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Pittsburgh Steelers 2021 Fantasy Football with DaveFantasy
Intro 00:18
You’re listening to the good old boys fantasy football podcast. Now here’s your host, Kevin, Derek and Alex.
Derek 00:27
Alrighty. Welcome in ladies and gentlemen to another episode of the good old 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?
Kevin 00:38
Good man. We have made it all the way halfway through the year. Scott’s fishbowl has officially kicked off there’s tons of drafts going on and all the excitement kind of swirling around the industry whether it’s in the main event or one of the the satellite best balls. So it’s a lot of fun. It’s drafting season. I love this time of year oh so much. So I’m about as happy as you can be right now.
Alex 01:07
This is the fun part of the year because next month, there’s football, and that’s awesome. We just have to get through July and then there’s football in August and that’s exciting. So very excited to finally get to see what some of these rookies have with the full offseason and preseason like what another concept that will be the to see a preseason again.
Derek 01:32
Right, guys, we we’ve got a very special guest joining us tonight. We got Dave fantasy coming to your live to talk some Pittsburgh Steelers. We’ve got a great episode for you. But Dave, how are we doing tonight?
DaveFantasy 01:47
Doing great, man. I’m excited to be here with you guys. Thanks for having me on.
Derek 01:51
We are excited to have you have you stopped by talk some Steelers football. Your as everybody out there watching can see you showed up dressed for the occasion. wearing some some Steelers? swag there. I like it. So this had to break out my hands word jersey for you? Absolutely. I this one should be a lot of fun. For those of you that watch the NFL live stream with us, you will remember Dave was on there with us. Help him break down some of these draft picks and going through it. It was a great time. And we couldn’t wait to her for him to come back and break down some Steelers with us. So very excited tonight. But so you’ve been you’ve been working on some stuff. Since we talked last one. We were doing the live stream for the draft? What have you been up to? And what have you got? What have you got in the works?
DaveFantasy 02:40
Well, I took a took a position as a columnist with in between media. So I’ve been doing that the last two months. In fact, my second one just came out yesterday. Awesome. So that’s been taken up a good deal of my time, it gives me a chance to write a much longer piece, get more involved in things, you know, the the group that in between media, the whole focus is on more than just fantasy advice, you know, put in a little life experience relatable stories and things like that. So it’s it’s a lot of fun to do. I’ve been enjoying that.
Kevin 03:18
Right on. Well, congratulations on the gig. And definitely be sure to go check that out. So Dave, I guess from the rookie draft, that we the NFL Draft, I guess that we all kind of participated in until now. What have been some of your opinions that have changed since draft night? You know, kind of a stock up stock down? situation, if you will?
DaveFantasy 03:48
Well, it’s it’s hard to say a lot because, you know, we haven’t gotten a chance to see any of these rookies in action much to this point. So it’s been it’s been hard to draw too much conclusions, but I am kind of a sucker for for beat writer talk this time of year. You know, I’m excited to hear things about guys like Elijah more, you know, is a stock up guy for me, you know, I think he’s gonna be heavily involved in the Jets offense. And I’ve been excited when I’ve been able to get my hands on him and some some of my rookie drafts for my dynasty leagues. I feel like there’s some some real potential there. I think you know, another one is Trey Sermon in San Francisco, the running back. You never really know how Kyle Shanahan is going to deploy his running back. So I you know, I still kind of hesitate a little bit, but apparently they like what they’re seeing in him. And we should expect to see him on the field a little more than than we might have first thought.
Kevin 04:47
Yeah, absolutely. So early report. This week out of San Francisco is their goal is to run the ball 500 times. So I like the Trey Sermon take right like Get it leads. There’s a lot of carries. Yeah, Wilson being down rain moster, he’s never really been able to go over 180 carries without getting dinged up. So it does leave a lot of potential there for Trey Sermon. Who knows, maybe we’ll see a quarterback change because we all know that Jimmy Garoppolo is going to be running the football so we might get to see Alex’s guy, Mr. Trey Lance, get under center and see what he can do there but I’m digging the Trey Sermon thing he’s going way under drafted at the moment and I think a month from now people are gonna finally catch on. And you know, if you’re drafting real close to the star the season like our home league does, I don’t think you’re going to be able to kind of sneak him in towards the mid to later rounds, you’re going to have to grab him pretty solid and rattle the draft to have an impact.
Alex 05:50
Kind of on that train of thought Dave? Who’s a guy? I mean, I’ve got several guys that I’m willing to, quote unquote overpay for when it comes to a redraft or in a rookie draft. Who’s a guy that you are okay with overpaying for an either a redraft if it’s not a rookie or an a rookie draft?
DaveFantasy 06:12
Well, in redraft right now I feel like I’m overpaying for David Montgomery as far as what his average draft position is, but I don’t feel like I’m really overpaying for David Montgomery because I feel like he’s being undervalued tremendously. He’s a guy that I’m pretty excited to get on my redraft teams this year. I think he’s going to have another great season. I don’t know that he’s going to return you know, running back for overall or any anything like that, but he’s going in most of my drafts he’s going is like the 18th to 20th running back taken. And that’s that’s just too That’s crazy. To me. I just can’t like I can’t see 18 running backs or Steven 17 running backs that I’d rather have than David Montgomery. You know.
Derek 06:57
Yeah, the the disrespect on David Montgomery is definitely real. When you think about a guy that finishes the number four, why are number four running back over all last year, and now he’s not even being drafted in the top 15. And really, the offense improved around him. From what you from what was going on last year? The disrespects real so I feel you on that one. And definitely guy that you can you can get it a value there. But they’ve real quick before we move on how can the listeners connect with you? Where can they find your, your your new articles? How can they connect with you online?
DaveFantasy 07:33
Well, the new articles are in between media. And you can always find me on Twitter at Dave fantasy, I link pretty much everything that I write there. So it’s probably the easiest way to to get a hold of whatever I’m writing no matter which of the sites that I’m writing for right now. But I also write for a contender connection calm and pro sports x calm, so you can find me there as well.
Derek 08:00
Awesome. Awesome. Well, guys, I think it’s about time we we talk some Steelers football here, which should be a lot a lot of fun. So the Steelers coming off of a pretty darn good finish last year, a little bit of a fade towards the end of it. But they’re looking to build on that. Here. It looks like this year, we’re gonna start where we always do, and that’s in the running back room. And they they made some excitement on draft night there. With Nagi Harris being their first round pick. They drafted running back the first running back selected off the board in the 2021 draft. So guys, let’s just start with the rookie. What are your thoughts on Nagi? Harris?
Kevin 08:42
I, I like nnaji a lot. He was clearly the best running back in this class. I think Alabama groomed him well for what the Steelers offense is going to ask of him, right. They’re going to ask for, you know, probably 60 65% in between the tackles. And then he’s going to get to get out wide and you’re going to get to see this guy wiggle. And if you haven’t watched the film on him, he’s got some wiggle. He’s a bigger back little stocky, but he’s got some wiggle to him and his his hands have improved drastically over the last couple of years Alabama and now he’s going to be able to translate that into the NFL game. So I like nnaji a lot. I know the big hype on him is is inside the top 12 talent wise Yes, I think he can fish inside of the top 12 The biggest thing that deters me there is the Steelers offensive line. I do think it’s still a work in progress and and their ability to be able to close the game down by just turning around and handing the ball to nachi. I don’t know that they’re going to be able to do that as much as some other teams can. Just because we’re gonna see some plays with that offensive line just gets blown up and then you know, instead of two yards and a cloud of dust now she’s going to be getting hit three yards behind the line from time to Time, which happens to everybody. But I think you’re gonna see that a little bit more in the Steelers offensive line. But talent is there I have it running back 14 is where I have him ranked. So it’s not like a miles away from where everybody else is. I just think it’s that offensive line that’s going to hold him back slightly.
Alex 10:19
Yeah, with with nachi. I mean, I was talking to somebody today. And the the best way that I can describe Nagi Harris is that he’s going to be a problem. And he’s going to be a problem for opposing defenses. He’s going to be a problem for fantasy owners who are going up against him. And he might be a problem for people who own him in fantasy because he is a rookie and is a running back. And that’s tough. You can count on a couple things with Nagi Harris. He is us big. And he’s got the speed. And to your point, Kevin, he’s got that wiggle to. So I like nachi Harris. I’m trying to real quick, Derek, if you can pull it up for me. Where did I finish with him?
