Fantasy Football Podcast 2016 - Values & Injury Review, News, Mailbag

the whispers of the long-term concerns for Kevin Durant's health because a guy that big, and football players, well, they're not as big as Kevin Durant, they're still bigger than the normal male where just can their foot support that weight and that violent of cutting for a long term? So that's why there's a little bit of concern for Des and Edelman moving forward. There's Will Carroll, we referenced him earlier, is even saying they're rumors.

There's rumors in the bushes that Edelman might need a second surgery. So obviously some concern. No, Bueno. Not good. No, you don't want to hear any rumors in the bushes or outside of the bushes. I get most of my news from the bushes. Well, you know, we send you in. We send you in. The leaves stuck in his beard. All right. Kevin White should have brought him up with Perryman because he's another rookie. A lot of potential.

You know, drafted super high, had a stress fracture in the left shin, had the John Foxy off season, or I mean, a regular season of, oh, he might, he might, he might. Well, no, we know you're not. He's still day to day. Yeah, very similar to the paramed situation of frustration. The big difference, though, they both should be there for training camp. I think Kevin White's going to be there for training camp. The big difference is opportunity.

He has the opportunity in Kevin White to really come into a very nice-looking role, whereas Perriman, it's muddier water. So Kevin White, to me, is a little bit exciting for where you could take him this year. If he's playing in training camp and doing all those things well, he was, you know, look where Amari Cooper is being drafted this year. Super high. You're talking second round pick right now. And Kevin White. Is he really going in a second? Yeah. And last year, Kevin White.

myself, many other people said coming out of college, he's the better prospect, the more talented guy in what was a decent wide receiver draft class. And you've got Jay Cutler get him the ball who can sling it. So I think Kevin White has got to keep on your radar. High ceiling. High ceiling is the word for Kevin White. Words. The words. I've got all the words. The best words. All right.

Randall Cobb is the last wide receiver I want to mention because we do need to remember he punctured his lung in the playoff game against Arizona. This was not a pretty injury. It was kind of a scary thing once you found out what was going on. He was coughing up blood on the field. Is there anything, any reason that Randall Cobb can't isn't going to be back and healthy? No, it was good to remember that. I had forgotten that, but everything is fine with him now. He's okay as of this moment. So there shouldn't be any setbacks there.

All right. It was kind of a freak. To add to Jamal Charles and Dionne Lewis, you have some more running backs that maybe are the reason why so many people want to go zero RB, maybe the reason why so many people want to draft a wide receiver earlier. You've got Levi-on-Bel coming back from the MCL PCL injury, and you have Thomas Rawls, and you have Aaron Foster with the Achilles.

And Carlos Hyde coming back as well. And then you mix that with what we've seen before. So let's start with Love Bell because he's at the top of a lot of people's draft boards. He's on the top of mine. But he's coming off an injury. So he's finally been cleared to run. We have no clear-cut indication yet. Will he be ready for week one? The Steelers are kind of mum.

On that, is that going to happen? Well, what they've said specifically, I will give them some credit for being the least optimistic of all the GMs. They have said... Most realistic, perhaps. Yeah, well, they've come out and said they are not rushing Levi-on-Bel back. Levi-on-Bel will be back when he's healthy, and he will be worked in in a way to keep him healthy. They've got youth...

They've got a long-term great running back. They don't want to re-injure him. So he should be back by week one. But that doesn't mean he comes right into the role that we know and love. And it doesn't mean that he is back week one. To me, his situation is worthy of second-guessing where you've got to take him. You're giving up your numeral uno. Okay. So last year, though, what did we come into the season worrying about with Leveon Bell? He had a two-game suspension.

