AFC North Breakdown + Tale of Three Seasons, Dome Time! - Fantasy Football Podcast for 7/8

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Visit on-demand.labcorp.com slash football and use the code football to save up to 15% on select tests. That's on-demand.com slash football and use code football. Know yourself. This is the story of the one. As a shipping manager, he's running the dock, stocking supplies, and making sure every order goes out on time. And Granger helps him stay prepared. From shipping supplies to PPE to hand tools.

He counts on Granger to keep products moving and trucks rolling. So his operation runs smoothly no matter the shift. Call 1-800 Granger. Click Granger. Or just stop by, Granger, for the ones who get it done. Hi, this is Troy Polomalu, and you're listening to the Fantasy Footballers podcast. To the Fantasy Footballers podcast with your host, Andy Holloway, Jason Moore, and Mike Wright.

Welcome in. Thursday, July 8, the fantasy footballers podcast back with you. Thank you so much for making us a part of your day. Really, really, genuinely. Thank you. I know what you're saying. You're saying, no, no, no, no, no, no, no. Thank you guys. You guys make my life great. And I get that. But we do want to take a second and thank everybody in this great country, nay, this world outside of Milwaukee. Thank you all for being part of our audience.

You're going to be okay, Jason? What do you mean? Am I going to be okay? I'm great. We got Jay Gris in the house today. Mike is still out of town. We don't know when he'll come back. I mean, no idea whatsoever. The producers are shaking their heads. The expectation. He's backpacking, barefoot backpacking through the woods. That is right. Through the deepest, darkest woods alone. The expectation right now is one more show without Mike. Right. And then we'll get back to poor shows.

That's a shot at Mike. That was a shot across the bow, yes. Maybe because, I mean, Jay Gris is decked out in his son's gear for this fantasy football show. Yeah, welcome. But welcome in. We're into the divisional breakdown shows. So we are in the AFC North today. These are very, very important shows. Jason, we were on our way back from the NBA Finals game one victory yesterday. Yes, we were.

And we were talking in the vehicle as we were, you know, in between celebrations about how fundamental and foundational these shows are for the 2021 season. Yeah, the truth is like these, for us, for us, these aren't the most.

fun shows to do. They require a lot of preparation and there's a lot to get through. But you know how we feel about preparation. I know, but they are super important because it allows us to take a holistic approach of an NFL team. We go team by team. We're going to go through all 32 here for today. And really that helps you get a better outlook on the individual players that you're going to be drafting in fantasy by seeing the range of outcomes of the team. And then I think that that applies all the way down.

You know, today we'll talk about a couple, you know, second year wide receivers and how they slot in on their teams because those are players I usually target. We also have buy sell on the show today. Maybe some mailbag if we have time. NFL news, probably some hype to talk about as well, because we want to get you, want to get you right. Want to get you ready for 2021. You can find us on YouTube. YouTube.com slash the fantasy footballers. If you want to watch the show, check out the most finely groomed Jay Grizz I've seen in quite some time.

Subscribe, click the bell over there. We'll let you know when we're going live. We do special events all through the year. You can find us on Twitter at the FF Ballers. The community is join thefoot.com. And the draft kit is Ultimate draft kit. Let's do some buy sell. Buy or sell presented by pristine auction. Slight distraction before I give you the buy sell. Because Al Borland, who is here alongside Judge Giomati,

made the observation. I did too. When Troy Polamalu introduced the show, like we had him on this show last year. And now I had always said Palamalu. Yeah, it's Troy Palamalu. He's saying his name wrong. But he says Polamalu. Right. But like... It's a subtle difference. It's a poll instead of a Paul. Like Troy. You know, I feel like you should know how to say your name. So you're saying he's making a mistake. Well, right, because I say Troy Palomalu. So, I mean, I don't... You trust him to say his name?

I do, I tend to think he's got it right. Weird. But I think people have been messing up for a long time. Yeah, based on how he says his name, we all have been getting it wrong forever. All right, Bysel, I like this topic. It's a player I've been thinking a lot about. D.K. Matcalf, By yourself, will he have a higher fantasy finish than in 2020? Last year he was the wide receiver seven in fantasy. He is being drafted as the wide receiver six right now.

entering year three took the league by storm at the beginning of the year. Weeks 1 through 9, he was the wide receiver 2. It slowed down. Weeks 10 through 17, he was the wide receiver 25 in total points. 39 in fantasy points per game. What say you about D.K. Metcalf? Because I've seen a lot of strong opinions about Mr. Metcalf. Those that believe that he is all but a guarantee to be in that top five.

but then those that think the end of the year was more prescriptive and you're going to see, I guess, more of that than you did the first half of the year. Yeah, it makes sense. I think both sides have to be factored in. When I left last season, I remember thinking that D.K. Metcalf was a guy I'm going to stay away from at the draft price he's going to cost.

because they made off-season changes in Seattle with their coordinator, specifically because they felt they were throwing the ball too much, you know, letting Russ Cook at the beginning of last year. They slowed it down, ran the ball more through just a little less. It wasn't a drastic change. But then in the off-season, you know, they couldn't come to terms with their offensive coordinator because of...

the change of philosophy wanting to get back to running the ball. So when you factor in what you saw at the end of the year, which was not great D.K. Metcalf, like you said, he was in the water shooter 20s. Like he was not a fantasy difference maker and the change of coordinator getting to run the ball more. I was very anti-DK. Metcalfe. Now that I've had time to process, statted these teams out, and really taking a look, D.K. Metcalf is an efficiency.

type of player over a volume type of player. He can have a million deep shots and if the offense is going well, which can happen when Seattle runs the ball. Like I don't know why. I know we're, we mock us, you know, establishing the run and, you know, the efficiency of passing being better in modern NFL.

