FANTASY FOOTBALL 2024 DRAFT STRATEGIES w/ JOE DOLAN | FANTASY POINTS | AJ BROWN | NFL INJURIES | 54

welcome back to the pr fantasy football podcast I'm your host Dr phical medical fantas points.com today we have a very special guest because that bright shining face that you see on the screen is FG Doan on Twitter on X whatever you want to call it um you know he's inundated with uh customer service tickets he's he's a man of the people he's trying to fix all of the the minutia and the bugs the be the stuff that you don't see at Fantasy points.com but he is the editor-in-chief at Fantasy points.com he's my boss technically my boss at Fantasy points.com Joe and I did a podcast for a long time in the mornings he'd make my ass get up at 5 in the morning to record this podcast on Tuesdays and then I'd go to work exhaust you make me get up it this is true this is true so I would have to uh we we'd both have to get up early how about that so um I want to get Joe in and out but the reason I have Joe on here today and by the way I guess I should promote right so go to Fantasy points.com make sure you check out Joe's uh his ideal auctions salary cap draft strategy article it's very very good uh salary cap stuff makes my head hurt so I'm glad Joe is there to just tell me exactly what to do because that stuff drives me nuts um he's also behind the scenes on a lot of other stuff like I said and then again if you want a copy right of 25% off copy of the injury-prone draft guide make sure you use use points 25 go to my pin tweet at ifb injury. and grab it there all right promotion's over because really I want to get to the Crux of why Joe is here Joe and I'm sorry there no there are no niceties here I can see it on your face you want to get back to to the tickets I know you're trying to figure out exactly what's going on with the website and and you've got a cach a and stuff like that so I want to get right to the meat right you are one of the best I you're known for your rankings I get that all right we understand you're good at rankings you know what what position to put players in that's great and all but I think one of the most underrated things that you are uh of one of your skill sets is roster construction philosophy I text you like a month ago and I was like dude what is your optimal draft because I wanted to sort of dig into brain how you view things so tell me this year this season you know we can even zoom out generally speaking what is your roster construction philosophy because I think that I've just been inundated with there's zero RB there's late round tight end there's early tight end there's bully tight end there's bully running back hanker RB later on quarterback you know what what are we looking for this year based on ADP how are you valuing these positions what's your big philos philosophical uh over overarching philosophy this year no so what I'm going to use here by the way is sleeper ADP for any like kind of specific ADP I think that's what a good majority of the the Zoomers are using now uh the the app still has too many bells and whistles for my taste but uh I'm navigating it decently and the ADP is pretty exploitable yeah ADP is pretty exploitable um so it it actually ended up being a transition from me from what I was doing from April until like the beginning of August till what we're doing now and I had been best ball brained for for so long and when you do drafts on Underdog you better make sure you're getting your wide receivers early because they fly and I mean fly off the board there was often times eight or nine receivers going in the first round um in on Underdog that's still kind of the case in in in home leagues but I've adjusted my strategy a little bit when I was on Underdog I was almost invariably if I had the option to to get one of my great eight wide receivers that being Tyreek Hill Jamar Chase uh Aman Ross St Brown CD lamb AJ Brown Garrett Wilson puka neua and Justin Jefferson in whatever order you want want those guys I still really like getting one of those guys but one of the things on like a sleeper league right now or Yahoo or ESPN because of ADP it's really appealing if you can start your draft with mcaffrey breall or beon and then load up on wide receivers in the next three or four rounds and what I'm seeing is here just by sleeper ADP here by the way pukan Neu is now going in the second round because of that knee injury so he's a guy you can actually pair you could pair one of my great eight wide receivers with um uh a bejan Robinson in some leagues so that's a pretty uh incredible uh little little cheat code you have there but look at some of the receivers who are going in in the third and fourth rounds on on uh sleeper Nico Collins Stefon Diggs Debo Samuel Jaylen waddle DJ Moore Cooper cup Michael Pitman DK metf Malik neighbors Devonte Smith these are guys going in the third and fourth rounds I don't view there being significantly big differences between some of those guys and some of the receivers who are going in the second round that Chris