Derek 11:07
Yeah, I gotcha. Let me pull that up. Yeah, I was
Alex 11:10
trying to get it. I don’t want to do too many things on my computer today. If you guys were with us last week, you’ll know why or the week Yeah. Or even. you’ll, you’ll understand why I don’t want to overload my computer. So I’m trying to find the, the document that I had that on but I don’t have it readily available. Here it is. Alright.
Derek 11:29
Number 15.
Alex 11:30
So 15 top half, I think, you know, Kevin’s at 14, I’m at 15. I think for a rookie, that’s that’s, you know, that’s a pretty good good place to be. He’s gonna be on a a run first or a run oriented offense with the quarterback being what the quarterback is there in in Pittsburgh, and I’ll get to that later. But I like him. I think I think that’s the best way though to describe him as he’s going to be a problem. And it’s, it’s going to be a problem for for owners, for people going up against him and for opposing defenses.
DaveFantasy 12:10
Yeah, I think you guys have covered it pretty well. You know, I love nachi Harris, I think you know as a talent he’s the best thing the Steelers have seen in a while and I would say including levy on Bell, you know, I think he’s a more talented back then levy on Bell was and, you know, that’s saying something because obviously Bell had some pretty good years there in Pittsburgh. But I am maybe a little pessimistic about my expectations for nazy Harris, due to a lot of what Kevin said, you know, the offensive line is there the this is arguably the worst offensive line they’ve had since Ben Roethlisberger has been there. I mean, they’re gonna really have a lot of trouble making the holes for NASA he’s gonna be called upon to create a lot of his own yardage but at the same time he’s the he’s the guy that’s capable of creating on his own so i think you know, it’s gonna be interesting I have him right in the same range as you guys I have him as quarterback as running back 15 which is right where I expect them to finish you know, a mid tier running back to definitely, you know, productive for a rookie but I feel like people are drafting him higher than that with higher expectations than that I think people are looking at him as a potential back end RB one and I’m not optimistic that he’s going to deliver quite that kind of value. So if you’re drafting him in the second round, third round, I think you’re overdrafted
Derek 13:40
Yeah, it’ll be interesting to see cuz I I see what happens. I see what what happened with ch last year happen with nachi. This year as redraft starts coming coming closer and closer and closer to the point where you’re going to see people definitely start overreaching to the point where when, when real redraft got got hot and heavy, they’re right there towards the end of August, beginning of September, you were seeing ch go in like the 107, the 108 and a lot of lot of times, and I think you’re gonna see knauz creep up there kind of a back half of your first round top half your second round deal, and that’s going to be way too high for me, right now when I when I see that looking at it. I have him with a pretty good finish on this, but it’s not going to be a great finish. It’s not going to be a running back one type of deal. He’s going to be right there that running back 1415 for me, I’m kind of curious here, you know, but one of the big things I see holding them back is going to be the touchdowns with it. I think he’ll get plenty of yards. I think he’ll get plenty of carries and opportunities there. Because you know, when you draft a guy in the first round, you’re going to get the ball in his hands and let him work and let him do that. And He’s talented enough to get some some good work in there. But kind of an over under here. Do you guys see him with over under 275 carries on the 2021 Season.
DaveFantasy 15:02
I’d say that’s real close to what I expect. I probably take the under but not by a lot. You know, between 250 and 275 seems reasonable for me.
Alex 15:16
Yeah, I’m right there with it. I’m the under under but not by much.
Kevin 15:24
I’m gonna take the under as well. Typically as you get into the this NFL season right rookie running backs do tend to fade slightly down the stretch, it is a bit of a longer season, it’s a little bit more grueling. They haven’t had kind of their their full year to get their NFL body accustomed to the the, the hits and the length of the season. And it does cause them to slow down slightly. On top of let’s not forget the Steelers, use the short passing game for a ton of running type offense last season. I don’t think that completely goes away. I think it’s going to do a couple different things. And by using that short passing game, I think it’s going to be a way to keep the defense spread out a little bit so that way, they don’t continue to stack so many in the box because if you miss and Deontay Johnson goes by you, you know, Juju goes by you. I mean, that’s six points right there. So Claypool the same thing. He’s got over the top speed too. So they can’t commit too many to the box. But I don’t think he gets I don’t think he hits 275. I think 250 sounds pretty damn close to me.
Alex 16:37
Okay. I’d also i’d also throw in there too, I think I think the Steelers, you know, for as much as I, you know, don’t like the organization, I respect what they do, because they’ve obviously done it very well, for a very long time. You don’t have the success that you have, without going about things. I hate to use this cliche term, but without doing things the right way. And I think there’ll be smart about Nagi Harris, I think they will understand, you know, he is a rookie, he is playing a extend extended season for the very first time, including all of the off the field stuff that goes into it. So I think that there will be caution in his usage. And I think that they might be, you know, overly cautious to not overuse him. Because this is a long con, you get four years really out of a running back for really good years out of a running bag. And you’d hate to waste one. Or you’d hate to, to use the first one up and affect the next three.
Kevin 17:40
And I think the real question is is over under 15 touches in the preseason. Like I think that’ll tell you how much they want to save them.
Derek 17:48
Yeah, you’re probably right. I’ve got him slightly over that 275 mark. So I’ll be the bullish one here on opportunities, but just slightly over. So pretty good. Mix there with with it seeming to be that 275 Mark kind of being a pretty good line there. So let’s go ahead and head on over to some of the other running backs here. You’ve got Benny schnell, you’ve got Anthony McFarland on the on the roster. A couple of guys that they spent some, you know, some day to draft capital on over the last couple of seasons, any desire to really talk about, about these guys, any fantasy relevance that you see for these guys. In 2021.
DaveFantasy 18:30
Fantasy relevance, not so much. I think I would say Benny Snell could be a decent handcuff in a later round. You know, if you if you were looking for, you know, some lottery tickets as the drafts kind of wind down, he’ll continue to be in the mix, I think throughout the season to spell Nagi Harris and things like that. He also could get a little bit of the goal line work because he’s pretty stout dude. But I don’t you know, I don’t think he has standalone fantasy value unless something were to happen to nachi Harris.
Alex 19:02
Yeah, I think he’s he’s a protector investment pick. That’s what Benny Snell is. And that’s I agree with you, Dave. That he will he’ll probably he’ll be the spell back. He’ll be the guy that that relieves Nagi Harris but as far as stand alone, I don’t know. They also have Kevin’s favorite running back of all time on their roster. But we can digress because I know Kevin doesn’t want to talk about him very much.
Kevin 19:33
kalen baggage, dudes a turd. Now it’s no i’m not i’m not drafting any Steelers running back beside nachi. Like we saw what they were trying to do last year when James Conner went down, and no one had it like you would show a glimpse and out of 15 touches they might do something with one or two of them. Part of it was the offensive line part of it. just the sheer talent differential right between even James Connor and we’re Anthony McFarland as a rookie coming in and Benny Snell coming in like I’m not blown away by either one of those guys they’re really gonna have to show me something in the preseason and and really jump off the film to get me to consider them otherwise it’s noisy or bust for the Steelers run game for me.
Alex 20:23
I would also agree that seven has a big part in maybe not taking another running back because I think you know, he’s got an ego that big enough that he’ll get it done if if the right people aren’t on the field.
Derek 20:43
Alrighty, well, let’s go ahead and head on over to the wide receiver room there and we’re gonna start with Deontay Johnson, who finished last year as the as the wide receiver 23 and a half point P i have point scoring 88 receptions on 144 targets 923 yards, seven touchdowns, your thoughts on Deontay Johnson.
Alex 21:05
Before Kevin gets going, because this was a guy. This was a guy that Kevin, I remember Kevin being like Super duper high on him and just the frustration level that Deontay Johnson brought him week in and week out, so so I’m excited to hear this from Kevin.
