Frankly Fantasy Football
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Frankly Fantasy Football
Would You Rather?! Tough Choices in Rounds 1 - 4
The clock is ticking, sweat beads forming on your forehead as you stare at two elite fantasy options. Who do you choose? This paralyzing moment strikes every fantasy manager, especially in those critical early rounds where one decision can define your entire season.
We tackle four of the toughest draft dilemmas you'll face this year, starting with the Round 1 showdown between Puka Nakua and Nico Collins. Despite nearly identical 2023 production, these receivers find themselves in dramatically different situations for 2024. Puka gains Davante Adams as competition while Nico loses both Stefan Diggs and Tank Dell, potentially opening the door for a target monsoon in Houston.
The running back debate in Round 2 pits Devon Achan against Bucky Irving in a classic case of proven production versus exciting potential. Achan shocked fantasy managers with his dual-threat capabilities last season, but can the 188-pound back sustain that workload? Meanwhile, Irving faces uncertainty with a new offensive coordinator after Liam Cohen's departure from Tampa Bay.
Perhaps most fascinating is the Round 3 value opportunity between Tyreek Hill and Garrett Wilson. The thought of getting Tyreek—a perennial first-rounder—in the third round seems like fantasy theft, but his injury concerns and quarterback situation give us pause. Wilson offers stability with tremendous upside now reunited with his college QB Justin Fields.
Finally, we debate the quarterback question of consistency versus ceiling—Jalen Hurts' guaranteed rushing touchdowns against Joe Burrow's potential 5,000-yard, 50-touchdown ceiling. With Cincinnati's poor defense likely creating shootouts every week, could this be the season Burrow challenges Peyton Manning's historic passing records?
Whether you're picking early, middle, or late in your draft, these player comparisons will arm you with the insights needed to make confident decisions when the pressure mounts. Subscribe, comment with your own takes, and join us next episode as we tackle the middle-round dilemmas that truly separate championship rosters from the pack.
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Today, guys, is our Would you Rather? Episode. Today we're going to be breaking down two guys in each of the first four rounds and we're going to be helping you make those difficult decisions. Let's see how we do. Let's go All right, all right, all right, welcome to the show. This is the Frankly Fantasy Football Podcast. We are your hosts, frankie and Johnny. Welcome in Frankie.
Speaker 2:How you doing, brother, doing great man, I'm ready to talk a little bit. You know, choose between. Some guys here set the stage. We're getting into draft season. Hey man, it's like our Super Bowl. Baby, this is fun, it is.
Speaker 1:Mid-July, I feel like we're in mid-season form. Let's go, all right. Let's try to see if we can help you guys out here. What we're going to do today is our Would you Rather episode, and what we're going to do is we're going to take rounds one through four. In this episode, we're going to pick two guys that are difficult to choose from. They're right around the same area, maybe similar stats from last year, but difficult decisions, and this is one of my favorite episodes of the year because you get to that point and you're staring at two guys and on your draft the clock's ticking, you start to sweat a little bit. It gets a little nerve wracking. So if you've got some, you know you got to do your research here. Guys, what we want to do is try to help you make decisions between these two guys. Now, a lot of these guys when we're talking rounds one through four, they're all fantastic players or they wouldn't be listed in rounds one through four, but there's little nuances and some changes with some of these teams that could lean you one way or the other. So, frankie, I know you're going to give us some great info. Let's do it, baby.
Speaker 1:Let's get right into our Would you Rather? All right, our first, would you Rather? Here? It's round one, guys. This is the scenario. Each one of these is going to have a little bit of a scenario. So round one. You're towards the end of round one. You want to lock down your receiver. You're sitting here staring at Puka Nakua versus Nico Collins. I love this one because this one is so difficult for me. Puka Nakua last year let's take a look at it. He was the wide receiver 23. Nico Collins was the wide receiver 26. This year, puka Nakua is the wide receiver four off the board. He's the ECR expert consensus ranking is wide receiver four. Nico Collins wide receiver seven. Frankie, why don't you lay it out for us? Make the case for both Puka and Nico. Then we're going to talk about what our opinions are, buddy. What do you got All right, guys? We're going to talk about what our opinions are, buddy. What do you got? All right?
Speaker 2:guys, we're going to start off with the stats, we're going to hit on them, the facts, and then we're going to get to the decision. So the stats here, john, you nailed it. Looking at Puka Nakua, let's start there. We're going to the Rams, sunny California, right, exc. Happening last year, to your point, receiver 23. This year he's listed as receiver four. Let's talk about what he's done. Well, he averaged last year as a whole roughly 15 points a game in half ppr and from a pure stat perspective, he actually amalgamated about 106 targets, 79 receptions, 990 yards receiving and he also had three touchdowns, okay. So what's going on in his situation? Well, it's pretty interesting. Cooper Cup's out, we got Devontae Adams in right, and so it's a big switch up. And obviously you're looking at two very similar dynamic players in that of Devontae Adams and Cooper Cup, just by their stature and nature of the way they played. Cooper Cup, previous Triple Crown winner, devontae Adams, perennial All-Pro. And so when we look at the full team around Puka, as I mentioned Devontae Adams, he's either going to be the true receiver one or receiver 1B slash receiver two on that team. They do have 2-2 Atwell, and here's what's interesting they're going to have a rotation of tight ends. This year it's going to be Tyler Higbee, now that he's healthy, right, they paid Colby uh, colby Parkinson, um, or Parkinson last year, and so he's going to be there and now. So they have that tight end, that rookie tight end that we mentioned as part of part of our honorable mentions in Ferguson, in we mentioned as part of our honorable mentions and Ferguson. In addition to this, we've seen Kyron Williams and how effective he's been on the ground, but also how effective he's also been in the passing game. So, again, the team is there, it's full. Puka's going to be a part of this entirety of this offense, and so it's going to be really exciting to see.
