being placed on the pop, a lot of times carries this horrific association where you're going to miss the first six weeks or something like that. The PUP right now, you can go on it, you can go off it, you can go back on it, back off. It is.

is just really a helpful tool for the NFL teams. And so this means a couple different things. One, don't overreact to players being placed on it. That's going to happen. And it means very, very little. On the other hand, when a player doesn't make it to the pup, that might be a little bit more interesting this time of year. I know we're not to that point yet in the news because I do think before we move on, from the Melvin Gordon news. It's worth noting that this is not just J.K. Dobbins on the pup. Gus Edwards has not participated in anything as well. He is still dealing, we presume, with the hamstring injury he had last year. So they needed somebody. They have to have someone to practice. I don't know that Melvin Gordon makes the roster or not. We don't know how much is guaranteed. It's up to $3.1 million, but that was kind of like James Robinson, where he could make up to $3 million and was guaranteed nothing.

But it's worth monitoring through Camp Dobbins and Gus Edwards, their health. So just so I remember, help me remember, Jason, because Edwards had tore his ACL, then he returned from that, played nine games last year. The quote I saw about mini camp was he'll be partially ready, which is a really hilarious quote. Yeah. That's not ready. Was there a hamstring late in the season? I'm forgetting. Yes, yes, it was. So he had a hammy injury last year. He spent the OTAs and mini camp working to the side and now is not. He is going to be partially ready. I also caught something else when I was looking into the J.K. Dobbins news that I wanted to bring up because recently there was a report of Zayflowers being the best wide receiver out on the field, Rashad Bateman, still dealing with some injuries. And here we have Odell Beckham. I don't know if you've seen this. I have seen no news on Odell Beckham. His quote was, I'm thinking this is my last year. I'm going to give it. What? This is his quote. I'm going to give it my all this year. And then if something happens after that, we can go from there.

But, you know, not the, not the greatest thing to hear from a player that, you know, took a big paycheck and, you know, maybe kind of ending the end, ending the end, entering the end. Yeah, goodness gracious. I mean, a $15 million contract. And I think that gives me confidence. When he comes out and says something like that, that gives me great confidence in my ranking of O'Dell Beckham Jr., which is. pretty much where Alan Robinson should have been ranked last year. Yeah, yeah, there's not a lot of optimism. I don't think there's a lot of upside. Juice. I think that's the hardest part because you look at that situation with him. He had, he just dealt with so many injuries. We have them ranked right around here. Oh, no, that was his finish last year. We have them at 66. You know what? I'm the highest at 61. It's crazy to think how quickly things change in fairs football. Odell Beckham.

Early in his career, you know, when he's going into year three or whatever, he's the most valuable dynasty asset. He's going to be valuable and great and unstoppable for a decade. It's just never going to change. And things happen. You know, like, how do you feel right now about Justin Jefferson? He's going to be great forever. He's absolutely rock, solid, ironclad, nothing can ever happen. That's how you felt about Otto Beckham. And then the career basically really just imploded with injuries. Yeah, and someone was reminding me, D.K. Metcalf was the number two dynasty draft pick recently, too. Not that that is the end of the world. Like his career is great, but there was also a point, I think, where he looked like number one perennial, number two perennial. But moving on to the pup story, you were talking about, Giovante Williams was not placed on the PUP to start training camp. This is so shocking. Now, this does not guarantee that he will not be placed on the pup.

I mean, news could come out tomorrow or the next day that, you know, now they've placed him on the pup. And it's just, it just happens that, you know, the first couple days they want him there, whatever. And so I'm going to hold for a week or two my, you know, I'm not, I'm not going to like all the way lean into he's off the pup. He's not going on the pup. He's healthy enough to participate where it doesn't even need to be there. But should he stay off the pup in the next two weeks? And they don't place him on there. I want to remember Chris Godwin, who last year avoided the pop. And no one thought he was going to avoid the pop because his injury seemed like he was going to, you know, they were talking about he'll be back by November. And then he didn't go on the pop. And then he was there week one. And while he wasn't his full strength, great Chris Godwin self, he played 17 games. He was out there. So.

It's interesting to me for, I mean, all the news around Giovante Williams has been positive and I have refused to buy in based on the just truth of his injury. I'm kind of buying in. Well, I did bring up, even with my optimism around the most recent news before this news, I still think that there is a high likelihood this is a shared backfield for the duration of the season. This coaching staff handpicked Somagenae P Ryan to come in there. I think both players are going to get opportunities. for a long time. And like you said, I mean, if Giovante Williams is sharing time for half the season and then maybe he's two thirds in the second half, where does he belong in drafts? I mean, those are the kind of answers that you need. Yeah. If that's the case, probably fourth or fifth round.

