12 Best Mid-Round Values | Players to Draft (2024 Fantasy Football)

Introduction Hello everybody welcome into the fantasy pros football podcast I'm Ryan warmley joined today by Derek Brown and by Andrew Ericson we did a show yesterday we're doing one today you know that it is getting into the season or closer to the season when we're doing shows basically daily with the three of us and uh of course sprinkling in Joe and Welsh and Fitz and everybody else we're getting to that time of year just less than two weeks away so super super exciting how are you feeling Debra I mean it's like I feel like we've been talking forever about like hey it's getting closer it's getting closer and now it's like basically here I feel good man overall it's a sight it's a feeling of excitement and energy to get here to the season there's a little bit of uh not I'm going to going to say impending doom but you're like oh dear Here Comes The Grind it's coming baby but I mean overall man I'm ready for it because we've been talking about all these players and situations and what could happen I want to see it all unfold I want to see how much we get right how many of these situations go sideways and how many players step up it really takes the pressure off in season because the NFL like determines our storylines and like we just kind of react to what's going on and the rhythm of a weekly NFL schedule is just a lot more straightforward so um it is in in a sense kind of relaxing but it's also like you said a grind Eric in less than two weeks out how are you feeling feeling pumped up and I'm I'm still trying to figure out which takes I want to ride or die with heading into the season and some things maybe I should take back before the season because we still got time we still got the season has not started yet so we can change the courland Sutton Memorial hot take award we can change yeah the coland memorial hot take award we can change our opinions we are getting new information as preseason games are going on and here some contract disputes going on so again we're trying to take everything and update the rankings accordingly and give everybody the best action and advice that they can do going into their draft so that's what I'm trying to do it it was a sign that I went into our like expert platform to where we you know adjust our rankings and I got the notification that was like Hey this date is coming up where it's your last chance to to finalize your draft rankings and that's how I know we're getting close because they're warning me that it's uh it's almost done so uh let's jump into Today's Show we're talking best mid round value picks pretty straightforward we're looking at guys going from round five to round 10 is how we decided to designate it you know obviously you need to nail your early round picks you know the first four rounds or so is like the core of your team and late round picks is where you find League winners but who stands out in the middle rounds you can get great values here you can find League winners in these rounds for sure and these guys can be the core of your team they can really go either direction and it really builds out like whether or not you're going to have a championship roster or not often comes from these middle rounds so we wanted to have an episode where really highlight those and focus in on these rounds specifically quick reminder for everyone that all of our 2024 consensus rankings and tiers can be found at fantasypros.com rankings and also I wanted to ask if you're tired of Draft Day uncertainty because if you are the the cheat sheet Creator is your personal guide to perfect League specific rankings visualize your path to Victory iory as you add tiers and sync your league to craft custom rankings ensuring every pick is strategic and tailored to your league settings enter your draft with confidence sync your league today at fantasypros.com draft Wizard or on the fantasy football draft Wizard app and use cheat cheat Creator to dominate your draft all right guys let's Jump Right In we're going to start off with round five dbo who is your best mid- round value pick in round five guy that we saw in preseason week three and I'm going to push back I know people are going to look at this and and they're going to say didn't we just see Anthony Richardson throw a pick six in the preseason why are you bringing him up cuz I we just want to clown on him I'm Anthony Richardson sorry man like do did everybody watch that entire game he carved them up on the first drive second Drive third drive miscommunications with his receivers he talked about in the postgame nothing has changed for me with Anthony Richardson he still has qb1 overall upside and if you're talking about the guys that can win you a league from these middle rounds that conversation has to include Anthony Richardson I mean last year we saw in the full games he played he averaged more fantasy points per game than freaking Josh Allen more fantasy points per dropback than any other quarterback in the NFL so if we're going to start this conversation this is the player we need to lead it off with yeah there's very few names at the quarterback position that can truly be League winners because just inherently like the scorings tends to be close to each other there's a lot of really good options it's a deep position Richardson is one of the guys though that could fall into that category Erikson where do you have Richardson ranked I have him ranked right in this range but I don't I don't know if I love the value of him in round five to be honest because if I could just I can take someone like Mahomes or Lamar in round four so I'd have to reach a little bit to get someone that I know is going to finish as a top three fantasy quarterback with I Have No Reservations about it like we know that's going to happen most likely so I only have to reach a little bit more or I could just wait and draft Jaden Daniels like that that's the way I'm least viewing the situ where Richardson I get the upside totally get it I don't really care what happened in the preseason game because one of the the thus of the play is he's going to run he didn't run at all so so that's the other thing you have to keep in mind yes I think that the passing is going to be up and down a little bit but they were throwing the ball a ton so I like that for Michael Pitman and the receivers but value proposition I think that he's not the best value on the board where he goes and I think that I'm approaching the quarterback position a little bit different um than Derek I was going to ask are you more likely to take if you're not taking a quarterback in kind of this mid- round section are you more likely to take one of those Elite guys before we get to round five or more likely to wait till later probably going to wait till later because the chances of Mahomes Lamar any of those guys falling it's probably not going to happen especially in more casual leagues where the quarterbacks adps are higher anyway and Kyler Murray round eight Jordan love round nine Jane Daniels round 10 I feel so good about those players and where I can start them and I feel like I have top five upside with them maybe not qb1 overall I could argue that I think Kyler Murray does have qb1 overall upside so that's the way at least I'm viewing the board I I actually had somebody uh DM earlier a listener to the show asking kind of about quarterback strategy that was earlier this morning and they were asking about like hey you know I'm interested in getting Kyler I don't want to wait and get kind of stuck with you know Daniels or Lawrence and I'm like that's awesome like I will happily wait and like those guys in tier 2 and like even tier three I'm just super in on this year I have been all offseason so I I I'm really on