Fantasy Football Podcast 2015 - WR's 21-40, Fantasy News, Injuries, Listener Questions

Just to defend, because I know we'll skip Mike Wallace later. I think we've got him in our consensus 38, but since we're talking about it, makes sense. Mike Wallace has had double-digit touchdowns before. He's had eight touchdowns in two other seasons, so he's had eight, eight, ten, ten. I think he is a touchdown. He's a playmaker.

I mean, he is a legitimate NFL playmaker, has been for multiple teams, and he was just signed and given money to a Norv Turner offense and to Teddy Bridgewater. He was traded. Yeah, but sought after. They're paying him now. They're paying him, and they gave up rights to go get him, is my point, as opposed to just drafting, you know. No, it's a fair point. And he is a lot like guy number 27 on our list, which is Deshaun Jackson, where...

Top in speed. If you ask cornerbacks in the NFL, Patrick Peterson said the fastest two guys he has to deal with is Mike Wallace is number one. Deshaun Jackson was number two. I mean, so Deshaun Jackson at 27, Amari Cooper 28, Keenan Allen 29. Deshaun Jackson is the exact same thing. He's a playmaker. He is hard to cover. He gets open and he catches deep passes, I think better than anybody in football. And so...

Do I like Deshaun Jackson on my fantasy team? From a philosophical perspective, no. Yes, I guess, is the answer if it's in the right value. But I don't like relying on him. I like starting him as my flex in good matchups or as my wide receiver 2-on-by weeks. I think the concern with Deshaun Jackson, because he had a really good year last year in Washington. And I think he's being drafted as a two right now. And to me, he's just...

He is not going to be a reliable wide receiver too for you. Like Andy said, he's going to have humongous weeks. But if he doesn't get that 50-yard touchdown,

you were going to get three or four points from Deshaun Jackson. So this would be a good time to remind people about not just paying attention to the end of the year fantasy totals in terms of numbers because sometimes a guy can finish. Like D.Jax has finished as a wide receiver two, I believe two or three straight years. Somewhere in that 17, 18 position or. Well, he was.

Yeah, he was a two for last year in Washington, and he was a one in the power smoothie office. You know what I would love to see? I would love to see going back a couple years, like what percentage of championship winning teams in different places have Deshaun Jackson on their team? Because he's a wide receiver too, right? You'd think a lot. And I'm guessing it wouldn't be as many as you think, because he's not that type of player that you can count on that will get you consistency through a playoffs where week after week after week you're winning each game to the championship. Yeah, and to speak to that, if you think about total numbers,

Some guys can get 10 a week. One guy could get 20 and 0 and 20 and 0, and you end up with the same totals at the end of the year. But that's the difference on those type of players is I think it's fine to have those boom guys. They win you weeks. It just needs to be mixed in, you know, your risk mitigation. Some guys like having all those guys, and they just hope a few of them hit every week. But D. Jacks is in that category for me. He will make plays. I guarantee he will catch.

Multiple passes of over 50, 60 yards this year. Right. Especially with RG3 back and being able to throw the deep pole. All right. Amari Cooper at 28. He's worth talking about. They definitely utilized. What? He's not worth talking about it. Yeah. No, I think he is. Amari Cooper got used a lot in preseason game one. He got an end around. He got targeted early and often.

It'll be a different offense with Latavius Murray there from week one, with Crabtree on the outside with Cooper. I mean, and Carr can sling it. He's Jay Cutler light. He was invited back behind the bleachers. No, seriously, he was. Breaking news. With Cutler. Derek Carr is the little brother who gets to ride in the back seat while Jay Cutler is telling him, shut up in the back, Derek. He always got to be a little brother. He just can't ever get the glory. He comes into the NFL as the little brother.

But I like Amari Cooper. I do too. I think Amari Cooper's floor is probably around 75 catches. I, you know, I see him above that. And so if you've got that kind of a rookie with high potential and that level of a floor, definitely worth having on a roster. And then Keenan Allen is a good bounceback candidate. He really, he didn't underperform his rookie year in terms of catches in yards last year. He just didn't score a lot, and his average yards per catch was down. And so...

I want to hear you two guys talk about Keenan Allen because you are very split on Keenan. Andy has him 21, Jason has him 40 right now, unless you've adjusted. Well, I like Philip Rivers and his production, and I think it's underrated, and I think that offense is underrated, and he just got signed to a new four-year deal. We like Stevie Johnson coming in there, but I think Keenan Allen is just a really talented. He's only 23, I think. He's a young man. Very young, very talented, and Philip Evers is a good quarterback. So I think just...

There wasn't something last year that told me, oh, no, he's not going to get targeted anymore. Yes, I agree. And so 121 targets last year tells me, okay, we've got a little bit of an adjustment to be made in the touchdown area. If he gets in the end zone a little bit, he's going to outperform his draft value. Yeah, that's exactly right. I just don't have him with that many touchdowns. And I could adjust that because Antonio Gates has gone down and Eddie Royals left. I could see his touchdown. I think I've got him. I think six is reasonable, but six just isn't going to push him.

I think, to a level where he's a top-end wide receiver. But he's definitely worth drafting. I don't hate Keenan Allen by any means, and he's probably a little too low on my board. So before we move to the bar to 31 through 40, or 30 through 40, we just want to take a minute to thank our sponsor, HandsomeFancy. Go to HandsomeFancy.com for all your organic beard conditioning needs. Fellas, you got a baby beard in here like Andy, Jason. You got a big beard here like myself. It doesn't matter.

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HandsomeFancy.com. Use promo code ballers. Get 15% off. All right. At number 31 is Golden Tate. 32 is Brandon LaFelle and 33 is Steve Smith. Senor. So let me put it this way. Individually, which of those three guys do you draft first? Oh, man. This is our consensus rankings. Tate LaFelle Smith. Who do you take?

