We've hit a milestone as epic as a Hail Mary touchdown — our 99th episode closes out season three, and we're throwing a fantasy football fiesta you won't want to miss. Join us, your hosts, as we tip our helmets to the gridiron gurus of our community. Paul Rapp's keeper strategies and Lance Harman's knockout first victory are just the opening plays. We're not just reminiscing about the past season; we're gearing up for a centennial celebration that promises to kick off with post-4th of July fireworks. Stay tuned for a sneak peek into the exhilarating future we're crafting for season four.
Get ready for a play-by-play breakdown of Frank Laury's zero RB strategy that left the league in the dust. Frank's victory lap isn't just about the glory — it's about intuition in the draft room and those gut feelings that lead to gold. We don't just talk shop about our own league; we scrutinize the rookies who've shattered expectations and discuss the seismic shifts from the NFL's Black Monday. Coaching changes are coming hot and heavy, with teams like the Panthers, Commanders, and Bears poised for transformative seasons ahead.
As the clock winds down on another thrilling season of fantasy football, we revel in the rookie revolution — the running backs and wide receivers who've sprinted from draft day to fantasy fame. We're dissecting the impact of Bijon Robinson and Puka Nacua, and diving into the success of player comparisons that have become a crystal ball for NFL success. It's a fond farewell to season three, but the excitement for what's to come is palpable. Until we huddle up in July for the next season, may your off-season be filled with strategy, speculation, and the sweet anticipation of fantasy football triumphs.
Thanks for Listening! Subscribe to our YouTube Channel https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCBPAVRUduAUqHORYenFfo9w
We've hit a milestone as epic as a Hail Mary touchdown — our 99th episode closes out season three, and we're throwing a fantasy football fiesta you won't want to miss. Join us, your hosts, as we tip our helmets to the gridiron gurus of our community. Paul Rapp's keeper strategies and Lance Harman's knockout first victory are just the opening plays. We're not just reminiscing about the past season; we're gearing up for a centennial celebration that promises to kick off with post-4th of July fireworks. Stay tuned for a sneak peek into the exhilarating future we're crafting for season four.
Get ready for a play-by-play breakdown of Frank Laury's zero RB strategy that left the league in the dust. Frank's victory lap isn't just about the glory — it's about intuition in the draft room and those gut feelings that lead to gold. We don't just talk shop about our own league; we scrutinize the rookies who've shattered expectations and discuss the seismic shifts from the NFL's Black Monday. Coaching changes are coming hot and heavy, with teams like the Panthers, Commanders, and Bears poised for transformative seasons ahead.
As the clock winds down on another thrilling season of fantasy football, we revel in the rookie revolution — the running backs and wide receivers who've sprinted from draft day to fantasy fame. We're dissecting the impact of Bijon Robinson and Puka Nacua, and diving into the success of player comparisons that have become a crystal ball for NFL success. It's a fond farewell to season three, but the excitement for what's to come is palpable. Until we huddle up in July for the next season, may your off-season be filled with strategy, speculation, and the sweet anticipation of fantasy football triumphs.
Thanks for Listening! Subscribe to our YouTube Channel https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCBPAVRUduAUqHORYenFfo9w
Yeah, all right, all right, all right, welcome to the show. This is the Franklin Fantasy Football Podcast. We are your hosts, frankie and Johnny. Frankie, welcome in. This is the close, the season finale, of season three, episode 99 of the Franklin Fantasy Football Podcast. Congratulations to you, my friend.
Speaker 1:Congratulations to you, John. 99, 99,. Those listening, those watching 99 episodes. What fucking fun time. 99 episodes, baby.
Speaker 2:It's beautiful. That means we're starting season four in July with episode 100,. Baby Got to be a nice celebration.
Speaker 2:That's right. Make sure you tune in, guys. After the 4th of July, if you're following us on social media, which you need to be doing Instagram, franklin Fantasy Football. Youtube, franklin Fantasy Football. Facebook, franklin Fantasy Football X Franklin Fantasy F you'll be informed. You'll see when the episode's going to drop right after the 4th of July. You'll know it's coming. You won't be able to avoid it. You'll be like, oh my God, fine guys, I'll subscribe, I'll watch, you're all over me. We're going to be all over you next year. So tune in, baby. Welcome to the show, frankie, I want you to give some recognition. I want you to list off some listeners of ours that we know for a fact that have won championships, and I would like to think that, frankly, fantasy Football helped them out just a little bit. Who are they Lay them out for? Who are the champions, frankie?
Speaker 1:Mmm John, and I know for a fact that we helped them out. You know why? Because they reached out to us and said because of you guys and your information, your content and the questions you have to answer. You're a big part of the reason why I ended up winning the Super Bowl. And I want to start with a guy we mentioned last week, that son of a bitch who beat me in one of our Super Bowls, mr Paul Rapp, hailing from that of Florida, ultimate Wolf, aka Ultimate Wolf. He ended up putting together one hell of a season and I don't want to take anything away from him. Paul Rapp and a keeper league decided to keep that of Stefan Diggs in the second round, drafted Josh Allen in the first round and at first glance we were like what is he doing in a 14 man double flex league? And let me tell you, that son of a bitch put together one hell of a roster throughout the year. So Paul Rapp, aka Ultimate Wolf, hailing from Fort Lauderdale area or actually Fort Myers, I believe or my well done, sir, very, very well done, john.
Speaker 1:Number two is another gentleman who literally texted us quite often. He's in one of our leagues as well. He is one of your brother's best friends, and we're talking about Lance the man, harman. Okay, this dude is a fantasy football nut. He was a ex football player. He was a bad ass. You don't want to get into a wrestling match with this dude. Never, ever do that. And here, man, in a super flex league. He has never won any league in, frankly, fantasy, and this was the year he turned the tide. I shout out Lance man. He would ask us questions when we weren't matched up with him. Even if we were, we'd still help him out a little bit. And let me tell you he didn't even need our recommendations after a certain point man, because he was already tuned in diving into our content. Avid listener, weekly, would give us shout outs on a bi-weekly basis as to say, hey, man, your content was phenomenal. So shout out to you brother, aka Double Dragon, doubling down and getting that dub. So well done, lance.
Speaker 2:Harman. Great job, Lance, Congratulations. Welcome to the Winter Circle man. Welcome, sir.