Speaker 2:Now, john, when we look at Nico Collins, let's shift gears. Right, we're talking just stats for Nico Collins as a whole. You mentioned it, man. So we're looking at roughly about 15 points a game for Nico Collins as well. Right, we just said Puka roughly 15 points a game, nico Collins, roughly 15 points a game. And when we look at what he did last year, he had 99 targets, 68 receptions, just over that 1,000-yard mark, but in addition, he had seven touchdowns. What's fascinating is when you compare Nico Collins this year and what he did in 2023 versus what Puka did. Right, we're looking at, nico Collins had 15 touchdowns in the last two years versus that of Nico Collins, but versus that of Pukunukuwa had nine. So really, really interesting.
Speaker 2:Now let's look at the facts. What's going on around the team around Nico Collins? Well, guys, there has totally been some switch-ups. Tank Dell is no longer there for this particular year due to injury. He'll be back. Hopefully we'll see him in 2026. Stefan Diggs is no longer there.
Speaker 2:We know, based on our New Faces and New Places episode, guys, if you haven't watched it, check it out. It's really awesome. We're breaking down where some of these new players are and where they landed in the situation. Well, stefan Diggs is now at the Patriots, and so, when you look at the team around Nico Collins, they now have a different number two rookie right, jaden Higgins. They also brought in Christian Kirk. They also still have Dalton Schultz Schultzy there from a tight end perspective, who we've seen be a pretty solid red zone threat. But here's what's interesting they still have Joe Mixon, but now they bring in Nick Chubb to aid with some of that rushing factor. So two, both when you look at Nico Collins and Puka Nakua, both have a different number two here guys. So for me, man John, it's going to be really interesting to see what we decide between these two players.
Speaker 1:It is. It's so difficult as I'm looking through this. I mean, really, puka and Nico's stats last year were, goddamn, almost identical, man, crazy. I mean targets 106 for Puka, 99 for Nico, yards both of them within 15 yards of each other. Yards per reception were within two yards of each other. The big differentiator really was the touchdowns Three for Puka, seven for Nico. Puka's not really just, he's not really a touchdown monster, that's the thing. So you could make the argument, I mean based on points per game. Last year Puka Nakua was a wide receiver, three in points per game and he only played 11 games. But that's kind of par for the course for Puka right now, but you could also say the same for Nikko, I know. So when it comes to injury and things like that, there's not really a separator for these guys. They're both coming in healthy this year. Um, now, the one thing with puka nakua, I mean, is there a? Do you see either one of these guys could potentially be?
Speaker 2:the wide receiver one in any given season this year, john, I don't see it, unless there's an injury. I just think jamar chase is too far ahead in a pass first type of offense with with the Bengals and, knowing how bad the Bengals' defense is, that offense is going to need to continue to put up points in order to stay afloat. And in addition, it's just hard to look at Justin Jefferson and, dare I say, even CeeDee Lamb, knowing now CeeDee Lamb has a number two across from him. Dak's going to be healthy, right? Their running game is really looking like some dog shit right now between javante williams, jayden blue and everything coming out, with jayden blue saying he's kind of a lazy dude.
Speaker 1:So for me, man I I don't see either of these guys eclipsing receiver one, this year at least so it would take a couple injuries and it would probably take an injury to davante adams to get puka.
Speaker 2:Yeah to that aspect as well yeah, and that's the other thing.
Speaker 1:I mean we've seen Puka do this and have a record breaking, unbelievable year with Cooper Cupps still producing at a high level with him. So I'm not worried about the Devante Adams. I just think the Devante Adams addition with Puka caps Puka's ceiling and potential there. I still think he can perform the way he performed. But to perform, to get to that next level, to be one of those top three guys, I think it's going to be difficult because I don't see this year being the year that we see a course correction on his touchdowns. Devontae Adams is a touchdown monster. He's a red zone threat far beyond Puka Nakua. Puka's separation ability, puka's ability to move around Now Puka may be in that Cooper Cup role where they move him around the field a little more.
Speaker 1:Devontae's a true outside receiver so it could change a little bit of how he gets open. He could get more receptions, more yardage, just maybe staying around that touchdown range. But even at three touchdowns there should be some positive regression for him. He should be able to at least get to that five to seven area. If he does that I still think you're getting him right where he should be. But yeah, I mean I do love Puka Nakua. It's hard to say no here, man. I think he's one of the safest receivers that you can get, because his situation hasn't really changed. They got rid of a prolific receiver, they brought another one in. Puka still has his role established, so even though that's changed, it doesn't scare me. I think it just taps his ceiling a little bit. But with Nico Collins now I think Nico Collins he could be the wide receiver one this year. I think he does have the potential. And it's the opposite effect. You got rid of Tank Dell, who had an insanely good rookie season. Well, he's hurt.
Speaker 1:So, yeah, well, yeah, he's hurt. I mean, that's what I mean. But uh, and then, uh, stefan Diggs has gone and Stefan Diggs isiggs is not the same Stefan Diggs that he was. However, he still demands targets. He's still a guy who's going to get the ball. Now you've got Nico with two rookies and Christian Kirk.
Speaker 1:Yeah, nico's going to be the man this year. You guys, I mean, we love the rookie, we love Jaden Higgins, who's going to be opposite of Nico, but that's going to take a little while, and Jaden Higgins, who's going to be opposite of Nico, but that's going to take a little while. And again, they're very similar players. Stroud's going to go to Nico first. That is the first option in this offense.
Speaker 1:Also, you've got Joe Mixon still banged up. It's looking like he may not start the season. He could go into preseason on the pup. That's very possible. So that changes things too. Man, I just think the volume is going to be insane for Nico Collins. So you know what, with this very small, very a hairline fracture between the two of these guys. Because of that reason and because Nico Collins got me a you know, he took me viral last year on Instagram and TikTok and I said there is no fucking way I'm drafting Nico Collins in the second round. Now I'm going to tell you that you can draft Nico Collins at the turn in the first round and feel very, very happy, even above and beyond what Puka Nakua is going to perform for you, which will be excellent and top five receiver potential there.
Speaker 2:Frankie Damage.
