Fields hype, CMC and Puka injuries, backfield intrigue + more | Rotoworld Football Show (FULL SHOW)

Intro hello everybody Welcome to the root football show I am Patrick Dy joined Thursday August 8th by Mr Denny Carter and Mr KY Doric where we're just gonna do a training camp newer a lot of stuff going on a lot of battles raging we're people probably already tired of it we're gonna talk about Justin fields and Russell Wilson because that is kind of kind of the biggest training camp story going right now we're about puka AA and his knee injury Christian mcaffrey and his calf injury Christian mcaffry injuries never amount to anything it's fine we're about Josh Downs as high ankle sprain might get to the Cowboys backfield situation the Seahawks uh getting further and further away from the ground and pound Gomen clature and we swear to God we're passing the Seahawks swear to God they're passing um the Jets activating Mike Williams Ronda Moore injured I will start off the top though with the absolute biggest news of the week of the summer probably Nick Foles is retiring Nick F's Hall of Famer yes or no Danny Carter yes because he beat he beat Tom Brady that's a bit man this is a bit yeah look he beat Tom Brady Tom Brady's a Hall of Famer so there therefore Nick Foles is a is a Hall of Famer preventing a Tom Brady Super Bowl actually should be instant introduction into the Hall of Fame I mean and it was a cool one too you know he catches a touchdown like that that that was that was one of the best games I've ever watched one of the one of the most satisfying moments for a lifelong Brady hater Kyle uh I mean Eli's getting into the Hall of Fame off of defeating Brady twice I mean maybe you need to do it two times for for it to be Hall of Fame worthy but once got to at least get you in the conversation that's actually man that's such a good AR that's such a good argument for fos is and the fos one was fun like so much fun legitimately one he actually played well Eli just kind of threw the ball around threw it up a little bit well I was going to say he had like the most improbable catch in uh you know in Super Bowl history so I guess if your receivers just come down with those all the time sure that's how you beat Tom Brady right the the helmet catch bad throw the other the other throw to Mario Manningham on the sideline that was a good throw that was one of one of the one of the good throws but obviously that was just the the helmet catch was just pure luck one of the flest plays in history the the helmet catch that's that's what honestly what the Trevor Lawrence STS quote unquote think as receivers should be doing every play what the Giants did in the Super Bowl why isn't freaking Christian Kirk doing that when he throws a feet over his head like yeah that was once in a century play in Super Bowl not really sure if the Jags receivers can be doing that every third pass right so you telling me Trevor Lawrence can't underthrow the receiver by 10 yards and and they come down with the ball why not well Eli and his guys did it all of a sudden you're putting Eli in the Hall of Fame and Trevor Lawrence can't even uh can't even get criticized for randomly becoming the highest paid player in the history of the league even though he's not good he's he's fine he we talk we talked about this I think I think right he's fine yeah we don't need DL about it anymore so the the full thing was a bit but it's no longer a bit he should be in the Hall of Fame if you prevent a Brady Super Bowl that get you in the can in my yeah get him in there get him in well I will be in Canton Ohio this weekend along with Kyle Doric for the fantasy football Expo come say hi if you see us um come ask us about this latest news where we begin I I swear we've begun like 10 straight shows with Justin fields and Russell Wilson but this week it's got we I think we already knew it was real this week it's gotten realer Justin Fields' chance of winning the starting role in Pittsburgh. than real the Steelers media had been saying yeah this is happening Mike Tomlin then who isn't always the most straightforward guy with the media was like yeah this is happening like I'm ready to come I'm over it man I'm ready to come clean like I thought I thought Apple said you could block phone numbers and that every Russell Wilson text still just keeps getting through and I don't even know what to do anymore I took it to the Geek Squad they had no clue what to do and someone someone released me from this and that's someone is Justin Fields now if Justin Fields Denny wins the starting job does that affect our approach with Steelers and fantasy drafts which is a bit of a crazy loaded question right now because we don't know what's gonna happen with Brandon iuk who's trying to force a team trade to the Steelers so this whole situation could change but how are you approaching George Pickins Jaylen Warren Naji Harris Pat Fri MTH if Justin Fields does indeed earn the starting job in Pittsburgh yeah I mean it's going to be super super run heavy and so the pass volume is obviously going to be in the in the in the dumps last year the Bears with fields at quarterback had 500 I guess fields for for for most of the year at quarterback had 513 pass attempts that that ran 27th um and uh with the you know with the lowest being the ners at 491 um so you know you're probably lopping off I don't know 70 attempts maybe over the course of a season maybe more maybe a 100 attempts uh if Russell will you really think they see that big of a difference between Russell Wilson and Justin fields at this point well I mean because you're you're talking about you know fi Fields propensity to run you about him calling his own number yeah okay yeah and and then you know that maybe I'm thinking that Arthur Smith can can can make something of this I know this sounds weird after Arthur Smith has completely alienated us as fantasy managers you know people the Arians cannot wait to come out of the woodwork I told you art was good the whole freaking time Pitt Atlanta you wouldn't listen yeah this Ste he got like an alltime season out of Ryan tanah Hill and and then everything has been awful since so I guess if you I mean that tanah Hill season there were two Good Seasons but one was like uh on on pro football reference numbers in which you lead the league are bolded they're like very dark across the board man yards per attempt adjusted yards per attempt like touchdown rate all this stuff and that was from I mean Ryan tanah Hill was like more physically capable back then but within two years he was just like he was one foot out the door in the entire NFL two years before that he was the most efficient quarterback in the league that deserves some credit for Arthur Smith I also yeah I mean I've also seen the past two years like I you know stuff has happened since then that really sucked random one-off Seasons happen all the time sorry Denny we both interrupted you well I I just I don't think it's good for anyone uh for any of the pass catchers and