It's definitely not Smith because I think you can get him later. As far as, you know, this is just where we think guys are going to finish. I don't necessarily. No, I'm more asking. Who do you take between these three in a draft? Wait, wait, wait. Hold on. That's what I'm saying, though, is that in a draft, if these three guys are on the board at the same time, I'm not going to take Steve Smith. Who do you want out of these three guys? I...

I know what the question was. I'm just saying. So, draft value matters. Okay. You've got all three of these guys on your bench. You have to start one. There. Okay. Then I'm going to start Steve Smith if it's early in the year. Who am I playing? Yeah, let's talk to matchups, Andy. Tell me who's on waivers. Right now, if I had to choose between these three guys, I would choose Steve Smith. Me too. I absolutely would. But if I was at a draft, I wouldn't draft him in that order.

Golden Tate is going to do what he did last year. He's going to surprise everybody every single week because he's a much better receiver than we give him credit for. He already did it in preseason game one, and he will do it all throughout the year. I mean, I've got to come around on Golden Tate eventually, right? He is good. Unless you'd want him to stay healthy, in which case I need to leave him alone. That is also very true. So for those who are, maybe you're a Calvin Johnson doubter. Golden Tate is a guy you want on your team. In the three games,

where Calvin was not playing, Golden Tate basically doubled his fantasy points and doubled his targets and added 50 plus yards. He was a monster. Yes. Number one in the league and yards after the catch. Just better than we give him credit for, better than we think. And he's perfect for a guy like Snapback Stafford because he has great hands. His catch percentage is really, really high. Yeah.

Brandon LaFelle and Steve Smith. So to answer your question of guys... Do you take Tate? I take Brandon LaFelle. Really? Yeah. Why don't I care about Brandon LaFelle? Because he just... He seems so unsexy in his name, but his production was there. He got eight and a half targets a game. And that's what zero is in the first game. Yeah. The reason I don't feel good about... The reason I would go Smith over Lafell is just because...

I know Smith's volume and workload. I know he's going to be the number one wide receiver to start for the Carolina Panthers. This is 2012, people. But when it comes to Brandon LaFelle, you just, with the Patriots, you just don't know. I presume that he is going to be, you know, the most used receiver there. But...

Aaron Dobson could just come in and all of a sudden be the man and be the most targeted guy and surprise us because it's Bill Belichick. That's just not going to happen. You know what I mean? That's not going to happen with the Ravens. Yeah, that's possible. And Lafell, I don't think he is a, he's a wide receiver one talent. I think it's a product of the, you know. Yeah, but I don't need wide receiver one talent. I need opportunity. And Brandon Lafell is a tremendous pass blocking wide receiver. All right. So he will be on the field. I get no fantasy points for that.

No, I know. I get it. I get it. All right. Eric Decker, Jarvis Landry, and Ruben Randall at 34, 35, 36. Because we're in standard. In standard. Just a reminder. If you listen to last. Yeah. But people might be wondering, why is Landry so low? Right. And that's because we're in standard. But he's still a three in standard. And all reports out of camp. I mean, one better news we didn't mention was Devante Parker's off of the Pup list. Yes. Which is big news. Yes, it is. And there was news coming out that.

They really like Greg Jennings, who from all indications is not 48 years old. He's actually 31. Oh, I thought he was actually 52. Did he turn 32? I think he had a birthday. Did you go to his birthday party? Did you know that every time. Greg Jennings. Every time Greg Jennings has a birthday, it's actually two years. It's like 31. He's 31, by the way. He's only 31. Really? Yeah. So he's 62. Oh, thank you. How old is Donald Driver?

He's 40. Yeah, he's 40. All right, he's not playing, though. Jarvis Landry is going to be peppered with targets, and he's going to struggle to get into the end zone consistently. Maybe. Consistently. Maybe. Mike Wallace has gone, which part of why I like Jordan Camry, sorry to jump to tight ends. I like Jordan Cameron because the Mike Wallace Red Zone touchdowns are gone. Someone has to catch those now. So I like camera, but it could easily be Jarvis Landry. If you're...

Let's say they're six yards out. That's Jarvis Langerie's sweet spot, man. Six yards? Perfect. I agree. And he's been the go-to guy in camp, and he's got great hands, and he will see a lot of targets. You know, he was a guy last year who I loved, I think from week four on or something like that. It was five-plus catches a game. And so you kind of have a baseline with him. You're starting him, and you're not going to get – I mean, I don't think he had any games last year where he –

He went out and blew the top off of the fantasy stat list. You know, you're not going to win a week because Jarvis Landry pulled an ODB, you know, 14 catches for three touchdowns and, you know, that type of a number. That's the difference for me between Alan Robinson and Jarvis Landry. I think Landry, unless his usage changes.

His ceiling is very capped, but his floor is also very hot. So Landry is going in the sixth right now. Whereas those other two guys, Brown is going in the eighth. And Ruben Randall, who I would say everybody from this average draft position of his, would say that. Who's Brown? John Brown. John Brown? He jumped ahead a little bit. Oh, yeah. That's John Brown. We didn't introduce him yet. No 37. But Ruben Randall, I just want people to know. Ruben Randall right now is being drafted in the 14th.

He's free. He's free. He's free. And Victor Cruz is in the sixth round. What? Yeah. I still think Cruz is better than Randall is here for sure. Huh? Oh. We got him on. Waterbed. That's fantastic. Because I'm in on that. That's fine. That's fine. You're on the random. I'm Ruben Randall, man. Ruben. Two against one, Ruben Randall. You know, we need to start making water bets that are like.