NFC West Breakdown + Dinner Dates, High Ceilings - Fantasy Football Podcast for 7/14

Obviously, his return in about six months was unprecedented. He didn't look great, but the fact that he was so young, seems to be recovered, has that timeline, and we have the confidence that they are going to really, really, really try to make him the guy. He's got the opportunity that sometimes you just don't get after an Achilles injury. So are we staring down, and I'm sorry, Jason. Do you want to finish that thought? My conclusion is basically that I think it's worth taking a shot.

on Cam Acres because the team is going to give him the opportunity. It's just a matter of doesn't Achilles injury mean that a running back can never get back to physical form again? And at his age, I don't believe that. At his age, I think he could get back. Is this going to be the running back version of the Stafford Cup doubt that people had in the off season last year? We talked about it being that obvious thing that it should have been obvious but wasn't obvious.

Is Cam Acres going to be that? I mean, to me, the team is done with any sort of primary role for Darrell Henderson. Yeah. That's not going to be part of their future. Now, he may get, you know, reps, but is this a more obvious thing, or is it fair to have this injury doubt? I think having the injury doubt is completely fair, but I agree with Jason. Your opinion of Cam Acres, like, it doesn't really matter. It matters what Sean McVeigh wants.

And at least through the playoffs, Sean McVeigh said that Cam Acres is our guy. He's going to be our workhorse running back, and he will continue to be that heading into next season. So at the running back 16 where he's being drafted, he seems like a guy that, to me, in the range of outcomes is not, he doesn't, you know, show up as the running back 13, running back 14. He either crushes his ADP or.

he re-aggravates and just he he is so incredibly inefficient with the volume that he doesn't even hit the running back 16. And we may need to do a show, Brooksie, specifically about players in that category because you're right. Cam Acres isn't what, he will not finish where he's being drafted, I don't think. I think he will be a disaster or a huge value. I agree. Maybe not as big as the...

Value Cooper Cup was last year. Yeah, I mean, I made my speech for the pro Kim Acres, but when you look at who he's being drafted around and there is this giant question mark, we just covered the NFC East. Zeke was a talking point on that episode. He's going one running back spot ahead of Acres and James Connor one running back spot behind. I would take either one of those guys over Cam Acres. I would too. Because they don't have.

Quite that same gigantic question mark. Matthew Stafford finishes the quarterback five last year, which is, you know, kind of feels like Zeke did. Where Zeke ended up or what, running back six? And so there was consistency. I mean, he was out there for every single game. It was funny. I just rewatched that you remember the injury he suffered as a rookie?

in Detroit. Oh, and then he came back in the game. And then he came back in and through the touchdown because the Browns were dumb enough to call a timeout and let him back in the game. Yeah. But it just reminded me like Stafford is an Ironman. Like he plays through as much as he can. Last year, almost 5,000 yards, 41 touchdown, 17 picks. Some of the interceptions definitely cost them. But overall, it worked out. I mean, this was a player that, you know, was very consistent. He's being drafted as the quarterback 12 right now.

Is that too low? No, no. I would say... Is that too high? Yeah, I would say it's too high. Obviously last year was great. He finishes the quarterback five, but if you look at how that came about, he was pretty inconsistent. He had plenty of weeks where he was, you know, half of his weeks wasn't a top 12 option. The reason he finished top five was because in those down weeks where he really did not help you for fantasy, he didn't just like...

collapse and give you nothing. You know, he would go out there and give you 16 points, 14.3 points. And, you know, looking at his game log, it's like, okay, well, he's not crushing you and killing you, but he's not giving you a win. And to me, I think that, you know, this was as good as it could possibly get. I don't think anyone would project Cooper Cup to repeat what he did last year. So I like Rogers or Stafford more this year.

Rogers without Devante Adams. I have Stafford one spot ahead of Rogers. One spot higher. Yeah, because last year he did have 10 top 12 performances, which was the same as Aaron Rogers, your dinner date, Mike. Yes. So I'd love to have dinner with Stafford, though. Yeah? Oh, heck yeah. Really? I don't know what Stafford's like. I've seen him chuck a beer. So that's the line for a good dinner. That just means he's going to be there to have a good time.

We're going to go out. We're going to have a great dinner. Staff, reach out. Okay. Reach out. At Applebees. Yeah, well, I mean, it's our neighborhood grill. Alan Robinson joins the passing attack. That was number two and passing touchdowns, number five in passing yards. Number one in expected points added per pass attempt. This was a...

Good passing offense. So Alan Robinson, you know, there is a stink upon that man's name in the fantasy football community. Deserved, I mean. Deserved, but also acquired in part maybe by Matt Nagy, right? I mean, sure. Like, where does the stink begin? Nobody knows the source of the stink when Nagy's in the same building. I agree, and that's part of the huge question for him, but that, like, that didn't stop, you know.

