Gorilla Sports
Gorilla Sports podcast Ep-167
[MUSIC PLAYING] We're switching it up a bit. We've done a few shows now talking betting for NFL, but I figured, you know, and it was a good call in your part. Let's talk some fantasy football, because it's something that you and I have both. I mean, we're old heads at this point, right? So I've been doing this forever. Dude, it's like 20 years now. I think I started with fantasy baseball, and I played in a league with some people. My first job was bagging groceries, and my first fancy league was with a bunch of people at the grocery store for fancy baseball, and I was back in 2002. So it's been a hot minute. That's awesome. That has been a hot minute. Yeah, absolutely. I have keeper leagues from guys from high school still. Like, we've been doing it, yeah, for 20 years. I've got to work one that I've been doing for about 15 years. So I do two keepers and then two redraft leagues every year. And yeah, I absolutely love it. That's kind of what got me into player prop sports betting, was that just the knowledge of having to go deep into the players in the NFL, and then it was like, I just find that the markets are easier to find when you're looking for value on player props over just taking a side or a total. Like, don't get me wrong, I'll bet on those as well. But I much prefer player props, and then that's what got me into the NBA, and then into baseball. And then, yeah, so I'm all in on player props. What is your kind of general strategy when it comes to drafting a fantasy league? Like, you're in leagues with guys you played in for a while, so you kind of know some of their tendencies. But what is kind of your overall approach to fantasy football drafts? For me, I guess it all kind of depends on where you draft in round one, is kind of where I take my team. So, I know with our leagues, for the redraft leagues, you don't know where you're going until 30 minutes before, which I kind of like. 'Cause then, you know, like people are just sitting in mock drafting for an eternity on whatever pick, on pick three, and then just finding all the different angles. So, you gotta kind of really know your board. But for me, I can't do a zero RB strategy. I don't have the stones to do it. I need a work horseback, so I don't buy the hero RB strategy. Now, a zero RB strategy essentially just means you don't take a running back until about the seventh round. So, the idea is that you're loading up a wide receiver and on quarterback and tight end. So, in those positions, you are gonna be dominant over every other team that you play against, or for the most part. However, if you can find those flyers on the running backs, 'cause it seems to be more likely that a running back can come out of nowhere than a receiver that you didn't see coming. Usually the receiver, you saw them in college, they're hyped up, you're just waiting for them to break out. But for running backs, it's one injury, and then all of a sudden, this backup has to be the guy. And if he can perform, and you can get him on your waiver wire, you're laughing because you're already crushing everybody else in every position. But I don't have the stones. I need to have a backbone running back. Like, give me, depending on where I am in the first round, but I need a workhorse running back to anchor my team and then go from there. But I also wait on quarterback. I'll never own Josh Allen, Jalen Hertz, Mahomes, none of these guys. I can't do it. I just think there's so many other position players that I would much rather in those first couple of rounds over any of the discrepancies between getting a Jalen Hertz or getting Caleb Williams at the end of your draft. And obviously, rushing with fantasy is like the cheat code. So if you can get a quarterback that rushes and can throw, that's half the battle, right? So for me personally, I need a stud running back to anchor the team, and then I load up on wide receivers, and then I'll go late rounds with tight end and quarterback. - Yeah, I think that's a fair approach. You know, I, in a perfect world, I would get that stud running back in round one or round two. But at the same time, I'm not going to force it either, right? - No, exactly, yep. - If I'm in a spot where, you know, let's say, let's use this year, for example. And I'm in Jeff and I had like the seven or eight spot. And Christian McCaffrey and Bijon and Breeze Hall have all been drafted before me. But there's this Justin Jefferson. I'm taking him every time, right? Like he's fallen into the late first round in a lot of drafts now. And I'm not going to pass him up just to reach for someone like Jamir Gibbs or Jonathan Taylor, or Saequan, who, you know, I think Saequan, when he was going in the second round, I think he was a great pick. It's tough now though, when he's going late first. So, and then on the quarterback thing too, like it's the same kind of a situation. Like I don't draft, I'm usually not going to be the first person to draft a quarterback, but let's say I'm in the middle of the fourth round, and everyone's kind of playing chicken, and no one wants to take the first quarterback. And there's this Josh Allen, who has been the QB one for, you know, three years straight, basically. I'm going to go ahead and grab him, just because at some point, that is value that I'm willing to take advantage of. - 100%, I absolutely agree. I mean, it's the same with sports betting. Like it's not just to know who's going to win the game. It's, is there value when you're betting on who's going to win that game? So, I 100% agree. You give me the seventh pick and those three studs. I'm not going to reach for him. I'll hope to find a guy in round two that I'm looking for. But again, you have to kind of flow with how your draft is going, which I 100% agree with. So obviously, I'm, you know, this is the, you know, outlook of what I'm looking to try and do in a perfect world, but exactly. If all of a sudden, you know, someone else is reaching for players well before that seventh or eighth pick. You know, somebody's a homer and they want their, you know, they're an indie guy and they want their Jonathan Taylor, whoever it is. Yeah, give me Justin Jefferson all day. I would absolutely agree with that. - So this year, or, you know, you could even say most years, but this year in particular, where is your favorite place to be drafting out of? When you're looking at the board, when you're trying to set your draft up, you know, multiple rounds in the head, like me personally, I like drafting in the middle of the round. I hate- - Do you right? - Yeah, I do. I don't like book ending because so much can happen in between then that like you can get totally left, like having a flyer that I want, or a guy that I want to make sure that I get, like having to reach around and a half because I know that they're not going to be there, potentially when it gets back to me if I'm on one of the ends, I don't really love doing that. So like for me, especially this year, I like being, you know, I think the five pick, maybe my ideal one, you know, 'cause I'm getting one of either, like CMC is going to be gone, Tyree Kill's going to be gone, but I can get one of CD-LAM, Bijon, or