- 1 day ago
Dave Richard joins The Junks to look at which rookies, and faces in new places, could be the best fantasy options this fall!
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00:00Our pal Dave Richard from CBSSports.com.
00:04What's up, Dave? How are you? It's been too long.
00:07Richie.
00:08It has been too long, but I know that when the NFL draft comes around,
00:11it means that people are getting excited about fantasy again,
00:15and that includes you, gentlemen, so it's great to be on with you.
00:18And I can't wait to talk about this totally mediocre rookie draft class
00:24that we're about to take care of.
00:25Ooh, totally mediocre.
00:27No, I'm not joking.
00:30This is not a good draft class for fantasy.
00:35Everybody's going to go crazy about Jeremiah Love,
00:37and then after that, it's just a ton of question marks.
00:40This is a side effect of the whole NIL deal with college football
00:46keeping players longer.
00:47It means a lot of great players that may have normally come out to the NFL
00:52via the draft, they're still staying in college.
00:54They're getting paid a ton, and it sucks,
00:55and we're going to feel it this year in fantasy.
00:57So, Dave, give us the rookie first-rounder that landed in the best spot
01:02fantasy-wise, and give us the worst, the guy that you're staying away from
01:06no matter what.
01:07You just don't want to go anywhere near it.
01:09I can't say that Jeremiah Love landed in the best possible spot,
01:13but he's the one that's going to get picked first by a mile over everybody else in this draft class.
01:19And, listen, he is supremely talented.
01:22He is really one of the best running backs to come out of college in a long time.
01:25And I know that people said that about Ashton Gentry.
01:28He is different than Ashton Gentry.
01:30He is way faster than Ashton Gentry.
01:32He is better than Ashton Gentry.
01:35And I know that you think about a running back in the Cardinals,
01:37and you go, oh, gross.
01:38Well, this is the franchise that did deliver us James Conner after he was cast aside in Pittsburgh.
01:44This is the franchise that has Michael LaFleur as their head coach.
01:47This is the dude who spent seven years with Kyle Shanahan and three more years with Sean McVay.
01:51I think he's going to be able to put together a good offense.
01:55They've improved their offensive line a little bit.
01:57We know that they've got a good enough passing game based on what they did last year.
02:01They're overhauling the system.
02:02It's going to look a lot like what the 49ers and the Rams have been doing the past few years.
02:05And I think Love will benefit from it.
02:07I think he's actually going to be a great fantasy running back.
02:10And we had a huge debate on our show, Fantasy Football, today about where to draft Jeremiah Love.
02:16And my colleagues think he's a round four pick.
02:18There will not be a fantasy draft on this planet where Jeremiah Love is available.
02:24Yeah, it's impossible.
02:25Well, that's what I was going to be excited about.
02:26That's what I was going to ask you.
02:27He's going to be excited about no matter what.
02:28Where do you have him on your RB list right now?
02:32He's in late round two for me.
02:34And I really believe that he'll be worth that pick.
02:36He's going to get the ball.
02:37Everybody's worried about James Conner and Tyler Algier.
02:40Man, it's 31-year-old James Conner, and it's 3.4 yards per carry Tyler Algier.
02:45And it's Jeremiah Love who's this outstanding player that the teams have spent a third overall pick on.
02:50They are not about to give him 10 carries a game.
02:52They might do it in week one or something like that.
02:55But eventually he will explode.
02:57There is a great track record of running backs taking them in the top five.
03:00And how they do as a rookie and over the NFL, I am confident that Jeremiah Love will be worth
03:05that top 24 capital.
03:06You know, it's all downhill from there, though, for all the other rookie wide receivers.
03:11But I'll tell you the one that I'm so disappointed that the Jets took Kenyon Sadiq and Omar Cooper Jr.
03:19If they had taken one of them, I'd be super excited about one of them.
03:23But they took both of them.
03:24And not only are they going to cannibalize each other, but they're going to hurt Garrett Wilson, too.
03:29Garrett Wilson was getting over nine targets per game last season.
03:32And now I wonder if he's going to get, like, seven per game.
03:36I wonder if he's going to be, like, 12 PPR points per game.
03:39That's going to be even worse than non-PPR.
03:41And it's the Jets anyway.
03:42They're not going to score a ton of touchdowns.
03:44All right.
03:45So out of the receivers, so Cardinal Tate goes one.
03:50So Tyson goes two.
03:54Makai Lemon went three.
03:56KC Concepcion went four.