board with I mean if you find a good value with one of the top guys like get it and also I do like getting Richardson a lot just like I don't want to miss out if he does really like explode and finishes his qb1 but by and large pure value like I am loving waiting on quarterback this year and really every name in tier three I'd be happy with there's none of them where it's like oh man I got stuck with like Jared gof or Trevor Lawrence or Caleb Williams like I'll happily take them even though they're qb5 QB 16 range in our in our expert consensus ranking I also one last note I also think that I would be more likely to go quarterback early in a 10 Team league or in a league where there are very shallow bench spots because I don't want to have to roster two quarterbacks and that sometimes happens when you're going late round quarterback and you pick the wrong guy and it's a bad match up then you're streaming and then you have two roster spots when I only have four bench spots and two of them one of them has to be a quarterback that can be really annoying so in deeper leagues that way I can draft Jane Daniels and I can draft Trevor Lawrence great I got two guys roll with these guys that' be great feel good about that but where I have no bench spots I would be more likely to pay up because I don't want to burn two spots on my team for quarterback and if I'm paying up I'm not going to roster another quarterback yeah that's a good point yeah I I I totally agree 100% Erikson let's go to your uh first uh you know mid- round value pick here in round five Mark Andrews for me tight end he's my tight end one this year I think that Mark Andrews this is the year again why I want to go late run quarterback because I want to draft an elite tight end so again it doesn't necessarily need to be Mark Andrews any of those Elite tight ends that fall into this range that's who I'm looking to scoop up but I just like Andrews the most look since his second year breakout in 2019 his finishes tight end four tight end four tight end one tight end three tight end four his ADP is tight end four so I think you're getting him at a stone cold floor I think he has a ton of upside with Lamar Jackson That's Lamar Jackson's guy we talk about we like Z flowers They're they're talking about Isaiah likely I stick at the end of the day when they get in the Red Zone if it's not Derrick Henry it's Lamar looking for Mark Andrews so again before his injury last year tight end three overall averaging 12.2 points per game that would have ranked first among all tight ends last season so I think that he fits this system in this offense really well it's year two so I love Mark Andrews I will never forget I was working at NBC Sports Washington in 2019 and one of our guys went to Ravens training camp and he came back and I was like hey man because I'm a Ravens fan so I was like hey what was it like like did did the team look good or you know I wasn't aware yeah I was just saying that um I was like you know know uh did the team look good like everything like that and uh he was like dude draft Mark Andrews in fantasy that's Lamar's like best friend on the team like and and that was back in 2019 and that hasn't changed like when they when he is healthy on the field like that is where Lamar looks time and time again um I really like all the early tight ends frankly like I'll be happy if I get anybody in the top seven so I'm not coming away with Mark Andrews in like every League or anything I know Eric and you are above consensus on him I'm I'm comfortable with any of those guys but I do like getting one of those guys in round five and if it's Mark Andrews I I'm certainly thrilled Debo is this like I know like Trey McBride is your guy there other tight ends you like but do you see Mark Andrews as a good value in round five yeah I love Andrews I mean that that's really and that's why I didn't pick um Andrews or a tight end for the this conversation I'm drafting a lot of Trey McBride I'm drafting a lot of tight ends and paying up we've talked about this a lot this off season and draft season where we want one of these Elite guys and while Erikson's going for Andrews in round five I love McBride round four or I'm going to wait and take Kyle Pitts or George KD at the end of that uh that run of elite guys in round six so this has nothing to do with me not picking Andrews because I don't love him I mean I'm definitely going to have exposure to him across multiple leagues and best ball teams this year because I think he's a fantastic pick it's time for this week's player that we would give almost almost anything to draft to Terry McLaurin our fantasy lineups brought to you by Uber Eats that player is Terry McClaren which is Debo's pick for the best value in round six love Terry mclen this year he is going to crush I mean I I just want us to rewind for a second and understand that before last year and Sam Halal just ruined everything Terry McClaren was top 20 in all the efficiency metrics that we care about he was wide receiver 21 and expected fantasy points per game last year but because of quarterback play by how last year it bumped him down a peg I think mcclan comes screaming back he's a wide receiver two in my ranks and I think he has wide receiver one upside this year Ericson what do you think about McLaren because I because I firmly agree I guess for me I am I kind of want to throw the question back to Debo what do you think is like what's the highest you could see McLaren actually finishing o that's a good question um because that's where because I see I like the value of him but at the end of in the end of the day I know worst case scenario he'll probably be in that wide receiver 20 24 range again he has a rookie quarterback we like Jaden Daniels but traditionally unless you're CJ strad you don't un Cork and massive wide receiver production again the targets have never been a concern with mcen we know he's going to get he's the number one I mean they traded doson but that did that doesn't really matter to me I think that he was going to be the number one anyway so where do you see his ceiling is it hey wide receiver 12 like that's a win right but can you see him cracking oh he's like top five like no I think I think the conversation for him starts just looking at my ranks I think the conversation starts at wide receiver 11 like him versus Chris for total upside yeah I just wanted to bring that so I I do like mclen I think that he's a good value where you can get him and I think that his floor is secure he's going to see he's going to be the alpha in that passing game and if Jaden Daniels has a CJ shroud es season I know that we're really high on Jaden Daniels so I can definitely see that coming to fruition it's interesting because you look back at who McClaren has played with right it's not a great list of quarterbacks but when I was looking back at some of the adps of mclen especially when he was a little bit younger and we weren't really sure what his full ceiling was when the commanders or I don't know maybe they were the football team at this point I don't remember when they had Ryan Fitzpatrick as their signed quarterback who basically played one game and then got hurt immediately that year McClaren was drafted as a top 10 wide receiver that's where he was going in ADP so the expectations for McClaren have been really high and after so many years of wide receiver 2 wide receiver 2 the thing that I guess I would compare it to is could he be this year's I love I love doing this this year's this player this year's this player this year's DJ Moore right he's in that wide receiver 2 Purgatory forever B basically and you're never really sure if he's ever going to break out of the wide receiver too but we know he's talented and now he gets a new quarterback