Fantasy Wildcards + Hype Check

I'm just going to piggyback his and get mine out of the way and then you guys will have yours because mine's Mikol Hardman. So I need to have the continuing conversation of just saying maybe I just group all the wide receivers in Kansas City into the wild card category. Wild card! Because Sammy Watkins, Mikol Hardman, DeMarcus Robinson, heck, Byron Pringle.

All those guys. Oh, stop. Stop with the Byron Pringle. Byron Pringle McRingleberry. Stop. It would make, I know that a player with that name, it would help the show. That's all I'm saying. Well, yeah, it's not that I'm not rooting for him. My point is simply that there is, there's a lot of wild cards. Did he pop? Did he pop? The Pringle? Yeah. Was that an old tagline for? No, because if he popped, then you can't stop. Oh.

Yes! Yes! Yes! What's my score on that one? I'm writing it down. I need an official score. Yeah. Oh, an eight! I got you to break! Yeah. I know. It was an eight. Because it was a bad joke. The fact that you got him to break is what put it up to an eight. I knew there must have been a commercial I missed. That's why I asked, but he got me for sure. Look, I like what most fantasy players like, which is...

Unknown. The unknown of Mikul Hardman is so much more attractive to me than the known of Sammy Watkins. Not that he's going to be a better, like more consistent player, but the unknown. The unknown of this guy that they traded up and invested in. And if Tyreek's not there and he was the fastest guy at the combine and he's a big play player with, you know, Patman to Home, my homes. That's exciting. Yes. But the truth of the matter is the range of it.

Outcomes from Michael Hardman is from, and he's a rookie. I mean, it may not even be the starter. It's from relevance to complete irrelevance. So can you get a steal on him? You're probably either getting a steal or wasting a pick. I mean, that's probably what, he's a 10th round guy, so you can waste it on Michael Hardman, and I probably would tell you to waste it, but that ADP is going to come up if Tyree Kill is definitively suspended, cut, any of those things.

And how high does it go? If Tyreeks gone tomorrow, how high is Miko Hardman being drafted, wide receiver? The question for me is more of Robinson. Because right now, Miko is, as he should be, he's the backup. Because we still haven't had training camp. We haven't had time for preseason for him to establish himself as the actual starter. I know what they gave up to get him. But I'm with you that the wildcard situation of between DeMarcus Robinson and Mekle Hardman.

One of those guys has, they have to have value. This isn't me coming in being like, man, I really hope Chris Conley can become something as the wide receiver three on this team. This is literally, you're talking. This was like last year you're saying. Right. Right. Where you're digging at the bottom of their depth chart. The guy who's at the top of the depth chart, they have to have value. Second round pick.

A lot of confidence from the team. He has to earn his place. He's a complete wildcard to me. And the variables of Sammy Watkins' health, Tyreek Hill's availability, Demarcus Robinson. What does he contribute to the team? I know Chiefs fans, they're okay with him. He's not a burner, though. No, no, no, no. He's the guy who catches no lookers. Right. Assuming that Tyree Kill is out, like, let's say it comes out right now. Tyree Kill is done.

Where would you guys be willing to draft Miko? Because I'm still on the, I'm still on the side of rookie wide receivers don't usually pan out, especially quickly. So I wouldn't play with them. This is a special situation. Oh, certainly. If Tyreek is gone, Sammy will go much higher than he's going now. And Miko will go much higher than he's going. Sammy would jump into the third round. Sammy would be a, yeah, he'd be a third round. Where's he going right now?

Sure. He's a fifth round pick. He would absolutely jump two rounds in a heartbeat. I'm telling you guys the amount of times that I've spoke kindly of Sammy Watkins and had the blowback of a thousand sons. People do not want to put their trust in Sammy Watkins. He will not get up to the third because the other people that are in the third, they go, no, when I'm comparing, do I want, you know. Meekle in the seventh or Sammy in the third? Yeah, I'll take Meekle.

Yeah, I'll take Sammy in the fourth, which is where he'll end up. Okay, maybe third is fourth round. Fourth round, 100%. All right. Are you disagreeing with that, Jay? No, I think fourth round is where he belongs. I just looking at the third round is full of Hilton feeling. Exactly. He's not going to be in that tier. No, he won't. Do I get to go now? Yeah, all right. All right. Will you get, oh, are you going to give up on Sammy if he doesn't play 16?

Never! All right, Mike, you do get to go now. To be fair for Jason, he never one single day in this office gave up on Eric Ebron. Yeah. Never. Never, Mike. He never did. And now you need to. But didn't he give up on him now? No. I can't convince anybody to give up on Eric Ebron.

Even though it's the right thing to do. Okay, I'm jumping in. I'll start with my player who is ranked highly. I like him. He's my number 13 running back, but he's a wild card to me because there are, there should be concerns. And I don't think that there, that people are actually looking at the concerns. They're looking at what happened last year in his production. That is Cleveland Brown starting running back. Nick.

