Early WR Rankings: 11-24 + Andy's Stache, Buy/Sell - Fantasy Football Podcast

I would say the odds are much lower that both of them end the year, both in the top 20. So, you know, my rankings would sell this because right now I've got Robert Woods at wide receiver 22, which of course I hate because I love Robert Woods and he's great.

sometimes it's not a matter of the player himself, but all the other players out there, some guys that I think are going to have a big year. You know, if you're projecting good things for Cortland Sutton, that moves, you know, everybody behind him down a spot. But the, you know, speaking to what you're talking about, Mike, you look at the last five games of the year when that major change happened for the Rams. Robert Woods was on the field all the time, you know, 99% of steps. He was basically the one. And then Cooper Cup.

and Brandon Cooks were splitting that spot when it came time for, you know, too wide. And I think this is great news for Cooper Cup. And I hate my current ranking. I've got him at 20, which we'll get at. And Cooper Cup could easily be, you know, a top 10 wide receiver with his prowess in the red zone. I am a huge Cooper Cup fan and believer. So, you know, I can't wait to stat these guys out and actually see how I think that.

the entire NFL's projections lay and find where they lay. Right now, I've got to sell it based on my rankings. I'm sure we're going to talk about it exhaustively throughout the summer. But I'm having the hardest time taking that little five-game stretch and appropriating it towards the future for the Rams. I mean, three and two in that span, they did what they had to do.

But it's hard for me to take that five games. You know, Cooper Cup was a 90 plus yard receiver. Robert Woods is a 90 plus, or sorry, 90 plus reception guy. Both players over 90 receptions. So going full tight end direction. I'm just, I'm not sold that that five games is going to be a projectable trend for all of 2020. I think my point is even. They traded a guy away. But even if it is, these two wide receivers will be excellent. I think they're, you know, this says that.

To me, this is indicative that they do want to do that, but they've got the tools to do it. With Woods and Cup, they should both eat. All right. Any thoughts about Josh Reynolds? None. Okay. That was Buy Yourself from Pristine Auction. Remember pristineauction.com uses registration code ballers to get a $10 credit. They have hundreds of daily sports auctions.

Sports memorabilia auctions get some sweet autographed gear from a bunch of different places and use that code ballers to get a $10 credit when you sign up for free at pristine auction.com. Some news right before we jump back into the early wide receiver rankings, I don't want to linger too long on the news because I want to get through as many wide receivers as we can today. But there was a couple of bits worth mentioning. First, Christian McCaffrey.

signs a four-year contract extension through 2024. That is a $16 million per year cap hit. Highest paid running back in NFL history. I don't think any of us doubt that he's deserving of that kind of money, but are we going to see four years worth of this production level at running back?

Probably not. You don't see it from any great second contract for running backs. And obviously the guys getting the best contracts are the best players out there. Didn't happen for Gurley, didn't happen for David Johnson, Devonta Freeman. They get their big contracts, and that means that about halfway through they'll probably end. But what is great about this is there's a lot of question, you know, John rule coming in as head coach. Is he going to...

still utilize him as the true workhorse. Is he going to start putting in more, you know, when you pay a guy the most in NFL history, that guy gets the ball the most. I mean, I don't think any of us are, what's interesting when you pay a guy is that you face a value proposition two years into the deal of, yes, like Gurley. I mean, we said this might be a situation where Gurley is better off and the Rams are better off, but that's all because of financial. I mean, if Gurley was

affordable. The Rams probably hold on to Gurley for this year, right? And get some production out of him. The Falcon signed him immediately. So that's where it gets interesting is can he produce at a value of $16 million a couple years into the deal? We'll see. He's a special player, no doubt about it. But it's always the very special players getting these kind of monster deals and they just don't last very often. Yeah. The odds are against him. But...

The odds have probably been against him forever. But, I mean, back at Stanford when he was just an absolute workhorse stud. And he's done the exact same thing in the NFL. Every once in a while, you just get a guy and his, something about the DNA and his body. It just holds up into the NFL grind. Like Emmett Smith, his body just held up more than other guys do. So hopefully that's the guy because they paid him to be that guy.