Speaker 1:John, when are you baby?
Speaker 2:I thought we were going to disagree here and you, son of a bitch.
Speaker 1:I'm all.
Speaker 2:I'm on board, I'm jumping on your Nico Collins train. Yeah, guys, I mean, think about it, right, if you're at the back half of first round, right, and you're staring at right, it's. We're not talking middle of first round, we're not talking early first round. We're trying to put you in the scenario You're drafting you're at 9, 10, 11, 12, whatever that looks like, and these are the two guys you're deciding between. John, I'm with you, I'm going Nico Collins and it's crazy, because I was tossing and turning about this. I'm having dreams about this at night. I'm trying to figure out what the hell I'm going to do and the reason, the whole difference for me, man, is Devontae Adams, and I truly think, knowing that Devontae Adams is now with the Rams, I just think that, yes, it could open up Puka Nakua much more in the medium and short game. From a passing perspective, dare, I say, in PPR, puka might be the better choice, just because full PPR, not half, but full PPR, because we will probably see more receptions in that of Puka versus. You know, nico Collins is going to have right, we talked about 68 or whatever that may be. He might have 80 receptions versus Puka's a hundred, but those 80 receptions, his yardage will probably be a bit more. And again, we're looking. Cj Stroud is looking at Nico Collins for that red zone play.
Speaker 2:So for me, man, I'm rolling with Nico Collins this year. If I'm deciding between the two. Does it make me nervous? Yes, guys, I'm not going to lie to you. For me personally, to have Nico Collins as my receiver one, just there's something about it. Maybe it's name value, maybe there's something there it makes me uneasy. But knowing that in the second round guys, I might end up going receiver receiver here and just do a zero RB type of strat, and then therefore I'm overcompensating for my uneasiness in my draft, knowing that I'm going to be potentially taking that of Nico Collins. So yeah, man, I agree I'm going to be leaning Nico Collins here, but that's not a knock on Pua, that's just the situation in Houston today, which is why I'm slightly going that of Nico.
Speaker 1:All right, okay, sounds good. Let's move on to the next group. Here we're going to round two. Frankie, let's take a journey to round two. Okay, now we need a running back in round two. That's what we're targeting here. So we've got two guys we're going to be choosing from. This. One's really tough too, man. All right, round two. We're in the middle of round two and we're looking at Devon Achan versus Bucky Irving. Okay, this is a good one. All right. Last year, devon Achan believe it or not running back seven. Bucky Irving last season, running back 16. Fantastic rookie season. All right, devon Achan. This year, ecr is running back six and Bucky Irving. This year, his ECR is running back 10. So they're right there. They're right going to be around the middle of the second round. Frankie, lay it out for us between Devon Achan and Bucky Irving.
Speaker 2:All right, guys, start with the stats, then we'll get to the facts. The stats are Devon Achan guys, last year averaged almost 15 or roughly 15 points a game and half PPR. If you had him, you loved him until the end of the season. And so what's interesting, guys, is that when you look at what he did from a rushing perspective, he had 907 yards rushing. He had six rushing touchdowns, two less than his rookie year, but not anything crazy, right, six rushing touchdowns. But here is where my mind was blown with A-C 87 targets. Let me pause when you look at the uptick from what he did in his rookie year. John, his rookie year he had 37 targets and to go, 50 additional targets with still waddle and tyree kill yeah, I know, tyree kill was banged up a little bit, but that is unbelievable. So 87 targets, 78 receptions, 592 yards and he had six receiving touchdowns. So what does that equate to? He had 12 total touchdowns and he also then ended up having over 1,400 total yards, and so just absolutely incredible.
Speaker 2:Now, when we look at Bucky Irving man and him being on the Bucs and all the excitement that came out of his rookie season he blew it out of the water man. He ended up having over 1,100 yards rushing. He ended up having eight rushing touchdowns. He also had 52 targets. People. Look at Rashad White. People like, right, that is the true pass-catching role for Buccaneers. But man, 52 targets for a split backfield and third down type of role for that of Rashad White. And when you look at the 52 targets for Irving, that's fascinating. And that equated to 47 receptions, 392 yards. Yeah, man, bucky Irving had himself a nice little rookie year.
Speaker 2:And so now what is the situation? Look at, those are the stats. Let's get to the facts. The facts are looking at Devon Achan, it is a convoluted offense. What do I mean by that? Jalen Wright, the backup to Devon Achan. I, I mean, the dude's a stud and he's breathing down his neck a bit. Do I think he's going to take any sort of serious workload from A-Chan? No, I don't, but just in case something happens, it makes me feel a little bit uneasy that there's a serious dynamic back behind him. Now they also have Tyreek Hill who's coming off an injury, right, no-transcript. What if he starts taking some of those checkdowns away, knowing Gusecki got kind of lost in the mix, right? Those are all going to affect what made A-Chan so special from a receiving perspective. Now, when we look at Bucky Irving, it's really interesting, and I say that because there's not a lot of changes and the biggest change is no more Liam Cohen. So does that help Bucky Irving moving forward or is that going to hurt Bucky Irving moving forward?
Speaker 2:Liam Cohen found a really good way how to use both of those running backs with Rashad White and Bucky and, in addition, mike Evans was there. He was pretty much healthy all year, which was great to see, but then Godwin went down. Now, when Godwin went down, did that change them, leading into more of the run game? Right, because then we saw Jalen McMillan step up, we saw KDotten step up. But here's the other big difference is now they have Emeka Ibuka. The dude's an absolute superstar in the making, and so, yes, I know, you know, godwin will probably not start the season just because he's coming back from injury, things like that, and if he does, it'll probably take him about five weeks to ramp up. So Emeka Ibuka is going to step into that role, but man, I'm more looking at it from Liam Cohen leaving, and how is that going to affect the rushing attack moving forward? So very interesting job looking at these two guys and I'm curious to see what you think, man.
Speaker 1:Yeah, that's my biggest concern, to be perfectly honest. I mean, I've said Liam Cohen's name more times in these four or five episodes than anyone else.