Speaker 1:John, I want to hit on my brother in law here, and this is a guy that was in. You know I'm in another league with his college buddies and it gets pretty intense. You know it's a fun league. They actually kicked you out because you beat their ass is what happened, john, and so shout out to Tyler.
Speaker 2:No, no love lost to the Walsh guys. Okay, I'm sorry, it's okay. I still love you. I still want you to listen. I'm still friends. Okay, it's all right. It was fun. I would have won that fucking thing this year, yeah.
Speaker 1:Shout out Tyler Bischoff, aka 50 Shades of Brown. 50 Shades of Brown, aka Sunday Fun Day for the Cleveland Browns. Tyler Bischoff put together an absolute comeback. Historic season was on the bubble, was absolutely on the bubble, barely making it into the playoffs and ran through the top two teams. So shout out, brother. You put together one hell of a roster, made some moves when you needed to do it and you took home the crown.
Speaker 2:This next guy go ahead. 50 Shades of Brown. Isn't that the memoir of Amber Heard? That's what I heard Could be.
Speaker 1:Could be Absolutely. Maybe he has some inside information that we could poke and prod. I don't know. Now, this next guy has been one of my best friends, john, and this is crazy to say. For over 25 years we grew up together. We have that old Frank yeah right, fucking crazy. Well, I appreciate that, you know I do. My skin, you know, looks nice and tight sometimes 25 years grew up on the same street.
Speaker 1:Unbelievable human being, top lawyer, by the way, in Cleveland. Shout out for those needing a lawyer. Check out Nathan Nazarella. We call him Naz and he is an absolute dominant force, not only in the law field, not only if you're partying with him, but, sure shit, in fantasy football. And, mind you, we are in a massive group text guys, for those listening and watching, we have 20 guys that have been in a group text since 2007, 2007. Okay, absolutely crazy. Still my best friends to today and, mind you, this is their league. And he ended up taking home that crown and we would text sometimes four times a week just about fantasy football. And, brother, I'm so proud you went in there and beat Michael Eads ass and I know you're listening, mike. So screw you, man and bring it home. Naz, love you, brother, great shit.
Speaker 2:Great job, naz law. Shout out to Naz Law Don't go around here, law dog.
Speaker 1:Law dog, baby Law dog. Now this next guy. This was interesting and I want to give this dude a shout out. I didn't even know he was a listener. I got to be honest with you, didn't know he was a listener, didn't know he was even watching us. John, this guy was one of my closest buddies in high school and through the years, right, I ended up having my family, he had his family. We ended up. You know, just life right, kind of go separate ways a little bit, you kind of lose touch. And it's not, it's not intentional, it just happens. Well, he texted me as he's heading into the Super Bowl. I haven't heard from him, john, in years and he said that he's listening, watching, diving in, was proud as hell of us and I couldn't even believe it. Shout out to Greg here. Greg here, one, one of his big leagues, and asked me from our opinion on who to start and sit in his Super Bowl. And we fucking nailed it and he won by the skin of his teeth, by two points. So shout out to Greg here. Proud of you, man, got to reconnect, grab a beer and we'll talk some fantasy football. But proud of you, welcome to the winner circle and being a frankly fantasy champion.
Speaker 1:Now, john, this other guy here that I want to list off, he's been in our leagues a few times and you know he's always. He's won a league of ours, he's got me, he's always in the playoffs and he's always making moves. You know what I'm talking about. I'm talking about Mr Ross. Mr Tyler Ross, mr Wee play volleyball and shit. The dude is five foot nothing and can dunk a basketball Most athletic cat I've ever seen. And, mind you, he is in four or five different fantasy football leagues. John is in the playoffs and every single one of them. That is an unbelievable feat. And so, tyler Ross, brother, shout out to you is absolutely a pleasure having you in our leagues, as well as seeing you when a championship yourself hats off. Welcome to having a frankly fantasy champion in your house brother T Ross, you're always a wonderful opponent.
Speaker 2:I love having you in our leagues, man. He's one of those guys that I'll invite him to any league I ever started. Always active, he communicates, he's good, he trades, love it, man. Keep it up, brother. Love to see you next year.
Speaker 1:John. There were many, many more, but that rounds us out for the few that ended up sending us in, and I, you know, we had a few on YouTube that commented you know what made it to the semis, and a few others that made it to the playoffs when they didn't think they had a shot. So shout out to all of you guys that were also sending us DMs on Instagram and YouTube comments and things along those lines Proud of you guys for making it into the playoffs, making it to the semis, making it to your championship team next year. We're going to flip the script. We're going to get you in and get you a dub and get you some money.
Speaker 2:I think you're missing a guy there, frankie. There were some of the others. I thought that that won a Super Bowl that you didn't mention. Who was that? I get to look at his goddamn face every week. You're fucking right. Okay, I'll do this one. How's it go? Your beautiful co-host of the frankly fantasy football podcast, frank Laurie, aka Legion, because he is Legion, he's many, he is all took home the frankly fantasy football league of extraordinary gentlemen title. Frank, we talked about a little bit last week you winning the title, but why don't you just give us a quick? What do you think helped you get there besides being a fantasy football podcast? Sure, what strategy did you have? Anything particular you did with the draft? Or let us know what players got you there? Who are your superstars?
Speaker 1:Totally man. And yeah, I did have a specific strategy for this specific league. So it was interesting, guys, it was a 12 man league, it was a full PPR and this this time we was a three receiver and a flex. So the route that I ended up taking and I got a lot of shit, by the way, loved it. I bring on the shit talk, but I remember there was a mock draft episode to where I did a zero RB and I didn't draft an RB until literally round seven.
Speaker 1:And, john, I took the same exact approach for this leak, super risky, but I wanted to put my money where my mouth was. So who I drafted? I went for receivers in a row, a tight end, another receiver and then for running backs. That is what I went with and, knowing it was full PPR, knowing it was a three receiver plus a flex, I needed to solidify that receiver room and I know that if I hit on at least three of those receivers, I had trade value to get a better running back. So who I drafted, john, I remember fucking almost Rain man with this kind of shit. It was Devonte Adams and, by the way, I was 11th out of 12th drafting. So I went to Vonte Adams and then CD Land. I then went Keenan Allen, cooper Cup. I then went TJ Hawkinson, so that was my solidified five.
