2026-04-28 Fantasy Footballers Crossover with Jason Moore (raw)

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Dan and Ty.

Dan Rubinstein, welcome back. I need to talk to you about a little problem I'm having.

Ty, I know it's personal, but I appreciate you opening up here.

I have an issue with drafting too many rookies on my fantasy football teams.

Okay? Is it because you're in your what, mid to late 40s, your memory is going. And so when you recognize a recent college name, you're just like, okay, I can get down with. Take Carnell Tate as the best receiver on this fantasy team? Sure.

I think I am addicted to the feeling of feeling smart when I draft a rookie that.

Of course. Like there is no greater feeling in the world of fantasy sports than picking that diamond in the rough or that guy that nobody else in the league knows about. But you get him first because you watched him play in college or you rooted for him in college.

I picked too many of those guys. So I am hoping, as part of today's episode, which is an episode we have never done before in the history of the podcast, we've gotten requests to do something like this. We've never done this before. I am hoping we come out of our conversation today with Jason Moore of the Fantasy Footballers, was something of an action plan for me. Rookies that I should take, that are safe to take, that won't blow up in my face and won't submarine my entire fantasy roster.

Full disclosure, I no longer play fantasy football, but that's a me problem, not a fantasy football problem. I hated losing more than I liked winning. I was like, well, I don't know if I can adjust this part of my personality at 34, whatever age I was when I sort of recognized this about myself. But I'm with you, Ty. I always liked that sort of diamond in the rough. I liked it with fantasy baseball. I liked it with fantasy football.

I guess you would have been the kind of person who would have drafted Brock Bowers, seen him set rookie records, gloated, and come in seventh place in the process.

100%. Okay. For me, the process and I would say experience of getting the rookie who pops supersedes actually winning.

Yeah, of course. Which is not a great investment in terms of time or money. But that is my problem, not a fantasy football program. So we're bringing on an expert. Jason Moore of the fabulous Fantasy Footballers Podcast is going to be stopping by here for a wide-ranging discussion about things he saw in the draft, rookies maybe that are safe for idiots like me to take when it does come time to do the fantasy draft this year. And tell us a little bit more about his show, which you should be listening to if you like fantasy football.

Again, listen, we've been doing the show a long time, as you know. And on occasion, we'll have great ideas that are sent into us. The whole fantasy football angle is one that has been sent in many times over the years. And we just have never done a show like this. And we decided this just had to be the year. So we're appreciative for Jason's time and excited to have that conversation here for the Footballer Hood.

I anticipate he's also going to have great audio production value because he co-hosts a major college or major fantasy football podcast. And so we always appreciate that. If you're going to sit and listen to a show for an hour, you might as well, even if you don't like the host, even if you don't like the content, at least it's compressed. There might be a little bit of noise gate in there. The loudness might be matched. Nice crisp note. What is it called? Plosives are limited, right?

Yep, no, no, no. He's got a good mic. He's got our microphones. He's got the Shure as well. So we're, yeah, we're excited about this. If you are new here, if you're just tuning in, hit follow, hit subscribe so that you do not miss any of our episodes. We are going twice a week right now through the college football offseason. Once we get to like July, then we'll flip the switch, start doing previews. That's when it goes up to three a week. But for the interim, we are still cruising here in the offseason, doing our part to make it fun and hopefully pass the time a little bit quicker.

Yes, agree. That being said, Dan, we do have some breaking news in the world of college football, and this is pretty significant. Now, full disclosure, this just broke over the wire. So we don't have all the information. My sense is from reading what people have said out on the interwebs that nobody has all the information, but it is notable and it is certainly worth following because this news pertains to Brendan Sorsby. You may recall Brendan Sorsby transferred to Texas Tech. He was like a six, six and a half million dollar man. He was perhaps the highest paid quarterback throughout the transfer portal cycle. Got a ton of money to go to Texas Tech and hopefully take them to higher heights.

Sources per Pete Thamel: Texas Tech quarterback Brendan Sorsby is checking into a residential treatment program for a gambling addiction. He is under NCAA investigation in the wake of discovery that Sorsby made thousands of bets via a gambling app. Some of the bets here that I think are called into question date back to his time on the Indiana roster back in 2022, when perhaps he did bet on the Indiana Hoosiers. He was not playing. He was not on the field. He was in no position to influence the game at that time. But that, among what is being reported as thousands of other small bets on a gambling app, are now being called into question.

For those wondering, this is strictly prohibited by the NCAA, to bet on college or pro games. Right. He's checking into rehab. We can only hope he gets the help he needs. That is first and foremost, the most important thing in this story. But just in terms of a football story, this is obviously significant because he was going to be a centerpiece for the Texas Tech Red Raiders this season, still could be. Don't know where it goes from here. But as we chart all things here in spring football, this is a pretty big one.

Yeah, this is enormous. And again, I cannot underscore enough what you just said: that like we don't have all the information. We have little bits and pieces coming out right now. First, this is a reality and will continue to be a reality in major sports, obviously, which college football is a major sport. We've got a lot of young men in college football, in the NBA, in the NFL. We had, what, a Calvin Ridley suspension a few years ago? We've had some, basketball is obviously an insanely easy, you know, platform to affect. We've seen with NBA, with college players.

And the big thing, the big word we hear around gambling issues and accusations is integrity, right? That you are going to start thinking about the integrity not necessarily of Texas Tech games or Cincinnati or Indiana games in Brendan Sorsby's case, but anybody with these accusations, right? That were they affecting the game if they were playing, which Sorsby was not in the case of him wagering on Indiana, but moving forward, like, is Brendan Sorsby under investigation, somebody who will be playing for Texas Tech this coming season if more comes out about his gambling activity.

It also obviously points to just how easy it is to wager on sports in a lot of different states and a lot of the problems that especially young men have with just how easy it is to get wrapped into this world and go from wagering responsibly to not so responsibly. And when you have that integrity thing, obviously there were accusations with what, college baseball, with a coach, was it the Alabama coach, I believe? You know, there was the story about Iowa and Iowa State players and some of whom were cleared, it should be mentioned, you know, a couple of years ago. But it's something that is just going to continue to be a reality, especially when prop bets are able to be placed on various sports. I know the NCAA is sort of fighting back against that opportunity in wagering. But man, it should also be said that, hey man, when you have a problem and you seek treatment, you should be patted on the back. So good for Brendan Sorsby for either recognizing or having people in his life recognize that he has this issue and he is trying to, you know, face it head on.

But yeah, when you have a quarterback at a major, major place, a playoff place, and what we assume to be a playoff caliber place moving forward in Texas Tech, have this type of story about them, it calls into question, right, the integrity of either somebody like Sorsby or somebody wrapped up in issues like this.

Sorsby's gambling, and this is a quote from the article out at ESPN.com from Pete Thamel: Sorsby's gambling has not drawn, I repeat, not drawn the attention of law enforcement, according to sources, nor has he been linked to anyone attempting to influence the outcome of a game, which I think is an important thing to highlight here. Sure. You hear stories like this, your mind goes a thousand different directions, but we have this established now. Sorsby's gambling, sources said, was a steady flurry of small bets over a period of time. It goes on to say there is no timetable for his treatment. It is being treated as a mental health matter. Sorsby will be afforded all the time he needs.

And then it does note here rightfully that his decision as a high-profile college athlete to enter a facility to treat his gambling addiction while enrolled is unprecedented, and I would agree with that. So, again, hope he gets the help he needs. Clearly, this is a story that's going to develop over the course of the days and weeks that are ahead. All we can do right now is react to the initial headline, which is significant in its own right. So keep it right here. We'll do our part as best we can, anyway, to provide context for what happens next, but pay attention. This is a pretty big story.

To clarify, he wagered on Indiana when he was there, but not playing in games.

Correct. So he had inside information, which would very much violate, I'm sure, Indiana and the NCAA's policies on betting on sports.

More to come.

Yep.

All right, Dan, our guest today is Jason Moore, part of the three-headed monster that is the Fantasy Footballers Fantasy Football Podcast, the largest, the best fantasy football podcast on the planet. Jason, welcome to The Solid Verbal. How are you?

