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00:00All right, welcome back to Newswire here on Sports Grid. It is Fantasy Football Draft Month.
00:04Let's bring in Joe Pizzapia. You can catch him every Sunday morning with Matt Stryker on Fantasy Sports Today.
00:09Also, don't forget to pick up your Black Book edition here of 2025 and also catch Joe on all of his streaming platforms, including Fantasy Pros.
00:17Joe now joins us to go over the very latest in the NFL. I don't know if I did.
00:20I miss anything, Joe, in terms of this type of time of the year.
00:24I mean, you're doing baseball, too, I think. I should have mentioned that as well, right?
00:27No, August 1st is when I get released from baseball for the rest of football.
00:33Because, you know, training camp begins and I got to get into, you know, I got to get in shape for football.
00:37That's the whole thing. I got to be running the sprints. You know, occasionally I hold in.
00:41Sometimes I hold out. It depends on my mood. But typically, once we get to August 1st, it's big attention over to the football side of things.
00:47Because really, this is it. This is draft season. We're in the thick of it right now.
00:51And we've got so many mock draft shows going on at Fantasy Pros. We've got our Fantasy Fest next week.
00:54So, a lot going on, of course. Updates to the Fantasy Black Book on Amazon.
00:57So, it's full football mode right now for me, Craig Mish. I don't know about you.
01:02Yeah, running sprints and doing all that. I mean, you're a bigger liar than Sean McVay.
01:06I finally found one here on the show. All right. Fair enough.
01:09So, all right. Story for another day.
01:12You had that pegged in the Super Bowl, by the way, years ago.
01:15You were the one that said it. I was against you on that one.
01:17All right. So, let's go to wide receivers. Let's start courtesy of Fantasy Pros.
01:22Take a look at the average draft position of some up-and-coming receivers in the NFL.
01:26You know, we have a lot of rookies here that I'm looking at here.
01:29Egbuka, McMillan, Torrey Horton is another one.
01:32I know that you mentioned him to me early in the draft season as well.
01:35He's looked pretty good in the preseason.
01:36Where do you want to start here as far as any of these guys? I'll open the floor to you.
01:41Well, you can start with the ADP.
01:42And I think what's interesting about all these guys is that they are going a little bit later than I think their actual overall value is.
01:48So, you know, early in drafts, especially, you know, with a lot of rookies or even second-year players that people don't have a real gauge about,
01:55you know, the average casual fantasy football fan didn't watch a lot of college football, most likely.
02:00He isn't really aware of who Ted O'Reilly McMillan is.
02:03And Ted McMillan was the first guy selected there in that wide receiver group with good reason.
02:07He had a great career in Arizona.
02:08He is set to be the target hog, the alpha dog wide receiver.
02:12You saw some really nice rapport between he and Bryce Young earlier this weekend.
02:17So I think what you're looking for, obviously, always when it comes to wide receivers, you're looking for volume.
02:21You're looking for value.
02:22I always talk about this on my shows where if you can get a guy you could draft as a wide receiver three,
02:26it ends up performing like a wide receiver two.
02:29And a guy like you draft as a wide receiver two who performs like a one sometimes.
02:33That's how you win weeks and ultimately how you win leagues.
02:36And I think the first guy on that list, Ted McMillan, is a great example of something like that.
02:41He's being drafted somewhere around a two slash three, depending on the depth of your league.
02:44But I think the amount of volume he's going to see, I think there's negativity, you know,
02:48based upon the culture of the Carolina Panthers with good cause because it's been such a bad team for so long.
02:54People say, oh, do I really want to be investing heavily in the Carolina Panthers offense?
02:58But if you paid attention to the end of last year, this was a team that covered a lot of games, put up a lot of points.
03:04They still have a terrible defense, so they're still going to have to push the football late in the games.
03:08And that's a good thing from a fantasy perspective.
03:10So the first guy on that list being Ted McMillan, to me, is a great example of a guy who's going to get a lot of target volume,
03:16a lot of upside.
03:17He's by far the most talented in the group that they have.