Speaker 1:Okay, then from there I ended up going into and I forget the other receiver. But then it was James Cook. And then it was right, a few others down the line. And so what was fascinating, john, is, I ended up, did I made a move in the? Oh, it was David Montgomery, who was my around seven pick. So after, after James Cook, it was David Montgomery.
Speaker 1:And so what was interesting is that I decided to make a trade right before Cooper Cup came back. I packaged together Cooper Cup and a few others to get a Mari Cooper and B John Robinson. And this is when a Mari Cooper was on the down slope because the Sean Watson was banged up. Pj Walker was throwing him the ball, but I knew.
Speaker 1:I just had a gut feeling that something was going to turn, because he was really the only producing guy and I can now anchor my team on a running back rather than having to completely rely on Monty and James Cook, which panned out very well, but in the moment I was a little bit nervous. So because of that, guys trust your gut when you're thinking of strategies and you want to try something different, go against the grain, because a lot of times we saw what the injuries did for the running back landscape. It was crazy this year, guys, and actually underperforming as well. We saw Austin Eckler shit the bed and many, many others right. We even saw, you know, Justin Jefferson getting hurt and Jamar Chase getting hurt and a lot of these other top tier cats, and so it was really awesome, man, to be able to actually do what we did in a few mock drafts and taking a massive risk on going pure you know, the zero RB strat and making it work. So really proud of that league man and pumped to bring it home.
Speaker 2:All right, appreciate it, man. Let's take a look at the inside of the mind of a madman. When it comes to fantasy football, it worked. You did take a lot of shit for that draft too, and I did. You took home the championship, man.
Speaker 2:All right, today, guys, today we're getting into it's our review of our rookie review. We want to go back and we want to look at we talked about these guys who we never saw taking NFL snap Frankie. Watch the films. Frankie looked at the stats. He came up with player comparisons for everybody to help you out. Before the draft. We're going to take a look and see how Frankie did and see what your college football knowledge. Let's see if it did translate to the NFL, and then we'll be able to take a look next year. Of course, our first episode is the rookie review for next year, so this will be really interesting, man. I went back and watched the two rookie review episodes we had and, fuck man, you nailed it. You nailed a lot of these, man. It was really, really crazy.
Speaker 2:But first, before we do that, as always, we'll get into some news, baby. Ok, so the big piece of news, the big area we're focusing on here, is Black Monday. For those of you who do not know, it is the Monday after the last game of the regular season. It's called Black Monday because that's when all the firings happen. We had some here, man.
Speaker 2:Let's go through some of these firings here. First of all, the Panthers fire their GM. Not a big shot, yeah. See you later. Ron Rivera, fired as the head coach for the commanders. Mike Rabel fired as the head coach for the Titans. Arthur Smith fired Thank fucking God, geez. Arthur Smith fired as the head coach for the Falcons.
Speaker 2:Pete Carroll. This one came out literally today. I'm doing the news and it popped up as an alert on my phone. Pete Carroll is going to move to an advisory role. He's out as head coach for the Seahawks. Apparently, there's rumors that the Seahawks are eyeing Dan Quinn. He used to be Cowboys head coach. Very interesting there. The Bears they're keeping their head coach, matt Eberfluss, but they fired their offensive coordinator and their QB coach.
Speaker 2:All of these teams we'll get into in a few minutes in another segment. Don't want to go into too much detail here, but we'll let you know soon. Antonio Pierce, who is filling in right now as interim head coach for the Las Vegas Raiders Apparently he's rumored to be interviewing for the Titans head coach position as well. Okay, frankie, in the news here. I just want to bring up a few things that were just really fucking cool. That happened at the end of the season here. We got some records and we just had an outstanding season for a guy. I just want to shout this out. But Puka Nakua, man, huge, what a great guy, what a great player and man, is he going to be awesome? Just moving forward for fantasy football, puka Nakua breaks a 63-year-old rookie receiving yards record. How about 63-year-old record man, that's nuts 1486 yards.
Speaker 1:Juno, who held that record in 1960, by the way, frank, I do, but I want to hear you tell it.
Speaker 2:The only reason you do is because I wrote it in the God deal of notes. That's why Bill Groman in 1960, apparently so hats off to anybody who got that deep pull Rookie reception's record. He also broke with 105 catches. That was snapping Jalen Waddle's record in 2021. It's a great job. Hats off to Puka Nakua. Just an incredible season.
Speaker 2:Cd Lamb I wanted to shout this out, man, because these numbers were pretty ridiculous. Cd Lamb ended the season because that last game he scored two touchdowns, had a great game once again. Like 13 catches. Cd Lamb for the season 135 catches, 1749 yards, 14 touchdowns man, what a season. So when we asked Frankie, who got you there, cd Lamb was a big part of the season. Cd Lamb, yeah, definitely he had a touchdown. Listen to this stat. This is fantasy football gold right here. He had a touchdown in nine straight games to finish. That's insane, man. I mean that's just the epitome of elite consistency. So let's hope he keeps that up for next year.
Speaker 2:Another guy, another record here Sam LaPorta. We're going to talk about it here in a minute. Sam LaPorta, rookie tight end, breaks the tight end rookie reception record with 82 receptions. Man, we talked about it and we'll go into a little more detail with Sam LaPorta, but I was watching the rookie review episode, which is our episode one of every year, I said I hate rookie tight ends. I like this guy but there's no way I'm taking them. I did end up drafting them based off of your recommendations from the episode, but, man, just an amazing season out of Sam LaPorta. Last thing I want to talk about here, speaking of tight ends, the streak of seven straight seasons with a thousand yards is over for Travis Kelsey. He did not get there this season. You want to talk to me a little bit about Kelsey. Real quick, frank, and just kind of your ideas of what are you thinking for next year. He's kind of been a perennial first round pick where you're like, okay, I'm okay to take Kelsey now. That's not going to be the case next year, is it?
Speaker 1:No, no, john, and it's strictly. It has nothing to do in my opinion, other than he's getting older and it happens. Father time is catching up to him and he's still had an excellent year. Right. Finished the year as tight end, number two or number three, depending on your leads. He was still very good, but he wasn't elite. He was not an elite status. And, john, this is just. Injuries are catching up, right. Also, the team dynamic. Right. They had a brand new OC. The Eric B Ennyme was gone. They also let go of some of the other receivers and pass catchers. That really helped take away a lot of the pressure on Kelsey and opened up the field more for him.