Breeze Hall. Like those are my, those are my top five right now, especially with Jamar Chase, still not practicing like that. I know it's a contract thing, but that still is problematic. So I like having one of those top five spots. Ideally, I could be in the five and I would get either Bijon or Breeze because I have questions around Tyree Kill. Like, yeah, he's great, but he started to get up there in age a little bit. He's dealing with a few, you know, he gets banged up here and there and then, you know, CD-LAM with missing camp. So I think for me, my ideal drafting spot is probably like the five or the six this year. - Fair enough, yeah. I like somewhere in the four. I, yeah, I absolutely do not want one. I mean, what I want, Christian McCaffrey, of course, it would, but exactly like you said, when you go to that two, three turn, you have to reach a mile. And then you also can't play the chicken game as well. So me personally, give me like four, something like that. So everyone else can make my decision for me, right? If CMC is gone, Tyree's gone, and then it's, you know, I don't care, give me Breeze Hall, give me Bijon, give me Tyree, you know what I mean? Like, I'll take any of the guys that are left, but on the way back, I'm getting a better player by far, I think, than them having to wait and get two in a row. And then also, if you're in like the four or five, I can see what the guys behind me already have. So if I already see that a bunch of guys already have a quarterback, I know I can wait on quarterback because no one else is gonna take their second. So I can, you know, if I really wanted whoever, whoever the case may be, I know they're not gonna snipe them off me. So I know I have time to make another wide receiver, another running back play, and then get them on the way back. But if you're on the ends, if you're on 12, or if you're on pick one, yeah, you literally just have to reach over and over again and you just, you have to think, these are my guys, these are who I want, and you just have to go and get them. - All right, so let's kind of go round by round here and give our favorite pick in each round. And I'm gonna say that I, let's say I'm drafting out of that sixth spot that I like this year. So I'm gonna look for guys who are in that ballpark that I could still get there, right? Like in the second round, I'm not gonna be able to get safe on anymore. Like those days are long gone. That's one of your best, like directing best ball earlier in the summer. So, you know, if I'm picking out of the six, I'm probably in an ideal world grabbing, it's tough for me between Bijon and Breeze, 'cause I think Bijon is more talented, but I also feel like there's more questions, you know, with Tyler Algier there. So I think if I can get Breeze Hall at the six, that is my ideal first round pick. - One, I honestly, I completely agree. Like I said, I want that stud RV. So if I'm in that top half, as much as I want CD-LAM and Tyree Kill and these guys, whoever comes, either Breeze Hall or Bijon, there's 100% my pick there. - Yeah, I think an argument could be made for this year, like the best pick. No shocker is gonna be the number one and get Christian McCaffrey. But I think there's another reason for that. As I look for guys in the second round, there's not a whole lot of variability, like differentiation between a lot of these second round guys. A lot of them are very similar, have similar outlooks, and I don't love the idea of taking, you know, Devan Achan in the middle of the second or late second rounder. I like, I'm still not sold on Chris Alabe with Derek Carr. I have questions around Drake London. I mean, who knows what the hell's going on with Kyron Williams anymore? Devante Adams, you know, is he still gonna be that guy? So I think being able to pick near the late second and then have an early third as well is a really good setup. You see, do you get one of those top three spots? And I'm even okay. Like, I don't hate the idea. If you get the second or third pick, like screw the ADP, like grab the running back you want early in the draft. - Yeah, on the same way. And it's funny. I feel like some people aren't gonna take CMC. Like nobody seems to be talking about him. It's just automatic. He's number one, go ahead. But I don't know. I mean, Breece Hall had an excellent year last year with no quarterback play whatsoever. So if they can put it all together, I mean, he's gonna get a lot of touches, you know, in and around the goal line now 'cause they should actually be able to move the ball. So his touchdown count should be going up as well. And the same thing with Bijon. And yeah, like you said, I mean, there is no differentiation between the second round guys, I think anyway. I mean, some of the guys, I mean, I don't know what's going on with this Kyron Williams thing. Do you think it's a huge deal that he's gonna return punts to start the year? They just gotta find another guy. Like he did it last year as well. Yeah, I don't think it's a huge deal, but I also was listening to a podcast and there was a discussion around these guys who went from being, you know, waiver wire ads one season and how do they perform the next year? And they just do not live up to that early draft position. So I am out on him. Look, so I'm looking at ESPN ADP for this. And I'm serious. - Okay. - If I'm drafting one of those, you know, top four, five spots when I get my running back, Marvin Harrison, according to this, has been falling into like the mid to late second round. This is showing him an ADP pick number 22 on ESPN. - Holy shit. - And you're showing me that I can grab Breeze Hall or Beijon in the three or the four spot. And Marvin Harrison is gonna fall to me there. Like I have no problem with that. Sign me up every single day. - Yeah, I don't mind that either actually. And then it depends like if I'm later in that first round, like what are your thoughts on Jonathan Taylor? I'm pretty high on him this year. I think for a late round pick. - He's creeping up. - Yeah, go ahead. - He's late first, early second is the only thing. - Right, yeah, true enough. - This is showing him at ADP 11 on ESPN. And then on like other sites, I'm seeing between nine and 14. So it doesn't really look like he's making it past the first few picks of the second round if he gets that far. - Yeah, exactly. He's at the late. So I mean, yeah, you need to be that 12 or something or 11 or 12. But if it was me, I would be taking him on the top end. And then I don't really mind what superstar receiver I get on the back end of it, right? - Yeah. - But yeah, like you said, I'm not a crystal lobby guy either. I mean, I had a lot of shares of him last year. And I mean, he was okay, but like, you know, the hype was around him and yeah, Derek Carr, I am out on Derek Carr. - Yeah, it's tough with Jonathan Taylor for me just with the touchdown bolstering that Anthony Richardson is going to do near the goal line. Like that guy is going-- - True, yep. - Just because he didn't realize who doesn't mean he's going to stop running the ball. Like they came out and said, Shane Sykon even said like he's going to keep running the ball. It's one of the biggest skill sets. I think