Fantasy Football Podcast 2016 - Listener Mailbag and Fantasy News

So keep Jordy for an, is that right, for an 18th? 18th. Yeah, probably. He was injured. Freeman for a 13th. Marty McBry for an 8th. And Alan Robinson for a sixth round pick. It's just so you know it's a half point PBR league. You start two wide receivers, two running backs. Man. That's a tough one right off of the gates with, you got the ultimate value there. Or you have rising superstars.

Bryant and Robinson for a decent value for where they're going to go next year. For me, I don't think it's that difficult. If this was my team, I don't think I can pass up Devante Freeman in the 13th round. I am still a full believer that they are going to use him in the game. And while he might not replicate what he did this year,

he's going to be the guy there. He is involved in the passing game a lot. And so for a 13th round value to get an RB1, I think, is great. For Freeman, it's where I don't, I still don't buy into him as the player, but just those targets. The targets were astronomical for him, especially considering he wasn't really involved in the first two games. So him and the 13th is,

Pretty solid. I think I'm going to go. I'm going to go Martavis in the 8th. It was between Freeman and Martavis for me, but it's Freeman for me. So I'll pass my vote into the Freeman camp there. So Eric in, where is this? Munchy? Munchy? Indiana. Do you guys ever play? Muncie? Muncie. In elementary school, when you go down to the computer lab, you guys ever play number munchers on the old Apple? When you went down to the computer labs?

Oh, I... You didn't have computer app? No, we did, but like with the...

serrated, not serrated, the paper that printed out with the holes in it. The dot matrix? Yeah, no, but you would have the Apple computers. Numbermunchers, I don't remember that. It's just the green screens. It's just green. So a number of munchers, he's basically just a mouth. I played Oregon Trail on those. Yeah, but number munchers is in that category. Uh-huh. Dino Park Tycoon. That was my jam. Oh, that was my jam. Yeah, that's a good one. All you got to do hire as many employees as you can and you make a lot of money.

Hot tip. Hot tip. That's what these questions about, actually. All right. Eric, hey, footballers, I wanted to ask your opinion on who I should keep for my 10-person Keeper League. I only get to keep two people, and they can't be the same position. All right. I have Des Bryant, a wide receiver, and so he says that's his obvious pick, but he needs some help deciding at running back. Carlos Hyde, T.J. Yeldon, Char West, Thomas Rawls, and Tevin Coleman.

originally thinking Yeldin since Hyde had such a poor outing this year, but now I'm undecided. There's one name that should be strongly considered. We can all say it at the same time, and you can do it in your car, because this one sticks out as clearly the best. Buno Dos, Trace, Thomas Rawls. There was an interesting... No, Andy's given some... Andy's face. I...

Yeah, my face said that I don't know if I would say clearly the best as an option. I think it's very possible Seattle signs somebody that would get significant snaps there. I don't think they want Rawls to be free on all year. Would you say your mind is telling you know? But my body is telling me, yes. Telling you Rawls. Tell me rolls. I think Yeldon should be in consideration. I would still take Rawls, but.

There was an interesting debate going on on our Twitter. And Hyde should be thought about still. We're talking about Rawls and because Matt Kelly from playerprofiler.com was voicing that he doesn't really like Rawls. And I'm trying to figure out what it is because he doesn't like the sample size. And like for as much as we love David Johnson here and I'm 100% confident, they basically have the same amount of games

with a workhorse sample size. Rawls has six games where he has 16 plus carries, and David Johnson essentially has six games where he was the featured running back. So I was trying to figure that out. We haven't got to the bottom of it yet. But for me, the answer to this question is Rawls as of right now? I'm with Andy that somebody could be brought in, but if they don't make a move,

Let's say Seattle doesn't really make a move at running back position. Then it's clearly Rawls for you? It is. Okay.

It is. Just such a great offense to be a part of in that situation. Yes, Hyde could bounce back, but San Francisco... I like Hyde. You got variables there. They were a bad team last year. You're playing a tough division facing the Cardinals defense, the Seattle defense, and the Rams defense. I'm curious. The Los Angeles Rams. Did we say St. Louis? We've said St. Louis many times and have been chastised. And we will continue to for a while because... Until they get on the buses. Yeah. But let's say Rawls is out because I'm just...

curious for you guys, Carlos Hyde or T.J. Yeldon. Oh, man. I'm going to go with Yeldin because I think his workload is completely secure. I think what he's going to be doing. And, you know, the injuries for Hyde last year, I think Yelden's just locked in, man. It's ironic because I think I'm going to go hide for the ironic part, the same reason. I think his workload is more locked in. How is it more locked in? I mean, Yelden has already had it.

No, but they've said they've got to get a better backup to him, somebody that can share the load. No, that is not what they is there. I think they're going to do that. Okay. They said that they needed somebody. Mike, tie break this. I'm with Jason that I do think Jacksonville wants to add someone. They don't want Yeldon. Oh, they want to add somebody, but it wasn't for sharing the load. It was because DeNard couldn't do it when Yelda was out. Not sharing the load, but just to ease some of it. And when you're going player versus player, I think Hyde is a better running back. But.

The opportunity for Yeldin right now says that's where I would go. So you answered both. All right. I'm saying, no, I'm saying right now it would be Yelden, but it's the same thing for you with Rawls, where if Jacksonville adds somebody, then that would flip me over to hide. They'll add somebody too. For sure. Probably two guys. When I say add somebody, that's the wrong phrase. Add somebody of note who doesn't look like simply anything more than a backup.

