2021 WR Value and NFL News featuring JBatts

2021 WR Value Featuring JBatts from For The Love of Sundays

Intro 00:05
You’re listening to the good old boys fantasy football podcast. Now here’s your host, Kevin, Derek and Alex.

Derek 00:11
Alrighty!. Welcome in ladies and gentlemen to another episode of the good ol boys fantasy football Podcast. I am Derek and I am joined as always by your co host, Kevin and Alex. Guys. How are we doing tonight?

Alex 00:24
I’m good. Good tonight. There is hope on the horizon after listening to some NFL news, and we’ll get into it a little bit but the the hope is there that the Denver Broncos will be smart and be that like annoying boyfriend or girlfriend and will not let Atlanta’s phone be silent for more than five seconds because they’re trying to get that number four pick. Because there is going to be a good quarterback still available at four as we’ve learned through other news that’s happened. But I’m I’m hopeful that the Broncos will not be stupid and fumble this one away and my yearly breakup essay will won’t have to be started quite so quite so early in the season this year.

Derek 01:21
Although your your breakup letters with the Denver Broncos are epic, and quite frankly, I look forward to them every single year. So stay tuned. If you want to see the previous breakup lever letters to the Denver Broncos from Alex go ahead and hop over to the YouTube channel. They’re on there a lot of fun. Makes me giggle every single time. So lots of lots of fun guys make sure you’re tuning into the socials instagram twitter facebook at girl boys f f we’ve got the website for yet good old boys FF calm for your enjoyment, lots of content. We just released our dynasty rankings over there. So make sure you go and check them out. But guys, we are joined by a very special guest tonight. We’ve got Johnny bats from for the love of Sundays on the show tonight. He’s making his second appearance on the show. Johnny Good to have you back. How’s things been on things have

JBatts 02:12
been good quarantines treated me well. I’ve been working hard and doing a lot of fantasy football stuff on the side. And so I get to chill and kick it with you guys, which is nice. It’s mountain time. I got to get used to that. So sorry if my energy is a little low. It’s, it’s late for me and I’m trying to be quiet for my wife. I’m in the closet. But everything’s good man. I can’t complain. I really can’t complain at all.

Derek 02:35
Guys very excited for tonight, because we had Johnny on last year to help us break down the Buffalo Bills. very insightful. Lots of fun on that episode. We’ve got him here to talk about his hometown team tonight. And that’s going to be the Patriots. So very excited to see what what Johnny’s got for us tonight. But I know you guys have been working on some really cool stuff over there at for the love of Sundays. So what have you guys been up to since we last had john?

JBatts Interview

JBatts 03:03
So I’m really we’ve been doing our offseason project because you know, like we know right now, obviously, the offseason. And what we Brian do every year is we build this database of every player every profile that we have, for every roster, at least for offensive purposes. We give them a player grade, which is basically a letter, and then we give them a quick evaluation. So it’s like a one paragraph and so we go in through right now we’re rewatching every football game, six games each of each team, and then we kind of grade and rank these players right now. And so we’re working on our offseason project and we’re kind of building these video library to go with it. So eventually we’re going to start putting out these video libraries that we did have us working on it, the conversations that we had around each player and around each team. So keep an eye out for those. But that’s kind of what we’ve been working on just keeping ourselves busy for the offseason. chomping at the bit getting ready for football.

Alex 03:58
Dan, I think the last time we talked to you, you guys, your team had just gone through a breakup of sorry. Yeah. And having seen as as a Patriots fan, this is this is a personal question that has nothing to do with fantasy football. But having seen Tom win another championship with another team. What was that like for you?

JBatts 04:22
Um, so it’s funny. I’m a very interesting Patriots fan because I recently moved to Florida. So I’m in I’m in Fort Myers right now with you and Tom has something in common and to be honest, I left first So Tom followed me Oh, yes, that son of a son of a gun. So I’m so I came down and anyway, Tom came down and won a Super Bowl. So it was kind of cool to see because I’m in the Tampa area a little bit. I’m right up to like two hours outside and so it was cool to see Tampa Bay be a big thing around here. And it was cool to see everyone I ended Tom and the same way it felt like you’re in New England. Everyone’s just again. They weren’t buying into Tampa Bay, per se. They were buying into Tom Brady. And it was really interesting to see that. There’s TV 12 balloons everywhere. She’d be 12 stickers and hats everywhere. It was nuts. And so I loved I loved it. It was okay for me. And again, I’m not bitter at all. Tom gave me 20 unbelievable years, I’m not going to hold it against them. So yeah, I thought it was cool to see him go wins tomorrow, it was the most amazing Super Bowl win. And I and I’ve seen them win a bunch in New England. And I think this might have been his most amazing

Kevin 05:30
going back to the fantasy point as you guys are breaking down film and, and going through some of these, what’s been something that you have discovered through breaking down some of this film that maybe you didn’t realize, before you started going into the tape that you think is going to be a good little niche for fantasy football players to pay attention to.

JBatts 05:50
So I will say we’re very early. I’m only on to Buffalo. So we go alphabetical order. So I’m not very deep into my project yet. But I will say right off the bat, the one thing I will say is Matt Ryan to me screams value in almost all formats. I think in superflex leagues, he’s a ridiculous value. And then in terms of redraft in single quarterback, I think he could have some value and be there. You know, we saw him have top five performances. It’s not out of the realm of possibility that he comes in, you know Panay Sewell could be sitting there for they could draft Penny Sewell have themselves a decent offensive line, figure out their run game on day two. And all of a sudden, we’re looking at this offense and saying, oh, they’re a top 10 offense in the league. It’s not out of the realm of possibility. And so how is that going to happen on the shoulders of Matt Ryan and Matt Ryan could easily throw 40 plus touchdowns and so those types of performances will get sneak you into those of those types of guys, where you have those weird Kirk cousin jeers, those weird, you know, whatever, Jacob insert Nate player named Jay Cutler, whoever type yours. That’s that type of player that you could have. And I think right now he’s in dynasties. He’s free. You could trade anything and go grab them. In superflex leagues, he’s probably pretty cheap, and go trade anything, go grab them. And if you’re in a startup right now, he’s a late quarterback that I’m definitely into, just because you’re going to get one year, they’re tied to them. They’re not going quarterback at four financially, the Falcons have to go with him. And he still had performance wise, plenty on the arm plenty in terms of like going through his progressions. He looked like a good quarterback who just the system kind of fell apart. So now with Arthur Smith, I think this is going to be this is gonna be sexy, you should be excited about Matt Ryan, and basically everyone in Atlanta, in my opinion.