that's going to take, you know, Jonathan Taylor getting double digit touchdowns this year, which if I'm drafting a running back in round one, I want that to be a realistic possibility. He's going to have to break some long ones. And you know, he's starting to get up there in age for a running back. So I think that's going to be pretty tough for him this season with, you know, Anthony Richardson's rocket arm and him stealing those touchdowns, you know, inside the ball. - True, yep, absolutely. - So that's my, and I don't think the concern is as big with Sykon, like you're going to get the tush pushed up for sure, like that's not going away, but Jalen hurts, he doesn't run quite as much as I'm expecting Anthony Richardson to. So I still, you know, if you're going, if you're late first round, if I'm like at the turn, I'll take Sykon at 11 right there. Like I'm cool with that. I've left concern with him that you have with like Garrett Wilson and Puka Nakua and Jameer Gibbs. Like if I can go, you know, if I'm late first, like the 11th spot and I can get Sykon and then turn around and hell I'll still grab Marvin Harrison or, you know, maybe I would consider grabbing Puka if he's like my second round pick right there. Like I'm okay with that too. - Yeah, for me, if I'm getting like one of the late receivers, like give me AJ Brown, something like that. If I can pair him with like Derek Henry, as you know, I'm high on Derek Henry this year. I think, I think he's gonna have a monster year. So if I can pair like an AJ Brown or somebody in that late first round with, you know, a Derek, excuse me, a Henry, I like that combo to start as well. - Let's talk about, you know, you don't really win your league in the first two rounds, but you can lose it there, right? But where I've noticed over the years, when I have won championships, is I really nailed a lot of these picks in the third through sixth round. Guys who the next season are going in rounds one and two. So when we get to round three, who are some of the guys that you're targeting there? My personal favorite who I've been very high on, very outspoken about is Devonta Smith. Now he's actually going in the fourth round in some drafts. - Yeah, he's getting pushed back a little bit, yeah. - So that would be, you know, if I'm talking in this round three to six range, I would love him. Isaiah Pacheco has gotten some steam. I wonder if the Samaje P. Ryan signing pushes him down a little bit because if I could go, you know, Pacheco in round three, Devonta Smith in round four, like that, that right there is getting, that I'm feeling good about that, for sure. - Yeah, your top four then are looking really good. For me, my third round guy, I love Jalen Wattle. I think he's gonna have a big year. And I think with, you know, Tyreek, like you said earlier, I mean, he gets all the coverage, all everything. And he just gets to duck underneath and catches, you know, 100 targets that he's gonna get. So I like wattle this year. And then if it's like getting into like the, the fourth round, something like that, you start to kind of get into these dead zone running backs that like, if you've gone zero RB, you almost have to get one of these guys to anchor. I mean, I personally can't just take all flyers and all like, you know, backup running backs or guys on, on backfields where it's like a split carry and you're hoping for the other guy to get hurt or your guy to outwork the other guy and steal the job. So I also like Cooper cup in that range. I mean, as good as, as Puke N'Koo has been. I mean, this was Stafford's best buddy. He's, you know, had record breaking seasons himself. He's obviously dealt with a lot of injuries and he takes a lot of pops, but his is his route running and just what he does and now that he doesn't have to be the absolute focal point. They actually have a decent running game and another receiver that they have to cover. He should be getting his open looks as well and to get a better discount than Puke N'Koo later in the draft, I find myself looking at Cooper cup as a lot too. - So in this range, I want to talk about more of a position group on a team and that's going to be the Texans wide receivers. You got three guys on the Texans who, you know, at the wide receiver position are going in the top. You know, I'm seeing for Nico, it's, you know, high 20s to mid 30s. When I see step digs, it's in the 30s. Tank Dell, he's going, you know, depending on the site you're at, it's really variable there, but he's still in the top five rounds. How are you parsing through that? Like is it Nico is the clear alpha and you're willing to take him in round three or are you kind of like, okay, I'm going to, if I can get one of those three guys, I'll just take which everyone falls to me like, I personally would probably rather have tank Dell. Like I would rank him Nico, tank Dell and step digs and Nico or tank W, I preferred one just because I can get him so much later. - I honestly, I probably won't have any of them. I don't know how to differentiate between the three of them. I think they're all excellent and you, I mean, it's going to be like, this game is, you know, is Nico's game and this one's tanks. And I personally would rather just grab CJ Stroud and have him be the guy that's throwing them all to him as you can get him like super late, you know, he's, you know, the back half of the top 12. So I, or, you know, even Joe Nixon as like a, you know, dead zone running back as well, I would rather take those guys then try and pick the guy that's going to be the winner and then lose that much draft capital. Like unless Nico Collins makes it, I literally won't have Nico Collins at any team because I just don't think the value's there. So I'm out on Nico Collins this year. I'd much rather give me CJ Stroud throwing to all these guys over trying to guess who's going to have the best week every week. - Yeah, I can get behind Nico at his ESPN ADP, which is pick 37. So, you know, very first pick of the fourth round. Like I can handle that. But if he's going like late second, that's, that's not going to be for me. So. - Yeah, exactly. - I mentioned Pacheco, I'm a big, big believer in Pacheco this season. I think, you know, some of these other running backs going in the late second to early third, mid third are kind of, kind of tough for me to get behind. Like I don't have the same Derek Henry love that you do. I can't get, I can't get there with Travis ETN. That whole situation in Jacksonville, just, I don't know, man, like they had such a, it was so promising for a while then things just fell apart in the back half of last season. I don't know if that's purely the Trevor Lawrence injury. Like I was at play a huge part, but taking ETN that early on, he's been good over the years, you know, these last three years, but I don't, I don't know if I can do that one. - Yeah, I actually coming around on ETN a little bit. I'm, my, my thinking behind is like, they don't have a lot of skill players. Like he's gonna have to get involved a lot. And, and I know their offensive line isn't, isn't gonna be the greatest this year, but he's gonna have to catch a lot of passes and it, Trevor Lawrence, you know, sometimes