03:58I'm just talking about the first-rounders.
03:59Then you mentioned Omar Cooper.
04:00Yeah, yeah, yeah.
04:01So out of those first-round receivers, who do you like the best?
04:07It's Tate.
04:07Yeah.
04:08Best position to wrangle the most targets.
04:11And get all the stats that we want to catch as the yards and the touchdowns.
04:16Dave, hold on a second.
04:18We're having some technical difficulties.
04:20We'll have to fix that connection.
04:21Put them on hold there.
04:22Carnell Tate, who will, of course, help Cam Ward immensely, one would think.
04:28Oh, I think he's going to be the big-time security blanket now for Cam Ward.
04:33I mean, you don't draft a guy in the top five and not utilize him and make him one of
04:38your starting two wideouts on that team.
04:40Oh, yeah.
04:41He's going to be the guy.
04:43Just a matter of, you know, how can he get open against DBs, NFL DBs?
04:48And I think he can.
04:50But, you know, I don't know what kind of numbers to expect from him.
04:53I mean, they're also going to have Wandale Robinson there, too.
04:56Right.
04:56That's a big ad during the offseason.
04:59That's a guy who's capable of catching 80 or 90 balls every year.
05:02I can see him putting up some numbers, yeah.
05:03Certainly.
05:04All right, let's see if we can go back to Dave.
05:07I think they're trying to contact him right now.
05:08He's not quite there yet.
05:10Yeah, I mean, Tennessee's got, obviously, Tate, and they've got Calvin Ridley, Wandale Robinson.
05:15I don't know who their number four is.
05:19But, you know, with those top three, I mean, and he's got Cam Ward throwing to him, who didn't complete
05:26a high percentage last year.
05:28He showed some flashes in a couple games.
05:30He showed flashes, but their offense really did.
05:31Now he's got a new offense coordinator.
05:33Yeah.
05:33All right, go ahead, Dave.
05:34Dave's back.
05:36Go ahead, Dave.
05:36What's up, buddy?
05:37You there?
05:38Hello?
05:38Yeah, we got you.
05:39We're good.
05:40Jonks?
05:41All right, we can't hear you.
05:42You can't hear us.
05:43So we can hear him.
05:44He can't hear us.
05:48Man in the box.
05:50Somebody is messing around with technology.
05:54You know what?
05:54Maybe the phones are just like, Dave Richard, outside of football season?
05:57We just can't make it happen.
05:59We're just trying to do something a little bit different.
06:01Man, I had so many questions for him, too.
06:03I saw a debate on TV.
06:05You know, he mentioned Jeremiah Love.
06:07Yeah.
06:07And it was, the Cardinals apparently don't have a very good offensive line.
06:11They do not.
06:12So you put in the cart before the horse.
06:14Do you do that?
06:16There's some that would say, yeah, because you might not be able to get a Jeremiah Love talent next year.
06:22True.
06:22Yeah.
06:23Versus building the offensive line now.
06:25But does that hurt Jeremiah Love's development if he comes in without a good offensive line?
06:32It's possible.
06:33We're going to try it a third time.
06:34Dave.
06:35Yo.
06:36There it is.
06:37You can hear us.
06:37Good.
06:37All right.
06:38That's much better.
06:39All right.
06:39So you were mentioning Tate.
06:40What kind of numbers do you expect from Tate with Cam Ward?
06:44I mean, I don't think it's going to be amazing.
06:46I don't think there's going to be a receiver in this class that will be amazing.
06:49Yeah.
06:50Although there is one that you can make a dark horse case for.
06:52Tate, let's say, around six targets per game, probably scores six times over the course of the year, flirts with
06:581,000 yards.
06:59I think he's better than people give him credit for.
07:01Everybody looks and says, well, how could he be any good?
07:03He was the number two receiver on his team.
07:04He was playing with the best wide receiver in college football last year.
07:09So it doesn't matter.
07:10It could have been Lemon, Tyson, anyone.
07:12They all would have been second fiddle to Jeremiah Smith.
07:15But Carnell Tate is very good.
07:16He's not the fastest guy in the world, but he knows how to get open.
07:21He's got amazing hands.
07:23And so we know that Cam Ward, not exactly the most accurate thrower.
07:26When he's a little bit off target, Tate can get those passes.
07:30And on top of that, we know that Brian Dable is the play caller now in Tennessee.
07:33I think he'll be there for a couple of years at least.