Kevin 07:42
I like the sounds of that. I know we were we were banging the Matt Ryan drum last year because we were seeing a lot of a lot of that and it didn’t quite come to fruition. They had moments, obviously leading the league and completions because they were behind so much. So in our hometown scoring, we get points for completion. So he was actually very, very valuable for us last year. But I like Matt Ryan, I like that Atlanta offense. I think they have a lot of fun pieces to it. They’re obviously extremely fantasy relevant. So I’m digging that a lot. I like that.

JBatts 08:17
Yeah, they were. They were wanting to me that just again, we give everybody letter grades it’s like it’s rare that you will have two wide receivers that we have we have an a and an a minus in both of those guys. We have what’s his name hurts Hayden hurts at at a B. So offensively even their running backs Todd Gurley we graded out at a b minus like, it wasn’t horrible. It was just not great. So they can figure out that run game, you’re gonna see that that offense could really click it’ll be fun.

Derek 08:46
Definitely very interesting there on that one too, because I’ve seen a lot of rumors earlier today where the sounds like then in the Falcons organization, there’s a little bit of a rift as far as who wants to draft quarterback and who doesn’t it sounds like Arthur Smith is in the camp that the Falcons should have at least two more years with Matt Ryan at the helm. So definitely very interesting. I think you’re you’re probably onto something there.

JBatts 09:11
Yeah, I mean, I get it a new head coach wants to come in and get his guy I just don’t think right now is the time to do it. I think financially you’re tied to Matt Ryan. So you might as well write it out and for your getting a guy but it’s still a chance it’s still a risk. You know, you could trade up into the top of those it’s not going to happen so you know right out Matt Ryan see what happens see where you go again, that’s my opinion but Arthur Smith is the head coach he could probably be probably want something totally different than I want.

Derek 09:41
Johnny I know that you guys you’ve got you already covered a lot of what you’re you’re working on for the upcoming offseason and next season. But how can the listeners you know, get in contact with you? How can they connect with you? Where can they find your content out there in the short.

JBatts 09:56
So we actually don’t have a website anymore. We Stop subscription because our articles just we found other places to put our articles it was easier so you can actually just find us on the podcast really is the only place right now, f TLS or for the love of Sunday podcast or you can follow me on twitter at F TLS underscore j bats. But that’s kind of it and then articles will float around on a bunch of other people’s websites. So if you see my name pop up, it’s you know, know that I it’s probably my work going for to calm has some of my articles up rhomboids have some of my articles up. So it’s they just kind of float around other places we just didn’t need to. It’s expensive and a pain in the ass running a website. It’s a pain. So we decided to just kind of nip that in the bud. And so now you can just find us on the podcast, but we love doing it. And so we’re up to we try and do a show a week. Once the season gets going, we’ll go definitely a show a week if not two.

NFL News and Notes

Derek 10:53
Alrighty guys, well, let’s go ahead and hop on over and some news notes all that kind of good stuff. The Jets have made draft day a little bit more interesting. Like last episode, we had some news report with some trades going on before the draft this one no different the Jets have traded Sam Darnold for a 2021 six rounder and a 2022 second and fourth rounder. So that ends the SAM Donald era for the Jets who he’s now going to be a Panther. And we’ll see how that looks and works for the Panthers going forward. Read some things where the Panthers are in talks with Teddy Bridgewater, asking him kind of where he sees himself from what what he’s wanting to do if they’re looking at potentially try and trade him cut him or if he wants to try and compete for that job. And so some ongoing things that I’m sure we’ll see with that there. But that also brings us into an interesting kind of dilemma as far as the Jets go. With them trading. Sam Donald, that now makes six consecutive years worth of first round picks that they traded from 2013 to now 2018. Every one of their first round picks have been traded away to another team. So that leads me to a question for y’all. Can you name the last player from the first round the Jets selected to sign their second contract with the Jets? And to give you a hint, they were the first round pick in 2011 for the Jets. Hmm.

Alex 12:27
I’m gonna go with Now bear with me here. I’m gonna go with was it muhammad wilkerson.

Derek 12:35
That is correct. Selected 30th overall in 2011 was the last jets first round draft pick to sign a second contract with the Jets kind of just leaving you are letting you all know how well the Jets have drafted over the last decade.

Kevin 12:53
One thing that’s interesting is thinking about the last six years of picks. I don’t know that I could name many of these guys like going through having to look up who every single one of these guys were so I mean, Jamal Adams, we all kind of know right? The dominant safety the Cowboys flirted with him for a while trying to find a way to get him Seattle has it now. But outside of that, do we really remember de Milner being a first round pick? Or quitting cup? coples? Like, I couldn’t even tell you what position quit and copel plate like that is bad.

JBatts 13:35
It is bad.

Kevin 13:36
Like D Miller. But he’s a cornerback. Right. Yeah, Sheldon Richardson got into the get into legal trouble. Is that what his deal was before he got shipped off to Seattle?

JBatts 13:47
I think it was. Was it was it before Seattle or in Seattle? But no, I think you’re right. Yeah. It’s not a good track record. It’s funny. You know, me and Derek, were talking about it before we got on the show when we’re talking about just organizational value. And it’s it’s one thing that we don’t talk about enough in fantasy football. And it’s like, Do you trust the organization? And it’s like, I don’t know about the Jets? I’m they obviously look at their track record. It’s not great. And so, you know, if they do take Zach Wilson at two, do you trust that organization that they made the right decision that their scouting department did their due diligence, and maybe they did, but I just don’t know if they have the eye for it, because they are the current sort of ownership and regime we got to see. So it’s interesting, as a as an organization, I don’t trust the Jets anymore. I just don’t, I think it’s a smart trade. It’s a good trade, you’re gonna obviously take a quarterback at two you’re not playing any games. You’re not, you’re not going to get left with an expiring asset in your roster. So it’s a great trade. It’s a good NFL trade, and it makes sense for the Panthers too, but I’m just I’m really out. I’m just out on the That’s just a thing I guess maybe it’s a being a New England fan. You just see it over and over and over and over again. And it’s like, every year is gonna be the year for the Jets. It’s like I think it’s an ownership thing. I think it just rots from the head down there.