I'm doing well. I mean, as well as I can be doing after that despicable draft from a fantasy football perspective. But doing well. I'm happy to be with The Solid Verbal. It's our one chance a year to do a crossover event where college meets the NFL. This is perfect.

It is. It is. And you're a Cardinals fan. So not just maybe lacking on the fantasy side, but I, just in talking with you a little bit before we hit go here, I'm getting the strong sense that you're not a huge fan of what the Cards did.

I haven't been a huge fan of what the Cardinals have done in most of my life, but no, I mean it's just awful. It's funny, we haven't even recorded our main show yet since the draft. We're doing that this afternoon. So this is my first opportunity to really air it out. But it's nonsense. It's despicable, utter garbage nonsense that is indefensible. It is absolutely indefensible. And I like Jeremiyah Love. Jeremiyah Love's a great football player. And the defense to taking that pick is just take the best player. Take a player that's going to help your team. And I would agree on some of the principles. If you draft a bust edge rusher, that is not going to help your football team as much as a guaranteed great running back. Like, so just get the guy who's good. I understand that, but there's so much more to building an NFL team than that. I mean, you can't justify a $50 million guaranteed contract, by far the largest guaranteed money ever in the history of the NFL for a running back. You can't justify that from a roster construction standpoint.

And people are like, well, you're going to have a rookie quarterback. You can afford it. Absolutely. They can afford it. That is not the point. The point is not whether you can afford giving him that money. The point is, if you're willing to spend that level of money for the running back, go out and get any veteran you want. Why wouldn't you do that? Of course, you would have done that. You would go trade for Breece Hall with a second-round pick who's just as good or maybe better, at least he's a veteran. You know, he's coming in. There are so many better ways to use your capital. Whereas, like, Will Anderson just signed a $50 million a year deal. A year. And that, why? Because he's in a position that makes a difference on a team. So it's just malpractice. It's about the opportunity cost of being at the top three of a draft and using it on a borderline meaningless position. We haven't even gotten to the Carson Beck pick yet, Dan. We'll save some flavor for that one.

Yeah. A little bit later on here. So, Jason, the reason we're doing this is because I have a problem, and I was hoping maybe you could help. That's all I do. My emotional connection to college football is such that whenever I play fantasy, all I want to do is draft rookies. This is why I never win.

Right.

But that being said, this is a college audience that listens to this. We are doing, as you said, a little bit of a crossover episode here. And so I was hoping maybe you can help me with my problem, and we could talk through some of your favorite landing spots for some of these players that we've rooted for now over the last three years, four years in college.

Honestly, this is going to be a great year for you in fantasy football, specifically for if your problem is you're always drafting rookies too much because that's who you've been spending your professional career and passion watching. You won't have that problem this year. I don't think you're going to be so tempted to draft these rookies because it's not good. You're going to be able to get veterans much easier this year because you're going to see what happened. And you're going to know the talent level and you're going to pass. You're going to be like, that's okay.

Well, it's pretty easy to pass. I mean, we're doing a rookie draft. We're doing a rookie mock in our Fantasy Footballers, like our draft kit. Right now it's going on. We're also started. I'm in like two main dynasty leagues. Both of those rookie drafts have started. We're projecting. I just finished all my dynasty rankings. And I'm telling you, the back of the first round in your rookie drafts, there's a first rounder. This is like a valuable asset. It's just, it's garbage. It's absolutely garbage. You talk about mid-second rounders. You're praying you get lucky. You're going to hit at like a 15% clip. This is the worst year for the NFL draft and fantasy football rookies in over a decade I've been doing it by a wide margin.

Wow. Okay. So, with that being said, and knowing that I've got this weird, like, I guess, rookie kink when it comes to fantasy football, if you are giving some sort of utility to our audience out there who does play fantasy football, maybe is a little bit like me and has a bit of an issue with the rookies. But what would be your advice as you look now upon what transpired this weekend? Who are some of your guys that you're like zeroed in on landing spots, things like that, if we're trying to give the audience something to take away and work with?

Yeah, I mean, generically speaking, so more of a 30,000-foot view, I would say this year is going to be a really important year to look at earlier drafted wide receivers rather than later drafted running backs. Because in fantasy football, everyone needs running backs. They want running backs. And rookie running backs have been a great bet for the last decade. There's pretty much every single year there's two that end up in the top 24 at least. Oftentimes, two end up in the top 12 in fantasy at the running back position. That's not happening this year. Obviously, Jeremiyah Love, great. Maybe Price, he's got a real good opportunity and a surprisingly high draft capital. After that, though, the rest of those running backs are borderline worthless, and there were so many wide receivers, like on day two in the NFL draft, rounds two and three. One running back got taken. That's unheard of. And during that same time, 18,000 wide receivers got taken.

And so when you're looking this year, if you just want the big view of the draft class, I would focus much more on the rookie wide receivers than on running backs as a whole. If you're doing a dynasty league and you're drafting in those rounds I talked about, the back of the first, the second, there will 100% be tons of running backs taken in that spot because there always are because teams need running backs. But it's silly to me to take a fifth-round NFL draft pick at running back over a guy who was like a third rounder, the difference from an NFL team. An NFL team views day one and day two picks as key components of their offense or their defense. Like their team, they are making a plan. They are paying these players a lot and they have an idea and a target. Then there's day three, and especially in this draft, I'm telling you, these guys barely give a crap. Just look at, like, look at Mike Vrabel. Mike Vrabel has had the huge tumult in his personal life and career with Dianna Russini. I don't know if that's been covered on your podcast, but alluded to.

Yeah, alluded to. We've made a few jokes here and there.

Right. Yeah. Well, it got more and more serious, more journalists and more pictures, and everything got so serious that he basically did the equivalent of the NFL athlete that needs to go to rehab. Right. He's like, for my family, I've got to take time off. He took off the third day of the NFL draft. And this was known ahead of time. He said, well, I'm going to go into basically rehab. On day three, I'm not waiting for, like, if you wait one more day, the draft's over. He's like, I don't care about day three. I don't want to be part of, players don't matter. They're special teamers. They're depth people. They're trying to make a roster. So when you see this running back that you love, that you fell in love with, who falls to the fifth round in an NFL draft, the team is not in love with them. It is rare for those guys to hit. So that would be my piece of advice is move on from them.

So when you look at the first, second, and third round, you mentioned 18,000 receivers being taken. What are you looking for specifically? Receiver is, I mean, notoriously kind of a volatile position to draft fantasy-wise as a rookie because, it's just, it's a faster game, right? It's so position-dependent on quarterback, on system, on existing room. What are your cautionary tales in looking at high-round receiver picks and drafting them to your fantasy team? I should probably write this down, by the way. This is the team at kryptonite, the rookie wide receiver, kills me.

Yeah, so you've got kind of the the obvious first rounders, whatever. They're good. Their teams are are, you know, in on them. Those day two picks, you've got to look at two things. You've got to look at the talent of the player, which is on you guys, or on me. Just what do you believe? And then you got to look at the landing spot and the opportunity, which sometimes can be overblown. You know, I remember back in the day when A.J. Brown went to the Tennessee Titans, it was a death. Now, everyone loved, oh, A.J. Brown was a huge, we were all so happy. He was one of our favorites. Couldn't wait to see where he goes. Oh, no. Ryan Tannehill's his quarterback. Like, it's never going to work. Sometimes you bet on the talent, and it'll overcome.

Right. So, like, you've got, you've got a couple higher-drafted guys. KC Concepcion, love KC Concepcion, goes to the Browns. You're like, oh, no. Right. But you just bet on the talent. The day two, it's really a matter of what is the opportunity to be on the field. When you're looking at fantasy football, obviously, you got to work backwards. You can't get yards and you can't get touchdowns unless you get targets. You can't earn the targets unless you're on the field. Are you on the field in two wide receiver sets and three wide receiver sets? Like, there's great players in the NFL. Jayden Reed, really good wide receiver, really good, has always disappointed for fantasy because, for some reason, when they're on, he's only a slot guy, only a slot guy. When they're on the field in two wide receiver sets, which they are all the time, he doesn't make the cut, even though he's definitely one of their two best wide receivers. That's just how it happens.

