AFC South Breakdown + Hype Check, Dingleberries - Fantasy Football Podcast

And you can get your $65 application fee waived at wgu.edu.edu slash fantasy footballers. That's wgu.edu.edu slash fantasy footballers. All right, let's talk about the team that I think has, uh, in my mind, maybe more question marks than any other team in the division. And that's the Indianapolis Colts. I mean, last year, this is, we were just talking about this in the studio because we had a,

a live show in Phoenix. And that show was, what, in August? And I mean, this was less than a year ago that they went from the divisional favorites. I don't believe you. With Andrew Luck as their quarterback to suddenly losing their franchise quarterback and being thrust into the Jacoby Brissette experience and completely just changing this team overnight.

And so last year they go seven and nine, which, again, I think we all like in respect Frank Reich, the job he did. I mean, seven and nine feels like a pretty good accomplishment considering the situation that they were put in. Sure. And so they were seventh in rushing yards per game. They were able to run the football. They have a great offensive line. They ended.

The 2019 season with a PFF graded third best offensive line, they are PFF's number one offensive line heading into 2020. They're amazing. Which is music to the ears of their very not fleet of foot quarterback, Philip Rivers, one of their big offseason additions, bringing in the veteran Philip Rivers, Jason's favorite player. And then they also invested heavily on the offensive side of the ball in the draft, Michael Pittman Jr., a second round pick. Jonathan Taylor, many people's number one,

collegiate running back, maybe the best pure runner in college football in the second round. And so they lost Eric Ebron. They lost Devin Fanchus, who they never really had. But this is a team that is in a position where you could look very optimistically at this season and the weapons that they have. Is this the team that you think is most likely to threaten Tennessee at the top of the division? Or do you still like what Deshaun Watson can do?

I think the Colts have a really solid team front to back. Their defense, I think, is young and very good. Their offense with that offensive line is great. They are the Vegas favorites currently. Sorry, Vegas has them projected at nine wins. I don't know if we've mentioned that.

This should be a solid team. And when I look at what Philip Rivers does for this team, it's fantastic. It's the exact opposite of what we often say to me. You know, we'll talk about CD Lamb comes in and it's not great for him, but it's great for DAC, these pieces that are added. This is the opposite. Like, I don't see this as a...

You know, all these great pieces, T.Y. Hilton and, you know, pass catching running backs out of the backfield and Paris Campbell and Michael Pittman. I don't see them as an upgrade for Philip Rivers because last year he had Keenan Allen and Hunter Henry for part in Mike Williams and Austin Eckler. But he is such an upgrade over Jacoby Brissette for these fantasy options that I'm willing to trust T.Y. Hilton and Jonathan Taylor, you're possibly most overhyped.

Is that you pooping on me? Yes, that's what I said to you. Well, let me just make the case for that situation. Look, I like Jonathan Taylor, and if he's given the, you know, the lion sheriff carries in this offense with that offensive line, it's going to be outstanding. You know, we know that Philip Rivers, the Chargers.

They ranked first, third, and 11th in backfield targets over the past three seasons. This was not on a team that only had backfield targets. You had Keenan Allen, you had Mike Williams, you had Hunter Henry, you had the ability to throw the ball down field to Travis Benjamin. He still prefers to throw the ball to the running back position. One of the questions that a lot of people have is whether Jonathan Taylor is going to be...

involved in that capacity. Not a lot of catches in at the collegiate ranks. Pro football focus credited him with eight drops on 50 catchable passes. I think he could. He could end up in that role, but they have a very dynamic pass catcher in Naeem Hines. And they have two running backs on first and second down that are very good. Marlon Mack is a very good.

runner. He had over 1,000 yards, eight touchdowns, at the fourth most rushing first downs in the league. And so it's just a matter of when and if Jonathan Taylor represents that fantasy gold for your team. And when you draft them in the third round, you are dependent on Jonathan Taylor. So whether he's overhyped or not, I can't see the future. I don't know if Marlon Max is going to get banged up. I don't know if Taylor's going to get enough passing game work. My prediction.

is that he won't put you in a position where you're happy or dependent on him in the first half of the season. I think we all agree with that. The beginning of the season, Jonathan Taylor is going to be splitting first and second downwork with Marlon Mack and then probably does not project this year to be the past catching guy. Well, I love Jonathan Taylor. And if you want him, you're going to have to draft him in the third. I think at the end of the year, they're going to realize that

As good as Marlon Mack is, Jonathan Taylor is a, you know, he's just a different level of human. He's 226 pounds, ran sub 4-4. He is, he's just something that you can't replicate with another, with another guy. And I do think he'll win the job and be really good for fantasy towards the second half of the season. I don't usually like drafting guys that.

are going to be better in the second half and worse than the first half. I want to get off to a hot start. Make sure I make the playoffs. You can't win a championship if you don't make the playoffs, no matter how good your team is at the end of the year. So I do see what you're saying in the overhyped because he's a third round pick, and you might get off to a slow start. And the offensive line, man, we focused on it, but you can't undervalue what that means for.

