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

How many points the Vikings had to put up? I mean, they were giving up 35, 40, 50 points. Like, you know, it was not the normal Mike Zimmer defense that you see. And so then you got to air it out. You got to get the yards. And Justin Jefferson was unbelievable. So, yes, he could finish as the wide receiver one. He could just come in and maybe he's the next Jerry Rice. I mean, we don't know how.

high Justin Jefferson can go career-wise. And so I will not put a cap on his ceiling. But if I'm projecting probabilities, when I look at the Minnesota Vikings, I think their offense takes a step back from the counting stats that they achieved last year on a per-game basis. And Justin Jefferson will probably have fewer yards than he had in his rookie year. I think it'll be more of the same. There were 11th in points per game last year.

I don't see them transitioning their offense away from Jefferson. Mike, you have him at six. Third round ADP, you happy with that? Wide receiver eight off the board. Yeah, I don't have a problem with it. We're actually higher than the ADP. And, you know, I kind of highlighted it when I was taking away from Adam Thielen in the ice show that once Justin Jefferson really emerged, because he had a couple good weeks at the beginning, but.

It wasn't until week 10 that it was, there was a really clear change, and all of a sudden, Justin Jefferson's pulling in nearly 30% of the targets from, you know, weeks 10 through the end of the season. He averaged over 10 targets a week. That is absolutely absurd volume. Justin Jefferson is being drafted at a spot where even though I have him at seven, I love taking him there because the upside is tremendous. Last year, he had seven touchdowns to Adam Thieland's 14.

I mean, if those go the other way and Justice Jefferson becomes the one, outstanding upside. DK and Metcalf comes in at seven, Jason the highest with him at six. What do you like about Metcalf coming into the year? I like touchdowns. That's what I like. They score a lot of points. They make me fantasy happy. The reality is they make me fantasy happy. They make me fantasy happy, baby. Okay.

Russell Wilson's quarterback. Russell Wilson's going to be a top 12 guy. He's going to throw for around 35 touchdowns, and D.K. Metcalf is someone that makes every other human look stupid. So, I mean, you don't want to overthink these things. You can talk about the nuance of... New offensive coordinator. New offensive coordinator, specific to change because they want to be more run happy. Rashad Penny is...

coming on to form so maybe they can really have the two-headed monster they've wanted for the last several years, run more, pass less. They've talked about getting the ball out of the hands of Russell Wilson quicker, meaning maybe shorter routes for DK Metcalf. There's a lot of different ways you can paint the picture. But in the end, the reason I'm high on him is just because I think he's the clear number one for a great offensive quarterback. Not just a one-trick pony, red zone beast.

Yeah, I'm with you. If you go running back first round, you could take Metcalf. He's in the middle of the second round right now. He is going higher than where we have him ranked. Are you comfortable with him as your wide receiver one? I'm comfortable with him as my wide receiver one if I got him in the third. Right. Because if I go running back, running back, and D.K., I'm happy. But to avoid, you know, a Clyde Edwards Aller or an Antonio Gibson or one of these guys that's in the second round to take a DK.

I haven't been drafting him as much as, you know, Jefferson falls lower, and I think the ceiling is just as high there. Yeah, his ADP, he's in a, he's in a bad spot for me because I would rather, I'm with Jason, I'd rather take a one of those running backs that happens to fall into the second round or Calvin Ridley if I'm taking a wide receiver in that spot. Alan Robinson comes in at eight. He's going as the wide receiver 11 in the late third round, so he could end up.

Same question with Robinson. Are you happy with him as your one if you go running back, running back? Yeah. Yes. Most everyone that we're talking about, I want them to be my third pick because my first two went great. That's what I want. Last year, 102 for 1250 and 6. He finished at 12. So we do have him ranked ahead of where he finished last year in 16 games. I've done a lot of reading about Bears camp and what's happening there. I walked away from that research.

strongly convinced that Andy Dalton's the quarterback? For how long? That question is an impossible answer when you have a magician as your head coach. Budget magician. But Andy Dalton is, he's been called the starter. He has played up to that level in camp in a very pronounced way. He's been very good. And so it got me thinking about what does upside mean because I love...

Darnel Mooney, right? Like it's Robinson and Mooney and everybody else in camp is the best thing for Robinson and Mooney good Andy Dalton as opposed to a quarterback transition partway through the year.

You know what I'm saying? Yes, I do. And for Darnel Mooney, it certainly is. It's very rare for a rookie quarterback to come in and support two wide receivers for fantasy. That doesn't happen a lot. And the reality is Andy Dalton supported. It's so funny because he was such a huge disappointment. I mean, Amari Cooper and C.D. Lamb and Michael Gallup, these guys were going to crush and they all disappointed because of Andy Dalton. But they didn't suck. They were good. I mean, C.D. Lamb and Amari Cooper were.

Good for fantasy in general, just bad compared to DAC. And I think that Andy Dalton, 33-year-old version of Andy Dalton, is probably Alan Robbins' best quarterback he's ever played with. That's kind of where I'm at. And, like, I had to dig in. Does he still have the beard? That's a good question. Great question. Very important question. Producers, please get on that. I mean, Dalton, you better keep that beard. The red beard? Yeah. I had to dig into it because, you know, Fantasy Twitter and the hype train.