So, you know, you look at the Miami Dolphins. They drafted Chris Bell in the third, who was supposed to be this first-round potential wide receiver, had the ACL problem. But I look at the depth chart there and I go, there is, there is no one. I mean, their wide receiver one is TBD, and they got Caleb Douglas both in the third round. So let me put a question back to you guys.

Yeah.

You know, when I scout these guys, because we're NFL focused, I spend a couple months after the NFL draft, after the Super Bowl's over, looking at, you know, whoever was invited to the Combine, I'll do some research, but I can't watch these guys. I don't pretend to be a college scout. Let's just talk about those two players if you don't mind me hijacking questions. Caleb Douglas, Chris Bell, including the health. Compare those two players because I think the landing spot is really important. A round three pick to a team that desperately needs a wide receiver.

Caleb Douglas was a fairly key component for the Texas Tech offense. And it was an offense that ran the ball, I think, a little bit better than expected, certainly better than we expected after they had an injury at the start of the year. And they were somewhat dependent, as you know, Dan, is an Oregon fan, through the playoffs on however high Behren Morton could take them at quarterback. Caleb Douglas was a guy who I think had a pretty good year and I think is justified in going the third round. I think he's a really good player.

So you like Caleb Douglas more than Chris Bell if you take injury out? Like not just the ACL problem for Chris Bell, you think Caleb Douglas better wide receiver?

I think so. Let me see. Which one did they draft first? I think Caleb Douglas went about 20 picks before Chris.

Yeah, you're right. Yeah. Yeah. You are looking at quarterback. You are looking at situation. You are looking at who else is on the team, you know, sucking up oxygen, right? That you have a much more quarterback-friendly system, I would say, at Louisville with Chris Bell. Even though the quarterback in Miller Moss, not an NFL quarterback, it appears. Whereas, you know, Texas Tech was a playoff team that, it was a better structure for an offense for Caleb Douglas. I think Caleb Douglas has more interesting experience playing at Texas Tech, higher, you know, played against higher-level teams, it seemed, going deeper into the playoff. I don't know. It's a crapshoot and it's one of those things like: does this thing matter? Does it not matter? Because especially as you sort of alluded to in the NFL, it's just an opportunity thing, right? It's just a like, do you get lucky and not tweak an ankle in camp? You know, what is, what does the OC love to do or not love to do? So it's, it's who you like when watching when you watch their film. You're like, all right, this makes more sense to me. So, yeah.

I'm curious about how you look at quarterbacks at this point, too, just because you speak of like a, a position dependent on a number of external factors. It's not a great quarterback class, obviously, in this year's draft. And obviously, it's highlighted by Fernando Mendoza, but just in general, generally speaking, even if it's not about this season, rookie quarterbacks, is there something to you that says, okay, I'm going to wager on this. I'm going to take a shot with this. Everything seems to be in place. Or is it just too scary early on to put any weight on a rookie quarterback?

No, it's not. This answer feels like a cop-out, but it's actually a genius answer, okay?

Okay.

You don't understand how smart what I'm going to say is because it sounds so stupid. But you just focus on running quarterbacks. That's it. Full stop. That's it. If you're looking at fantasy football and you want to say, okay, a rookie quarterback is going to come in and make an impact, an impact for fantasy, not for the NFL. C.J. Stroud came in and had one of the best rookie seasons we can remember ever. In the NFL, his rookie season was outstanding. They're like, okay, we got our franchise guy. How silly that we took him number two. He clearly should have been the number one. For fantasy purposes, he wasn't that good. He did not do that much. He was like the quarterback 20-something. Had a couple good games in his rookie season that you could stream him. He's pretty much worthless.

You look at last year and you go, okay, Cam Ward, great. You want to know who you should have been on? It was Jaxson Dart. Great dude's running. And so when it comes to fantasy football, that's almost all you need to focus on as far as drafting rookie quarterbacks for fantasy. There is, as far as I can remember, one example in the history of fantasy football where there was a fantasy impactful non-truly mobile rookie quarterback: Justin Herbert, in his rookie season was like, okay, wow, we need to be starting him. He's throwing a lot of yards and a lot of touchdowns, is not throwing picks. That's it. That's it. Every other like big rookie breakout fantasy sensation, it's the legs. Legs score more in fantasy. You get, you know, a point for every 10 rushing yards. You get a point for every 25 passing yards. Rookies don't throw that many touchdowns, but they, if they're mobile, they can rush for seven to ten touchdowns as a rookie.

So when I'm looking, like you know, I've got this, this prospecting model I've been working on this offseason called Felix, and I wish I had it last year. You know, it projected Jaxson Dart, even with the lower draft capital, to be much better in fantasy than Cam Ward. And when I dig into the quarterback position, it's really been disappointing and enlightening that it's like, oh, man, that really is the only thing that matters, isn't it? Because it shouldn't be. I've hated that about fantasy since I started. The fact that, like, you know, back in the day when, you know, you've got great Drew Brees, just what an amazing pocket passer. And then you have someone that's just like, he runs the ball a lot. And it's like, oh, you should start that guy instead for fantasy. It's like, he's not the better quarterback. I hate that. I wish that the scoring was different.

I have argued for many years that, like, passing yards and rushing yards should all be scored the same for a quarterback, and I get flack for it. But if you did that, if passing yards and rushing yards were scored identical, like the quarterback gets the same amount of points for however many yards he gains on the field, whether he threw the ball or ran the ball, it's just the same. Because, you know, in the NFL, it is actually the same. That's how many yards they got. All of a sudden, you'd be drafting the best quarterbacks in the league instead of the most dual threat quarterbacks in the league. Jalen Hurts has been a fantasy sensation the last, you know, five years. Just I, I've won multiple championships with him. And right now the team kinda wants to get rid of him. And people are like, ah, he's not that good. But for fantasy, he's still great. I hate that. So when you look at a rookie, that's all you need to look at. And this year is just not, not that many great options. I mean, the great dual threat, Diego Pavia, went undrafted.

Right. Dude, I don't know how much, I'm sure all the major college guys are listening to The Solid Verbal. You guys are The Solid Verbal. Can you tell these players that they need agents.

Yeah. No, that's a great call. Oh, you're going to save 5% on nothing because you don't get drafted, you idiot. Also, the agent might tell you to watch your mouth and your attitude and your behavior so you can get drafted. Anyways, outside of that, are there any quarterbacks that, I don't know, you know, I don't go that deep. So I'm looking at the big names and the, you know, the guys that got drafted high. Are there any diamonds in the rough where if they get in and they get their opportunity, they're going to run, you know, for 100 yards in a game?

Well, I mean, I'm looking at the listing now of the quarterbacks that were selected. You got to go down to round six to find one that to me jumps out as a truly dynamic runner, and that's Taylen Green from Arkansas, who went to the Browns. But otherwise, I mean, you're looking at a lot of quarterbacks, Fernando Mendoza, Ty Simpson, Cade Klubnik to the Jets, guys that can run and have shown that they can run, but it is certainly not a featured component of their game. They do it because they have to. So they're more athletic, but not necessarily using that as part of their featured skill set. Taylen Green: new head coach, right, with Cleveland, offensive-minded, college experience. So has coached with creative offensive minds during his college career and pro career. Obviously, used to Lamar Jackson with Baltimore. Just don't follow the NFL to a terribly detailed degree. But in terms of a flyer, I don't know. The Cleveland quarterback situation doesn't seem rock solid and set for the next 20 years. I don't know if Taylen Green is even a quarterback in the NFL. I heard conversations around what he might be as like a Swiss Army knife. They did come out and say that he is going to play quarterback.

Okay. So just that, like, it feels like the fact that the question has to be asked for those players, like, they don't come out and be like, well, so what's Carson Beck playing?