Speaker 1:But that. But that is, that's real man. I mean, anytime you've got a split backfield, it makes a big difference who the offensive coordinator is. I mean they're going to utilize those two guys in different ways with two different skill sets. Is every offensive coordinator going to come in and maybe take from the previous one? Possibly, but it is a risk. You've got Liam Cohen leaving Tampa Bay. You had Bucky on his rookie year.
Speaker 1:My concern with Bucky I love Bucky. He's fantastic. He's a pure, actual running back. He takes diagonal cuts rather than lateral cuts. I mean the guy just he runs, he runs across field. He was fantastic. I mean he forces arm tackles. He's not the biggest guy, he's not the fastest guy, he's not anything special on paper. He's a good football player and that's what showed.
Speaker 1:My concern with Bucky is that we're drafting him now at his peak, at his absolute ceiling. That doesn't attract me. When it comes to fantasy football, I want to find the guys who have the potential to be the number one running back or the number one receiver, or top five, top 10. I just don't think Bucky has that. He came damn close last year, but I do think last year was an outlier year. I think it was one of those boner years for him. That's my biggest concern. I don't want to see a setback coming into year two with a different offensive coordinator.
Speaker 1:And you can't discard Rashad White. He's a good running back. He's not special, he's not anything else. He's a Nashi Harris. Light is what he is and he wasn't very good in the run game. Bucky was the running game, but Rashad White will be the third down back. He's excellent at pass protecting. He's way better than Bucky Irving in pass protecting and that's one of those football things that the coach isn't going to have him on the field because he can't pass protect as well as Rashad White. That makes me nervous. The other thing that makes me nervous is that his 47 receptions last year, 26 of those were screens behind the line of scrimmage. Yeah, so more than half of his receptions were in the screen game. That's Liam Cohen specific. I don't know that that's going to happen again and I don't know that it's going to be Bucky Irving receiving all of those. Rashad White is very good at that. He's very good in the screen game. So that's what makes me nervous.
Speaker 1:Now we go over to Devon Achan. Achan's a guy who's never been on my board ever. He's never been on my board, I've never had him, I never even considered him. This is the year I think Devon Achan can break fantasy again. I do, I do, and that's very strange because I'm not typically an A-chan guy.
Speaker 1:But looking at his statistics, looking at what he did last year, the first year was he and Raheem Mostert and they had that creative running game that no one could stop. They ran the ball more than any other team and it was the coolest, most creative shit I've ever seen in my life. Last year totally different world it was all in the passing game. They had covered two safeties two safeties back there to keep Jalen Waddell and Tyree Kill from going deep. That worked.
Speaker 1:So what happened? It was Devon Achan and it was Jonu Smith in the middle of the field being able to make things happen. Well, now Jonu Smith isn't there and we can brag about anybody else they may have brought on. They didn't bring anybody on who's going to be receiving tight end like Jonu Smith. So that tells me that Devon Achan is going to be even more available in the passing game and going to be more important in the passing game. Not to mention he's by himself in the backfield and we saw that he can do that.
Speaker 1:Last year you didn't see most or a whole lot, it was all Achan and that was wonderful. It was actually wonderful. He ran the ball very similarly. And look at the stats between a Chan and Bucky Irving they're almost identical in the Russian game almost identical. So if we can see that, I don't see a huge decrease in his pass catching, which was what brought a Chan to the number seven. You know a running back Um, but I see his rushing getting a lot better and he's still going to be very important in the passing game. I am choosing Devon A Chan over Bucky Irving for those reasons Higher ceiling, higher floor. You're not drafting him at his seal. What do you think, frank?
Speaker 2:John, I'm with you, man. I'm trying to disagree, but I mean all of your, all of your um perspectives are spot on man. And I'm looking at you know, breaking down age hand, because dude you're, I agree with you. He was completely off my board the last few years. It's just because I didn't believe. I mean you're looking at a soaking wet 188 pound running back. That is sure Fast as lightning, but absolutely we're saying you can take the entirety of the load. I didn't believe it. I did not believe that he had that capability. I'm not saying I didn't believe in him from a pass catching role. I'm not even saying I didn't believe in him in a true one a, one B, like again, I go back to I say it all the time I go back to the days of the chargers with Melvin Gordon and Austin Eckler. I thought that was his role, the Austin Eckler role, when he was splitting time with a big brute kind of guy like you know how Mostert was. Mostert wasn't a super big brute, but you get what I'm saying. He was very fast but also hit the hole really hard and was kind of that great tandem. But man, when I look at what A-Chan did, I mean towards the back half of the year, man, his rushing dipped but that's really where his receiving increased. And that makes sense, because that's when Tua went down. That's when Skylar Thompson came in, that's when a few of these other quarterbacks came into play and they needed a check down guy in addition to that of Janu Smith. So now here's the biggest question mark. With a truly healthy Tyreek let's say Tua's healthy for the rest of the year, does that lessen the amount of receptions, naturally, that A-chan's going to get, because Tua's going to be looking towards more Tyreek Hill and Waddle.
Speaker 2:Well, here's the reality, guys. I'm willing to take that risk. Then I am completely flipping everything on its head and having Bucky Irving be my true RB1. It's not the fact that I don't believe in Bucky. I am a massive Bucky fan. I loved watching him at Oregon. I was actually blown away at his response to what he did last year as a rookie. I mean, it was incredible. But I am not warm and fuzzy to where I don't. Candidly speaking, I'm not ready to plant my flag in Bucky Irving as my true RB1 for my fantasy team moving forward. I just am not going to do that, especially in a half PPR. So, man. With all that being said, I'm with you when we're looking in second round, when we're looking at middle of second round, guys, and you're looking between these two cats, I'm going H hand over Bucky and we're going to rock and roll with it.
Speaker 1:We agree on the first two, frank. Come on, we don't talk about this ahead of time, guys At all. We look at it separately on our own and we come together on camera for the first time and to figure out who we like the most. So all right, we actually agree on the first two. That's wild, frank, wild. Yeah, I want to disagree with it. I want to fight you a little bit, man.
