Top 10 WR Rankings + Josh $tallion, Spring Chickens - Fantasy Football Podcast for 8/9

127 catches, 1,5 yards, and 8 touchdowns. He was the wide receiver 3 last year, and those two other guys, I meant to bring it up. I mean, 18 touchdowns for Adams, 15 for Hill. Sure, you look at Adams and you say he's probably a guarantee for double digit, but there's a big difference between 11 and 18 on the fantasy stats. So, Stefan Diggs only had 8 last year. That number could absolutely...

go up. He could easily, easily catch double-digit touchdowns with Josh Stallion and his ability that 100% he could be a double-digit touchdown guy. Huge, huge breakout season, though, for him last year in Buffalo. And now his quarterback's been paid. He's been paid. What can go wrong? I was going to say, I don't think anything can go wrong. So of everything we have seen for Josh Allen over his,

him in college, him in the pros, and making that absolute ludicrous jump from two years ago to last year what we saw where he went from, yeah, he's out there helping his team win games. I'm not knocking that, but the way he did it was far different than what happened last year when he was playing at an MVP level. I was say he was an MVP level quarterback. Yeah, he was sensational last year. Is there any chance that?

That just happened to be the best season that Josh Allen will ever put out there. And he will regress maybe not to the two years ago for him, but you see a, you see some more erratic throws. You see a drop in that completion percentage. You think that there is a 0% chance that there's any sort of regression for Josh Allen. So I think there will.

be regression statistically this year, but I don't think there's going to be regression in the talent, in the skill. I think he leveled up and it's legitimate. I don't think he's going to start playing erratically or inaccurately. I think where the issue could come up, and I've brought this up before, in the debate between Josh Allen and Kyler Murray, is that I feel like what the Buffalo Bills did last year was, I mean, the max of what they could do. Their offense was pretty much

perfect, especially for fantasy and for the passing game. They were 60-40 pass to run. The running game didn't exist. Right. So I do see that if the offense from an NFL level...

gets better. And they're able to run the ball more. There's been some more Zach Moss hype in camp recently. If they were to become a little bit more balanced, throw the ball less, I could see the statistics coming down a little bit in the passing for Josh Allen and for Stefan Diggs. All that being said, I do agree with Andy. There's, there's no way it goes wrong outside of injury. It's not like, it's not like Diggs is all of a sudden going to come out and be down at 125 targets or catch 50% of the ball. It's like the offense.

It runs through digs. Yeah. And they were successful. Like what you're talking about, maybe there's some more balance, but they don't need more balance. No. They, you know, and there were. I don't want them to get it. There was 572 different passes that look like a leveled up Josh Allen last year. That would be kind of my contention is that you just can't go do it consistently for that long without there being, I don't know, something to reward with $150 million. So. And these look great in camp from all.

report. So I do think it's leveled up. Calvin Ridley comes in at number four. I have him at six. Jason has him up at three. Mike at four. Probably hurts Mike a little bit to not be the highest on Calvin Ridley. Sorry about that. It does. I should probably move him up. Well, he's, Jason's my guy. You're going to have to take him to two, Mike. Just a competition between your rankings. He finished as the wide receiver four last year? Yep.

90 for 1374 and 9. 143 targets. I mean, I've tried to find a reason to doubt him all offseason. I guess I doubt him having him at 6. Yeah. That actually is doubting Calvin Ridley. Yeah, you say he's going to have a worst year this year without Julio. Obviously, we got to see him in several games without Julio. He was in that small sample, a better wide receiver fantasy speaking.

More yards, more targets, more touchdowns, more fantasy points. So I do think he is the clear cut one. He should have 160 plus targets. He is unbelievably talented. I mean, you just watch the film and he's somehow always wide open. I need to watch more all 22 film because I never see it. I just, the ball ends up being thrown and then there's Calvin Ridley wide open 20 yards down the field. Didn't you have a goose last year? Like a full zero point game? That?

I'm trying to remember. I thought he had a very close to a... He did in week four, but he also... He had five targets in that game and left with an injury. Yeah, but that was late, I think. That was really late in that game. 64% of the snaps. Yeah, so there you go. I mean, he played... I remember that game where it was like, what's happening? You know, he had the number two and number one finish in the first two weeks, and all of a sudden he had disappeared. No, I mean, Ridley is great. I think I like Kyler Murray and Kirk Cousins a little bit more than I like Matt Ryan.

Yeah. So that attachment for Hopkins and Jefferson have those guys a little bit higher than Ridley. But I just don't know. It's a tough division, right? They were at the basement last year. The offense is, they're just signing a running back a week to try to figure out who's going to compliment Mike Davis. Right. So, yeah, I mean, it's, you have a guaranteed baseline with Calvin Ridley. The only question mark I think you would have would be.

You know, does he compete in the touchdown totals because is the offense good enough to get him there with some of the other elite players? Probably does because historically that's what he's done. Yeah, he's been solid around the end zone and finding the end zone from far away, both. New offensive coordinator, too. Yeah, there is change here. There is a new offensive coordinator. Matt Ryan is not a spring chicken. And I don't think it is a zero percent chance. Where does that expression come from? Is that when they're born? Is that in spring?

