Fantasy Football Podcast 2015 - NFC West Breakdown, News, Mailbag

what the Cardinals have done, the pieces that they've added. We all know of the struggles of Andre Ellington with his 3.3 yards per carry, and just some weird things that you have to attribute these to Ellington being hurt. The guy, if you don't remember, he came into the season where saying he had a foot problem, and we weren't sure if he was going to end up on the pup list, if he was going to play, and he played through it.

Then he had a hit pointer. However, some very... They might be getting him back. I mean, in a sense, we just talked about Palmer. They might be getting Ellington back. But some things that were not good, that were worrisome about Ellington, because we think of him as this scatback, a great pass catching back. Of 54 catchable passes, he dropped eight. Of passes he could catch, he dropped 15%. You know, sorry, but...

When Carson Palmer went out, our quarterbacks were the worst quarterbacks in the history of the NFL, I feel like. That's actually statistically accurate. Yeah, no, I mean, it is in the playoffs for sure. And so I'm just saying, you know, I know he had some drops, but he had some terror. You know, it's easy to drop balls thrown behind you. But these are, these are metriced out to be catchable passes. These are completely on the running back. And David Johnson, it.

All reports coming out of camp are glowing on David Johnson and his ability to catch the ball. Normally you got to be careful with the camp reports, but this is what we will say about Bruce Ariens. Bruce Ariens does not care, and he will tell you exactly what is happening. We talked about DJ Humphreys, and Ariens has actually been very harsh on Humphreys, calling him immature, saying he's not ready that they're...

disappointed with him so far. So to throw those words on your first round pick, just to me speaks of, and in his past of that he's telling the truth about David Johnson. Well, if that's true though, Mike, then you'd agree that he's telling the truth about Andre Allenington. That he's the primary back? That he's the primary back and the guy that they're going to lean on as the staple of the run offense for the entire season. Yes, but he also said he will be that guy unless somebody outplays him.

Right. He's added that caveat before. So I guess that was going to be my question. I'm fading on Johnson quite a bit compared to, we talked him up as a guy who could take over for Ellington. I just believe Ellington is going to be healthy in that role. And I think Johnson will have a role and have the game here or there that is fantasy relevant, but not too many of them unless Ellington gets hurt. I think, I think Ellington, sorry to interrupt, but I think Ellington and David Johnson are both going to be relevant. I don't think they're going to be.

RB1 guys, but I think that they're both going to be usable fantasy pieces with leaning on David Johnson, even though there's a knock on him, he's not a great inside runner. But who's going to do it if it's between Ellington and David Johnson? I would think that they're going to take the bigger guy to run in between the tackles and to get the goal line carries. You have David Johnson very high. You have him as a just outside the PPR.

RB2. Wow. Yes. That's where he is right. And as I'm going through, I'm going to adjust him. He's going to go down a little bit, but I'm still very high on him. Okay. Other news out of Arizona, let's talk about the wide receiver position. I'm going to ask you this question right now. Which guy would you rather have on your roster? Michael Floyd or John Brown? John Brown. John Brown. Really, both of you? Yeah. Is that because you've seen enough of Michael Floyd? No, because you believe in John Brown.

I believe in John Brown. I still believe in Michael Floyd. I think he can still be a good player. But John Brown was fantastic last year. He's put on muscle because he was too small. He couldn't handle the press coverage. And Arian's history with smaller receivers. T.Y. Hilton. Antonio Brown. Emmanuel Sanders.

Ariens knows how to... Those speed guys. These are the guys they target. There's a reason that these receivers are in certain communities are called... That's an Aryan's receiver. Yeah. And he put on the weight. He's looking great in camp. And my favorite part about him is that he's being drafted 20 wide receivers after Michael Floyd. Where is he even going? Brown...

is going right now as the 53rd wide receiver off the board. And he really could finish as the number one Arizona wide receiver. So I think that that's a guy to target. Yeah, that's bold. One thing I did look at with Larry Fitzgerald is that when Palmer was healthy last year, he was projected for, I believe it was almost 1,200 yards. Yeah, almost 1,300 yards, 110 catches, 110 targets, 85 catches.

It would have been a much more Larry Fitzgerald year that we've come to expect. And I actually would not be surprised to see both Larry Fitzgerald and Andre Johnson have years that are more reminiscent of their past seasons than what we've seen in the last couple of years because you've just had quarterback trouble in both environments that have made you right off both guys. But Larry Fitzgerald is one of the hardest working, most talented, most committed leaders on a football field. And I think he could come back and have a good year. Yeah, he's clearly...

A bit older and he's lost some of his speed. He's only 31. I mean, Larry Fitzgerald, I mean, 31 for a wide receiver is not...

you know, especially for a type of wide receiver like Larry Fitzgerald, who, you know, dedicates himself and is a great route runner. And, you know, you look at those guys, you know, Marvin Harrison and Reggie Wayne and Jerry Rice, those type of guys. I think they can keep going. So I really like Larry Fitzgerald this year. He's also going behind Michael Floyd. And I also like John Brown this year. I don't like Michael Floyd from a position of where he's being drafted. And this team still has a defense that is.

Top of the league. Patrick Peterson is back and should be healthier. Their defense carried them the entire year last year. We don't know what we'll see from Darrell Washington. But they didn't really have any. Exactly. And they didn't really lose much. I think they lost a lot in Todd Bowles.

