Fantasy Football 2018 - Early WR Rankings Part 1

He's somebody that is good after the catch. You're going to get him involved in some of those Demarius Thomas screen route type of situations. And he has a nose for the end zone. Two straight years, 12 touchdowns, now 10 touchdowns. So, you know, if you're going to go running back early, Devante Adams, you could do a lot worse. Yeah, I'd be happy with him as my wide receiver won. If you have one of those elite running backs, absolutely. All right, rounding out our top 10. There's a certain.

Certain validation that comes with this ranking. I'll be it. I have them at 13, and you guys have them at 10. Adam Thieln last year, 1,200 yards, 4 touchdowns, 91 receptions, 143 targets, finished the wide receiver 10. But there's a certain validation that comes with a season like that because we always tell fantasy owners, like there's an eyeball aspect to what you're doing. Yes. And when we get into the preseason, my eyeballs are telling me more than the stat lines are telling me in the preseason. And...

what I see in practice film and what I see in preseason games from the player. Now, with Thielen, it went back to the year before. Before the big breakout last year, you saw him flash at the end of the year, and there was something that you just said, wow, sticky hands, great separation. Just gets open. Extra special skills when the play starts to break down. You know, there are players that when they're targeted, you're like, and Jordi used to be like this too. It was like,

Where is everybody? There's nobody around them. Like, how do they disappear? And Adam Thielen's like that. So we've got them at number 10 last year, a monster season. And this year, you know, it's rare that you would have a team that was as good as Minnesota and a player as good as Thielen. And all of a sudden you're rolling out a new quarterback. A better quarterback. A better quarterback. Yes, a better quarterback. That's true. A better quarterback. And so then it's, you know, is the chemistry going to be there?

you imagine they're going to make it work. Speaking of rare is when you come up with just an absolute doozy of a stat about targets in the 10 zone and you get to use it three times in one show because flashback to a couple seconds ago when I talked about Evans Thielen and Julio Jones had the terrible catch percentage on 10 zone targets. So with Adam Thielen, do we have a just a full on Julio Jones type of a situation?

because he had four touchdowns. You go back to 2016, he had five, and he was really a full-time guy for about 75% of the season, still only managed five touchdowns. Cousins and Keenham, I think Cousins is a better quarterback and was dealing with an inferior wide receiver crew compared to Minnesota. But last year's red zone stats are very similar for Kurt Cousins and...

for Case Keenum in terms of accuracy. So unless that bumps up or something happens with Adam Thielen, do you expect a touchdown bump up? Well, and I'm sitting here thinking about that because do I want to believe that a player like Thielen who's 6-3, who looks the part of a red zone weapon, is...

is not going to produce down there. And the reality is if we think the strengths are about separation and we think the strengths are about when the play breaks down, for some reason, look, they lean on digs down. Diggs is six foot. But he's the guy who's gone up. They throw those fades to Diggs? And Diggs gets open immediately. I mean, Diggs is an excellent separator. Stefan Diggs had a, I'm seeing it 100% catch rate inside the red zone.

That's almost as good as you can get. Almost. But look, eight touchdowns last year. Right. There's that 100% catch rate. So if I had to bank on, you know, what, seven each, that's okay. That's insane, man. I'm going to, I know, 100% catch rate? Throw it to him. Seriously? Genius. No, there is the possibility that Kurt Cousins and Thiel in. Okay, 85, 85% at an error in there.

There's the possibility that, you know, Cousins owns in on one or two guys down in the red zone and Thielen's one of them. So I'm not going to rule out a 10 touchdown season from him if this offense is going to be prolific. That being said, you don't need it. 91 receptions, 1,200 yards. We got them in number 10 for a reason. That's a wide receiver 1. Yep. And I still think that there's a bit of a wincing that happens when you roll Adam Thielen into that wide receiver run spot, but you shouldn't. You should be.

Pretty content, I think. Yeah, it's, this is just that emotional factor of fantasy football. A wide receiver who was undrafted broke out at an elderly age for a wide receiver breakout. But here we are. And Adam Thielen's a top 10 wide receiver. All right. We'll have the wide receiver 11 through 20 rankings on our next episode of the podcast. Be sure to check out Jointhefoot.com if you want a bonus episode. Bonus. Each and every week.

And let's talk some mailbag. Mailbag. Mailbag. Yeah. So nice. So nice. If you have a question, why don't you send it to us? Go to the website. Why? Why not? The Fantasy Footballers.com. Sign the questions. Click the submit a question button or you can dial our voicemail hotline. We make it so convenient. 302464 TFFB kicking it off in this mailbag with a voicemail question.

Hey, ballers. It's Robert from Baltimore, Maryland. Love the show, but I have an issue drafted first round bust. Two years ago, I drafted Todd Gurley. Last year, I drafted JHA. Help me out, guys. Which first round guy is going to bust this year? Thanks. Who, which first round guy is going to bust? What I was going to recommend is you just concede the pick. Just skip it. Just don't even... No? Not good advice, Brooks? No. It's not the best.

Man, if you have a projected first round bust, that's a tough question, Mike. Yeah, the worst thing about first round bust calls is they sound idiotic forever. I mean, you, yeah, if I had to pick one. I mean, like all the way through half, halfway through the fantasy football season. Yes. You still will feel bad about your pick. It could end up right. But the flip side of this, we know.