scrambles around the goal line, but he's the goal line, he's the three down guy there. I think with, who's the, who's the Fumillatus? Oh, Bigsby, I, you know, like they wanted him to be the guy. And you know, he wasn't the guy at the goal line. So yeah, I, I kind of like ETN a little bit, but yeah, I'm, I'm big in on, on Pacheco actually. I was reading this one article that he's just been like, essentially practicing with the wide receiver coach over and over again, just trying to get better and catching the ball. Cause they're like, look, you run angry, your runs are great. You don't need to work on running. Like just work on catching. And I was just like, oh my God, I love hearing that. Most of my leagues are all PPR or half point PPR anyway. So every catch matters. And you know, my homes needs that, you know, safety blanket behind them to dump it off to. So I, yeah, I mean on Pacheco as well this year. - I want to talk tight ends for a bit because we've given all the attention to running backs and wide receivers, rightfully so. You're going to roster them, you know, more of those than tight ends and quarterback. You're going to start more of those. But tight ends can be a big difference maker, especially if you can find an elite one at that onesie position. This is the latest I can remember seeing Travis Kelsey going in a draft in a long time. - Yeah, yeah, for sure. - And he's not the same guy he was four or five years ago. And I personally think that he, you know, they kind of left some fuel in the tank for him last year for the playoff run and it looked that way because it looked like he just turned on a different gear when they entered the postseason. Like that came against Baltimore. He went fucking nuts. So, you know, right now is ADP on ESPN is pick 18. So right in the middle of that second round, that's probably too rich for my blood, especially if I can get a guy like Sam LaPorda early third or my two favorites that I want to get one of for sure are Dalton Kincaid or Tremic Bride. I think that especially in a PPR league, if one of those guys is available in the fifth round, I'm going to have a really hard time not taking them. Where do you fall with tight ends and who are a few that you're targeting this season in that, you know, if you're going to grab one in the four to six round range? Yeah, I won't be owning Sam LaPorda or Travis Kelsey. No, I say I won't be owning them because of where their average draft position is. If they fall to, you know, the fifth round or something like that where nobody wants these guys or everyone's going around them, but I can't get down on these guys. I am more in like the middle to late and don't get me wrong, I would love Dalton Kincaid. If you can drop, I would absolutely love him. I think he's gonna have a monster year. But I would like to see the resurgence of Kyle Pitts. Can this guy catch? I don't know. He's just such a beast, but if he can get open across the middle and Cousins loves his tight ends. So I'm kind of in on Kyle Pitts. And again, Evan Ingram, I like him in Jacksonville as well. I think he's had a lot of injury luck and a lot of bad quarterbacks and the Giants. So I think if he could get going, I mean, what do you have? A two or three touchdown game at the end of the year there? And I think... - He was one of the top performing tight ends last season like all around. - Yeah, and I mean, to get... - It never clicked with Ridley. And when Christian Kirk went down with injury, he just, he became their target monster. - Yep, exactly. And Red Zone monster as well, right? Like he just knows he's gonna bring it down. So if everybody's going tight and crazy, I'll absolutely wait, give me, you know, Evan Ingram, give me Jake Ferguson as you know, I'm in on as well. As Dallas doesn't seem to have a ton of weapons to mess around with either. They're, you know, backfield's terrible. All they have is CD lamb. I think, you know, there's gonna be a lot of pressure on Dak this year. - Hold on, hold on. - I mean, he's gonna have to... - Hold on, backfield's terrible. They just signed Dalvin Cook today. Like what do you mean they're back to those terrible? They're amazing. - Well, we'll see what happens with Dalvin. - Zeke and Dalvin are, you know, almost on AARP, but like that's neither of you nor there, right? - So which kind of puts a fork in that Rico Dattle too. I was kind of liking him as a flyer, right? To have this guy own the backfield in Dallas, but now, fuck you, Dalvin Cook's gonna mess that all up. - Well, I think you can still take Dattle 'cause Dalvin's gonna start on the practice squad. So it's gonna take a little time to get him up to speed. If Rico goes out there, and if Zeke's as bad as we think he's gonna look, and Rico goes out and he plays well, I mean, McCarthy's coaching for his job. Like he's gonna play the guy that gives him the best chance to win. So if this pushes Rico's, you know, if you're at position down even further, which I didn't think was even possible, I don't hate the idea of grabbing him. So I want to wrap up the tight end conversation with kind of where do you feel like the fall off is? 'Cause, you know, I'm looking at the 80 piece here. Ingram is like tight end eight, and then you got Ferguson at tight end nine in Jocuit 10. Do you, you know, I think I want to get Ingram or above. Like I don't think, like I like Ferguson. I think he's good. I would be, I would be okay if I took him, but I just don't know if I can do it within Jocuit. There are too many questions now that DeShawn Watson is back, how that, if that offense is even be functional. So I think for me, like I have to get, I prefer to get Kincaid or McBride and worst case I have to take either, why am I playing Ingram or Ferguson? - Yeah, what do you think of a kiddo this year? I mean, he's going at like tight end six, and I still, I love kiddo. Did you watch the receiver show on Netflix? - I did, I did. That was awesome, yeah. - I mean, I've always been a George Kiddo fan. I mean, like I'm even more like he's just, but you're such a good dude and like, yeah. So I'm all for taking kiddo. Where is he going? Let me find. - This space was downloaded via spacesdown.com. Visit to download your spaces today. - Like seven kiddo. - Yeah, he's tight end seven, and he's going in like the early to mid fifth round. - I'm okay. - See, I probably wouldn't. I still probably wouldn't. I'd still, like I love the round five and six receivers there and some of the running backs there, I don't mind as well. But honestly, if I get stuck with, you know, one of these, you know, Brock Bowers or something in Vegas, like everybody goes crazy and grabs tight ends. I'll take one of these bums, even Dalton Shultz in Houston, I wouldn't mind taking up and he's going to be good, but I'll steal TJ Hawkins in late and sit on him and hope that, you know, he can come back 'cause he's what, four weeks away? - Yeah, like four to six. Like, yeah, hockey. - Yeah, he's on the pumper, whatever, right? So I wouldn't mind, like, if I wait on tight end, like crazy, all, you know, try and steal Hawkins and then, you know, after the game start, you can throw him on your IR and then, you know, grab another flyer anyway. So, I mean, what's the difference with your last pick being, you know, the 13th pick in a 12 team league, right? When it's a lot, so grab Hawkins and grab another bum tight end. And I feel like the two of those, you can make work for the first, you know, four or five weeks. Hopefully that these guys don't, you know, just put up twos every week for you. 