is Jane Daniels the best quarterback he's ever played for I mean maybe we'll see but the targets are definitely there the talent is there so yeah I can definitely coign on mclen especially in the middle rounds where I want to be taking wide receivers I love that DJ Moore correlation that was that was chev's kiss that was very nice Erikson I'm I made this point on the show recently like this is his lowest ADP since he was a rookie anded unproven and and you know not a Day One Pick like every other year once he established himself he has been going much not just higher but like much higher in ADP than he's going this year and yet this is the year with the best quarterback of his career in all likelihood like to me it doesn't compute like I I'm all in to answer your question about kind of the ceiling like I think he could finish I he's not going to finish top five but like I think higher than 12 like like best case scenario like other guys are going to get injured too right like he's going to get the targets if it really kind of all comes together this year I could see like that wide receiver like eight or nine range again certainly would not project that like I'm not going to draft him as if that's what's going to happen but like if we're talking true ceiling like I think it's like reasonably High actually like I'm really excited I guess now that I'm thinking about it more in my mind right we we think about I know with them not trying to bring Marvin Harrison Jr to this but a lot of Marvin Harrison's projection is about well when Kyler Murray had DeAndre Hopkins he was a wide receiver one well who was the offensive coordinator when that happened or the head coach is was Cliff Kingsbury so we've seen a Kingsbury offense Focus around one receiver and then a bunch of jabronies so we got Zack hers we don't really know who the wide receiver 2 is so boys we got to draft more Terry mclen well well and the thing too like you said like the Dotson trade doesn't matter that much to you it matters a little like he like it's just one less name to depends on what you thought about doson depends on I'm not like a doson like truther or anything like that but it's just one fewer guy I mean like even to that whatever small degree it is it's like even more so cementing mclen as like he will get every Target he can handle but before we move on here I just want to put a bow on Erikson's amazing DJ Moore correlation here DJ Mo wide receiver 28 23 33 and then last year wide receiver nine in fantasy points per game FS go it's unanimous we want ter Fields his best quarterback uh so that's why the guys uh including myself would give up almost almost anything to draft Terry McClaren this season that was this week's Uber Eats player of the week get almost almost anything for game day delivered with Uber Eats the official ond demand delivery partner of the NFL order now all right Erikson who's your round six best value yeah we're talking about who quarterback's best friends are we know Mark Andrews loves Lamar Jackson it's tank Dell tank Dell for me CJ strad loves him I just I don't want to Tank Dell overemphasize the the splits and the 12 Personnel does he playing the slot it's it's kind of noisy to me honestly you know a lot of this preseason us I think is very actionable when it comes to wide receivers I talked about this on the show I think with Tom earlier this week Jan Dawson right great usage of the preseason last year what did that do nothing Sky more great preseason usage didn't mean anything so sometimes especially Receiver right what does it come down to Ultimate at the end of the day Jonathan Mingo all the routes you could possibly ask for last year squat did squat you know who the best receivers were Tyreek Hill who bar who he ran he wasn't even running top 20 in terms of total routes run it's about Talent at the end of the day with receiver and what do I know about tank Dell Elite separator what else do we need to see from his rookie year to say this guy is not an Uber talented player yes he's a little bit undersized but I think of I was trying to compare a rookie quarterback and rookie receiver that essentially had a breakout the same year and I want to pose a question to you guys can you guys remember a rookie receiver quarterback Duo that broke out together in year one I had to do some digging I couldn't really think of it so I'll give you guys any anything off the cuff because there really only one answer in in recent memory so if it's not coming to right now you're probably not going to think of it give me give me the year at least here like get toss me a bone 2012 a crap that's too long ago I'm not still not going to get it uh that was that was luck RG3 Russell Wilson you're going who was the rookie re going down the right path who was the rookie receivers those year I see I remember the quarterback's better than the receivers okay I'll take over yeah you could just say it so it was Andrew Luck and T Hilton Hilton was was okay yeah Hilton was a rookie okay that's I almost said but I was like I don't think he was a rookie that year yes yeah he was a I think he was by the way did you know t y Hilton's son is like a college recruit next year like that made me feel he's not the only one they're all coming baby yeah but T Hilton is like a recent like I drafted him in fantasy it feels like four years Frank G Frank Gore junor g g are fre he's an outlier Frank gor can still put the pads on baby and run it today yeah no but that that's an interesting point about how like it just doesn't tend to happen for rookie QB and wide receiver together so I think that this is a really special connection that we should not Overlook we want to draft Tank D he's so cheap compared to the other Texas receivers and I again I don't know who the number one Texas receiver is going to be but I think that the best value proposition is going after tank Dell he looks like he's fully healthy last year when he was on the field with niico Collins same exact production so again I know that it's complicated and you don't feel comfortable because I don't know who's going to be the target leader well CJ strout is has advertised it's not going to matter like when we saw Tom Brady firing an all cylinders Antonio Brown Chris or Chris Evans uh Chris Godwin Mike Evans we started all of them every single week and nobody thought it was great and I think that we could see that potentially in Houston so again I I'm a little bit lower on Nico just because he's the most expensive receiver so for me it's it's tank Dell CJ St loves him and therefore I want to buy into him and I can't also again with the comparison to T Hilton if you guys remember again this is back in fantasy day if you guys remember the he owned the Texans right T Hilton every single week he's the guy that wore the Clown again bringing back the clown mask because I talked about ni Collins fate I'm gonna have to show up to week one with the clown mask but who can save me in that is if tank Dell shows up against the Colts in week one has a big game then I'm not wearing the clown mask because if it's a big game for tank Del and Nico Collins I'll take that as a w we should have just framed this as the player that CJ stra would do almost almost anything to draft because guess what he did yes that's amazing yes we we'll send that to Uber Eats um yeah I uh I I think it's spot out and it's like you said it at the very top Ericson like no need to overthink it like everything CJ Str has ever said tells us that he loves tank Dell like it's his his top Target he brings him up constantly like he did that off season thing with michah Parsons where he was building his ideal offense like he was throwing out like Calvin Johnson Larry Fitzgerald and tank Dell like he he CJ Str loves this guy for good reason