Fantasy Football - Stat Surprises + Sneaky Trades, Rice Reactions - Podcast for 5/21

That's how I saw this offense. That's why with Harbaugh taking over versus Dable, that's my one little cautionary worry about this Jackson Dart. How do you protect Jackson Dart from himself? A little bit? Like, you do run the football. And the ball off to Scadaboo. His quote was, we're going to keep giving it to Scadaboo until they can stop it, which last year people couldn't stop it. So it's just interesting to see what that offense is going to look like in New York because they're probably not starting the year with a healthy Malik neighbors. They lost Wandale. They brought in Isaiah Likely.

And then Cam Scadaboo seems like he's on the way back. Well, I mean, he said he was going to get 2,000 rushing yards this year. He did. But he did some. He did like fantasy football math on that. He's like, I got 400 yards on 100. Did he do a 17-game projection? He did. Yeah. Cam. All right. I mean, we got to call into the show. It was great. Give us some analysis. Well, you may have a chance to chat with him soon. Tua Tungavailoa and Michael Penix splitting first team reps just like you want your quarterback position to do.

Hmm. All right. Who wins? Call it now. Week one. Tua. Mike? Week one, Tua. Penix. Cool. All right. Let's move on. I don't want to answer that question. That's brutal. I could have said Tua and you wouldn't have to, but I said Penix. So you have to answer it now. Then I will say, I think Tua wins. I think he's the better quarterback. All right. We'll take a break and come back with some mailbag. Man. Yeah. Haves and have-nots in the quarterback area. Right? The story of the NFL. Back in a moment. Mailbag.

Yeah. All right. We are into the mailbag answering your questions. Looks like we got a voicemail question to start us off. If you want to send your question into the show, you can go to the website, thefantasyfootballers.com. Click the submit a question button. Or you can dial our voicemail hotline, 3024640FFB. Let's kick it off. What's up, ballers? I was wondering if it has ever come up for you guys or what your opinion is on creating AI fake news posts about players and posting them in league chats to tank people's perceptions and values on the player in order to trade for them.

I'm not saying I do this, but it has come up. I'd love to hear what you guys think. What? It's not whole new. So. The first half of this. It's not whole new because we've had Photoshop. We've had, there's ways that you can, you know, like just on your screen, edit a website and their headlines. That has been done several times. To great joy. By us, but it's always so far out of the realm of possibility that you don't, it's not like so-and-so sprains ankle out four to six weeks. You're like, you can't. No, that's full bush. You can't do that.

Yeah, it's on the same level of like a player tears his ACL and then the next day you're like trying to trade him and make sure the other person doesn't know it happened. Like, it's funny. This would be worse than that. You are making up the lies. So have fun with your AI and your fake stuff. You're like, oh, abducted by aliens. Let it be fun because that can be enjoyable. I mean, over the years we have joked that we should make an alternate podcast that gives the opposite advice that you could give to your friends. Yeah. But no, fake news, as funny as that might be, I don't think we're in on that.

As long as it's funny. It has to be satire. Yeah. Not just sort of might be real. Entertainment purposes only. Yes. We got an Instagram question. What is the sneakiest trade that you have done or influenced to benefit yourself? Well, I know mine. I got two trades. One awesome, one terrible. The ridiculous one I didn't make with you, Andy. For Saquon. One. And two first. Sneaky. But sneaky. I traded a guy for a fifth round pick in our league of record. Oh, my gosh. You know the one. It was. There was some news. Just lay out some news. There was some news coming out about maybe this player.

This was over a decade ago, right? This was a while ago. But Aaron Hernandez. Oh, my gosh. Might or might not have killed someone. We don't know. The news was looking bad. He might get arrested. I'm like. And everybody saw this news. This wasn't me like. Right. Pulling something over the wool on someone's eyes. But I was like. I'm out. I'll take anything. And I traded him for a fifth. And I think it was like the next day. He was just arrested and never got out of jail again. Yeah. That's sneaky. I got. You do. There are ripcord moments. I did it last year with Joe Mixon in the offseason.

Oh, yeah. Yeah, you did. Yes, you did. That's a good one. That's a great example. Oh, that one was the worst. I got a sixth. And it felt bad because he was a keeper. But when the bread trail starts and you are. I saw where it was going. Yeah. Those were full slices of bread. The witch. Hansel and Gretel are about to get cooked. I still feel bad. That was my like former co-manager that just took over a new team. Oh, man. And now I tried to trade with him. Teaching lessons. Tried to trade with him this offseason. He's like.

Mm-mm. No. He's like, no. Not after what you did to me with Mixon. I'm like, I didn't know. You did that to yourself. I didn't know. I didn't get a first. I got a sixth. But it was better than what Mixon put up. Which was nothing. I will say. I mean, they're trading guys who after you trade them, never do another thing. It feels pretty good. And bad. Good and bad. Look, the sneakiest thing that ever happened was in this office. Oh, yeah. I mean. Between these two gentlemen. Yeah. I mean, you've got. And already Al Borland's pointing at Papa Josh as though he's not involved.