it also more last year wide receiver eight you sure about you sure about that uh I don't know I just I can't get excited about Pickins for one um maybe Fri MTH maybe I can get into Fri moth and there's also the the fact that you know like in the you know Red Zone inside the 10 Fields takes away uh touchdowns with with his legs and so it's like all your Naji bags oh my God they're up in smoke well because Naj and and Warren have the same ADP basically I have struggled to take Harris of course um and so but I just I Tes where did all that crap go you know really like from from a best ball and redraft standpoint the way I'm playing this is I'm just getting Justin Fields really late abely fine like and just not so late that he needs to crack your lineup like four times in a season and if he gets it's like nine starts he's definitely going to be in your starting lineup four times a month ago I would have said he's not getting nine starts it's just not going to happen now I'm like oh that is a very realistic number for him to hit nowadays and if that's that's all you need I think I think when I was projecting him for like legitimately somewhere in the range of four starts I didn't want that guy but I I'm pretty much fine drafting him now still is like the QB like I will chase him up to the QB 22 or whatever because he's just that good when he starts as a fantasy asset as a engine for the offense much more you know left on the bone for him stand alone you can't obviously there's no we were not taking flyers in Justin Fields obviously excuse me by stand I mean redraft not best ball um no Planet we're like I don't know is I gu you get you get shut out guess he was top 12 last year so I guess yeah would I guess he had to be drafted actually I'm like working through this in my head if Justin field is name a starter in August 20th he actually does have to get draft oh yeah no yeah I think that's the thing is like it sucks to burn the roster spot because he's probably still not going to start in week one but in the scenarios in which he does start in week one you're like oh he's my starter I unless I drafted the QB six or earlier he's my starter so like he doesn't have be drafted did Art Denny take Fields like higher than he's ever been actually I really hate that I'm thinking these thoughts but uh because it is the he's a runner and it's a run friendly system I think he can I I I I think that fields was in a really unfriendly offense for for a mobile quarterback in Chicago and I I think Arthur Smith knows what to do with a mobile quarterback I know I know tanah Hill is not Fields mobile but back then this is 2018 2019 say 20 years ago yes 2019 2020 yeah but T Tanana Hill you know he had some former wide receiver this is what we all know about T he had some wheels and so I I really do think um that this run game can cook with Fields I I think that the his ability and the threat the looming threat of fields ripping off a 30 or 40 yard at any moment will keep defenses honest and I'm so I'm not not super into I know not into the pass catchers maybe fir me like hold on I'm look at DJ Moore was serious like the wide receiver eight in PBR no yeah he legitimately was like was one of the best he was the wide receiver n by average PBR points and yet Denny says I'm never drafting George Pi under any circumstance so but Moore was getting that that perfect combination of like short stuff and longer downfield opportunities I don't I mean if Pickins has a completely you know new usage in this offense I guess I'll be very wrong um and I also think that the Steelers offense is going to be more pass I'm sorry more run heavy than the Bears were last year with fields that that definitely scans yeah not being draftable I was still thinking of fields like splitting time with Russell Wilson but obviously if you name the week one starter I think Russ will just be gone I really do and yeah field you don't have to like it but this is what Peak qb1 Performance looks like and and really I mean as far as drafting him late like if you're in a superflex uh I would I would make sure I get Fields like Ju Just you know reach a little bit if you have to get him because he's never going to be cheaper than he is right now like Kyle said it could be it could be a week or two away from you know more news on who's going to start I know Gary or Jerry dlac who covers the team said that there's no Universe in which Fields is going to start this year um that's weird when did he did he say that this week I think he I think he did uh I I I saw it online just before we went just before we went live that seems Seems way way too strong it is but all of the beat writers are in on this thing where Russell Wilson is the unquestioned starter but if but all you have to do is listen to Mike Tomlin Mike tomlin's press conference yesterday did not suggest anything close to that and the younger beat Riders been like no it's a competition and the national guys like no it's a competition the way the N the NFL is so screwed up right now the local reporters like don't even get Scoops like they're just give it one of the guys employed by the league or whatever and then they do and Tom peler was like yeah he might start and Jerry d an absolute shambles Alber bre yeah Albert Breer was very clear about you know the fact that this is a a competition and and Russ's injury factors into this big time and Tomlin said I'm gonna watch the games the preseason games to see I'm gonna weigh that heavily and we'll go from there and so if Fields doesn't absolutely fall in his face in these preseason which could happen but if he doesn't I think he's locked in Curious Denny the Mike Tomlin who knows a lot about football actually watches it and well he's never studied a spreadsheet but just wait till he does he'll be he'll be really into it I promise I think Mike Tomlin knows how to open a laptop I I think he's seen people do it yes that's very very true we've seen people move on to a new topic finally puka akua is injured who which is had Puka Nacua's knee injury and the worries it presents. people pointing out I kind of forgot how like checkered puk's injury history was coming into the NFL one of the main reasons he got to be come such a day three Bonanza value he's been hurt a lot latest injuries to his knee the ramp Sean McVey is really unreliable injury narrator like we're talking like really really unreliable but he says he says he thinks puka will be ready for week one this Kyle does this make us rethink hooka is like the clearcut Rams receiver to roster over Cooper cup are we worried about him now in the first round or is this just a classic everyone gets hurt man like they say he's goingon to be play he's gonna play I can't really worry about that what are you doing with puka AA yeah I mean you can bump him down to like one or two spots into a wide receiver 12 range if you really want and if you're doing a bunch of drafts you'll get slightly less of him but the alternative is like how far can you move him down committee