alve uh Devonte Adams um Brandon auk is going in the second round at times H Marvin Harrison Drake London all these guys I kind of view all those guys I just listed as kind of one big malleable tier of receivers and you can legitimately walk out of your draft with three of those names that I just rattled off and that to me is the cheat code right now in home leagues if I can get my hands on one of those Elite running backs in the first round and then just absolutely slather my roster with wide receivers I am going to do that that being said it's not you don't always have the chance to do that so I was in a sleeper draft for Serius XM fantasy a host League I had the Nine Pit well all three of those Elite running backs felt came off the board I went to AJ brown with the ninth pick he's one of my great eight wide receivers and my mental thought was coming back around I wonder if Jonathan Taylor is going to be there for me because I actually view Jonathan Taylor similarly not I don't view him as high highend as Bree and bejon but I view him as say it hi T you were gonna say hi te oh no I wasn't gonna do that no no no I I high te Whatever by the way one of the teams in this league started with three running backs you want to talk High not not a strategy I would be doing this year um but so I took AJ Brown at nine I'm like he's a great eight wide wide out I I have an opportunity Maybe get jir Gibbs coming back or maybe um Jonathan Taylor I I wasn't too keen on saquon just because in a redraft league having that much best ball I'm fine with it redraft having all of that tied up in the Eagles offense might be a little um a little much uh but I didn't have an opportunity to draft any of those guys because the player on the turn went with uh JT and saquan and then Gibbs came right off the board so I pivoted well guess what happened pukan AA another one of my great eight wide receivers fell to me in the second round so I'm like all right now I'm going to to to Pivot my strategy to wide receiver heavy Zer RB so I wasn't beholden to Tak in a running back there I really wasn't um and what has happened now is I opened up some opportunities for me my entire philosophy was all right I think I'm G to get a third receiver in in the third round divon Anan fell to me and I'm like all right now I'm gonna pivot again so the the the the overarching thought here is is like I want to be flexible But ultimately if I'm going to be strong somewhere it it's wide receiver I've had way more success doing that in recent years than being strong anywhere else um especially heavy on running backs and it's easy easy to be strong at wide receiver because it's so much harder to poke holes in the third and fourth round receivers than it is to poke holes in the third and fourth round running backs so I'm I'm going wide receiver heavy whether that means going receiver running back receiver receiver whether that mean means going running back receiver receiver receiver whether that means going run receiver receiver running back running back I want to make sure I'm really strong at the wide receiver position and I'll do that however it falls to me where your first pick is dictates that I understand that where your first pick is it dictates it um but I feel like it is possible to be very very strong at receiver from anywhere in the first round whe you draft a receiver first or not so really what you're talking about here Joe and these were the the questions that I wanted to ask you were you know the the roster construction contingencies and you talk about pivoting And You pivoted from One thought to another thought to another thought and you tried to avoid the dead Pockets so I'm reading between the line lines here and for the listeners I want you to sort of walk you through so why you pivoted to Devon hn obviously but your initial thought was all right I'm going zero RB why is that what po you know I'm GNA sort of spoil it a little bit you were avoiding a pocket of players and you were avoiding specific position you got you sort of sort of got a little lucky there with aan falling to you but in a lot of scenarios that might not happen so what was your thought there well my thought was I already was Zero RB um but when I got to Anan uh he was the best player on the board and it was I as a matter of fact though I will say Debo Samuel got drafted the pick before me and I probably would have taken Debo if he was there but uh when I saw aan I was like whoa like I thir round you know yes I understand why he fell to the third round questions about his workload but if we're talking 99th percentile outcomes the next Chris Johnson is in that range of outcomes and for a third round pick as my rb1 I I was willing to take that um but I still Built My Strength at the running back position so here is here here's a perfect example of avoiding pockets and I don't want to I don't want people to take this information into your home league and think this is going to happen because it almost certainly isn't but this was an expert League or a