But I mean, those of you that have been around for a while, you'll remember. Those that are new, let me introduce you to the story. I came up with a three-way trade for Jamar Chase in the middle of the season. And I went through and I, you know, dotted my I's and crossed my T's. And like, I got it to where it was just perfect for all three parties. Right. And I introduced it to these guys and we're all talking about it. And somewhere along the way, after I came up with the complicated framework of a three-team trade, which is very hard to do, one of these guys whispers to the other,

let's just cut Andy out of the whole deal. And they did. And I saw that trade go through. Wouldn't that make your part of the trade truly indispensable? It was like you weren't needed. What do you remember? That's what they decided. Bingo. Do you even remember like what the trade originally was? No, Mike. All I remember is how mad I was. When the trade went through. And I thought the trade went through. I got the alert in Sleeper. And I was certain it was the trade that was in Sleeper that we were all. You were excited to see your trade.

Because on a three-way trade, you have to each, all three parties have to. And two of us had already hit the button on yes. So you see the alert and I'm like, I see the names. I see Chase. And I'm like, I got him. Yeah. That's based off of your other Jamar Chase trade. It would have been you get Jamar Chase and you trade away nothing. And then. No, no. Don't poison the well of this trade with my other exploits. Okay. My other exploits were ridiculous. Speaking of other exploits. I thought what you were going to say is the sneakiest is way back in the day when you shared news with Mike.

Yeah, when I undercut him. That you were getting. Was it Calvin Johnson or someone? Yeah, bro. Bro. That was Mike's worst. And then he trades for him. He's like, oh, he's available. I tell Mike I have a trade for Calvin Johnson on. Like, I was like, I don't want to tell you this, but I'm going to tell you it. And we were at a flag football game. And I was not interested at Calvin Johnson. No. And I'm just sharing with my buddy the trade I'm about to make. And I go home and Calvin's traded. Well, many, many, many hours later where.

Same night. I'm just saying you had your chance to close the deal. And then I'm like, oh, hogwash. I was like this. This would be pretty funny. And that was not funny. It was not funny. It also ruined my season. So, yeah, that's for the best. And theirs. Their season, too. I won the title that year. So, eat it. I'm still mad about it. Kyron Williams question from C. James. What's up, ballers? Am I a fool for being scared about Kyron this year? He has been the consistency king. We have actually talked through this amongst ourselves recently. You're not a fool for.

I don't think you're a fool for feeling scared. For having. To be scared of Kyron. I don't think you need to be that far. Nervous? To have some concern about what really happened in terms of the percent of running back attempts for Kyron at the beginning of the year. There was a clear shift where his was going down and Corum was going up. And Corum was playing well. It wasn't like they're trying out their third round pick and he's out there failing. He was producing for the Rams. So, I'm not completely scared away from drafting Kyron. But it is. The timeshare is more real.

And there is a chance that it becomes even closer this year. And I see the fact that Blake Corum was good. Was more involved in the second half of last year. However, Kyron is their primary starter. He is going to play the majority of snaps. I do not believe this will be 50-50. And if you look back at the end of last year where the timeshare was more shared. Just the last 10 games after that bye week, Kyron Williams' pace was 1,300 yards and 13 touchdowns plus the passing work. Like, Corum doing well didn't mean – that did not equal Kyron not doing well.

Kyron's a really good player that they have paid a lot of money to be their starter. I would just say that – I mean, it is a math equation, though. Like, if you do have lower opportunity, you have to have more efficiency. That's what we saw during that stretch. I mean, Mike the other day pointed out the change in opportunities or in terms of, like, what was it? The snap percentage? Yeah, it was the running back attempts. Running back attempts. It changed quite a bit. But Kyron became more efficient in that span. He was actually low efficiency before the changeover happened.

It does require that to maintain itself or touchdowns to go way up because Adams is not getting as many. Or, you know, there's a number of ways, more involvement in the passing game. There are ways you can turn the dials to where, okay, I don't get as many rushing attempts, but I'm still as successful for fantasy. But it is something to watch. I mean, like, I'd rather – I'll say this. I'd rather have an offseason where there aren't rumors that my starting running back could be in a 50-50 timeshare. Right. You don't have to believe the rumors. I like situations where they're impossible to be made.

That's not one of them. Counter-argument I really like when I get value when dumb rumors say that there's going to be a timeshare, and he drops to the third round, and then it's like, oh, I've just got a guy that's a top 10 running back again, double-digit touchdowns again on the best or one of the best offenses in the league. The first two years of Kyron, it was a 37% and a 38% workhorse, as in so the percent of teams, you know, targets and running back attempts. That dropped to 30% in this past year. So an 8% drop. 30% is still fantastic.

