Fantasy Football Podcast 2015 - Free Agency, LeSean McCoy, Frank Gore, Mailbag

I think he's going to be... You're saying a melted down brand of Marshall's still fantasy relevant. Yes, and I don't think he's past his... He's not to the age that is scaring me yet for wide receivers by any means. And I also think he's...

perfect for this offense, right? Gino needs a guy that he can kind of go to and be a little bit less accurate with. And Eric Decker needs to be the number two. Eric Decker is going to benefit, I think, by this. And I agree with you. The Jets offense, which, I mean, before this single move, I'm kind of steering clear of, now I'm really curious about it. I really need to sit down and, you know, as the offseason continues on, really gauge where I think the offense could produce.

Here's something interesting too. Gino obviously is going to get an opportunity there, but they're talking about Ryan Fitzpatrick being their top priority in terms of quarterback signing this offseason. And so if Ryan Fitzpatrick came in there, at least you put yourself in a position to be a better passing team. You don't have Rex's run first only philosophy. I still think they're going to be run dependent if you have Gino back there. But there's production to be had, and that offense is, you know, Gino had games where he was putting up.

Numbers. Yeah, especially at the beginning of the year. He looked like he was possibly turning the corner. Then he fell in his face later on. But towards the back half of the year, not half, I guess the last couple games in the Gino kind of resurfaced as maybe he's getting it, putting it together. He should be a better quarterback in Galey's system. Galey is more friendly to a spree.

more of a spread type option. I'm hit. I'm a hit, man down. Hey, at least I didn't spill the water, okay? Yeah, this time I just collided my head into a microphone. And the jets, we still don't know what's going on with C.J. Spiller. I mean, you put Spiller, Ivory, Marshall, and Decker, you have a, and J. Samarro is, people are, I think they're kind of forgetting about him. He was.

He had a pretty good draft pedigree. He had a couple games. If you watch him on film, he's a guy who can, he creates mismatches. He can catch the ball. They become interesting. Now, we're talking about them a lot. I'm not saying they're going to win the division. I'm putting all Jets on my team. They're just, they're going to be, they're going to have value because the Jets name is synonymous with suck.

I think Fitzpatrick would be the quarterback if they signed him, too. So I think that's an interesting place. So real quick, fantasy-wise, Brandon Marshall, top 20? Yes. Absolutely. Top 10? No. Borderline? No. Yeah, I won't say top 10. If you said top 12, I would be very curious. Where would you have him then in your top 20? I would probably have him right about 12. That's my guess. Okay. And my... Yeah, 12 to 15. All right. Cool. Let's move on. Let's talk about... Well, I want to talk about a couple guys that...

Well, it's not looking good for a couple of the signings. Julius Thomas to Jacksonville. I miss you. And Jeremy Macklin to Kansas City, the only team to have an entire season without a touchdown by a wide receiver. What are your thoughts on these two sad stories? I didn't come prepared for a eulogy, but one is needed.

And so I want to remember Jeremy Macklin as a man and as a wide receiver that could catch touchdowns. And Julius Thomas, it was a short wife for Julius. It was quick on the scene. And he, he flamed.

fast and he went after the money and is gone. I loved the... I forget where I read it, but someone said that their coach need to immediately bench Julius Thomas at the start of the year because they know that he is not concerned about winning. Wow. Just by the fact he took the money, winning is not the priority for Julius Thomas. That's tough. I do not blame him at all for chasing the money. Andy and I

Both have given Macklin incredible Dap. That guy, he took the big risk. He bet everything on himself. One year deal last year, coming off an ACL. And he won. He pulled that lever. Is he getting 11? Is that what I heard, 11 million a year? Yeah, that's the rumor. Good for him. That's bigger than Cobb. And if you're the, if you're the Eagles, you can't possibly give Macklin that kind of money. So I don't blame them for letting him go. The Chiefs.

What are they doing? Why are they spending that much? Are they saying that everything was because of the wide receiver crew that they had? It was bad. It was terrible. But it wasn't that bad? Yeah. I just, I don't, I think it's the office. They could get upwards of two to three wide receiver touchdowns this year.

Now that they've brought in Macklin. No, I mean, it's interesting because Alex Smith is still there. Well, and that's the problem because it's easy to look at Reed and say his wide receivers have produced over the years because they have. But it's Alex Smith. It's the way that offense functions. You do have an up-and-comer with Kelsey. You have a run, you know, a run-domin team with Charles and with Nile Davis. So I think the eulogy was pretty appropriate for Macklin. He's outside of my top 20.

I'm done. I'm done with Macklin. Yeah, Macklin is not somebody that I'm excited about, but I actually think that Macklin makes the offense, obviously, better, and I think he opens it up for both Kelsey and for Jamal Charles. You have to have a threat on the outside. Absolutely. And they had none. Dwayne Bow is, you know, over the Dwayne Bow. So Eagles-wise, I mentioned this to you guys yesterday. They're the first team in franchise, are in NFL history, to lose their leading receiver.

And they're leading rusher in the same offseason. And their leading quarterback could be gone via trade as well. You're saying Nick Foles could be gone. So what is going on? And then more news about Gore not signing there today. Something is a miss in Philly.

