Trending or Ending + Trade Shenanigans

A lot of fantasy football owners want to know. Will Super Camaro. Alvin Camaro. Finish outside. The top five running backs again? Or does he jump back up? What do you think? That spot is very high.

Top five says he's got to be one of the absolute best, and you had new players breaking in this year, Derek Henry and Aaron Jones. You've got obviously Christian McCaffrey's there, Zeke, and some of the stalwarts. So this is really a question of, do you think Alvin Camer is still one of the elite of the elite, or not because this past season he was not? I mean, on a per game basis, which is I think how you have to look at it, since he...

obviously missed some time with that ankle injury. He was still good. He was the running back 10 on a points per game basis, but he was not great. Now, I know my answer to this. When you go from 18 to 6 touchdowns from year to year, that is tough to overcome. Yeah. So I know my answer on whether I buy into Alvin Camara being outside of that or whether he's still the elite of the elite. So I'd like to hear your guys's arguments. I think he finishes outside the top five again.

And I think that has more to do with the emergence and creativity of both Taysom Hill and then what Jared Cook could do in the offense last year. Both were variables that were not in play with his kind of overabundance of touchdowns in 2018. So do I think Alvin Camara is a great fantasy running back? Yes. Do I think he finishes outside the top five again? Yes, I do. I'm back. I will be back in on Alvin Camara as a top five guy.

You talked about Jason his points per game where he was, and that's with five rushing touchdowns and only one receiving touchdown, which Camara had five receiving touchdowns, four receiving touchdowns the previous two years. I'll be back in. Drew Brees is back. The Saints offense is still going to be very, very prolific. They're going to be one of the top scores in the league. I think this was just a flukeish.

a flugish touchdown year for Alvin Camara on top of the injury problem that he had. So I'll be right back in with Camara. Yeah. And I'm with Mike on this one. I do think that Alvin Camara is phenomenal. This team is one of the highest scoring teams in the league. I think touchdowns will swing to an appropriate area that will push him up there. And one of the things we talked about on the things not to forget.

from last episode is the high ankle sprain where it took some time once he was back to get going. Not only that, you also have the Teddy Bridgewater period of time where the team didn't score as much, wasn't quite as high flying through that stretch. So I believe coming in next year, healthy, he's still a young guy. He doesn't have a ton of work on the legs, and I believe in the offense. So I will be back in on Alvin Camara next season.

You guys are way off. He's going to be RB six. All right. I'm really excited to talk about these next two trending or ending. The first one is can Brandon Cooks return to being a top 15 fantasy wide receiver? What do we think? Before 2019, he had been a top 14 wide receiver the past four seasons. I dug into his contract situation. Obviously last year was kind of a lost year for Brandon Cooks.

But he ain't going anywhere, guys. I don't see any way, shape, or form that he can. If he was leaving, they would need to cut him before March 20th. After March 20th, his hit is astronomical. You cut him right now, his dead cap hits 21 million. Yeah. If you cut him after March 20th, it's 30 million. So I think Brandon Cooks, at his age, with some time, obviously the concussions are a scary thing.

but can he return to being a top 15 fantasy wide receiver? What do we think? I definitely think he will not be a top 15 fantasy wide receiver. If you said top 24, I would him and haw, and I would probably say, I'd probably say no. I think that there's a change that has happened to the Rams offense in general. I mean, you.

The game splits between the concussions, like his snap percentages before and after are pretty drastic, but that also came with a change. You know, we talk so much about Tyler Higby's involvement and him being a key piece of this offense. I think this offense has adapted and changed. I mean, when you look at Brandon Cooks, I mean, he played 14 games.

He was out there on the field. It didn't feel like it. You feel like, well, you know, he missed most of the season. He had the concussion problems. Finish, you know, it was whatever wide receiver, 60 something. But he played the whole year. So I don't see where, I don't see where, okay, now coming into next year, he's going to be a top flight issue. And that's not to even say the potential injury risk, right? Like, okay, he's got some serious concussion issues. So.

The chance of him finishing outside of this due to injury next year is a little higher. So I am worried on cooks. I will be down and buying the trend of what has happened this year going forward. Yeah, I agree with some of the things you said with your mouth. Hmm. I think top 15 is too ambitious. I think it's fair to make a concession there and say, you know, top 24.

I would buy him top 24 inside that range. He's young. He's still talented. I'm not willing to declare a fundamental transition in the Rams offense when you have Robert Woods, Brandon Cooks, and Cooper Cup, those type of weapons in the passing game. You've talked a lot about the post high ankle sprain performances of Camara Barkley. But Brandon Cooks was dealing with multiple concussions.

Yes, he formally missed two games. He also informally missed a couple more by snap count. It's going to be something where you have to say, is Brandon Cooks a relevant fantasy football player anymore? Right. And at his age, and on that offense, I believe he is. And with his contract. And with his contract. And there are rumors of trading him, you know, teams that want to go out and get him. I've heard New England talk about.

bringing him back because of the opportunity to replicate what he did with them when we didn't think we were that impressed, but he was still a top 15 guy on that team with no Julian Edelman helping him out that season. So I just am not willing to throw the talent on Brandon Cooks as a player after one down year. Now, do you make anything of the beginning of the year? Because I'll make the exception. Okay, he had the concussion problems.

at the end of the year, and maybe it changes his play. Now he's hesitant. The team is choosing to use him different. But of those first seven games before the concussion game, four of those, he was not even a top 40 wide receiver. He had two solid games where he was wide receiver 14, then 16, an okay game at wide receiver 20. And that was against Tampa Bay that was just allowing everyone to be an awesome.