back jir Gibbs I'm still just like taking the plunge with puka on that one if I wasn't so sold on puka as an Elite Talent I'd be much more willing to say like oh Drake like if he had only flash in the way Drake Lennon has like ah if you squint the context the offense y y I think he's good but no like puk's rookie season comps to like Randy Moss Odell Beckham Justin Jefferson Jamar chase the one quote like outlier among the great rookie seasons is Anquan Bolton who went on to have a good but just not Superstar yeah just good lengthy good Peaks career but not like Justin Jefferson were like I'm pretty sure this dude's like the best receiver of the past 10 years and Juan Bal never hit those Peaks but like that's the floor is he is a very strong lifelong NFL like number one receiver like thear Cooper kind of is his floor and his ceiling based on how good he was as a rookie Justin Jefferson Jamar Chase Randy Moss Beckham yeah like I am absolutely still draft from this guy am I terrified now yeah really wish he had got injured if I'm being honest but like what are you gonna do not take the best rookie season of all time at 12 yes what what say you Denny and by the way we were talking KY I was like who kind of reminds me of Anquan Balden actually he's not like the fastest guy he's very very strong like he really puka n's play strength as I believe the film Watchers would call it is like totally totally off the charts Denny are you scared nervous or yeah a game where a lot of people get hurt and you can't worry about that if they say he's gonna play in week one I I do want to say that puka apparently lost a bunch of weight this offseason and wants to look like Cooper cup it's over now never mind um I yeah I don't know about that puka if you're listening um friend of the show obviously uh I ah I have a tough time taking him in the first um feels like a season Ender well Denny who you taking over who goes at picks 12 13 14 you're taking over well I'll pull it up you talk first and I'll I'll pull up I mean I'm taking AJ Brown over over puka um I'm taking who who else is going around there jir Gibbs Drake London uh I would take gett Wilson Marvin Harrison Jr Denny over pukaa never played football before in the NFL Drake London out never been good him or uh that's a t I would go puka I think over Harrison yeah I'd go puka over Harrison I'd go puka over Drake London despite being a drake lendon Optimist myself a Jonathan Taylor oruka who's kind of I mean I'm not considering any of these running back yeah yeah so like here's the thing is like yeah flip if if you were drafting AJ Brown Behind puka before go ahead and flip him perfectly reasonable probably the same as true of Garrett Wilson but like you get the 12 pick we all just said it you're still taking him he's maybe the the last pick of the first round now where I think you could argue him as high as like the seventh or eighth before this so if you had your receivers tier differently maybe he falls more than just one spot but you're picking the first round you can be taking puka still that makes a lot of sense to me to put a bow on it there and uh to put a bow on these first two segments I'll tell you that we'll be right back after this fantasy football season just got better $1 million better create or join a private Yahoo fantasy league and enter the $1 million NBC sweep sweep Stakes plus earn extra entries to win when players on your fantasy roster score a touchdown during an opening weekend game on NBC or peacock download the redesigned Yahoo fantasy app or go to nbcsports.com fantasy million to learn more Denny Carter has an article on the old website rotoworld.com telling people about that contest breaking it down in Greater detail really really cool stuff Andy Baron's my best friend Arch Enemy will be on the show in two weeks he's GNA talk about it then too really really cool stuff though from Yahoo and NBC yeah the key is uh you want players who score touchdowns yep you do and uh you really really want you want the touchdowns to be flowing in Rio on opening Friday between the Eagles and uh who are the Eagles playing in the peock game Eagles and p man that's like totally what do we get a man what do we Evaluating the latest with Christian McCaffrey's calf strain. get a Friday Night opening week Kell Moore exposure awesome' be so so awesome on peacock I cannot wait he's fake the fake is sharp has ever lived I mean this just be real Kell Moore uh CMC the realist are one who's ever lived the past two years uh but a guy with one of the lengthier injury histories in the NFL he's approaching the age curve uh he never missed time last year he did play through some things last year each of the past two years of 49 or CMC was kind of playing through some stuff down the stretch the key that was though that he was playing through it he was not sidelined he is currently sidelined with a calf injury we know that we're not pushing anything with Christian mcaffry and even the most minor injury in the history of football on August 8th but I do this highlight the age concerns do you guys is it is Christian mcaffry didn't any the classic get out one year too early instead of one year too late or if Christian mcaffry is on the clock do you still just have to mash draft because it's Christian mcaffrey right I mean if you hear you know something in in the coming days that he's going to have to sit for for longer or week one is is in question I think that maybe maybe you can adjust the ranks a little bit but but really I mean we're talking about a team we're talking about an excellent player in an offense that has a higher Rush EPA than more than half of the league has a uh a pass EPA okay like just crazy efficiency so what I'm saying is CMC doesn't doesn't have to be a a huge Workhorse 25 30 touches in order to get there he can he can get there on 20 touches he has done that I think he can continue to do that does it linger in the back of my mind what you just said Pat about get out a year too early then too late yeah it does it does I you know I'm I played this game long enough to know that like no one is invincible and you know sometimes the shest thing in the world in August seems like a total completely avoidable disaster come October and November so that that does that does linger I will say both CMC and puka it's just and we talked about this with Pat carine Denny and like it is absolutely stunning how many of these like supposedly minor summer injuries linger like I said it's still usually under 50% of them so like it's really impossible to some people you just look totally foolish worrying about yeah wow I probably shouldn't have been uh you know a guy had a Band-Aid on his calf and then I never drafted him again and now he's the rb1 overall I mean we did this with CMC two years ago right he was coming off these Seasons where he couldn't stay healthy and then he immediately because health is not sticky like there are injuries that can predict future injuries like concussions do have a higher chance of