Fantasy Football Podcast 2016 - Mid Round Madness, Fantasy News, Mailbag

early in most of my drafts, not all of them by any means. But when I do, Matt Jones is the type of player. Look, I try to avoid risk in the first and second round. But in those middle picks, I'm looking at upside. I want a guy who could go nuts.

You've heard me say it before. Opportunity is more important than talent, and you will not find a better opportunity than what Matt Jones has right now. Last year, Washington was middle of the pack running the ball. They're returning the same exact team, the same coaching staff, the same everything. They ran the ball 430 times.

So if Matt Jones just gets 60% of the workload, which I don't know how he would be that low considering there's just about no other running backs there, that would be 258 carries, which would put him automatically in the top part of the league. He could very well have more than that. But then you've got to keep in mind, too. He is still talented. He's not an untalented guy. If you go purely by metrics websites that compare.

players. He comps to Levi-on-Bel. He comps to T.J. Yeldin. He is a, he's 6-3-2-30. You know, he's got some very good, you know, agility. He can catch the ball. To me, that says he has the potential to be a league-winning typeback in the fourth round. And he didn't do that great last year. His efficiency was bad. And so maybe he is still

Unefficient. And if he is inefficient would be the word I was looking for. You also said unclarity earlier, which I thought was a new word as well. That's what I do around here. You introduce new language. But even if he's not the most efficient guy, he's basically like a Latavius Murray last year. He just got so much volume and was the only guy in town where he still finishes a top 12 back. That's what Matt Jones represents to me this year. I'll say this. Matt Jones, Amir Abdullah.

Both guys that are in the middle rounds for a reason, because they represent a little bit of risk with the leash that they will have if they fumbled the freaking football. Yes. If they both have the problems that they had last year, it will take two or three fumbles before you have to do something different with those guys. But that's part of the risk and that's part of the reward for Matt Jones. I agree with you on the carry totals. 60 to 65% is where I think he'll be this year in terms of total volume. Yeah, and that's great. That's workhorse volume.

I mean, those are the numbers when you went back and actually, if you looked at Aaron Foster and the workload, some of his big years, 65%, 67% of the load. That's workload numbers. So let's move on here, unless Mike, you wanted to add anything on Jones. No, no, we're good. All right, I'm going to go with Tyler Lockett. Tyler Lockett to me is the mid-round, one of my mid-round targets going in the seventh round. In fact, I believe he is going his average job positions, the same as TJ Yeldins.

So he's going in the seventh round. And he's the example to me of a rookie who has been growing and growing on the job last year. His first eight games as a rookie, he averaged just over two catches a game and 56 yards. In the second half, he averaged four catches a game, 82 yards a game, and was at about a thousand yard pace. To me, it's all about what he's surrounded with. And he's surrounded with an offense that showed me that...

You know, Russell Wilson can throw the ball in the red zone. Russell Wilson can be hyper efficient as a passer. This team rotates and Russell Wilson does anything close to what he did in the second half of the season. I just don't see the reasons why Lockett wouldn't be the target the way Baldwin was on a lot of balls. I think it's a 50-50 shot with those two guys who's going to get that important target. And because Baldwin is a fourth round guy right now and Lockett is a seventh round guy.

I personally would rather put my stock into lock it. And he's younger, he's electric, he does more in terms of game-breaking type of things. I do think he's a little boom-bust, but you're getting him at a value that makes him worth the risk. He's a guy that I would target as a potential trade cash-in type of player, where if he burst, there's no reason he couldn't have three big games out of his first four, and then you could trade him.

for more value or more consistency. So Lockett is a mid-round target for me. And if you're in any league that rewards special team yardage, then Lockett's great because he's very talented on the returns. I wonder if they're going to give ProCise some of that. Yeah, some special teams were? Yeah, that's interesting, maybe. I'm going to go with the guy who is, I think, somewhat similar to Tyler Lockett, except very, very proven.

And that is Deshawn Jackson, who is currently going in the eighth round. I like that. It's crazy that the fantasy world is abandoning Deshawn Jackson. Look, he's not my favorite player. He's not my favorite player to own. He's no Jerome Simpson, though.

How many Jerome Simpson jokes can we have in one show? I'm going to vilify Jerome Simpson. But Deshaun Jackson in the eighth round, he's not your wide receiver two. He's your, maybe even your wide receiver four. He's your flex play. And that is the perfect, perfect guy to throw in your flex where you know you're not counting on him, but he can win your entire week in two plays. The whole entire offense of Washington is very intriguing to me.

this year. And I got two Washington mid-round targets now between Jones and Deshaun Jackson. And I understand there's whispers in the bushes of can Doxon replace D. Jacks or Garsohn? I think personally that it's far more likely that Doxon will usurp Pierre Garcone and they'll leave Deshaun Jackson as the field stretcher to do what he did or do what he does. Look, the previous two years, over 1,100 yards each of those seasons. And he's a, and he.

And he scores touchdowns as well. I just, I think it is insanity that Deshaun Jackson has fallen to the eighth round. This might be my favorite pick so far. The eighth round is just incredible for him. Deshawn Jackson is very funny as a fantasy player. Let me tell you what happens with Deshaun Jackson. When I have him on my team, he does nothing. Whenever I play him.