03:20It's a crowded room, but to me, he stands out quite a bit.
03:23And the fact that you can, once again, draft him as a three and he ends up performing like a two or maybe even the upside
03:29could be the season that Brian Thomas Jr.
03:31Had last year that a lot of people did not see coming with Trevor Lawrence.
03:35He kind of came out of nowhere, had a massive season, was a league winner.
03:39And McMillan could do just that again.
03:41Yeah, I want to ask you one thing that I had heard, you know,
03:44just following around what people are talking about on social media with this stuff,
03:47is that maybe some folks are not drafting McMillan, follow me here,
03:53McMillan as high because of the season that Harrison had a year ago with Arizona.
04:00I mean, do you take advantage of that situation or is that like a real thing last year?
04:05I think it's a very different set of circumstances with a very different sort of coordinator.
04:09I think also a very different quarterback situation too, you know.
04:12So I think with Bryce Young, the idea is, you know, because he's a smaller quarterback,
04:16they're just like Kyler Murray, but I think he's more of a pocket passer guy,
04:19whereas Kyler Murray is more apt to run sometimes.
04:21I think the problem with Marvin Harrison Jr.'s usage last year was
04:25they didn't really move him around a lot.
04:27The route tree, if you look at the depth of the targets that he was getting
04:31and what he was doing in terms of running routes,
04:33Matt Harmon does this great thing called reception perception.
04:36And when you dig into that, you see basically he was getting real good at running deep routes.
04:40And that's not exactly what Marvin Harrison Jr. excelled at Ohio State.
04:44This is a guy that, you know, understands the route tree, can work underneath,
04:47can work in the slot, can do a lot of things, but didn't utilize him properly.
04:51And I think that there was some tension there potentially too.
04:53You saw Kyler Murray last year in that press conference.
04:55Well, my job isn't to just get the ball to Marvin Harrison Jr.
04:58I disagree with that.
04:59I think when an organization drafts a guy that high, that is your job.
05:03You see, when you get the ball to the Justin Jefferson or Jamar Chase, good things happen.
05:07Well, if you get the ball more to Marvin Harrison Jr., good things will be happening too.
05:10The problem was, I think the usage and the way they utilize him in the offense, not great.
05:15But I think Dave Canales, who is a guy that, you know, worked with the Buccaneers, right?
05:19A guy that has fixed Geno Smith over the years, Baker Mayfield rehab, and now Bryce Young rehab.
05:24I think he understands the importance of having a guy like Tett McMillan.
05:28I think Tett McMillan profile-wise fits a lot of the Mike Evans mold.
05:32And I think his usage could be very similar to what you saw Tampa do a couple years ago when Canales was OC.
05:37But it's a great question.
05:38I think that is going to scare people off, and it should.
05:40Harrison was probably going a little too early last year because he was a rookie.
05:43But now I think the opposite, Tett McMillan, I think the overreaction, I think he's going too late.
05:49Where does Mecca Egbuka fit in in Tampa Bay's offense?
05:53I saw him have a good game this past week in the preseason, and his totals for the season, the props, are super low.
05:59650 receiving yards to win rookie of the year.
06:02He's 25-1.
06:05There's going to come a point, Joe, I assume, where he's going to start because neither Godwin or Evans play a full season.
06:12They generally miss, like, a game or two, although Evans is headed to the Hall of Fame.
06:15I don't think there's any doubt about that.
06:17But where does he fit in if all guys are healthy on this offense?
06:20Well, Hall of Famer Mike Evans hasn't fallen off the cliff yet.
06:24But, of course, age comes for all of us except Craig Mish.
06:27Craig Mish still looks exactly the same.
06:29He hasn't changed in 20 years that I've known him.
06:31He looks exactly the same.
06:32But, again, I think he came in as an insurance policy.
06:36And I think what's so telling is the Buccaneers did a good job of drafting what they thought was the best player on the board.
06:41Now, it happened to be a wide receiver, which on paper looks like something they don't, quote, unquote, need.