But the reality is the Seahawks, if they want to run the ball more, they're still going to be a great offense because they have Russell Wilson. We don't mock the Titans. No. Right? No, not at all. For their offensive philosophy, nor do we think that that efficient offense can't benefit A.J. Brown or Julio Jones. When it comes to D.K. Mackap, I will buy that hell of a better season. And I believe that the odds are slightly in favor of him being that.

Like I think he can finish number one. Let me put it that way. There aren't that many that could finish number one. When you really look at last season, it's easy to break down in those fantasy terms and say, okay, the fantasy points per game were this way. He slowed way down, yada, yada. Here's what it came down to, two touchdowns in eight weeks. That's what it came down to. He was a double-digit touchdown wide receiver last season. Go look at the career of Des Bryant. That is a player, a physical specimen that I could, you know, you look at, and he had three years in a row.

in the middle of his career where he was putting up double-digit touchdown seasons. Every year was inside the top seven, had a top three finish. I think it was number two one year. Metcalf is built like that. Metcalf, all but like if you had to place money bets on double-digit touchdowns over the course of the year for any wide receiver, how is he not at the top of those lists? Yeah, I mean, he's top three for sure when it comes to projecting touchdowns. And you're right, that was the big difference. The second half of the year,

he was on pace for 88 receptions. The first half, when he was dominating, he was on pace for 87. So it's about now much, much better yards per game in the first half. So you had deeper passes connecting. And that's really what it was, is the second half of the year, the deep passes weren't connecting. And I think that you saw Russell Wilson turn the ball over. You saw them have some struggles offensively. If they get their running game going, it could very well open things up for DK Metcalf. Do I, if I had to bet money, I would take the field.

I would say he has a slightly worse season than wide receiver seven. But I don't think he is being, you know, mispriced being the wide receiver six. He is currently in my rankings at wide receiver six. So you should say I should buy. But, you know, whenever you're right on the cusp, it's probably a smarter, wiser bet to take the entire field of every other potential wide receiver out there. Yeah, he's our consensus eight as a group.

So he's outside that range as a group. So that's why Brooks chose that sneaky line of wide receiver 7. But I'm going to buy it. I am rising on his potential. I just think he can't be stopped. I mean, genuinely. I don't think there's a recipe to stop, D.K. Metcalfe. He's got an efficient quarterback that throws touchdown passes. You know, the volume was pretty good. I mean, 80 plus receptions is pretty good for a guy that size.

All right, that was by yourself from pristine auction, pristine auction.com, great friends of the show. Use the code ballers, get a $10 credit towards sports memorabilia. Let's talk news. News and notes from around the league presented by sleeper. All right, let's start here. The Patriots wide receiver, Nikiel Harry has requested a trade from the team. Well, that makes sense because he came in with hype. He was a first round NFL draft pick, drafted.

to be great and has since done nothing. They don't, they being the Patriots, don't care that they spent a first on him. If he's not as good as their undrafted rookie wide receiver the same year, Jacobi Myers, then you're going to put the best player on the field. So they're trying to capitalize and find another team who wants to invest because they see that the Patriots are pretty much out on McKeel Harry being a great wide receiver.

They being the agents? Yes. Yeah. I mean, this is a move brought on by Nikiel Harry's agent. This is a move as a result of two years and a combined something 80 targets, which at least from Nikil Harry's perspective, he didn't get enough to show what he can do. But, you know, something didn't work there. And you look at Bill and his first round flops. I mean, I guess you can call Sony and Michelle a success enough if he helped lead you to a title.

but long term, I mean, Sony could get cut this year. We don't know. So what do you do if you're a dynasty manager of Nikiel Harry? Do you believe that this is good? Like, let's say he's already on your roster. Is this good news for Nikiel Harry's outlook? He has no future in New England, so yes. But I don't think he's going to be traded because I don't think that they're going, I just don't know if he finds a partner. Yeah, I mean, what would you?

be trading for him. I mean, a sixth, seventh round pick. And so the issue there becomes, okay, let's say, well, he's not going to make it for the Patriots. Another team trading for him, well, that sounds good on paper until you realize they're trading nothing for him. There's no investment. So he's still got to go prove it wherever he goes. I think it's worth bringing up the Jacoby Myers has not talked about a lot this offseason. It hasn't been. You have the acquisition of Nelson Aguilar.

who was, you know, you talk about the deep passes last year. He was one of the most targeted and effective in terms of catch percentage, deep targets in the NFL last season. They added him to the roster. They signed Kendrick Bourne. Everything so far with Jacoby Myers in the offseason has been positive. Do you add the two pass catching options in Johnny Smith and Hunter Henry? There's no future for Nikiel. So moving on is the best situation without question.

But it's not a great situation if you drafted him number one in your dynasty drafts. Yeah, and I wouldn't get cute and try to trade for him trying to hope that it gets better. No, the odds are very much against him, having not broken out through his first two seasons. Clyde Edwards-Alair, Patrick Mahomes. They have both suggested that the chief should throw the ball more to the running back. Well, I mean, they're going to have to. That's my.