Kevin 15:14
Yeah, it it’s not just a New England thing. It’s everybody. It Kevin everywhere like if you’re a church fan your Jets fan right. And and then I feel for you.

JBatts 15:26
I wanted the jets to be good. I loved Sam Donald coming in. I feel for you guys. I really do. I just, I just it’s

Kevin 15:36
Yeah, like, I think that’s part of the reason they brought Robert Solow in right to get some organizational integrity, coming from how the niners had had built that team through the draft with a lot of homegrown talent, not really jumping into the free agent market a whole bunch, and being able to build that up. So I think the head coach, at least as long as they’re allowing him to have a dominant voice inside, you know, the war room as they’re getting ready to go through their draft board should help. They brought him in for a reason. So that’ll be a good thing. he can get his guy right away. But you know, it’s part of this. Part of this is absolutely the Jets organization. I’m chalking part of this up to the atom case effect, though. Yep. Like, I just am and whether he, you know, had the GM and the owner and an armbar on draft day and said, No, I need this guy. He’s going to be amazing. And then we see how that goes. But it’s just, it’s bad for the Jets. I liked the compensation that they got, though, I thought the classiest thing that the Jets did was them releasing the statement about Sam Donald, and really giving him kudos for dealing with all the the bullshit, for lack of a better term that the Jets have gone through in the Adam gates era I was that earned a lot of respect for me, like for them to, you know, send them off and say, hey, look, we know it didn’t work. We know that cutting ties right now is probably the best thing for both of us. But we appreciate your dedication to the organization while you were here. And we wish you best of luck. That’s the type of sentiment that you wish all these athletes could go out with, with with, you know, the least acknowledgement and respect from ownership and upper management of the blood, sweat and tears that all these athletes put into their craft. So kudos to the Jets for that I thought that was extremely professional of them. But the Panthers, I love this fit for the Panthers. I like having him with just the even just the weapons to start out with right. So you have DJ Moore, we have Robby Anderson Anderson, he already has a connection with that’s great. You have a Joe Brady system that’s extremely quarterback friendly. So he’s going to be putting Donald into better situations, he’s going to probably have a little bit more set, Donald will have some more say in what he likes and doesn’t like and it’s not going to be crammed down his throat, like Adam Gase appears to do I guess not knowing for certain so appears to do to some of these players. And what happens to every other player after they get done with Adam Gase. They have great seasons. So this one move has I’m really reevaluating my quarterback board and how much risk I want to put in Sam dartle because I like so much of what’s going on with him in this situation that I’m really having to rethink about when I might, you know, take a flyer on the sky and draft especially in a superflex get him as my second QB maybe I get them a little bit later because people still bag on him and collect that value in

Alex 18:52
other places. Not to mention he’s going to have one of the best security blankets in Christian McCaffrey who should hopefully be healthy and available this entire year. That’s kind of the part that frustrates me a little bit about this was that Teddy Bridgewater got such a raw deal? Because he got brought in there and look Teddy Bridgewater is not elite quarterback by any means. But he kind of got a raw deal because I mean, healthy Christian McCaffrey completely changes the outlook of that Carolina team with how much they utilize him and how much he can be utilized and who’s to you know, who’s to say what Matt rule has, you know, planned for Christian McCaffrey but how much he can be utilized would definitely have impacted how Teddy Bridgewater would have looked at the end of last season. So that That to me is kind of a raw deal for Teddy Bridgewater. But this is business and you can only play you know the cards are dealt and that those are the cards that Carolina got dealt and for Teddy, he proved that without having a Christian McCaffrey it wasn’t all that great. And so, you know, I think Carolina needs to recognize that they need to understand that look, we are more than just one player. Sure one player missing from our offense was a big deal. But we need to be able to overcome that because we’re going to have other players Miss time in our offense. And I think you can you can get away with it a little bit better with with the SAM Darnell because he can, you know, unleash it and and can still have still had some mobility himself to be a successful quarterback in this league. I always thought again, to Kevin’s point, I thought that Sam Darnold was was screwed because Adam Gates was his head coach. And I think now that he gets away from that this this could be a really big pivot point in SAM Donald’s career, because he’s now in a, in a just a better situation, in my opinion, outside of New York, it’s not a huge media market. And in Carolina, it’s big, but the expectations aren’t there. You don’t have, you know, the New York media that you have to deal with. I just think that, you know, all of it is a much better situation for Sam Darnold who can actually play in this league, if put in the right situation and I think we’re gonna see that this next year. So to Kevin’s point, yes, I think Sam Donald’s value though, has shot up tremendously after this deal is completed, and I don’t know that you’re going to be able to get him where you thought you might be able to get him because I think people now are starting to catch on to the fact that he is a valuable quarterback and he he can be beneficial on your fantasy team so I’m not so sure that he’s going to fall to where you think he might Kevin I don’t know I don’t know if that was the point that you were trying to make but i don’t i think the asking price probably just went up a little bit for for Sam Darnold you you may have something there but I don’t know that you’re gonna see him taken you’re earlier than quarterback 20

Derek 21:49
off the board. So you’re even with this this kind of trade I think you’re gonna see him late teen I would put it probably the mark right around 20 right now for me and that that very well could change as we draw closer to the season we start seeing things you know in camp and some of that kind of stuff but right now, in a start up I probably looking about that, about that kind of range. Um, but definitely very interesting because now Sam Donald’s surrounded by a coaching staff. That’s probably the best coaching staff that he’s seen in the NFL without much question. He’s got a, a talent developer at the quarterback position. We’ve seen what Joe Brady can do with young quarterbacks and the progression that they can make under his tutelage. So very interested to see what that happens. But the question that I have for everybody here is, we’ve talked a lot in the past about the Adam gates bounce back factor of players escaping the clutches of Adam gates and what that looks like for their fantasy relevance the next year and the year after, and so we have a very recent example of that with a quarterback that used to be under his tutelage being Ryan Tannehill. So my question to y’all is, does Sam Donald have a better bounce back than Ryan Tannehill? Did