Kevin 21:27
The Steelers want to Deontay Johnson to be their true number one in such a bad way last year. And he had glimpses of it, but then he had the yips and was dropping all these sorts of freaking passes. And then he got the injury bug that kind of crept up. Yeah, there was a couple of games where he missed. Look a moto was the game against Tennessee where he missed the second half with the hamstring or something like that, like it was it was a wide receiver to performance. But it was a frustrating way to get to wide receiver to territory in that in that 23 final ranking just because they wanted him to be the guy he started off so hot, and then all of a sudden he forgot how to catch the damn football. All that being said, I still like to say Johnson like I still think he’s I still think he’s the guy going forward. I think Ben Roethlisberger showed that he trusts him last year even through the drops. You got only knows what’s going on with Juju. We’ll get to him in a bit. But deonte was really the guy that for a large part of the season. If Ben was looking to make a play, Dante was that guy until Claypool continued to kind of emerge throughout the season and then Juju flash as well. But Dante was the one who is getting a lot of those first down catches, he was taking a lot of those short passes. And getting a lot of the yards after the catch form. And in the early stages of the season. I expect a lot of that to continue for him. So while i’m not i’m not going to jump off the moon for Deontay Johnson, like I thought I was doing a lot of times last year, he’s a guy that I openly welcome onto my roster is a piece of the passing game in Pittsburgh.
DaveFantasy 23:12
Yeah, I’m a big deontae guy I understand your frustration from last year. But I drafted him as like the 14th wide receiver off the board in my home league. So I was pretty happy with that all in all, you know, I got to wait a long time before I grabbed him and then he delivered on that ADP, but I you know, I expect him to lead the team in targets again this year. I think that he should be probably a wide receiver to again, but you know, kind of towards the lower end sort of where he ended up last year. I feel like he’s gonna be in the same position come year. And I do think that the the new offensive coordinator in Pittsburgh, Matt, Canada is going to want to try and stretch the field a little bit more. I know that, you know, we talked, you guys talked a little bit about the Dink and dunk style passing that they used to sort of an extension of the run game last year. I’m not I don’t think that goes away completely either. But I do think that you know, they’re gonna definitely look to stretch the field a little more, that’s also going to depend a lot on how nachi Harris performs, you know, but if the run games a legit threat, you know, they’ll get the opportunity to look downfield a little more, because that’s kind of Canada’s got a little more gutsy style than Randy fichtner had. So I think you know, there’s a good chance that we’ll see. Deontay a little further down the field and not so many just short passes, which is going to give them the opportunity to score more touchdowns. I definitely think we’re gonna see more than seven touchdowns this year from the day.
Alex 24:47
I think, I think a big issue with Deontay Johnson was the fact that he would put up really, really good weeks and then back that up with nothing Nothing like it was if you looked at like his performance last year, it was the classic. The mountain on the bar graph like it was, it was incredible how he could put up, you know, he’d have a game where he’d have nine receptions and two touchdowns. And then the very next week, this is week, seven to week, eight last year, nine receptions on 15 targets had 80 yards and two touchdowns very next week against Baltimore, and we gate one reception on three targets for six yards. And that was kind of indicative of the season that he had. And I think for a lot of, you know, for fantasy owners, and Kevin lamented This, I think, every other week, obviously, last year, was it Deontay Johnson, you know, it’s like, do I play him? Or do I not because of what he can be, versus the up and down that you would get week in and week out with him. That’s that, you know, to the point of Kevin there with with him getting into that wide receiver, too. It was a struggle to get there, because it was showing consistent from week to week. If for some way we can see some level of consistency where it may be, you know, he doesn’t need to have nine for 80 and two scores every week. But if for some reason he can give us you know, at least six every week, at least, you know, 75 yards every week and get in the endzone every other week. That’s fine, or you know, every two weeks, whatever it may be. But that’s I think the frustrating part about Deontay Johnson is, is there is a high risk, not overall. But from week to week, it is a high risk playing him because of just the inconsistency of what he would get in terms of usage from week to week, so I’m a little leery of him, I still I still think that if I get him at the right price, if he’s there at a decent spot for me. Yeah, I’d be all over him just because you know, you’d like to have that piece on your roster. It’s just then incumbent upon you to make sure that he plays to his potential and you like the matchups that he gets in and hope that you know, you don’t play him in a week where you really need a big week from Deontay Johnson, and you get a one for six. And that’s it.
Derek 27:20
So I can I can hear what you’re saying. But let me let me tell you why I would absolutely put deonte Johnson on a roster. So when you look at it right now, you’re talking about the inconsistency he finished, ranked as the 23rd overall wide receiver last year and half point scoring, he was the 22nd overall consistency rank. So the consistency rank was right alongside where his overall finish was to it. That just shows the inconsistency of the wide receiver group as a whole. But here’s why I will absolutely put him on a roster. When you look at where he’s going right now he is the 22nd wide receiver off the board in ADP, which is probably he’ll finish probably just a little bit above that. But when you look at everybody else around that area, they are not going to come close and targets to him. So I’m going to take the opportunity there. And for a guy that you’re able to draft right now in the very back of the fifth top of the six type of range. Like that’s really kind of where his where his, his draft has capital is going to put in in back half of that fifth. That’s a second wide receiver that you’re putting on your roster. So you’re not relying on him to be that number one wide receiver you’re relying on him to be dependent on how you draft either your second or third wide receiver in some cases, and you’re talking about a guy that’s going to get a ton of targets which leads me to my next question for y’all. Do you see the line for deonte Johnson over under 150 targets?
Kevin 28:48
Hmm, I like it a lot. I like that a good
Alex 28:53
number. I will go under because of the mouths to feed. Okay, Dave, what do you got over under 150?
DaveFantasy 29:03
I think I’d go slightly under two and a lot of that’s going to be because hopefully you know there will be a little bit more past catching out of the backfield with nachi Harris than there was last season. And I think that could eat into that potential targets for deonte. Kevin,
Kevin 29:21
I’m going over because when when he was fully healthy last year, he had a minimum of 10 targets. Now when he got dinged up obviously that eats into it but we’re not here to predict injury we’re here to you know, just call a spade a spade when he was healthy last year. They fed him the ball and a minimum of 10 targets each game just kind of naturally gets you there because we have the extra game this season. On top of the fact that at some point you know the the Steelers will have to kind of choose a true number one like Ben Roethlisberger does. He’s not talking Tom Brady, right like Ben Roethlisberger is not going to spread it around between Antonio Brown, Mike Evans and Chris Godwin, the way that Tom Brady did. Like he’s not going to do that here in Pittsburgh, you’ll find a true number one. And I think deonte Johnson has the best skill set to do it amongst the three guys that are currently the three starters that are on the roster.
Derek 30:19
Right. That’s, that’s how I see it as well. I’m looking at it, I also see him because of the fact that they added knauz in there. And they’ll have, you know, more consistency, I think out of that backfield. As far as a run game goes, as far as being able to catch the ball out of the backfield as well, I think that actually is going to open things up for him. And you’ll actually see his catch rate improve a little bit there as well. Something tells me that a wide receiver that, you know, kind of got dubbed with some of those drop issues that he got, and really all that kind of based off of one or two games there. But you know, dub that way you’ll see a guy having spent a lot of time in the offseason working on on catching the ball, bringing it in and securing it. So I think you’ll see his catch rate go up a little bit there as well. So I’ve actually, I’ve got him over 150. And I’ve seen him just at about 100 receptions on the season as well. So again, count, count me in on Deontay Johnson all the way, especially when you start considering that ATP, and the fact that he’s going to be my second or third wide receiver on my team there. Some very cool, let’s go ahead and we’ll talk about Juju Smith Schuster, who finished as the wide receiver 18 last year, 97 receptions, 128 targets 831 yards and nine touchdowns. Your thoughts on Juju Smith Schuster,
DaveFantasy 31:39
I think it’s gonna be a lot based on you know, determined by the role that he plays, if they can have him as the sort of nitty gritty doing the dirty work kind of wide receiver the way they had him last year, I wouldn’t be as excited about taking him. But if they give him a chance to play a little more on the outside, then in the slot, you know, he played a lot of the in the slot this past year. If they give them a chance to get a little bit more on the outside. I think, you know, there’s potential for some big plays. Obviously, we’ve seen him, you know, make some of these ridiculous 90 plus yard receptions in the past, you know, I’m not calling necessarily one of those monster plays, but he’s he’s able to get loose, you know, he has the speed to do it. And if they get them a little further downfield, I would be much surprised if he doesn’t come out with more yards this year than he did last year. I mean, it’s kind of crazy when you when I was listening to you say those numbers and it’s 97 receptions and only 831 yards that those two numbers don’t usually fit together like that. So
Alex 32:44
yeah, I think Juju was a I think a lot of people were disappointed in Juju last year because of the expectations that we all had for him. Right, you know, we were expecting him to in a you know, in a contract year be a guy, you know, who is established? And we figured that him and Ben would have that connection? And well, you know, to Derek’s point earlier, you know, this whole team was so up and down. You know, it was each week it was a pick your poison type deal with this team, which which kind of frustrating for fantasy owners who have, you know, maybe one piece of this offense versus you know, the entirety of it. So, yeah, with Juju, you know, you look at the games that he had last year, and he never had a game over 100 yards. And he came close a couple times. But but never over 100 yards and and especially when it comes to fantasy for a guy who you know, is it? I mean, he’s seeing the football lot, right? And he’s catching it, but you’d like to get those 100 yard Bonus points if you’re in a league that does that, and most mostly do. Nine touchdowns is great. But it’s just so confusing. This whole offense really was confusing last year to try and break down and figure out what it was from week to week because it was just always somebody different. And I think I even had the issue with Claypool, myself in a couple weeks, it’s just like, do I play in this week? Or do I not same thing with Juju? And I think there was there was a lot of disappointment. And all that being said, I think Davey bring up a good point with the new OC coming in. Hopefully a guy that Ben Roethlisberger will actually you know, talk to at some point throughout the season. That would be probably a welcome change. I think the passing game would be a much better served, even though we’ll get to it. I’m not sure I trust trust the right arm anymore. But yeah, I think Juju is probably a candidate this year, where you can probably get in pretty low. I know his ATP is not where it was last year by any means because I think a lot of people were upset with With his performance, but I still think he’s an okay piece if you’re going to get a piece of this Steelers passing offense that you’d be okay with with getting juju on your roster?
