NFC West Breakdown + Sprinkle That! - Fantasy Football Podcast for 7/27

Because it was the Joshua Dobbs experiment in Arizona. Who they traded for on August 24th. Right before the season began. Then he started for them. Is that bad? Then he traded them. They traded them away. They traded him away. It was a wild year. They played very hard for Jonathan Gannon with very little talent on both sides of the football. They were a much better team once Kyler Murray. got back. And I want to explain that because there are 21st in points per game on the year, right? 19th in total yards. But they had Josh Dobbs for nine weeks and then they had, they had Kyler for the final nine weeks. With Dobbs, they were 28th and points per game. With Kyler, they were 10th. With Dobbs, they were 26th in yards per game. With Kyler, they were ninth. In fact, with Kyler, they were ninth in plays per game. Ninth in EPA per play.

and they were actually the second best team in terms of turnovers. So they were a much better football team. They started one and eight. They went three and four because they had a quarterback, right? Like the Cardinals played much better with their starting quarterback there, and they still didn't have much talent at wide receiver. So we saw the breakout of Tray McBride. That was part of the storyline. Yeah, they had a broken Hollywood Brown, a rookie Michael Wilson, and... Obviously, no Marvin Harrison Jr. You got Marvin Harrison going into his next year. You add Zay Jones to the roster, and Marvin Harrison has a legitimate one to a team that was top 10 in yards per game, points per game, plays per game, EPA per play, and turnovers per drive with Kyler. This should be a good office because the defense has not solved its roster problems. So this is going to be a good offense, period.

They were one of the worst defenses in football last year. They're projected for just six and a half wins this year. And, you know, just to back up your point, they're going to have lots of opportunities to throw the football. And they have talent that will be relevant for fantasy that they've added to this roster. Not just Marvin Harrison, but, you know, the emergence of Tray McBride, looking forward to this year's A. Jones was added in the offseason. And, you know, Hollywood Brown is gone. Rondale Moore is gone. Because we had to trade for Desmond Ritter real quick. Did it. Got to get him. Did it. Got to get him. But, you know, I have said it. Like, I don't think Marvin Harrison can bust? But can he return value on the wide receiver nine? Highest ADP ever for a rookie wide receiver. Yeah. I am a believer in that. I will acknowledge it's possible that he doesn't reach that point. But I think as a wide receiver one, to view him as wide receiver one in general.

I'm comfortable. So let me ask you this. If he were to have a thousand yards and seven touchdowns, that would be a bust for fantasy. Yeah, that'd be terrible, wonderful, wonderful rookie season for an NFL player. No, not for him. No, no, sure. Not for the expectations in the draft capital. No, a thousand yards is not acceptable. Like right now, his line across most sports books is a thousand point five receiving yards. Now, obviously those numbers are usually a little bit less because of injury risk and betting the under. But he can bust for fantasy football. He can't, in redraft. I don't think he can bust in the NFL. He's a perfect prospect. Yeah, and everything out of camp has just been incredible. So Harrison, you're paying the price. That's the story for fantasy. We're not going to get into, you know, I don't think any of us are picking the Cardinals to win this division. Well, dude, we. We haven't got there. We haven't got there. We haven't got there. But.

But you do have a very clear, perfect situation for him where you do, but man. He is, I don't know if, I don't know if you guys know this, but he is their veteran wide receiver. Rookie Marvin Harrison is the veteran in that locker room. The way that the other guys are talking about him is like, is like, man, I can learn so much from this vet. It's like, He is already established as the complete and utter alpha there. We've also seen what Kyler does with an alpha. Like we've gotten the DeAndre Hopkins experiment or experience over time. We got it with the Trey McBride at the end of last year. When he fades back to pass, guys, he has to make a decision. And it's not going to be a lot of Greg Dors, Jay Flowers, and Michael Wilson. Or sorry, Zay Jones and Michael Wilson. The first read is going to be a lot of Marvin Harrison and Trey McBride.

and James Connor. Yes. So at least from a consolidation of options, and the fact that when you have a team that was that high in the draft and won four games, it's an opportunity for value in fantasy when a team is that bad because they had a tale of two seasons. Kyler was not there for half the year. So if you told me that the car, if we came into the season and Kyler had played a whole year at the exact same pace he played last year, these players are going higher. In drafts, minus maybe Mark. And Kyler is way higher. Kyler is. Kyler, yes. As excited as I am for Trey McBride, which is extremely excited for him. I think that this offense is a really hyper-focused to skill player situation. But Kyler's ADP for what he can bring to the table with rushing, he is.