'Cause obviously the Sam Laportas and these guys that can actually score, you know, a couple of touchdowns a game is a stark difference when you're, you know, when you're only getting two or three points out of your tight end. - Yeah, I like the hot call, especially the, that putting them on the IR spot strategy. Like if your league has one of those, you know, once the draft is over or, you know, with your last pick, take Hawk, throw him in your IR spot, grab another guy off the air for a wire. - Yeah, sit on him, exactly. Grab a guy off the waiver wire for free and, you know, 'cause sometimes you can put him in right after your draft kind of deal. So I feel like that's a decent strategy. So that's only if, you know, you get stuck and all of a sudden you're like, "Oh God, I don't want in Joku. "So I'm just gonna keep on waiting, give me Dallas Goddard "or Friar Muth or one of these guys super late "and then I'll go and wait and grab Hawkins in." I think that's kind of my strategy. I'll be taking somebody like, you know, I won't have the, one of the first six guys for sure, I don't think. - So as we're moving later into the draft, we've kind of talked through our early round play. Some of the guys we like get receiver tight end. Let's go back to running back for a second here because this is when I'm usually trying to grab my RB2 is like this round six to eight range. And I'm gonna name off a few guys for you and I want you to tell me kind of which ones you're comfortable taking as your RB2. So in this, you know, four to set around five to round seven. So we got guys like Alvin Camara. We're looking at David Montgomery. We see James Connor, Aaron Jones. Ramondre Stevenson, DeAndre Swift. DeMir White, Najee Harris, Rahim Moster. Like any of these guys, Tony Pollard is one that I personally, I think the hate has gone too far on him. But are there any of these guys at the RB2 position or at RB that you feel really good about as your second guy at that spot? - I wouldn't mind most of those guys actually as my RB2. I mean, I'm almost even further down the list when, you know, I'm trying to get my RB2 Camara. I think it's gonna have a decent year. He just always does catching passes is just something that he does all the time. But yeah, I was big on, oh God, who's the Titans guy you just talked about? - Tony Pollard. - Yeah, Tony Pollard, I was huge on him last year when I thought he was gonna get the role in Dallas and it just didn't go well. And I think, I don't know if it was the pressure or what it was, but you know, put him in Tennessee. I wouldn't mind him or Taji Spears to go with him. I don't mind actually either. But I've actually been kind of coming around on Aaron Jones a little bit. - Have you? Okay. - Can you kind of give him your thought process on that one? - What's going on here? Sorry, am I hearing you? - Things just, yeah, sorry. I'm getting a little sketched out. Yeah, Aaron Jones and who was the other ones? Oh, David Montgomery as well. I'm usually, I thought I was gonna be a big Jameer Gibbs guy, but I mean, this guy seems to have like soft tissue injury after soft tissue injury and it's like, I don't know if we can trust this guy and you know Montgomery is just banging those five yards five yards at a time and he's the touchdown machine. And they obviously have an excellent offensive line there. So I don't mind David Montgomery as a late flyer for your second guy as well, especially if you have a beige on or a hall or somebody like that to anchor your team. I don't mind one of those guys at all. - Yeah, I mean, you have the durability concerns with Gibbs. You also have the fact that the lines are the best offensive line in the NFL, they have a very past heavy approach. So teams can't load the box against Montgomery. So it sets up for him getting a, you know, a sizable workload. I'm still expecting, you know, Dan Quinn, or not Dan Quinn, Dan Campbell is not going to just automatically give Gibbs like a workhorse role. Cause Gibbs, he's not built like that. He's not built to handle it. - Yeah, no, exactly. - And so you're still gonna get plenty of Montgomery carries. You're gonna get a lot of goal line work form. He's going to catch a couple balls here and there, you know, he's not going to be getting four or five catches a game, but he's good for one, maybe two catches a game and that helps. So I think that if you're taking him in like the sixth, seventh round as an RB two, like the ceiling is there and the floor is also there. - Yep, a hundred percent. And then I don't mind guys like, I don't mind that since he back feel as well. Either one of those guys, I don't know who is going to, you know, whether it's Zach Boss or Chase Brown. I don't know who's going to, you know, pop their head out to be the RB one there or if they just split work. But I think, you know, with what Zach Boss did last year, I think he's got a good shot to be like, I mean, when you're getting him too, it's just absolutely ridiculous. So that's kind of how you win championships is when you're stocked at wide receiver and a good quarterback and a tight end. And then all of a sudden you get a Zach Moss who's playing up to the ability of a Kieran Williams or one of these guys in the second round and you've got him in the eighth round or the ninth round like that is a steal for me. - Yeah, I'm looking at some of these other guys as well. Like Zach Boss, I have a hard time getting excited about him. I do like Chase Brown. - Me too, it's true. - Yeah, it is, it is the Bengals who I expect to have a very strong bounce back season. They have a very nice schedule. So, you know, if Moss is getting everyone, everyone is this time of year, Chase Brown is the type of guy who, he's the shiny new toy who want to be good. But we've seen that Zach Moss can consistently be a usable fantasy football asset. - And not on a great team either, right? So, I mean, India hasn't been a monster team for a while and he's still producing there. So, I mean, you know, since he should be moving the ball a ton and, you know, I mean, they should be in dying defenses a lot more than you'd think and having to cover all these guys and he should get some good looks. And he's a pounding kind of guy. He can even bust him some tackles. So, I don't mind either of those guys or either of the Tennessee guys. I don't mind for late-round flyers as well. - What about Washington? So, Jayden Daniels, I think he's gonna be really damn good. And we've seen with these rushing quarterbacks who, you know, he's not an Anthony Richardson build. Like running backs still do very well with a mobile quarterback. We saw with RG3 in Washington, you know, he was there when Alfred Morris had his monster season. We don't have a young back there. We have Brian Robinson and we have Austin Echler. And I think the Brian Robinson, like, I don't know what to make of