Speaker 1:So a lot of things would need to change, honestly, in order for him to even be a back half first round pick or even a front and second round pick for people to really look at drafting him at that point in time. So I mean, it's been great to watch him. He's absolutely still a guy that if he's there back half of two early three, you jump all over it. He's definitely going to be one of those tight ends. But in terms of spending first round capital, john, we're talking fifth overall. That was his ADP fifth overall average draft position. It's not anywhere close to that anymore and you know, it just is one of those things still had a good year. You know, maybe he's ready to get all cozy with Taylor Swift and travel with her coming down the pike and enjoying his time off. But man, it was. It was definitely. If you drafted him at five overall, you were kicking yourself towards the end of the year.
Speaker 2:Yeah, yeah, I think the cliff has. I think we're at the cliff for the age cliff of Travis Kelsey here. All right, frank, what I want to do here there's a couple of teams with a lot of interesting shit going on that I want to put this out into the ether for everybody, for all of you guys watching and listening. A couple of teams I think you should watch in the offseason because there's going to be some interesting shit going on with fantasy, with these teams. Frank, I'm going to name the team. Why don't you? Let's go back and forth a little bit here of a couple of reasons why they're interesting in the offseason and what we should be watching out for that's going to affect fantasy and affect our drafts Arizona Cardinals Okay, I'll start with the first thing here Kyler Murray. They have to make a decision on Kyler Murray. I don't think they're completely sold on that. What do you think with Kyler Murray, with Arizona?
Speaker 1:John, I agree. However, the way that, the way that they ended the year, I believe that Kyler Murray will still be there and the really the other reason why, john, is because not only did they have a couple of upsets right, they ended up beating the Eagles and a few others that was just absolutely absurd but it was also the fact that there's going to be dead cap space if they even were to let him go. So what they saw from Kyler Murray coming back was encouraging. I think is is an optimistic way to look at that, but I think that by letting him go or trading him, that's a lot of capital that this team is going to have to pick up and is going to be against that of the Arizona Cardinals.
Speaker 1:The other interesting facet with the Cardinals is they have very high draft capital. In the NFL draft this year, they are at the number four spot as it currently sits, and so, john, that's really sexy, because here is where they can make a ton of moves. If they weren't to decide to offload that of Kyler Murray, they could end up figuring out some way to then bring in a rookie quarterback right Now. The issue with that, for those listening, I don't want to get too heavy into this, but is that rookie quarterbacks now drafted in the first few picks have guaranteed salaries, most of them, or 90% or 80% guaranteed salary. So, yes, it's going to be a little bit less than what Kyler Murray is making, but it's not going to be that much less.
Speaker 1:And so what do you do? Do you draft a top tier receiver? Do you trade that pick and trade back in the draft and get more draft capital and now put more pieces around that of Kyler Murray, which I think could be the best bet, because even if they go a different direction let's say, not next year but 2025 outside of Kyler Murray they still have these other pieces that they were able to get around who could be their next quarterback at that point in time. So the Arizona Cardinals are actually going to be a very interesting team to see what happens, because they could end up surprising everybody saying, hey, screw it, we'll take the dead cap hit in the salary, knowing the salary caps are going to increase over this, over this year, and they could end up going a quarterback. Or they could say, hey, screw it, we're going to go best available receiver, we're going to get another badass piece for that of Kyler Murray to throw the ball to other than trade McBride. Yeah, marvin Harrison Jr Roma.
Speaker 2:Dusey four spot. That's right where he's looking at Exactly, man.
Speaker 1:So there is a lot. I mean there's also Napers Malik Napers, the receiver from that of LSU. I mean there's a lot of great receivers in this draft, but there's also a lot of great quarterbacks, so it's going to be fascinating to see what happens with the Cardinals. Yeah, it is.
Speaker 2:Let's talk about the Atlanta Falcons here. Ding Dong, the dick is gone. Yes, Arthur Smith, see you later. Shave that mustache, Get the fuck out of here. I'm sick of it. Atlanta Falcons no head coach, no franchise quarterback and a top 10 pick. What do you want to see happen here, man Quarterback?
Speaker 1:quarterback, quarterback, quarterback. Whether you draft one, whether you trade up to get one, or whether you're going for Russell Wilson, justin Fields, right, somebody along those lines, get yourself a quarterback. You have the pieces, man, you have. The defense was playing really well. The offensive line was looking decent. You have two studs and one superstar back. You have two studs right there Bijon Robinson, tyler Algier. You have a tight end. I know you hate talking about him, I do too, but he still has the ability from an athletic standpoint. And then you have Drake London on the outside. Get somebody in there that can throw the fucking ball Like that's all this team needs in arguably the worst division outside of the AFC South. The NFC South is arguably the worst division in the NFL, so they could legitimately already be vying for a playoff position, assuming they get a competent quarterback. So, man, the Atlanta Falcons are going to be another fun team to watch in the soft season.
Speaker 2:It is. It's going to be the hype train next year, man. It's going to be the Falcons and I'm telling you it's going to come from me because I'm excited about the time. If they actually can secure a quarterback, drake London has the potential to really really break out next year Big time, I mean in a big, big way. So I'm excited. Who knows Kyle Pitts? Sure he could. With the right quarterback, absolute right offensive coordinator, right head coach, anything can happen there. So very exciting, man. I think it's going to be a fun one. Eric Biennamy has some links there as well.
Speaker 2:They could be looking at Eric Biennamy. As far as franchise quarterback, you could be looking at Jaden Daniels, my total ex junior. I mean these are definite options for where they're picking that they could be looking at. So really exciting stuff there. Let's talk about the Chicago Bears We've touched on a bit.
Speaker 1:This one's cool too, this one I'm going to be watching and see.
Speaker 2:Yeah, because this, this changes everything here too, because I mean shit. You could have Justin Fields go into another team, which we know. He's got fantasy value Definitely, even though even if the Bears discard him, he's still going to be very valuable in the right situation with his rushing floor. It's just crazy. All right, talk to me a little bit about the Bears. We've got the number one overall pick and we've got the number nine overall pick in the draft. Very interesting, man. What are you thinking here?