They did the thing of they actually waited until he was totally healthy to go. This wasn't a we have hopes and dreams. We're going to force you out there week one and we're going to let you heal up while you play. No, we're just going to throw half the season in the garbage, let you come back, get your legs underneath you, and then we'll go from there. We're playing for 2024. And his upside is a top three fantasy quarterback. If Marvin is as good as. The crowd, like the ADP is saying he is that good. And then Trey McBride comes through, at least with most of the promise. Kyler's going to be excellent for fantasy football and be a steal. Do you feel compelled to make some bare cases for Kyler, Jason? I mean, I feel like this show gets extra criticism if we say something good about.

A Cardinal player for fantasy. Yeah, we do. We are from Arizona. We are unapologetic Cardinals fans. But we've lived the mucky muck and we see the sucky suck like this is. We shop that up. Boston. We get it. Kyler Murray's bear case is injury. There is no other, for fantasy football purposes, Kyler Murray can flame out as not being a franchise quarterback, not help the team win enough games. But for fantasy purposes, this is a mobile rushing quarterback who can pass. I mean, I think you said it, Andy, a 17-game pace from the games he played. It included 518 rushing yards and six rushing touchdowns. If you do that, you can pretty much stink.

in the passing game and still be okay for fantasy. And he didn't. He was almost 4,020 in the passing game. And that was without Marvin Harrison Jr. So no, there is no bare case for Kyler Murray other than he's been injured. He's smaller. He could get injured again. But Anthony Richardson could get injured. And he's big. I'm drafting him like crazy. Lamar Jackson could get injured. I want the mobile Russian quarterbacks. And he's probably the best value in the entire draft of that group because you've got to go fifth round. where there's very valuable players for Anthony Richardson. And Anthony Richardson hasn't proven what Kyler already has proven. And the only other super mobile rushing quarterback is Jaden Daniels, who you get cheaper, but you've never seen it. And you don't know that he can pass well and you don't know that he can have a good rookie year, doesn't quite have the weapon. So I think in the entire, like if I could pick one player, this has nothing to do with being a Cardos fan. This is just fantasy football, take names, take teams out of it. Kyler's the best quarterback value in the draft. Over the last three years.

Kyler has been a top 12 quarterback 61% of the time. That is the fifth highest rate for that metric. Yeah. Will we get Guff on my take there for being a home? No, he's just. I mean, we always will, but it is what it is. If you want to dismiss Kyler Murray because we think he's a value, do it at your own peril because historically he's a 20.3 points per game. player over his entire career. Very few people like that. Yeah. So it is, it's just go look at last year's numbers. Go look at his career. And then give him Marvin Harrison. And another year of, remember, Trey McBride did not go into last season as the past catching threat. He didn't go into training camp installed.

in as that guy. So this is going to be the potential for a leap forward for McBride as well. From week six on, Trey McBride was on pace for 103 receptions, a thousand yards, and four touchdowns. At tight end, that is unbelievably great other than the four touchdowns. Yeah, the touchdowns to hit ceiling, to hit tight end one, those touchdowns have to come up. But I feel like his, his, it last year he was the only show in town. So like that's the bear. If you want to have an argument against Trey McBride, it's, well, Kyler had no one else really to throw the ball to, but it's a matter of watching Trey McBride play. This isn't a guy who you're like, well, he's just, he's just getting really good opportunities. No, the guy is an excellent football player. He's coming through the promise of the draft that he brought to the Cardinals.

and now he will be a featured piece. It could be even better for him to have Marvin Harrison on the field. Who was, remind me, Clay, who was Mr. Necessary? Charles Clay? Charles Clay. The Buffalo Bill's, yeah. Remember Mr. Very Necessary? Oh, that was, is that Nicolary? Yep. Those are guys who were just a guy. Those were guys who had great opportunity. By necessity. By necessity. Obviously the name. That's not what McBride did last year. He was skying up and snagging balls out of the air and just he was a manimal out there. Cardinals heavy underdogs in five of their first six games. Sounds like offense. Yeah. They're not going to win on the defensive side of the ball. We're breaking down the division. I'm going 49ers, Rams, Cardinal Seahawks. Same. I'm going. I'm going to go. Do it. Do it. I'm going to go Rams 49ers. Cardinals Seahawks.

That is it for today's episode and for all the divisional breakdown shows. So scroll back. You want to hear us break down any division for fantasy that are all done. New episodes on Tuesday. Goodbye. Thank you for listening to another episode of the Fantasy Footballers podcast. Join our fantasy football community on join thefoot.com. And follow us on Twitter at the FF ballers.