Kevin 35:13
I think yes, Alex. And I think there’s a couple different things that I’m I see happening with Juju, I think his touchdowns probably dip a little bit from nine, maybe down to seven. But I do think that his yardage total will increase. Part of that is going to be him probably being able to play outside a little bit more, I think Deontay Johnson’s more natural fit in the slot, but we’ll see kind of how the offense is going to be constructed part of its going to be nachi. Harris, right, just creating some attention. And if he can get off to a hot start, guys, these wide receiver numbers are going to be phenomenal come mid season, right? If not, he can put his stamp on the offense in the first three or four weeks of the season. And they kind of get back to that black and gold, you know, beat you into the ground type mindset. And then all of a sudden you have safeties that are forced to cheat up. And some of these slot corners are peeking into the backfield a little bit more and opening up different type of Route concepts because they’re having to play some more zone coverage to be able to deal with some things that are going on. It’s it’s going to be fun. It should be fun. All you know, yes. Ben Roethlisberger is another year older. My my biggest thing is going back again to the offensive line as with this whole team, right? Like, Dave, you’re saying deeper out concepts? Well, that’s, it’s awesome for fantasy, right? If you can get those yardage bonuses and the big plays that hit up on sports center, and that everybody’s talking about like, those are fun to have. But what’s the cost? And by that, I mean, are you risking, you know, your quarterbacks health going five to seven steps. So often, when your offensive line is really built for three to five steps, like, you can only take so many shot plays before you’re playing a little bit of Russian Roulette with your quarterback in my opinion on this team. But as long as they hold up, Juju is a prime candidate because he’s a one touch and go guy. You know, we’ve seen it hell, he did it to the Broncos couple years ago, right when they’re playing when they’re playing here, one touch and go. And that’s what’s exciting. That’s what’s electric about this team and Juju individually. I would just like to see him. I’d like to see him improve his route tree a little bit, a little bit crisper route running, if you will create some some of that separation. But I think that will help with some of the target share if he’s able to improve on that over the offseason will like the results come September October November.
Derek 37:52
Yep, I think I don’t really have anything to add that you guys haven’t already touched on. So let’s go ahead and move on over to Chase Claypool who finished as the wide receiver 19 last year 62 receptions 109 targets 873 yards and nine touchdowns. Your thoughts on Chase Claypool.
DaveFantasy 38:12
This is the guy I’m excited about for this year. This is a guy I would really be excited about in a basketball format to because I feel like you know, he’s got the opportunity to pile up some touchdowns. Great size and speed combination. Obviously, you know, there’s been comparisons to Calvin Johnson, which I think might be a little over the top. But you know, from a just physical size and speed standpoint, I see where they’re coming from. This is another guy who would greatly benefit from some more down the field passing because of that. But your to your point about the offensive line. Kevin, you know, that is that is kind of a concern. That’s kind of my major concern. I think you guys might remember on draft night when the Steelers took Najee Harris in the first round. I was kind of blown away that they didn’t take an offensive lineman. That was I thought the biggest need and I thought we were gonna address that. But the offensive line might have gotten a little worse in the offseason To be honest, and it wasn’t really great last year. But for what they weren’t good at last year, which was run blocking that’s a big part of the reason the run game was so bad. They did do pretty well as a pass blocking unit I think they were ranked sixth overall by pff or something like that as a pass blocking unit. So that’s still gonna have to be their their strongest side of the ball. I know I understand you know, they’re gonna have to protect graph Lisberger but I think that’s kind of the that’s kind of their, their strength, you know, is is playing from being able to protect the quarterback on a pass play. And I don’t know that every single play will have to be a five to seven step drop, to just get it a little further down the field than they did because Because they’re, you know, the release time from raffensperger last year was the fastest in the league you know, they had the shortest a dot i believe of any, you know, as a team of anyone in the NFL. And so it’s not going to you know, it doesn’t have to be like a total go route every time just to get the ball down the field a little bit more, which I think that they’re going to need to do in order to avoid you know, the finish that they had last year.
Alex 40:29
If there were 16 games if if the Steelers specifically if Chase, Claypool can play 16 now 17 games against the Philadelphia Eagles I would be all in on chase play pool and there would be no question about putting him on my roster because that was the week week five last year that he went bananas had the four total touchdowns three through the air one on the ground. And really, really, really projected his you know, his his touchdown totals you take that game away, you take away you know a game where he had to in week 10 against Cincinnati. He had four touchdowns the other 14 weeks well cuz you touchdowns Yeah. But four touchdowns in 14 weeks is is not great. That’s the point I’m getting at and for for a guy who you know is going to need touchdowns and to his credit he did get touchdowns and that’s why he was able to finish up in that you know up above wide receiver 2019 territory. That that’s the the the game that you play and Dave, I’m glad you brought it up and I you know should have brought it up earlier myself. I was thinking man and smart. All of these Steelers wide receivers are perfect for best ball. You know, he just get one. You put them on your roster you hope that week they go they go off. Otherwise it’s it’s no harm no foul. But that’s that’s the format that if you’re in a basketball, we get one of these Steelers wide receivers and hope that your guy hits more often than not, because that’s again, you know, another guy Chase. Claypool did that same thing with his performance just up and down week in and week out. And it was it was probably it was very, very frustrating. I know. I had Claypool a couple Claypool shares it was it was frustrating to be to once again, man I could use a big week from Chase Claypool and he puts up a goose egg. And then there’s other weeks where it’s like, you know what, I got burned by Chase Claypool. And then he goes, Hey, I’m on my bench. And that’s not very much fun. So, there was a lot of if I had hair, I would have pulled it out a bunch last year trying just to decide if Chase Claypool should be my starting lineup. But basketball now that’s, that’s the format for these guys.
Kevin 42:57
So I don’t have a whole lot to add here. But I will say this, I’m, I use this strategy a bit with running back by committees. And if I’m struggling to figure out which guy want and kind of where i, where i want to draft him. Take the guy with the lowest ATP because then you have the highest upside with it, right? And it works a little bit better than basketball, right? Because you’re, you’re not your return on investment calculates different, right? You’re not having to make that roster move and figure out where the matchup is. But as I’m kind of looking at this, it’s not that I don’t like Deontay Johnson or Juju Smith Schuster. It’s just I might happen to like some other guys slightly more in in those areas that they’re going but if I can get Chase Claypool a couple rounds later, and I’m going up against him or Michael Gallup, or, you know, some of these other teams that are kind of looking, you know, oh, why am I escaping his name? Antonio Brown, like is a possibility, right? It’s that third receiver in a three headed monster. I’m all about the value at that point. And if I can get clay Poole, who is young and Spry, and has that boom potential?
Derek 44:22
Oh, it looks like Kevin’s internet is having the cloud now.
Kevin 44:26
Then Rena six as the season goes on.