Yeah, but the upside and the name, I don't know if he gets there. Jimmy Garoppolo also not placed on the pup. He's going to be the quarterback for the Raiders. This is fantastic, fantastic news. If you're listening and you think, I don't care. Yes, you do. Yes, you absolutely do. You do not want, who is it, Brian Hoyer out there on the field, whoever off the street? I mean, I don't even know who's behind Jimmy Garoppolo, but. Is that just the default name you'll throw out there for any team if you don't know their depth chart? No, I think it actually is Brian Hoyer, which is why I threw it out. But it feels like Brian Hoyer shouldn't be in the NFL for about the last five years. The backup to Jimmy Garoppolo, Jason, just to let you know, is Brian Hoyer. Oh, baby. So, yeah, you're happy Jimmy Garoppel is there. Devante Adams can be relevant, you know, all the pieces there. They brought in Jacoby Myers. Yeah, the Devante Adams situation is very interesting to me because.

Four out of the last five seasons. So like when he's been healthy, he's been a top five wide receiver. One, three, and three the last few years. And now he's being drafted as the eighth wide receiver off the board. And I am starting to believe that it's stupid to do because he's probably he could be, it could be argues the best pure receiver in the game. You're saying stupid to be that low. It's stupid to be that low. It could be very stupid to be that low. I didn't know which way you were like that's. Yeah. But this is Devante Adams. This is my point. Like last year, all the doubts pushed his ADP to a stupid place and he still finished at number three. He will get his. He will always get his because he's that good. Remember the plays last year? He was so open that like, you know, anybody could have got him the ball. He's that good of a route run. He's that good of a player. I think he doesn't get enough respect because we see all that. We see Raiders all around him. So you're going to draft Devante Adams where then?

I do have them higher than both of you. We're at 7, 8, and 8 right now. Wow, you've got them way higher. Way higher. But let's go look for a second. Let's just have fun. Okay. For a moment. Right now that means that Devante Adams is, so I'm looking at the rankings. I mean, A.J. Brown or Devante Adams. C.D. Lam or Devante Adams. I'm on Ross St. Brown or Devante Adams. I don't think, I think Jefferson Cup, Hale, Chase, those four should be locked ahead of him, but he should be at five. Really? Out of respect for his performance and finishing third after third after first. I have just as much respect as a player for Stefan Diggs who has Josh Allen or AJ Brown who has Jalen Hertz. But that is exactly what happened last year and both those guys finished worse than Devante Adams did. That's my point. It's like last year, nothing we're saying is new. Derek Carr has been pooped on with equivalent volume as Jimmy Garoppolo in his career. I just think it's.

So, so genuine, genuine. You're on the clock, Diggs, A.J. Brown, Devante Adams, they're all there. You are taking. Yes. I'm going to change it. I was going to say Stefan Diggs. You said yes. No, no, no. I'm taking it here. I'm taking Adams. All right. I'm going to, I'm going to make a, you can see me here. I'm going to, I'm going to get him up. And it could be argued that it was, we didn't know about Jimmy G. until moments ago. Fair. All right, Josh Jacobs is boarded a flight heading out of Las Vegas, leaving Las Vegas. These running backs, man. He'll come back sometime. He will. Josh Jacobs, Sequin Barclay. There's going to be the next couple months. We're going to be on running back watch, franchise running back watch. They're going to hold out training camp. They're going to take it to the limit. A video came out of Sequin talking about he's, you know, considering.

His only card to play is basically to say, fine, I won't be there. You can play without me and show my value by not being there. I believe that these running backs will have to be there. Just in the end, maybe they hold out one week to try to send a message, but it's not in their best interest. They need to play. They need to have this contract. They need to earn another contract. So I believe that you will have these running backs out there. All right, to some less good news. Chiefs wide receiver, Cadarius, Tony. who underwent an offseason cleanup procedure on his knee aggravated the injury. Fielding a punt will miss time and training camp. Some reports say he should be ready for the regular season. Some say he won't be. Let me do this because Matthew Betts delivered a just a horrible, wonderful, horrible tweet. Cadarius Tony was a first round draft pick in 2021. He's had three hamstring injuries, two ankle injuries, a quad oblique, a knee scope, a foot, and now another knee injury.