06:46When you start to dig a little deeper, I think that need is there, especially if you're trying to project long term and make this a sustainable organization that's going to be competitive, not just the last two years, but the next two or three years.
06:57And Mike Evans is an older wide receiver.
06:59And as you said, he has had some hamstring issues in the time that have slowed him down in recent years.
07:04He still gets that 1,000-yard mark every single year somehow.
07:07But Chris Godwin, on the other hand, that's the one that's starting to worry me because we're not getting a lot of good reports out of that camp right now.
07:13We're probably leaning towards him starting the year on the pup list.
07:16And at the very least, Egbuka is going to get some early work.
07:19And all of the buzz right now around camp is that he has looked great with Baker Mayfield.
07:23This is another Ohio State guy, right, another guy from wide receiver U.
07:27And I think those guys typically do very well in the league.
07:29So I think Egbuka is a guy to watch who can really help you out early in leagues.
07:33And then if he solidifies himself in that offense, he could potentially even grow over time.
07:38Again, Godwin's not going anywhere because they paid him, but the health of Godwin's in question.
07:41And then there's even guys like Ricky Pearsall, right, who's on that list, who was a rookie last year, didn't play, unfortunately was shot last year, eventually came back.
07:50He had a couple good showings at the end of the year.
07:52And if you look at the rest of that wide receiver room, Brandon Ayuk is not starting the year on time.
07:56He's going to be on the pup.
07:57You've also got Juwan Jennings, who came off a great year, but he's kind of a veteran journeyman kind of guy.
08:03I don't know if necessarily those are the guys I want to rely on.
08:06But if you look at the ADP of Pearsall, he's very cheap.
08:09He's very cost effective, going somewhere in the mid-40s at wide receiver.
08:13This is a guy that could easily become a wide receiver, too, just based on volume and considering what's around him.
08:18Now, a lot of that has to do with the health of Christian McCaffrey.
08:20We all know that.
08:21George Kittle's still in this offense as well.
08:23But I think what's so interesting about Pearsall is it doesn't cost you a lot to find out.
08:26But the upside is huge.
08:28Schedule is easy.
08:29And there's a lot to like, I think, with the value of Ricky Pearsall, a player that I think slipped through the cracks after a quiet rookie season based upon some unfortunate set of circumstances.
08:38Let's end with a second-year player, Demario Douglas, in New England, who had his moments last season, Joe.
08:44And they're predicting a lot more moments coming this season.
08:47But, you know, my hesitation is just simply with any New England wide receiver.
08:51I mean, this is just going on years and years of guys getting pumped up and not really producing much over the whole season.
08:57Well, look, I mean, Julian Edelman, Wes Welker, those were guys who were pulling down 120 catches a year.
09:04So, I mean, you're talking about in PPR leagues, if Demario Douglas fits that role now in this Josh McDaniels offense that has been reinstalled,
09:11and that seems like that's what's going on, this could be a very good late pick for a lot of teams, especially in full-point PPR leagues.
09:18So, again, it's more about the offense that's now here or back again for New England and Douglas' role in it.
09:23It could be with Josh McDaniels.
09:25Joe will continue with us next week.
09:27We continue on with Joe Pisapia of Fantasy Sports Today.
09:30You can catch Joe and Matt Stryker each and every Sunday morning before the games here on Sports Grid.
09:36That'll go on all the way through the Super Bowl starting now.
09:39So, make sure you check Joe out along with Matt.
09:41And Joe is back with us here.
09:43And we're going to go through some of the latest notes in the NFL, see if it relates at all to fantasy, Joe.
09:47Let's start off with this peculiar situation here with the Atlanta Falcons.
09:51Now, I do want to mention one thing here.
09:53Because the Falcons are one of four teams that play on Friday, we're going to get more news and notes from those four teams and the other teams that don't have to play until the weekend on Saturday, Sunday, and into Monday.
10:03So, I just want to be clear on that.
10:05I don't want to crush Raheem Morris right out of the gate without saying that that's the case.
10:09But, now that I have, why in the world would their rookie quarterback not play at all in the preseason?
10:15Like, zero?