repeating but we've done this with this exact player before and we got the rb1 overall season later like but he was healthy then though so let me let me just say this this way if you guys if you you were giving an either or zero sum like you can't draft any injured players or like you can draft as many inj like where what's a better way to phrase this do you think you would be better off just taking every injured guy off your board or not taking every injured guy off your board we know we have no way to predict where the injuries are actually gonna linger Denny but if if you just if you had two choices you can't draft any injured guys or they're still there what do you think makes more money like say you're not doing these drafts you're like this is like a computer prompt so like you're not even there to like make a make like a human decision would you allow the computer to draft injured players or not draft injured players oh man well you know look like black and white wise if I have to choose I guess I'm I guess I'm choosing no um but you know it does depend on the on the on the nature of the injury yeah on what we're reading on what beat writers are saying on the on the injury history I know that shouldn't matter it's Kyle just said and correctly that but we also know that it does matter it's not sticky it's not sticky thing is like you can't measure when it matters and when it doesn't there are some things that are truly thing it's the thing is like it does matter but there's more than enough times where it doesn't matter and it's just so impossible to predict when yeah I mean like for called random right like we just we don't know we don't have enough information or enough predictability in these things to say when it matters we look back all the time and say well clearly that one mattered but unless ahead of time I can say this is one of the ones that's G to matter there's nothing for me to do with that what were you gonna say Den uh guy like Mike Williams um I'm sorry I'm just not I'm just not doing that like not I'm not I'm not torturing myself with that um that the the the juice is not worth the squeeze as theumer said I'm fine with that because it truly is like the difference between predicting injuries for Mike Williams like if you don't want to deal with that headache it's fine he's Mike Williams do you want to not draft CMC here I finally have figured out the best scenario you you're going out of the country which someone did recently apparently couldn't draft you're going out of the country and can't draft you're you've entered 800 slow drafts before you went to Iceland and uh you and but you created a script or whatever for the computer to draft and but you have to decide should I tell the computer if someone's got a queue next to their name just don't draft them don't draft any injured players or do you tell the computer to quote stop the slide on the injured players who will become values and you can only choose either or no injured players or stop the slide on essentially every injured player who's becoming a quote value what do you I think I'm stopping the slide oh God that's so sickening I wish though like Denny said I wish I could choose which players I can stop the slide but I understand that's like the you're in Iceland and there's there's blockers or whatever yeah yeah yeah no I think I'll stop the slide mostly because I also like the players I'm stopping the slide on right now because I'm getting to stop the slide on slide is being stopped on Mike Williams no I know I'm I'm stopping on him too but like I will take drafting Mike Williams if it also means like someone let CMC fall to four or three or lets me get puka at 15 or 16 so I'm gonna stop the slide but like I I get it for there are a lot of guys I don't want to do it with I just I CMC is enough of that guy to me and PUK is enough of that guy to me Denny stop the slide or no injured guys no injured guys I got no injured guys too the game is random enough as it is with enough variables as it is why not cut out a variable the guy is already hurt perfectly fine say it that's fair oh 100% non- derogatory that's fair nothing has ever been more fair than that you know what is unfair is Josh DS getting injured again uh was Josh Downs injured in Colts practice. having a quietly effective rookie season till what he injured his knee last year right and then he played through it extreme knee explosion you know terrifying stuff he yeah he was a he was a three dnps and play guy and you hate to see it you hate to see see Kyle freezing Denny now he's out four to six weeks though with the high ankle spraying Josh Downs he was going to be the slotman that is not what you want you call him Kyle's computers the ghost of Kyle is speaking the ghost of the Kyle in the machine is still speaking I Denny what are the effects uh is it creating value is it creating more uncertainty than we really needed with the Colts what do you think with Josh n's probably missing week one what is your take on this injuries effect yeah I mean this is a serious ankle injury when when a team comes out immediately after the injury and says yeah it's it's a high ankle sprain you know I mean that thing that thing could not be higher you know we're we're we're talking a hip injury at that point because you know the teams love to downplay every time a player gets hurt oh it's you know it's a it's the lowest possible ankle spraining any human has ever seen this is not what they say about Downs they said no no no this is high so this is going to be an issue and hly even if he's ready for week one which I feel like is probably a long shot I do too um I I wouldn't want to play him I you know I I can imagine them like you know having him out there as a rotational guy maybe a few snaps here or there whatever but I I don't think he's going to be right it seems like the kind of injury where he's not going to be right for for a while going into the season but honestly guys um I was I was having trouble getting any sort of excitement about Josh DS going into the season because because Anthony Richardson is back and this is notching Anthony Richardson this is just saying that the Colts are going would be less pass heavy have fewer attempts to go around than they did with Garder mchu last year and I think that that is fairly conservative thing to say it could be I mean it could be a lot fewer attempts to go around and our our colleague at Ro World Zack Krueger actually had a post about about this talking about high volume rushing quarterbacks um since 2000 he went all the way back to 2000 uh and he said you know during that span so a quarter Century span basically uh the wide receiver two on those teams scored an average of nine PPR points per game because there's just not a ton of volume to go around if the white if pitman's gonna get his and in a low volume offense then then where's Downs stuff going to come from I just don't know I do just wonder before I let jump back in if because we all thought Rich we thought this