Okay, and we had to weigh that fear then. If he's back week one and it takes him two weeks to get back up to Leveon Bell, he's still a top three pick, isn't he? Yeah, well, he's still worth it for sure. If he's going to be Leveon Bell? Yeah, but that's the if. I mean, with the two game suspension, you know exactly what you're dealing with. First two weeks, got to prepare for life without Levy on Bell. You take him with your first overall pick. Maybe he's ready week one. Maybe he's ready week one. Maybe he's ready week five. Maybe I'm just...

remembering all of the fools that doubted Adrian Peterson coming back from injury and passing on him and having him drop down that first round and then saying, oh, wait, if I had drafted Adrian Peterson, I don't want my league this year. Yeah, I'm pretty confident that Peterson was on about 90% of teams that won. Just a reminder, because I was starting some research here for our draft kit that's going to be coming out in the next couple months on Lev Bell.

I forgot. I mean, you remember how good it was. I forgot how ridiculous it was. Two 190 carries over 1,300 yards and 83 receptions for 850 yards. That's a good wide receiver line. You're getting a running back, and then you're also, you're getting a great running back. And then also. And a wide receiver, like, two. Yeah. Built into, hey, look. It's preposterous. I mean, you go back to Ledanyan Tomlinson and the value he provided. I don't want people to forget.

Levy on Bell. And I don't blame me if you want to take somebody else. Levy on Bell, with all my negativity, he's number three on my overall board right now. Why, and you got Martavis Brian gone now? So the same way that Mike's, you know, smile glistened with the ownership of Antonio Brown. Bell's included in that. Bell's going to get more targets. So let's talk about Thomas Rawls. All the expectations right now in Seattle is that he will carry the load. He fractured his ankle.

He should be, you know, he didn't have to go have surgery to repair it. So Thomas Rawls should be back. And the question marks are simply, do they sign anybody else to share the load or is Thomas Rawls going to hit the ground running? You know, I don't see any reason that we can't kind of compare the mental state of fantasy owners and the way they were with Jeremy Hill last offseason and the way that we are with Thomas Rawls now where there's probably going to be a little bit of somebody worked in. But the potential.

brought Jeremy Hill so far up the boards. I think it's going to bring Rawls up the boards by draft day, and I'm actually going to take him in that first round. I would say the one thing, the first thing for me to watch out for is actually the NFL draft. Pete Carroll has already shown that if he sees a value slipping, like how they felt with Kristen Michael, they didn't need a running back. They took a running back with their second round pick because they felt that the value was just too good.

If a player is slipping that Pete Carroll likes and it's a running back, he could just take him. Because that's just how his coaching philosophy works. Well, and Seattle has said both things. They have said, one, that Thomas Rawls should have an opportunity to have heavy workload. But they've also said they will bring in more guys to compete for that role. So it's not just, I mean, you're exactly right, Mike. You have to wait and see who they bring in. And I am.

probably passing on Thomas Rawls in the first round because it wasn't just a broken ankle like bone-wise. He tore some ligaments in the ankle as well. So you hope that it was okay and it's going to be healed up. He's not fully healed as of right now. They're clearly going to go and bring in some other running backs. They've said they are. That shouldn't scare you off the ledge, but you've got to, you know, weigh that versus the value of where you have to pick them. And that's difficult because Rawls, when he was the starter,

It was the number one running back. It was the number one running back in fantasy football. You've got a prolific offense. So, yes, you're right. There's a lot to weigh with Thomas Rawls. Let's talk about Arian Foster. Your boy. Oh, Arian. What we know is this. Arian Foster can't carry the load. He's not carrying it in Houston anymore. He's got a long way to go to come back from an Achilles injury. I still think that we never saw when he played. We never saw him slow down. No.

a positive effect on the field standpoint from an efficiency standpoint. But can he get back to that after an Achilles injury? Too many question marks. Do I want to take a flyer with him? You know, if a team picks him up, too early to tell. So you talk about a guy who could end up in Seattle, Arian Foster. Man. That's true. If Aaron Foss, very hypothetical clearly, but if Aaron Foster ends up in Seattle, your thoughts on Rawls and Foster? I would have.