Derek 44:29
Alrighty. So actually, Kevin, you you kind of lead me into the the question that I had for everybody. And that was you kind of this nebulous situation where you’ve got a multiple wide receivers that all will have a lot of fantasy relevance there. Who do you want out of that? That’s kind of the way that that I also would look at that as well is take the guy with the lowest ADP when they’re all kind of bunched up together there for the same reasons we’re talking about. So that leads me to my second Question for the group here. And just a, just a one name answer and we’ll, we’ll move on over to tight ends but right now you’ve got Deontay Johnson with an ADP of 57. You have Chase Claypool with an ADP of 71 and Juju Smith Schuster with an ADP of 79. So taking them out there ADP Who are you taking for a redraft league? Juju? Juju? Yeah, I can’t wait for this
Alex 45:32
deontae
Derek 45:37
Oh,
Kevin 45:37
so I gives you the best of both worlds. He has that boom potential, but he also sees more consistent targets than Claypool like that’s why I like him on top of the fact he’s the cheapest, and get him out. Yep, halfway around later in clay pool and, you know, even later than that from deontae. So, bang for my buck. Absolutely.
Derek 45:58
All righty. Well, let’s go ahead and head on over to the tight end room where Eric Ebron came over last year he finished as the tight end 15. 56 receptions, 91, targets, 558 yards, five touchdown thoughts on Eric Ebron.
Kevin 46:16
That catch rate is what got him kicked out of Detroit. That catch rate is what really got him kicked out of Indianapolis outside of his first seat is you know, the season with Andrew Luck, right? That is the problem with Eric Ebron. He is an athlete, he is a big bodied guy. He’s not afraid to go high point the ball. He’s good and good in the end zone. As far as you know, designing plays for him. It’s a 5050 shot whether he’s coming down with that sucker. And at untighten 15. I’m streaming them all day long anyway, so I had, you know, I’m not targeting ebron. But there’s a good chance I’ll own him at some point throughout the season.
Alex 46:58
Yeah, he’s definitely not a draftable tight end, in my opinion.
DaveFantasy 47:06
Yeah, he Brian doesn’t really excite me a lot. When we’re talking Steeler tight end, actually, I’m kind of excited about Pat fryer Muth in dynasty, you know, if you can get your hands on him at a value, I mean, I think that guy’s gonna be a red zone target. sooner than later, I think he’s gonna make a difference and be one of those Titans that, you know, gets a fair amount of touchdowns on a year to year basis. So I think that he’s another guy that I was really surprised when the Steelers drafted him. But you know, now that the draft has come and gone, I’m looking at the way they’re going to use them. And it kind of kind of makes me excited to think about his potential.
Kevin 47:45
The only thing that’s making me hesitate on him, Dave is the fact that out of college, he’s already better blocker than Eric Ebron. And so I’m afraid of the offensive line struggles are a thing like we’ve been kind of echoing throughout the segment. He’s gonna probably be asked to stay in line a little bit more, at least initially, but dynasty, it’s a good long play. Most Titans don’t pop until year three anyway. So it’s a good long play in dynasty stash him, let him develop as the blocker and then once he bronze out of town, they’ll draft some yuck in the fifth round block for everybody. And he’ll get out in the routes.
Derek 48:22
Already, I like it. I don’t really have anything riveting to add there. So let’s go ahead and we’ll move on over to the quarterback. And you got Big Ben. Last year coming off of that injury, and finished Ed quarterback, 14 last year, 399, completions, 608 attempts, 3803 yards, 433 touchdowns, and 10 interceptions, your thoughts on Big Ben?
DaveFantasy 48:55
Well, this is the big question mark. Right. I mean, whether or not he’s still got something in the tank is, is going to be the answer to all of these questions, if any, you know, of how this offense is gonna go, it’s gonna go as far as Ben can take them. I think, you know, I’m not really optimistic about him and fantasy. I’m hoping that you know, he’ll be able to get the job done from an NFL standpoint and get the job done enough that he can make these weapons on his team valuable and fantasy. But as far as bins own fantasy value, I expect, you know, low end quarterback to finish from him. He’s, he’s not bad if you know, superflex if he’s your second quarterback, that’s, you know, he’ll be fine. But I wouldn’t want him to be my quarterback one on any of my fantasy teams. That’s for sure.
Alex 49:51
Yeah, so as I mentioned, I was commiserating with a Steelers fan while I was at work to today and There’s no secrets here where we are, that the three of us are the three of us are Broncos fans. And I actually had to think to myself, would I rather have Ben Roethlisberger, or the two yucks that Denver is going to trot out? This year one of the two yucks that Denver is going to trot out this year with Drew Walker, Teddy Bridgewater. And I would take Ben Roethlisberger, the boy would I be not super thrilled about that one either. So I know I have Ben just because of he is established, he knows what he’s doing. He’s smart enough to understand how to protect himself and he has the weapons around him and knows how to utilize those weapons around him. That I actually have been as my 20th. Quarterback this year, just because I think he savvy enough to get those to get those points, those touchdowns those yards. So, so that’s where I have him. Spoiler alert. I have neither of the two Broncos quarterbacks inside the top 32 so there’s that
Derek 51:20
not true. Teddy Bridgewater. 31.
Alex 51:22
Pardon me? Pardon me? Just barely inside the top 32. So I think I you know, to me, you know, I will I will always go in a different direction than Ben Roethlisberger when it comes to drafting a quarterback just because it’s probably more of a personal vendetta against the guy than anything. It’s just I just don’t, I just don’t care for him. Let’s just that’s just what it is. So I would look elsewhere, but I still think he puts up a decent year this year. But I do think that the Steelers would be better served. If they could just tell him to ride off into the sunset.
Kevin 52:10
I like Big Ben he. I don’t love Big Ben but I like him. I like the pieces that they have around it. I do see him regressing a little bit but I’m expecting nazy to do things that take the pressure off of him right that don’t require the fastest eight out in the league, the you know, the or the short smart excuse me the shortest eight out in the league in the fastest release time of his career. Like I’m not expecting all those things because of what knauz can do. I think he is a very solid second quarterback in a super flex League, you know, in a single QB league. No, I’m not going out and I’m not targeting Ben Roethlisberger. But I think he’s a good superflex piece to have because he has so many explosive weapons around him that you’re gonna see a lot of good things come from him now. All that to be said Alex, I have them at 19 so I only have them one spot above you, I’m just choosing to look at it with more of a glass half full view of what can actually go on and a lot of it’s just the guys I have in front of them i think i think the quarterback position this year is is going to you know, really take off with all this youth that we’ve put into that position over the last four years. There’s so many good quarterbacks in the league right now you have to rank someone you know 20 through 32 like it’s just how it works.
Derek 53:37
So I’m most bullish on Big Ben between the three of us at 18. So you know one spot ahead of you in two spots ahead of Alex there but when you look at kind of how that’s that’s grouped in there as far as how that goes, I don’t see him finishing that far behind. You know, the guys that that 17 1615 type of thing. They’re all kind of in that same tier for me but I do I like the like the pieces around them. I like the fact that again, he’s going to have a bunch of volume going his way he’ll complete a bunch of bunch of passes throw for a bunch of yards and you’ll see him put up probably north of 30 touchdowns I think this season as well. So I like a lot of the you know a lot of that has to do with all the pieces around him. While that line needs a lot of work I think it you again will see knauz help establish a run game, they’ll use that short pass game to help establish the run there as well and buy him some time so I I like Big Ben as a second quarterback for superflex I like him for single you know if you’re planning on streaming the quarterback and doing a super late tight are super late quarterback in a single quarterback league but if I’m playing him as my one quarterback and I’m, you know spending some draft capital on that Not gonna happen all pumped up position he’s a guy that you can get super late that I can spend that draft capital elsewhere and build up a roster around him that would allow me to stream him as a quarterback and play the matchups for some
Alex 55:13
Okay, here’s a fun one for the group and I know we’re going to get into our quarterback rankings but if you had the choice and you’re looking for your second quarterback obviously in a superflex League, and you come across these three options, these three guys are available. Which one are you taking? Kirk Cousins, Ben Roethlisberger. Or Daniel Jones.
Kevin 55:45
Captain Kirk, the dude always finds a way to end up in the top 12 like no matter where and how terrible we think he’s gonna be Captain Kirk manages to finish in QB one or fringe QB one territory every single year.