about Richardson and Michael Pitman last year and then beginning of the year he targeted him over 10 times in Back toback Games the wide receiver one can get there wide receiver one in his one fully healthy game in week one last year Richardson did attempt 37 passes they always say go all in on one game sample sizes from the first game of a player's career but I do just wonder I thought they seemed more ready they were a lot more ready than we expected to cut them loose last year Richardson I I think is that a fair Kyle and I just wonder if it's going to be a lot different than we it's probably not going to be a lot different but I they've invested so much draft capital in receivers didn't didn't they extend Michael Pitman my yeah big old extension they give him good money so I don't know man there really a lot of resources in on people who catch the football and I just wonder if I'm kind of in on this even if it's not the most likely it's like what do you win when you win oh Anthony Richardson's the number two rushing quarterback and like just a top 12 passer kind of we've got with Jaylen Herz a few years ago what we've gotten with Lamar Jackson many times where their athleticism makes it easier for them to pass extremely efficiently you get a little bit of volume in the mix like we've seen the Lamar like pass rate over expected last year was actually pretty reasonable they had a very good defense so it was hard to always capitalize on that but like we want to think about what happens if they cut X player loose uh what happens if Will Levis gets cut loose I don't know I don't think will Lis is that good when will Lis gets cut come on it's closer to that but like when Anthony richardon gets cut loose like that's that can be a dangerous offense so I think we need to at least be thinking about these things and it's honestly something I haven't thought about too much before but like you said they invested a lot in receiver they invested a lot in Richardson if you have a quarterback who you think I don't know if we're gonna be ever gonna be able to really cut him loose we don't really want this guy to throw that much you probably wouldn't take him number four overall so yeah I actually think it's a pretty reasonable take to say it is possible that they view him as a a better passer because they they literally do they took him forth overall yeah and by the way talking about one game samples we're going to hammer this one game sample because I have some numbers from from that one game talking about week one last year week one uh no counter Insurgency from Denny don't like this and no no no and I'm I'm wrong so uh 0% pass rate overe expected so like right on rate on target there they were 6% under their expected pass rate on first down but that's not that's not I don't think anything catastrophic um you know so we're talking about a good number of dropbacks I mean look if Anthony Richardson's dropping back 35 40 times a game then Josh DS is gonna get there and some like that's that's just that that's simple math that's the analytics well didn't you say didn't he to Pat crine that too Josh down though missing any time kind of just ensures that Michael Pitman will once again get away with it oh he's getting he's getting away with it so hard congratulate I just want to say hearty congratulations to all the Pitman drafters no come on the Pitman slappies is what you're for for the second I you know for the second straight year you have gotten all the way away with it I do agree with this I was like oh man DS was really good as a rookie and we know like those guys can take the leap maybe he can push Pitman for some targets like a 1 a 1B situation as sort of like as soon as I conceive of that immediate injury but like maybe we could see that over the second half of the Season still I just I don't know when the Pitman uh scam is going to run now but once you're out of money Danny once they've taken everything you have speaking of scams Denny is absolutely praying that the Brinks Heist currently going down in Dallas never ends this Picking apart the Dallas Cowboys' backfield season and he remains Allin on Ezekiel Elliott all all in on Ezekiel despite the Athletics stating this week that Ric do has to be the favorite to lead the team in rushing even though then they said he's maybe the number three running back and there was a lot of things in the report that didn't quite make sense um but it does make sense that the team will be looking to do things other than give eek Elliott the ball Denny and we we've been debating this one a lot and what do you make of like the RICO do chatter which I will be frank so I'm super skeptical of Zeke this like taking 70% of the snaps I'm as skeptical of like the ninth year breakout for 26y old Rico do even though Pat carine fax and logic to me with Raheem mostard and Mike Davis yeah and what do you make of this what do you make of this situation down in Big D the the the 12th year breakout doesn't care about your feelings Pat no no do uh and yeah uh look I want pieces of this Dallas backfield desperately as air RB bro uh who is trying to capitalize on backfield uncertainty that means that I am going to bang my head against the Denver uh uh running back wall and I'm going to do it in Dallas as well because I I I got to find it I gotta find the skeleton key here guys um so I'm not above like when I say that I like I like Zeke I don't think that he's going to have a Resurgence okay he's not going to come out and suddenly look great for the metrics he's gonna look awful okay like it test metrics whatever the Nerds and the film and the film Bros were gonna come together and hold hands and say Zeke is washed and he's catching eight passes a game and you know and that's what that's what matters so I'm taking Zeke but I'm also taking da sometimes because I I I want pieces of I just want to see how this is going to unfold the reporting is very weird though you're right Pat the reporting is weird d is the rb3 who should lead the team in running in in rushing guards I don't know what that means you know what the only what Cowboys running back I'll be drafting is jante Williams after they acquire him for a fourth pick that's what I'm doing Kyle any thoughts on the situ what are you doing on the situation Kyle come you're you're a mumer you're surely you're not drafting Zeke right no no I'm I'm drafting Zeke I actually drafted him pretty decent amount I would just fall on the other side of it's uncertain maybe there's a talent guy the talent guy is definitely Rico but it's also fine to draft Zeke I think sort of to Denny's point the skeleton key is around here somewhere we're in the general vein of running backs in which there is a skeleton key I think the Broncos backfield because the way it's coached is going to be very valuable someone there has a good chance at being a big winner Dallas is going to put put up a ton of points and also throw to their running back some so they're going to get touchdowns they're going to get the high