you don't want to say was the Meme and that like where it's like but like I mean you were like oh okay well there's that cool yeah we're not saying tale is like along the lines of Calvin Johnson but the point is that strad adores him and he's going cheaper than the other Texans receivers like like you can like I just want to get one of these guys so I want to get the cheapest one anyway and if the cheapest one happens to be Stroud's by all account's favorite Target like that works really well for me I also think there's like a non-zero chance that stoud just like throws for 50 200 yards this year and all three of these guys are really good like again you're not going to bet on that but like strout is that good and you usually see a year or two leap from quarterbacks like I would not be surprised if all three these receivers Feast Go full Payton Manning and we have 3,000 yard receivers this year would anybody be that shocked I mean I know it would be I might raise my eyebrows I'm not GNA be stunned yeah same yeah I totally agree so I love the tank Del pick um I'm getting him in as many leagues as I can let's go to round seven Debo who is your mid round value pick here I'm glad I got into the show sheet before Erikson cuz I was afraid he was going to take this guy from me but it's Chris Godwin man I know Ericson's loved him all off season I was slow to Chris Godwin come around but I'm here now man and this all comes down to yes Chris Godwin's going to go back in the slot I think that's amazing things for him this year and it's wheels up dude and we saw the again it did not happen the entire season last year but Chris Godin when he turned it on down the stretch it was freaking fantastic dude like after we 13 he was the wide receiver 16 in fantasy points per game getting almost a 29% Target share averaging 83.6 receiving yards per game you put him back inside this year I think that's definitely going to happen and we're going to see Chris Godwin just absolutely eat where he goes and drafts I'm not going to say it's an auto button like like lock pick but it's really freaking close Erikson you've been a Godwin guy in the past are you backing on him this year yeah 100% again I someone did list the 33 receivers that they think are better than Chris Godwin and I I disagreed with the list I I I've set this out the bat signal to the YouTube comments someone did create the list I didn't agree with it but I I appreciate the effort and I I still don't think there's 33 receivers that list needs to be like reviewed I disagree with that list too are you worried just with the changing like play calling for think that works in his favor because it's putting him back in the slot where but just like the offense maybe being worse because we like Dave Canales I mean I guess I guess like it's a better fit for him even if the offense in this theoretical outcome does take a step back I mean the offense for Godwin last year was not I mean he he wasn't good last year so again okay he's if he just does what he does last year then you're it's it's a single right you draft him in round seven he's a PPR Merchant that's it I I think that but the ceiling is there if the play calling is more catered to him being a feature piece of the offense if anything look Mike Evans is gonna get his thousand yards going to get five six touchdowns I could see Mike Evans potentially not having as a productive year where G scn benefits a little bit more I me Evan screams touchdown regression man like there was so many touchdowns and I'm not saying he's going to have a bad year but there is going there has to be amount of regression year because it never happens I mean that's the thing like like Evans Evans is like a total met you you know exactly what you're getting from M kevans however at some point it is going to happen he's into his 30s now like maybe it I'm not going to predict it me NE but you know it will happen eventually it will happen eventually I promise you that uh all right Erikson who's your round seven pick yeah so going to the quarterback position here I talked about how I like late round approach and I sometimes find that Kyler Murray falls into round seven Kyler Murray round eight so yeah sign me up for a guy that I think has qb1 overall upside these are the best weapons that Kyler has played with I think at the NFL level an offensive coordinator that he's already been with last year look he was QB 11 points per game 10th and expected points per game after returning from a tourn ACL he's not coming into the season banged up at all he was averaging basically the same amount of fantasy points per game as Brock pie and he was injured and had no weapons so I just love they're talking up every single receiver on this offense Harrison Greg dorch Michael Wilson you have Trey McBride as a breakout candidate so I I think the Cardinals Cardinals are one of my favorite sneaky teams as like a division winner I I'm faing the rest of the NFC West I really think that KY Murray and the Cardinals are set up they've had a lot of great drafts I think the offensive line is improved he's a mobile quarterback so for me again Kyler Murray averaged 22 points per game from 2020 to 2021 averag over 30 rushing yards per game last season he's checking off every single box you're looking for for a elite fantasy quarterback that doesn't cost it you know my strategy is pseudo late round quarterback I want the cheap or the most upside at the cheapest price and when I'm looking at those potential players Kyler Murray really checks off all the boxes so again bringing it up comparing Sim to Richardson I mean Kyler me has the same kind of upside as Richardson does and he goes way later and he's more proven product so for me I like kyin Murray and also because I am a little bit lower on Marvin Harrison JR this is my little way to hedge a little bit because if kyin Murray smashes and I drafted him well hey I'm a cool I'm cool with Marvin Harrison whatever I didn't draft him but I'm still going to benefit so again I know that some people are kind of wishy-washy about Harrison's price it's a rookie receiver never played before so if you want to benefit from Harrison being this generational Talent well just draft Kyler Murray I really like Kyler Murray this year we already talked about it a bit where I also really like the later guys so I find myself often waiting at the position but I do think k Tyler Murray like is has a very good chance of stepping up in a major way this season and kind of getting back to being one of those Elite fantasy QB options dbo how are you ranking Kyler in comparison to like you know it's two rounds later than Anthony Richardson do you like that getting the extra value there would you rather just wait even further and get Jaden Daniels where does Kyler sort of slot into that mobile QB ranking for you I've got him at qb10 right now right behind Jaden Daniels but like again I think the conversation for him starts a qb6 or qb7 and I won't push back in anybody having him higher than that um and and the big thing I think we we haven't discussed yet about Kyler Murray is even as the qb9 in fantasy points per game last year he did that and he was objectively like you can't argue this he was one of the worst passers in the NFL last year like amongst 45 qualifying quarterbacks this is where Murray ranked 38th in cpoe 35th and highly Target highly accurate target rate and he had the ninth highest off Target rate so you're telling me so that that should be considered around his floor qb9 qb10 that is his floor you're telling me a objectively terrible passer last year and he was still a top 10 quarterback what the heck happens is if he revisits the previous Seasons where we saw him just blowing it up as one of the best passers and specifically deep ball