Hype Edwards-Helaire + NFC West Breakdown - Fantasy Football Podcast

that Cam Acres can be Todd Gurley Light. I think he can. So I said, no, I won't take him. I believe he can, talent-wise, whether or not he gets the usage, whether he's given the opportunity to do that is the big question. And I, you know, this is, we've talked about that, you know, no OTAs, no preseason. It's going to be slower sledding, you know, unless like what happened with Clyde Edwards-Layer and the other backfield.

clears it up for you. That's insane. It's so hard because Cammakers draft capital is the fifth. Where was he drafted? I thought he was the second round. Was he second round? I can vet it real quick. This situation could clear up real quick. It was their first pick. It could clear up really quickly. Todd Gurley's out the door. Yes, you have McVeigh coming out and saying, oh boy, I'd love to use a committee. A committee works in the NFL. 52nd overall second round. Yeah, I'm fine with Camakers. I'm in on Cam in the fifth.

Well, let me give some fuel to that fire. Todd Gurley was not utilizing the passing game, right? Well, he wasn't targeted. Exactly. That is wrong. He was very involved in the passing game. He ran. He was near the top of the league and routes ran. Yeah, I believe it was six. That's the running back. He also led in worthless routes rent. Well, yeah, clearly. Here is my narrative street take of what happened with the Rams last year.

The team didn't know at the beginning of the year, but they found out really quick that Todd Gurley is toast. They found out that he can't get it done. That's why he's running routes and not getting targeted. They're saying this is a waste of our time to throw you the ball. And the McVeigh offense needs, like the running back is an engine for this team. I think that's why they spent their first pick on Cam Acres. So it's definitely a sketchy pick because this is, I mean,

This is just mad scientist stuff that I'm throwing out right now. And they went with a guy that already knew how to play without an offensive line. That is also very true. If you watch the Florida tape from Cam Acres. Oh my gosh. But he, that's why I think they took him with their first pick. And it could end up being, just Cam Acres is getting humongous opportunity for fantasy. You don't spend that pick when you have limited capital on a running back.

If you think Darrell Henderson. Most teams do not. If you think Darrell Henderson's your future. And Malcolm Brown, Darrell Henderson last year, okay, 3.7, 3.8 to carry. Don't worry about that. The offensive line struggled. They didn't see what they needed to see. There's teams that do it. Like Rashad Penny. Oftentimes when you look back and at the decisions you've made, I've heard. In life, just in general? No, specifically to fantasy football. A lot of times you look back and you say, man, my first instinct was.

the correct one before all the hype train and the camp reports and all of this. I do remember when I did all the research post draft, went and watched all the press conferences, tried to watch every GM and head coach talk about their draft picks. I put Cam Acres at the top of the, he was my number one running back once we were past the clear.

Clyde Edwards O'Lear, Jonathan Taylor. It was based on what the Rams said and their situation. I think there is certainly a ceiling that is exciting for Cam Acres. Favorite tape I watched outside of those, outside of maybe Jonathan Taylor. Least favorite tape I watched, but favorite player. I hated watching the office of line. Yeah, it was like pain. It was like, brutal.

Get the ball not surrounded by defenders. Once he ran away from the offensive line occasionally, really dynamic. He's very good. All right. Became Cam Acres Hour on the show. It did. Well, maybe that'll be a new segment. Cam Acres Hour, I hope so. He has to earn that. All right, we're on to the Cardinals. Last year, 5, 10, and 1. Really bad defensive performance last year for Arizona. We mentioned not being able to cover the tight end, but the offense made some big strides.

And it especially, it looked very interesting when Kenyon Drake arrived, when Cliff Kingsbury had the opportunity to get acclimated as an NFL head coach. And this is one of the teams that, you know, you have a pretty interesting, you got a quarterback that could be Tier 1, you got a wide receiver that could be Tier 1. Do you have a running back in Kenyon Drake that could be Tier 1, Jason? Yeah, you don't have a running back that could be Tier 1. I think you have a running back that is.

Tier one. And I guess tier one, I don't know that he'll get. You were thinking round one, but yes. He's certainly a first round running back. I think he'll be worthy of that. When he arrived on the scene, he was pretty much great every week except for one. He was involved in the passing game. He was involved in the running game. His ability to hit a top in, you know, next gen stats. His top in speed was outstanding. And that shows how he's getting the ball in space in this offense.

Now, I've had this conversation about this player before, that in the stretches where he's been given the opportunity, he's been great. And over the course of his career, that is no longer a short sample size, he's never had a full opportunity. So that is the narrative against him, that he won't.

receive what we all want him to receive this year. I know Andy believes Chase Edmonds will be a little bit more involved than I certainly do. Chase Edmonds was not involved at all, even when he got back from injury. When Kenyon Drake was there at the end of the year? David Johnson was still here. Yes, that is true. That's a fair counterpoint. But I believe that the opportunity will be given to him. And when you look at the transactions that were made,

shipping David Johnson out, doing a transition tag of $10 million on Drake. Yeah, he's getting paid. I mean, he's the guy. Do you remember the big Chase Edmonds game that everybody played David Johnson instead of Chase Edmonds? Yes. It was 27 carries, 127 carries, 126 yards, three touchdowns against the Giants. You know how many carries he? I mean, he got hurt. But you know how many carries the rest of the season he had? Six. It costs. It's eight. Yeah.

Eight carries. And the Cardinals running back position, my favorite stat to give is if you take the starter, we didn't always know that it was going to be Chase Edmins. You thought it was going to be David Johnson. And you weren't sure that it was going to be Kenyon Drake when they trade for him. It was a mess. But whoever the Cardinals used as the running back won for that game was the number, if you take all those points, it's the number three overall running back. Like that's in the range of outcomes for Kenyon Drake.