Right, exactly. Taylen Green at Arkansas. Right. He's, you know, with Bobby Petrino. He is in an offense that was one of the best rushing offenses in America last year. He had games where he put up like cartoonish, Lamar Jackson-like college numbers at Arkansas. Like he had games where he was putting up 600 total yards or 500 total yards. So that does feel like a stash and maybe kind of guy. Yeah. But otherwise, to your point, Jason, there just aren't a whole lot of guys that necessarily fit that archetype. Now, next year, next year is probably a much different conversation. It just seems like it's going to be a much deeper draft class across the board at some of these skill positions that I think are pertinent to the fantasy football player. But based on what I see here, I mean, I don't know. I'm curious. I know you're a Cardinals fan. How much do you know about the Carson Beck experience?

I don't know enough. I know before the show you were telling me about some of his dating life and text messages that came out, and just, you know, what a what a what a solid dude he seems like. Yeah, tell me more about what I can expect as the second half of his rookie season. I'm sure he's the starter for my Arizona Cardinals.

It wasn't all that long ago that Carson Beck was viewed as, I would say overwhelmingly, a first-round prospect. Yes. And then there was the injury, and then some of what plagued him in his time at Georgia came out at inopportune moments on the field, as I'm sure some Miami fans will attest. So the fact that he went in the third round actually was a little bit surprising to me. I didn't necessarily see him as a third-round prospect, though I know in the not-so-distant past, he clearly had that pedigree. I would probably characterize the Carson Beck experience as very much a game manager, had more than a couple moments of letting his team down or the backbreaking interception at a critical moment that has to drive you crazy if you're a fan. But obviously, good enough to take this team to a national championship game and get to a final drive where, if it weren't for the interception, maybe it's a different result.

Yeah, the big thing with Carson Beck was, yeah, he was a first-round tight prospect at Georgia, had to have his elbow reconstructed after the 2024 season. He got hurt in the playoffs. Transferred to Miami. He's from Florida. Really good. I mean, same offensive coordinator as Cam Ward at Miami. And had a couple backbreaking losses, led them to the national championship game, could use, had like the essentially what the game-winning rushing touchdown against Ole Miss in the Final Four game. And yeah, I think there were questions about like his arm not being what it was. And he would throw downfield some, but it wasn't like they based their offense around the strength and precision of his arm like they did with Kennedy.

Wasn't a rookie of the year situation where he had Tommy John surgery and definitely not?

No, it looked like he lost zip.

Yes. So I think a lot of people were surprised based on even the best of what he was last year that he went as high as he did just because it didn't seem like he had an NFL arm. I'm no doctor. Yeah. I don't know, but the hopium, I think, would be: look, that's first year removed from a reconstructive elbow surgery. And if his, if he did lose arm strength that is regained.

Yeah. Right. Like he gets back to pre-injury form, and all of a sudden you're looking at a first-round talent.

The nice thing, though, if you want, if you, everything we do in fantasy, everything we do in football, is a series of making bets. And I don't mean that financially or gambling or gaming. I just mean like you're trying to make a decision and you're trying to be right a slight bit more than you're wrong. And you look for edges to make bets as to whether this is going to work out, whether that player's going to work out, whether this system's going to work out. And I could just tell you, there's a lot of, you know, I've I've heard, you know, I'm in Arizona, I hear all the hype and the hope for Carson Beck. There is definitely an easy path to a narrative where you can say this is a guy who was supposed to be a top 15 pick, a year removed, has surgery, gets to the national championship game, and has an opportunity to be something special.

But if you want to look for slight edges, bet against stupid franchises. Yeah. And so Carson Beck is not going to work. He's not going to work. Because he went to the Arizona Cardinals and they will screw it up. They will not put the right people around him. They will not build him up and train him in the right way. We are dumb. We are stupid. And we will make sure that whatever you shouldn't do to raise a young man into an NFL quarterback, that's what we're going to do. I promise you, that's what we're going to do. Bet against Carson Beck.

Now, if Carson Beck ended up having a situation where, like, I was not a big fan of Ty Simpson, personally. I didn't want the Cardinals, the Cardinals were the team that was supposed to get Ty Simpson. I didn't want him because he only has 15 starts. It wasn't like I watched the tape and I was like, oh, this guy sucks. It was like, man, that's another one. You bet against guys who don't have a lot of experience. The list of guys who come out with like 15 starts in college, into the NFL, there's a healthy list of them, and they're all, they don't work. But if you want to bet on a guy who gets to s, go to Sean McVay's team in the NFL and sit behind the, like he's going to have the structure built up around him. Now I'm betting more on Ty Simpson because he's, if he went to the Cardinals, it would be the easiest bet against of all time. They would have screwed it up.

I think that that's, you know, the same way that I talk about, like, just draft mobile rushing quarterbacks for fantasy, and that's it. That's all you need to worry about at that position. One of my, like, it took too many years to learn, but just bet against the bad franchises. It works. And people get so mad at me: the Jets fans, the Browns fans. Somehow, the Cardinals fans don't get mad at me because I am one. But I say the exact same thing about them. Bet against those franchises. When Deshaun Watson went there, I was like, okay, I'll bet against them. It just happens every time. I mean, it's like the easiest bet ever. So, you know, like I love KC Concepcion. I really like him. You know, okay, I said earlier, bet on talent. But it's probably not going to work. He's a Brown.

What are the other variables, if you're even to zoom in closer? Because I think that's right, right? Bet on consistent winning and bet against consistent losing and ineptitude. Is there something about when you're looking at rookies, or I guess even beyond rookies, players that you're sort of up in the air about? Is it like, I love this running back because of the offensive line it looks like he has? I love this quarterback because of the coordinator it looks like he has. I love this receiver because he'll play, but he's not going to be counted on for all of the yardage and all of the targets. Like when you look at variables, again, rookies or otherwise, on average teams, everything else being equal, what are those variables you're like, ooh, that does it for me?

Yeah, I think there are two, you mentioned both of them, but they are specific. So there's the quarterback play and the offensive line. Those are the two biggest variables. And I think we, we conflate them when you're looking at the offensive line. Look at that for the quarterback. Usually people look at it for the running game. Oh, this, this offensive line is great, so they're going to have a great running game. Sometimes that works out. Old school Dallas Cowboys, the current era of the Lions, they got a bully ball offensive line. If you're talking about like the top three, okay, that works. But for the most part, when I'm looking at the quarterback, I want the offensive line. Because quarterbacks, you know who's good, you know who's bad. You know if C.J. Stroud is a good enough quarterback. You know if Justin Herbert is a good enough quarterback. And then you watch what happens when they don't have an offensive line and they don't get it done that year for fantasy.

So, like, Justin Herbert had, he lost his left tackle, he lost his right tackle. The offensive line was decimated last year, had a down year. Well, he's getting both those guys back. Those guys are not good. They are great players. They got the best center in the league this offseason. So it's like, okay, I'm going to bet on Justin Herbert. But then, when it comes to everyone else, your running back, it's the quarterback. It's like, who, who, how many points are they going to score? And what style of play? So, for instance, Drew Brees was a running back's dream. This is a guy who's not going to move around in the pocket. He's not going to rush for a hundred yards. He's going to dump the ball off. He's going to let you, like the pass protection for Drew Brees was not having the running back stay in there and pick up the blocker. The Drew Brees pass protection was, hey, just go on the other side of that guy. I'll dump it off to you, and then they'll stop rushing at me. So, you know, if you want to bet on a wide receiver or a running back, make sure they've got a good quarterback. If you want to bet on a quarterback, make sure they've got a good offensive line. I think that's pretty much, those are the tiebreaker, the extra layers that you try to look for.

So, from a fantasy perspective, I know in terms of like in general NFL roster construction, you may not be in favor of what the Cardinals did, but from a fantasy perspective, a little bit of uncertainty about long-term quarterback solution, a little bit of uncertainty just in general about the team. I think that's been the case for the Cardinals for a long time. Is there not a case to be made that even though it may not be the smartest franchise move to take Jeremiyah Love third, that if you're a fantasy football player, he could, in theory, be most of the offense. And he's worthy of a draft pick if anybody out there is like me and enjoys taking rookies?