07:36Tate should be the one who has not like a Malik neighbors type year, but still a very good year
07:42with Dable calling the shots.
07:43Dave, what did you make of the commander's third-round pick?
07:46Went 71st overall.
07:48Antonio Williams from Clemson.
07:505'11", led Clemson in receptions during the last two seasons.
07:54Played primarily in the slot this most recent season.
07:58I think this was one of the best fits of all the rookie wide receivers in the draft.
08:03And I'm not messing around with you guys.
08:05I think he's tremendous for what the commanders need.
08:08And if things stay the way that they are, i.e. they don't add Brandon Ayuk, which, I mean, I
08:14think they're kind of going to add Brandon Ayuk at some point.
08:17I think that Williams is in the position to kind of take over a lot of that role that we
08:22were hoping from McCaffrey, from Jan Lane, and maybe even a little bit from Zach Ertz.
08:26The one thing that I've noticed since Jaden Daniels entered the NFL, he needs somebody in the middle of the
08:32field to go to when the first read isn't there.
08:34And it was Zach Ertz. He was his little security blakey for like two years, and it was awesome for
08:39fantasy.
08:40And now I wonder if Williams can be that guy.
08:43He's somebody that I wonder, I bet we could add him late in our draft.
08:47And after a month, if nothing's doing, okay, we're cutting him.
08:50But there will be weeks where I bet he gets five catches a game.
08:53Oh, that sounds like a full-point PPR monster you could get late in a draft.
08:59Exactly. I'm looking at my rankings right now. I've got him ahead of names you know, like Cooper Cup and
09:04Juwan Johnson, a bunch of tiered five quarterbacks, Jerry Judy, Calvin Ridley.
09:11Like, he belongs. He's going to be somebody that's drafted in every league.
09:14Dave, where did you have Jaden Daniels on your quarterback list before last year, so last summer?
09:20And now, how much has he slipped, if he slipped at all?
09:23He's slipped very little. He was third last year. I was a little bit worried about the league catching up
09:28to him.
09:28I didn't even think about what could happen if he were to miss time, and obviously that's what happened.
09:33And so now I think Drake May has kind of taken his spot as the guy who was great last
09:38year, and now he's going to be a top three quarterback this year.
09:41And Daniels has slipped to five.
09:43And the new rule for quarterback drafting, you're going to be hearing me saying this in July and August when
09:48I talk to you guys then.
09:50You have to wait until it is a total steal on a quarterback.
09:53There are too many great quarterbacks in the National Football League right now.
09:57And the difference between Josh Allen, who's at the top, and a quarterback like Dak Prescott or Caleb Williams, Justin
10:04Herbert, even Matthew Stafford, we're talking about a few points per game over the course of the season.
10:10And it's just not worth it taking a quarterback early when you can just wait, wait, wait, and even take
10:14two of them.
10:15We're going to see Patrick Mahomes, who's coming off of an ACL injury, not even get picked as among the
10:21first 12 quarterbacks taken in fantasy drafts this year.
10:24That's going to make him totally valuable when you're taking him in round 10 or round 11.
10:28Just think about Patrick Mahomes in round 11.
10:30It's an amazing type of deal when you're talking fantasy.
10:33And even if you don't get him, there's other quarterbacks that I mentioned before that will be there.
10:38So I love Jaden Daniels, and I do think he's a top-five quarterback, but I wouldn't take him where
10:43people would normally take a top-five quarterback in fantasy.
10:46All of everybody listening who's in the world of taking quarterbacks in round 1, round 2, don't do that.
10:53Don't be that guy.
10:55Be the guy that waits on quarterback this year.
10:57It's got to feel like you're stealing him from the rest of your league.
10:59Dave, speaking of steals, give us your highest-impact player that was selected in the draft outside of the first
11:06round.
11:06That's going to be the biggest impact on fantasy drafts, at least for 2026.
11:11It's a great question, and I'm looking through them now.
11:14And, gosh, I wish Jadarian Price was a second-round pick because Jadarian Price would have been that guy.
11:19I don't know if I've got somebody, and that's a reflection of the draft more than anything else.
11:25I don't know if there's a player that went in round 2 or later.
11:30I guess it would have to be, by default, Jonah Coleman of the Broncos,
11:34who is probably more like J.K. Dobbins than he is R.J. Harvey, but he's a blend of the
11:41two.
11:41He's a physical, strong type of running back.
11:43He could easily push J.K. Dobbins off the roster if he has good camp.