He always catches that bomb in the first or second quarter that makes you want to hate yourself because you see the low numbers and then you're like, oh, I just need him to give me a game where he only scores three and a half fancy points. And then 84 yards later, he's popping my dreams. But he's such a value at that point. Especially, I mean, coming back healthy, just being forgotten, being forgotten right now? The hamstring problems were an issue.

last year. Yeah. And because of that, people are just are overreacting out of control. And he still, when he was back, he was, he did stuff. Yeah. Jason, who's your, who's your next mid-round value? He's, yeah, Deshaun Jackson's clearly talented. I'm going to go with a guy who I think is far more talented than Deshaun Jackson, albeit unproven. And that is Kevin White. Kevin White, to me, represents...

an awesome value at the very back of the seventh. So right near where Deshaun Jackson's going. He's, you know, you might be able to get him in the eighth, but in the seventh. Think about this. Last year, Amari Cooper was creeping up into the fourth round, ADP-wise, as a rookie. It was him and Kevin White. Those were the two guys. Well, now this year, people think, like, oh, he missed the season. We forget about him, but it's better. This is, like, a super...

Supreme rookie season because he has the playbook. Burrito Supreme. He was there for the whole year of learning the offense and getting to know it. He's been healthy now. He has been working with Jay Cutler this offseason. The reports are great from Jay and Kevin White.

Look two years ago when Brandon Marshall and Alshan Jeffrey were there, Alshan Jeffrey was, you know, the number two wide receiver on that team. But it was 1A1B, really. Really? 1A1B. And that's what I expect this to be immediately. Alshon Jeffrey got 145 targets. And if Alshon Jeffrey...

gets banged up again, all of a sudden you have Premier. Yeah, you've got 1A. But even if he doesn't, 145 targets to Alshan Jeffrey two years ago when Brandon Marshall was there is a reasonable, I mean, if you get 125 targets, that would still be, I believe, more than Deshaun Jackson has ever had in his career as far as target numbers. Kevin White is 6 foot 3 and runs a 435.

That is exceptional. Decent. Yeah, that's decent size and decent speed if you're only talking about Hall of Fame wide receivers. Right. That's where it's decent. So to me, Kevin White represents a, you know, look, if I'm in the seventh, eighth round, I want a guy who has the ability to truly be an elite guy. And a worst case scenario, I mean, I guess worst case for anybody is, you know,

injured for the year, but he's back, he's healthy, his injury was not a, it wasn't like Bashar Perman's where there's worry about lingering or re-aggravation, you know, you had a broken boat. The only, the only shade I'll throw on that for, because I love Kevin White, the talent, although super raw and unproven, I do like him, is that the season when both Marshall

and Alshan were both. They were monsters. That was the Josh McCown here, where McCown was the quarterback 50% of the time, and McCown was getting it done with Alshan. I still see Jay Cutler as a one target guy for, like, he finds his one guy that he loves, he locks on. So I think the opportunity won't be outrageous for Kevin White, but I think he has the ability to be a highly efficient.

and boom bust type of guy. Yeah, yeah, and I, you know, the value. Again, it comes down to value. There's a reason we call this mid-round madness is because some of these names and where they're going are just, it's crazy. It's crazy to me. So, all right, I've got my next one, and I need some music for this. Wait, what? I'm issuing a formal public apology to all second wide receivers. I'm talking to you, Alan, Hearns.

I'm talking to you, Eric Decker. I'm sorry. I didn't believe that you had what it takes to be fantasy relevant the entire season. Sure, you could have a good week. But I didn't think you could sustain it. And here's the deal. My third mid-round pick here is a guy who is going right now, eighth pick of the sixth round in a 12-team standard league. And it's Eric Decker. I mean...

I don't know what to say other than give you his stat line. 80 catches for 1,000 yards and 12 touchdowns. He was, I mean. Do you want to get a wide receiver 1? Yeah, in the 8th round? I mean, even more than like the potential of a Doug Baldwin being Doug Baldwin in the 4th. Eric Decker's odds of being Eric Decker are pretty good, especially when Ryan Fitzpatrick comes back. That's the water. The stateline. Is that why he's down there, though? Is he just going to, whoop?

right up the board because Fitzpatrick's out? Nope. He will stay exactly. Fourth round peak. He will stay exactly where he is, even if Fitzpatrick has re-signed. The stat line that I love for Eric Decker is, he only played 15 games, but it's the number three. The number three. That's how many times, how many games he did not score a touchdown. Twelve games. It wasn't Doug Baldwin. Oh, I scored 12 touchdowns in five weeks. This was, he was giving you consistent high-level production.

every single week you could be counted on. Yeah. And where you're drafted him is ridiculous. You're talking about your third, fourth wide receiver at worse, if you go crazy running back, your second wide receiver. And to get double-digit touchdowns or have the opportunity to do that, that is a mid-round madness value. Alan Hurons is going an entire round in front of Eric Decker. Boo. And I like Alan Hurons, but I just think that's...

Come on, man. Eric Decker has always, you know, we had a show last year where we talked about the guys who year after year after year were undervalued, were underdrafted. And it happens, Eric Decker was already on that list. And now he's back on the list again. Every year, you just don't believe he can do it or that he's going to do it. Just, you know, wise up.