Does this contract do anything in a redraft league for you? Does it make any difference whatsoever in the way that you view McCaffrey this year? I mean, we all have to be number one. It solidifies them at number one. Yeah, I was going to say, I'd take him at one before the contract, but this just gives me more confidence. Now you take them at zero. I start the draft with Christian McCaffrey. That's a good plan. I hadn't even thought about that. Full plan. Highly recommend. DeAndre Hopkins has officially passed his physical. Oh.

But he wasn't the one we're worried about, right? No, he's not. No, he's not. David Johnson hasn't passed his physical yet. But we're closer to an actual transaction. Gurley's contracts official. And then the chiefs did sign DeAndre Washington to a one-year deal, formerly of the Raiders. He is a depth piece. This is a move that to me, once again, we're in the same old boat with Damien Williams so far.

where you're looking at it like, okay, Washington's going to compete with, you know, the people behind Damien Williams, the running backs behind Damien Williams, not for the starting job. What's exciting to me about that is not, has nothing to do with the Chiefs. It's actually on the Raiders side. You forget, DeAndre Washington had 36 receptions last year. And, you know, there's all this talk about getting Josh Jacobs more involved, but then they re-sign their main pass catching back, Jalen Richard.

Well, look, you know, if Washington's 30-plus receptions were to just migrate over to Josh Jacobs and Jalen Richard stays every bit as involved in the passing game, then Josh Jacobs is probably a top six back. Yeah, yeah. It'll be very interesting having to ride the Damien Williams hype train all the way into the 2020 season. It's very exciting. All right, before we get into the rest of the wide receiver rankings, very excited to discuss those players. I want to thank.

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Or, alternatively, you can sit it to my house and let me know their address. You'll appropriate it. Yeah. I'm sure I'll take care of it. All right. The top 10 from our last episode, Michael Thomas, Julio Jones, Devante Adams, Tyreek Hill, DeAndrey Hopkins, Chris Godwin, Kenny Galladay, Mike Evans, Amari Cooper, and DJ Moore, rounding out the top 10. Number 11. O'Dell Beckham Jr. 11 on my ranks, 11 on Jason's, and 14 on Mike's.

Early season rankings. Odell Beckham Jr. We are years removed from that wide receiver 6, wide receiver 5, wide receiver 4 finished 2014 through 2016. Last three years. Four games played, finished wide receiver 83, 12 games played, wide receiver 16, and then last year played the whole season. Was he banged up? How banged up was he? Finished at wide receiver 26 on the Browns. So.

Here we are, staring down the great potential, what we know of O'Dell Beckham Jr., but the circumstances he's in on the Browns. Last year was a huge disappointment, 74 catches. I feel like we talked about him a lot, but where are you with O'Dell right now? I mean, it's a surprising thing to not have him in the top 10 at the wide receiver position. He's the hardest player. You know, we talk a lot about the difference between linear ranking and statting guys out, right? After the NFL draft, we'll stat out every single player in the NFL.

He's the biggest mover to me because I have a hard time with him this low. In fact, I moved him today up to 10 over my number 11 player because I just, I thought if I'm going to draft, I'm going to take Odell. It's my confidence in who he is and his talent. But the reality is he played 16 games last year. Sure, there was an excuse. Maybe he wasn't 100%. But that's part of who Odell is, you know, his injury history. And so, you know,

Okay, it was a new team, but how many excuses are you going to make? He was there. He had the most targets. He played 16 games, and he was the wide receiver 26. But his name is so big that it's, and his talent is so great, that is really difficult to have him outside of that top 10 at wide receiver because when you start talking about the guys we're talking about today, you have to say, well, what is their chance of finishing as like the wide receiver one? And pretty much most of them are none. But.

Odell could do it. He could explode, be healthy, and the excuses come off, and Baker takes a step forward, and all of a sudden he's a monster. So that's why right now I've got him at number 10. Yeah, it was the lowest catch percentage of his career. Yards dropped from 88 yards a game down to 65, and a number that I thought was quite gross, you know, looking at real scoring opportunity. Those targets inside the 10.