DaveFantasy 56:03
Yeah, I’m with you there actually, I just missed Kirk Cousins earlier in the Scott fishbowl draft today. And I was a little bit disappointed in that I thought, you know, I was gonna be pretty safe with him and looking forward to the pic but he went a couple pics ahead of me. So
Intro 56:18
I know the feeling. had something similar happened as well. Between those guys. I think I’m gonna take her cousins. Again say for floor. You have the Vikings. I like that offense a little bit better. So yeah, I I’ll probably take the Kirk Cousins there as well. So I think we’re consensus there on our unanimous on the Kirk Cousins.
Kevin 56:45
I have one more random question and then we can move on. But this goes right to the Deontay Johnson thing, right? So Deontay Johnson, we said, you know, case of the drops Jerry Judy, we know how to claim the drops. Evan Ingram had a big hammer on him for all the drops in New York. The other guy who finished I guess tied for second in the league and drops was one CD Lamb who people cannot get off this guy’s jockstrap and deontae lead the league a 10 drops. And then Judy and CD lamb both had nine and Evan Ingram had eight. So part of its volume driven, but these drops are real. And the problem is, is especially with deontae, right because the Steelers were started out so stinking hot that his drops just came at terrible times. sitting there watching them on prone television on Sunday Night Football and the dude has four drops in one half on Sunday Night Football and you’re going What in the world is this guy doing? So that was my thing for the night of compiling who had the most drops and Deontay won the most drops a word. Yeah.
Derek 58:02
Yeah, I yeah. As far as CD lamb goes, I like the fact that Dak will be back. I also like that when you look at while Jerry Judy also had a ton of drops when you look at his catchable balls, the balls that were actually catchable around him yet. He was one of the lowest catchable balls rate in the league last year for wide receivers so yeah, it was I’ll take I would definitely take those guys they’re simply from the standpoint that if you’re a Jerry Jeudy you don’t know if the ball is even going to be in the vicinity of you to catch just because the fact that drew locks throwing you the ball Hey, Teddy
Alex 58:42
said before after we had the practice squad wide receiver playing quarterback for us which I thought was an improvement at the position
Derek 58:54
now now that you guys said yes now that now that we really brought that riveting analysis home um, any final thoughts on the Steelers
Alex 59:06
good team best all monsters Yeah.
Derek 59:11
Alrighty, Alrighty, well guys, we have been talking about for a little bit and now is the time that we’re going to start revealing some of our rankings and we’ve got the consensus rankings for the good ol boys. We’re gonna break that out more in depth on our website good old boys FF calm, make sure that you check that out. We’ll have the your full rankings listed over there and kind of bring those to you. You can also find some of those on the socials as well. But tonight, we’re going to hit up our top 15 and consensus QB rankings and Dave is going to give us his takes on our rankings and kind of see, you know, where he would things where the two high to low links were, we’re just about right here. We’re gonna play some Goldilocks with these rankings here. Dave, Dave letting us know. So number one consensus was Patrick Mahomes. interesting side note, while it was consensus, it was not unanimous. Josh Allen number two Kyler yoy going on? Yep.
Alex 1:00:15
While it was consensus he was not unanimous because I think debit or Derek’s been hanging out too much in that crisp, thin air of the Mile High City too much. And by crisp, thin air, I mean we’d fill the air because he is smoking something fierce with the guy that he has ranked number one overall.
Derek 1:00:36
Yep, that would be Dak Prescott. Yeah. Then, and I can get into the my reasonings behind behind why I have him out scoring Patrick Mahomes Yeah, he’s in. But let’s go ahead and get through the list and we can get to we can get to some of that here in a moment. The reasoning is you visited the head shop,
Alex 1:00:54
he visited the green that’s the reasoning.
Derek 1:00:59
Oh, no, not the case. Kyler Murray number three Dak Prescott. Number four. Russell Wilson. Number five. Lamar Jackson number six. Aaron Rodgers. Number seven. Tom Brady. Number eight. Justin Herbert. Number nine. Jalen Hurts. Number 10. Joe Burrow number 11. Ryan Tannehill at 12. All right, let’s
Alex 1:01:19
stop there. Let’s stop there. All right, because that’s our QB one right. So he was our our QB ones. And Derek if you would be so kind maybe copy and paste that throw it in the comments so people could see what we got. But But Dave, what do you got based on our let’s let’s go on our top five that we had, which was mahomes. Allen, Murray, Prescott, and Russell Wilson.
DaveFantasy 1:01:46
Actually, when it comes to the top five, I don’t I can’t really fault you guys too much on anything. I have Kyler second over Josh Allen who I have third. But I have the same five just not in precisely the same order. So I like your top five. I like I like your start. I think you guys do advise when by the time you get to five.
Alex 1:02:06
Okay, so it sounds like you have We made it. We made it out. I got some objections here when it comes to maybe six through 12. So six. Not to belabor the point but six is Lamar Jackson, are you okay with Lamar at six?
DaveFantasy 1:02:23
I’m actually lower on Lamar than a lot of people are. I didn’t realize that until I’ve seen everybody else’s quarterback rankings that. And I also went on fantasy pros just to kind of get a glimpse of what the expert consensus is right now. And they have Lamar at fourth which I thought was too high, much to I actually have Lamar at eight. So interesting. I don’t hate him and six, but there’s a couple quarterbacks that I want to get in there ahead of them. Okay, we
Alex 1:02:55
have Rogers. Hold on, hold
Kevin 1:02:57
on how the hell? Boy, but okay, nothing.
Alex 1:03:05
Good. Okay. We have Rogers more than seven.
DaveFantasy 1:03:11
Rogers at seven is a little too high for me, just because I think there is some legitimate concern that he’s not going to play this year. I don’t know that. I believe that he won’t play but at the same time, it’s not going to throw me if he says, Look, I meant what I said, and I’m not coming back to Green Bay. So I just have a little I have a little harder time putting him that Hi. Do too to the risk. You know, I
Alex 1:03:40
think he’s riskier than some of these guys. For what it’s worth two pieces of information that just came out. hours before we started recording this here on Tuesday night. One was Rogers wasn’t on the opt out list for the Packers. He was not put on that list. So there’s something too, he was playing in that golf tournament with Tom, Phil and Bryson to Shambo. They were doing that. That was tonight. And they, the guys on TNT were busting his chops trying to get him to commit to something. And he just dodged the question altogether. So there’s that. All right there, we had it scrolling there. What do we have for eight is Tom Brady?
DaveFantasy 1:04:38
Yeah, that’s another one’s a little too high for me. I don’t know that I can put them up at eight. In fact, I did my own rankings, just so I’d have something to compare it to. And I have him at 11.
Alex 1:04:55
Kevin, in our individual rankings, which is what caused that Reaction there. Kevin very bullish on Tom Brady. You got him up at five Kevin? No, that’s
Derek 1:05:05
me.
Alex 1:05:05
Oh, sorry, Derek. Derek very bullish. You’ve got him up at five. Kevin and I are eight and nine respectively. Derek, what are you doing? I see.
Derek 1:05:18
Here’s the thing behind Tom Brady.
1:05:20
This I call this
Derek 1:05:22
here’s the thing with Brady right when you look at it, quarterbacks take a leap in year two under the Bruce Arians system right so we already saw that start to happen towards the tail end of last year. Most quarterbacks take a full year to get the system I ended offseason to then you know die to digest it and be able to produce on it. You saw that start to happen last year took it all the way to to a Super Bowl. this coming year. I see him just under 5000 yards total passing 41 touchdowns about 12 interceptions. And that’s going to ride him all the way up into a number five ranking for me.
Alex 1:06:01
Excellent. Okay, we’ve got Justin Herbert at number nine. Both Kevin and I are a little bit more bullish than Derrick on this one. Kevin and I both had him at seven Derrick attend consensus night.
DaveFantasy 1:06:16
This is one that I think you’re too low on I have Herbert as six overall. I’m expected some big things out of him. I you know, do in large part to the offensive line is much better. In San Diego, you know, they brought in Corey Linsley they brought in Matt feiler I just feel like they solidified the line in front of them, and they really sought to do that. Then even though Hunter Henry moves on, they got Jared Cook in his tight end now. So I don’t feel like he’s gonna lose that much, you know, talent out of the tight end position. And when we were talking at the very beginning of the show, and you’re talking about guys that I might be higher on or guys that I would overpay for. I put Keenan Allen in that category. I think Keenan Allen is gonna have a monster year with Justin Herbert this year. And so yeah, I’m higher on Herbert overall, the new guys.