value touches touchdowns and receptions the skeleton key is here somewhere the the Chargers have a great offensive line and they were going to run the wall until our eyes bleed skeleton key is in there somewhere I don't want to be if you're if you're doing one single draft Rico I think he's more talented if you're doing more than one draft I'd like to come away with both of them at some point to to Denny's point this is where winners are found I I just hedge a little bit more towards the I think this guy might be talented in Rico but I don't want to oversell it like P you said he's like we're looking at the fifth or sixth year breakout it's not it's not impossible you named some guys who had done it but You' think we'd have seen a little something more other than our well he had 50 carries and did really well in my spreadsheet I wish we'd have seen a little bit more but we have a large sample of carries on Zeke that say he's not particularly good anymore so both are good picks both are good picks I'm taking the fun bet more often in Rico but it's perfectly fine and good it is not just okay it's also good draft zek the only Pro Zeke thing I'll say I know the Cowboys offensive line has kind of been in permanent flush the past two or three years and remain so this year there's some upside on that line though uh I I do think Zeke's metrics will improve because as much as we like to believe metrics are like situation independent and that's supposed to be the point of them you're not having good metrics as a washed up running back on the 2023 New England Patriots it's just not happening like there was no Universe in which he was gonna have good metrics last year D and and Ju Just to emphasize how valuable this lead back role in Dallas can be we're talking about Pard Tony par last year uh 401 I believe pass routes that was the fifth most among all running backs he was near the top of the league in both Red Zone uh carries and inside the 10 carries okay he did absolutely squat with all of that opportunity but it was there and if that if that is stable in coming into this year into 20124 then whoever gets that he doesn't have to be good thankfully for Ezekiel Elliott who hasn't been good in I don't know four years du Von am I right folks can't be the only one that thinks du Von's about to be a legend now i' i' I've last year I dabbled with with de F I desperately needed to cut him this Summer and my Dynasty team I was down to one final cut for my 24 and I was deciding between Chris Rodriguez and Duce vau and I I did I cut C Rod I hated to see him go but yeah I think he made the right choice though just was this 30 man rosters we on here 24 14 teams 24 oh okay 14 teams and uh Deuce I I don't think it's gonna happen but this this is this is one of the worst backfields I've ever seen this cowboys backfield like it's real real like what was the thesis here with this backfield Jerry Jones and the Cowboys I guess the thesis was they thought they were drafting Jonathan Brooks until they announced they were going to draft Jonathan Brooks and thereby allowed another team to draft Jonathan Brooks yeah yeah that that probably wasn't the the right thing to do on Jerry's part that wasn't EV Jerry but it listen it'll be an interesting thing you know the whole idea you know the the the analytics nerd thing about running backs don't matter we're gonna see I mean they had a terrible running back last year and it didn't matter they led the league in points we just thought that running back was good until he stepped onto the field it mattered when there could they couldn't do anything to change momentum in their own building in the Wild Card round Kyle maybe a stable running game like grind out a drive or two calm the Packers down calm the crowd down no you weren C Jordan love down in that game dude had Eis his veins him him watching three yards in a cloud of dust wasn't going to change a day he was he was gonna nuke the cowboys that day extremely extremely extremely good point extremely extremely good time to take a break we will be right back after this experience the Olympics like you have never seen them before prime time in Paris tonight on NBC and peacock through the end of the games this weekend very very sad that the games are ending is Saturday the last day no Sunday's the last day Saturday's the last day full competition there's a lot of Team finals on Sunday like men's volleyball uh iuse me women's volleyball made the gold medal game today yeah men's basketball is currently in the process of hopefully stomping Serbia and making the gold medal game on Sunday on NBC can I say how much I love in in in volleyball the full team not the beach volleyball but the the full team volleyball when they do the fake spikes I love it's dud the volleyball it's like V2 Rockets like falling out of the air like I've never seen anything quite as insane like also also the Top Spin that some of those players put on their serve is is just wild like the the ball the ball Dives takes a nose dive as soon as it re as soon as it gets over the net how do they do that I I I have no I've hit a volleyball a few times no clue how you even approach that yeah it's totally insane the volleyball is all inspiring um both indoor and outdoor the the dip and stuff they can do and yeah so it's like it's like a rocket it's like a really like it's like an oldfashioned rocket where like it's powerful and strong but you don't really know where it's going yeah they seem to somehow know where it's going and it's just very scary and if I was on the receiving end of it I would just cower and hide oh absolutely my son had a good question watching the Olympics the other day on peacock uh he said uh how does Norway have a beach volleyball team and I there there's some sand on a fur somewhere I said son I don't know and then immediately the announcers uh cut away to a clip of an indoor facility that they have in Norway and because it's never warm in Norway so that makes sense they're warm and they have so much oil monies that they are building indoor beach volleyball courts they have a lot of sand they have a lot of lot of sand and the new have you guys seen speed de climbing they've been they've been showing this on Late Night in Paris on NBC with Maria Taylor speed climb or like it's speed rock climbing run up wall as fast as you can it's one most insane thing I've ever seen question mark it's totally totally nuts yeah it might be one of the sports that looks like Mo most divorced from anything I've ever seen like they're just not moving like a person I've ever seen move physically no it's quite insane uh you know it's also quite insane guys was the New look Seahawks offense as it develops around Geno Smith's skill set. 2023 universe University of Washington passing game and Ryan grub he's trying to bring it to Seattle well he already brought it to Seattle that's where the University of Washington is but Ryan grub remains in the SE city of Seattle Washington and he wants the Seahawks passing game to