JBatts 23:10
real NFL have fantasy NFL? Because I think that’s a different because I don’t know if I don’t know if the Panthers are going to be able to bounce back to what the Titans were playoff, you know, perennial playoff contender. I don’t think they’re gonna be able to bounce back that quickly. In the real NFL, but for fantasy. I think you would be happy with similar numbers to what you got out of Tannahill with Sam Donald and that’s realistic to expect I mean that was what was he like a low end quarterback one right like Tannahill and then he and then he have these, you know top five weeks and so I think that there’s probably not that upside but I think back of the first is sort of like dream scenario for Sam Donald like that. I mean, like back end one is sort of like dream so I guess probably No, he’s not gonna reach either, either benchmark. Now that I’m thinking about it now that I’m doing it out in my head, I don’t think he actually will reach either benchmark. I think Tannehill because Danielle is shown top five weeks. I don’t even know if Sam Donald can do that. So I guess he has all the skills to do it but we haven’t seen it so I’m not gonna bet I’m not betting anything on it because I haven’t seen it yet. And he’s been in the league for a few years. I know he’s young, but he’s still he’s been in the league for a few years. We kind of know what we have as a fantasy asset at this point. He might be in a better system and he might have better weapons but even still the best of Sam Donald we’ve seen is a low end quarterback one

Alex 24:42
sign on that I think that that’s that’s probably pretty pretty accurate there. It’s a little bit I mean, right now, it would just like recency obviously you know, with with what Tana Hill did in Tennessee, and yes, Tannahill was good but he also had that freak of a running back to kind of homely On and that does help and and i think that’s kind of what the situation is. In Carolina, you’re dealing with a freak of a running back that can do it all little Swiss Army knife. Sure you don’t, you know, turn and hand the ball to him 25 times a game but you get the ball in his hands 25 times a game and guess what? A three yard pass that you know, you know, a pass that goes three yards to your running back that he turns into a 25 yarder still goes down as a 25 yard pass. Like it or not, you know that that’s the way it goes. So I think, you know, fantasy number wise. Yeah, I mean, it’s tough to talk yourself into Sam Donald as a low QB one, that it’s extremely difficult to talk yourself into it. But I wouldn’t be surprised at all. If that’s where we see him at the end of this season,

Kevin 25:52
trying to find a way to convince myself that he can be quarterback 1011 or 12. And I don’t know that I’m quite there yet. But that’s my morning. It’s

Alex 26:02
hard to talk yourself into it right?

Kevin 26:04
Yeah, I think for me, I think one thing that in my magic crystal ball,

JBatts 26:11
what are the Panthers do in the I think the smart thing to do would probably be either edge rush or safe or secondary help. I mean, where are they picking? Eight right? Yeah, it’s a little early to take a cornerback but you can get the best you get the best edge rusher pass rusher in the in the league at that point. I mean, not in the league in the draft at that point at eight you can get

Kevin 26:37
whoever it is.

Alex 26:38
But horn corns there. Yeah, horn will be there. That’s a pretty big that’s a nice improvement there at the at the cornerback slot.

JBatts 26:46
Yep, they want super heavy on defense the year prior. So it’s like they have Ryan young. They have a lot of young talent. It’s just that they need to they need a couple veteran pros on that defense to really like bring everyone along because it’s just seems a little unorganized.

Alex 27:03
To me, I think trade out. I think they they trade out they get more picks. I don’t know that they find a dance partner. But I think that that’s probably what they’d like to do to entertain because they’ve they’ve now given up this year six, which you can find still a lot of good talent in the sixth round. A lot of guys have been around that have become names in the NFL, that were drafted in the sixth round. You’ve lost this year sixth. I think they get that back. I think they try to you know, obviously find something else in the first and then maybe something else in the second or third that they can get with that. That eighth pick is still very very valuable. Yeah. Yeah, I

Kevin 27:42
mean, here’s my thought you know, even though it’s

Alex 27:45
gonna be gone by eight

Kevin 27:47
Yeah, they’ll probably be gone by by by then. Here’s my thought to be fantasy selfish. You just lost Curtis Samuel to the Washington football team. You like what? And Thomas does but he really hasn’t panned out to be that. You’re gonna say hey, you want to do so is your number one target on the draft board? A Kyle Pitts. And if Kyle Pitts has gone before, then you fall back with Plan B with Balan was able to take that guy in the slot and be able to mix him around where you’re able to keep Anderson and DJ Moore on the outside. And DJ Moore can go deep. It’s not necessarily his strongest suit. But DJ Moore can’t can’t go deep. He does a really good job controlling the middle of the field and to the intermediate routes. Then you have like a Jalen waddle where you can have him come underneath on the quick flare routes just right behind the line of scrimmage where he gets lost. He has the speed, just the blow by speed to get on those mismatches with safeties coming out of the slot and run up the seam like again, it’s Tennessee selfish guys. I understand that but you just brought in a new quarterback. You obviously think this could be the answer. So why not go get him a new toy to play with to like you have McCaffrey there. You have two receivers on the outside. You would love Kyle Pitts. I do think that’s probably their number one option if the draft fell perfectly to them. Kyle Pitts to Carolina i think is a very nice fit, but held in wattles not a bad fallback option to be fancy selfish with

JBatts 29:40
100%. Alright, listen, I think Kyle pits at eight makes it makes so much sense that I don’t even want to talk about it because it’s just chalk. Like at that point. Like if Kyle Pitts falls to Carolina Edie is he’s gonna get picked like it’s just chalk at that point. So but yeah, That would be a fun for fantasy. That would be a ton of fun. I mean, talk about talk about an offense getting totally revamped in the offseason you add Sam Donald, you add Kyle Pitts. I mean, you get a healthy Christian McCaffrey back. I mean, that’s DJ Moore. Robby Anderson. That’s fun. That’s I feel like we’ve talked a lot about Carolina. But that’s that would add Kyle Pitts at a lot of fun. It is fun. It is.

Kevin 30:26
It is. It was that division, you need that right.