Speaker 1:I mean, john, they are in the driver's seat. They could end up getting insane amounts of capital, draft capital. Any way you look at it, whether they're trading Justin Fields, they could end up getting rumors. They could end up getting a second round pick, they could get a third round pick and a few five fifth round picks. That is a lot of draft capital for a quarterback. Guys, especially knowing.
Speaker 1:Think about this. They have the number one overall pick. We're not talking about them trading the number one overall pick. That's scenario number one. So you draft your new quarterback at one and then you have all of these other beautiful picks that you got. Now.
Speaker 1:The other option is you roll with that of Justin Fields and you trade back from the number one and you load up on offensive linemen and receivers. That is where it's going to help. I'm not saying load up on receivers, I'm saying get you a number two. That's super badass. I think Tyler Scott is going to be an excellent number three slot guy. Dj Morris solidified the number one. Get yourself a badass number two. Darnell Mooney, is not it Right? We've seen them try to go for Claypole and it wasn't it. They need someone else. And, john, you could also make the argument that they might end up trying to get a running back as well. Maybe they signed Saquon Barkley, maybe they signed Josh Jacobs, maybe they sign a guy like that. And now this team, john looks completely different, and so the Bears are my most number one excitable team to watch this offseason guys, because they, single handedly, can change the landscape of the NFL, and I'm so excited to see this.
Speaker 2:Yeah, that's going to be exciting. I can't wait. New England Patriots. I mean, really, this is all. We don't spend really much time on here. What are they going to do with Bill Belichick? You know he's the GM and the head coach. It's clearly not working Worst season he's had in his entire career.
Speaker 2:Rumors of a mutual interest with Mike Vrabel, mike Vrabel, back in New England. I think that would be a genius move, Even if they want to keep Belichick on as GM and have Vrabel as head coach. I don't know, though. I think they're gonna. I don't think they want Belichick. Is he going to give up control? Really, do you want to be the head coach who's dealing with fucking Belichick? Breathe and down your neck telling you what to do all the time? I think they find a way to put him also in the advisory role, definitely Like we did with Pete Carroll. I think that was just kind of a saving face and respect kind of thing, you know.
Speaker 2:But the bottom line is, is this team is is just completely devoid of any talent? I mean just they've had so many bad drafts in the past couple of years that they have so many needs Number three pick in the draft. Almost certainly that's going to be one of the top quarterbacks, yeah, yeah, so really interesting. That's going to change a lot there. I could see them uncharacteristically, making a big splash in the offseason and in free agency. They don't typically do that. They did do a couple of guys this year, but those guys really didn't pan out. But I could see them making some big. They need a receiver help. Big time, big time. I mean I could see them trying to turn T Higgins into a wide receiver, one I mean I want available Mike Evans. Yeah, I mean they're going to do everything they can they need to get some receivers here. But I think they'll draft the quarterback at three and then try to make a move, you know, for a receiver or maybe make some trades in the draft. Who knows? They don't usually do all that kind of stuff, but we'll see.
Speaker 2:Last team here is the Washington commanders man. This is an interesting team to just kind of. You know ho, ho kind of year. You know ho, hum kind of year. Not a lot going on there, the quarterback issues for sure, but they've got the most cap space in the NFL. New head coach coming in. What do you think about Washington man? I mean, is that a really interesting. Can we save Terry McLaurin next year? I mean, is this a year in 2024, that we revived Terry McLaurin? We pumped some life into the guy.
Speaker 1:Definitely, definitely. This is the year. Spend the money. They're getting a new head coach, they're getting a new. They're hiring, right, I don't know. Correct me if I'm wrong, but I believe they're thinking about, or have hired, the old GM of the of the Golden State Warriors to help identify, right, what to do in the in the offseason here, because he's brilliant. That guy is a brilliant minded individual from a scouting perspective and business stealing and free agency, and so that is going to be paramount in this year for the commanders. The commanders cannot get this year wrong. This is this inflection point. Sam Howell we saw what he could do. It was. It was okay at best, he was great. In a couple games he was atrocious, and many others.
Speaker 1:And the issue, though, is John is mostly the offensive line. In my opinion, they have to get the offensive line right. If I am them, I'm spending majority of that capital in terms of their actual cap space on offensive linemen, and then you're drafting your quarterback in number three. Don't mess us up. You have top tier receivers and Terry McLauren Curtis, samuel Johan Dotson. You have a good tight end in Logan Thomas. You actually have pretty good running backs. Brian Robinson showed that he can be. That guy in Antonio Gibson actually looked much better this year, john, when he just looked in the receiving role. So for me, man, they're truly an offensive line of way.
Speaker 1:And then you gotta hit on the head coach, ron Rivera. Man, I like Ron Rivera. He's a better DC than what he is is a true head coach, in my personal opinion. We saw him in Carolina. In my opinion, the reason why he was successful was because he had Luke Keekley and he also had that of Cam Newton and his prime Outside of that man it's been pretty bad. So I'm really excited to see what the commanders do in the offseason here, and it could be pretty fascinating to see how that affects the NFC East.
Speaker 2:New head coach, new owner, new owner. This is the owner's time to show off a little bit. They have the number two overall pick in the draft and they have five other picks in the first three rounds, so I think we're gonna see some splashing going on for Washington. Yeah, should be exciting. All right, frankie, let's get to the rookie review review. Okay, the review of the rookie review here. Let's go through. Why don't you go through it? I'm gonna name the guy I want you to. Let me know how they did. Let me know if you got a ride or not. Okay, quarterbacks CJ Stroud. What do you got baby?
Speaker 1:QB 11, 4,100 yards, 23 tutties, five interceptions, led his team to a playoff berth a home playoff berth and scored 29 or 291.5 fantasy points, depending on which league you're in. Things like that. That's a really good medium. But, john, he was excellent. We had him a part of our honor We'll mention for the rookie review, so it was really good to see CJ Stroud. He ended up being QB 11, man, so a rookie QB being QB 11, that's a QB 1 in fantasy football. Really good game, really good year.
Speaker 2:Yeah, oh yeah, aiden O'Connell is a rookie quarterback this year. How did that shake out?