for running backs and a good running back like that's this this is zeke stuff to me i'm i'm fine making that comp this is this is zeke possibilities for jonathan taylor where zeke would come in and he would lead the league in rushing yards per game he didn't really get past we had the one season where he really got off on uh

a whole bunch of receptions but before that zeke was dominant one of the most consistent running backs if not the most consistent running back for fantasy purposes because he's good like really really good and his offensive line was fantastic so i it the third round the end of the third round is very tough running back 21 though is

It doesn't sound so bad when you say it like that. When you say Running Back 21 in context, it's not so bad. It's just the upside of what Jonathan Taylor could be compared to guys, compared to like the people who are being drafted as running back 20, running back 22, you know, right around him. The range of outcomes that ceiling that Jonathan Taylor could hit is astronomically high for me. Is there a...

For the sake of a fun exercise, if Marlon Mack didn't exist. Jonathan Taylor would be in my first round. Is Jonathan Taylor a top 10 pick? Is he a top five pick with the offensive line and his pedigree? I would draft him before Nick Chubb. He's very interesting. I don't, you know.

depending on whether you can withstand those first few games of the season, I really do see a pathway for him. It's just with Christian McCaffrey, Ezekiel, Elliot, or Sequin Barclay, those are top 10 NFL draft. Yes, they were there. There is a, you know, he's getting the ball on day one. And this could be something where, you know, we're going to have a modified training camp. We're going to have a modified idea of what these teams are going to be doing because this would have been one of the camp battles where you're going like, I mean, we've all seen those pieces.

When the news breaks and Jonathan Taylor's getting first team reps, you know, a week into training camp, you're going, oh, oh. And then his draft position shoots up. You're making more of a gamble here. You know, Marlon Mack is a player that is completely ignored in fantasy drafts because of the situation he's in, where you know that he's not going to get all of the work and Jonathan Taylor's the future. Are you both hands off on Marlon Mack in the eighth round where it's just like no upside?

No, no, certainly not. And the same for Damien Williams, where it's the exact same situation for running backs in Kansas City. I love Edwards-A-Layer. I think I can make the same argument of his ceiling. But you have to make room for what if you're wrong. And the fact that you can grab Marlon Mack and Damien Williams, who very well could be the starter for the first.

four to six games, if not more, for their teams, then yes, I'm willing to draft him at running back 38. Would you actively look to target Jonathan Taylor? Is that third running back? Yes, I was actually going to say when you guys were talking about, you know, he's going in the third round and how roster construction matters here. I think Jonathan Taylor is if you want to go running back, running back, running back, running back.

Yes, if you go running back, running back, running back. And he's your third running back and you've got two solid guys already on the roster and then flood your lineup with, you know, quality value at wide receiver the rest of the way until maybe grabbing a handcuff late.

that's how I end up with Jonathan Taylor on one of my redraft teams, is that type of a strategy. And I think I'm going to be happy by the end. You know, I know he wasn't a first round pick. He wasn't a top 10 pick, you know, like these Ziques and Sequins. So obviously that's why he's not being drafted in the first round.

But you do have to keep in mind the Colts didn't have a first round pick. And when they used their pick on Michael Pittman, they were really close to getting Jonathan Taylor there. They just wanted to get Philip Rivers another receiving option. And then when Jonathan Taylor went a couple more spots, they traded up. They traded back up to get Jonathan Taylor with their draft capital. He was only nine spots behind Clyde Edwards Allaire. So the draft capital. You're making the point that their investment.

was very high. It's as high as you can get. Yeah. I love Michael Keaton. All right. At the wide receiver position, we talked at length about T.Y. Hilton, he was one of my bounceback candidates on the show. Yeah, we like him. I believe two episodes ago. Then it's a, you know, it's a number of gambles, late round gambles, Michael Pittman Jr., listening to Frank Reich and the offensive coaches talk about Michael Pittman Jr.

This really, you know, I almost feel like he's being cliche, but he really fits the Mike Williams situation perfectly. I mean, he's totally. The big bodied, high, you know, draft capital, really talented wide receiver playing with Philip Rivers, who's willing to throw it deep and into the end zone. That's such a good comp. It's, it's so easy that it feels lazy.

But sometimes it's matching up a little too much. Right. Sometimes the easiest answer is the right one. Yeah. And then Paris Campbell coming back is going to help this offense tremendously. He is very much a Devo Samuel type of, you know, you're going to see end-or rounds. You're going to see screen game play. He's a very dynamic player that could end up in the end zone more often than you would have thought at the beginning of the year. True. I'm excited about this team. I'm excited to see what Frank Wright can do with Phil Berbers.

And speaking of boring, but I think you'll be fine if you're drafting him and you're playing him. Jack Doyle, I think will be a tight end of the season. It may not be spectacular. It's going to be boring. It's going to be blah. Business-like. But it's granted new team and everything, but you have to look at Philip Rivers' tendencies.