10:16Like, this is the one team that I thought would play him.
10:19Hold out Kirk Cousins because you don't want to get that guy hurt because you want to trade him at some point.
10:24The only, Joe, am I thinking this correctly?
10:26That they may have some trades lined up here for Cousins and they just don't want to shake the tree at all because they don't know who their backup is going to be?
10:33It's the only thing that I can think of here that they secretly have deals that we don't know about.
10:36I would tend to agree.
10:38That's probably the scenario there.
10:40And I would want Michael Penix, who I think has some upside potentially as your, you know, late second or, you know, even better, your third quarterback in a super flex league.
10:49But, yeah, to me, especially with a shortened preseason, I don't understand not getting guys reps.
10:53Now, look, a lot of these teams do these joint practices, right?
10:56They're doing, like, one of these joint ones with the Titans and they're running things.
10:59And so, like, I understand that the preparation that I think we are all used to where the preseason games are eventually where you get the guys out there and get the reps.
11:08I don't know if the NFL coaches and the NFL organizations look at it the way we used to look at it or the way we're accustomed to looking at it.
11:14I think the landscape has changed so much over the last couple of years.
11:17You know, you used to have those four preseason games and the track was very simple.
11:21And the first game, nobody really plays.
11:23Second game, the starters play a series or two.
11:25Then usually they play a whole half in the third.
11:27And then the fourth game, you don't see anybody.
11:29It's a ghost town because everyone's just trying to get to the regular season.
11:33Now, with less time, there's less opportunity for reps.
11:35And I think sometimes it's unfortunate because I think when you look at the early September football, it can be a little sloppy.
11:41And I think it's because we don't have the two-a-days anymore.
11:43We don't have the things that we're used to seeing.
11:44We don't have as much repetition time for these guys.
11:47Now, look, there's the OTAs.
11:48There's the other things that have been working on the offenses.
11:49But, you know, that in-game action, I think, is very different than anything else.
11:53So I'm with you.
11:54I think it's a little suspect, a little strange.
11:56It would not shock me if Cousins was somebody that a team wanted to go after because I don't think he's completely done necessarily.
12:03He could help certain teams in the NFL, I think, right now.
12:06But I do think for fantasy value, I think it is a little concerning that Penix isn't taking any reps.
12:11Again, it's not a big deal.
12:13It's only a super flex kind of issue.
12:14But it does make you just slightly hesitant and going, okay, well, you know, how's that relationship with Drake?
12:19Rick Lundin going to be and Kyle Pitts going to be and, you know, Bijan's going to be Bijan.
12:23But I think you're right.
12:24I think there's probably a little bit more behind-the-scenes action going on here than we realize.
12:28Yeah.
12:29I mean, last season at this – forget this time.
12:32After week three or week four, if I would have told you that not only is Cousins the backup in Atlanta,
12:36it's not even playing at all.
12:38I don't know.
12:38I kind of feel like – I mean, you're telling me that Andy Dalton has had gigs and Joe Flacco has had gigs
12:43and Kirk Cousins can't get a gig.
12:45I mean, I got to say, I think night before the season, Joe, something like that, he ends up on another team.
12:51I think that's my opinion to start the year.
12:53Okay.
12:54So, Jordan Love, do we need to spend a lot of time on this?
12:56I don't know.
12:56I'm not worried.
12:57Left hand, right?
12:58Like, this is much ado about nothing.
12:59Not a knee, not a shoulder, right?
13:02Like, with Green Bay just telling us that this has happened, we'll just check back in for week one of the season, right?
13:06Yeah, again, missing some reps, but I'm not too concerned.
13:09I think it's all about that lower body of Jordan Love staying healthy.
13:13Last year in week one, he had that ankle injury, and he was never right the entire season.
13:17I think when you watch him play, he looked very uncomfortable in the pocket always.
13:19You know, I think he came back too soon because he was trying to be the good leader and trying to soldier on.
13:24But I think at the end of the day, he was just fighting a losing battle.
13:27So, look, this is not too concerning for me.
