Top 20 Countdown + Big Bear Value

Absolutely. To step up into a first and second down type of roll. I think Mac is obviously somebody that benefits from the suspension. When I was looking at our projections for this backfield, I actually had Turbin with the most carries before the season. What's funny is this suspension completely changed the equation for Turbin on the entire year because I think what happens now is you have Heinz and Mac and Wilkins with the opportunity to establish themselves. For all I know, Turbin will get 90 carries or 50 carries on the year.

Yeah, I mean. So it wipes his value out. Turbin is going to have to fight his way back into relevance and there are at least three running backs that will get the shot ahead of him. So yeah, Turbin is now irrelevant and maybe, maybe four running backs if this pushes Kristen Michael. Oh, I know. Back into the end of the scene. Or do they go out and they look at a guy like DeMarco Murray? Certainly could. But I am on record. I want it said, I do actually like Marlon Mack. I think he is.

better than what we saw last year. And if their offensive line is improved and Andrew Luck is back, I think Marlon Mack will be a value. He's going very late. Did you say Paul Perkins? Maybe. Maybe I did. But I don't believe it is the case because Paul Perkins, I mean, I get the parallels, right? Paul Perkins was a guy that you didn't see the talent, but the opportunity was unbelievable. Well, Perkins, you saw him flash in the passing game last year. And then that's why people were hyped up for him in New York.

But I think Marlon Mack is more talented than Paul Brooke. I know. We'll probably debate that until we find out. Until we find out for certain. Any other news you guys want to get into? Brooks. No, anything going on? Nah. Okay. All right. Let's get into the top 20 players. 20 players. So this is our consensus top 20. Is that correct? That's correct. So we're not just talking.

top running backs, top wide receivers, top quarterbacks. It's our basically our overall mixed in flex ranking, if you will, which of course will only be running backs and wide receivers because, you know, for someone else to crack the top 20, that would be grunk alone with that ability. And this is consensus. This isn't mine. This isn't Andy's. This isn't mics. But it does include all three. And what kind of where we deviate from one another will highlight that for you. All right. Number 20. We'll count them down.

Devante Freeman comes in at number 20. Right now, his average draft position is about 18. So we're a couple behind on his ADP. Here's an interesting tidbit on Devante Freeman, who obviously had incredible 2015 and 2016 seasons where he was the number one and number six running back. Under Steve Sarkesian last year, his targets dropped from 65 to 47. His red zone carries drop from 27 to 19.

Not a great indication of, I guess, confidence in Devanta Freeman and his ability to be a top 10 running back. Where do you stand on Devonta Freeman? Yeah, look, I like DeVantza Freeman this season. I don't think there was anything on tape that showed me he lost a step. He's not old. You know, I think that he's going to be the primary beneficiary of a good offense.

in the running game. I actually think he right now is a great value. He is the guy that when you look at, you're in a draft and you're kind of staring down the Devanta Freeman, Lashon McCoy decision. You know, a lot of times people are like, okay, I, you know, they're saying that I think Lashon McCoy has a high probability of being a bus this year. But who do you take instead when he's guaranteed this volume?

To me, that answer is Devonta Freeman. You know, he dealt with a few injuries last season when he got back weeks, you know, 12 through 16, once the offense had found out who they are. This was a new coordinator. You had a guy, you know, 1,120 rushing yard pace plus over 50 receptions, over 500 yards receiving. The pace was good at the end of the season for Freeman. Last year was a poop sandwich. If you look at his weekly.

contributions. He had the first four weeks inside the top. He was a one or two. Then he disappointed through the middle of this season. And then from weeks 14 through 17, he had some pretty solid finishes, including a fourth and fifth finish in the fantasy playoff range, depending on your league. I still take McCoy, if it's me. But you know that you and I disagree pretty profoundly about Lesham McCoy this year.

Thanks to you and your ranking, he's not even in our top. I love what you're going to say. He's not even in our top 25. Fantastic. So good work. Thank you. You've done a disservice to all shady truthers. Shady truthers. Yeah. All right. Number 19, Michael Thomas. Michael Thomas. All right. Right now, he's the 15th overall according to average draft position. So we actually have him as a consensus down a little bit from the consensus about the same range.

Most receptions ever for the first two seasons of a career, 196 receptions. All he's done has gone out and finished seventh and sixth in fantasy in his two seasons and been one of the more consistent fantasy wide receivers available, even if his slow start last year kind of dissuaded you from thinking he was a dominant force. Yeah, I mean, the consistency is there for him, and the reality is this.