Yeah, I mean, look, I know that the Twitter doctors hate the injury-prone label and they come out and they say Cadarious Tony is not injury-prone and I'm just going to say, you sure about that? Yeah, I mean, he is. He is. And there's that wide receiver room right now is it's like we could wait. I think we could waste so much breath debating on which wide receiver everything's going to be best, almost like last year. You don't need to do it. You just need two words. Travis Kelsey. You said receiver. Wide receiver? You said wide receiver? No, I think the answer to that question is Travis Kelsey. That's what I'm saying. Rushie Rice. No, I mean, that's not the answer. Well, I mean, obviously as a target, it's Travis Kelsey. But if you're saying what wide receiver there, do you take a shot on, it's Rushie Rice? I don't agree with you. Well, you're going to take a shot on Skymore. Okay. But none of them is, my whole point is we shouldn't be, we did this last offseason. It was stupid. There's also a lot of people that think it's Justin Ross.

Got to make the roster first. Yeah, I mean, he's already running with the, he's running with the ones. You've got Justin Watson. Richie James has been signed. MBS has been signed, you know. Yeah, no, I get it. It's, it's a nasty receiving core that. Take your shot, but don't be helpful. Mahomes, yeah, just pessimistically draft Ruchi. Pessimistic, like I say, I'm taking a really bad shot here. Right. You'll take Rashi Rashi Rite, but last year you would have taken Skymore in that same situation. It would have been wrong. That's good. I mean, and so do I want somebody to emerge? Sure, but none of them are Tyree Kill. And Patrick Mahomes, I mean, he's even come out and basically said it's all going through Kelsey. He said it's all going through Kelsey and everyone else will help out. So I don't know. I just, it's so tantalizing to try to figure it out. But Tony was at the top of the list and now where is he? You're taking Rashi Rice over Tony?

Over Tony, no, but you take, I mean, Rushie Rice is undrafted in home leagues and in best ball is super duper late. Well, but Skymore's not good at football. Oh my gosh. Just because you like one player doesn't mean the other one has to stink. That has, my Skymore has nothing to do with Rushy Rice. It has to do with Skymore's rookie season. But Roshies is going to be great. I hope so. It could be. Naim Hines can no longer be. Naeem Hines will miss the 2023 season. Oh, that sucks. There was an injury on a jet ski. He was struck by another rider. He will require surgery. He will be out. So, you know, that's just so unfortunate for Naeem Hines. Feel bad for the guy. When you look at that backfield, I don't know how much you were considering Naim Hines, but, you know, you know, I've been excited about James Cook. Third down, Naim Hines is not going to happen this year.

And so if it's Damian Harris and James Cook, James Cook's going to be on the field more than he would have been. For sure. And then the Giants signed some mediocre players. Oh, man. Cole Beasley and James Robinson. Welcome to the team. Cole Beasley. Why don't you play the slot along with Sterling Shepard and Jalen Hyatt and Paris Campbell and Wondell Robinson? I mean, why? And then Waller's not running up outside. I mean, you, it's the, there's not enough Spider-Man's for the Spider-Man Giff. It's like there's too many of these guys. Maybe that's maybe only likes short wide receivers. There you go. Yeah, that was that Jameson Crowder's there too. Case you were curious. It's kind of wild. Maybe they want to make the team, Jason. I doubt it. Also, Tyree Kill is, uh, let's call it all good from the situation in the marina. Yes, they, uh, they have.

Resolve their differences. I wonder how that got done. Yeah. Do you got that button over there somewhere? There it is. We're going to take a quick break and come back with the NFC East. All right. We are down to two episodes, divisional breakdown episodes. Here we go. Let's get divisional. All right. Let's jump in, Jason. The NFC East, first division since 2008. with all four teams at 500 or better. So kind of the opposite of the NFC South, which we talked about earlier. Looking at the changes from year to year, how the offenses are going to perform, what we can expect, and then we'll predict the division and the division winners, which, yeah, we'll see. I think this could go a couple different ways. The Eagles were 14 and 3 last year. They had a 9.5 win total heading into the year.