JBatts 30:30
100%

Kevin 30:31
in the copycat league and trying to play in that division, you still have to keep up with the reigning Super Bowl champion Tampa Bay Buccaneers, and their arsenal of offensive weapons. And like what we spoke about earlier with the Falcons, the Falcons are not slouches on offense, guys, their defense has things that that are left to be desired for sure that they’re going to try and work on. But offensively, they put numbers up on the board. And at some point, if you’re Carolina, you have to be able to you have to be able to score with these guys and hope for some stops along the way. So you might as well add it, add a weapon if you can. And if it doesn’t fall that way, then you look at you look at options, but that would be right. Hey, john, your funds the perfect word for that it would they’re instantly a really fun offensive team to watch.

Derek 31:24
Guys, you know what, what this trade did do, though. The going back to the Jets there real quick. It brought me around to the fact that the Jets are gonna draft a quarterback at number two, I’ve given up my conspiracy theory.

Alex 31:37
Yeah, it’s a that’s a given. It’s a given.

JBatts 31:41
Yeah, the question is who because I think who really changes how the rest of the draft plays out, believe it or not, who they take it to throws a serious wrench in things. But I believe that the 40 Niners are comfortable with a few guys are ups they wouldn’t have made the trade they made. They’re comfortable with whoever falls to them at three. But again, it’ll mess up to four and trades going on. I think the answer is they really like Zach Wilson. I personally would take Justin Fields. But that’s, you know, if I was a GM, that’s how I would evaluate it. But these guys get paid a hell of a lot more money than I do to do their jobs. And so if they say that Zach Wilson is the guy, again, you go back to do you trust the Jets front office making these decisions? And do you trust that they made the right decision at two? But it seems like that’s going to be jack Wilson, which I mean, look, he has the arm talent. He looks like he has an NFL cannon. And he has the mobility he has that sort of creativity that everyone’s looking for. But small school small sample size.

Alex 32:52
Does it does it feel like the Jets are just getting kind of like the same guy if they go Zach Wilson that they hadn’t Sam Darnold kind of didn’t that feel like a huge arm that could move around was creative. You know, it just feels like they’re there. You know, it’s it’s got to feel like Groundhog’s Day. I mean, it’s just he’s younger, which is pretty hard to do with Sam Darnold, who’s incredibly young himself. But it just feels like the Jets are, you know, they were there. And now they’re just gonna go right back to where they started just on a friendlier contract. I guess. That’s, you know, yes. Maybe a friendlier contract. Who knows? But that is that is pretty, you know, wild to think about that. They’re essentially the same person coming out of school. You know, small sample size. Sure. You know, Donald played in the PAC 12. But who doesn’t put up ridiculous numbers in the PAC12

Alex 33:48
Anyways, let’s get off for the Panthers in the Jets. Alrighty, go out into the real stuff, which is Atlanta fielding calls at number four. Yes, that is where it gets interesting. Also, before I get into my case for the Atlanta Falcons, should they stumble onto this podcast and the front office listen to it. They they need to listen to what I’m going to tell them. But I saw a thing or heard a thing I guess I should say I didn’t see it. And I tried to go back and check it. But there’s there’s rumblings out there that the niners are going to take Mac Jones at three. And I think all of us would agree that that would be a colossal mistake.

JBatts 34:35
colossal searing what they’ve given up, right be considering what they if they were just sitting at three, and they took Matt Jones Sure, fine, totally fine there. The fact that they gave up a slew to move up to identify that they wanted Mac Jones and then draft Mac Jones. If he doesn’t turn into the next Tom Brady. It looks bad. So that’s the problem with Mac Jones. Yeah, but you’re right. But yeah, sure, right.

Alex 35:02
Exactly. So I think back to the the Atlanta Falcons and with what they have to do in the spot that they’re in sure they could, they could take that pick, you know, they could draft school, they could draft the kid out of Northwestern, you know, and shore up that offensive line for the next five, six years. That would be, you know, something that would be smart, you know, and you wouldn’t, you wouldn’t blame them for doing that, because they already have Matt Ryan, but I think that the Falcons could get could still get the kid from Northwestern or school trading down to nine, and taking the Denver Broncos pick, whereas the Broncos in desperate need of a quarterback need to be up in those top five picks. Because I swear to God, if they draft Mac Jones, the breakup letters coming again, like I said earlier in this episode, the breakup letter is coming. So that to me is where the Broncos need to really really really put the pedal to the metal and I know that you can’t you know, give up the farm. But you need to at least you know give it the old college try and go and get number four from Atlanta who’s in a really good spot right now. But obviously they’re they’re selling and what shefter did actually report is that they are taking calls for that number four pick and it’ll be very interesting to see what they end up doing with it because not going to fault them if they go tackle there. But I think it would be more beneficial to the Falcons long term success if they traded down and truthfully short term too. So I still think they can get a good player in the top 10 if they trade down get more pics gathered up and you know have somebody come up and take that that spot from them.

Kevin 36:53
You’re not wrong. I think I think we spoke about that. Well, what three four weeks ago, I think we were kind of rumbling rumbling that one out there and so it makes sense. I’m trying to think what the Broncos give up. Right? If you’re the Broncos and you’re trying to move up from nine to four obviously the what is that value of five picks? So I mean, what’s the value? Well something that the niners kind of you know, they showed us what the value of what set was it seven picks from 12 was it is that what that from 12 to three so we saw what nine picks was so it’s not quite that much.

JBatts 37:42
It would look like it would look like burgers first and burgers first and up and then I’m random compensatory give them a fourth that’s probably what it would be in in the in the grand scheme of things

Alex 37:54
which is and I tell you what if you’re the Denver Broncos you go you get your quarterback right? You don’t need that obviously quarterback next year is not going to be that great the Broncos are okay like I think honestly the Broncos are a quarterback away from competing because of all the extra pieces right all that they all the rest that they have. So Drew Lock

JBatts 38:20
so Drew Lock well how about this Drew Lock number eight this year or whatever wherever they pick, and then our first round next year to move up to four. You get so the Falcons can sit on Drew Lock he can back up Matt Ryan figure it out. Maybe maybe Polish him up?