Yeah, I mean, he will be a very high draft pick. When you look at where he's going to slot in, he will be drafted as an RB1, as one of the top 12 running backs. The downside and the upside of picking at number three is the exact same thing. The utter commitment that a franchise is making to this player. Like that, they are saying they can't draft him at three and make him a 50-50 guy. Put him behind James Conner and Tyler Allgeier. They will get smoked in the media. It will be nonsensical to do that. Now, there's, they suck. They don't have a great offensive line. They don't have what is projected to be a top half offense. You don't know what's going on with quarterback.

But you look at Ashton Jeanty. It's the exact same thing last year. Phenomenal talent goes super high in the NFL draft. That means they're committed to him. He's going to get a ton of work, but he's on a bad offense. Bad quarterback, you know, Geno Smith, and like not a great offensive line. There's a lot of parallels there. And last year, my bust pick in our NFL draft show going up to August was Ashton Jeanty because he was being drafted in the first round. And it was like, that's not, like, Ashton Jeanty is going to be good. He's phenomenal and he's going to get the work. But you do have to have some of those other things on fantasy to work out. So I believe it's a matter of where he goes in drafts. There's a good chance he is overdrafted.

Ashton Jeanty finished last year as the running back 12. So in fantasy, most leagues are a 12-team league, and which we would call that a running back one. He was one of the top 12. But he was universally thought of as like a bad pick because he did not, you know, you were drafting him as like the fifth or sixth running back, even though he was good as rookie year, certainly not a bust by NFL standards. Looks like a future superstar. It just wasn't a good pick in fantasy because you thought more of what he could do. And I will say that rookie year, Jeremiyah Love, while he is going to get the workload, he's going to get the passing game, the running game. He's going to get short yards. He's going to get a little bit of everything. They're not going to, like Tyler Allgeier, who they brought in this offseason, who spent the last few years vulturing touchdowns from Bijan Robinson, even veteran Bijan Robinson, he's going to do the same for Jeremiyah Love. And the Cardinals aren't going to score that many touchdowns in general. So Jeremiyah Love will probably be overdrafted. He'll be drafted as the top 12 running back. He might finish there, but there's a good chance that his method of getting there is kind of like Jeanty was: a couple of big games that skew the numbers. Most days you were a little disappointed in the outcome.

I know one of the things you guys do is you identify your guys, my guys. If you look at this draft class, mindful of the fact that you are already doing rookie drafts because you guys are experts and can't waste any time getting to it, who are your guys from this rookie class? Who are the names that you have circled that you're most excited to have on your team?

Yeah, I mean, obviously, it's one of the big three, anyways, but Jordyn Tyson, early in the cycle of the NFL draft season, he was the, he was the forgotten guy. He was, Daniel Jeremiah just kept lowering him as top 50 board over and over. Omar Cooper went above him. I think maybe Concepcion went above him. He was barely making the top 50 at one point, basically up until his little pro day, when all of a sudden all the news changed, it's like, ah, he's so good. He's gonna, maybe he's the first wide receiver throughout the entire process from beginning to end. I have stood true that Jordyn Tyson is that dude. He is awesome. I think going to a team where you've got Tyler Shough, who he showed enough, like he could get it done. And yes, you are not going to be the one, especially year one with Chris Olave there. But they don't have anyone else to throw the ball to. I think it's a good landing spot. It's high draft capital. They've got quarterback play. That one is really, really exciting to me. That's one of my guys where I, you know, I've had him as my number one of the Carnell Tate, Jordyn Tyson, Makai Lemon trifecta. He's been my number one. He is still my number one.

At running back, how gross. I mean, this year just is gross. I've never seen a year like this. The guy that was, I would have, I would have said going in, I was planting a flag on, I think he was good. He did check all the boxes that I care about for fantasy before the NFL draft, would have been Jonah Coleman. Washington. Smoothest hands. I think the best hands, even including Jeremiyah Love, as far as just a, you rifle him the ball and it just sticks. It's thoughtless. I love watching how a running back catches the ball, not just their numbers. But like you can see guys who they can leak out and get a little dump off. Anybody, I can do that. But, like, what about if you're in traffic? What about if you're running full speed? What about if the throw is not on target? And Jonah Coleman's catching all of those. Plus, rushing touchdowns is great. He went on day three, which, like I said, day three is usually a death knell. Sucks. Thankfully, it was high up in round three.

Went to a team with a good offense in the Denver Broncos. But I'm not going to plant the flag on him. He might be someone I'd grab at the end of my drafts. But the projection as of right now is that he's going to be one of three running backs, all splitting carries, work, touchdowns, receiving. So you're not excited about him.

I don't know that there is. Okay, here's another guy I'll plant my flag on since running back doesn't exist: Eli Stowers. Eli Stowers, I liked. Now, this is for fantasy. Again, like, I'm not an NFL guy. I don't, I don't know, nor do I care about the blocking prowess of like Kenyon Sadiq. But I like Stowers better than Sadiq. Stowers is a better wide receiver than Sadiq. Stowers was more productive than Sadiq. Stowers is a better route runner. I think he's got better hands. And while Sadiq murdered the 40 and is clearly an athlete of all athletes, and that's why he was drafted so high, it's because when he gets in the NFL, he's going to dominate NFL guys physically. Like, there's, you know, that's special. Stowers was right there with him on the combine. Like, Stowers was athletic off the charts.

The landing spot is questionable. You know, a lot of people like to complain that Jalen Hurts can't throw across the middle, which is where the tight ends are going to be. And then they added a slot guy. So they got two guys that are going to be working across the middle. That was the whole Makai Lemon thing, too.

Exactly.

So it's like, and then you've got Makai Lemon and Eli Stowers competing, and then you've got Dallas Goedert there. I would just push back and say you have years, Dallas Goedert was like the tight end three this year. He had a ton of touchdowns. That was with Jalen Hurts. Jalen Hurts was still there, I believe, when you had the end of the career of, why can't I remember his name? And he was a Cardinal. Who's the tight end, man? Totally blanking. He has supported tight ends before. He has supported high-end receiving numbers from wide receivers to DeVonta Smith, his second year in the league with Jalen Hurts, who was not just an outside guy, was the wide receiver 10 in fantasy. So I don't think that the Eagles' landing spots are that bad.

Dallas Goedert won't be there, and I believe in the talent of Stowers. Stowers is, a like to me, when I was scouting all of these players, I viewed Eli Stowers as the fourth best wide receiver. And that's how I would have approached him if I was an NFL GM. I would have gone in, I probably would have taken him at the back of the first ahead of maybe, depending on, I mean, there's a team need and situation. You know, if you're like, oh, we need more of a KC Concepcion type of player, very different than how you're going to use Stowers, obviously, different positions. But outside of that, I would have been saying our team needs pass catchers, go get Stowers. He's great. For as much love as Diego Pavia got in helping bring about a new era of prosperity at Vandy, Stowers was every bit as much a part of that. He just didn't get the love maybe because he wasn't as, as out there as Pavia, but it's for sure a case to be made.

My guy, and this is probably a little bit of bias, Dan, as you might expect, Katron Allen?

Not Katron Allen. Being a Notre Dame and Giants fan, my guy's Malachi Fields.

I was going to ask you. Oh, this is great. Let's get into that.

My guy's Malachi Fields. A, they needed an extra wide receiver. All right. I'm glad they didn't burn an early pick on a guy like a Jordyn Tyson or a Carnell Tate because Lord knows they have plenty of other holes to fill. But my case for Malachi Fields is Jaxson Dart does like to play a little bit of YOLO ball. And by that I mean he scrambles and he's going to chuck it up. Malachi Fields is a guy who is many things, definitely has a lot of work to do, but he is really good at going up and getting those 50-50 contested balls. And he's also really good at breaking off routes and like sitting in a pocket for a curl or a hitch. That is what he excels at. He's not going to be the guy who takes the lid off of defense. He's not even going to be the guy who gets the most separation with the defender. But in terms of those contested catches and somebody who can be a reliable target, or at least somebody you can throw in the vicinity of, when Jaxson Dart does Jaxson Dart things, that's where I think Malachi Fields could do really well, especially a skill set like that could translate to the red zone. So, from a fantasy perspective, I'll just tell you: I will lose again like I do every year, but I will have Malachi Fields on my roster.