Speaker 1:John. Not terrible. Not terrible. He was QB 27, but you gotta remember he only played half of the year. He threw for 2200 yards, 12 touchdowns, seven interceptions, 130 fantasy points. Right. What this showed me is he has the ability to be a good backup in the NFL. Again, he's a guy that can be leaned on if somebody gets hurt, if something happens. Really well done, aiden O'Connell. It'll be interesting to see how he evolves as a quarterback in the NFL.
Speaker 2:All right, and we've got Bryce Young the quarterback. 30 this year Rough year, man, rough year.
Speaker 1:John, he was an honorable mention of ours as well and I'm not gonna say I hit on that. I don't wanna say that because you know what he was QB 30, he had 2800 yards, which isn't terrible. That's not bad for a rookie quarterback. Here's what's bad 11 touchdowns, 10 interceptions. Aiden O'Connell played half of the amount of time that he did and threw for more touchdowns and less interceptions.
Speaker 1:Now granted Bryce Young. Here's what's interesting and people need to understand when a quarterback is off the board at one overall nine times out of 10, that means that team is terrible. That means that team is terrible. And so you can't base Bryce Young in his playing ability off of his rookie year because he literally had no pieces. The running game was terrible, offensive line couldn't have been worse and his receiving core that like absolutely was atrocious, outside of White Knight Adam Fielin, who tapered off towards the back half of the year because he's 30 plus years old, trying to keep up with these young bucks. So for me, man, it was a really tough year for Bryce Young Arrow is pointing up. I do feel good about his playing ability as long as they can hit some draft pick and some draft capital in the middle rounds this year, john, it could be really nice.
Speaker 2:Yeah, all right, let's talk about running backs here now. All right, let's get some big guys here. We got B John Robinson. All right, talk to me about B John Robinson here.
Speaker 1:John. He was the number one rookie running back. So for those listening in our rookie review, along with pretty much every other analyst and every other podcast, he was the number one rookie. Okay, now what was fascinating is he ended up running and these are all half PPR, by the way, so half point PPR. He was running back, number nine, phenomenal. He ended up having 976 rushing yards. He had four rushing touchdowns. He had 487 receiving yards, with 58 perceptions and four receiving touchdowns. John, that equated to 217.3 points in half PPR. So had a very good year.
Speaker 1:Now what was interesting was when we were doing player comps, I said that he would really remind me of that of Josh Jacobs. Now, when we looked at Josh Jacobs' rookie year, it was pretty interesting man. We saw Josh Jacobs be utilized as more of a runner his rookie year than that of B-John Robinson, because he was splitting time. B-john was splitting time with Tyler Algier and fuck mustache Arthur Smith because he didn't leverage him enough. So Josh Jacobs ended up having over 1,100 yards rushing, seven rushing touchdowns and only 20 receptions for 166 yards. So it was a good comparison based on what he did coming out of college and what he did in the NFL. Really interesting to see how he evolves.
Speaker 2:Yeah, really, really good comp there, man. I mean he almost did the amount of rushing as Josh Jacobs and he blew him out of the water when it came to receiving. I mean it was really good comp there. All right, speaking of good comps here, this next guy, Frankie Jameer Gibbs. Man, did you nail this one? Talk to me about Jameer Gibbs.
Speaker 1:Jameer Gibbs running back 10. We said that B-John Robinson 217 total points in half PPR. Jameer Gibbs was 216 total points in half PPR. They were right there, neck and neck. He was actually John. In our rookie review. He was our number two rookie overall and he ended up being the number two running back overall, which was awesome from a rookie perspective.
Speaker 1:Again, Jameer Gibbs ended up as running back number 10 compared to B-John running back number nine. He ended up having 945 rushing yards, 10 rushing touchdowns, 318 receiving yards on 52 receptions and a receiving touchdown. My comp to him was Alvin Kamara and I remember people were like man, that's way too much all this stuff. Well, listen to this Now. Yes, Alvin Kamara's receiving work was awesome. He ended up having 826 yards receiving and five touchdowns Mind blowing. He also had 728 rushing yards with eight touchdowns.
Speaker 1:So when a player comp, when you're looking at this, the rushing perspective was almost identical guys Jameer Gibbs with a little bit more. The receiving end was definitely more swayed towards that of Alvin Kamara, but the thing was, with Monty splitting time, with that of Jameer Gibbs, they actually ended up doing more of the check-down work to Sam Laporta, which was interesting. So with Monty splitting time it took away a little bit of the receiving. Monty still caught some out of the backfield, but majority of the check-down ended up going to Sam Laporta, which something that the Saints didn't have when it was Alvin Kamara and then Mark Ingram at the time, and so that was the difference in the receiving. But man, that player comp, I was really proud of it. I thought it was a smash comp and it proved to be a damn good pick.
Speaker 2:Now these next two guys. You want to run through them really quick as well. We didn't have them on the episode, so not a ton of stuff to talk about, but we'll be looking at them next year for sure.
Speaker 1:Definitely, guys, and I'll lump them in together. Number three rookie running back overall was Devon A Chan. He ended up being rookie. He ended up being running back 19 and a half PPR, which is excellent, guys. Ended up having 800 yards rushing, eight rushing touchdowns, 197 yards receiving and three receiving touchdowns. Guys, he had 187 fantasy points and half PPR. Really, really well done. And then you got Tajé Spears John Tajé Spears, by the way I'm calling it. Now I will be drafting this guy. You know why. King Henry's gone and this offense looked very good with this explosive cat out of two lane. Tajé Spears ended up finishing running back 36 for 453 rushing yards, playing second fiddle to King Henry with two rushing touchdowns. And here was what was interesting, right, I just talked about Jameer Gibbs's receiving, I talked about Bijan Robinson's receiving yards and things like that. Tajé Spears was not far behind, with 52 receptions, 385 yards receiving and one touchdown as well. Ended up having 126 fantasy points really, really good rookie year.
Speaker 2:Wait a second until you said that, and I'm looking at the stats next to each other. I didn't even realize you're telling me Tajé Spears receiving was exactly the same as Jameer Gibbs.