passers in the NFL if he recaptures that type of magic yes he has top three upside absolutely all day let alone another year removed from a leg injury and maybe he gets even more mobile this year compared to what we saw last year so yeah I totally I've got him qb7 uh which I think is about the right spot I think the top five or six are pretty did you say you had Jane DS in front of Kyler Murray I do I do so then you're not so then you're not drafting Kyler Murray like that's you're ranking drafting both Ericson but no but I think the benefit of Kyler is if you draft Kyler you're not drafting another qu back right I mean that's fine but where where Kyler goes you can take another guy or you could I mean I think the conversation and the big takeaway for quarterback right now is that Target rushing upside and depending on what your league format is and how these players go in your league I'm fine with getting all of them like I'm fine with going with any one of them if I'm playing one League I'm probably waiting on Kyler Mario or Jaden Daniels and it depends on how the draft unfolds so if they're both there in round 10 you're going to take Jaden Daniels that's what you're ranking I mean but but do you think KY we're talking about Kyler Murray right now what round round seven he's not going to be there in round 10 but that but that your rankings are telling you if they're both there on the board at the same time in the later rounds you're going to take Jane Daniels over K that's what your rankings say right yeah okay yeah I'll go with Daniels that's all I wanted to clear that's me and wor are taking kyin Murray yes I I love Daniels but I'm taking Kyler Murray over over him for sure uh have you been hungry for some college football well we finally get a taste this weekend don't miss any of the action jump in at draftking Sportsbook it's a small But Mighty slate of games for week zero including a big matchup in Ireland this is going to be DraftKings biggest college football season to date enjoy the ride now all the way through the expanded playoffs plus all newbies getting into the college Spirit here's something extra special new DraftKings customers bet $5 to get $200 in bonus bets instantly score big with DraftKings all college football season long download the DraftKings Sportsbook app now and use code fantasy pros that's code fantasy pros for new customers to get $200 in bonus bets when you bet just five bucks only on DraftKings the crown is yours all right guys let's go to round eight Deo who is your value here oh I'm wondering if people are tired of hearing me talk about Brian Robinson Jr Brian Robinson Jr yet guess what doesn't matter we're g talking about him again I look and it's so funny because Ericson threw this I think Erikson you threw this into slack yesterday it was like Brian Robinson is an RB w i I was like oh yes yes I agree with this I but I think the the big takeaway here for everything we've seen in the pre-season everything we've seen from cliff kingsberry and usage of running backs previously as well as Anthony Lynn is that Brian Robinson Jr will be the clearer number one running back in this offense both in the Red Zone on the early downs and I still think he's going to out Target Austin Eckler in this offense people are sleeping on how good he was last year year again we've talked about this before I don't understand how anybody does not have him ranked inside their top 24 running backs when this man was a top 24 running back in points per game last season but yet we're standing at the precipice of week one and people still have him ranked as an rb3 just enjoy the value draft all the Brian Robertson Jr you can this year yeah this one is something that we've talked about a lot in this show but I fully agree with you and I don't mind you bringing up again because he just is the best value pick in in this round in my opinion like I firmly agree um for a while I was kind of holding off and I had him in that like kind of high to Mid um you know rb3 range but I like I've seen enough like he's he's an rb2 like at the very least he needs to be inside the top 24 Erikson where do you have Brian Robinson rby 21 so I'm right there with every else too I mean he's in a really good spot again the only concerns really are if the offensive line is just absolutely horrible for the commanders but then you're hoping the scheme having a quarterback is going to help him out and I think that he's going to be the Red Zone guy so if this Commander's offense can at least be average with Jaden Daniels under Center I think Brian Robinson's going to benefit a lot and he's been good the past two years he was good last year the the the joke last year was oh the guy that accidentally drafted Brian Robinson instead of beon oh well he's winning right now through the first 11 weeks of the Season that was an actual joke and it ended up being the other person was on the the bad side of that joke so yeah keep drafting Brian Robinson do do you still remember does everybody still remember the all the narratives the first year Cliff kingsberry was in Arizona do y'all remember all those where it was like the offensive line is so terrible they won't be able to run the ball at all there's no way and we're like um okay I don't really necessarily agree with that and then Kenyan Drake arrives midseason he's he runs for 643 yards in eight games scores eight touchdowns and everybody's like oh wait never mind thatas take was bad year boss yeah but I mean like the all these offse narratives people like they dig their feet in so deep they're like there's no way this happens and then the NFL season comes and we're like okay well and that's when he got traded from Miami right that was mid-season trade oh wow man lot lot of throwback Hilton Drake love it yeah and we uh you know we saw even just yesterday some of the Washington uh reporters saying like Kingsbury is saying like Robinson is very clearly an rb1 like there's no like well I wanted I wanted defin definitive takeaway from that was he is he an rb1 or the rb1 that's what I need to know we'll correct it it's okay they they phrased it wrong we'll correct it here the RV R1 all right Erikson who's your round eight value yeah I think that this guy is just when you look up value in the dictionary of fantasy football it's a picture of Deontay Johnson wearing a life jacket because this guy this guy might drown Diontae Johnson and Target in the Carolina Panthers that's that's what I'm concerned for when it comes to Deontay but I'm not concerned at all for the type of fantasy production he can put up look we saw last year Adam thielen was wide receiver 25 and that was after he basically did nothing for the last six weeks of the season because Bryce young again it was not great it was not pretty but he showed that he could support at least one fantasy viable wide receiver and last year was theland and this year it's going to be Deontay Johnson in a better system with Dave canals taking over we saw the Buccaneers be very productive with their wide receivers last year even though Godwin didn't score a lot of touchdowns he still caught a ton of passes Mike Evans we were fading Mike Evans and Mike Evans put it in our faces and had another monster year so I think Deontay Johnson they traded for him to be Bryce Young's wide receiver one Legette still is not practicing he's been banged up during the training camp Jonathan Mingo we're not really sure we're going to get from him in his year to so for me look Deontay he's had his ups and downs he's had his drops but what does the guy do he gets open he creates separation even last year 26% Target share when he was healthy so for me it's Deontay Johnson again he's not a League winner unless Bryce young becomes this amazing quarterback but at worst