Okay. This is great. So, first of all, I have to, Zach Ertz was the name I was searching for for the title. I can't believe I could not think of him. Malachi Fields, as soon as you said earlier that you were a Giants fan, I was like, okay, I really want to know what you think. And then it turns out you're a Notre Dame fan. Okay, so you've got a lot of bias. So before I give my take, Dan, what's your take on Malachi Fields?

He was not in the most, for Notre Dame, he was not in the most passing downfield happy system at all times because he had a first-year starting quarterback last year who, I mean, look, CJ Carr could be a high first-round pick next year. I thought Malachi Fields was underrated when you go back and look at his tape, but he just was not in the most friendly downfield and creative passing attack offense. And kind of rightfully so, because this is a Notre Dame team starting Jeremiyah Love and Jadarian Price in that backfield. And so you sort of, with a good offensive line, they leaned on that. They had a productive tight end. And so they weren't taking a lot of chances all of the time. And they weren't also playing a, a terribly difficult schedule that required Notre Dame to have those dudes that are challenging guys downfield in January, especially because Notre Dame didn't play in January.

How dare you?

How dare you? So I think there is value there just because you don't know what he is against the highest level of competition. And so he wasn't drafted super highly. But I think the upside is real. I don't know how I feel about Jaxson Dart as like somebody who's going to throw for 5,000 yards or something like that. But I think there's value there, especially on a team that's starting over. And I assume their coach doesn't have any preconceived notions about that receiver's room. It's all fresh to him. So in some cases, maybe rookies have a better chance of breaking through because it's a new coach.

Yeah, I love the landing spot here. They needed a wide receiver two. They didn't do the, I agree completely with Ty. You should not have drafted one at five or even at ten. So I think they did it the right way. Malachi Fields specifically, I don't think is going to work. I don't think he's going to translate into the NFL. My notes on him, and this is a little bit judgy, from like there is an archetype that often is drafted in the NFL and busts and does not work, and it is Malachi Fields' archetype. It is the big, oversized guy who gets older than all the kids around him and dominates them, and then goes to the NFL and goes, oh, this trick doesn't work anymore, and then completely flames out. There is no middle ground for Malachi Fields. Malachi Fields is not going to go out there and be like an okay wide receiver, play for seven years, get a second contract, be a valuable wide receiver three for a team. I just don't.

I think he's going to go out there and keep doing what he did and be dominant. And Jaxson Dart will be great. And now they've got their wide receiver two found and going forward, you know, he becomes the T. Higgins, if you will, to Ja'Marr Chase. That's what they're hoping they got. I just don't know. When I look at my notes that I took when I was scouting him, I said giant man with a late breakout age, basically catching sideline balls over little kids. A lot of George Pickens comps. And I can see that with some of his incredible catches, but call me a bit skeptical that his tricks will work in the NFL.

Is he a viewpoint? Yeah, he's 6'4.

Oh, he is. Okay.

He's a big-bodied receiver. I mean, he fashions his game. I've heard his comments before. He fashions his game after like Mike Evans, you know, after guys who are very notable big-bodied wide receivers. But look, if you've watched enough Malachi Fields or Notre Dame or have cared at all about the draft process, he doesn't get a ton of separation. That is not his game. He is very much a jump ball contested catch kind of guy. Frankly, he would have fit in great at Clemson, Dan, where they need more guys like that or have in recent memory. He's the type of guy, to your point, Jason, who's going to get 10 catches or 10 touchdowns this year. It's going to be one or the other. From a fantasy standpoint, there's probably a lot of boom or bust. On the Giant side of things, just as a team, there's probably a little bit more wiggle room because, as Dan said, the receiver room is very much still in flux outside of Malik Nabers, who's still coming back from an injury and who knows what that's going to look like when he does get back out on the field. So he'll probably have a longer leash just in terms of his viability as an NFL player. But in terms of fantasy, I could definitely see being very volatile. I'm just saying, I'm going to be honest with you guys, he will be on my roster this year because I've got fantasy.

I don't think that's a bad bet to make because even though I think it's a sub-50% bet, sometimes, I mean, it's well, what's the payoff? The payoff, if he works, is huge. Like you said, he could be the type of rookie that goes out there and gets nine or ten touchdowns because of his archetype. I don't mind taking a bet, especially you've got a quarterback in place. You have a need at wide receiver two. And he is the archetype that could score touchdowns. I'll take that bet, and I will take that bet knowing it's probably a bad bet, just simply because, like, I know the Powerball, I'm not going to win, but I still might buy it.

Yeah. But it's like, hey, but what if, you know, I'm just curious when they were on the clock. So Chris Brazzell was, he went to Carolina. Yep. Similar, not play style really, but another 6'4, big body, much more productive, but also in the Tennessee offense, which I've learned over the years. I remember when I started, I remember when I started doing this, it was like the production was so great. And people were always like, yeah, but it's the Tennessee offense. They kind of manufacture that. And to me, I could not justify, I'm like, what do you mean? Every team is trying to manufacture more yards. Like just, what do you mean? Like how is this, how is this a system? Why isn't every system doing that if it manufactures yards and touchdowns? Made no sense. But over and over and over and over, you go, oh, okay. So there is something to this where it's like.

Should I interrupt you to mention that I also was very high on Jalin Hyatt?

Exactly. I was high on Jalin. Like, he was my final, like, straw that broke the camel's back. Where I'm going, okay, I'm going to continue to be skeptical as everyone says I should be on these Tennessee guys. But Chris Brazzell, like, if I were to have been the Giants. I believe Brazzell went a couple picks later.

Yeah, he went the 19th pick in the third round. Malachi went the 10th pick. So they chose Malachi over Chris Brazzell. I would have gone the other way, but I don't know what you guys see. Were you a fan of Chris Brazzell?

I mean, I like Chris Brazzell a lot, and I remember when he got to Tennessee. I mean, everybody was crazy about the potential of Chris Brazzell. I believe some injury issues in his time in Knoxville, but by and large, definitely a different kind of receiver, but he was another one of those names that I looked at as somebody who I thought was viable. Again, as a fan of a team that, that needed a wide receiver. So it was clear they went for the sort of big-bodied 50-50 guy over Brazzell, who I think is a little bit more well-rounded as a receiver. But I don't hate that pick at all because there's clearly a lot of talent that could be tapped into by a bright offensive mind.

The thing is too, which is interesting when you compare guys like this, right, Chris Brazzell and Malachi Fields, both transfers. You can look at their time. If you're looking at pure upside and upside for fantasy, or just as an NFL fan, Brazzell had big games in college. He did. Malachi Fields was never, like, he may have had awesome catches and run awesome routes. And if you look at the tape, you're like, oh, he's a technician when he runs this kind of route. There was no like stretch of games where Malachi Fields was unguardable against pretty good teams, right? Like, he didn't have like a six-catch, 177-yard game, whereas Brazzell kind of did a few times.

And I just don't know, again, this is not my area of expertise. Like, when was the last time that an NFL receiver earlier on in their career made a huge impact and was only like pretty good in terms of production in college? It's rare, man. I mean, the thing is, is there are a few examples of guys who didn't do a ton in college. It's been a minute, and I'm not a huge college, I want to say Terry McLaurin didn't have a great production profile, I could be wrong on that.

Right. Something in the back of my mind thinks that.

But my point is, there's just not many examples. Having a ton of production in college absolutely does not mean you're going to be good in the NFL. However, not having a ton of production in college almost assuredly means you're not going to be good in the NFL. People that can't produce in college, can't earn targets, they don't usually step up and get better in the NFL. And this year going into this draft class, you know, when I, when I peeled the, you know, the sheet off the old rusty, dirty, dusty couch to start sitting down and doing my 2026 NFL draft prep. Everybody said this is a terrible year for running backs and a wonderful year for wide receivers. The depth of this draft is wide receivers. They were 100% right on the running backs. Goodness. The wide receivers, there is depth, but I was shocked at the production profile across the board. Like in years past, getting to a thousand-yard season, just like if you're a wide receiver, you're going to matter for fantasy. A thousand yard in your best season is kind of something I just require to see. And I couldn't believe how many people didn't hit that mark this year.