host League or whatever you want to call them and and it's it was one quarterback league so people play Chicken in these leagues and the first quarterback didn't come off the board until the fifth round which was Josh Allen and then it came to me in the bottom of the fifth round 59 the ninth pick of the fifth round and Jaylen Herz was still on the board that's not gonna happen in your home league but I looked at it and I look and I compared it to the players who were on the board at receiver at running back and I'm like nobody is the game changer the way Jaylen Herz is because people had been scooping up those running backs because the quarterbacks have been falling all those positions had moved up I was like this is ridiculous like I'm gonna take the elite quarterback make that stack and then I'll figure out the rest of my team now I am not going into a draft this year prioritizing an elite quarterback I'm not doing it I the recent years in the past in the recent past I had this year I'm not doing that there's three quarterbacks who I think are crucial to my draft plan this year that being Kyler Murray Jaden Daniels and Caleb Williams because I think you can get them cheaply and they also provide you a kind of outsized upside compared to some of the guys going in that range like a brock pie or or Tua you know like somebody who's not gonna run as much so that was my strategy I was thinking I'm just gonna go get Jaden Daniels or Caleb and that's it and Jaylen Herz fell to me so I pivoted because I saw you do enough of these drafts you see that when a a a a one-off position is the most appealing player on the board and it's when you just have this blob this amorphous blob of names at running back or wide receiver where you're like I'd be okay with any of those guys yeah I might like this guy a little more than that guy I might like T Higgins a little bit more than Amari Cooper you know or I might like George pi a little bit more than tank Dell but if I get either one of them I'll be fine that that's when I pulled the trigger on on trying to find the Difference Maker at another position so I pivoted away from those blobs there's not really I don't view there as being like totally empty Pockets well especially at wide receiver but like even running back I don't think there's like a huge like empty Dead Zone RB this year um I think it's spread out pretty pretty decently where you can get a running back you like in every round but I to avoid drafting from an unappealing blob of targets or and going too early on one of those that's when I'll pivot away to the quarterback or the tight end to try to get a Difference Maker at that position while then just understanding that a player I like all right is going to fall to my next pick and maybe that decision of who to pick is made for me so then the next question here would be at least for me because this is an issue that I've ran into in the past I soak up what I think is good for example wide receiver uh value let's just say in a world that's wonky and bizarre because these things happen you've got your whatever two three wide receiver positions filled you fill those positions you get to a point where you're like all right I think I am ready to take you know one of those onesie positions let's just say in the fifth round you're staring at Jaylen Herz you're staring at Malik neighbors somehow in the fifth round you got two you've already filled your receiver positions right maybe you're looking at the flex maybe you're looking at the tight end but you're you're this is just again I want this to be less of a specific example more of a how does your brain function when you run into something like that uh so if I was in a league and I'm trying to I'm just trying to think about it because in this league I would have drafted Malik neighbors over Jaylen Herz um but he wasn't available fifth round to me is too early to put somebody on your bench you know what I'm saying like I'm now I am never some who's going to fill out all my starting roster maybe it falls that way but I'm never somebody who's making it a priority to fill my starting slots before getting quality death I'm never somebody who's gonna do that um but fifth round is probably just a little bit too early in my opinion to put somebody on your bench now if Malik neighbors was going to be able to fit into my Flex in the fifth round I would have taken him in in an instant in that situation because I value him and value having strength at that position and I value the later round quarterbacks a little bit more um that option was not available to me but I do think fifth round I I think seventh round is probably the first point when I'm like you know I'm okay putting somebody on my bench I'm okay making sure I'm strong at receiver give myself a little cushion in case somebody gets hurt or underperforms but fifth is probably a little bit too early for that so how do you look at that same situation and you know pivoting from another position that's a onesie position the tight ends right I know