Speaker 2:Almost identical Both had 52 receptions and both had one touchdown, and it's 385 receiving for Tajé Spears, 318 receiving for Jameer Gibbs. Wow, I didn't realize that. It just didn't feel like that. You know what I mean? Yep, yep, totally, man. Okay, let's get to some receivers here, man, I mean, we got Puka. We talked about Puka already. He was number one with a bullet baby. Puka Nakua, the wide receiver. Four, 1486 receiving yards, 105 receptions, six touchdowns, 160 targets. Jesus, that's been 653 fantasy points out of him. All right, number two, frankie. This one, you did well. Again, frankie's magic, you nailed this one here. Buddy, jordan Addison, rookie receiver for the Vikings. Talk about it.
Speaker 1:Receiver 21 on the year guys and half PPR Un-freaking-believable, by the way, john, if I remember correctly, he was in our top five overall rookies and he showed out. John. He ended up having 911 receiving yards, 70 receptions, 10 receiving touchdowns on 108 targets, which equates to 191 points. Now, my player comp to him was Devonta Smith and Devonta Smith's rookie year guys. This is what he did 64 receptions to Jordan Addison, 70, 916 yards to Jordan Addison's 911, five touchdowns to Jordan Addison's 10. What he ended up doing, john, was almost identical to Jordan Addison and, man, I'm fucking proud of that one, I love that is a good one.
Speaker 2:I was watching that episode going no fucking way, man. Wow, that was great, great comp. And I'm watching the episode laughing because I immediately say and God forbid something happens to JJ, you've got a fucking stud here. Yeah, it's called 10 touchdowns, that's what's right. I'm watching it going oh no, did I jinx JJ? God, I hope not. You were the reason I'm not the fantasy reaper, don't worry, it's not me. All right, great job. On the Jordan Addison call. Man, jaden Reed ended up having it finishing very, very strong. Why receiver 24? Talk about it.
Speaker 1:A wide receiver, 24 and a half PPR. You know what that means A true receiver. Two and a 12 and a 12 man league guys in a great flex player. Great flex player. No one saw this coming guys. There was a lot of reports coming out of camp early on that he was, that he was going to be a piece of this offense. Nobody saw this due to Christian Watson getting hurt and he is now the guy moving forward. Ended up having 793 receiving yards on 64 receptions, eight receiving touchdowns on 94 targets, 184 fantasy points for Jaden Reed Just really well done. That was great.
Speaker 2:All right man, this guy, we talked about it. You nailed this one too, buddy. Rishi Rice, receiver for the Kansas City Chiefs, ended up as a wide receiver 28. Talk about Rishi.
Speaker 1:He was our number 10 overall rookie on our rookie review, super proud of that call. He ended up having 938 receiving yards on 79 receptions. John was seven receiving touchdowns. He had 173 fantasy points. My comp to him was Chris Godwin and Chris Godwin's rookie year with. He didn't do as well as Rishi Rice, but he also didn't have right Patrick Mahomes throwing him the ball and he also had to split time with other dominant receivers. Rishi Rice was the dominant receiver but, with that being said, chris Godwin still had 525 yards receiving and a touchdown. So when you look at that player comp, very similar in terms of the route running, very similar in terms of the way he exploded on these defenses. And John, I'm really, really pumped to see what Rishi Rice can do and see if he can continue to build like that of Chris Godwin did.
Speaker 2:All right, this next guy. I rode him all year long in a few leagues. Loved having him at the stack. Actually, with Lamar Zay flowers, wide receiver for the Baltimore Ravens, ended up wide receiver 31.
Speaker 1:Talk about Zay flowers man 858 yards receiving John, 77 receptions, five receiving touchdowns on 108 targets Unbelievable for a rookie. And John, he ended up having 170 fantasy points and if you think about it, rishi Rice 173,. Jaden Reeves Jaden Reed 184,. Jordan Addison 191,. Zay flowers was in our top five overall on rookies and he showed out. My player comp to him was OBJ. Now, level setting expectations. Obj's rookie year was something special, guys. I'm not saying that and I looked back at the episode. I wasn't saying that they were going to have identical stats, but the way they played the game was very similar and damn it, I was right. John OBJ had 91 receptions on 1300 yards and 12 touchdowns, arguably one of the best rookie years ever, ever by a receiver. And so, man, when you look at that comp, you're seeing Zay flowers stock go straight up baby, because he is on that trajectory of what OBJ had done.
Speaker 2:Yeah, and how shocking. Rishi Rice and Zay flowers almost actually identical, I'm talking within 40 yards of each other. Almost the same amount of touchdowns, same reception points, same targets, three fantasy points overall. Yeah, really really interesting man. Okay, tank Del, tank Del, this guy came out of nowhere as well. Man, talk a little bit about Tank.
Speaker 1:Tank Del was a guy that was drafted in the third round and CJ Stroud was the one who said he wanted him on the team. He ended up as receiver 37 and here is the most insane thing I've seen Ended receiver 37 with 709 yards, 47 receptions, seven receiving touchdowns and 145 fantasy points Unbelievable rookie season. Here's the caveat he missed six games. He missed six games. Imagine, if you extrapolate that out, what would have happened. So Tank Del, moving forward is a force to be reckoned with.
Speaker 2:I love it, man Josh Downs, rookie receiver for the Indianapolis Colts, flashed out there. Man, he had some really good games. Talk about Josh a little bit. I know you had him so you were paying attention pretty heavily Totally paying attention, man.
Speaker 1:He ended up being receiver 46, great flex piece for you to plug in due to injuries, things like that Ended up having over 770 yards receiving, and he also ended up having 68 receptions and two receiving touchdowns, john. What was interesting is he absolutely surpassed that of Alec Pierce. He did more than what Paris Campbell had done while he was there, and so what was interesting, man, is he was heavily utilized. What I will be paying attention to is how he gels with Anthony Richardson. We saw him with Gardner-Minshew. I want to see how he balls with Anthony Richardson and if things change, knowing Michael Pidman Jr, if Michael Pidman Jr is still there, knowing he's an unrestricted free agent. So it'll be interesting to see how that plays out. Nindy.
Speaker 2:They better sign his ass. You have to so dumb? Yeah, all right. Jackson Smith and Jigba JSN. Talk about JSN for us, man.