Alex 38:39
I would I think that that could be an asking price. I don’t think that I’d like that because I think the Broncos whoever they take if they go and get for whoever comes off the board at for Justin Fields if it’s Trey Lance, whenever quarterback comes off the board they’re going to need some time to develop going to need some time to acclimate to the NFL game. And I don’t know that the Broncos unless they have a plan of going and signing out Smith on a one year deal or who else is out there that’s a veteran quarterback that can be a patch for one year and let somebody learn behind them you know that that to me is the only successful path forward in my eyes that’s the only successful path forward so so that is where I think if you get rid of Drew Lock I mean look the market for Drew Lock is not going to be great it’s not great right now and he’s got an opportunity much like the niners with Jimmy Garoppolo to put a prove it year on tape and approve it year can do a lot of good for these guys. You know garapa need to prove it here. He He definitely needs to prove it here and if the niners are going to take quarterback here, you know your your time is limited. So you’re gonna be extra motivated to go out there and put some good things on film. So that You’re more attractive in the market and you can go to a better situation so or really just stay in the league I guess at this point like pets that’s the ultimate goal for a garage below or a Drew Lock to just stay in the league and still be employed to play football so that’s that’s where I think the big the big thing for the Broncos is I don’t like getting rid of Drew Lock in that deal but to first in a compensatory you know, you give up the nine this year you give up next year’s first you know and then maybe you find a way to get next year’s first back you know, there there there are other ways to go about doing it. So I think i think that you know, you have to go now because the quarterback class from everything that I’m hearing and I haven’t done too much into it myself but the quarterback class next year, not going to be great. And so it’s it is imperative that you go now Yeah,

Kevin 40:58
you only make that deal for Justin Fields only when I make that deal for and it’s not

JBatts 41:04
who the niners target really values changes the value of for Hmm,

Alex 41:09
exactly whoever they go after really, really changes what four is, which is which is the other kind of wild card and that’s because the niners have been mum on what they’re doing. Right? They haven’t really said, Hey, we’re going after because it’s already a foregone conclusion that it’s gonna go Lawrence. And then Wilson three, we haven’t heard diddly squat about what they’re planning on doing and so forth then becomes very interesting because you could give up the farm and then Oh crap, the guy we wanted isn’t there. You know that that really does change the dynamic. So I understand the hesitancy of wanting to make that deal but I still think if it’s if it’s Lancer if it’s fields, I think you’re still getting a capable quarterback in two years time that you’re gonna be able to build around.

Derek 41:59
Ready for a interesting thought there. But the Broncos bring into a quarterback. He just got replaced in Carolina, at Bridgewater coming over Teddy

JBatts 42:09
Teddy two gloves.

Derek 42:11
Hear me out on the

Alex 42:12
way I would make it. If it was a patchwork? Yes. I would hate it over

Kevin 42:20
my spam tickets now. So I’d rather watch through lock.

42:25
So right what’s the difference that point?

Derek 42:27
here’s here’s my thought as to why this will be the way that it does. I’m the guy that was in charge of player personnel guy. It was an assistant GM at Minnesota when they drafted Teddy Bridgewater is now the guy making roster decisions in Denver. And there’s a relationship already built there with George Patton. As far as Teddy Bridgewater, that kind of stuff. I could very easily see them doing that I don’t think the Broncos are looking to try and give up the farm. Everything that you’ve seen with with patents so far this offseason leads me to believe that he’s a low risk kind of guy out there when it comes to managing a team and a roster and putting that together and trading up to first rounders is not in the way of a low risk type of deal to get what could very potentially be a developmental project there whoever sitting there at four so I could very much see them going after a Teddy Bridgewater bringing them in on a you know two years left on that type of deal and let them see what what they’re going to do because the Broncos right now most likely need you know or what they need a long term solution at the quarterback but I think their take at a game manager type of QB there which Teddy Bridgewater fits that bill.

Alex 43:44
The only issue I see with that Derek is that it would have to be a trade and when you trade when you when you make a trade for for all of a sudden your trade stockpile your draft pick stockpile isn’t as great and so I’m not sure that that comes to fruition. I guess you can see a Drew Lock Drew Lock trade for a teddy I mean, I could see you know, a one for one with some extra pieces or whatever it may be however, it has to work out money wise. But

JBatts 44:18
cash consideration

Alex 44:21
those are always my favorite trades. Does the NFL do player to be named later? No. Only because they’re sketchy as anyone else. Major League Baseball so sketchy. Yeah, that’s a player to be named later. Yeah, this trade works. Quick, quick story about player to be named later. And this is a quick tangent. There was a kid in the Indy ball league in Fargo who got traded for himself. He was the player to be named later in the completion of a trade for himself. It was really

Derek 44:51
good. That is that is pretty good. So

Alex 44:55
either way, it’s gonna make for some fantastic ESPN NFL Network, what have you watching over the next couple of weeks to figure out what happens with this number four pick, because I don’t think Atlanta is on the clock, when the number four pick comes up at the end of the month,

2021 WR Value

Derek 45:12
that could be very interesting to see. Let’s go ahead and move on over, we’ve got some some thoughts for you coming your way around wide receiver three, four type of territory. And so last year, little little game here to play. curious to see what you guys think on the wide receivers that finished in kind of that wide receiver 25 to 50 range. And what I’m looking for is for you to pick one of these receivers to move up. So a guy that will move up into wide receiver to or one territory, pick one to remain in territory, three, four, and one that will finish outside of that wide receiver for territory or below wide receiver 50 next year. And there’s some very notable names out there. Some guys that definitely kind of came in let the world on fire and some guys that we thought would be good at some guys that we didn’t think would be great that snuck up there. So some very interesting takes there. And just kind of curious what you guys think on who that’s going to be.