Even some of the big names. I don't even remember. I mean, obviously he played for Ohio State, but did Tate even get to 1,000 yards? In his peak season, I'd have to look at it. They've had so many good running, or excuse me, receivers that so many of these yards were spread out so evenly.

He had 875 this past year, 733 in 2024, and then 224.

Yeah, I mean, that one is obviously when you're playing with maybe the best wide receiver in the country, and you're busy. You can understand that. But my point is, I just kept waiting for these production monsters, and they really didn't come.

The interesting thing about Malachi Fields, Dan, you can make a case that just from a production standpoint, not that we're playing college fantasy, but his numbers took a pretty big step back going into the Notre Dame offense from Virginia. The previous year, when he transferred, or I guess before he transferred to Notre Dame from Virginia, he had something like 800 yards. Well, look at what Virginia did last year at quarterback. I mean, that was a much more pass-happy system than it had been just because of their other transfer, Chandler Morris, who played quarterback. So there's a case to be made from a production standpoint, that Malachi Fields would have had better numbers if he just stayed at Virginia. Now, raises profile, played in higher-profile games, arguably by going to Notre Dame. I don't know what to make of that either. I don't know for sure if that's a red herring or if that is something that could spoil the bet.

But look, at least Jordyn Tyson, Jordyn Tyson lit teams up when he was healthy.

Yeah.

He had big games where he was unstoppable. So I'm looking at this, and I had these thoughts, but I haven't sat down and just looked at one specific thing, especially now that the NFL draft is over and the NFL told us who they like in what order. So obviously, you got the big three: Tate, Tyson, Lemon. We knew they were going to be first-round picks. They were great. Their talent was there. Their production profile was good, and you can forgive Tate's. Yeah. After that, the picks went in order in the NFL draft. KC Concepcion, Omar Cooper Jr., first rounders. Jeremy Bernard, Denzel Boston, DeJon Stribling, Antonio Williams. Malachi Fields, Jacoby Lane. Not one, not a single one of the guys I just mentioned ever hit a thousand yards in their peak season. All of those guys, you have to go down to Tez Hurst, in the, you know, whatever he was, pick the 12th wide receiver, however many we're at, before he got to 1,000. He got to 1,004 in bad competition. So I don't know, man.

This was supposed to be a great wide receiver draft class in TBD, but call me a little skeptical that these guys are going to break out for the point of fantasy. And obviously, that's an important distinction. Like a lot of these guys are going to, like, Jeremy Bernard, to me, he is a perfect NFL wide receiver. I would want my team to draft him. I think he's going to be in the right spot, be reliable, not dominate any one specific area, but kind of be a jack of all trades. That's how I project him. For fantasy, I don't care about that. You're not helping my, you're, you're not going out there and putting up 1200 yards and 10 touchdowns. It's just not you. So I don't know. This seems more like maybe it'll help NFL, but for fantasy, it feels pretty weak.

Last question, and I assume I know partially what your answer is going to be. It's not just offensive players that are drafted into the NFL, and fantasy teams do start defenses. I assume this is largely matchup dependent. Which defense are you going to start? Is there a defense that you feel like got considerably better given their draft haul to make them maybe more than just a matchup-dependent start in 2026?

No and yes. Certainly the Bengals, I think, had the most improvement overall, both in the offseason, the trade that they used their number ten pick, their draft and some of the prospects they brought in. I don't know that that pushes them, that takes them from a defense you couldn't ever play to a defense that maybe in the right matchup you could stream. It's not so much when it comes to playing defenses, starting defenses, which matters. I don't care that much about the defenses. I care much more about the opposing offenses. I say this every draft season. There is usually one or two teams every single season that become weekly starters. It doesn't matter if you're playing against the best offense. You're just going to throw them in there. They're so dominant. Oftentimes is not the team you expect going in when you draft them. I always remember, it's been a while now. Gosh, this was in like the Blake Bortles era, but all of a sudden, out of one year, Jacksonville Jaguars' defense was the most dominant defense. And you had to start that. They made a huge impact on fantasy, but no one drafted them like that.

Right.

I would much rather just blindly play against the bad quarterbacks and throw whatever defense out there as humanly possible rather than say this is a team that I'm going to play week in and week out. The downside, though, the Cowboys and the Bengals gave us something so doggone beautiful last year, which was great offenses with no defense. You could not win if you were the Bengals or the Cowboys if you didn't score 35 points. And that is a beautiful thing. And so I was very disappointed in this draft that both those teams seemed to really improve. I mean, Caleb Downs might be the best player in the draft. Getting him where they got him was great. It was a great draft for both those teams. It sucks for fantasy because when you're looking at the upside of Ja'Marr Chase or CeeDee Lamb, at some point, if you're up in the fourth quarter and you've only scored 21 points, but the other team has to score, you're going to be running the ball.

And the elite insanity, the numbers that, like when CeeDee Lamb, who's been the number one wide receiver in fantasy, Ja'Marr Chase, who has been the number one wide receiver in fantasy, those guys get to those insane numbers because they get four quarters of having to throw the ball nonstop in their great offenses. I don't want that to go away, and it might. It might go away now because those two teams really improved their defenses, and that sucks.

So you have to have a garbage production draft to figure out which rookies are going to get run, either because they're in shootouts all the time or because they're just going to be throwing to come back all the time. And so you're like, okay, the Raiders are terrible. They're going to be down a lot this year. Maybe this sixth-round receiver is worth a flyer because there will be targets to be had down 30 to 11.

Yeah, I mean, there's always bad teams that throw the ball a lot. The problem is, you've got to find the, you've got to find the combination. Like, you look at the teams last year. Okay, the Jets were down a lot. Obviously, the Raiders, good example. But who was the Raiders wide receiver that really benefited? Nobody. Right. So they need the quarterback. They're just not good. What you need is you need the team that has a good quarterback and a bad defense. That's what you look for. The elixir. You just take all those players, all the offensive players, find any team with a bad defense and a good quarterback. You want them for fantasy.

That should be a special Hall of Fame wing, right? That, like, okay, you're not a Hall of Fame quarterback, but what you were able to do despite your defense was something we have to honor and cherish for generations to come.

For sure.

His name is Jason Moore. The show is The Fantasy Footballers. For those who aren't familiar with your work, Jason, and I can't imagine there are a lot of people who aren't, it's like the biggest fantasy football podcast on the planet, as I said at the top. What are you guys planning? How are you preparing people now that the draft is complete? What can they look forward to if they listen to the show?

Yeah, I mean, well, so we're, we're walking through right now on the show. Obviously, we're going to do our post-draft. We'll get into all the rookies now that we know landing spots and all of that. The next month, we spend all of our time grinding. We will stat out every single player on every single team. Now that we know free agency is over, the draft is over. The chips have pretty much fallen. We stat out every player on every team so that we can have highly accurate predictions of fantasy success. We'll put all that into our annual ultimate draft kit. And we just have fun on the show and try to get things right more than we get things wrong.

Here, here. It's a good life mantra.

It's a good life mantra. Jason Moore, we appreciate your time. We'll have to do it again at some point soon. For those who aren't familiar with the Fantasy Footballers, go and check it out. A great fantasy resource, a great fantasy show, that as Jason said, just likes to have fun. You guys do a great job. Thanks again.

Thanks, guys. Appreciate it.

All right, Dan, there you go again. Jason Moore, check out the Fantasy Footballers. It is a great fantasy football podcast.

Yes. I cannot emphasize enough. They do an awesome job. Three really good friends who just have fun talking about these things. And I will definitely be tuning in this year to try and battle my issues when it comes to drafting too many rookies.