he's going to be a value every single year he's just one of these players that slides in as your wide receiver three flex play and full PPR he's going to be a screaming value he's going to beat his ADP and no again like I said not a League winner but a screaming value where he goes and people just don't click him because ah you know what's the upside here oh 100 catches that's that's upside yeah maybe it's four touchdowns but 100 catches in the eighth round right that's the selling point if he was a fifth round pick like no thanks like let somebody else draft him but in the eighth round Deontay Johnson it's an easy pick for me yeah to to our listeners I implore you like like I promise you if you play in a PPR League Deontay Johnson is going too late in your drafts like I guarantee it like you he needs to go sooner if he is healthy he will be a very very valuable pick you know partic in every format I'm like interested but like PPR like holy cow is he going too late uh Debra where are you at on Deontay uh I want to make sure that I'm always consensus on him I I have him as wide receiver 30 right now um I'm looking at ECR has him at wide receiver 35 so I want to maintain being above consensus and I think the big takeaway here also is last year with terrible quarterback play in Pittsburgh and I know that's nothing new he was still the wide receiver 33 so what are we hoping for Bryce young to be better than Mason Rudolph and Kenny picket like that's not asking for a lot right now it's really not anybody who knows me knows there's basically nothing in the world I love more than going to baseball games all summer long in fact I've already made plans to attend not one not two but all three O's games out here in Denver when they play the Rockies in just a week and to make sure I got the best seats for those games at the best price I turned to game time with killer last minute deals Allin prices views from your seat and their lowest price guarantee game time takes the guesswork out of buying MLB tickets I'll be planning ahead for the O Series of course but one of my favorite things about game time are the last minute deals you can save up to 60% off buying last minute for Not Just Sports but concerts comedy theater and more I'll be headed to a concert at Red Rocks this month too and you can be sure I'll be checking out game time deals two other features that I love for how much it takes to frustration out of ticket buying are game time seat views showing your view from the seat before you buy and Allin pricing so I know the total upfront with no hidden fees game time is simple to use but more importantly the app gives me all the information I need to make an easy ticket purchase so this summer take the guesswork out of buying MLB tickets with Game Time download the game time app create an account and use code fantasy pros for $20 off your first purchase terms apply again create an account and redeem code f n t a s y p r o s for $20 off download game time today last minute tickets lowest price guaranteed all right guys two rounds left let's go to round nine Debra who's your best value here train didn't stop here baby Christian Watson train rolls on we're going all the way for the Christian Watson league titles this year man look hey guess what that's me knocking on wood because Christian Watson is healthy right now baby walking into week one let's go I think that the health things have gotten figured out and as long as that's the case Christian Watson uh you you threw this out here earlier Ericson um who is this year's blah blah blah what if Christian Watson 2024 Christian Watson is 2023 niik Collins and I know there's a lot of things to unpack there and there's context n was held back by bad quarterback play in his first two years Watson was held back by injuries but this year is the monster breakout again I've talked about it when he was on the field and he was a starter he led the Green Bay Packers in every single statistical C category we should care about what's changed nothing at all Jaye Reed's still going to be a part-time player they're still going to run a lot of 12 a lot of 21 especially with Tucker craft getting healthier by the day and this all is wheels up for Watson he gets the downfield usage he gets the high leverage usage with inzone targets so he I mean what are we talking about we want touchdowns we want Target volume we want big plays and the ability to create big plays because of athleticism Watson has all of that you want to talk about the league winning swing where you're drafting a guy as your wide receiver three wide receiver four and if everything Coes in 2024 he's a wide receiver one look that's Christian Watson oh I want to ask the same question that ericon asked Debo like what is like best case like what ranking would you put him at as like best case scenario you said a wide receiver one like lowend wide receiver one lowend wide receiver okay so like in that like 9 10 11 12 range yep Erikson what do you think about Watson I mean yeah the upside is there look one of the things I'm getting tattooed on my body this year is draft a Packers wide receiver leave your draft with a pack wi where I ask where where's that tattoo going I don't know I got to ask Welsh where he put his we talked about this on one of our shows right next to right next to the draft Denver Broncos running back tattoo that's the other one mid lower back you know lower more lower than back chest chess tattoo no regts noad bronos Packers that's what I need but with Watson yeah the upside cases there and the price is so suppressed because of the injuries that I'm I'm all for it I I want to take stabs on all these Packers receivers before said we have four number one receivers now is that going to play out that way probably not but look they're all going outside the top 36 receivers essentially I know Jaden Reed's the most expensive but I'm not shying away from any of these guys because I think Jordan love can lead the NFL in touchdown passes Jordan love is one of the highest favorites for MVP if he wins MVP who do you think is coming along the way all of his top receivers and again if guys miss time one guy gets hurt and then the target floodgates open up for one of these other players yeah so again given that Watson is healthy right now you're going feel pretty good about having him in your life and kind of see how play things play out week one we're they're playing the Eagles in Brazil let's go it'll be fun how how excuse me how are you ranking these guys Erikson like do you have Reed one Watson 2 do you have DOS up there like what is the order you actually have these four guys I think I have them in order whatever their ADP is because I just think that wherever they're I think all their prices are fine I think that you should draft them at their prices I'm not because I I I think that I don't want to be overconfident in saying oh well I know for a fact that Watson's going to stay 100% and healthy and like I mean J again this is about Christian Watson but Jaden Reed was nasty as a rookie and a prospect I really liked so I'm not going to put Watson ahead of Reed because Reed was good or Watson was productive when he was healthy last year and good as a rookie Jaden Reed did everything I dreamed of he would do year one and more essentially so I'm not going to look away from that he broke out as a rookie and then that's really impressive so for me it's kind of in line with ADP but if you're following my rankings you're you're drafting all the Packers receivers which is what my tattoos say to do D what's your order on these four by the way I've got Watson um right and I'm looking at uh so ECR has a Jaden Reed wide receiver 37 Watson is at 38 Romeo dos is at 53 and Wix is at 62 I've got Watson at 33 I've got Jaden Reed