A few guys in the first round will bust. It's what happens, but generally speaking. So you're betting your house, Mike. Yes. On Gurley Bell, Zeke, Brown Hopkins, Kamara, David Johnson, Hunt, Melvin Gordon, O'Dell Beckham Jr. You're betting your house that one of those guys does not deliver, and you're betting on who? Because I'm going to take Hunt, not because I don't like him, but because maybe he goes Jeremy Hill. And maybe Andy Reed, uh,

gives him the Andy Reid treatment a little too often. But I could see Hopkins or Kamara being in the discussion too. Yeah, I don't want to say what I have to say. David Johnson? David Johnson. Simply because of a Todd Gurley. You don't want to sing it with sadness? David Johnson. Just because of offense. He talked about it. He drafted Todd Gurley two years ago, and that offense stomp. Not good.

Not good. All right, here we go. Here's a question from Cody in Illinois. Bonjour, ballers. Bonjour. I have Brandon Cooks on my keeper team, and I would like to know what you think of them on the Rams compared to my other options. So he gets to keep two of these three. Cooks, Melvin Gordon, or Jordan Howard? Ooh, it's a half point 12 team. Give me both running backs. I would take the running backs. Yeah. Melvin Gordon for sure.

And I have, I just talked about how much I love Jordan Howard. If it makes you feel any better, I would have taken both running backs even if Brandon Cooks was going back to New England. Really? Yes. If Cooks was in New England, I would be fine going Gordon Cooks. But he's not. Okay. And I would take the running backs. Travis in Dighton, Massachusetts. Who do you think will be next year's McKinnon? Someone who as of right now has a middle of the road value. Okay, he's defining it. He's defining it. Middle of the road value.

But by next year could be crazy high. First person to come to mind is Tevin Coleman. Is there somebody that you think is in that middle of the road value that could McKinnon? Now, McKinnon, of course, McKinnon only because Delvin Cook got hurt. Well, no, he McKinnon's because it was a contract year. Well, both of those things, though. But that's why he's going with Tevin Coleman. This is Kevin Coleman's contract year. I don't see a world where Atlanta coming off of paying Devontha Freeman.

All that cash. Kish. Yes, there's a lot of kish. You can't invest all of that into the running back position. So I find it highly doubtful they redraft or they re-signed Tevin Coleman and he becomes the absolute hot guy when it comes to running back free agents and my money would be on Tevin Coleman with you. You think Jay J. Jai could have a surprisingly good year? He could, but.

You're not willing to predict it. No, no, I'm not willing to predict it because of how I saw them using running backs. Yeah, no doubt. All right, this question comes in from Bennett in Milwaukee. I know you guys support waiting on quarterback and tight in, but in a 16 team league, are there still enough options in a 16 teamer? Also, any other draft strategies, for example, taking more volatile players, hoping to win a hashtag footland title for the second year in a row. Congratulations, Bennett. I'll say for the...

quarterback and tight end streaming can be harder that's know your league i still fully support going late in in fact even more so because you want to have that depth in a 16 man uh league and while other people are trying to soak up these quarterbacks you can be actually getting quality depth of guys you will be able to play however i'm probably going to draft my platoon of quarterbacks in this league

You may look at them as lower-end starters right now, but if you have those three guys, at least two, but maybe even three, you can just play the matches between them. Mahomes and Rivers. Sure, right? Something like that. Absolutely, that would be fantastic. I would also add that any time people bring up the kind of conditions by which we might change the waiting on quarterback or tight-end rule, you have to recognize that when you expand the team number in your league,

You are relatively expanding the need for great running backs just as much. So you are still, you know, it's all proportional. And yes, there is a limit of total players. And like Mike said, maybe he drafts that platoon a little closer together. But I still, I'm with you. I wait on them. All right, Francis, in Fargo, North Dakota rounds out our mailbag. I currently have Delaney Walker as my only tight end on the roster and have two picks in the first round of our draft at 110 and 111. I am thinking of going tight end.

with one of those picks. My question is this. Of the following, would any of them be worth the pick? Trey Burton, O.J. Howard, and then he has what? Hayden Hurst. Hayden Hurst and Dallas, good air? That, yeah. Certainly. And here's the thing. Worth that high of a pick, probably not.

If you're going to grab any one of these guys, I would try to unload if you have a late second for Trey Burton. Yes. I would do that immediately. Yes. And it's very hard to answer this without seeing the rest of what's kind of on the table. But I kind of agree with you. So it's, yeah, I would be targeting Trey Burton. O.J. Howard is stuck in tight end purgatory with Cameron Brate being resigned to that team. So I would go with the guy who's a.

I'll be honest with you, though. Yeah, that's why I figured. Oh, yeah. Jay Gris would spend a first on Burton. Trey Burtain, or Trey Boo Boo himself. Jay Gris would go 101. 101. Yeah. That's his favorite player. He is eyeballing me right now, and I don't like it. I feel like he's eyeballing me. Yeah, that's the trouble with bears. All right, that is it for today's episode. I see everything. Jason will be hopefully back with us on our next episode.

In the meantime, check out hopefully. Draft.com slash ballers. Join us for some great bestball leagues. No place better to play than draft.com slash ballers. And we'll catch you soon. Goodbye. Thank you for listening to another episode of the Fantasy Footballers podcast. Join our fantasy football community on join the foot.com. And follow us on Twitter at the FF Ballers. The perpetual pen tapper, the arbitrary fridge reorganizer.

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