Yeah, no question. And Kenyon Drake, they love him. He's a great fit in Arizona. This is the first time you got to see him in that system that just fit. It just fit. DeAndre Hopkins. Oh, yeah, he's on the Cardinals. We could absolutely like, do I still have that drop in here? We could not talk about him at all, which would be fine. I mean, we know he's a great player. It's just a matter of managing your expectations for him. He's being drafted as the wide receiver four. Are you in on that? Really?

I did not realize he was being drafted as the wide receiver four. I believe Hopkins has a great season. I know, Mike, you have a lower target volume in this offense for him. I'm a little skeptical. I don't like when wide receivers change teams like this. Do we have an example of a, I think Hopkins is either like the number one or number two wide receiver on this NFL list that is happening. Right now, you're the top hundred players. Have we had the number?

like a top three wide receiver traded in the peak of their career. So I don't know if we have an actual example. You had Terrell Owens switching teams when he was in the peak of his career and he was great. And he was great. You had Brandon Marshall. I don't know that he was at that caliber. Yeah, I wouldn't put him on the Hopkins scale. But he did great. And I believe that Hopkins.

I mean, look, yeah, like you said, the top 100 players are going on right now. He's one of the only wide receivers in the top 10 and of all positions. I'll say this. Based off of just like what they had to give up in the trade, they don't really value Hopkins that much. Yes. Expiring contract, David Johnson, and a second round pick gets you Fiatre Hopkins. Oh, man. Thanks. Thanks, Bill. All that being said.

I would not draft him as the fourth wide receiver off the board. I have him ranked right now as my wide receiver five, but like we've said, you have to look at range of outcomes, not just a linear draft ranking. It was like the trade happened all over again for me. Oh, yeah? When the NFL and the NFLPA reached their agreement for the 2020. Yeah. You know, you do things, both in fantasy and reality to, like, protect yourself against the risk of like, do I not get to see Kyler Murray and DeAndre Hopkins this year?

And then they got that deal done. And I was like, we have DeAndre Hopkins in Arizona? It's pretty cool. So he's not going to have the same target market share that he's had while he's getting these 170 target, you know, seasons as a Houston Texan. He's been living at the 30% target market share, which is, you know, outlandish to repeat. It's elite. Unless you're DeAndre Hopkins. Sure. But if he goes down, I've got him down at 23% market share, which I think is.

It's fair. I feel like that's near his floor for being as elite as he is. And with the expected uptick in pace of play and passing plays from the Cardinals, that puts him in 141 targets. I think that's going to be a great season for Hopkins. But Mike, where are you at on the targets? Because I know when you were digging in, you saw something different. Well, it's just the way that Arizona plays. Like you said, the Houston, Texas formula was throw the ball to DeAndre Hopkins.

Meanwhile, Arizona spreads it out. They're running four wide receivers out. So, I mean, the auxiliary players are getting targets. It's who's open. They didn't force feed anybody. DeAndre Hopkins' skill certainly can dictate that you have to throw me the ball. But that's simply my concerns where I've taken my projections for him down compared to what...

Hopkins has been doing the past couple years. Are fantasy owners going to need to pay attention to Christian Kirk or Larry Fitzgerald at all this year? I think, look, I've, I've been rising on Kirk. We've forgotten how bad Kirk actually got hurt. And that was highlighted to me, in fact, by Christian Kirk on Twitter. Good source. Where, I can't remember if he tweeted it or if he was just retweeting it, but he.

They were talking about in this tweet how we're giving the benefit of the doubt to these players like Sequin, who had a terrible ankle injury that he just played through. And Kirk, Kirk's like, yeah, I remember. It's like, it happened early last year. Well, week four. Yeah, that Kirk had an ankle injury. And he was, he was still, he still flashed. We still saw enough of, of Kirk that maybe he's not as.

as dead for fantasy as I have spent mostly offseason thinking. He's a quality wide receiver for an offense that projects to be fast, have to score a lot of points, and have the ability to score. So I think he should be looked at later in drafts. Now, is he the wide receiver too? I have him as the wide receiver two ahead of Larry Fitzgerald. No question. Agreed. No question. Just wanted to have the question and answer it.

So, yeah, I think, I think Krisha Kirk is fine. I don't know if he's going to be able to battle the targets away from Dan Arnold, the postman. Look, the postman always delivers. Has Dan Arnold been the last pick of your draft? Pretty much whenever. Yes. If I'm in like a 20 plus round draft, I love my last pick being Dan Arnold tight end for the Arizona Cardinals. How many people out there still don't know who that is? Well, everybody.

else who hasn't listened to this podcast now. Owl Borland found the tweet. Excellent work. Producer Al and someone had tweeted out, said, how come if Sequin plays through an ankle injury, everyone gives him the benefit of the doubt. But if Christian Kirk does it, then he must suck for having bad efficiency while playing through the injury. And Christian Kirk retweeted it and said, say it louder for the people in the back, please. Well, sure. You got to believe in yourself, Mike. Just got to believe in yourself. It was just a reminder of.

Oh, yeah, he was hurt. So all these weapons, let's say Christian Kirk is great. And we know Kenyon Drake can catch it out of the backfield and, of course, Dan Arnold will probably be the best titan in the history of the league. The last hyperbole aside, all of this goes to Kyla Murray. Correct. The passing volume mixed with the rushing volume. He was near 100 carries last season. That is an outstanding number.

It's only been done twice. It's so funny. Like, sorry, you can give your stab, but just of how much Kyler Murray ran. But now that the bar has been moved so far by Lamar Jackson where you're like 500 rushing yarns. Ew. What a loser. Get it together, Kyler. Ew. But Kyler legitimately could have 100 rushing attempts and 500 passing attempts. Right. And for fantasy football, that is absolute.