It's up to 10 and a half for this year. There were 7 and 1 in one score games. So we talked about how good Minnesota was in these one score games. Spent last offseason hopeful that they would become a pass first team. The addition of A.J. Brown in the draft, right? They traded for A.J. Brown, the chicken or egg thing where they were not a pass-heavy team and then you add a Premier wide receiver. They started the year very pass-heavy. number five and early down pass rate slowed it down round the ball more in the second half of games which this became a kind of a running thing on the show where you would get this monster performance Jason from jalen hurts and then you'd go into halftime you're like all right let's go get some more let's you know and then it would just be kind of running out the clock yeah it they were extraordinarily dominant i mean they beat the tar out of most people that they played they you know they had a hundred and thirty three point

differential in their total points scored on the season. So they would just come out, score a couple of big bomb touchdowns, and then in the second half, they barely scored, like NFL points. They just didn't need to. They'd run the ball, they'd take up the clock, they'd win the game, and then it's frustrating for fantasy managers. But also they did enough in the first half where you weren't disappointed. And so you know the power of this offense. is what you could have seen last year, but also I think it could be better. Like if they're in closer matchups, obviously they now have the number one schedule. They're going to have a more difficult schedule this season having finished first in the division last year, more competitive teams. They've got some losses on defense. And so you could end up with, I think, even more fantasy goodness from this roster than you had last year. And that's saying something.

Yeah, I mean, it'll be hard to go seven and one score games, but they're a pretty clutch team with a good defense. They did lose their offensive and defensive coordinators. Yes. So Brian Johnson taking over on offense. Shane Steichen was there last year, moved on to Indianapolis. Miles Sanders no longer a part of this offense. They had of Rashad Penny and DeAndre Swift. Both sort of castaways at the running back position, players that had had really good film, really good. performances, but neither with any sense of consistency over the course of their career. Dealing with injuries, both of them. And so they're taking their shot at a couple of guys to go along with Kenny Gainwell, Boston Scott. I know Mike is a big Rashad Penny fan. I have not got myself to the point where I believe that there is a

I don't know that there is a reason why Rashad Penny is going to be the guy over any of these other players. Like I tend to believe they're going to give each guy an opportunity on a regular basis. Do you disagree? Do you think, you know, Rashad Penny is odds-on favorite here? Could it be DeAndre Swift? Can he gain well? Yeah, I mean, I do put my chips in the Rashad Penny basket. Obviously, this is another guy like Cadarius Tony who's just never been able to stay healthy. But we have a lot more games of active participation with Rashad Penny. And when he's been out there, man, he has been a dominator. He hasn't been average or good. He's been on a per carry basis the best. He has had game after game after game. Whenever, basically any game, he gets more than 12 carries. He finishes the game.

freaking awesome for real life and awesome for fantasy. He's a world beater. And the way that it comes for him is, I think, a way that works really good with the Eagles. They have the number one ranked offensive line. Jalen Hertz does not pass it to the running back very much. If they weren't last place, they were bottom three at passing to the running back. And so you have Miles Sanders last year, who was already the running back 13. And that's based on touchdown opportunities and basically just... rushing yardage. That's where Rashad Penny excels. I think if you're trying to look for a rollout from Jalen Hertz, Rashad Penny, he can get that ball and he gone. And so if he's healthy, DeAndre Swift, he's a great pass catcher. And this will be a committee. I think Boston Scott will be involved. Kenny Gainwell will be involved. Swift and Rashad Penny. So, you know, it's not like...

you're super bullish on anybody, but they don't cost a lot in draft. So I want to take my shot on Rashad Penny late. Rashad Penny has 10 catches in the last two seasons. Both players are similar in total touches. The under Swift has 364 over the last two years. Penny at 337. Both have been above average when they've had the opportunities they've been given. You know, you've talked about the tush push. and how unstoppable that is, you know, Jalen Hertz scores a lot of touchdowns in the red zone. That's where my concern arises is third down is going to be D'Andre Swift. That's going to be him. Or can he gain well? It's not going to be Rashopin. It will not be Rashopin. And so, and then goal line is going to be a guy named Jalen Hertz. And so could you get the big plays? Yeah, absolutely. I mean, you got those from Miles Sanders, red light, green light last year, but you didn't have a player like Dandre Swift to compliment Miles Sanders. So I'm a little more reticent.

of placing any trust in those guys. But late round shots, kind of fatigued fantasy players passing on them, you might as well take a bite out of the best offensive line. Yeah, I think it's worth it because it doesn't cost you much. It's a lottery ticket that's, you know, you're playing the nickel slots here. If one of those two goes down, which both have always gone down, the other one seems like they would be really valuable. Good. Or both will go down and then it'll be Boston Scott again. Kenny Gainwell. because he was pretty good later towards the playoffs. AJ Brown, Devante Smith, two of the best in the game. AJ Brown leading the NFL and receiving yards in vertical routes, fourth in air yards, fourth in yards per target, Devante Smith, an absolute beast. He's one of five sophomore wide receivers with 95, 11, 10, and 7 over the last decade, which is Beckham, Jefferson, Juju, and AJ Green.