The switch over to Justin Fields and just everything that was terrible about the Chicago Bears had didn't stop Darnell Mooney from getting 1,000 yards last year and having some productive fantasy weeks. Meanwhile, Alan Robinson, who should have been rock solid, was absolutely atrocious. He did particularly torture Mike, right? Yes. And I still can't figure out where I am on Alan Robinson being drafted.

as a top 24 wide receiver. That might be too high. The hard part is this offense is going to be so good. While you were talking about Stafford, Jay, I get it. He was very hot or cold for fantasy last year. That's his first year with McVeigh. Like, Stafford is a good quarterback. They're in the range of outcomes is Matthew Stafford has this system just locked in this year. And he is even better.

throws, you know, in the mid-40s of touchdowns, the yardage goes up. You hit, you hit on those deep plays a little bit more. You would expect in year two for him to not throw 17 touchdowns as well. So there are exceptions. Yeah, sorry. I don't expect him to throw 17 touchdowns either. There is room for Stafford to get better. And whenever you've got Cooper Cup in tow, it's a good situation. With regards to Alan Robinson, though, I mean, he's, we're all lower on him.

Yes, all lower. Compared to average drop position. Yes, we have them as our wide receiver 34, 46, and 52. So we kind of are OUT on Alan Robinson, who is being drafted much, much higher in the fifth round as I think wide receiver 23. Do you want, you want Adam Thielen or Alan Robinson? Does they feel very similar? I'll take Thielin. They do feel similar. I'll take Thielen because of.

the scars and the burns that I have from Alan Robinson. He started 12 games. He played 12 games last year. His high score was eight fantasy points. Last year, you need to make it not exist if you want to be in on Alan Robinson. Yep. Because you don't know, you don't know where the crash began in Chicago. It was, everyone got in on it. Except for Mooney, maybe. Yeah. Yeah, it's tough because Robinson, I think one of the question marks is, do they bring out of Del Beckham?

Is Van Jefferson going to be involved? I'm not worried. Beckham, with the injury that late, like in all the talk is he won't be ready until November. Yeah, but it's still something to be considered. I think if Alan Robinson can be anywhere from two to four on the actual pecking order in the wide receiver room, that'd be a problem to me. Like Adam Thielen is not going to be the fourth best wide receiver in Minnesota. Oh, okay. So I'm saying, like, I would definitely feel more confident in Thielen. I think both, I think Thielen's shown that he.

still has it at his older age, where Robinson is going to be, what, 29 when the season begins? Or close to it? You do have Van Jefferson here as a nice pivot. If you are anti-Ellen Robinson, and we could be wrong there. Alan Robinson could easily come out, have a great resurgent year. But if he is the Alan Robinson we saw last year, then Van Jefferson has a real opportunity here.

to be the number two in this offense, which he's familiar with. And I think where he's going right now, if you're in best ball drafts, he's one of my favorite late-round targets. I mean, for a redraft league, you probably aren't going to draft him at all, but he's a name to consider. And I'll throw this out there. This is the first time Stafford's his 40 touchdowns in a really, really long time. It's more likely than not that that number comes down. If the running game is better, he may be a better NFL quarterback, more efficient, and a worse fantasy quarterback.

And those two can coexist very easily. Let's take a quick break and we'll get into the hometown Cardinals. Hey, sports fans, starting Tuesday, September 8th, it's Super Sports Week on Paramount Plus. First, UEFA Champions League returns with the world's biggest soccer stars. Saturday afternoon, it's college football, Mississippi State, Minnesota, and Texas Tech, Oregon State. Then?

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I do want to ask Al Borland a question. Is that okay? Sure. He's our resident Packer fan. Russell Wilson or Aaron Rogers? Who are you going to dinner with? Aaron Rogers. Okay. All right. I know that you've not been the biggest fan of Rogers the man. That is correct. As chromagony as he is, I think he would be fun at dinner. Like, I don't mind going to dinner. Whereas Russell Wilson would be weird, man. What would he even order? Ooh.

I don't know. He'd probably hit a buffet. He'd get the black. The black bean burger type of thing. Oh, is that what he would go in? Yeah. What is Rogers is getting the steak after he asked for all the recommendations? Maybe. Unless they recommend steak. Oh, okay. The contrarian. Then it's a burger. Hmm. Okay. Depends if he's on his cleanse at the time. Yeah. Oh, yeah. Which that's all new to me. I didn't, I missed that.

That he was really into the pretty extreme cleanses. Yeah, from both sides. Yeah, very extreme. Look it up. Or don't. The Cardinals, 11 and 6 last year. The way the season ended, I was. They were 11 and 6. That's where I'm going. I scrolled down to, we have these in order of finish. And I hit 11 and 6, and I go, they were the second in the division. It started great.

Well, 7 and 0, right? 7 and 0. And then we decided to show up to a game. 44 seconds and an A.J. Green turning around from 8. No. Yeah. And the preseason win total last year was 8. They hit 11. So they outperform that. 3 and 4 and 1 score games. So it wasn't like they were just getting there with those anomalous one score wins. They went 8 and 1 on the road. That was shocking. They had trouble at home last year. The projected win total this year, 8.5.

So higher than it was last year, but obviously lower than where they finished last year. Does this help you? The last two Super Bowl champions hosted the Super Bowl and Arizona is hosting it this year. Oh, baby. Well, if these trends continue. I think we're here to break the trend. Yeah, I think we can buck this trend pretty easily. Let's buck it. 11th and points per game. Eighth in total yards, 12th and pace of play.