So Reggie Bush will be back? I don't think he will. Okay. He's not under contract. No, he's just a free agent, right? Yeah, and he tore his meniscus. But he said he's coming back. Well, he's got a lot of lawyer stuff to be doing. You mean suing them for what happened? Yep. He's busy. All right. Next question comes in from Cliff and Baltimore. Any chance you guys will add a flex column to your rankings next year. I am trying to decide between the 10th rank running back.

Or he wants to be able to decide between, like, the 10th ranked running back or a 12th ranked wide receiver. We are absolutely making improvements to the ranking page. Yeah, whether or not the flex will be in there is still part of seeing how much we can get done in this off-season time. We stat all the guys out, so it is possible to do. But no promises there, Cliff. No promises. Oh, you know what? One piece of news we didn't break. The joick bell news.

Oh, yeah! What happened? He was cut. Oh, that's so weird. That's so weird. Zach Zinner. So that actually is an important piece of news. Joyke Bell has been cut from the Lions. So before we all freak out of my camp, of the Amir Abdullah people, I agree. Zach Zener, and also do not forget about Theoretic.

These guys, the latter of the two, have a, right now have an increased sneaky value to them that you might be able to acquire cheaper. By far I like Theoretic more than anybody in the backfield today. But I'm saying, like, if you're trying to make a move based on this, I guarantee the person who has Amir Abdullah has just shot the asking price up for Abdullah. You might be able to get a Zenner or a Riddick still, though, without a...

major difference of value. No, I agree with you. That's what I was saying. I love Reddick. I think Reddick is the guy to own there. Todd in New York City, what would, uh, what round would you draft these running backs in? David Johnson. I would be willing to draft him in the first probably. Todd Gurley and Thomas Rawls or the other two. Uh, definitely first. And Thomas Rawls to me is probably a second rounder. They are all first round picks to me.

They, yeah, depending on where I am and the way the draft is going, I'd probably be willing to take all of them in the first round. And then he wants him in order, yeah. I'd go Todd Gurley, David Johnson, Thomas Rawls. I would go David Johnson. And then once the, I have to see how the scenarios play out for both teams. But, and my, right now, if I say Rawls above Gurley, I am in no way shape.

saying that I think Rawls is a better running back. I just think that I'm going to factor in the opportunity and the scoring power of an offense that might lean me to Rawls. I'm going to go Gurley Johnson and Rawls. You guys got to remember the Los Angeles Rams were 7 and 9 with the worst quarterback play you can imagine. That team is... And how is it going to get better?

How can it not? Withing, that's absolutely the right point. There is no way. It can not get better. So let's say it doesn't get better. Let's say it stays exactly the same. You still have an RB1 and Todd Gurley. And you have a 7 to 9 team. You have a team that is right on the cusp. And the odds of their quarterback play getting worse is very, very low. I'm not saying worse, but staying exactly the same. I think it's likely to get better. What he did this year next year, I'm happy to take with the first. How would it get better?

With better quarterback play. Yeah. From whoever plays quarterback there. So you're just grabbing a random guy? That would do it. Yeah, that would do it. That would improve their quarterback play. I don't need to know which quarterback today. I know what the base. What the, it's not a baseline. What's below a baseline? What's the... The basement? The sub-baseline. Yeah, the basement beneath it. The basement. I mean...

Your odds of better quarterback player are very high. That's all I'm saying. It doesn't matter who it is. Even if it's bad quarterback player. Even if it was Case Keenom all year long versus Nick Foles for half the year. I mean, that's my whole point. And they lost close games. They were seven and nine. They got a great defense. They will improve. I just think. And I guess my argument isn't necessarily their win-loss record because I do agree that the Rams are very close, but they're not an offensive team. No, but they are definitely a running team.

Sure. We're going to debate this a lot, the whole girly thing, because, I mean, he was great. Matt in Iowa, hey guys, I'm creating a new league. I wanted to know what kind of league you guys would do. What kind of scoring, trade, deadline, keepers, et cetera. So maybe we should... Each give a point? Yeah, just share something we like about a good league. So I have... I will say a scoring system. I am in...

We're in all in agreement. We are huge advocates for the half-point PPR. It feels like the right sweet spot for giving value to the players that need it, but not overvaluing them. So I go half-point PPR. And I also prefer six points for quarterback touchdowns because quarterbacks are important in the NFL, and they should be in fantasy. Yeah, I like six-point per passing touchdown, so it doesn't disproportionalize the running quarterback situation where they're just so much more valuable.

I like the balance there. In terms of keepers, I think we're all big advocates for keepers. There's a lot of reasons for that. But I mean, the main reason is just the fact that, you know, we're here recording shows in February. If you're in a keeper league, there's a lot more relevance to you because you are paying attention all year long. There's a sense of ownership to your team that you don't get from non-keeper leagues. You have a bad year? It still matters. You know, trade for keepers. Yep. Improve it that way.

So the one thing we do with Keeper League's trade deadline-wise, because you bring up the trade deadline, is that we pull that up a little bit, maybe week seven, week eight, because we want to not put people in a position to just trade their keepers away for draft picks and basically tank late in the season and give all the leading teams great players. So we love Keeper League's. We pull the trade deadline a little bit forward. Yep. And I like two keepers. Sure. Yep.