Alex 1:07:16
I’m in on you with the Keenan Allen tech I was made last year about this time forced into that take I might add, because I had to break down the Chargers for one of our guest spots that we did. And all of a sudden I was like, Man, you know, it’s gonna be pretty freakin good. This next year, last offseason. So I was big on Keenan Allen.
Derek 1:07:36
Herbert, I see Herbert. While he still has a really good year, I don’t see I see that chargers defense with everybody coming back and healthy. Be able to them not having to throw the ball to stay in games and then being able to play behind that defense, which is a great defense. And the fact that they’ll be able to establish the run a little bit and play a little bit closer games where they’re not having to send him out there and throw the ball you know, 60% of their, you know, as a 6040 run rate or 6040 pass to run ratio. I probably see that come out a little bit back more to the point where you’re gonna see probably about a 54% 55% Pass 45% run so that kind of swing back a little bit towards a little bit more of a balanced steel playing behind that defense is what brought him down for me just a little bit.
Alex 1:08:26
All right, we’ve got hurt at 10
DaveFantasy 1:08:31
Yeah, I’ve got him at nine so I’m not gonna really you and Derek there that’s pretty darn close. I like his you know, rushing upside obviously.
Alex 1:08:44
One that we kind of were a little bit all over the place with was Joe Burrow at 11 Derek Scott him at 12 Kevin’s got him at 10 I have him at 14
DaveFantasy 1:08:57
I have burrow at 12 so I’m right there in the middle with you guys.
Alex 1:09:02
Very good.
Derek 1:09:03
Behind him throwing the ball a lot.
DaveFantasy 1:09:06
Yeah, they you know, they were the highest volume passing team before his injury last year. You know, I mean, most attempts per game that is about 45 I think they were averaging about 45 attempts per game.
Derek 1:09:20
Yeah, I mean, if last year they average Yeah, it was it was insane. And the fact that you know while Joe makes sense back while they made you know, they they brought in pieces to be more offensive minded weapon and throw the ball down the field and that defense is gonna they’re gonna have to throw the ball to get to stay in game so it’s not going to surprise me Joe Burrow averages about 40 attempts a game.
DaveFantasy 1:09:44
We only spent that high draft pick to bring in chase when they could have been maybe should have taken the tackle out of Oregon, but Penny Snell. Yeah, I really liked him. I mean, I thought he was I thought he was the right pick for Cincinnati. In this draft I was caught by surprise a little bit when they took Chase, but
Alex 1:10:05
that ruined my awesome I’m not saying you know, I’m not saying that it’s gonna be a bad situation for them but that ruin my top five pick prediction was that pick I’m not sure a lot of people had that one and then as close out our QB ones we’ve got Ryan Tannehill at 12
DaveFantasy 1:10:22
all right now this is the one where I’ve got a bone to pick with you guys. I mean, he was quarterback seven last year and he’s got Julio Jones now. I mean, I don’t know how you can have it as low as you do. I think he’s got to be up there higher. I haven’t was quarterback seven. And as a matter of fact, I’m getting real excited wherever I can draft him. He’s one he’s another one in the Scott fishbowl that I was really targeting and I missed him. And I was kicking myself afterwards. Because I feel like he could be a difference maker.
Derek 1:10:54
Yeah, I was the most bearish on him between the three of us. So a lot of that had to do with the fact that while he added Julio, you’ve got to, you’ve got to you’ve got to decide how they’re going to come to play on that. And when you look at one of the things that really set Ryan Tannehill apart that put him at quarterback, seven last year was the rushing touchdowns, seven rushing touchdowns, which was a career high for him the previous high was four. So yeah, I’m gonna bring that closer back to the mean there. His touchdown clip when you’re talking. Your touchdown pass attempts has been insanely high. When he’s been in Tennessee the first year he was over there was up around a 10%. Yeah, that’s Lamar Jackson type of numbers when Lamar Jackson finishes the number one quarterback and 2019 type of touchdown rate. This past year was again insanely high, almost a 6.3% ratio which you’re just bringing him back to the median on that and kind of where the league averages and even a little bit above that. I think I’ve got him right around about a 5.6 type of touchdown rate on that which was gonna put them right about 28 touchdowns and all of that those just that touchdown decrease decrease in there is what kind of brought him down for me. Yep, I’m making up words.
Alex 1:12:15
Word, but that’s all right. Let’s
DaveFantasy 1:12:19
see. Yeah, I mean, I think he’s gonna stay close to the top in touchdown rate. Is 28 seems too low 28 touchdowns, he’s gonna throw more than that. He’s gonna throw more than that.
Alex 1:12:31
We should know that. None of the three of us and I don’t think really anybody is at this rate did not rank deshaun. Watson, we just didn’t put a number next to him. With a number of for a number of reasons, obviously. But we should note that if you’re wondering where the hell is Deshaun Watson, we didn’t rank him at all. Didn’t even put a number next to his name.
DaveFantasy 1:12:56
Right. Yeah. I mean, it’s none of this had ever happened. And we didn’t have anything to worry about with the Shawn Watson. I probably have him in that 678 range somewhere like that. But yeah, I’m with you. I
Derek 1:13:07
didn’t rank him just because I kind of really don’t think he’s playing this year. I probably put them all the way at five since Yeah, he simply just finishes as the fifth quarterback. You know, regardless of what the team does, it seems every year so. But we’ll see what that looks like as the season approaches. We get some more information on that one and what that might look like for sure.
Alex 1:13:29
Sorry, Derek, take us through 20
Derek 1:13:32
through the 20. How ready Well, at number 13 we’ve got Matthew Stafford, followed by Matt Ryan at 14 Carson Wentz at number 15. Kirk Cousins at number 16 jamis jameis. Winston make an appearance on the list at number 17. Trevor Lawrence at 18 Ben Roethlisberger at 19 and then Daniel Jones and to time for number 20 on the consensus there. So a very wide range.
Alex 1:14:07
I should point out, this is a little behind the curtain. And I didn’t realize I did this but I will I’m gonna stand by it that I meant to do it. I happen to have ranked both Kirk Cousins and Ryan Fitzpatrick at 18. Which means that I was going back and forth between the two of them. And I just forgot to switch one of them off of 18 to 19. But I will maintain that I meant to do that and kept both of them at 18. So when they finished next year, as like really close and right at 18. So that’s exactly how I heard it here. You heard it here first.
DaveFantasy 1:14:44
Oh, perfect. Yeah, there’s not too much I can complain about in your 13 through 20s. There I’ve got Tila a little higher than you guys do. I’ve got him at 15 overall expect some big things I expect some big passing volume is really what it comes down to. So I think he’s gonna have a pretty good season and you know, he has like sneaky rushing abilities. People don’t really talk about how good he is as a runner, but he’s pretty athletic guy, he’s gonna get some, you know, he’s gonna score some fantasy points of the speak
Alex 1:15:19
up I also had Trevor Lawrence at 15 Trevor Lawrence and Carson Wentz are the two I think biggest just looking at it real quick are the two biggest disparities in this group of our rankings. Whereas I unapologetically had Carson Wentz number 10. Kevin was kind of there with me at 13 and Derek, you have Carson Wentz finishing qb 24, showing yourself
Derek 1:15:47
Wow, I’m gonna have to relook at that after seeing this. also dropped the mic FF What’s up, good, good to hear from you. Good seeing ya. appreciate you tuning in here. But let me go ahead and head back over here to my projections that I had over here for Carson Wentz. And, okay, so Alex, here’s here’s the biggest problems that I see happening. One I see Indianapolis established in the run more so this year than they did even last year. And last year, they they ran the ball a ton. Part of the other problem that you have is that Carson Wentz doesn’t typically push the ball down the field a ton. You know, when you look at kind of a career average for him, when you’re talking yards per attempt, he’s down there less than seven yards per attempt. And that’s kind of about where I’ve got him on that his completion rating right about a 64. So you talk about a low lower pass volume team with a guy that’s completing about 64% not throwing the ball down the down the field a ton. He’s going to have lower yards and what what a lot of these other teams have got. Also, you look you know, I touched on earlier when you’re talking on the kind of that touchdown per average on what you’re throwing there yet he he’s a sub sub 5% touchdown ratio to pass attempts there. And so again, he’s going to be probably that 2627 touchdown ratios about where I see it on that one without a ton of rushing upside. Kevin’s trying to tell us something but he’s got got some mic issues. It looks like what
Alex 1:17:27
think his microphone broke on him. Oh, he just pulled it off. That might explain things. Hopefully, we’ll see if that worked. I the other biggest disparate, we’ve got
Derek 1:17:47
sharp coming to coming to your aid to rebut my my attempts there the saying that yards per attempt is bad because his receivers were bad. I’ve got to agree with you. But I also think the fact of the matter is to that he also looks to throw a little bit shorter and doesn’t necessarily push the ball down the field. Now, that may change with him pairing back up with with the Reich’s offensive system here. But I again, I’m going to kind of roll with the fact that they’re going to run the ball and passing is going to be a secondary option for
Alex 1:18:18
the other one. And I was, I guess, hopeful to get Kevin’s take on this but we may not be able to, to hear from him was the other big disparity we had was Trevor Lawrence. And as as always with a rookie, I think we’re all you know, just rolling the dice anyways, with what our projections are with them. So I had Trevor Lawrence finishing at 15. Kevin at 20 and Derek at 22 for our consensus 18. Gotcha. Yeah, it’s Derek. He’s dragging it down for you. Wow. That might be a little too bullish on the guy, but I’m with you. I do think you know, I will take the the national semifinal or was it the national championship game, they’ll blend together, I will take that and throw it out the window because he looked awful running the football in that game, but he can run the football and I do think that there is value there. And I think Urban’s going to do some things to the you know, for as much as Urban’s been out of the game, the guy is still really smart when it comes to putting an offense together. And he understands how to use a quarterback and get the most out of a quarterback and then offense, and I think that he will be set up for success. And anytime you got Tim Tebow on the roster, you got to believe you’re gonna win.