tight ends are a little different this year than usual there are some decent options in those middle rounds so you know again it might be the the answer might be the same right you're staring at Malik neighbors let's just say for example again not a specific example necessarily but just your philosophy let's say you're staring again at Malik neighbors and this time you're staring at I don't know again let's live in a wonky world let's say Mark Andrews is there right same question you're it's probably the same answer right fifth round you're not trying to necessarily fill your bench you go Mark Andrews yeah I I I would go with the tight end there now actually the funny part about this team that I'm I'm talking about and the reason I'm I'm bringing up this team is because um I literally just drafted it and it's a sleeper team so it's the freshest in my mind I actually um have both an elite quarterback and a quote unquote Elite tight end on this team just because of where I view the the the position falling to me uh yeah I would take Andrews in that situation even if I have neighbors ranked a little bit higher on my board just because again I'm not putting somebody on my bench that early but um I very rarely come into a point where I I'm staring down that decision that early um so that would be a bridge I would have to cross but I would probably take the uh the the uh I would take Andrews in that situation so another position here um that I think or another I guess situation that I learned from you but I think I took it too far and I think over the last couple years I've taken it too far I remember your story about Zach Stacy I think you were you you were I don't know do you remember this this draft where you you needed an rv2 you I think I think this was you told me you needed a and you went with Z St this tell me about tell me about your philosophy when it comes to your rb2 because I'll be honest with you Joe I've gotten to the point I'm I know that I have waited too long for my rb2 you know two years ago two years ago James Cook he was my rb2 on a team I remember specifically and that was the point where I said all right I think I'm taking this too far but when do you take it too far you know do you want to fill your rb2 spot with somebody like a swift somebody like an Aaron Jones right some of those weird positions if you're not passing up on value elsewhere you know how far do you take this anchor RB and like what's your stopping point uh I'm not um I'm so I'm I'm more of a zero RB bro than I am a heavy RB bro but I Mo I do like the hero strategy mostly that's mostly the way I like to draft but I have had much more success in recent years going zero RB than I have hero RB uh I think it's a much more viable strategy um and on this team uh you're gonna think I I you might think I took it too far for my rb2 my the second running back on my roster is Jonathan Brooks who might not even play the first month of the season but then I made sure I got guys who maybe can fill in for the first month of the Season by drafting Zack moss and JK Dobbins I don't even like JK Dobbins but you know what if he gives me three or four starts before uh before Zack uh before Jonathan Brooks breaks out then he's done his job so it it allows you to talk yourself into players you might not like in and of themselves and it makes it easier because look on this team I have AJ Brown pukan AOA and Kenan Allen as my top three receivers my tight end is Trey McBride and my quarterback is Jaylen Herz so I am absolutely like I almost compare that to my rb2 in that situation it's like being in a NASCAR crash right now it's it's real ugly real ugly you don't want to do it but man are those cars safe and they protect you from all the crap that's going on around you my rb2 I view as a NASCAR driver right now he's somebody who is he's along for the ride in a really really fast car but they're so unbelievably safe that you can even flip the car a couple of times and walk out of it unscathed that doesn't mean you want to get in an accident because you can get hurt but you can be insulated by all the great players around that rb2 and that's kind of my strategy with it and it also what that does is it focuses my strategy on the waiver wire if if a pukan AA happens a new pukan let's say let's say uh Luke mcaffrey I don't think there's going to be a pukan AA this year but but if there is it might be him let's just say he breaks out in week one and he wasn't drafted in your league and you want to dra I'm not saying ignore wide receiver but it really Narrows your focus on the waiver wire you know barring injury you're not spending Fab on tight ends or quarterbacks so it focuses you to keep an eye on the running backs and look at how many running backs emerged last year who could have helped you you know Kiren Williams after week one was a popular W I actually drafted him in a couple of leagues but uh but Devon h you know you could have picked him up after a couple of weeks you could like I think he was getting drafted people