Austin Echler. I liked him. Like when he was at his peak, he was so fun. I don't know if last year was just a fluke because of injury and he looked slow or if he's really cooked. Like do you have a firm stance on that? - Yeah, I mean, I've always hated playing against Echler. I've never seen to own him over the last years. But just, you don't lose your past catching ability. But to get, you know, what do we have? Brian Robinson, the 28th running back off the board. Like that's not a bad look at all. And I mean, I think Washington's offense is going to be a little bit better. And yeah, I was thinking that with the Derek Henry as well that, you know, when you have these mobile quarterbacks and they have to key in on them and all of a sudden it's a pitch out or an RPO or something like that to get these guys open, I think Brian Robinson is a good sleep as well. - All right, let, I want to talk quarterback and then I want to give kind of our favorite late round flyers and I'll wrap it up for draft strategy. And then I can give a few college football picks that we can talk about and then we'll call tonight. But I want to talk about the quarterback position first because I do, you know, I used to subscribe to the late round quarterback strategy. I still do to an extent, but I think, you know, these days, especially in leagues where you feel like you have an advantage of identifying running backs and wide receivers later on, I do think there is some upside to taking one of the, you know, a top eight to 10 quarterbacks. And one guy I really like in that range this year is Kyler Murray. I think, you know, year two coming off of the ACL, that's all, that's a big thing for running backs. And with how mobile he is, like that's going to impact it for sure. You also have another year of Kramer-Bryde getting better, him ascending. You have the draft capital of Marvin Harrison. He's going to be, you know, I think an absolute, he's so NFL, like he's just ready to go in the NFL. So, and they, you know, their defense is going to leave something to be desired. They play in the division that is going to be pretty high scoring. So I think if you're not getting one of those first guys, I really like the prospects of Kyler Murray in round six or seven if you can get them there. I love him in seven actually. If he drops to seven, that is when 100% I'm all in on Kyler as well. You, in our AA or one of our preview shows, I told you that I like him over his passing yards again this year. I think, yeah, he still has that cheat code in the running game. And now he actually has some good weapons and hopefully they can all stay on the field. But like you said about their defense, yeah. I mean, they're going to be in some high scoring game. So I do like Kyler as a late one. Well, yeah, I mean, it seems like I say I want to do a late round quarterback every year. But when I look at the guys who win the league, a lot of them have that stud quarterback in that position. Because when it comes down to playoff time and late in the season, when you really need your guys to perform and all of a sudden your guy gets a 10, it's like that just ruined you, right? And you know, rarely are the, you know, the Josh Allen's getting you a 10. Like it's, and I mean, they can play in weather. They can, you know, like it'll be tough. But I personally think this is a really deep class this year. I mean, if I completely like wait the entire draft and end up with two as the 14th ranked quarterback, like I don't hate that. I mean, obviously I'll try and find somebody else or try and pair him. Like if I go late quarterback, I want two of them. So I know if, you know, you're not really supposed to draft a second quarterback in a one QB league. But if I'm doing a guy like, you know, somebody down the bottom, give me Jayden Daniels and then give me to a, or you know, give me Trevor Lawrence as a flyer late. And let's see what he can actually do. I know you're not a big Jacksonville guy this year, but you give me two of these kind of late middling guys. I think I can, to get the match ups together throughout the year and figure it out. And then you can also wait on some of these rookies 'cause, you know, the preseason's one thing, but you know, if it doesn't go well, you know, I don't think they're ganking any of these guys too early in the season, but you know, they might do a little fake and injury and then get them on the sidelines for a bit. - Yeah, I think the, I don't hate the idea of taking two quarterbacks, especially if you had a decent bench where, you know, let's say you got a rookie like Jayden Daniels and you want, you know, having a quarterback who's a pretty much purely pocket passer, you know, someone like Jared Goff or Matt Stafford, like, those guys, you're just gonna have to play the match ups. Like in a given week, if they're in a high total game, you know, let's say you're using Vegas totals to kind of differentiate and you know, the elite quarterbacks, it doesn't matter the game environment, they can still get theirs. The pocket passing guys, they're gonna need a higher scoring game environment. And that's why I don't mind someone like Jared Goff because I wanna say like 12 or 13 of his games this year are indoors, like that's where he feeds. So if you're, if you can't stomach taking some of these guys early, say there's an early run on quarterback and they're all, you know, the elite ones are gone by the fifth round. I'm okay taking one of those pocket guys in certain situations and letting someone like Jane Daniels or Caleb Williams develop throughout the season. - Yep, a hundred percent. Yeah, give me Caleb Williams and to our, you know, give me Jane Daniels in golf, a hundred percent. Yeah, that golf take, I actually like that. 'Cause yeah, he does have a ton of indoor games this year. And I think, you know, even dumping it off the Gibbs can find him a touchdown or two as well when he's throwing out a couple of screen passes but obviously Detroit's offense took a big turn in the last couple of years. - I'm really interested when I get to, you know, my main home league is this Saturday night, the draft. I'm interested to see where I could get someone like Malik neighbors because I am really high on him this year. I mentioned him as a offensive rookie of the year bet I made and he's going in the late second or early third in a lot of like the off season basketball stuff. And then his ADP on ESPN is pick 53. - I mean, if you're telling me- - Yeah, he's dropped a ton. - If you're telling me I could get Malik neighbors in the fifth round, like that would be wild but let's go with a few late round guys that we like. Give me, I want, I'll go first, I can give you three. I'll have you in the same and it can be tight end, like any position. I'm gonna go first off with back to Jacksonville, who I know I said I wasn't a huge fan of but I love Brian Thomas this year. Rookie out of LSU, he got overshadowed a lot but I think that he is a great late round pick. Where's he going these days? Like you can get him very, very late in draft. Like no, he started to come on a little bit but I still think that he's a guy you can get in round 10 or later and I'm all for that. At the running