Speaker 2:Ooh, I think this next one we might.
Speaker 1:All right, let's move on to the next. Would you rather here? Okay, round three guys. Yeah, this one could be interesting. Round three we need a receiver. Okay, we're in the front of the third round and we have to decide between Tyreek Hill and Garrett Wilson.
Speaker 1:Yeah, when's the last time we've seen Tyreek Hill in the third round, by the way, jeez years, yeah. Well, both of these guys are kind of settling back into a third round ADP. Now that could go up. It is July, you know, middle of July right now, but as it stands right now this is where they are, so it looks like really good value for both guys. Let's take a look real quick. Tyreek Hill last year was the wide receiver 20. Garrett Wilson was a wide receiver 10. This year their ECR is back to back. Tyreek is the ECR 14 and Garrett Wilson is the wide receiver 15. Frankie, lay it out for us, brother. Tyreek Hill and Garrett Wilson.
Speaker 2:Guys, we're starting with the stats right. Tyreek Hill last year averaged and this is crazy, he only averaged roughly 10 points a game and half PPR For Tyreek Hill. That's sinful from what we've seen previously. Actually, so much so that prior to the season, the prior two years, john, he had 1,700 yards in both of the prior years. So when we see, then, that drop down to roughly 10 points a game, that's alarming. But there's reasons behind that Wrist injury all throughout last year, tua getting hurt, and then you step in with Skylar Thompson and a few of these other backs or quarterbacks that we mentioned when we were talking about A-Chan. Right, they couldn't get the ball to Tyreek. Actually, it was so bad, john, there were passes that Tyreek Hill was wide open and they're just completely missing him, and there was a lot of frustration on Tyreek Hill's behalf. So let's look at as a whole what he did. Well, he still had 123 targets, but, guys, when we look at the prior two years, that's down quite substantially from 171 and 170. So he had 123 targets, 81 receptions, 959 yards receiving six, receiving touchdowns, and he did actually get into the rushing game a bit more this year than than really over the last four years three years he had eight rushing attempts in 53 yards, um for rushing, and so really, really interesting. But when we look at what Garrett Wilson has done, garrett Wilson has been absolutely fabulous with the dogshit quarterback situations that he's had. If you take away Aaron Rodgers last year and you go through the laundry list of quarterbacks that he had, I mean I can name a few off the top of my head Mike White, zach Wilson and a few others I mean it was bad, it was abysmal, there was nothing there and he has never had less than 1,000 yards receiving. And so in his first three years in the NFL and my God, he got paid and it shows right. Congratulations, garrett Wilson. Buddy, you got your payday, and totally rightfully so.
Speaker 2:Last year alone, john, with Devontae Adams, with Aaron Rodgers throwing the ball which we know it's Devontae Adams and Aaron Rodgers, they have that simpatico same playing field, same kind of mind melt when they're out there on the field. He still had 154 targets, 154 targets, 101 receptions, which, by the way, the most he's ever had. He also had 1,104 yards receiving, by the way, most he's ever had. And then he also had seven touchdowns, the most he's ever had. And so now you walk into a situation to where, okay, like, let's start with Gary Wilson From the facts standpoint, those are the stats.
Speaker 2:The facts is he's now playing with his college quarterback, justin Fields. Right, we saw what they did at Ohio State. It was magical, it was beautiful, that was the best we've ever seen Justin Fields play. Now, granted, he's also playing against other college kids. Not taking it away from anything from him, but that's the reality.
Speaker 2:Nfl is a bit different of a caliber. But also, when you look at what's going on, there's no more Devontae Adams. Pretty much all they have around him from a receiving perspective is Alan Lazard and Josh Reynolds, I mean at this point in time. And then they also brought on Mason Taylor from a tight end perspective, who sure will open up the middle of the field a little bit great. But then they also have Brees Hall and Braylon Allen.
Speaker 2:Neither of those guys are true pass catching backs. I mean just specialty pass catching. So for me, man Wilson is 1A, and then there's nothing else after that. Now, when we look at Tyreek, it's very similar to what we were talking about with A-Chan. I mean, now you're walking into Jalen Waddle again. You have Nick Westbrook-Akeem, you also have Darren Waller, you have A-Chan. You have A-Chan you got to worry about from a target and reception perspective, and Jalen Wright, dare I say, if he gets in the mix a little bit. So very, very interesting when you start breaking down the stats, the facts, and, john, I'm curious on what you're doing between the two.
Speaker 1:It's very, very difficult actually Because Tyreek Hill it's hard to even fathom a third-round pick with Tyreek Hill. I mean, this is a guy we talked about. They were the number one quarterback wide receiver stack for years and it wasn't even close. It was two at one quarterback wide receiver stack for years. Yeah, and it wasn't even close. It was two at Tyreek. You had that, you dominated.
Speaker 1:That's shifted, that's changed and there's a lot of question marks and I think you know there's question marks for both guys. The big question marks for Tyreek are if it's Tyreek of last year, yikes, you know, the ceiling really seems capped, it really seems limited. Is it going to be the same Tua as last year? Is Tua going to be healthy? Is Tua one headshot away from ruining Tyreek's? You know complete fantasy value which we've seen happen to. All of those scenarios are all possible and it's not even that they're doubtful, they're possible, man, that that that could actually happen. I'm concerned about that. I just I like, when I'm deciding between two guys like this, who are both dynamic players, who both could be a top 10 guy, I think these guys, either one of these two, could creep up into the top 10 to me, definitely. I tend to go to the younger guy. I tend to go to the younger guy, garrett Wilson. We saw what he did last year the best stats that he's had as an NFL starter yet and he was technically the number two. He was the one B on the team. Now he's the one A, all by himself. There's nobody else there. His problem is a Justin Fields problem, totally. It is, and is it going to be boom or bust.