11:48And if he's doing that, then he's going to go much sooner than the round 10 value that I've got
11:52him at right now.
11:53He's going to end up being somebody who fantasy managers will actually go after and chase with, like, a round
11:586 pick if that happens.
11:59But for now, you're able to get him in the double-digit rounds.
12:02He would have to be the player.
12:03Yeah.
12:04When you look at the quarterbacks drafted right now, obviously Mendoza...
12:08I'm not.
12:08I know.
12:10Obviously Mendoza goes one, but he's not going to be a starter out of the gates unless there's an injury.
12:16Ty Simpson, he's not going to be a starter.
12:18Carson Beck, I mean, he's not going to be a starter.
12:22Drew Owler, who knows what Aaron Rodgers is going to do, but we don't think he's going to be a
12:27starter.
12:28Club Nick is a fourth-rounder.
12:29I mean, I don't know what these guys are going to end up being after 10 years in the league,
12:34but out of all of them, do you think Mendoza is going to be a quality quarterback year two on?
12:41It's kind that you think that these guys will be in the league for 10 years.
12:45Some of them might not be in the league for three years.
12:47True.
12:47I think Mendoza will be good for the Raiders, bad for fantasy, if that makes sense.
12:54When I watched him, I thought he was excellent when there was no pressure on him.
12:59But when defenses in college, including in the national championship game, when they got pressure on him, he was not
13:07good.
13:08He kind of fell apart.
13:09He was very inconsistent, and that's putting it nicely.
13:11I wonder if he can overcome that.
13:13Now, if he can overcome that, he's going to be a great quarterback.
13:15Eventually, the Raiders will get him a bunch of weapons, and maybe he will be a top-12 quarterback for
13:19fantasy.
13:20But I'm nervous about him.
13:22I kind of like Ty Simpson to be a little bit better when pressure's on him, and he landed in
13:27a place where he's got a great play caller in Sean McVay.
13:30That team will eventually build around him.
13:33I wonder, I think people in dynasty leagues where you can keep a player and then never give him up,
13:37I think they'll take Mendoza first.
13:39But Simpson shouldn't be that far behind him.
13:41I think he's actually got a lot of traits that make him better than Cousins, than Mendoza.
13:47I keep saying Cousins for Mendoza because they're reminding each other, and now they're teammates.
13:52All right, real quick.
13:53I know you want to give a shout-out to your nephew, Dave.
13:55I do.
13:55Daniel Berkowitz, I was at his bar mitzvah on Saturday.
13:59He did an amazing job.
14:00He's an awesome fantasy football manager, although not as good as Unc.
14:05Congratulations.
14:06You've done a great job, Danny.
14:07Good job, Danny.
14:08Dave, your phone is clipping on us, so I think we have to bid you adieu.
14:13We'll talk to you soon, bro.
14:14We'll talk to you soon, my friend.
14:15Talk to you in July.
14:16What's wrong with phones in Florida?
14:17Cell phones in general suck.
14:20Sunspots.
14:20I'm going to blame it on sunspots.
14:22I don't know if that's still a thing or not.
14:24It has anything to do with phones.
14:25Thanks, Dave.
14:26Dave, thank you as always.
14:27This is Dave Richard from CBS Sports HQ.
14:30He's their fantasy football guru.
14:33I was always a little jealous of my Jewish friends who had bar mitzvahs because they would
14:38get like a five-figure haul.
14:40Oh, yeah.
14:41I remember I went to a kid's, I guess, bar mitzvahs for boys, bar mitzvahs for girls,
14:48right?
14:49But he had like the trailer pull up in front of his house that had like an arcade in the
14:54back of it.
14:55I was in heaven.
14:57I was in 13-year-old Cakes heaven with a Pac-Man machine, centipede machine right out
15:04in front of this dude's house.
15:05Like at the same age, Cakes and I did CCD, went to St. Edward's Catholic Church in South
15:13Bowie.
15:14You might have like some sort of confirmation party.
15:17I don't even think we did.
15:18You might get like your grandparents send you a check for like 50 bucks and then you
15:23go to a bar mitzvah and that kid get like 12 grand.
15:26I mean, they were set up for the rest of their life, basically.
15:28Oh, my God.
15:29Or so you thought at that point as a dumb teenager.
15:33All right.
15:34So good to hear from Dave.
15:35Of course, we're going to have him on a bunch later in the summer as you get closer to your
15:40fantasy football drafts.
15:42We're the junks on the fan.
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