I really do. Sure. Defensive coordinator. What I meant was they didn't lose much on the offensive side. They only gained in health and draft picks. So I would expect a much better offense out of Arizona next year, which might be compensated by a little bit of the worst defense. But that's kind of the way I see them. They were the second to last team in rushing last year. And I'm very high on Palmer. I know these two guys aren't as high as I am. I have them as quarterback one. And a quarterback one that you can take.

With almost your last pick. Quarterback one. Yes, that is correct. You have met 10. Let's move on to the Seattle Seahawks. Just missed repeating as Super Bowl champions. They're never going to get over that. I would like to point that out. One carry away. If you will. The big offseason edition is the big man Jimmy Graham, and he is...

coming into an offense that really, while they were the number one rushing offense and the number 10 scoring offense, they struggled in the red zone. They struggled passing in the red zone. And they didn't have receivers that could get it done there. And so Jimmy Graham is as good as it gets when it comes to red zone offense. I think we all expect Jimmy's numbers to go down a little bit. Jason, what do you see from Jimmy Graham in the fantasy world this year? I have him finishing as the number two.

My numbers, I've got him. Basically, you've got Gronk number one, far ahead, the leader. And then I've got him and Travis Kelsey pretty much tied in stats. He's going to drop off from where he was. He's not going to be the golden boy getting as many yards, getting as many catches, getting as many targets. I do think he's still going to be a good red zone opportunity. And I think that his yards per catch are going to go up.

because I think that as the rollouts with Russell Wilson I think there'll be a couple more big plays for Jimmy Graham but altogether I think he's still a good option worse than he was and he's just not a guy that most astute fantasy players are going to draft because I just think even though he'll finish number two what you have to give up to get him is not fair value in that like you know around the two three turn

And he's walking into a passing offense that is 27th in the league, averaging only 203 yards a game. All right, let's turn and look at some of their losses. They lost Max Unger in the trade to New Orleans. He's their all-pro center, and they also lost James Carpenter. They drafted a couple guards in the fourth round. So Mike, tell me about Marshawn Lynch. Tell me what you think he will do this year. Marshaun Lynch is the ultimate.

inconsistency for fantasy. Through 2011 to 2014, he averages 1,340 yards and 14 touchdowns. Yeah, I know. It's insane. His numbers are just insane. And the question for me on top of the offensive line is that his back injury, will the back injury finally catch up,

to Marshaun Lynch who has a just astronomical amount of carries on him and the as people who had him know the worry that is the Marshaun Lynch back injury because you have all week where he's not practicing and a lot of times it'll come up to game timing you're not even sure if he's going to play and then he does and he's a monster but how long can that really keep going

There's talk of the team being handed over to Wilson. And I'm just saying these things to be the devil's advocate. Sure. Where these are the marks against Lynch. Having said that, I'm still extremely high. 12, 11, and 13 are his touchdowns the last four years with Seattle. On the ground, right? Yeah, that's not even counting his catch touchdowns. Yeah, that's just on the ground in the air he caught four.

and he's involved in the passing game more than he used to be. As tried and true as they come, I think with the money they paid him, unless one of those things happens that you mentioned, he should be, he should be March on Lynch. Let's talk for a minute about their wide receivers. Is there anybody that you want the fantasy community to kind of pay attention to? Anybody that's not being talked about, that crop includes Doug Baldwin, Jermaine Curse, Chris Matthews, from

Hardball from the Super Bowl. That's his nickname now. That's Hardball. Really? It is. That's not too bad. I've heard that before. And then Kevin Norwood. And they also drafted Tyler Lockett. Tyler Lockett in the third round, who, again, on that team, we talked with Brian Tesh about Seattle. And you seem to have these rookie or younger wide receivers that come in. They play special teams. They don't make a big impact. There's not a lot of...

passing yards to go around. But is there anybody you want people to pay attention to either? No. I'm just going to come right out and say no. I agree with you on that. Because they're not a huge passing offense. And Jimmy Graham is now coming in as the number one wide receiver on the team. I really think he'll lead them in yards. And he probably won't lead them in receptions. But

every reception he gets, which will be far and away more than tight-ins got last year, will take away every target, every reception will take away from other wide receivers. And if you look at what the wide receivers finished at last year, it wasn't that great anyways. So now you're going to be diluting that? No. Maybe somebody is good, but I'm not drafting a Seattle wide receiver on any of my teams. The only guy I'm looking at, this is assuming he makes the team, is Chris. Yeah, I know, but it's Chris Matthews.

And the guy blew up in the Super Bowl, that's not why I'm looking at him. The guy is 6-5. Six-five. He's humongous. That's why he blew up in the Super Bowl. And there's nobody, Jimmy Graham is there now, but Seattle had, Russell Wilson has never had a player that big on the outside to throw, too. You got Doug Baldwin. That being said, he had him all year. No, he was hurt. And he might not even make the... Yeah, and that's... He might not. I think he will.

I think you have to give a guy who did that in the Super Bowl a chance. No, he'll be there. He'll be there. But this is a guy I'm talking. My bench is huge, and I'm taking my last wide receiver flyer, and that's who I want to take. All right, let's move on to the San Francisco 49ers. They've lost a lot of guys. This offseason has been a tumultuous one. Very Game of Thrones-esque. Yeah, I mean, you had the loss of...