potentially go Burr uh Michael Shan duger from the athletic who's been on this show before so the team is shaping the offense around Gino Smith skill set Ryan grub is called the Gino and Elite quarterback um he has sorry I couldn't quite get through that part but uh he has the traits to be able to push the ball down the field quick release to get accurate underneath throws and great understanding of the protection scheme grub said that's one of the biggest assets you come in and have a guy like Gino you can execute your protection and scheme and take care of himself he's basically saying he's gonna try to do the pinck offense with Gino Smith they've got a really good three receiver set and like Mike McDonald early days at seah's coach like we're gonna establish it me ground and pound we won to win the time possession battle he hasn't said that in like four or five months do we buy uh Denny the they really are going to do this offense that Ryan grub is famous for I I yes I'm I buy it I'm buying it and if you don't believe me look at all my best ball teams which have just an obscene number of Seahawks you know Noah Fant jsn I'm I'm not even a jsn guy but I I'm I'm in at the ADP right that's I mean as a as a Turf I guess not but Denny is your feared conference Rivals says no yeah what conference rival or wait or what or what conference wonder if Maryland has ever beaten Ohio State in a single sport but we but we would like to be back in the ACC if anyone's listening true that's true uh so anyway yeah I have a lot of DK meaf and lock any all of them and I and I and I'm in I actually wrote a piece uh before I went to Greece for six months uh on uh some of the more underrated quarterbacks and you wouldn't believe this but Gino Smith qualified can I read you a little bit from this piece guys please do all right so he's definitely changed my mind about him as a quarterback over the past two seasons as a starter in Seattle over that time the Seahawks have the eighth highest EPA per play um they let's see they're they're just behind the Niners in that category uh when using play action only Brock pie and Lamar Jackson uh were better in adjusted yards per attempt last year than Gino um the Seahawks were Elite on first and second down down early Downs they had it they had it down pat late Downs not so much they were really bad in late down situations I know Pat has his theory about that uh but uh and I thought of you by the way when I blured that and I and and uh grub called youo Elite I thought I thought of I thought of you and surely he won't take a sack on the biggest play of the game you I thought of you possibly passing out when you read that um and uh your wife finding you at the computer uh anyway I so I do I do think they're going to lean on the pass here um I don't know if if it's going to work from a real football standpoint but I believe that it will go burr from a fantasy standpoint took a drink of water at the exact wrong time there almost laughed out my water when he said go bur I do think we have to completely adjust the way we think about the Seahawks offense about these players I think DK metf is going too late um I I I really think that he has you know with more play volume I mean the Seahawks ran the fewest plays in the NFL last year that's that's crazy and and so if you get that even to the middle of the pack you're talking about DK uh definitely exceeding his ADP if you get up to the top five or top 10 I think a guy like mchf could could really shock people this year with how how many uh how many fantasy points he goes bur with fewest plays in the NFL um that's Peak Peak Carol going out in a blaze of glory is what that is like that's they they couldn't convert any third Downs that that was that we're all trying to find the guy who did this uh Gino Smith we're all trying to find the guy who has entire career uh been terrible on third down and is apparently now Elite though oh yeah yeah I I just confirmed it 995 plays for the Seahawks offense last year that was the least in the fewest in the league I mean this this is below the Raiders the tit obviously 30 in the league but I mean it's just it's it's actually mind-blowing and then when you compare it to the top of the league um like the Browns ran uh 220 plus more plays over the course of the Season that is astonishing um Kyle D we throw to you for 30 second quick audio blurb on the Seahawks offense or should we move on to the next topic Tyler locketts looking a little old it was his Worst season yards per outr run in like seven years and this is team with probably a bad offensive line maybe some quick passing as well that all screams former Buckeye jsn maybe doing more than he did last year it's hard not to to be fair well the coaching staff has been praising jsn they're basically sounded like act talking like he understands the NFL now he showed up is doing the things he needs to be doing after a disappointing rookie rookie campaign said he know he's got the entire route tree down cold this year so the jsn drum beat is beginning and yeah we shall see jayzen can be a huge value that I will have no shares of because I never liked him last year and I'm like that but yeah Denny final thought uh yeah I mean you're going to get a lot more uh three receiver sets the Seahawks are 28th in three receiver sets um last year so a guy like Jackson Smith and jiga could actually get onto the field I mean to give you an idea he ran as many routes last year as uh Josh Reynolds and uh Rond Del Moore you know I mean just to give him idea Danny you already answered this one earlier and the question was any interest in biggest Mike Jets wide receiver Mike Williams who's been activated off the pup list they're saying he'll be ready for week one but you already said that yeah you're all out on Williams I just feel like this this whole offense is just going to rightfully be focused on Bree hall both in the Run game and the pass game and then G just a nonstop feeding of Garrett Wilson I mean I thought you said the offense was going to Hindenburg because it is but anyways well I mean it could with one one old quarterback injury but uh you know you have Alan Lazard you have uh Xavier Gibson nothing against Xavier Gibson a friend of the show uh but but I I just I just don't I just see it's Hall it's Wilson I guess Mike Williams could make a play here or there um but man I just I struggle to see any Avenue toward an exciting season what a fantasy relevant season for Mike Williams poor Kyle is still frozen but yeah I I totally agree I mean this is like whatever yeah we're gonna like Aaron Rogers who gotten more and more reluctant to throw the ball down the field like his final year in Green Bay blamed it on all the young receivers but is Mike I think Mike Williams will be an important Real Life Element offense because they need what he provides that's right it's gonna be more about getting real life defenses to fear like the Deep ball and very very hard to see Denny yeah how it translates receiver three numbers in