His rookie year, he had nine touchdowns. This is a guy with unbelievable hands. And we saw a major change for the Saints last season. They threw the ball less. They ran the ball more, you know, around the goal. And they were not in these crazy shootouts where they've got to come from behind. So the passing touchdowns were down for Drew Brees. But I think they were.

down further than we're going to see this year. I'm not a huge Breeze believer this season. No, you don't believe it. Like Mike believes that Breeze is going to fully rubber band back to the days of glory. Right. And I 100% do not believe back. Which I actually don't believe either. I do think that he was disproportionately, the pendulum had swung into kind of an odd area last year where the running backs were so good and just the way that the game.

came by way of scoring for the Saints. I think that will rebound, but look, his passing attempts overall were way down. That's why I'm kind of on your side on that. But yeah, Thomas is, look, last year with the passing attempts going down as far as they went with Breeze, he had what, three, five, seven, ten, eleven, top 24 weeks in 16 weeks. And then he didn't even kill you in those other weeks, 25, 32. I mean,

What more do you want? Yeah, I mean, you could lay it out like this. You have a guy, I don't know if you've seen the pictures, but very Josh Gordon-esque. Michael Thomas is ripped. He is jacked coming into this season. He's 6'3, you know, 215 pounds. So you've got a big-bodied, super athletic guy who also happens to run some of the best routes out there, who also happens to have some of the best hands out there, who also happens to have a first ballot.

Hall of Fame quarterback throwing him the ball as the primary target. Your floor is high, and if he gets the touchdowns, which that's, you know, we don't know. But those are hard to predict. Right. Those are hard to predict. So I actually like Michael Thompson. I'm surprised that we are lower on him than the consensus average draft position. I'd have no problem taking him at that spot. Doesn't seem like it's related to our, you know, dislike. Dislike. Dislike. It's just other players I think that we like a lot.

Correct. So we don't want to remind you right now as we get into number 18, who's Keenan Allen, by the way. I want to remind you about the ultimate draft kit, the number one tool to prepare yourself to dominate your 2018 fantasy football draft. This has been our baby for the last three years. We're very proud of it. We're very proud of the amount of work that goes into it, 100 plus player profile videos.

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Sent you. Sent you. All right. Keenan Allen comes in at 18 on the top 20. Consensus, 18 on our list, 16 on the average draft position. Look, last year was a banner year for Keen and Allen, especially over the second half. Here's his finishes from week 11 on. 2, 4, 4, 21, 30, and 1 in week 17. Last year, we saw the report with Philip Rivers once again.

Matthew Barry just came out with his 100 Facts article. He does that every year. It's a great article. But it highlights so many of the things about Philip Rivers that we love, his consistency over the last several years. And he simply needs the weapons to get the job done. He has one in Keenan Allen. Much like Michael Thomas, you're talking about Hall of Fame caliber quarterback, number one option, great hands, great competitive nature. That's what I love about Keenan Allen and Michael Thomas. They are out there fighting tooth and nail on every single play.

To believe in Keenan Allen is to believe that he will stay healthy, but we saw a good year from him last year, and then it's to believe that this offense is going to continue to be able to funnel through Phillip Rivers. Here's what we haven't seen. We haven't seen Keenan Allen play football and be bad. Maybe his sophomore year. We've seen him not play football and be bad. Yes, exactly. Much like myself. If he is, if he's on the field, he's going to be great. And I believe he's on the field. He played a full set last year.

There are so many examples in history of injury prone players, getting that label early in their career, who then become Ironman. Frank Gore is an Ironman. He doesn't miss anything. He doesn't miss a practice. He plays every game, every year. In the beginning of his career, he was injured.

You know, and people are saying, well, he'd be good if he could stay on the field. Forte was like that, too. Matt, Forte was. And wide receivers, too. I mean, Demarius Thomas. Julio Jones, oh, he's so injury prone, can't stay on the field. Keenan Allen has that moniker, and it's about to go away. I mean, I believe after this season, you're not going to get any kind of discount on Keenan. And you're barely getting it now. But I love Keenan Allen. Right now he's the 16th overall player, the...

wide receiver six off the board. What is crazy to me is that of the three of us, sorry, Jay, I'm including Mike here. Instead of Jay Gris. Yeah, that's fair. Do you know who has him the lowest? It's Mike, who has spent years being the Keenan Allen truther, and now he has every opportunity for him. So you're saying he hates him. I'm saying, Mike, why do you hate Keenan Allen? Okay. Well, clearly he doesn't want to defend himself.

Yeah. Otherwise, he would have submitted a voicemail answer. Yeah, but he doesn't. He hates Keenan. Is there any downside to Keenan? I mean... No. There's not a downside to Keenan. He's the primary target. Obviously, losing Hunter Henry, maybe teams focus on him even more, but Henry really hadn't had his breakout yet. And there are other weapons. Mike Williams should offer up some, you know, presence on the other side. You have deep threats in Travis Benjamin and in...