13:30Again, Jordan Love is a guy that is only really super flex relevant in the single quarterback leagues.
13:34He's typically a guy going undrafted unless you're in a very deep league, but it's non-throwing hand.
13:39It shouldn't be too big of an issue.
13:40You've got to keep that lower half healthy, though.
13:42That's crucial, though.
13:43Jordan Love's success in his first year as a starter came a lot with his ability to move in the pocket, get loose, make those throws that he needed to.
13:52That mobility was not there last year, and you could see it.
13:54It was obvious.
13:55That's why they relied so heavily on the run game in Josh Jacobs last year.
13:58So, a healthier Jordan Love this year could mean just a little less workload, I think, for Josh Jacobs.
14:04So, that's also something to keep in mind in fantasy circles.
14:07I don't see him repeating quite the same amount of volume.
14:09I think they're putting Jacobs at a huge risk if they do.
14:13Let's get to the NFL's coach of the year.
14:15I want to talk about some odds for the coach of the year in the NFL.
14:19And I find this one a little fascinating because I'm seeing here all first-year coaches that are the favorites in the NFL.
14:27Like, how is that possible?
14:28Like, you're telling me that nobody who was a coach last year could win coach of the year this year?
14:32So, Ben Johnson of the Bears is the favorite, followed by Mike Rabel, Liam Cohen at 10-1, Aaron Glenn 13-1, and then Pete Carroll in Las Vegas, Joe, at 14-1.
14:45Why?
14:46Why is it all first-year guys?
14:47Can it be somebody going into their second year?
14:50Can it be Canales or someone else here?
14:54Do you have any interest in any of these?
14:56Like, I don't think that there's a jump for any of these.
14:58Maybe Liam Cohen.
14:59I could see maybe Jacksonville.
15:00Well, I mean, it's not first-year for Pete Carroll.
15:03He's not a first-year head coach.
15:04Neither is Mike Rabel.
15:05They're just first-year guys, you know, in all fairness.
15:07So, there's a lot of experience there with those two guys, especially with Pete Carroll.
15:12But to your point, again, you're trying to write a script now.
15:14The interesting one is Liam Cohen.
15:15I don't believe this, but I've heard a lot of smart people talking about, you know what?
15:20The Jaguars could be sneaky good, and that division is always wide open.
15:23I think we know that.
15:24So, one bounce of the ball, a couple games, all of a sudden the Jaguars start to, you know, be ahead of the curve.
15:29I don't necessarily see that happening.
15:31But you can write a script for all the other teams in this division to fail.
15:35So, why not for the Jaguars to succeed?
15:38So, that's an interesting return on investment, I think, at $1,000 there, plus $1,000 side.
15:43Mike Rabel, plus $750.
15:44I think what he's doing, potentially, is, you know, turning this whole organization back around.
15:48And I think from the NFL media standpoint, you can already tell, like, the timeline is already blowing up.
15:54Mike Rabel stuff.
15:55We're talking about all the press conferences, all the Mike Rabel this and all that.
15:58So, there's a lot of buzz about him reshaping the Patriots, and if they win 10 games or somehow sneak in the playoffs there, I could see Rabel also being the guy.
16:07I don't think it's Ben Johnson.
16:08I don't think it's Aaron Glenn or Pete Carroll.
16:10I think the interesting one to me, Liam Cohn, Mike Rabel, those are the two shots I would take.
16:15And outside of that, you know, the other one would be old man Jim Harbaugh.
16:19You know, let's not forget about him.
16:20If the Chargers, even with Rashawn Slater out, should somehow take over that division, I think he would get a lot of looks for that award as well.
16:26So, unseating the dynasty, quote-unquote, of the Chiefs is not an easy thing to do in that division.
16:32I think that would garner a lot of respect with the voting media.
16:36I got Brian Schottenheimer, Joe.
16:39Well, that's your ticket, not mine.
16:42So, I'm going to let you in there.
16:43You never know.
16:44You never know.
16:45You never know.
16:45All right.
16:46We'll see you Sunday.
16:47Have a great week.
16:48Thanks.
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