Yeah, I would imagine that most chickens must be born in spring. You have had chickens before? I did not breed them. I ate their eggs. So sorry, little guys. You're delicious. You didn't wait to see if they'd hatch in spring, did you? No, no. Sorry, little guys, you're delicious. It's a spring omelet. It's a spring omelet. That means it's a real young one. Matt Ryan's not a spring omelet. Yeah. So I will say this. I definitely think Diggs and Hopkins are safer than Calvin Ridley.

because of Kyler Murray, because of Josh Allen. It is not a 0% chance that Matt Ryan hits the wall of his career this season and falls off. It's happened to every quarterback at some point. Now, none of us are projecting that right now, but he is the worry for me for Calvin Ridley, is Matt Ryan. Matt Ryan? Let's just to educate our listeners because that's what we try to do. The origin of the phrase did come from the fact that

Farmers found out chickens born in the spring brought better prices than the old ones that went through winter. So are you saying Matt Ryan is an old chicken that went through winter? He's a wintered veteran. Okay. They call him Maddie Ice. Oh, because he's been through winter. Yeah. Okay. Oh, Mike. I mean, I have no doubt that Matt Ryan is going to be perfectly fine. I didn't see anything last year that says otherwise. I mean...

statistically he's right in line with the rest of his career. Matt Ryan, it's a new offense definitely, but you already have what we have seen with Matt Ryan in new offense after new offense after new offense is he always has a great connection with his wide receiver one from Julio back to Roddy White. Like Matt Ryan is a great quarterback and Calvin Ridley.

led the NFL with the most air yards, most targets of 20 plus yards down the field. Calvin Ridley goes deep. Matt Ryan is still more than capable of throwing that pass. So I have no concerns about Calvin Ridley. And Ridley, to me, can easily finish as the overall wide receiver one. And you're able to get him in the like the second half of the second round. So he is.

He has one of my favorite players, 80P. So you would say he's not being drafted at his ceiling. His ceiling is higher. Correct. All right. Hopkins comes in at five. We all actually have him at five. He's being drafted as the wide receiver four right now in the second round, 160 targets last year, finished at five and had 1,400 yards. And here's the key number, only six touchdowns in this office. So the 115 catches, the 1400 yards, that was the, that supplied the.

Fantasy value for your team. You couldn't count on touchdowns from Hopkins. I think part of that we'd all attribute to Cliff.

and having issues of play calling around the end zone, not putting the ball in his playmaker's hands. And that's not changing. And Kyler. And, and Kyler. Running the ball in and making mistakes. Exactly. You get around the goal line and he has an extra weapon that can score touchdowns on the ground. You know, we talk about that with Damien Harris. Kim Newton will vulture those touchdowns. Well, if you run them in, you're not passing them in either. And, you know. Well, said. Thank you. You had 20.

Passing touchdowns is rookie year. 26 last year. That's a little disappointing. I think that, you know, you would hope that he levels up this season, gets up into the 30s for passing touchdown. If he does, he's going to pay off in fantasy. And Hopkins will be the primary benefactor. I agree. And, yeah, you had a Route Bush problem last year, if you remember, wasn't a tree. And I mean, I still have Hopkins at five. And it's, you can't doubt the.

the production that he put up last year, but it's so frustrating to see the way that he is utilized in this Arizona offense. For fantasy purposes, last year, he finished outside of the top 36 far more than elite wide receiver should. And all reports out of Arizona training camp.

he's going to be used the exact same way. He's going to be on his side. There will be no creativity moving these guys around. He'll be over in the X position. AJ Green will be over in the Y, and that is that for the cliff offense. As opposed to what you see with Adams, where he's being moved around all the league wide receivers. I mean, you move them around from left to right. Sometimes you put him in the slot. Like you find mismatches. What if you find out that, like, they wanted to do that and it was Hopkins. Like, he's more comfortable.

What if he said, I want to be over here? I will say this either way, no matter whose decision it is, he's been great. He's dominating from his route bush. He would dominate if they move him around. I don't think that's any concerns with another elite talent on the other side of the. Zero concerns of any elite talent on the other side. Oh, man. AJ Green's been catching a lot of touchdowns in camp when he's been out there. Yeah, I would probably bet on more multi-touchdown games from Green this year than Hopkins.

I would take that bet. How many bets should I put on AJ Green in a course of a year then? All of them. More than one is unhealthy. Are they all protect against injury? No. Are you kidding me? Okay. Let's move forward here. Justin Jefferson comes in at six. I haven't at four. Mike at six. Jason at seven. Last year, 88 for 1,4007. Didn't even get started until week three. Finished at six at the position. Rookie records.

through and through, 22 years old, better at home. In fact, all his touchdowns came at home. Interesting. Yeah, probably anomalous at this point of his career, but interesting. Nonetheless, I don't see a way for it to go wrong outside of injury for Justin Jefferson. Too explosive, too much separation. Best deep passer in terms of, you know, Kirk Cousins throwing the ball to him down the field where he is.

getting more separation than anybody at that level of the defense. So I have confidence, but we're getting into a lower level of wide receiver here where there are at least viable reasons why it can go wrong. Certainly. Do you see, in the range of outcomes and upside, do you see a wide receiver one finish possible for Justin Jefferson? Overall number one? Yes.

Yeah, I do too. I'm the lowest on him, but I think that his, his talent was clearly evident. What's your percentage chance for him? I mean, just to, for my. It's not high. It would be below 10%, you know, 5% chance. That's about where I would be to. Okay. But, and I'm, and I'm lower on Justin Jefferson because I'm lower on the passing game in, in its entirety. We've talked about this a lot ad nauseum in the, in the off season, just.