Chubb. He was going at the back, or about the middle of the second round. And here's the problem with Nick Chubb. In 2018, no running back one caught fewer than 26 passes. The lowest on that list, that was Cream Hunt. So Cream Hunt still managed to be a running back one, even though he missed a lot of the season. The top 10 of last year, they averaged 91 targets. That number has been rising steadily.

since 2016. So 2016, the average targets of a top 10 running back 62, 2017, it was 76. And it's not to say that it's impossible because in those seasons, you had Lagart Blunt coming through with his eight targets, but it took freaking 18 touchdowns to get him there. And Zeke has kind of been the outlier at the position up until last year where he just grinds his way to being a,

a running back one, but that's because he averages like 100 yards a game on the ground. Last year, Nick Chubb was pacing for 45 targets when he took over as the starter. And people are taking him as the 12th running back off the board. He was on pace for nearly 300 carries over 1,300 yards. But the targets is a, it's a real problem. It scares me beyond measure. Okay, so you're with me. That you.

are scared of Nick Chubb. Oh, yeah. Do you understand what I'm saying? Because I was the champion. You were the champion of Chubb. Yeah. And now you're sitting here. I've been champs of many things. And you're not. That may be my greatest feat. And I think it's, but what it shows is it's all about the price. Yes. It's not about the player's ability. It's the utilization and the price. It's the margin of error for Nick Chub, where if you don't get these.

huge where he's one of the most elusive running backs. I looked into a pro football focus graded him out. He was the number one most elusive running back where by their grade of 103. Number two was Derek Henry at 89. 80. Are you talking about Jeremy Hill? I'm talking about a guy. So his elusive rating was nearly 20 points higher than the second. Then the second ranked running back and the team traded Kevin Zeitler.

The number one graded offensive guard last year by pro football focus. He's gone now. That is also a big deal. Look at what happened to the Los Angeles Rams. They made a couple key additions between the Jeff Fisher year and the Sean McVeigh year, and that turned Todd Gurley into an absolute superstar. I'm just saying I love Nick Chubb. I think he is a sensational running back.

But there are absolutely red flags that I think people are just, they're just pushing through them. It ain't no things. The elusive rating and the huge breakaway runs, those are a double-edged sword, right? They are Pat Mahomes 50 touchdowns. It's awesome. It's like, when you get it. What do you want more than a really elusive back who can have breakaway runs? But statistically, they're anomalous. They should come back down to Earth when they're set that far apart.

from what is the norm. And so if you don't get those things, and you don't have the receiving. It's such a hard line of thinking. Like when you just, if we just talk about that for a minute, like it's so, I, because it happens every year, right? I mean, JJ, remember he had the insane games against Buffalo. Isaiah Crowell had some. Isaiah Crowell's had the breakaway runs. And it's like, but it just, it's like, next time, Nick, don't do that.

Just don't do it so that I can be more confident in you in fantasy football. Wait, it's just... The two players, though, that come to mind that we've... It's just hard. That we've had this argument with, you know, are the two examples you just gave. That did come down to Earth? Right, the J-Jai and Isaiah Crewell is like... Well, we've had the argument about them, but there have been players like Jamal Charles and Adrian Peterson who, you know...

Sure. They broke off consistent huge plays year after year after year. And Jamal and Elvin Camara. Jamal Charles and Alvin Camara, they have the bedrock of they're going to catch the ball. You're not wrong. So like even if the breakaway run doesn't come this game, it's okay because I know that this player is going to catch four to five passes a game. Adrian Peterson, he's a completely different animal because he is, he's a Hall of Fame running back. And as much as I like Chub, I'm not going to give him a Hall of Fame status after his rookie year. People expect the Browns to be great.

Yes, they do. They expect them to win the division. They expect them to score a ton of points, and they expect the secondaries of opposing teams to be focused on Jarvis Landry and Oda Beckham Jr. and what Baker's bringing to the team. So the running lanes are going to be clear for a guy who's more elusive than anybody in football, won it against six and seven-man fronts. That's why the price is what it is. Yeah. And you would hope touchdowns could compensate for...

anomalous big plays. And that's what this shows about. He is a wild card where, yes, of course Nick Chubb can outproduce his RB12, 8 average draft price, but there is absolutely a world where he underperforms that as well. Well, there's probably nowhere, no chance for him to be top five. Right. If you're not catching passes. Well, unless you're somehow turned into Zeke. Zeeke is. And he starts catching the ball. Well, saying Zee could be a running back. Zee could be a top three guy.

before last year when he was catching all the fans. Yeah, look, I know Chubb is very good. He's a good running back, but he's not Zeke. I mean, Zeke was a top 10 NFL draft pick. You're talking about the scheme as well. Yes, for Zeeke. And the offensive line. So for my next wow car. Wow, car. Look, I'm talking about it's like a macaw. Yeah, you're welcome. Yeah. I'm going to talk about a little laxative here. Oh, what?

Well, the restrains of the B-hole have been loosed. Okay. This is what we're going with? Word assembly wasn't even quite right there. And Kenyon Drake. Kenyon Drake has been a guy that I have. Are you just trying, like, you just poking me with your picks today. Like, you can get mad at me for, like, opposing you, but you know what's coming when you pick guys that are like. Awesome.

No, what was the adjective you were using? That are wild cards. Yes, that are wild cards. That's the, that's what we're talking about today is guys that. But we just brought up this guy too. Uh, look, Kenyon Drake. I went and I will talk about Kenny and Drake whenever he can. Yeah. Kenny, Kenny Drake is just really good. Kenny. Now he's Kenny. Yeah. Here's a deal. Over the last two seasons, he has not been allowed to get the ball.

from the Bhole, which is why the Bhole moniker was named. What if somebody doesn't know who you're talking about? I'm talking about Adam Gaze, who was nicknamed the Bhole. He was the head coach formerly of the Miami Dolphins, who refused to give Kenyon Drake the ball, wanted to bring in an old Frank Gore, give him 150 plus touches, despite the fact that the year prior in 2017, you had J. Jai, go out.

And then it took Damien Williams to go down to where it was like, okay, Kenya Drake, finally we'll give you the ball. This is a guy who every time he touched the ball looked electric. His...