Speaker 1:Is this where we see both Tyreek and Garrett Wilson be boom or bust? Maybe that's the answer. It's maybe, because we've seen Justin Fields and DJ Moore have boner weeks for you when they were together in Chicago Boner weeks, you know. But then we see Justin Fields go to Pittsburgh and he's a game manager. So what are they going to do with Justin Fields in New York? Is he going to be a game manager and they're going to play great defense and run the ball?
Speaker 1:That seems kind of possible, since that's what they have is a great defense and two really good running backs. That could be possible. Are they going to let him open it up a little bit, which just opens up Garrett Wilson, because he's going to be the target. He's going to get the lion's share of targets on this offense. I think it's going to be a mix of both, but I think we've seen Justin Fields be able to support a wide receiver, catch at a high level and get good games for you. Taking Devontae Adams away from Garrett Wilson his age he's coming into what year three now. Devontae Adams away from Garrett Wilson, his age he's coming into what year three now? I just think Garrett Wilson has that potential, has that upside to do way better than Tyreek Hill this year. I'm going with Garrett Wilson, baby.
Speaker 2:Ooh, you know it's hard to go against a Buckeye, john, and I'm so happy you chose Garrett Wilson because here's the deal I don't know, and I'm a huge right O-H deal. I don't know and I'm a huge right, oh H, baby Right. So we're Buckeyes through and through. I got a Buckeye helmet here. But the reality is is that if you're in round three and you are now looking at, let's just say you ended up taking CD lamb, let's just say right, cause the the whole thing is you're in the front of round three. So that means you got to be Jamar Chase, justin Jefferson, right, ceedee Lamb, somewhere in that nature, to get an additional receiver. You come back round two, right, and maybe you get your running back right, you're feeling warm and cozy. Then you come back front of round three. It is sinful if you're not taking Tyreek Hill.
Speaker 2:You're a sinner okay, Guys, the reality is is he's A pox?
Speaker 2:on your houses A pox, right, like you better be putting lamb's blood over shit, right, because the rapture's coming at that point if you're not taking Tyreek Hill in the front of the third Guys. The upside from what we've seen is monumental. Yes, I get that he has had wrist surgery. Yes, I get that. That affected him, no question about it last year. But here's the other thing to keep in mind Now they have an actual, viable, somewhat okay backup in that of the for Miami, which they didn't have the last two years. It's Zach Wilson. Now again, I'm not sitting here going crazy that Zach Wilson is the best backup I've ever seen, ever. No, absolutely not. But what we saw with Zach Wilson was what he did for Garrett Wilson. There was viability there, and so what I'm getting at is, if something happens to Tua, now there is somebody else that can get the rock to Tyreek. The other key call out is I love what you said about Garrett Wilson in terms of there's nobody else, it's him.
Speaker 2:I'm going the opposite way, because now, with Garrett Wilson, they're going to be able to key on him, knowing there's nobody else there and knowing now that Justin Fields is going to have to put the ball in a much tighter window, knowing that Garrett Wilson is going to see some help from over top from a defense perspective, that's going to cause some problems Versus Tyreek Hill. What you're going to double Tyreek and leave Jalen Waddell, who is a burner one-on-one, or you're going to like what? Not even pay attention to Devon Achan. You're going to have a linebacker over Devon Achan. Attention to Devon Achan. You're going to have a linebacker over Devon Achan. That's not going to work either. So you've got to roll a safety down to match Devon Achan, which leaves then over the top right for Tyreek Hill. So for me, guys, it comes down to Tyreek Hill's health number one and number two Tua, to what you said, john. But then if you sure up Tua's health right by adding a viable backup and knowing that Tyreek Hill is already catching passes in minicamp which he shouldn't have been doing until August anyways, but now he is Dude you're telling me you could pair a Justin Jefferson and CeeDee Lamb with Tyreek Hill and you're getting Tyreek Hill in the third round and you don't have to spend that type of capital.
Speaker 2:Sign me up, because I think the ceiling is higher for Tyreek Hill than it actually is with Garrett Wilson. I think, garrett Wilson, you're going to have a warm cozy 11, 1200 mark seven, eight touchdowns, and you're going to be very happy with your decision and drafting him in round three. I'm not happy with that. I want to take a absolute boom type of dude because I want to go for all the fucking marbles when I'm drafting this guy. I want every bit and piece of that risk, because that risk versus that reward is back-to-back 1,700-yard seasons. That risk is when he is literally top three, top four picks in the first round. Let's say he even returns half that value and you get a second-round pick or a second on him when you're drafting him. The third guys, I'm all about it. So, johnny boy, fuck your Garrett Wilson. I'm rolling in with Tyreek Hill and we're going to rock and roll baby.
Speaker 1:Yeah, so we finally disagreed about somebody. I like it, man. All right, let's see if we agree on this one or not. All right, let's go. We're going round four. Let's take a journey to round four here, guys. It's round four. We've decided that we're going to target a quarterback. There's two guys we really like here. This is the place to get them. Or we're going to punt on quarterback and wait until much later. So we're taking our round four quarterback here, guys. We've got Jalen Hurts versus Joe Burrow. Let's go. I love both of these quarterbacks. Last year, jalen Hurts was the QB7. Last year, joe Burrow was the QB3. This year, jalen Hurts' ECR is QB4, joe Burrow QB5. One spot behind him, frankie. What do you got on these boys?