Alex 46:13
Alright, so since I’m the one who kind of came up with this silly little game that we’re playing, the reason that I thought about it was because this is a valuable spot a wide receiver three or four is nothing to write, you know, it’s it’s not a sexy position. But there’s so much like super depth and talent in this league, that a wide receiver three or four is still going to be a very valuable asset to your team. Now, if you can target a wide receiver three or four from this last year. And we all know that we fall into this recency bias, if you can find an identify a wide receiver three or four from last year, that is going to move up in value and move up into that wide receiver to wide receiver one territory that you think is going to happen, well, then you’re getting a steal. Likewise, if you’re drafting somebody that you think is gonna be in that wide receiver, three or four territory, and they’re not there, that’s a wasted pick, in my opinion, there’s so many other things that you could have gone with, or just other guys that are in that area that you could have done a lot of more production out of. So that’s where I came up with this, I think it’s a good way to identify and a good way to get, you know, football coaches, we’ll talk a lot about hidden yards. Well, these are kind of the hidden points in fantasy football that you get from your three and four wide receivers, or these guys that are in these three and four wide receiver category. So that to me is where I came up with this game and why it’s kind of an interesting little exercise. So I’ll start with the guy that I think is going to move up, which isn’t exactly a stretch, but it is because he’s no longer in the same situation. So I’ve picked the guy who finished wide receiver 25 last year to move up into wide receiver 24 and above territory. And that is Curtis Samuel, who is no longer with Carolina, but in Washington. And he’s got Ryan Fitzpatrick, who, as we all know, loves to just throw the football around. And he’s sure he’s with his what night team and his 17th NFL year or whatever it is. that dude’s been around the block but I still think he identifies targets. Obviously Maclaurin is gonna get a lot of attention there in Washington. So opposite of that is Curtis Samuel. So I’ve picked Curtis Samuel to move out of wide receiver, three or four territory was wide receiver three territory last year. To move him up to wide receiver to territory, I could see him pretty firmly in wide receiver to not sure that I could see him moving up to wide receiver. One, guys, you want to go with who you’ve got moving up.

Kevin 48:51
So I bounced around with this. I thought there’s some low hanging fruit on this list that I tried to stay away from right like Chris Godwin finished as a wide receiver three. Last year. I tried to stay away from that one like he’s clearly being drafted as a wide receiver. One, maybe a very top and wide receiver to just depending on how your draft board falls. So I tried staying away with that one. But the guy that I settled on was Cooper cup. I really liked the Matt Stafford deal going to LA for the Rams. I think that the emergence of Cam Akers down the stretch for the Rams and the things that McVeigh has been saying about, well, he could really be a three down back and he could be our guy one year after saying, Yeah, I’m never going to have a bell cow back again, clearly shows the faith that McVeigh has in cam acres. So they all those things about good things for Matt Stafford and the passing game. And if Jared golf can get 400 or if Jared golf could get 4000 yards and 20 Eight touchdowns with the Rams. Matt Stafford can touch 5000 yards and hit 35 touchdowns and I’m not overly bashful when I say that, like, I love Matt Stafford I’m apologist of his most of his career was wasted in the pit of Detroit outside of Calvin Johnson, but then had a team around them that couldn’t do anything. So I think that there’s something to prove there. Cooper cup. Is is kind of that Swiss Army Knife he goes outside he comes inside. He does a good job, you know, coming back for the ball. He will get behind defenders from time to time he’s not afraid to go inside. The touchdowns I think will improve from last year Robert Woods didn’t see the touchdowns in 19 saw them in 20 Cup was the opposite didn’t see or saw the touchdowns in 19 didn’t see the touchdowns in 2020 I think this 2021 season with Matt Stafford throwing the ball they both of them see the touchdowns I think the fantasy players have been finally drafting for actually hits this year because you have a more competent quarterback. Kind of being your field general marching up and down the field. So Cooper cup for me jumps back up into

JBatts 51:22
Alright, so my move up. Listen, we talked about low hanging fruit and picking the easy ones and I am not shying away from that. I will pick an easy one and the one I picked was well Fuller. I think that’s an easy move up. I mean, we’ve seen him do it. We watched him before suspension be a wide receiver one so I think with tuba and that offense and everything, a wide receiver to his sort of his floor. I think that’s his minimum with these big blow up game upsides just because he has that long speed that we always talk about that one touch ability so yeah, we’ll follow to me is an easy move up candidate. I think the fact that he finished down here was a lot had a lot to do with his suspension. If you want to points per game basis, he was much higher. So I’m taking the low hanging fruit with Will Fuller.

Derek 52:16
I like it. I like it a lot. That’s one. So for me, I’m gonna put a little bit of a caveat on this one simply because of the fact if the Bengals do something in the draft, like I’ve said on the show they might do at number five and that’s shafted Jamar chase t Higgins value, and where I think he’s gonna finish will drop on that. But right now, with the roster as it’s currently constructed, I could easily see t Higgins getting up into that high end wide receiver to type of territory. He was on pace to do some amazing things last year, the connection that he oboro shared looks very, very good. I see that continuing this coming year. And there was really too bad to see Burro get hurt and go down. Because you also saw t Hagen’s finished the year off not near as strong as what he was going into before that injury happened.

53:09
All right, let’s

Alex 53:10
move on to the guy that we think is going to stay in this group and again, we’re only identifying one you know of these 25 guys that are in the three and four territory. So one of the guys that the guy that I’m picking that I think is going to stay as a wide receiver three or four is probably not a surprise either. I I’ve chosen the path of least resistance I think in this exercise I’ve done with Michael Gallup who is a great option there in Dallas, but he can be the third option in Dallas. So to me, you know with a Dak Prescott coming back obviously I think the passing game is going to improve from where he was but I still see him as that third option in Dallas so I think that even the third option in Dallas and again we’ve talked about this on this show you know it’s a piece it’s it’s a piece of an offense that you kind of want to be a part of that you want a part of and I would be okay having that piece me Michael Gallup from from Dallas

Kevin 54:14
contract you’re you sure you don’t want to move them up. You’re a big proponent of guys. I

Alex 54:18
do. I do like contract years, but at the wide receiver spot, it’s a little bit different. You’re only as good as a quarterback throwing the football.