at 42 so a big gap there and really that's not I mean he was a wide receiver for 43 and expected fantasy points per game so I just think there's touchdown regression that's likely to hit um I've got dos and Wicks as in that wide receiver 4/5 territory Reed is the one that I'm not getting a lot of um kind of for the reasons you laid out Debo and just because I've been leaning towards Watson ahead of Reed um just aiming for what I perceive to be kind of that extra high upside I get why there's upside with all these guys obviously and I think they're all very reasonable picks but I I've just been getting way more Watson than Reed so I have him just one spot ahead actually um Erik who is your round nine guy sticking with the late round quarterbacks here I'm going with two aong of Viola for the Miami Dolphins and this is when I'm waiting till my very Tua Tagovailoa final pick essentially because I say round nine here because that's where his ADP is but if you're in any one quarterback League two is going to be one of the last picks you can make essentially like with Trevor Lawrence Justin Herbert when everyone is pushing off quarterback you basically draft Tua when you see your 11 other league mates have already drafted their quarterbacks and no one's going to draft Tua touch him because when I'm looking at what he could do as a late round quarterback we know what this Miami Dolphins offense does especially early on in the season they're Unstoppable we saw two last year he led the NFL in passing yards and I love the opening schedule for him and this is something that's super key when you're going with a late round quarterback strategy and this is why you can't draft will Levis in my opinion he plays the Bears on the road in week one do you want to start will Levis week one against the Bears no that so so for those reasons you need to know if you're going with a more fringer quarterback what's their open schedule and for me Miami is just so juicy Jaguars at home bills at home at the Seahawks home against the Titans I mean that's why I love Jay wild that's why I mean I just think that this offense is going to score a ton of points because their defense can't stop anybody and two we're going to look up oh wow two is a top five quarterback four weeks into the season now is that going to last no definitely not especially as a pocket passer but if I'm looking for value at quarterback two and to me especially early on in season then maybe you can sell high if someone's believing oh my God this is going to sustain it didn't sustain last year so it's probably not going to sustain this year so that's just something I would look at when I'm really trying to punt quarterback Barry to probably one of my last picks so again his ADP is round nine but as you'll find if experienced drafters I mean in the Yahoo draft we did for the fantasy pros Insider League there were tons of quarterbacks still left in round 12 13 14 including Tua I love your point about the schedule too and also all those games at home like early season Miami games Defenders get tired Tyreek andon aan like they're going to be gassed by like the 10 minute Mark like I mean to um Tua has top five upside for quarterback in week me that's why I have two ranked pretty high that's why I have two ranked over Brock pie because I think that he's going to start like Gang Busters whereas the 49ers are team bad vibes all over the place so if you're dra if you're drafting two are you getting a second quarterback with him knowing that you're probably not going to want to start him later in the year no because at that point I think I'm going to be able to get waivers or I could just trade Tua so and just trade him for whatever mobile quarterback doesn't start off well or is kind of bumpy what if Richardson kind of has like an up and down campaign and like hey Tua leads the NFL passing yards then hey I got Richardson for the value of a last round pick to to your point Erikson his schedule weeks 4 through eight is is also good amazing dude Tennessee New England Indie Arizona I mean just 300 yards 300 yards 300 yards 300 yards passing every single week exactly like again I don't even really like Tua that much but I just I can't ignore I was surprised you put him on this list because I remember the don't draft Tua train and you poo pooing it all last year so to see this name here it was very surprising a slave to the schedule okay yeah you really are I can't say Tua Tong of vioa without thinking of my friend who calls him Tua turn the ballova um because top five in interceptions last year and I don't even think of him as that type of quarterback but that's like that's more like garoo honestly yeah U all right uh yeah I was surprised you included him too I'm glad you did because I thought that was a good kind of breakdown of Tua Erikson um I was surprised by that too Debro in round 10 you've got another quarterback here as well yep again if you're not going to pay up for Anthony Richardson the leag guys and stuff like that you're not going with Kyler muray janen Daniels we talked about there is a really really good case to be made for waiting on Trevor Lawrence and right now um I've Trevor Lawrence got Trevor Lawrence above ensus uh he is ECR qb1 16 he is my QB 11 right now and talking about players that we have over Brock py I have Trevor Lawrence over Brock py and a lot of this is we're not playing for last year's fantasy points we're playing for this year's fantasy points and what we saw out of Trevor Lawrence was bad injury luck just run bad the entire year being the QB 13 in fantasy points per game he was the qb7 in expected fantasy points per game and all they did this entire off season was add weapons around him bring in Gabriel Davis we could say what we want make her jokes about that still an upgrade bringing in Brian Thomas Jr you still have Christian Kirk and Evan Ingram there they're going to freaking throw the ball all over the yard um and this started even last year they just didn't have the weapons to be really good at it weeks 12 through 18 we're discussing an offense that was fourth in neutral passing rate and sixth in Red Zone passing rate so we want passing volume and we want passing volume inside the 10 inside the 20 if we get all that this year with improved weapons for Trevor Lawrence he's an easy top 12 quarterback and you're going to get him in the later rounds of your draft it's it's just easy money I've got to be my top 12 I have him right at 12 I want to be ahead of consensus on Lawrence I I am expecting big things from him this year and again he's one of the big reasons why I don't mind waiting at the position because he's qb1 16 in ECR right now like I will happily take him as my starting quarterback in a one QB league if I can wait as late as I can to get him Erikson obviously you know you're big on Tua are you also interested in Trevor Lawrence kind of going in a similar range yep yeah I think I like Lawrence more long term honestly and I mean week one they play the Dolphins so again DFS stack it up gonna be betting the over in that game for sure so that's be a fun game and I I think I mean I've thrown out I think Trevor lawren could lead the NFL on passing yards bets on the betting Pros site I've talked about I mean I love Brian to I mean I'm the Brian Thomas guy but you guys are the ones talking about I mean how is Trevor Lawrence going to get there without his number one receiver Brian Thomas yeah so I I like Brian Thomas too D is the hater I I I don't like him as much as let me ask you this though when it comes to Christian Kirk do you when I say Christian Kirk do you think he's an alpha yes or no I don't think he's an alpha but I think he's the number one guy there okay but those are those are usually those things are baked together