back position, this is where you can make some hay and I'm gonna go with my guys in Buffalo and give me Ray Davis running back out of Kentucky. He's gonna be the backup to James Cook, great in the passing game, powerful runner. And I mean, if anything, unfortunately happens to Cook, I think he is in for a pretty big role and then also at the running back position, Bucky Irving. I couldn't be further out on Rashad White. He, so many things broke right for him last season. He's not an efficient running back. He was the only real decent option in town. They drafted Bucky. He looked really good in training camp. You can get him in round 13, 14. So those are three guys who I really, I wanna make sure I leave my draft with on Saturday. Brian Thomas, Bucky Irving and Ray Davis. - I like those takes a lot, that's funny. My outlist is Rashad White. I won't be having any Rashad White and I had so much of a last year too, but just the OC leaving and yeah, just he was absolutely so inefficient. So yeah, I won't be having any Rashad White. So I do like that Bucky too. - Real quick. First before you get your three, give me the other guys on your outlist. Who are you not gonna be taking this year? - Oh, I won't be taking Mike Evans either. I don't like Mike Evans this year. I don't like where he's going. Is he Mr. Consisted and scores a ton of touchdowns? - Sure, but just, I don't know. I just, I think all the guys around him, I just find can have that bigger upside. And then give me, you know, give me Chris Godwin a hundred rounds later. I don't know what's going on with the hate for Godwin, but now it is a new OC. So let's see what he brings into this 'cause they should be using Godwin more. So he actually Evans is an out and Godwin's an in for me. I won't be taking him, but I'll take the value on Chris Godwin at wide receiver 33. I like him for sure. - I have a soft spot for Chris Godwin, Godwin. He, I was in a few years back. He won me both of the leagues I was in. He was just an absolute stud that year. So I'm here for the Chris Godwin love. - Perfect, good. A super late one. I like his, his Mooney, Darnell Mooney, out of Atlanta being the wide receiver too. If he could stay on the field and you get him like, I feel like you can get him almost as your last pick. But he's, he's an absolute down field guy and cousins is an absolute bomb for, for deep balls. So I think he's got a good shot at, at being a good flyer late. We talked about Zach Moss. I do like him late. And also now Chewah Hubbard as well. I feel like he's getting a little steam going his way. Now the injury to the rookie as well. He's got a knee banged up. So, and I mean, he showed me to do it last year. - Jonathan Brooks is going to be out the first three or four weeks recovering from that knee surgery. - Yep, yep. So give me some late Chewah Hubbard. I do like him. Who else do it? Oh, a lot of my conchley out of, out of the Chargers out of LA there. I think he's got a good shot at creeping his way. You'll have to sit on, I think for, for a couple of weeks before he can get a good rapport with Herbert, but I think he's got a good shot of being a sleeper. - I don't know. - And another soup. - I think right out, I think you can play him right out the gate probably. I mean, he's one of those, he's not running a ton of like super deep routes. So they don't have as much like to work on there. And so where he's going to be running his routes, I think him and Herbert have been practicing together. Like I think he'll be good to go. - Yeah, see, that's a decent one. And then the guy that everyone's forgot about is Tyler Lockett, although he's old as hell. And, but I mean, they just signed to a pretty decent contract. So like they think that he can do it. And if Chef Geno can cook something up on that offense, I think he's got a good shot as a late like round flyer as well. So I'm actually on the other side of that. I'm out on Tyler Lockett, but I really like Jackson Smith and Jacob. If I can-- - I do, I know you like JS said, yeah. - If he falls to me in round eight, and that's why like, that's also part of why I don't mind taking a tight end and quarterback earlier is like there are so many of these guys. Like there are a few, so three situations where I could see the younger receiver overtaking the established veterans. And that's gonna be in Seattle with JSN over DK Metcalf and Tyler Lockett. I could see it in Philly with Devonta Smith and AJ Brown. I could see it in Miami with Jalen Waddle and Tyree Kill. So I like being able to, you know, in that round nine, round eight, take some of these wide receivers who I do think have huge ceilings. - Yep, yep. I could agree with that for sure, except for that A.G. Brown takes. - Listen, I think A.G. Brown, like I'm just, I'm just very, very high on Devonta Smith. Maybe, maybe irrationally. Maybe I'm gonna look back and be like, what the hell was I thinking? But I don't know, man. - I feel like he's such a good player. He's just not a good fantasy player. Like he just does it. I don't know, he lets me down every year. He's been on a lot of teams and obviously I'm an Eagles guy. So I just, I don't get me wrong, I love hitting the player. I just, I don't know. He just doesn't seem to have those production games. And what, like, what did Brown get 125 yards for six straight games or whatever it was to break the record? Like, yeah, give me some of that. - Yeah, he had a hell of a year. Anything else on the fantasy draft front that you want to talk about and then I can run through some college picks that, you know, I'm, got him so excited for college yet. I have a, I feel pretty, feel pretty good about a few of these that I have right now. - I, no, I can't wait. I got my pad. I got my paper. I'm ready to write down your picks, brother. - All right. So let's start. I'm gonna pull up this schedule real quick 'cause with all of the games, with all these Thursday games, I'm trying to remember like where, when is everyone playing? So I'm gonna break. Let me start with Thursday night and see what all I have here. So my, my favorite ones, I'm a, I'm big on Hawaii this week, hosting UCLA. - Okay. - The line has moved out to 14 and a half now and it was 13 and a half before Hawaii played. They didn't show everything. In the game against Delaware State, a, there were hurricane force wins that were absolutely messing with their passing game. So like they couldn't really pass the ball a ton in those kinds of wins. And I also believe that they weren't showing a lot because they had this really important game against UCLA on Saturday. UCLA going through a coaching change. So I like Hawaii getting the hook on the two touchdowns at home. I think that is gonna be a really fun game. And I am high on Hawaii this season. I also, in that Sunday night game, I like USC getting the four and a half against UCLA. All right, sorry against LSU. - LSU, yeah. - LSU is having a lot of turnover this year. USC, you know, they named Miller Moss their starting quarterback. I think he's gonna have a hell of a season. They brought in new coordinators, their defensive coordinator is an absolute mad man. He, he showed, you know, he's had a great track record. I think he's gonna