Kevin 54:25
I’m gonna jump in here real quick. The guy I have staying in that three four tier is Jarvis Landry. And I think a lot of that is just because of how the Cleveland Browns run their offense. They’re clearly a run first team with Nick Chubb and Kareem Hunt. You have a OBJ who’s coming back hopefully healthy we’re gonna see how that leads. They have. Hunter Hunter Bryant, I believe who emerged as kind of a good rookie Titan option to pair with Austin Hooper. Rashard Higgins is still there. There’s a lot of subtle mouths to feed in Cleveland for a team that Does not throw the ball terribly much. I think there’s somewhere around the 58% Pass range if I’m not mistaken. So I think Jarvis Landry a reliable piece, I think he has a safe floor, you will get production from him week in and week out. But I don’t think you’re gonna see nearly the explosive weeks out of him to to vault him up into the wide receiver to category

JBatts 55:28
my stay is Hollywood Brown. And this one hurts. This one really pains me because I liked Hollywood a lot coming in. And I thought, you know, he sort of had this sort of tyreke Hill light kind of aspect to them. But I think he’s more relegated to just to Sean Jackson. And if you remember the best years of Sean Jackson, he was a boomer bus wide receiver three, that’s just what he was. Yeah, his floor was, you know, he would have a couple catches for 3040 yards or he would blow up and have 200 yards and two touchdowns and all of a sudden you’re psyched for the week. So I think that’s gonna kind of be how you look at Marcus Brown. If he can break a couple off and get some long touchdowns you’ll be psyched. Otherwise it’s just that offense does not predicate on the long ball does not predicate on the deep ball. And that’s really where marquees brown shines and that’s where you’re going to make a lot of fantasy points. So they’re going to hit them on the underneath stuff, they’re going to hit them on some routes and he’s going to be fine and then every once in a while he’ll break out a slant to the house and then that’s when you’ll be cite that you had you started Marcus brown otherwise he’s just a wide receiver three which is fine, which is okay for your team depending on how you have your one and two laid out. I like Marcus brown as a three because he will have those big weeks. But yeah, he’s my stay.

Alex 56:48
Which sucks.

JBatts 56:50
I want him to go up.

Derek 56:52
Yeah, I want him to go up to I’m a big fan of Hollywood Brown. I’m a you know, an Oklahoma guy. So that one hurts as well I saw very big things when he was coming to the league as well and and that has not panned out but my stay is gonna be a guy that I was very high on this past season going in. And that’s DJ Chark Jr I think he’s gonna stay in that three four range I just don’t know that you know what the quarterback change new system change you’ll see some some improvement down there I do believe but I just not enough that I’m gonna buy into put him in in their wide receiver to or better.

Alex 57:29
Okay, and now for the for the negative, the people that we think are not going to finish in this group. Next year, I have again, like I said path of least resistance was actually surprised to see this guy’s name on the list and then realized quickly why his name was on the list, but I’m going to go with Tim Patrick from the Denver Broncos. With the return of Courtland Sutton. I just don’t see the ball going his way. I also don’t know that the quarterback will complete more than 20 passes to his own teammates in any given game at the current situation so for me, Tim Patrick will drop out of this territory and will not be in this wide receiver three four conversation next year.

Kevin 58:21
I felt like I hit low hanging fruit with with the drop as well because I picked Nelson Aguilar to go ahead and fall out of the three four category. He came into the league there were expectations in Philly, he didn’t do squat, he went to the Las Vegas Raiders and really kind of emerged as their number one wide receiver and now he’s off to New England where wide receivers kind of go to die. So unless you’re I just don’t trust well, but that was with Brady. I just don’t trust the fact Cam Newton can get Nelson Aguilar the ball enough and the Aguilar is going to buy into the belcheck system enough to be a wide receiver three wide receiver for tight player I just don’t see that offensive system playing out in his favor this

JBatts 59:10
way. Man, my drop, I’m making an audible. So my drop was going to be T Y Hilton. Be honest with everybody but I’m switching I’m switching my drop. I’m switching my drop to devonte Parker, I think DeVante Parker is gonna drop out it has to do with the willful or it has to do with what they’re gonna do in this draft class. They have so much draft capital in this year, the next year going forward. I think devonte Parker’s a great story. I think he did really well he bridged a nice gap for them, but they are going to start to go forward with new weapons and a new offense and so DeVante Parker hopefully might find another team at some point, but I think his time in Miami is certainly numbered, but it’s he’s dropped to me I just don’t know if he’s gonna sustain That same sort of value, I don’t know, I don’t know if to have really has it in them to sustain multiple options. And, you know, they’re talking about taking a running back. Hi, if it’s Travis etn, you know, there’s some passes gone there, will full is going to command 100 plus targets. So I just don’t know what’s left for devonte Parker and then looking even further out, I don’t know if he’s even gonna stay on the team, much after this year, low hanging fruit, both to help man devonte Parker both gonna drop out.

Derek 1:00:28
I also took low hanging fruit. And that was Christian Kirk, who actually finished at number 50. So him moving down, I don’t think that that’s going to be much of an issue, this coming year with the Cardinals signing AJ Green over there. And I think you’re gonna see Christian Kirk, you know, relegated to a couple of shots a game maybe, but I don’t see him being a consistent on the field presence out there in the desert. So I see it moving down.

Alex 1:00:55
But again, just our opinions. Can you know, this is a place where you can make some hay in your fantasy drafts. If you can identify much like regular NFL drafts, your real work is done on days two and three. It’s easy to pick first, you know, it’s easy to pick the first one your real work is done, where you really build your winning team is after that first round. So I think this is this is a good area to target if you’re going into a new league, if you’re going into you know, a startup of any kind of redraft of any kind. This is really where you start to make your hay and separate yourself from the other teams by the quality of player that can get in in spots like this.

Derek 1:01:36
Well, Johnny, if you can give the listeners how to connect with you again. Sure,

JBatts 1:01:41
you can get at me on twitter at F TLS underscore j bats. I’m pretty active on Twitter, I’m there I spend most of my useless time on there. So or you can follow the podcast, which is F TLS fantasy football podcast or for the love of Sundays. I say if my grandfather can find it, you can find it anytime, anywhere. There’s podcasts. It’s super easy. And like I said, we’re trying to get a show out a week. Once the season kicks in. It’ll be a lot more. Right now. It’s the offseason. So it’s we’re doing these sort of roundtable interviews with people talking about their projects and bringing up and coming fantasy football content creators on the show. Just to give them a little platform so the past couple episodes have been that check us out. I’m excited.

Derek 1:02:25
I think that’s gonna wrap up yet another episode for the good ol boys fantasy football podcast. Make sure you hit us up on our socials at Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, the good old boys, FF. You can find us on our website. goodoldboysff.com for Kevin and Alex. I’m Derek. Have a good one. Be safe.