DaveFantasy 1:19:38
Yeah, there’s actually I wrote Tila at number 15. But my handwriting’s terrible and when I looked down for a second I thought it said TiVo, and I’m like, I but TiVo on here is a quarterback look like what’s going on? Yeah, freaks me out just for a second there.
Alex 1:19:55
It could happen. I wouldn’t be shocked if we see one of those goals. Line jump passes. Yeah. Or to or to
Derek 1:20:06
Liberty Jump, jump play. And that could be interesting. I don’t know I just t law I I don’t like the wide receiver core that they’ve got down there. DJ Chark Marvin Jones both of those guys are kind of the field stretchers. And while I love them in basketball, you’re you’re relying on lavista Chanel to kind of be your underneath receiver. And yeah, I’ve I’ve been very public on that one that I not necessarily sold on the visca especially having watched him all the way out here in Colorado when he was in college, but he’s got some got some good pieces there but I don’t know that they necessarily bring that all together they don’t have a great defense. So I don’t know I’m not necessarily sold on T law having a top 20 season.
DaveFantasy 1:20:53
I mean, they don’t have a good defense and actually that’s part of the reason I’m a little more bullish on it because you know, I feel like they’re going to have because I mean they were first defenses last year and they did get a little bit better they brought in a lot of free aid. I don’t know how much better all those free agents are gonna make them but like guys like Shaquille Griffin keep some points off the board as opposed to what they that I still think you know that could definitely lead to a lot more passing attempts for de la and I also think Travis CTN is going to be an X factor in the passing game you know I think he could end up getting a lot of passes
Derek 1:21:36
now yeah probably right I’m it’s more of a case I’m just willing to be wrong on Trevor Lawrence this year for for redraft purposes dynasty all over that one taking him where I can get him but if for redraft purposes I’m I’m just kind of out and I’m willing to willing to be wrong on that one this year.
Alex 1:21:57
Just a quick update. This has now become a three person show. We’re approaching me on anyways. But Kevin, the internet issues too much to overcome. We’ll hear about it in his post presser afterwards.
Derek 1:22:13
Alrighty, well, guys, any any final thoughts on the QB rankings here?
DaveFantasy 1:22:20
No, I mean, all in all, I think that you guys did a good job. I got to say my piece where I where I disagreed. So
Derek 1:22:28
Oh, we appreciate the input. And like I said, there’s, there’s a few of those that I’m going to go back through and re examine and just kind of see what I see on that one. Because I may be wrong. And I’m willing to admit that I’m wrong. And I’ll I’ll relook at those things. But some of them I feel pretty good about So Mike, we very much appreciate you coming on and, and hanging out with us and talking some Steelers football given us the breakdown on on the rankings there. I very much appreciate you taking time tonight and and hanging with us.
DaveFantasy 1:22:57
Excellent. I think you just called me Mike. But that’s okay.
Derek 1:23:00
I am so sorry. Dave fantasy. My I looked at the comments. In the comments. I looked at the comment. You know, my reading brain and my talking brain don’t talk a lot of time. So poor communication there. Dave, we very much appreciate you coming on in and hanging with us and talking sylish football and helping us break down the rankings there. If you can make sure the listeners know again, where to find you and connect with you online.
DaveFantasy 1:23:29
Just follow me at Dave fantasy on Twitter, and you’ll be able to link to everything I do through there.
Derek 1:23:36
Awesome. Alex, any final thoughts for the listeners?
Alex 1:23:39
I do have a final thought for the listeners if you guys missed it earlier today. This Tuesday as we’re recording this. The Secretary of Defense is going to allow Cameron Kinley, who was drafted I believe drafted if I’m not mistaken by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers out of the Naval Academy. Initially, Kinley was told that he was going to have to go into active duty after completing his term there at the Naval Academy and wouldn’t be able to pursue his dream of playing in the NFL. Well, that’ll change today Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin approved a plan that’s going to allow Kinley to pursue being in the NFL, which I you know, I have the utmost respect for the guys that go to those service academies that go there on an athletic and an academic. I mean, it’s not easy to get into those service academies. And it’s definitely not something that is cut for everybody. So the utmost respect for those guys going in there. And I think it’s only fair that those guys, if they’re good enough to go play at the next level, that they are allowed that opportunity and then can delay their service and that’s exactly what’s going to happen here. In this case for Cameron Kinley. I think it’s smart for everybody involved. The Navy gets some good PR off of this for, you know, letting a guy be one of their own go represent the Navy in the NFL. The NFL gets some good PR off of this because they’re gonna have a guy who’s about to go back into the service. Once this point is are done, he’ll go and serve our country in the United States Navy. So I think this was a win win for everybody. I couldn’t believe initially when the Navy said that they weren’t going to allow it to happen. I think smarter heads prevailed. And we’re all going to benefit from it by getting to see this story of Cameron Kinley play out and getting to know these guys that sacrifice a lot, not just because they’re football players, but this guy truly is one of the guys that’s going to go out and do it, do it for real and put his you know, his life on the line to defend our country. And I just think it’s it’s really cool that that everybody came to this conclusion. The President even got involved and that it’s gonna be it’s gonna be great for Cameron Kinley, that he’s got an opportunity to go play in the NFL. And it makes sense for some of these kids that are going into the service academies. Yes, they all know that they’re not going there strictly to play football or do whatever it is, you know, whatever sport it is that they might play. They’re going there because they’re going to a service Academy. But to know that there is an option should you be good enough to pursue, you know, that sport at the highest level? Is is really awesome and really cool. So I’m glad that that was able to come out today.
Derek 1:26:33
Awesome. Day. Did you have any final thoughts? I I can’t think of a one right now. You know, I think I’m all talked out. But already. Kelly dude.
Alex 1:26:47
Kim Lee was undrafted just Just so you know, he was undrafted and signed with the bucks, which might have made the decision a little little bit harder for the Navy to say yeah, maybe not. But either way.
Derek 1:26:59
Gotcha. Alrighty, Kelly. Dude, thanks for tuning in there. Make sure you click the Follow button. We do this show live every Tuesday night at 11pm. Eastern. wherever you’re watching this, please hit that subscribe that follow button. Now if you’re listening to the podcast on that, make sure that you’re hitting that follow button as well. You can find us on our socials Twitter, Instagram, Facebook twitch in at good old boys, f f. We’ve got the website for you goodoldboysff.com. For Kevin and Alex. I’m Derek A big thanks for Dave fantasy for coming on and chatting with us again. You’ll be able to follow him on Twitter and there’ll be in the show notes as well.
Alex 1:27:43
Go to our website. We’ll have the rankings posted there.
Derek 1:27:46
Absolutely. For Kevin Alex. I’m Derek Have a good one. Be safe.