if you're an alpha you're usually the number one guy but so I'm just saying that there's room for someone to step up in this offense to become an alpha and it's not going to be Gabe Davis we can all agree on that okay no we can agree on that so dude Brian Thomas man I think that and this is not a Brian Thomas Show maybe I could have put him as my round 10 pick but that's like why is he on this list I think we're sleeping on Brian Thomas like severely I think he's gonna have a monster season and he's starting to heat up training camp the report I uh just drop briy Thomas please please please what's briy Thomas's ADP right now I was going to say hold up hold up let's let's work out this math here because if if we were okay Brian okay okay yes Brian Thomas Jr going at pick 108 so tell me ericon if you love him so much why isn't he the name that I'm staring at for round 10 here is 108 technically round 10 or is it like round 11 one that's probably no it's round nine right because T cuz 10 in a 12 team league would be through one pick 120 so that's the last pick of round nine well full disclosure I'm going to draft Brian Thomas over Tua so just to be clear and by the way Thomas is going later in in some spots like on our consens he's going later in some spot our consensus on uh fantasy pros is wide receiver 49 117th so that is you know later into around 10 so in that range but yeah I think it's a good call uh Erikson uh take us home with your last mid- round value pick it who is not Brian Thomas yes it's not Brian Thomas but you should draft Brian Thomas still this guy is Chase Brown I i' I've been on Team Chase Brown since the very beginning since Chase Brown Fitz brought up how he was an absolute Workhorse at Illinois and you go back and be like yeah this guy was an absolute monster touch workload so for me again comes down to Zach Moss versus Chase Brown the debate that's battled between fantasy analysts all across the industry all summer long we haven't even seen Zach Moss at all in the preseason I know he's been dealing with an illness and then they didn't play any of their starters so again week one we're going to learn a lot I I don't know how the workload is going to be shifted but I think that at this price it's cheap enough to wait and find out and what I do know is Chase Brown I think is the better overall pass catcher I think that the lack of a third running back at least they haven't added anybody yet suggests that they're feeling better about his progression and pass protection going from year one to year two I know the preseason game didn't look great from a vision perspective but hey it was five carries so for me I'm just buying into I think this guy's explosive upside I don't think that he necessarily needs a lot of touches to be productive because of what he can do as a receiver out of the back field and I think that besides Jamar Chase I think that he could be the next guy in terms of hey we need to generate a big play who's that coming from I think that is Chase Brown so in round 10 is he going to be the Workhorse the number one running back for week one I'm not so sure but I'm willing to take a stab him to find out especially at a round 10 price tag for a guy as a second-year running back that we usually see guys take big leaps in year two and you look at the year two running back class right so we have Gibbs and hen those guys are already valued very highly Shan he going to take a big step probably not not with Walker there Kendry Miller Dennis Allen hates him so that's not going to happen tank bigs Roshan again J Go off into the moon but if there's going to be another secondy year running back that steps up here I think it really could be Chase Brown so that's who I'm going to take here in round 10 if you are a listener of this podcast you will be drafting a lot of Chase Brown because we've been talking him up for a while here Dro uh are you among that I know fits and eriks are the ones I here talk about it most I can't remember you're also on the chase Brown train right or no I I have move Chase Brown up in my ranks right now and I I just want to make sure that I'm right on this that yes yes I wanted to say um I just didn't want to I didn't want to say something and be like then look at my ranks and be like whoop never mind that's totally wrong I have Chase Brown ranked above Zach moss and I've said it before and I'll say it again I think Zach Moss is and use your failing running back of yester year he's this year is my sanders he's this year is Alexander Madison this all comes down to say that Zach Moss is one of the worst picks that you can make in fantasy drafts this year and that leads me to said that I said that like three months ago dude come on yeah I know I know I look I'm just trying to help you you know some more tattoos for that mid lower back but it's probably not as bad Pi anymore cuz his ADP is much is much uh suppressed since the last time I said it but you're you're going to run out of of of skin area to get all this ink Ericson um but the last thing I'll add on Chase Brown and this comes out from one of the Bengals beat reporters today is that uh with concerning Chase Brown and Zach moss and this is a direct quote as for the top two expectations are still an even split though we have seen a good amount of Chase Brown running with the first team lately in Camp that is already H like people's early offseason takes were oh this is Zack Moss's job blah blah blah and I'm like as soon as we got training camp news and this is where we talk about pivoting with more information as we go through the process I I I changed up the ranks I had a giant like Chasm between those two running backs and then I'm like oh well if Chase Brown's already getting first team reps and he's already splitting work with Zach Moss okay who do I think is the more talented back out of these two guys it's Chase Brown okay then there's an Avenue for Chase Brown to be the guy that gets 65% of the work if he can distance himself by playing well on the field from Zach Moss that Avenue if we're already starting off with it it's 50/50 it might become 65 35 6040 very quickly they've really been like two ships in the night in terms of their ranking cuz at the start of the summer it was Zach Moss like you you know 10 plus spots ahead of of Chase Brown in and running back rankings and they've gotten closer and closer and like I certainly have Chase Brown ahead of Zach Moss now that that that Gap has definitely narrowed to the point where like by the time we get to September I think Chase Brown might even be like consensus ahead of moss I mean we'll see kind of where I think a lot of the at least when I was doing our value show we talked about Chase Brown a lot of the adps still have Zach Moss ahead of Chase Brown so that's the other reason why again if you're going to take a shot on ambiguous backfield usually it's the cheaper guy you want to go out after yeah right now in ECR it's Moss is 32 and brown is 34 that's okay yeah I was going to say the 80P is still there's a wider Gap but in the rankings that's where it's gotten a lot closer so only two spots away now and we'll see where it ends up um all right we'll get out of there odd in that uh great discussion Closing today guys hope everybody enjoyed the episode uh and has enjoyed all of the content we've this has been a very busy week with a lot of shows we had Fantasy Fest at the beginning of the week and then shows every day so I really appreciate everybody for kind of sticking with us through uh through all the shows and all the content this is really super fun time of year so I'm glad everybody's tuning in and paying attention to what we have to say so for Erikson and Debro I'm Ryan warmley thanks everybody for tuning in we'll see you again next time