Yeah, it's still a very good – Snap percentage from 87% to 68%. I care more about the work is 30%. If he stayed there, then Kyron will be – he'll crush at where his ADP is. But if that dips down into the mid-20s, all of a sudden it's not looking so great. Kyron right now is the RB 15 in terms of ADP. So the risk is there. All right. Or isn't – it's like it's baked into the ADP. Yeah, I mean, but to answer the question, I don't think you're a fool for feeling nervous about how it's going to shake out.

But scared is an overplay. They'll be scared just having – you know, pay attention to it. It's tough because you don't really want to – you don't really recommend in those situations go out and get Blake Corum. Because what happens is the worst-case scenario here isn't really, you know – like you're going to have to pay more for Corum than you would a normal handcuff type of backup, right? So – Yeah, Corum might be just playable this year. But – So to that point, you can't really go out and have both because then you could get in a situation where you just don't know which one to start

or you would never start both on the same week. It's a little weird. I remember Seattle had running back rooms with Carson and Penny and those guys that – it was in that boat where it was tough. So just something to be aware of. Ben writes in, dynasty follow-up question, would you prefer Bucky Irving or Kyron Williams in a dynasty? Dynasty. Dynasty? I mean, Bucky is what, 22 or something? So Kyron will be turning 26 this year. He's 23. And Bucky will turn 24. Bucky will turn 24. So the age is not terribly different. You know, the running back kind of cliff that we talk about of when they're 27,

this is kind of the peak value you'll be able to get. They may have a couple more years of production, but if you're going to get out, that's kind of when you've got to do it. I think I'd take – I'm going to take Kyron there. I think I am as well. I know I'm the Kyron apologist, but he's got three years left on his contract. They could technically get out after two, but that's enough time where you're going to have a real valuable piece. I'm just looking. Kyron's sitting at – I've got Bucky quite a bit higher. In dynasty?

Yeah, our consensus startups have Bucky higher. Yeah, but I'm moving that right now because having just thought about it, I'd take Kyron. Yeah, it's window versus, you know, potential. I think you could definitely end up in a situation where when this season's over, I think it'll be a very clear decision. Let me put it that way. Right now it seems murky. I think – and I'm not saying I know which answer it will be, but I think when this season ends, it will be obvious because either Kyron's going to continue doing what he's been doing and you're going to have four years

of it or Bucky's going to step up into the role or Bucky's going to fade away. And I think that's the general fear because you asked this question at the beginning of last year. It's Bucky easy for everybody. So that's an interesting one. So a good question there, Ben. Instagram question from Matty Wills. Full PPR question. Is James Cook or CeeDee Lamb a better keeper in a full PPR? So 33 receptions for Cook this past year. 32 the year before. So, I mean, with Brady at the offense, that's probably right on target, you know, mid-30s. I think the PPR would –

PPR, I'm going to take CeeDee. I mean, being a keeper, I think – A keeper league, not a dynasty. I view this as basically which player would you draft first. If you're on the clock in a mock draft, are you taking James Cook or CeeDee Lamb first, right? That's the only thing that matters. I don't want people to get too caught up with age or position in a keeper league. Oh, I'm just thinking of this year. Yeah, so this year, which one are you taking first? In the PPR, I think I would stick with CeeDee. I do lean that way as well.

I mean, I always love having a stalwart number one running back. I mean, if you ask this question, throw some other names in there for Cook. Where does the line get drawn? Because Cook's probably around six in our rankings. Like, if it's Gentier CeeDee this year, who do you take? CeeDee. If it's Jonathan Taylor or CeeDee this year, who do you take? Jonathan Taylor. Jonathan. CMC? Yeah. I'll take McCaffrey. That one's tough, because I view McCaffrey and James Cook very similarly. I think Cook is... Devon A. Chan or CeeDee? CeeDee. I'll go... See, I'd take A. Chan there. I'd take A. Chan there.

Cook is my line. He's my running back six, and I'd take the five other running backs before him. Okay. Yeah, that makes sense. That's an interesting one. YouTube question from Brant. Why wouldn't Bone Nix and Jalen Waddle be a top five stack? Why wouldn't? Well, if Jalen Waddle finishes as, say, the wide receiver 24, which is in his range of outcomes, not a bad year, but not great, then you're not a top five stack. To be one of the best stacks, you need the wide receiver to be... Top 12. Yeah. I mean, that's the only reason. Best stacks in football right now, Burrow and Chase.

For sure. Stafford Puka. Mm-hmm. Jason... Drake May and maybe eventually A.J. Brown. That will be one of the best. Hertz and Devontae Smith. Goff and Amon-Ra. Dak and Seedy or Dak and Pickens. Yeah, Dak and either. Yeah. So, what you're naming there is... I think Dak, Seedy, Jamar, Burrow are my two favorites. The wide receivers are absolute alphas. And so, for... Yeah, do you believe that about Waddle? I don't. I think he'll be the number one wide receiver for his team. It's just wild, because, like... Yeah. What he can do. Yeah, I mean, he's been the wide receiver seven. But that was...