Speaker 2:Guys, let's start with Jalen Hurts here. So we're going to talk stats. We're going to get you to the facts then. Following the stats are Jalen Hurts averaged roughly about 21 points a game and half PPR Pretty damn good. Now, to be fair, it's down in comparison to his last two prior years. However, that's strictly due to the emergence, in my opinion, of Saquon Barkley Changed a bit of the dynamic of the offense. They now had a true runner. They didn't have to put everything on the shoulders of Jalen Hurts, so that's why things were a little bit down. However, let's look at what he did. So he ended up throwing the ball, john, 361 times. He ended up completing 248 of those passes he only had. This is crazy when you actually think about this. And he ended up what you said. He finished QB7 last year in Jalen Hurts. Yeah, qb7 had only 2,900 passing yards, and then he also had 18 passing touchdowns, only five interceptions, so very accurate. But then he also had 630 yards rushing and 14 rushing touchdowns with Saquon Barkley. So, guys, absolutely crazy. Now let's go to Cincinnati here and check out Joe Burrow and see what's cooking up in that land. So what we had from last year, guys, he ended up having roughly about 650 passing attempts, so almost doubling that of Jalen Hurts. He had 460 completions. Of that, he had 4,900, 4,900 passing yards, guys, it's 2,000 more than that of Jalen Hurts. He also had 43 passing touchdowns in nine interceptions. Now, when you look at the rushing, he only had 42 attempts, 201 yards and two touchdowns Tale of two tapes. So now, those are the stats. That's just what it is.
Speaker 2:Let's look at the facts. The facts are with Jalen Hurts. When you look at the team around him Saquon Barkley, aj Brown, devonta Smith, jahan Dotson you have Dallas Goddard. He has an arsenal of talent around him. That's just ridiculous. And then, I believe, john, they also brought in AJ Dillon just in case as a backup Pretty incredible backup. So for me, the talent pull around Jalen Hurts is just incredible, whether he's handing the ball off or whether he's throwing the ball or rushing it.
Speaker 2:And, mind you, top five, dare I say, top three offensive line. That certainly plays into it right, and it's a really good situation, right, super Bowl champs. Hell of a good job. Burrow, on the other hand oh, and, by the way, real quick Eagles, top five defense as a whole, incredible. Now you look at Burrow, burrow with the team around him. You know this Jamar Chase, triple crown winner, superstar, megastar, absolutely incredible.
Speaker 2:Then you also have Tee Higgins. I mean you can make an argument, he's the best receiver too. You could make that argument based on a variety of different things. And then you also have Tee Higgins. I mean you can make an argument, he's the best receiver too. You could make that argument based on a variety of different things. And then you also have Andre Isovis, who's an excellent receiver three. And then you have Mike Isiki, chase Brown, so on and so forth.
Speaker 2:Right, so he has an arsenal as well. However, key call out is Cincinnati's defense is dog shit and so huge. When you guys are thinking about these two quarterbacks. If you're staring in round four and you're really looking there, guys and we're talking redraft, we're not talking dynasty that's definitely something to take into consideration and, on top of it, knowing their defense is shit, the offensive line is nowhere as good as that of the Eagles. So that means Joe Burrow is going to have a higher propensity to be taking bigger shots and he's going to be getting sacked, probably a bit more than that of Jalen Hurts, and honestly, that's what history has told us as well.
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah. I think that's really the biggest differentiator for me. I love both of these quarterbacks. I've enjoyed both of these quarterbacks throughout the years. They couldn't be more different. We're doing a. Would you rather trying to compare two guys? The style of play could not be more different. It's exact opposite of each other. Jalen Hurts I love him. I mean, yeah, those 14 rushing touchdowns. He's done that consistently over the past like three years. I mean it's just that's that's not necessarily going to go away. So that's a thing. That tush push is unstoppable. I've never seen a team get stopped on the one fucking yard line so many goddamn times in my life though I could tell you that.
Speaker 2:How does that?
Speaker 1:happen. Most teams don't even have that many opportunities for the tush push. How does this happen? I don't get it, john, to your point 14 touchdowns.
Speaker 2:So this is Jalen Hurts rushing 14 touchdowns last year, 15 the year before, Right 13 in 2022 and 10 in 2021.
Speaker 1:That's what I mean. So you could say I mean, two years ago we could have possibly said I don't know, man, are these 14, 15 rushing touchdowns? Is this sustainable? Yeah, guess what? Four fucking years, it's double digit rushing touchdowns for him. You know, yeah, guess what? Four fucking years, it's double-digit rushing touchdowns for him. Yeah, I mean, that's a thing and there's no reason to believe that that's going to go away With Joe Burrow.
Speaker 1:I think Jalen Hurts is a safer pick. I think it's a safer pick. I think just his durability the durability of his team around him and receivers has proven to be more solid, better offensive line exactly what you said better team they're winning more games, much better defense. But Joe Burrow doesn't have those things. But Joe Burrow, let me just say Joe Cool. Let me just say Joe Burrow can be the number one quarterback of fantasy in 2025. He absolutely can.
Speaker 1:He had 4,900 yards, he threw the ball can. He had 4900 yards, he threw the ball. How many times did we say he threw the ball? Frankie? It was 460 completions and 652 attempts. Man, I mean, and you know what that could go up? It could, that could go up. So when you're saying jalen hurts, you know, you're saying, oh it could, his rushing touchdowns could go up. So when you're seeing Jalen Hurts, you're saying, oh it could, his rushing touchdowns could go down this and that His passing could go up.
Speaker 1:Because they may not run the ball as much as they did. They may limit the tush, push a bit. They may limit Saquon a bit and keep him healthier down the stretch, so they may throw a bit more. Great Guess what? Joe Burrow's going to have to throw a bit more too. Just what you said their defense sucks and what that means for fantasy football is more offensive opportunities. You're constantly going to have to throw the ball to get in games, to try to come back, because your defense let the other team score very quickly. So I like Joe Burrow for that reason. I think his upside I think Jalen Hurts is exactly what he is. I think you can copy and paste his stats from year-to-year basis, whether they win the division or whether they win the Super Bowl. I think those are going to be his stats. Joe Burrow, he can do 5,000 yards, 50 touchdowns. That's possible this year. So I'm going withe burrow. For that reason the upside's just too high.
Speaker 2:I gotta take it john, I agree, I fully agree with you, man, and and I listen I I think you hit on two key items that people need to realize when you're choosing between these two superstars. That's what they are, yeah, they're both superstars is that jalen hurts? He has. So let me put it like this Saquon Barkley, chase Brown. Saquon Barkley right, when you look at like his ability to be able to hand off and take the load off, it's much more there than that of Chase Brown. The other two key differences is that of the offensive line. It's much, much better on the Eagles. So that makes me feel a little bit more warm and cozy with Jalen Hurds. But for me, the difference is the biggest, biggest, most monumental difference is that the defense is bad for the Bengals and they need to be able to put up points in order for anything to happen.