might have dropped him you know like because he wasn't getting work don't remind me I dropped yeah exactly um Jaylen Warren you know like guys like that they always emerge and I have said this for a decade I will continue saying it because it's never not been true there is somebody at the running back position whose name has not left these lips all year who will be fantasy relevant this season it's true when's the last time that didn't happen yeah I mean you're right you're right no I had to I stopped to think about that for a second but you're you're right there's always somebody that emerges at that RB position and if you blow your fab right on that guy but you end up with kyen Williams you end up with devvon h that's obviously you create a Jugger I will say this um I'm not telling you to spend 100% of your Fab in week one or week two but most of the time the guys emerge quickly most of the time they emerge quickly when they don't It's when um let let's just point to a situation from a couple years ago when J Jamal Williams was with the Packers and um their starting running back got hurt it might have been Aaron Jones it might have been somebody else at that point you pick up Jamaal Williams off the waiver wire there was uh when Eckler went down with the Chargers a couple years ago and Justin Jackson was a League winner down you know those those situations do exist and it's always good to have a couple of bucks around to to to maneuver there but look Kiren Williams pukaa these were the waiver wire League winners last year and they emerged in week one so Absolut that's something you can really just like because what what information don't we have right now we don't know what coaches really think of their teams because nobody plays during the preseason anymore when do we find out what coaches think of their teams when the when the bullets are flying and they're going to be flying NFL week one and week two that is typically the smartest time to spend your Fab budget because guys who are playing then and producing then who you didn't expect to produce that tells you that the coaches have a faith in that player to continue producing does it always work out no it doesn't but it's I think it's a better rule to to spend your money fast than it is to spend to to hold it because I think players emerge pretty quickly absolutely so all right Joe before I let you get back to these uh service tickets that you enjoy so much I want you to read that read that team off again that you just that you talked okay so this is a 12 team PPR League this is my week one projected starting line you don't give a crap who my Kicker and defense are uh J well like maybe defense Pittsburgh has a decent early season schedule so I picked them Jaylen Herz Devon Anan Zach Moss again not sexy but AJ Brown pukan neua Keenan Allen Trey McBride I currently have lad makoni in my Flex um but on the bench I have Brandon Cooks Gabe Davis and Davon Wicks so I'm loaded at receiver um and my running backs are on the bench are Jonathan Brooks JK Dobbins and audre gu the most annoying thing about you is that you always end this is why I have you on the on the roster construction show or not show not always but this is why I have you this year is because over the years I've noticed you your teams are always annoyingly good I remember two years ago I we were in a league together and I literally texted I said I effing hate you because your league was your team was stacked I don't think you ended up winning the league because you know Randomness happens but when you draft you you just tend to squeeze the most value out of your that that Zack that Zack Stacy pick I made in an auction League God TW oh my God it had to be 12 13 years ago and I immediately hated it as soon as I made it and it might have been the best pick I've ever made for my future because at that point I'm just like I'm never doing this again I'm I am how much you lay down for him oh my God it had to be like 30 bucks and it was it was it was the the it's basically become a tenant of my auction draft plan it was never ever get in a spending War for the last player in a tier never get in a spending War for the last player in a tier it's it's just it doesn't work out it really doesn't absolutely all right Joe this has been great I really appreciate you like I said I want to get you back to those service tickets anything else you want to pump anything else you want to say any parting words uh I'm on the Sirius XM Morning Show 700 to 9:00 am Mondays Wednesdays and Fridays Paul Kelly and I will be on Series XM fantasy football game day again this year from 1: to 6:00 p.m. Eastern and then I'm turning right around and getting up on Monday morning to do the recap show um if you have if you guys have any caffeine strategies um let me know because I'm going to straight line it straight line it funnels whatever you can do thanks again Joe really appre you appreciate you coming on make sure you follow him on Twitter xfg Dolan make sure you follow his advice we'll see you next time