They're going to show you sidearm passes from Justin Fields. Which that pass was awesome. Which was great. But when you dig into what's happening at camp, you know, there's been some growing pains for fields, right? It's like one day he looks good. One day he looks like he's got a long way to go. But it seems like Dalton's been very consistent. And the Bears fans I talk to are very happy that they at least have the luxury of bringing him along at an appropriate pace. Now, Dalton could force the issue for them. But it just made me think like,

If you got good Andy Dalton, that could be the best thing for Robinson, it could be the best thing for Mooney and for the Bears overall, at least in year one. So maybe some more upside for Robinson than we even give him credit for. Yeah, I mean, the upside is, it's an ironic word to use with him because, you know, Justin Jefferson can finish this, the wider receiver one, absolutely. Alan Robinson cannot.

Just because the offense, the touchdowns, the explosive nature, that's not happening. But here is what's happening. 151 targets, 151 targets, 154 targets, 151 targets. He demands the ball so much that he can't really finish outside of wide receiver 15. Like he's like wide receiver 10 to 15. He's as safe a wide receiver as there is.

We keep asking the question. Are you happy with him as your wide receiver won? And my answer is yes, I'm happy, but I'm not thrilled. And for exactly what you were talking about, Jason, where I mean, you have the next guy on our list, which is ridiculous. Jason, seriously, wide receiver 13 for Keenan Allen? Look, I stat these players out and let the chips fall where they fall. I'll take a look. Have you thought that your statistics suck?

I have never thought that. So, I mean, this is a player that we both prefer to Alan Robinson. He comes in at nine. I am with you, Mike. I think the feeling you get when Alan Robinson is locked in as your one is just kind of like, all right. Sure. Okay. Yeah. And that's sad for Alan. It is. Robinson, that is. Now, Keenan Allen, on the other hand.

We do have him higher at 8 in our rankings, Mike, and then Jason at 13, which, look, I respect the philosophy. You stat players out according to how you believe they're going to perform, and then you don't necessarily freak out when the rankings come back the way they do. And speaking to that gap to defend or enlighten.

How are you taking it? Are you enlightening or you defending? Well, no, that's up to you to decide. Okay. The players between Alan Robinson and Keenan are McLaur and AJ Brown, Amari Cooper, C.D. Lamb, like really great options. There's not a large gap, but the reason he's behind them, they're both going to have 150 plus targets. They both have the opportunity for touchdowns, but I don't think double digits is really where they're at. The difference is Keenan Allen works closer to the line of scrimmage. So on a yards per reception level,

he's going to need more than Alan Robinson will and a half PPR. If this is full PPR, they're probably right next to each other. Yeah, I mean, very easy math here. A hundred catches last year for just 992 yards for Keenan Allen. And that's with what was really an impressive year from Justin Herbert, who did stretch the field when he had the opportunity to do so. So it was also, he actively missed two games.

When actively missed? Because he was out. Right. He inactively missed one game where he just, he demanded to the world. Oh, that game. Play me where and then he caught one pass. You shriveled up and do like a sad, sad man under. Because that was the. How are you not?

penalizing him in your rankings for that move he did to you personally. Because I looked into my heart, Jason, and I found forgiveness for an elite wide receiver. That just means he won a title with him in previous years. He told everyone, that's exactly what it means. He told everyone, play me, I'm going to be awesome, and then didn't play. Volume is guaranteed for Keenanelle. But the point is, that's the nice thing about a mid third round pick. 146 targets in essentially 13 games.

and Justin Herbert was a rookie and will now be better. Also, Austin, no, no, hold on. Austin Echler will be back, demand a number of targets behind the line of scrimmage as well. Didn't play a lot with Austin Echler last year. New head coach, new offensive coordinator. So there are some variables there, and the ceiling for Keenan is not the same as Ridley. It's not the same as Jefferson. It's not the same as Matt Cap. So that would be kind of the, you know.

You have to decide as a fantasy player what kind of wide receiver one you want on your team because Keenan is not all of the kinds. Is that fair? Yeah, absolutely. A.J. Brown at 10. Wow, we all have them there. Man. Look you there. AJ Brown's at 10. Finished at 11 last year. Look, I think he's going to have the same stat line as last season. I really do. I think 100 targets, 70 catches, 1,000 yards, and double-digit touchdowns.

missed a couple games last year. Julio's going to demand targets. He just will by being always open and a dominant physical force on the field could threaten some of the touchdown totals, but the numbers that you're looking for from Brown are big plays. They're, you know, breaking a tackle and taking it to the house. It's over the top. I just don't think it's going to be.

That ceiling of top five is removed with Julio's edition, but otherwise you should be really happy with Brown. Yeah, prior to Julio coming to town, I mean, the ceiling of being the wide receiver one overall was certainly within reach. Yeah. His talent is there to do it. And I think Ryan Tannahill could support that. But as you brought up, Julio Jones is going to have a lot of success. And if Julio Jones, you know, grabs an 80-yard catch,

Those yards are no longer available for A.J. Brown. So it's just... Can he loan them out? Oh, man, that'd be great. Just after the game, a little shifting around of stats. Yeah, we would come doing... I was too short of 100. Can I get two of your yards? What is the technical stat line if Julio takes past 79 yards and laterals it to A.J. Brown on the one. I mean, he'll get the touchdown. Yeah. But that's not a 79-yard pass. Does he get one...

Receiving. No, it's a rushing. Oh, rushing. It's a rush. So Julio gets no credit for that. I think you're right. I think you're right. So it would be a one-yard rush for A.J. Brown? Right. Unless he taps it forward, in which case it's illegal. Yeah, it's illegal double-past. Yes. But he gets nothing. All right. What you're not getting with A.J. Brown is volume. Guaranteed volume. You're probably going to have more games where he disappears, especially on a year where Julio may.