We've got to get our beat writer, Andrew Goldwasser, from the Philadelphia Eagle area. It's true. Yeah, I want to see how his emotional state is right now because you've got some highs and lows as a Philly fan. I couldn't imagine. If I was genuinely a Philly fan, what I would have gone through over the last few days and whether I'd be in my closet with the light off right now, I don't know. That seems like the regular off season for Philadelphia these days. Two years ago, they had the...

super team signing where they went out and signed everybody and then last year was the chip kelly experiment you know the excitement so yet again we don't know what's going on are they going to end up with you know losing those two guys not getting mariotta not having you know a lot of fantasy relevance or something going to change so um yeah julius thomas i don't know what to make of that i mean it's good to give

um, Bortles, some mismatch, uh, ability out there, but they're overpaying for, uh, a manning inflated tight end. I mean, they're, they're paying what they have to, to, to get the guy that they wanted. Uh, I agree. You, you have to get, you have to get players around Bortals, which their, their wide receiver crew, I think is actually, is, uh, capable, especially if, uh, if Blackmun.

is able to come back this year. Their wide receivers should be. I think the wide receivers are good. Yeah. We know how I feel about Alan Robinson, the target monster. The monster of all targets. Good friend of Alan Robinson. But Julius Thomas is just, what is he? Is he still a tight-in one? Todd of Jacksonville? Yeah, I mean, if you're saying there's 12. Yeah, for sure. I guess. To be a tight-in one, you would need like 700 yards, a couple touchdowns. Yeah.

Yeah, he's definitely a tight in one. I've got some questions, genuine questions, as to who would you draft? Okay, so who would you draft Julius Thomas or Antonio Gates? Antonio Gates? For me? Yeah. At this point, I'm going to go with gates. I go with the offense. Okay, so you're going offence. Goal line opportunities. Here's another one that's changing offense to a changing team. We've got Julius Thomas or Martellus Bennett.

Bennett is a tricky character because he is notorious for amazing starts and just crap finishes. Last year was finally the exception for him as he finished as a top five tied in for the first time in his career. I think I like Bennett. Yeah, with the offensive change is the question. I mean, I guess you got to go back. Marshall's gone. Marshall's gone.

He's probably your number two option right now. Well, number three behind Forte. Forte and Jeffrey. Good questions. Yeah, those are interesting. It's not like a fantasy relevant tight-in hasn't come out of Jacksonville in those down years. Mercedes-Louis was relevant for a couple of years. And he's obviously a goal-line monster. I mean...

Thomas didn't put up huge second half numbers, but he had so many touchdowns last year. He'll be relevant. It's just hard to lose a top three tied in. Do you like Thomas more or less if Jacksonville hauls to Marco Murray? Much more. For sure. Move the chains. You keep the play going, get down.

you know, in the red zone, more opportunities to score touchdowns because that's Julius Thomas's specialty is scoring touchdowns. And if that team, if I was confident that they were going to be putting up a lot of points per game, then I would like Thomas. Yeah, let's talk about some breaking news here. Frank Gore is expected to sign a three-year deal with Indianapolis, who also just signed Trent Cole from Philadelphia.

So Indianapolis is also supposed to potentially bring in Andre Johnson's on his way over today. If you don't know, Andre Johnson and Frank Gore both went to the University of Miami. So them uniting together is a possibility in Indianapolis. So let's talk Frank Gore first. Spurning the Eagles despite never playing for them or signing a real contract. Gore, Indianapolis, what do we have?

I was, when we talked about Frank Gore in the offseason as just potential free agents, that was the number one spot I was hoping he would go. His skill set is perfect. Look at what Amad Bradshaw did last year. And Amad Bradshaw is...

not as good as Frank Gore now today. If Mamad Bradshaw's healthy and Frank Gore is old, I take Frank Gore. He's been an amazing pass catching back. They didn't use him that way last year, but that wasn't by any means his fault. He's a great pass catcher. He's a great, I mean, all around. He's going to protect Andrew Luck. He's going to be on the field left and right. And so I really, really, really like Frank Gore. I think you're going to be able, because he's older and because there's, you know, I expect they'll probably sign someone else or rese

signed Ahmad Bradshaw, you might be able to get him a little bit later for somebody who I think is going to produce top 12, I really do. Frank Gore actually has not been a pass catcher since 2010. 2011, 2011, 17 catches, 2012, 28, 2013, 16, last year, 11 catches. So he, now at the beginning of his career, he was a tremendous threat through the air.

Alex Smith days. Yeah. Dumpoffs. He wasn't checked down. They do that in Indianapolis. Yeah. I side with Jason. I love Frank Gore in Indianapolis. I would say I probably liked him in Philadelphia a little bit more, but he's, I don't know how you, when you're a 32 year old running back, how do you actually gain fantasy?

stock. That's insane. When you move from your old team to a new team and somehow you're a more valuable fantasy commodity. It is a rarity and especially at that age. But one of the things is I really liken it to a situation where any player comes into Peyton Manning's area to that. That potent of an offense with an up-and-coming quarterback, my dependency is on the quarterback. I think that quarterback moves the ball. They score.