Yeah. When you do your draft, you're like, oh, he's still in the league. He's still good. He's still really. Okay. I have this problem. I mean, I have that problem more with baseball. I stopped playing fantasy baseball because I can't keep track of everybody. And the season is too long, and it's just, I'm not good at it anymore. It was diminishing returns. But on the football side, we know most of the guys.

I think the thing that sneaks up on me from a fantasy football standpoint is not knowing who the guys are that have popped. Because usually we're so footballed out here from following things on a Saturday that when Sunday rolls around, I'm really only focused on the Giants. Right. And like who's popping for other teams and going off and like making a name for themselves, a lot of that stuff is off my radar.

Yeah. Puka Nacua has been good for three years.

Yeah.

Who knew? Who knew?

Yeah. But the thing that Jason said that I think is really valuable information, and maybe it's sort of like the most obvious thing in the world, but it wasn't to me. Don't bet on the bad teams or the players on the bad teams.

The players on the bad teams, yeah, especially rookies.

Yeah. Right? Like, there's a reason that people picked Alabama to win the national championship or at least get to the playoffs every year. Because Alabama under Nick Saban was really freaking good, and they got there more often than not. So, just maybe do more of that, and don't try to be so much of a cowboy when it comes to picking rookies that you just like the sound of their name. Can I ask you a question?

Please.

What were your draft thoughts? '26 NFL draft is now in the books, Thursday, Friday, Saturday. We're recording this on Monday, April 27th. We've seen everything sorted out. There were some notable undrafted players. Diego Pavia, you know, obviously, given the heights he helped to raise Vanderbilt to and the attention that he got as a personality, to say the least, doesn't get drafted. Obviously, the physical build isn't what you want necessarily out of a prototypical quarterback. But just in terms of who went where and where players from Penn State, Notre Dame or whoever else you liked in college football and where they ended up, what did you think?

I can't believe Ty Simpson went number 13.

Yeah.

And we saw like the Sean McVay press conference where he seemed annoyed, but then it was clarified the next day that he's all in on Ty Simpson.

Yeah. That was a shocker to me. And I'm no scout. I don't know. Obviously, Sean McVay's had a pretty good track record. So if he likes the pick, then I think it's probably worth at least paying attention to. But that one really surprised me and definitely was popular on the group chat. Like, why? What are they doing here? Okay. They're like maybe a couple players away. Their window is open with an aging MVP-caliber quarterback, and they're going to go back up. Okay, whatever. So that was notable to me.

You know, of course, much of my attention was focused on what the Giants were doing, and I thought they ended up with a really good draft. And despite the fact that it's a bit questionable, maybe to take a running back as highly as the Cardinals did, I do think Jeremiyah Love's in a position where he's going to get a ton of work, and I'm excited to see what that translates to on the NFL level. I mean, the comp that people were throwing out was Reggie Bush. I saw that mentioned more than once. And when you mention Reggie Bush as somebody who grew up in the Reggie Bush era, and he is very familiar with his body of work, my ears perk up a little bit. Okay, if we get to see that again, that'd be pretty cool. So I did see it in college to an extent, but to see what he can do in the NFL is going to be pretty exciting to me.

The only other, well, I have many other thoughts, but just in terms of how the draft was covered, I did cheat if ever momentarily on our friend Nate Tice from Yahoo.

Oh, no, Tice. What did you do?

Listen, no, I tried. I tried to flip on one of the major networks. And I'm not going to say who, but I made it about 45 seconds with one of the hosts of a major draft broadcast.

Yeah.

And I was like, I got to go back to Nate. I can't do this. I can't do this to myself. I made it 45 seconds and I flipped off. And then I was all in on Nate's show.

Okay. I flipped. I flipped. I mean, I got home a little bit later. I was following it. I was out during the first few picks, but I was going between the Yahoo one and then the Athletic one. Oh, yeah, they did a good job. I saw Bruce was doing that show, so I watched some of that with Robert Mays. But yeah, I watched a bunch of the the Nate Tice and Yahoo one as well, and they did a great job. So no, my first-round thoughts are always kind of the same thing, and as somebody who doesn't really follow the NFL that closely was like, is the team bad? Go offensive line or defense. If you don't have a quarterback, go offensive line or defense.

When I see like these average, below average, or bad teams taking a top 10 receiver or a top 10 running back or a top five running back, a receiver or a top 20 tight end. So you're just going to have Geno Smith throw to Kenyon Sadiq, and that's the way you're going to get way better. I don't understand it. And maybe it's because, I mean, there's a likely chance I just have no idea what I'm talking about in terms of NFL roster construction. But that never made a ton of sense to me where you don't have a quarterback and yet you're drafting all these skill position guys.

Jeremiyah Love, you mentioned, right, to the Cardinals. And it's what, Jacoby Brissett? That's their...

Well, eventually Carson Beck.

Eventually Carson Beck? I don't know. I just I feel like those are the guys who are just like, oh, we are a star running back or receiver away, or generally receiver, if you have an established quarterback. Like, oh, we need a number two guy to pair with this guy because their offense can look so good now that we have Joe Burrow or whoever as our quarterback. But if we're having Geno Smith and Jacoby Brissett type conversations, I don't know, man. I don't, but like, look, I guess you could say that about Sam Darnold with the Seahawks, right? Where it didn't seem like, or I guess the Vikings. He was good with the Vikings before the Seahawks, but I'm always sort of curious about why those types of teams, like, Ashton Jeanty ran behind a terrible offensive line last year, right? So you just used a year of Ashton Jeanty's rookie deal on wasting it. I don't know. It doesn't make sense, but yeah, who am I?

Well, as our friend Nate Tice said, it was a draft that was heavy on defense and offensive line. And so there were, yeah, no, no shortage of those types of guys that went pretty high in the draft. And, you know, we'll see if that does build something of a foundation for teams that needed it, my own team included. But certainly, when it comes time to make your fantasy selections this year, hopefully that gave you a little bit of insight into how to approach it.

I was taking notes over here. Where's my, wait, so I lost my notebook already, but yeah, I was taking notes. I got a lot out of that. So, Ty Simpson, who I really enjoyed watching last year, especially when he was healthy and seemed to have some injury issues later on in the season, especially got hurt in that Indiana game, has started 13 games, something like that?

15 games.

Yeah. 15 games. He's going to a team that has a championship window that's currently open. Copyright Lincoln Riley championship window is now open. I'm going to get so many sounds for that this season. Championship window open. It's open. And they could have had anybody but the top twelve players selected, any college football player eligible for the draft. And they said to themselves, got to grab a backup here. Gotta grab a backup. Need the backup.

Yeah.

Gotta grab that backup. I don't know. I always think those kinds of decisions are puzzling. I don't know.

Well, then it came out that the Rams GM is close with Jason Simpson, Ty's dad, and that the GM personally helped advise that draft decision to come out instead of going back to school. So I don't know if there was any kind of home cooking there or what went on, but right, Ty Simpson was the pick at 13 and definitely ruffled some feathers. I did enjoy it. And look, it was clarified after the fact. Again, I don't consume NFL media really, but Sean McVay was like, I'm going to keep that personal about the conversation he had with Matt Stafford after he told him that they were thinking about taking a quarterback there. He just seemed irked. And then it was all clarified the next day that he was all in. But then you see the clips of Sean McVay in previous years talking about draft picks. You're like, oh man, this guy is going to do, he's going to do this X, Y and Z for us. So like, oh, we can't wait to see what we have. And it was like, well, yep, he is. He's going to compete for the number two job with Stetson Bennett, and we'll go from there.

All right. Why don't we leave it there? Longer than usual show, but we appreciate your time and hopefully you got something out of it. Big thanks to our guest of honor today, Jason Moore from the Fantasy Footballers. We'll bring him back at some point in the future. I enjoyed that. It's good to chat with you. And pristine audio and video quality, as you know, is of utmost concern here on the show. So, Jason definitely checks all those boxes. Again, check him out. The name of his show is The Fantasy Footballers. We'll do our part to keep you up to speed with everything going on in and around the world of college football. Had some news at the top of this episode. We will be back on Thursday. Until then, for that guy over there, Dan, for myself over here, Ty, you know the drill, stay solid.

Peace.