No real issue drafting Rawls. That would make me feel fine. Because we already know that Andy's drafting Aryan Foster. It's Fred Jackson. No matter what draft. Fred Jackson. You have Aryan Foster already to Fred Jackson levels? It would be mentally about the same to me as when he went there. Wow. Because they've shown that they'll bring the veteran in and they'll give him opportunities, but they're not going to lean on that in the face of talent and the upside of Rawls. Foster will be interesting because he's waiting until after the NFL draft.

to make his decision. He's getting healthier. Oh, did he say that? Yeah, well, he said he's going to take his time, and that's what basically people are saying. He's going to wait until after the draft, see what teams have a need and go there. He wants to play ball. Aaron Foster doesn't want to go and be a veteran backup. I've got a theory for you. Give it to us. Arizona. Chris Johnson goes off. He signs with Miami. Arient Foster comes in to supplant and supplement David Johnson. That doesn't sound that great. For who?

David Johnson. Okay. Hey, we got to move on because it shows we got to get more guys in. I want to get to mailbag a little bit. So we need to hurry through some of these names. And again, we're just trying to remind you about these injuries, tell you some quick perspective on them. Carlos Hyde, stress fracture in the foot, started strong. I have a lot of concerns with that offense. Somebody give me a couple thoughts on him. Well, we talked about Hyde a little bit. Yes, on Tuesday as our breakout.

And I also just talked about running backs versus a base defense and where it's much harder to run as opposed to a nickel or a dime where you're running against more DB so it's easier. Hyde had to run against base defenses 83% of the time, which trailed only Antonio Andrews for the most in the league. And he still managed 4.2 yards of carry. So I love Hyde moving forward. I think his foot will be just fine.

and just a side bar onto that. Chip Kelly's offenses run against a nickel or more as far as DBs more than any other teams. Yeah, and I watched a video of Carlos Hyde working out today. He looks great. He was making his cuts fine. He was running with speed. I like how when he was doing his basically his

physical therapy, he was still using a football. He was still running with a football through all these, like, just touched these drills. He's just carrying it. I love that. Did he have John Gruden hitting him with a... He's a football player. What? That's why he had the football.

Oh, man. I just thought it was cute. They practice with the footballs, and then the regular people, they do their workouts without football. Oh, okay. My bad guys. My bad, though. It's like I walk around with a microphone at all times, all the time. All the time. You got like a little harmonica neck thing that just keeps like Bob Dylan. All right. Melvin Gordon, knee cartilage issues. Mark Ingram tore the rotator cuff, which I love because it's not part of his legs.

So I like that about running backs. I'm not worried about Ingram at all. I don't think we really have to touch on him. Melvin Gordon with the knee cartilage issue with the struggle in the first year, but an offense that looks pretty good. Any concerns about the injury specifically? We could get into a lot about Gordon, but we won't because I won't let you. No, the injury was more. He had to have the surgery. It was going to be a multi-week thing. There was only two weeks left of the season, so they just shut him down because he was.

Gonna miss those games anyways, because he had to have the surgery. Yeah, I haven't heard anything negative. All right, so Laderius Green signed to the new contract with Pittsburgh. Any worries about the ankle surgery with Lidarius Green? No, it was pretty straightforward. He's still recovering. But the fact that, you know, he passed everything to get a nice contract. I'm not worried about that. And then I did accidentally skip a couple of guys. Another tight-in Jimmy Graham, the Patelertended. You didn't really skip him. Look, you guys have thrown all the shade on him, but. Yeah.

Hypothetically, I know you don't believe he'll be back. Hypothetically, he's back. Now what? Fantasy-wise. Well, I think what we saw last year with-game's the starter week one. With up and down games when he was healthy, I think he was worthy of being drafted as the seventh or eighth tight end. And that's where you would redraft. If you could redraft last year, no. Oh, okay. If you were going to do that this year and he was back and playing, he's the starter week one, I would probably take him about ninth or tenth at the highest.