Speaker 2:And here's another interesting thing Joe Burrow, right 2023, he was injured most of the year. They actually ended up shutting him down. He came back this following year and actually had a 70.6 completion percentage. So not only did he end up throwing for almost 5,000 yards, he also was insanely accurate. And now here's the other thing when you look at Tee Higgins, tee Higgins was out quite a bit last year. What happens if Tee Higgins now with a new contract, him and Jamar Chase with a new contract, they're happier than hell. Now you got Joe Burrow with Jamar Chase and a happy contract Because remember, remember, back in the beginning of this of last year, around this time Jamar Chase was about to hold out. We weren't sure what was going to happen. And Jamar Chase said you know what, screw it, I'm doing what's right for the team. And boy did it pan out for Jamar Chase to do that, because boy did they back up the Brinks trucks for him. But now Tee Higgins is good to go, joe Burrow's healthy John. This could be a season. I never thought I would say this, but I thought one of the records that would never be broken was Peyton Manning for the Broncos, when he had over that I think it was close to 5,500 passing yards and he had 55 touchdowns. I mean shattered, all the shit. We could see Joe Burrow do that this year.
Speaker 2:Based on how bad the defense is, how powerful the offense is, how the offense has to run through, joe Burrow, chase Brown isn't that type of back. Yeah, he's good. I'm not taking anything away from the cat. He's a solid running back, but he isn't Saquon, he isn't Jameer Gibbs, he isn't B John Robinson, he isn't Devon A Chan, he isn't Bucky Irving, he isn't some of these other guys that are some of these true alpha type of dudes. So therefore, you need to look elsewhere. He's a complimentary to that of what Joe Burrow and the offense is doing. So for me, man, I'm with you, I'm riding in the flames with that of Joe Burrow this year. Now here's one call out as well with Jalen Hurts.
Speaker 2:From a strategy perspective, if you choose to draft him, no knock.
Speaker 2:I don't know if you need to go with a backup quarterback.
Speaker 2:I just think, by the way he plays and things of that nature, you can actually stack depth elsewhere. Maybe it's receivers, maybe it's running backs. However, if you choose to draft Joe Burrow, guys, please, please, take a backup quarterback, just in case in a one quarterback league. Because if you're taking Joe Burrow in round four or, yeah, round four here, right, that's, that's early, that's right, right where he should be, but it's also early for a non-rushing type of quarterback. All the, all the eggs are in the basket of his, of his arm. So, with that being said, make sure, just in case then you're taking another top tier guy, maybe it's you can get a Kyler Murray in the eighth or something like that, or maybe you can get a Matt Stafford or somebody along those lines. Draft a backup and don't be sweating bullets if something were to happen because his offensive line is not to the level of what that of the Eagles is. Just a quick call out. But, john, I agree, man, it's Joe Burrow for me Okay.
Speaker 1:Hey, we agreed on three out of four. That's not bad. That's not bad. We did disagree. So I hope to god in our drafts we have that tyree.
Speaker 2:Kill garrett wilson oh, it's gonna be no problem.
Speaker 1:I I love that. Yeah, all right, that's great. That is our would you rather, uh, episode. Rounds one through four. Guys, stay tuned, because you know what's coming up next. It's going to be rounds four through eight to do our two-part series of would you rathers. These are even more difficult, so you get into rounds, you know, five through eight. It's much more challenging to make those decisions and a lot of that has to do with your roster construction as well. So we'll get into all that, guys. So stay tuned once again. Frankie, what do we have coming up, baby?
Speaker 2:guys, we're going to be dropping mock drafts for you. So stay in tune. We're going to be dividing out a bunch of different ways to mock different strategies, different league formats. Where you are, where are you picking? Are you front half, are you back half, are you dead middle? And you have no idea who to pick. Well, we got you covered. In addition, guys, just to plug a few additional things coming, we're going to tell you some of the top steals of the draft. We're actually going to do some handcuffs, draft strategies, flyers. Of course, our Champions Week is coming down sooner than later in the next few weeks, and then we're doing something new, something exciting. It's going to be a generational episode. We're going to see how Johnny Boy is a Gen Xer, is going to draft differently than my beautiful millennial ass, and then John, we might have a little Gen Zer pop on just to give a different perspective as well. So we're going to implement a new generational episode. So stay tuned, it's going to be exciting.
Speaker 1:Well, we've got to do that because all of a sudden we're really popular on TikTok and if you're on.
Speaker 1:TikTok. You got to have somebody from Gen Z, I'm sorry. Got to Because I don't know what the fuck's going on with TikTok. But speaking of guys, please subscribe, like, share the podcast. Hit that notification bell. It's going to tell you when we have new episodes coming out. We're just throwing episodes out there all summer here, guys, leading up to the draft, to give you the information. Then, once the season starts, we'll have a regular once a week cadence for you. But please also check out TikTok and Instagram, guys. These are going crazy.
Speaker 1:You want to get on there and argue with me and Frankie? Come bring it, because we've had some fun conversations recently. Oh yeah, and don't forget to comment here on YouTube. Guys, comment on these, would you rathers? Who would you take? You're going to take Puka over Nico. Frankie and I both wanted Nico over Puka. Frankie and I both wanted Devon Achan over Bucky Irving. Not sure how you feel about that. I wanted Garrett Wilson. Frankie wanted Tyree Kill. How do you feel about that? Leave your comments, guys. Let us know. We both wanted Joe Burrow over Jalen Hurts. I know that one's going to cause a stir. Those of you Philly people. Come on, get your birdies out and come and boo bird us here. Guys, come on, give us something. But all right, guys, thank you so much. We'll see you real soon. Let's have a great one. May the fantasy gods smile upon you next time.