I think there was... Fantasy wide receiver. There was some concerns on tape about separation this year that played into that. And so that would be a fair concern. He's going to be, what, 27 next year? Yeah. So I guess I'm looking at the four consecutive seasons of 1,100 range production and believing that he can get back there. Last year certainly doesn't do anything to encourage you that way. But...

We saw him do it with the Rams before, and I believe that top 24 is doable. Okay. Yeah. So one of the things with Brandon Cooks is he's such a field stretcher, you know, down the field guy. The offense of line for the Rams being so bad does not give them the time to utilize Brandon Cooks. And I think that's why they shifted and said, okay, we're going to need to have more like tight in across the middle play quick shots rather than being able to involve him because.

Yes, it would be great to throw it to the guy deep down the field, but we don't have the time to do it. So I don't think they're going to completely rectify their offensive line situation. Yeah, and I think that's a pretty good picture of what happened to Brandon Cooks, guy that had averaged, what, 15 plus per reception? And he was great. Three previous years, it drops the 13.9 last year, mixing concussions, mixing Jared Goffs up and down play, offensive line play. So.

Maybe we transition our thought on their offense, if their offensive line looks better on paper heading into the year? Maybe. Yeah, I mean, that would certainly bode better for the down-the-field guy. Can Mike Gisicki, trending or ending, that second half pace from 2019, is that a trend? Are we going to begin the Gisiki experience? The Miami Dolphins tied in the talk about.

A player that got you really, really excited after his Combine performance where he just breaks every measurable possible. He's an absolute athletic freak. He is a tough case, but was he a prisoner of Adam Gase where...

the Adam Gase regime drafted him into Miami. They spent a very high draft capital. Was he a second round pick? I'm pulling this off the top of my head. But I know they drafted him very early. It is a second round pick, Mike. Thank you, Brooks. And I mean, those first couple of years, you're like, wow, Mike is sickie. Holy cow, this dude is an absolute massive bust. But then Preston Williams goes down from weeks 10 through 17. He's the tied in nine in fantasy points per game. Now, tight-in nine is not

That doesn't really get you hot and bothered to make it up to the number nine. Was this the emergence? Is this of things that could come for Mike Gassiki? Because if he gets the opportunity, he should be able to make the most out of it. And you have reports now coming out from ESPN, Cameron Wolf, saying we expect Mike Gisickey to be used in the slot. We're going to turn him into a big slot guy.

And Chan Galey is very past heavy there. Right. And that's, I mean, you want to talk about the big slot. That's how Jordan Reed was dominant. That's how, that's when you see Evan Engram getting open. It's because he's the big dude in the slot and he's getting featured. How are you feeling, Jason, about Mike Gassicki's the possibility that he takes that and he turns that into a, like a season-long performance? Let's call trending a top 12 finish. Yeah, I think that's in the, I think that's.

a very likely outcome for Mike Gassicki. I remember when we were scouting his college tape, I was very down on Gassiki because of, I thought the way they utilized him, he was coming in so raw, and he was going to take time to develop into an NFL titan because the way his college program used him was not in any way, shape, or form how NFL tight ends are utilized. Well, the opportunity came. You brought up Preston Williams, and so there's a big question of like, well, was he just...

You know, was he just in the right time? Right. You know, the splits with and without president. There was also some Rosen time in there. Yeah, that's true. You know, average six fantasy points a game, you know, when Preston Williams was out there, 11 and a half when Preston Williams was gone. But the dolphins don't have a ton of options or great weapons. So the way that I view this is they now see that they have a special player. They are going to get him involved.

Because it's a really easy path for him. Who's he really got to beat of Preston Williams coming back off of a bad knee injury? However, it's the Miami Dolphins. The upside is not going to be there. He's not going to be able to take the Mark Andrews leap because, you know, Mark Andrews, he reminds me so much of Mark Andrews, really good, telling, sticky stats at the end of the year.

They say this guy could be a legit fantasy option. The big difference is we could see the Ravens taking that step forward as an offense with Lamar Jackson. I don't know that the dolphins are taking some massive step forward an offense next year with either Fitzpatrick or a rookie. So I think a low-end tight-in one is what Gassiki is right now. And you'll have the Fitzpatrick dilemma all year long. Ryan Fitzpatrick, we love him on this show. We love him because he creates.

fantasy players. He turned Devante Parker from a four-year bust into a breakout one of the best fantasy players of last year. He can do that with Mike Gassicki, but Miami's going to draft a rookie, and at what point do they pull the plug on Ryan Fitzpatrick, and now your outlooks of Gassiki being that low-end, tight-end one, it takes a really big shot at the probability. I'm going to say they pull the plug on it.