fantasy I could I could certainly see Mike Williams being an important part of the offense at points during the season as a as a downfield guy who can make who can go up and make plays and they don't really have that right like you said so but if you switch your brain to Fantasy mode it's going to be hard to see a path to him being interesting fantasy-wise and I I do think that that's a struggle for folks who play the game um because you want to say well this this player is going to be important from a real standpoint so obviously that's going to translate to Fantasy then that's just that's just not the case I'll tell you I'll tell you a player who's not going to be super important but who will be fun for Fantasy you're not you're not ready for this and I'm sorry we didn't even talk about this uh Ray Ray McLoud look Rond Del Moore say is he on is is he on the Falcons what team is this guy even on Rond Del Moore was was Rondale Moore's season is over after being placed on Falcons IR. playing with the second and third team in training camp anyway he broke his leg he's done for the the year that's obviously very unfortunate ray ray ray McLoud already had a lock on the slot receiver position he's going to be out there for every single dropback for Kirk Cousins and he's going to accidentally fall into a fantasy relevant season this is my take Ray Ray Mick KJ Osborne is what you're saying for Ray Ray McLoud that yeah something like that occasionally be a wide receiver for in PPR leagues and that's I will say Ray M cloud is kind of an all time this time it counts player uh it's been I've been told it will count many times R CL and it never quite has but I think we have kind of like a dovetailing of points we've been making or a point I've been making over and over again is this Falcons yeah skill core is not nearly as deep as we were led to believe and maybe it was just pure depth that they needed Rond Del moow for but now yeah that pure depth is gone for the season the depth already being further strained further tested like you said it was Ray R McLoud like I just said it's Kurt Cousins who supported guys like KJ Osborne in the past and so yeah as much as I don't want to admit it that is an interesting take to keep an eye on Ray R McLoud and PPR leags it's going to be a lot of three receiver sets we're talking about a McVey style offense McVey of course loves three receivers ran it the most in the NFL last year I think the Falcons will be top two or three um in in in those three three receiver sets that puts McLoud on the field a lot a lot a lot and you know know look he's won uh Drake London or or Kyle Pitt's injury away from being like like frighteningly relevant in fantasy yeah just the Falcons they need to make a trade or something they're having trade ammo though after they trade it up for the quarterback no they didn't trade up for penck that's right the fact that I'm talking about the fact you know McLoud Ray Ray McLoud could be a legit player in this offense is not good for the for the Falcons and it's it points to the they desperately desperately desperately like fantasy managers need Kyle pittz to be a thing but you you were telling me earlier today didn't even they're talking about like Kurt Cousins is like teaching Kyle pittz how to be a pass catcher yeah man I it's what was the news there yeah so the athletic had a piece on how Kirk Cousins is kind of serving as a coach on the field and part of that responsibility is coaching up Kyle pittz and I'm just reporting what was in the story okay he said you know he's working with Pits on how to properly catch the football um with his hands rather than with his body and also to run hard um which he says that he can tell that Kyle pits is not running hard sometimes so I'm to be clear he's not saying he's not trying basically he's not properly his game speed is not where it it can be and should be right and he's saying he you know you can be too too fast for everybody if you want to be and I so I do I mean look that could that could lead to great things for Kyle pits like if if he really takes this to heart and cousins is able to coach him up in this way and the and the the new Arthur Smith L Falcons are able to to get the most out of him that's a I hope I hope it happens but I'm just telling you I'm reading that and I'm going wait what this is this is a guy entering his fourth NFL season not rookie not even second year fourth and his quarterback is saying no no no no no you got to learn how to catch differently I don't know Danny surely it's only his third season nope it's his fourth it's his fourth it's his fourth yeah I mean I had to look it up by the way because I was like I was like oh this the second his second season obviously and it's Denny we're having some technical difficulties so we're not going to really get to our final segment but what were you goingon to say that you were look what what were we saying about the preseason I already forgot what the con was uh wen't weren't you guys supposed to bring something that youing forward watching well look I mean I I I'm I'm going to be monitoring the following back fields very closely uh uh Dallas Denver Cleveland without without without Nick Nick chub um and um what was the other oh I I also wanted to monitor Jacksonville um to see if they're gonna really try to make tank tank big Bigsby a thing apparently he's doing really well uh in training camp and they they want to get him the ball Doug Peterson never stops talking about tank bsby so I I know I do want to see if that's going to be a thing because if it if if big bsby is going to be a thing it's going to be it's gonna make etn undraftable at his current ADP you have D of course we're watching the Bengals backfield a backfield that will actually maybe tell us a thing or two during the preseason we're watching the Titans backfield because all they keep saying is that these guys are interchangeable yeah we need to find out what that even means and guess the Raiders backfield see zamir Wyatt of course the Chargers backfield where JK Dobbins is looking like the ultimate stalking horse like uh no one wanted to make the positive JK Dobbins case like all offseason and now it just might be he might be defaulting into that it's tough to to do that um yeah and it listen if you're playing preseason DFS please do not forget to Play Raheem Black Shear the greatest preseason running back of all time so a lot to watch for this preseason we'll be writing about a lot it writing a lot it writing about it a lot on this website this weekend uh so keep it locked to rotoworld.com for preseason updates keep it locked here for articles too a lot of content going up keep it lock to our social media feeds Denny's going on the fantasy football happy hour Kyle and I going to Canton G be stuff going down so uh check it out oh yeah so for Kyle who unfortunately is having tech technical difficulties and for Denny I'm Pat thank you so much for listening we'll be back next week on Tuesday to preview the NFC East