have a big improvement on their defense. And so I think getting the hook on the four and a half, I like taking that one right there. My other one is going to be the Wyoming Arizona state game. I like either Wyoming getting the six and a half or I like the under or if you're feeling frisky and you wanna parlay them, you can do both. Wyoming, you know, Arizona state is a very middling team. Wyoming, like they've, they've, they've, they've came on late last season. They're gonna have, you know, a lot of returning guys. So I like Wyoming getting the six and a half and that one, those are three that I like. And then, you know, as I'm looking through the schedule, I have some other bets as well. Let me pull up what I have so far. - All right, so I did a little homework myself 'cause I know you're the college guy. So I'm like, all right, I gotta get in there. So I wanna hear your take of my square take that I have for Saturday's game. Give me the Miami hurricanes. - Yes. - Now we're going to Florida, right? So I mean, I don't see the line on this, like two and a half points. I mean, Miami is a way better team. They just got the transfer cam ward over from Western, excuse me, Washington state. And so this guy, I was reading about him that he actually went for the NFL draft and then realized he was gonna be a day three quarterback. And then he was like, actually now I'm gonna go back. I'm gonna go back and play college. I think I can be a day one. So this guy has all the momentum. He needs this to be a good year. Florida hasn't had a winning record since 2020. I mean, Florida's win totals at four and a half. And Miami's is at nine or nine and a half, depending on what book you get. And we're getting them at minus 135 money line. So I don't even, I'm not gonna take the points. I'm gonna go minus 135 on DK I saw. So that's gonna be my college better the week. What do you think? I don't like it. I, you know, I got, I don't do a ton of parlays. I'll do it when I get like the parlay boost on drafting. - Yep. Yeah. - And I got one of them. That was like a four leg college football parlay. And Miami minus two and a half was one of the legs that I put in there. So perfect. Yeah, I literally have that on my, on my boost right now. I'm like, all right, I'm going Miami and whatever. - Yeah, whatever J web gives me. - I think that they're gonna have a good season. You know, they could very much in the realm of possibility that they get into the college football playoff. So I like that pick. You know, if you want to take a money line, I still think there's value getting them under a field goal. So yeah, I think, I think that's a good one. A few others I like. Indiana, they are 21 point favorites. First game with their new coach, former coach of JMU. He has no problem beating the absolute breaks off some people. He brought in a ton of his guys. So I don't think that covering 21 points is going to be too tough. So that would be another one that I like is Indiana 21, 21 and a half. Either one of those is good by me. So yeah, I like your, I like your call Miami. Anything else that caught your fancy way you were looking through it a little bit? - I also kind of, I mean, again, I'm not the college superstar, but Alabama doesn't seem to cover big spreads anymore. And I was kind of looking at that Western Kentucky game. Western Kentucky, Alabama, you're getting 31 and a half points. I feel like that's a big number. No, Alabama hasn't had the team that they've had in years past. I think they could stick around for 31 and a half. - Oh man, that's tough. I don't think I can get there with you. I don't think I can get there with you. I think Caitlin DeBors, you know, want to show off in his first game. You know, I've been looking at a few different trends that I've seen people talking about. And another pick that I am on this week is Georgia State. You can still find it plus 21 and a half over on that MGM. It's plus 20 and a half on DK and Fandula. I like the plus 21 and a half teams coming off of a week zero game playing against the team that hasn't played yet. So Georgia Tech, they came off of that big emotional week zero win against Florida State. Now they're traveling back. They're playing against another in-state team at their first game of the season. I think that this could be a letdown spot where, you know, Georgia Tech, I'm not expecting an upset, but maybe they come out and they only win it by two touchdowns. Maybe they're a little sleepy to start the game off. I think there's also potential this is one game I'd be targeting as like a middle opportunity. Like if it's coming, if you're grabbing the 21 and a half with Georgia State, like I did, I'm going to be looking and if they get off to a slow start and I see a good number on Georgia Tech, I'll come back and try to attack that going the other way. So I like Georgia State getting the 21 and a half. I bet this, I put it in the discord earlier last week, but I bet because of that trend of teams playing their first game, covering against teams who played in week zero, Boston College against Florida State, I got them at like 20 and a half. Now one's down to 15 and a half now. So some of the other trends, you know, not, you know, jot that down, you know, for next season. Like look for these teams who are playing in week zero and betting against them in week one is usually a pretty, a pretty good play that has about a 60% hit rate. Wow. See, you'd almost think it'd be the opposite, right? They've already got their, you know, their, their wings under them. They've already been flying around and played a real game. But I guess, yeah, it depends on how ready the coach has got the other team. But yeah, the travel and, you know, getting beaten up on your first game, that's true that that we two game is going to suck a little bit. All right. So those are those are my picks for this week. I had USC getting the four and a half. I got Wyoming, either the six and a half or the under in that game. I like Hawaii getting 14 or 14 and a half. Georgia State getting 21 and a half. And I know that you are on the Miami Hurricanes against the Florida. Yeah, love it. All right, man. Anything else before we wrap it up in the next week, we're going to talk about NFL props, man. I am pretty fired up about that one. I am too. It's going to be a tough game, two decent defenses. So I've already started kind of deep diving into it. But we'll see how many picks I can pull out of this one game. But well, I mean, yeah, I can't wait, man. We can talk about the Sunday games. There's a Friday game next week in Brazil, the Packers. Yeah, my boys, we don't need to limit it to just Thursday. We can look, you know, I'm going to have all have plenty of picks that I'll post in, in Discord as well. So make sure you give me a follow on Twitter if you're not. If you've listened to this on Alex's podcast, appreciate it. Jump in the Discord. I give picks out there. I know Alex shares stuff in there, too. So appreciate it, man. Thanks. Thanks for joining tonight. Absolutely, brother. I can't wait for next week. I'll see you Wednesday, then. Yep, same time, same place. All right. Love it, buddy. All right. Take care. Have a good night, everybody.