Speaker 1:OH, there we go. Baby Receiver 49, 628 receiving yards on 63 receptions for four touchdowns and 93 targets. John, he ended up finishing with 118 fantasy points. My player comp to him was Cooper Cup and I remember when I said that people literally sent a shit saying you're nuts. There's no way, guys, remember I'm talking Cooper Cubs rookie season, I'm not talking Cooper Cup. When in the triple crown that's not the Cooper Cup, I'm talking about Right. And here was the comp. Cooper Cup had 62 receptions. What did Jackson Smith and Jigba have? 63. He had 869 yards receiving. Ok, jackson Smith and Jigba 628. Five touchdowns to four. Damn it, john Fucking nailed that one.
Speaker 2:Yeah, you can tell I'm still fired up over and screw you Eighters, oh my god. And first of all, never read all the comments on YouTube. Exactly, holy shit, you can't take them personally, man. There's just a lot of people out there. You did, you got destroyed for that one Destroyed, destroyed. I'm cracking, I'm laughing. I loved it. I was so excited. In fact, you may have that may have been the most engaged our audience had ever been when you did that.
Speaker 1:Between that one and the mock draft of where I did a zero RB, that those two episodes yeah.
Speaker 2:Keep calling Frankie a cocksucker. Everyone. I love it, love it. It makes it put a smile on my face. All right, let's get to tight ends here quickly. Man, we know who we're going to talk about here Sam La Porta. I believe La Porta is that Spanish for the door. I don't even know what that means. I'm not sure, I don't know. The whales vagina. The whales vagina, correct Stay on the board. I did one on the year as a rookie. Wow, I don't think that's ever been done.
Speaker 1:Talk about them 889 receiving yards on 86 recessions, john, to finish the year with 10 receiving touchdowns, 120 targets for a rookie tight end, he ended up having 198 fantasy points and half PPR. Absolutely absurd Guys. My player comp to him was actually Zach Hertz, sam La Porta. I ended up having him at that, I believe his seventh or eighth overall on our rookie review. Again, people are like man, you sure you want a tight end in there? Hell yeah, I was here's. What was interesting, though, I really thought he was going to perform much more like Zach Hertz. Instead, he doubled Zach Hertz. Zach Hertz ended up having 36 receptions, 469 yards receiving and four touchdowns. That is an excellent year for a rookie tight end. In Sam La Porta, we like what you mentioned earlier. He shattered the record. So hats off, brother. Unbelievable job.
Speaker 2:It did, man All right. Dalton King, Cade tight end for the Buffalo Bills ended as a tight end 11. Let's hear it, frank, and I want to hear about the comp as well.
Speaker 1:John, you took some shit for this one too buddy, I took some big shit for this one man. Because people are like well, dawson Knox is there. Why do you have two tight ends in your rookie review and your top 10 rookies? Because I watched them film. He ended up having he ended up being the tight end 11. So he was still a tight end one. He had 673 yards receiving on 73 receptions and two touchdowns on 91 targets. Guys, he had 113 fantasy points. My player comp was Travis Kelsey. Now, travis Kelsey, I remember when we were talking about this I'm not saying it very similar to Cooper Cup, I'm not saying prime time Travis Kelsey, I'm saying early on Travis Kelsey. Let me tell you, after Travis Kelsey, his first real year playing, he ended up having 67 receptions, mind you. Dawson Kincaid 73. He had 862 yards receiving Dawson Kincaid, 673 with Dawson Knox. And then you look at the touchdowns five touchdowns for Travis Kelsey compared to that of two for Dawson Kincaid. Man, you can't get much closer than that. Really, really well done.
Speaker 2:It was really close, man. All right, We've got two other guys that we didn't really talk about a whole lot. I missed a little bit of time here, but why don't you lump them together here, Frank, just for time's sake? The last two tight ends.
Speaker 1:We're talking both Packard tight ends here. They went with two rookie tight ends and it ended up being Tucker Kraft and Luke Musgrave. Both ended up being tight end 28 for Tucker Kraft and tight end 31 for Luke Musgrave. Tucker Kraft finished with 63 fantasy points, luke Musgrave 58. I mean literally, man. Once Luke Musgrave got hurt he missed six games. Tucker Kraft came in and it was like Luke Musgrave never left. So really, man, it's going to be fun to see this dynamic duo come into play and it's going to be pretty fun, very similar to that of Dawson Knox and Dawson Kincaid.
Speaker 2:Brother. You did a great job here, man. I mean just to be able to go back and review these and see, because a lot of times every week is Groundhog Day for us.
Speaker 2:A lot of guys don't go back and talk about where they right, where they wrong, where did they get things right and wrong. A lot of guys don't do that because it's just like we could say anything. It's like, oh, next week is a whole new week and it's Groundhog Day and we just reset. Now we like to go back and say, listen, guys, we looked at this, we studied this. Frank looks at films and goes through this shit. We're not just spouting shit off the top of our heads all the time. So we want to go back and show you this is what we thought on guys that no one saw even play an NFL snap. This is how they ended up. This is what we called right. This is who we compared them to. This is what we're thinking. So awesome job, dude.
Speaker 2:I mean, that's one of my favorite episodes of the year. It's the one that I go back and listen to a few times before draft just to get familiar with the rookies and again, everybody. We're going to be starting with the rookie review episodes again next year in July, so get ready for that. I can't wait. Man. Franky, congratulations to you. That is the episode for the day.
Speaker 1:Season three is now coming to an end, man Little tears, I'm getting a little sun, you know, do you see it? Yeah, john and I just want to say, guys, season three rapping. Thank you to those listening, thank you to those viewing, thank you to those who have subscribed, thank you to those who have been there through us, from when we were literally we had 10 subscribers to now we're over 1100 and growing like crazy Every day. Johnny and I are checking, and there's another 30 to 50 to 80. And it's seriously blowing our minds, guys, and I'll post a few things on social media. But again, guys, we're up 42% and downloads alone, we're up over a thousand percent in YouTube alone. Guys, it's not because of us, it's because of you, and so we do this for fun, we love this, I'm obsessed with this shit and we just like to have a good time. So thank you all for one hell of a season three and get ready for season four, because there's going to be jam packed shit and we're going to optimize a few things.
Speaker 2:Thank you all so much. Please share this. Please share it on social media and spread the word. But we will see you all in July. Love it, it's like for the last time this year. May the fantasy gods smile upon you.